Phytochemical Analysis,Antibacterial Activity and Modulating Effect of Essential Oil from Syzygium cumini (L.) Skeels

One of the main global problems that affect human health is the development of bacterial resistance to different drugs. As a result, the growing number of multidrug-resistant pathogens has contributed to an increase in resistant infections and represents a public health problem. The present work seeks to investigate the chemical composition and antibacterial activity of the essential oil of Syzygium cumini leaves. To identify its chemical composition, gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry was used. The antibacterial activity test was performed with the standard strains Escherichia coli ATCC 25922, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 25853 and Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923 and multidrug-resistant clinical isolates E. coli 06, P. aeruginosa 24 and S. aureus 10. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was determined by serial microdilution as well as the verification of the modulating effect of the antibiotic effect. In this test, the oil was used in a subinhibitory concentration. The test reading was performed after 24 h of incubation at 37 °C. The results show that the major chemical constituent is α-pinene (53.21%). The oil showed moderate activity against E. coli ATCC 25922, with the MIC of 512 µg/mL; there was no activity against the other strains. The oil potentiated the effect of antibiotics demonstrating possible synergism when associated with gentamicin, erythromycin and norfloxacin against E. coli 06 and S. aureus 10.     

RNA PROTEIN CROSSLINKS INTRODUCED INTO E. coli RIBOSOMES BY USE OF THE INTRINSIC PROBE 4-THIOURIDINE

Abstract— 70S Ribosome substituted by the uridine photoactivable analogue 4-thiouridine has been prepared by an in vivo method (substitution level 4.5%). The r-proteins crosslinked to 16S and 23S rRNA before and after 366-nm photoactivation were identified. Proteins S2-S7-S9/11-S18 are found linked to 16S RNA in dark-prepared 30S subunits. Illumination increases uniformly their binding by a factor of 2.5. Similarly, proteins L5-L15-L18-L23-L28-L32 are found crosslinked to 23S RNA in dark-prepared 50S subunits. Photoactivation increases their binding but in addition promotes the covalent linking of proteins L1-L3-L4.     

Detection of the EPR spectra of NO. in ruthenium(II) complexes

The EPR of NO. can be detected in the liquid and solid states when crystal fields are sufficient to remove the axial symmetry and separate the (pi*)x and (pi*)y orbitals by a few hundred reciprocal centimeters. The theory of the EPR spin Hamiltonian of bound NO. is reviewed, further developed, and then applied to the observed frozen-liquid spectra of NO. bound to Ru(II) obtained from RuIINO+ complexes by reduction. Comparisons to earlier reports on the observation of the EPR spectra of NO. are made.     

Performance of anaerobic sequencing batch biofilm reactor submitted to different influent volume feeds and cycle time periods maintaining organic loading

The stability and efficiency of an anaerobic reactor containing biomass immobilized on polyurethane foam were assessed. The reactor with mechanical stirring of 500 rpm and maintained at 30+/-1 degrees C treated synthetic wastewater with a concentration of approx 500 mg of chemical oxygen demand/L and was fed with different influent volumes and cycle times maintaining organic load. Operation was in batch mode with renewal of only part of the volume of wastewater to be treated; that is reactor discharge was not complete, but partial. The main operational characteristic investigated was the ratio of the volume of wastewater fed per cycle (VA) to the volume of wastewater in the reactor (VA) maintaining the same volumetric organic load. This way, operating flexibility could be verified in relation to the volume of treated wastewater at each cycle and the cycle time for the same organic load. The results indicated that the reactor was able to operate with different VA/Vu ratios with no significant loss in performance, thus allowing increased operational flexibility. For conditions in which VA was >or=50% of VA, removal efficiencies of filtered and nonfiltered organic matter were about 84 and 79%, respectively, whereas at conditions of higher initial influent dilution, these efficiencies were slightly lower, about 80 and 74%, respectively. At higher initial influent dilutions, it became difficult to maintain a constant reactor medium volume, owing to a high formation rate of viscous polymer-like material, likely of microbiologic origin.     

A Pre-Concentration Procedure Using Cloud Point Extraction for the Determination of Manganese in Saline Effluents of a Petroleum Refinery by Flame Atomic Absorption Spectrometry

This paper describes the development of a cloud point extraction procedure for the determination of manganese in saline effluents by flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS). The optimization step was performed using the Doehlert matrix involving the following variables: buffer concentration, pH and centrifugation time. The validation process was assessed as: parameters of the analytical curve, precision, effect of other ions in the proposed procedure, robustness test and accuracy. The proposed procedure allows the determination of manganese with a detection limit (3δ/S) of 0.60 μg L⁻¹, and a precision expressed as relative standard deviation (RSD) of 2.2 (n = 8) and 1.5% (n = 8) for a manganese concentration of 1 and 5 μg L⁻¹, respectively. The pre-concentration factor obtained was 84. The recovery achieved for the determination of manganese in the presence of several other metal ions demonstrated that this procedure could be satisfactorily applied to the analysis of environmental samples. The accuracy was confirmed by the analysis of CRM trace elements in water (NIST 1643d). This procedure was applied to the determination of manganese in saline effluents of a petroleum refinery. For three analyzed samples the manganese content varied between 44.9 and 67.9 μg L⁻¹.     

