Chemical mechanism of controlled nitric oxide release from trans-[RuCl([15]aneN4)NO](PF6)2 as a vasorelaxant agent

The nitrosyl ruthenium complex, trans-[RuCl([15]aneN₄)NO](PF₆)₂, ([15]aneN₄?=?1,4,8,12-tetraazacyclopentadecane), exhibits vasorelaxation characteristics attributed to its nitric oxide release properties. The observed in vitro and in vivo vasodilation is dependent on noradrenaline concentration. We report here the chemical mechanism of the reaction between noradrenaline and trans-[RuCl([15]aneN₄)NO](PF₆)₂ in aqueous phosphate buffer solution at pH 7.40. NO measurement by NO-sensor electrode, cyclic voltammetry, ³¹PNMR and HPLC analysis were used to investigate the reduction process as the fundamental step for NO release characteristic of trans-[RuCl([15]aneN₄)NO](PF₆)₂. A supramolecular species containing HPO₄ ^2? as a bridging group between noradrenaline and trans-[RuCl([15]aneN₄)NO](PF₆)₂ is suggested as an intermediate prior to the reduction of the nitrosyl ruthenium complex.     

Characterisation of protease activity in extracellular products secreted by Giardia duodenalis trophozoites treated with propolis

Results from our laboratory revealed propolis activity on Giardia trophozoites proliferation. Since therapeutic agents can inhibit the activity of proteases related to relevant biologic and physiologic processes of parasites, this study was undertaken to characterise the proteolytic activity of excretory/secretory products (ESP) of trophozoites treated with propolis. ESP was obtained from culture supernatants of trophozoites exposed to 250 and 500 μg mL(-1) of propolis. ESP were tested in sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis for the protein profiles and the protease activity was assayed in gelatin-containing gels. Synthetic inhibitors were used to characterise the protease classes. Treated and non-treated ESP showed a similar protein and hydrolysis pattern. A simple pattern of protein composed by five evident bands of approximately 167, 132, 79, 61 and 51 kDa was found, and the zymograms comprised hydrolysis zones distributed from >170 to 23 kDa. No inhibition was seen on protease activity of propolis-treated trophozoites, whose hydrolysis pattern was similar to control. One may conclude that both ESP degraded gelatin and the activity was predominantly due to cysteine proteases. Although propolis had no effect on the proteolytic activity, further studies could identify the active constituents responsible for propolis antigiardial activity and their mechanisms of action.     

A Generalization of the Goldberg–Sachs theorem and its consequences

The Goldberg–Sachs theorem is generalized for all four-dimensional manifolds endowed with torsion-free connection compatible with the metric, the treatment includes all signatures as well as complex manifolds. It is shown that when the Weyl tensor is algebraically special severe geometric restrictions are imposed. In particular it is demonstrated that the simple self-dual eigenbivectors of the Weyl tensor generate integrable isotropic planes. Another result obtained here is that if the self-dual part of the Weyl tensor vanishes in a Ricci-flat manifold of (2,2) signature the manifold must be Calabi–Yau or symplectic and admits a solution for the source-free Einstein–Maxwell equations.     

Physical versus non-physical effective nuclear masses for non-adiabatic corrections to molecular spectra

Two types of developments for very accurate non-adiabatic corrections to rovibrational molecular energy levels, one of a formal nature and the other of a heuristic nature, lead to fundamentally different approaches for effective nuclear masses. The former yields effective masses that have non-physical interpretation at some ranges of nuclear distances. The later uses physical masses obtained from electronic structure calculations. This paper contains a brief review of the subject and proposes procedures to improve and generalize the heuristic approach. Comparisons are made of the results obtained by the two approaches for the H ${}_2$ molecule, since no further calculations were found with the proper accuracy, but some issues involving the HeH ${}^{+}$ ion and the water molecule are discussed. The conclusion is that the heuristic approach has many advantages over the formal one, namely, equivalent accuracy and physically grounded qualitative interpretation. But, moreover, it seems to be presently the only method that allows non-adiabatic calculations for well isolated states of larger molecules.     

