Grafting of poly(sodium styrenesulfonate) onto gold surface from NaNO<Subscript>3</Subscript> solution

The chemical grafting of thiol terminated poly(sodium styrenesulfonate)(HS-PSSS) chains from sodium nitrate (NaNO_3) salt solution to a gold surface was investigated with a quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D) in different salt concentrations.It was found that at low salt concentration grafting density of HS-PSSS was low and the grafted chains adopted a mushroom conformation.With the increase of salt concentration polyelectrolyte chains underwent a transition toward coiled stat...     

Caragisides A – C,New Isoflavone Glucosides from Caragana conferta with Inhibition of Platelet Aggregation

Caragisides A–C ( 1 – 3 , resp.), three new isoflavone glucosides, were isolated from the BuOH sub‐fraction of the EtOH extract of the whole plant of Caragana conferta, along with ononoside ( 4 ), reported for the first time from this species. The structures of the new compounds were elucidated by spectroscopic techniques including MS and 2D‐NMR spectroscopy. Compounds 1 – 3 showed significant inhibition of platelet aggregation.     

Optimization of the collocation inversion method for the linear viscoelastic homogenization

The effective behaviour of linear viscoelastic heterogeneous material can be derived from the correspondence principle and the inversion of the obtained symbolic homogenized behavior. Various numerical methods were proposed to carry out this inversion. The collocation method, widely used, within this framework rests on a discretization of the characteristic spectrum in a sum of discrete lines for which it is necessary to determine the intensities and the positions by the minimization of the difference between the exact temporal function and its approximation. The classical method is based on a priori choice of the lines positions and on the optimization of their intensities. It is shown here that the combined optimization of the positions and the (positive) intensities lead to a minimization problem under constraints. In the simple case of an incompressible isotropic two-phase material, the assessment of the effective relaxation function with a continuum spectra or made up of discrete lines proves that the proposed method improves the predictions of the classical approach.     

1H-NMR-Based Metabolomics: An Integrated Approach for the Detection of the Adulteration in Chicken,Chevon, Beef and Donkey Meat

Meat is a rich source of energy that provides high-value animal protein, fats, vitamins, minerals and trace amounts of carbohydrates. Globally, different types of meats are consumed to fulfill nutritional requirements. However, the increasing burden on the livestock industry has triggered the mixing of high-price meat species with low-quality/-price meat. This work aimed to differentiate different meat samples on the basis of metabolites. The metabolic difference between various meat samples was investigated through Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectroscopy coupled with multivariate data analysis approaches like principal component analysis (PCA) and orthogonal partial least square-discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA). In total, 37 metabolites were identified in the gluteal muscle tissues of cow, goat, donkey and chicken using ¹H-NMR spectroscopy. PCA was found unable to completely differentiate between meat types, whereas OPLS-DA showed an apparent separation and successfully differentiated samples from all four types of meat. Lactate, creatine, choline, acetate, leucine, isoleucine, valine, formate, carnitine, glutamate, 3-hydroxybutyrate and α-mannose were found as the major discriminating metabolites between white (chicken) and red meat (chevon, beef and donkey). However, inosine, lactate, uracil, carnosine, format, pyruvate, carnitine, creatine and acetate were found responsible for differentiating chevon, beef and donkey meat. The relative quantification of differentiating metabolites was performed using one-way ANOVA and Tukey test. Our results showed that NMR-based metabolomics is a powerful tool for the identification of novel signatures (potential biomarkers) to characterize meats from different sources and could potentially be used for quality control purposes in order to differentiate different meat types.     

Thiourea Derivatives,Simple in Structure but Efficient Enzyme Inhibitors and Mercury Sensors

In this study six unsymmetrical thiourea derivatives, 1-isobutyl-3-cyclohexylthiourea (1), 1-tert-butyl-3-cyclohexylthiourea (2), 1-(3-chlorophenyl)-3-cyclohexylthiourea (3), 1-(1,1-dibutyl)-3-phenylthiourea (4), 1-(2-chlorophenyl)-3-phenylthiourea (5) and 1-(4-chlorophenyl)-3-phenylthiourea (6) were obtained in the laboratory under aerobic conditions. Compounds 3 and 4 are crystalline and their structure was determined for their single crystal. Compounds 3 is monoclinic system with space group P2₁/n while compound 4 is trigonal, space group R³:H. Compounds (1–6) were tested for their anti-cholinesterase activity against acetylcholinesterase and butyrylcholinesterase (hereafter abbreviated as, AChE and BChE, respectively). Potentials (all compounds) as sensing probes for determination of deadly toxic metal (mercury) using spectrofluorimetric technique were also investigated. Compound 3 exhibited better enzyme inhibition IC₅₀ values of 50, and 60 µg/mL against AChE and BChE with docking score of −10.01, and −8.04 kJ/mol, respectively. The compound also showed moderate sensitivity during fluorescence studies.     