Doehlert matrix for optimisation of procedure for determination of nickel in saline oil-refinery effluents by use of flame atomic absorption spectrometry after preconcentration by cloud-point extraction

This paper proposes a preconcentration procedure for determination of nickel in saline aqueous waste samples by flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS). It is based on cloud-point extraction of nickel(II) ions as 2-(5-bromo-2-pyridylazo)-5-diethilaminophenol (Br-PADAP) complexes using octylphenoxypolyethoxyethanol (Triton X-114) as surfactant. The optimisation step was performed using a four-variable Doehlert design, involving the factors centrifugation time (CT) of system after addition of surfactant, solution pH, methanol volume (MV) added at micellar phase, and buffer concentration (BC). The analytical response used was absorbance, after volume correction. Using the established experimental conditions in the optimisation step the procedure enables nickel determination with a detection limit (3 delta/ S) of 0.2 microg L(-1), quantification limit (10 delta/ S) of 0.7 microg L(-1), and precision, calculated as relative standard deviation ( RSD) of 4.7 ( n=8) and 3.5% ( n=8) for nickel concentration of 1 and 5 microg L(-1), respectively. The preconcentration factor, determined from the ratio of the slopes of the analytical curves with and without preconcentration, is 74. The recovery achieved for nickel determination in the presence of several cations demonstrated that this procedure could be applied for analysis of water samples. The robustness was checked by using saturated fractional factorial designs, centred on the established experimental conditions in the optimisation step. The results of these tests demonstrated that the variables centrifugation time and buffer concentration are robust for modification by 10% and that solution pH and methanol volume are robust for 5%. Accuracy was evaluated by using the certified material reference SLEW-3 estuarine water for trace metals. The procedure was used for determination of nickel in saline effluents from oil refinery samples. Recovery results (95-104%) indicate that the procedure has satisfactory accuracy for nickel determination in these samples.     

Confluent Heun functions and the physics of black holes: Resonant frequencies,Hawking radiation and scattering of scalar waves

We apply the confluent Heun functions to study the resonant frequencies (quasispectrum), the Hawking radiation and the scattering process of scalar waves, in a class of spacetimes, namely, the ones generated by a Kerr–Newman–Kasuya spacetime (dyon black hole) and a Reissner–Nordström black hole surrounded by a magnetic field (Ernst spacetime). In both spacetimes, the solutions for the angular and radial parts of the corresponding Klein–Gordon equations are obtained exactly, for massive and massless fields, respectively. The special cases of Kerr and Schwarzschild black holes are analyzed and the solutions obtained, as well as in the case of a Schwarzschild black hole surrounded by a magnetic field. In all these special situations, the resonant frequencies, Hawking radiation and scattering are studied.     

Development of a new sequential injection in-line cloud point extraction system for flame atomic absorption spectrometric determination of manganese in food samples

A preconcentration method for manganese determination by sequential injection cloud point extraction with subsequent detection by flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS) has been developed. The enrichment of Mn was performed after a preliminary on-line cloud point extraction and entrapment of manganese-containing surfactant aggregated within a minicolumn packed with cotton. The laboratory-made reagent 4-(5′-bromo-2′-thiazolylazo)orcinol (Br-TAO) and the surfactant Triton X-114 were used for cloud point extraction. The manganese ions were eluted with sulphuric acid solution and directly introduced into the FAAS. Chemical and flow variables affecting the preconcentration were studied. Using a sample volume of 2.80 mL the limit of detection and enrichment factor were calculated to be 0.5 μg L⁻¹ and 14, respectively. The sample frequency is 48 h⁻¹, considering a total run cycle of 75 s. The accuracy of the proposed method has been demonstrated by the analysis of the certified reference biological materials rice flour and tomato leaves. The method has been applied to determination of manganese in food samples.     

Identities of *-superalgebras and almost polynomial growth

We study the growth of the codimensions of a *-superalgebra over a field of characteristic zero. We classify the ideals of identities of finite dimensional algebras whose corresponding codimensions are of almost polynomial growth. It turns out that these are the ideals of identities of two algebras with distinct involutions and gradings. Along the way, we also classify the finite dimensional simple *-superalgebras over an algebraically closed field of characteristic zero.     

Structural elucidation and NMR assignments of a new pyrrolizidine alkaloid from Crotalaria vitellina Ker Gawl

A new pyrrolizidine alkaloid, named crotavitelin, was isolated from fruits of Crotalaria vitellina, Fabaceae (Papilionoideae). The structure was established by spectroscopic techniques such as one‐dimensional and two‐dimensional NMR, IR, and MS. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.