The autooxidation process in linoleic acid screened by Raman spectroscopy

The chemical changes associated to the autooxidation process of linoleic acid (LA) were detected by Raman spectroscopy and interpreted in the light of density functional theory (DFT) calculations performed for both the fatty acid and its main oxidation products. The present methodology, applied for a six‐day period upon induction of oxidation (through heating), allowed to understand the chemical modifications occurring during the oxidation process. Raman spectroscopy was shown to be a suitable and reliable technique for assessing the oxidation degree of fatty acid samples, particularly pure fatty acids, mainly when computational methods are used alongside to predict the spectral features of the distinct chemical entities involved. Screening of the oxidation process was mostly based on the loss of intensity of the bands assigned to LA cis‐double bonds. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Multiferroic behavior in trimerized Mott insulators

We demonstrate multiferroic behavior in trimerized Mott insulators through the interplay between spins and electric dipole moments resulting from electronic charge fluctuations in frustrated units. The model consists of stacked triangular layers of trimers with small intertrimer exchange interactions J' and J'. Ferroelectric states coexist with ferro- or antiferromagnetic orderings depending on the value of the magnetic field H and the sign of the interlayer exchange J'. The electric polarization undergoes abrupt changes as a function of H.     

Vanadium complexes with thiosemicarbazones: Synthesis,characterization, crystal structures and anti-Mycobacterium tuberculosis activity

The development of more efficient anti-tuberculosis drugs is of interest. Three oxovanadium(IV) and three cis-dioxovanadium(V) complexes with thiosemicarbazone derivatives bearing moieties with different lipophilicity have been prepared and had their inhibitory activity against Mycobacteriumtuberculosis H₃₇Rv ATCC 27294 evaluated. The analytical methods used by the complexes’ characterization included IR, EPR, ¹H, ¹³C and ⁵¹V NMR spectroscopies, elemental analysis, cyclic voltammetry, magnetic susceptibility measurement and single crystal X-ray diffractometry. [VO(acac)(aptsc)], [VO(acac)(apmtsc)] and [VO(acac)(apptsc)] (acac = acetylacetonate; Haptsc = 2-acetylpyridinethiosemicarbazone; Hapmtsc = 2-acetylpyridine-N(4)-methyl-thiosemicarbazone and Happtsc = 2-acetylpyridine-N(4)-phenyl-thiosemicarbazone) are paramagnetic and their EPR spectra are consistent with the monoanionic N,N,S-tridentate coordination of the thiosemicarbazone ligands, resulting in octahedral structures of rhombic symmetry and with the oxidation state +IV for the vanadium atom. As result of oxidation of the vanadium(IV) complexes above, the diamagnetic cis-dioxovanadium(V) complexes [VO₂(aptsc)], [VO₂(apmtsc)] and [VO₂(apptsc)] are formed. Their ¹H, ¹³C and ⁵¹V NMR spectra were acquired and support a distorted square pyramidal geometry for them, in accord with the solid state X-ray structures determined for [VO₂(aptsc)] and [VO₂(apmtsc)]. In general, the vanadium compounds show comparable or larger anti-M. tuberculosis activities than the free thiosemicarbazone ligands, with MIC values within 62.5–1.56 (μg/mL).     

Stability of the spontaneous quantum Hall state in the triangular Kondo-lattice model

We study the behavior of the quarter-filled Kondo-lattice model on a triangular lattice by combining a zero-temperature variational approach and finite-temperature Monte Carlo simulations. For intermediate coupling between itinerant electrons and classical moments S(j), we find a thermodynamic phase transition into an exotic spin ordering with uniform scalar spin chirality and (S(j))=0. The state exhibits a spontaneous quantum Hall effect. We also study how its properties are affected by the application of an external magnetic field.     

Irreversible dynamics of the phase boundary in U(Ru0.96Rh0.04)2Si2 and implications for ordering

We report measurements and analysis of the specific heat and magnetocaloric effect-induced temperature changes at the phase boundary into the single magnetic field-induced phase (phase II) of U(Ru0.96Rh0.04)2Si2, which yield irreversible properties similar to those at the valence transition of Yb(1-x)Y(x)InCu4. To explain these similarities, we propose a bootstrap mechanism by which lattice parameter changes caused by an electric quadrupolar order parameter within phase II become coupled to the 5f-electron hybridization, giving rise to a valence change at the transition.