Effect of matrices and additives on phosphorylated and ketodeoxyoctonic acid lipids A analysis by matrix‐assisted laser desorption ionization‐mass spectrometry

Lipid A is a major compound of the outer membrane of gram‐negative bacteria and is a key factor of bacterial virulence. As lipid A's structure differs among bacterial species and varies between strains of the same species, knowing its modifications is essential to understand its implications in the infectious process. To analyze these lipids, matrix‐assisted laser desorption ionization‐mass spectrometry (MALDI‐MS) is a well‐suited method that is fast and efficient. However, there are limitations with the matrix and additives used, such as the suppression of signal or prompt fragmentations that could give a false overview of lipid A composition in biological samples. For a comprehensive analysis of the entire lipid A species present in a sample, we tested 16 matrices and 11 additives on two commercial lipids A. The first commercial one contains single phosphorylation group, and the second contains two phosphorylation and two ketodeoxyoctonic acid (KDO) groups. The lipid A containing KDO groups was essentially detected by the 3‐hydroxypicolinic acid (3‐HPA) matrix, whereas the monophosphorylated lipid A could be detected by 13 matrices out of the 16. We also demonstrated that the signal of diphosphorylated lipid A can be enhanced with the use of additives in the matrix. Our study indicated that the best conditions to obtain a clear signal of both lipids A without prompt fragmentation was the use of 3‐HPA with 10mM trifluoroacetic acid (TFA).     

Extraction procedures in gas chromatographic determination of pesticides

Pesticides are necessary for increasing agricultural productivity; however, their enormous use contaminates air, water and food. Among various organic pesticides, organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) are most persistent; and though their use is banned, they are still used illegally. In contrast to OCPs, organophosphorous pesticides are less persistent and used most extensively, while synthetic pyrethroid pesticides are the least toxic and used as insecticides. Extensive use of these pesticides is vulnerable to the ecosystem. Various extraction methods are used worldwide both by the regulatory bodies and private laboratories for the determination of multi-residue pesticides in leafy vegetables. This mini review presents an update on extraction procedure in gas chromatographic methods of pesticides analysis in various samples with special emphasis on leafy vegetables. We have covered six years of work from 2008–2013, discussing various extraction methods and their applications.     

Development of Antibacterial,Degradable and pH-Responsive Chitosan/Guar Gum/Polyvinyl Alcohol Blended Hydrogels for Wound Dressing

The present research is based on the fabrication preparation of CS/PVA/GG blended hydrogel with nontoxic tetra orthosilicate (TEOS) for sustained paracetamol release. Different TEOS percentages were used because of their nontoxic behavior to study newly designed hydrogels’ crosslinking and physicochemical properties. These hydrogels were characterized using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and wetting to determine the functional, surface morphology, hydrophilic, or hydrophobic properties. The swelling analysis in different media, degradation in PBS, and drug release kinetics were conducted to observe their response against corresponding media. The FTIR analysis confirmed the components added and crosslinking between them, and surface morphology confirmed different surface and wetting behavior due to different crosslinking. In various solvents, including water, buffer, and electrolyte solutions, the swelling behaviour of hydrogel was investigated and observed that TEOS amount caused less hydrogel swelling. In acidic pH, hydrogels swell the most, while they swell the least at pH 7 or higher. These hydrogels are pH-sensitive and appropriate for controlled drug release. These hydrogels demonstrated that, as the ionic concentration was increased, swelling decreased due to decreased osmotic pressure in various electrolyte solutions. The antimicrobial analysis revealed that these hydrogels are highly antibacterial against Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus cereus) and Gram negative (Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli) bacterial strains. The drug release mechanism was 98% in phosphate buffer saline (PBS) media at pH 7.4 in 140 min. To analyze drug release behaviour, the drug release kinetics was assessed against different mathematical models (such as zero and first order, Higuchi, Baker–Lonsdale, Hixson, and Peppas). It was found that hydrogel (CPG2) follows the Peppas model with the highest value of regression (R² = 0.98509). Hence, from the results, these hydrogels could be a potential biomaterial for wound dressing in biomedical applications.     

Phytochemistry,Food Application,and Therapeutic Potential of the Medicinal Plant (Withania coagulans): A Review

Herbal plants have been utilized to treat and cure various health-related problems since ancient times. The use of Ayurvedic medicine is very significant because of its least reported side effects and host of advantages. Withania coagulans (Family; Solanaceae), a valuable medicinal plant, has been used to cure abnormal cell growth, wasting disorders, neural as well as physical problems, diabetes mellitus, insomnia, acute and chronic hepatic ailments. This review provides critical insight regarding the phytochemistry, biological activities, and pharmacognostic properties of W. coagulans. It has been known to possess diuretic, anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, cardio-protective, hepato-protective, hypoglycemic, anti-oxidative, and anti-mutagenic properties owing to the existence of withanolides, an active compound present in it. Apart from withanolides, W. coagulans also contains many phytochemicals such as flavonoids, tannins, and β-sterols. Several studies indicate that various parts of W. coagulans and their active constituents have numerous pharmacological and therapeutic properties and thus can be considered as a new drug therapy against multiple diseases.