Chemical Composition,Antioxidant, Antimicrobial and Cytotoxic/Cytoprotective Activity of Non-Polar Extracts of Grape (Vitis labrusca cv. Bordeaux) and Blackberry (Rubus fruticosus) Seeds

The aim of this study was to compare the influence of the extraction method, chemical composition, antimicrobial effects, antioxidant activity, and cytotoxicity on human cells of the non-polar extracts of grape (Vitis labrusca) and blackberry (Rubus fruticosus) seeds. The Soxhlet (Sox), Bligh–Dyer (BD), and ultrasound (US) methods were used for extractions. For blackberry non-polar seed extract, extraction via the BD method showed the highest mean values of total phenolic content (TPC), expressed in milligrams of gallic acid equivalent per 100 mL of non-polar seed extracts (102.37 mg GAE/100 mL), and higher antioxidant activity in relation to the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical, expressed in milligrams of gallic acid equivalent per 100 mL of non-polar seed extracts (11.50 mg AAE/100 mL), if compared with the Sox and US extractions. Similar results were obtained for the non-polar grape seed extracts, where BD extraction obtained the highest values for TPC (28.61 mg GAE/100 mL) and DPPH (35.36 mg AAE/100 mL). The type of extraction method had an impact on the composition of fatty acids. Only the non-polar blackberry and grape seed extracts obtained via the Sox method showed some in vitro inhibitory effect against Escherichia coli (IAL 2064) and Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 13565). Regardless of the extraction method used, the non-polar blackberry and grape seed extracts did not decrease the cell viability (IC₅₀ >1000 µg/mL) of cancer and normal cell lines, thus indicating the relative safety of the extracts. All the seed extracts decreased the generation of reactive oxygen species in the cell lines. Blackberry and grape seed lipid fractions can be utilized as antioxidants, and the extraction methods used cause significant changes in relation to their bioactivity and chemical composition.     

Current distribution measurements inside an electromagnetic plasma gun operated in a gas-puff mode

Measurements are presented of the time-dependent current distribution inside a coaxial electromagnetic plasma gun. The measurements are carried out using an array of six axially distributed dual-Rogowski coils in a balanced circuit configuration. The radial current distributions indicate that operation in the gas-puff mode, i.e., the mode in which the electrode voltage is applied before injection of the gas, results in a stationary ionization front consistent with the presence of a plasma deflagration. The effects of varying the bank capacitance, transmission line inductance, and applied electrode voltage were studied over the range from 14 to 112 μF, 50 to 200 nH, and 1 to 3 kV, respectively.     

Road traffic: A case study of flow and path-dependency in weighted directed networks

How much can we tell about flows through networks just from their topological properties? Whereas flow distributions of river basins, trees or cardiovascular systems come naturally to mind, more complex topologies are not so immediate, especially if the network is large and heterogeneously directed. Our study is motivated by the question of how the distribution of path-dependent trails in directed networks is correlated to the distribution of network flows. As an example we have studied the path-dependencies in closed trails in four metropolitan areas in England and the USA and computed their global and spatial correlations with measured traffic flows. We have found that the heterogeneous distribution of traffic intensity is mirrored by the distribution of agglomerate path-dependency and that high traffic roads are packed along corridors at short-to-medium trail lengths from the ensemble of nodes.     

Hong-Ou-Mandel characterization of multiply charged Levitons

We review and develop recent results regarding Leviton excitations generated in topological states of matter – such as integer and fractional quantum Hall edge channels – and carrying a charge multiple of the electronic one. The peculiar features associated with these clean and robust emerging excitations can be detected through current correlation measurements. In particular, relevant information can be extracted from the noise signal in generalized Hong-Ou-Mandel experiments, where Levitons with different charges collide against each other at a quantum point contact. We describe this quantity both in the framework of the photo-assisted noise formalism and in terms of a very interesting and transparent picture based on wave-packet overlap.     

DFT Calculations and Synthesis Reveal: Key Intermediates,Omitted Mechanisms,and Unsymmetrical Bimane Products

Theoretical and experimental mixed approaches are complementary and valuable. Our DFT calculations support the mechanism suggested by Kosower, adding to it a key diaziridine intermediate that determines the relative product distribution of this reaction. Our results are consistent with the formation of the diazoketene intermediate as the rate-limiting step. Based on curve fittings, first or second-order kinetics cannot be ruled out. This may indicate that more than one mechanism is simultaneously at play in this transformation. This unexpected outcome led us to study an alternative cyclopropenone intermediate. Although cyclopropenone is not likely to be formed under thermal conditions, adding it to the reaction mixture results in bimane structures. The most staggering finding from this investigation was the unanticipated generation of the unsymmetrical anti-(Me,Me)(Ph,Ph)bimane. The optimization of this route towards unsymmetrical bimanes will require additional investigation.