Mucuna pruriens Administration Minimizes Neuroinflammation and Shows Anxiolytic,Antidepressant and Slimming Effects in Obese Rats

This study evaluated the effect of Mucuna pruriens (MP) administration on neuroinflammation and behavioral and murinometric parameters in obese rats. Proximate composition, oligosaccharide and phenolic compound profile of MP were determined. Wistar adult male rats were randomized into healthy (HG) and obese group (OG). The HG consumed a control chow diet while OG consumed a cafeteria diet for eight weeks. Then, they were subdivided into: Healthy (HG); Healthy with MP administration (HGMP); Obese (OG); Obese with MP administration (OGMP), with the consumption of the respective diets remaining for another eight weeks, in addition to gavage with MP extract to supplemented groups (750 mg/kg weight). MP presented a composition rich in proteins and phenolic compounds, especially catechin, in addition to 1-kestose and levodopa. Supplementation reduced food intake, body weight, and thoracic and abdominal circumferences in obese rats. MP showed anxiolytic and antidepressant effects and reduced morphological damage and expression of interleukin 6 in the hippocampus of obese rats. MP treatment showed satietogenic, slimming, anxiolytic and antidepressant effects, besides to minimizing hippocampal neuroinflammation in obese rats. Our results demonstrated the potential anti-obesity of MP which are probably related to the high content of bioactive compounds present in this plant extract.     

Molecular orbital description of the polythiazyl polymer Part 1. MNDO calculations of models of (SN)x

Semiempirical MNDO calculations are performed on various models for the polythiazyl polymer with increasing chain sizes. Population analysis, geometry optimization and the evolution of the frontier orbital energies are discussed. A low-lying broken symmetry structure with (SN)₂ repeating units is detected.     

Study of the Adsorption Properties of MCM-41 Molecular Sieves Prepared at Different Synthesis Times

The variation of surface properties of SiMCM-41 and AlMCM-41 nanoporous materials as function of synthesis time was examined. The main properties studied were: surface area, pore diameter, pore volume, mesoporous parameter, and wall thickness. Siliceous MCM-41 molecular sieves were synthesized starting from hydrogels with the following molar compositions: 4.58SiO₂:0.435Na₂O:1 CTMABr:200 H₂O for SiMCM-41, and 4.58SiO₂:0.485 Na₂O:1 CTMABr:0.038 Al₂O₃:200 H₂O, for AlMCM-41. Cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTMABr) was used as the structural template. The crystallographic parameters were obtained from XRD data and by nitrogen adsorption using the BET and BJH methods. The results obtained showed a significant variation of the surface properties of the MCM-41 materials as a function of the synthesis time reaching silica wall thickness of ca. 2 nm on the fourth day.     

Crystallization of ZSM-12 Zeolite with Different Si/Al Ratio

In this work the acid properties of a series of HZSM-12 zeolites with different Si/Al ratio were studied. The ZSM-12 crystals were synthesized by the hydrothermal method starting from a gel with the following molar composition: 20MTEA:10Na₂O:x Al₂O₃:100SiO₂:2000H₂O, with x = 0.50, 0.67, 1, 1.25 and 2, respectively. The gels were crystallized at 140^∘C for 6 days, then washed, dried and calcined to remove the MTEA template. The samples were ion-exchanged with an ammonium chloride solution and calcined again to obtain the zeolites in the acid form. The materials thus obtained were characterized by XRD, SEM, BET, TG and n-butylamine adsorption. The Si/Al ratio in the reaction mixture affects the amount of zeolite produced and the size of the particles. The XRD analysis indicated that the ZSM-12 zeolite crystallizes in a pure form only with Si/Al ratio above 33. The SEM analysis showed the presence of crystallites with very well defined prismatic shapes. The removal of the MTEA of the pores of the ZSM-12 by TG indicated that there are two kinds of internal sites occupied by MTEA inside the structure. The BET area of the ZSM-12 decreases proportionally with the crystallinity of materials. The desorption of n-butylamine showed that the acid site density is proportional to aluminum content, but the Si/Al ratio shows little influence on the relative strengths of these sites.     

Excited state properties, fluorescence energies, and lifetime of a poly(fluorene-pyridine) copolymer, based on TD-DFT investigation

The structural and electronic properties of the fluorene-pyridine copolymer (FPy)(n), (n = 1-4) were investigated theoretically by means of quantum mechanical calculations based on density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent DFT (TD-DFT) using the B3LYP functional. Geometry optimizations of these oligomers were performed for the ground state and the lowest excited state. It was found that (FPy)(n) is nonplanar in its ground state, whereas a more pronounced trend toward planarity is observed in the S(1) state. Absorption and fluorescence energies have been extrapolated to infinite chain length making use of their good linearity with respect to 1/n. An extrapolated value of 2.64 eV is obtained for vertical excitation energy. The S(1)<--S(0) electronic excitation is characterized as a highest occupied molecular orbital to lowest unoccupied molecular orbital transition and is dominating in terms of oscillator strength. Fluorescence energies and radiative lifetime were calculated as well. The obtained results indicate that the fluorescence energy and radiative lifetime of (FPy)(n) are 2.16 eV and 0.38 ns, respectively. The decrease of fluorescence energy and radiative lifetime with the increase in the chain length is discussed.