Quantification of ion-induced molecular fragmentation of isolated 2-deoxy-D-ribose molecules

Recent experiments on low energy ion-induced damage to DNA building blocks indicate that ion induced DNA damage is dominated by deoxyribose disintegration (Phys. Rev. Lett., 2005, 95, 153201). We have studied interactions of keV H+ and He(q+) with isolated deoxyribose molecules by means of high resolution time-of-flight spectrometry. Extensive statistical fragmentation of the molecules is observed. The fragment distribution is found to follow a power law dependence. The exponent can be used to characterize and quantify the molecular damage.     

Ethanol production in immobilized-cell bioreactors from mixed sugar syrups and enzymatic hydrolysates of steam-exploded biomass

We investigated ethanol production from mixed sugar syrups. Hydrolysates were prepared from enzymatic saccharification of steam-pretreated aspen chips. Syrups containing 45 g/L of glucose and 12 g/L of xylose were detoxified through two ion-exchange resins and then fermented with Pichia stipitis and Saccharomyces cerevisiae immobilized in Ca-alginate gel beads. Combinations of different gel fractions in the fermentation volume, amount of yeast cells, and ratios of P. stipitis vs S. cerevisiae within each bead were compared. In the best conditions, by using a total beads volume corresponding to 25% of the working volume, we obtained a yield of 0.39 g_ethanol/g_{initial sugars}. This amount of gel entrapped an initial cell concentration of 6×10¹²cells/L with ratio of S. cerevisiae/P. stipitis of 0.25 g/g. Modified stirredtank reactors were obtained either by adding marbles or by inserting a perforated metal cylinder, which reduced considerably the rupture of beads while visibly improving oxygenation of the medium.     

Thymus algeriensis and Artemisia herba-alba Essential Oils: Chemical Analysis,Antioxidant Potential and In Vivo Anti-Inflammatory,Analgesic Activities,and Acute Toxicity

The study of bioactive molecules of natural origin is a focus of current research. Thymus algeriensis and Artemisia herba-alba are two medicinal plants widely used by the Moroccan population in the traditional treatment of several pathologies linked to inflammation. This study aimed to evaluate the single and combined antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects of the essential oils extracted from these two medicinal plants, and also their potential toxicity. Essential oils were extracted using hydro-distillation in a Clevenger-type apparatus. The antioxidant activity was evaluated by two methods: the scavenging of the free radical DPPH, and the reduction in iron. Anti-inflammatory activity was evaluated by evaluating the edema development induced by carrageenan injecting, while the analgesic power was evaluated according to the number of abdominal contortions induced by the intraperitoneal injection of acetic acid (0.7%). The acute oral toxicity was performed to assess the potential toxicity of the studied EOs, followed by an analysis of the blood biochemical parameters. The results of the two antioxidant tests indicated that our extract mixture exhibits good iron reduction capacity and very interesting DPPH free radical scavenging power, with an IC₅₀ of around 4.38 ± 0.98 μg/mL higher than that of the benchmark antioxidant, BHT. The anti-inflammatory test demonstrated that the mixture administered orally at a dose of 150 mg/kg has a better activity, exceeding that of 1% Diclofenac, with a percentage of maximum inhibition of the edema of 89.99 ± 4.08. The number of cramps in the mice treated with the mixture at a dose of 150 mg/kg is significantly lower (29.80 ± 1.92) than those of the group treated with Tramadol (42.00 ± 2.70), respectively. The toxicity results show no signs of toxicity with an LD₅₀ greater than 150 mg/Kg. These interesting results show that the two plants’ EOs had an important anti-inflammatory, analgesic, and antioxidant activity, and also a powerful synergistic effect, which encourages further in-depth investigations on their pharmacological proprieties.     

Monitoring the Evolution of Asynchrony between Mean Arterial Pressure and Mean Cerebral Blood Flow via Cross-Entropy Methods

Cerebrovascular control is carried out by multiple nonlinear mechanisms imposing a certain degree of coupling between mean arterial pressure (MAP) and mean cerebral blood flow (MCBF). We explored the ability of two nonlinear tools in the information domain, namely cross-approximate entropy (CApEn) and cross-sample entropy (CSampEn), to assess the degree of asynchrony between the spontaneous fluctuations of MAP and MCBF. CApEn and CSampEn were computed as a function of the translation time. The analysis was carried out in 23 subjects undergoing recordings at rest in supine position (REST) and during active standing (STAND), before and after surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR). We found that at REST the degree of asynchrony raised, and the rate of increase in asynchrony with the translation time decreased after SAVR. These results are likely the consequence of the limited variability of MAP observed after surgery at REST, more than the consequence of a modified cerebrovascular control, given that the observed differences disappeared during STAND. CApEn and CSampEn can be utilized fruitfully in the context of the evaluation of cerebrovascular control via the noninvasive acquisition of the spontaneous MAP and MCBF variability.     

First CNGS events detected by LVD

The CERN Neutrino to Gran Sasso (CNGS) project aims to produce a high energy, wide band ν_μ beam at CERN and send it toward the INFN Gran Sasso National Laboratory (LNGS), 732 km away. Its main goal is the observation of the ν_τ appearance, through neutrino flavour oscillation. The beam started its operation in August 2006 for about 12 days: a total amount of 7.6×10¹⁷ protons were delivered to the target. The LVD detector, installed in hall A of the LNGS and mainly dedicated to the study of supernova neutrinos, was fully operating during the whole CNGS running time. A total number of 569 events were detected in coincidence with the beam spill time. This is in good agreement with the expected number of events from Monte Carlo simulations. PACS 14.60.Pq; 29.27.Fh; 29.40.Mc; 95.55.Vj     

The Luttinger sum rule in the slave-particle theories

The usual mean field decoupling procedure applied to the slave-particle representations of the problems with strong local interaction produces a resonant band, but violates the Luttinger sum rule for the physical single-electron propagator. The number of occupied resonant states is small and equal to the deviation from the sum rule, shedding doubt on the overall results. It is therefore argued and illustrated on the example of the Emery model for the high-T _c superconductors that, through the consistent application of the mean field procedure to the Hamiltonian and the propagators, the sum rule is restored and the resonant band conserved. In addition to the resonant band, the electron spectrum contains large number of occupied states close to the bare site-energy of the site with strong repulsion. These results are also related here to the other similar decoupling problems, which also lead to the breakdown of the Luttinger sum rule.Received: 2 July 2003, Published online: 9 September 2003PACS: 71.10.Fd Lattice fermion models (Hubbard model, etc.) - 71.27.+a Strongly correlated electron systems; heavy fermions     

Solution structure of chiral lanthanide complexes

The determination of solution structure of small to medium size chiral lanthanide complexes through paramagnetic NMR and circular dichroism is briefly reviewed. The main focus is on ytterbium as the rare earth, because of its negligible contact contribution to the hyperfine shift and of its intense CD spectrum in the near IR. The structures discussed contain various stereogenic elements: classical chiral centres, atropisomeric axes, slowly interconverting conformations, which gives rise to a manifold of situations to be identified, classified, and characterised through spectroscopic tools. The fallout of these structural properties are in enantioselective catalysis, in molecular recognition, or even in biomedicine, on account of the role of Gd³⁺ complexes as MRI contrast agents. Moreover, the information encoded in the NMR and CD spectra of Ln³⁺ complexes may be used to extract original data on the solution stereochemistry of organic molecules used as ligands. The first part summarises some basic theoretical aspects, with special emphasis onto those which have practical consequences in the experimental design. A discussion of selected applications can be found in the second part.     

Biological significance of essential oil of Zataria multiflora boiss

The absolute from Zataria multiflora was explored for enzyme inhibition, insect repellent, and insecticidal activities. GC-MS of the absolute of fresh plant showed that thymol is the major constituent while carvacrol is the major constituent in the absolute of dried plant.     

Simulation of Electronic Circular Dichroism of Nucleic Acids: From the Structure to the Spectrum

We present a quantum mechanical (QM) simulation of the electronic circular dichroism (ECD) of nucleic acids (NAs). The simulation combines classical molecular dynamics, to obtain the structure and its temperature‐dependent fluctuations, with a QM excitonic model to determine the ECD. The excitonic model takes into account environmental effects through a polarizable embedding and uses a refined approach to calculate the electronic couplings in terms of full transition densities. Three NAs with either similar conformations but different base sequences or similar base sequences but different conformations have been investigated and the results were compared with experimental observations; a good agreement was seen in all cases. A detailed analysis of the nature of the ECD bands in terms of their excitonic composition was also carried out. Finally, a comparison between the QM and the DeVoe models clearly revealed the importance of including fluctuations of the excitonic parameters and of accurately determining the electronic couplings. This study demonstrates the feasibility of the ab initio simulation of the ECD spectra of NAs, that is, without the need of experimental structural or electronic data.