A novel electrochemical biosensor based on the electrospun nanofibrous nanocomposites of PCL-PPy-MWCNT towards determination of TNF-α biomarker

Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry - For TNF detection, a novel electrochemical biosensor based on the PCL-PPY-MWCNT electrospun nanofiber was developed in this study. TNF is a potent...     

Phenolic profile,antioxidant capacity and anti-inflammatory activity of Anethum graveolens L. essential oil

This study reports the chemical composition, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of Anethum graveolens essential oil and its main compounds. The essential oil was obtained from the aerial parts of the plant by hydrodistillation and analysed by using GC/MS. α-Phellandrene (19.12%), limonene (26.34%), dill ether (15.23%), sabinene (11.34%), α-pinene (2%), n-tetracosane (1.54%), neophytadiene (1.43%), n-docosane (1.04), n-tricosane (1%), n-nonadecane (1%), n-eicosane (0.78%), n-heneicosane (0.67%), β-myrcene (0.23%) and α-tujene (0.21%) were found to be the major constituents of the oil. A. graveolens oil exhibit a higher activity in each antioxidant system with a special attention for β-carotene bleaching test (IC₅₀: 15.3 μg/mL) and reducing power (EC₅₀: 11.24 μg/mL). The TLC-bioautography screening and fractionation resulted in the separation of the main antioxidant compounds, which were identified as limonene (45%) and sabinene (32%). The essential oil and its main compounds exhibited a potent NO-scavenging effect and inhibited the expression of inducible NO synthase.     

Chemical composition and biological activities of Iranian Achillea wilhelmsii L. essential oil: a high effectiveness against Candida spp. and Escherichia strains

In the case of Achillea wilhelmsii, 30 compounds were identified representing 94.48% of the total oil with a yield of 0.82% w/w. The major constituents of the oil were described as α-thujene (6.11%), α-pinene (5.11%), sabinene (5.23%), p-cymene (7%), 1,8-cineole (6%), linalool (10%), camphor (8.43%), thymol (18.98%) and carvacrol (20.13%). A. wilhelmsii oil exhibited higher antibacterial and antifungal activities with a high effectiveness against Escherichia coli and Candida albicans with the lowest minimum inhibitory concentration and minimum bactericidal concentration/minimum fungicidal concentration value (2 ± 0.0–2 ± 0.0 g/mL, 1 ± 0.5–1 ± 0.5 g/mL), respectively. Results showed that A. wilhelmsii oil exhibits a higher activity in each antioxidant system with a special attention for β-carotene bleaching test (IC₅₀: 19 μg/mL) and reducing power (EC₅₀: 10 μg/mL). Antioxidant activity-guided fractionation of the oil was carried out by TLC-bioautography screening and fractionation resulted in the separation of main antioxidant compounds which were identified as thymol (65%) and carvacrol (19%). In conclusion, these results support the use of the essential oil and its main compounds for their antioxidant properties and antimicrobial activity.     

Fractional Deng Entropy and Extropy and Some Applications

Deng entropy and extropy are two measures useful in the Dempster–Shafer evidence theory (DST) to study uncertainty, following the idea that extropy is the dual concept of entropy. In this paper, we present their fractional versions named fractional Deng entropy and extropy and compare them to other measures in the framework of DST. Here, we study the maximum for both of them and give several examples. Finally, we analyze a problem of classification in pattern recognition in order to highlight the importance of these new measures.     

Transport of silver ion through bulk liquid membrane using macrocyclic and acyclic ligands as carriers in organic solvents

The bulk liquid membrane transport of silver (I) ion was studied by dibenzopyridino-18-crown-6(DBPY18C6), 4-nitrobenzo-15-crown-5(NB15C5), 2-aminothiaphenol and a new synthesized ligand, 1,4-dioxa-7,10-dithiacyclododecane-2,3-dione as carriers in nitrobenzene (NB). The effects of pH on the source phase and receiving phase, the nature and concentration of stripping agents in the receiving phase and the picrate concentration as counter ion in source phase were investigated. The results show that the efficiency of transport of the Ag⁺ ion through membranes, changes with the nature of the ligand. The efficiency transport increases for the ligands with donating nitrogen and sulfur atoms with respect to oxygen donor atoms. Maximum transport efficiency was observed for silver (I) ion in the presence of thiosulfate ion ( ) as a suitable stripping agent. The results show that the sequence of transport efficiency for Ag⁺ ion using DBPY18C6, NB15C5, 2-aminothiaphenol and 1,4-dioxa-7,10-dithiacyclododecane-2,3-dione as carriers in organic solvents is: nitrobenzene > dichloromethane > 1,2- dichloroethane > chloroform.     

Binuclear and polymeric Hg(II) complexes of an ambidentate phosphorus ylide: Synthesis,crystal structure,antibacterial activity,and theoretical studies

The new α-keto-stabilized phosphorus ylide Ph₃PCHC(O)PhCN ( Y ) was synthesized by addition of triphenylphosphine to 2-bromo-4′-cyanoacetophenone, followed by treatment with NaOH 10%. Reaction of ligand ( Y ) with methanolic solution of mercury(II) halides under mild conditions yielded the binuclear complexes [Y·HgX₂]₂ [X=Cl ( 1 ), Br ( 2 ), I ( 3 )]. The new organic/inorganic composite polymer [Hg(NO₃)₂(Y)]_n ( 4 ) was synthesized by the reaction of mercury(II) nitrate with the phosphorus ylide Y . Compounds synthesized were characterized by Fourier-transform infrared, ¹H, ³¹P, and ¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopic methods, which confirmed the coordination of ylide to the metal center through the ylidic carbon atom. Single-crystal X-ray structures of phosphorus ylide Y and polymeric complex 4 were also determined and the crystallographic data of complex 4 showed that the title complex has an infinite one-dimensional structure. Furthermore, the electronic and molecular structures of complexes 1 – 3 were investigated at the BP86/def2-SVP level of theory, indicating an increasing trend for C→M bond lengths: Hg₂I₂ > Hg₂Br₂ > Hg₂Cl₂ in [Y→HgX₂]₂ (X = Cl, Br, I) complexes. In addition, the antibacterial activity of ligand Y and all complexes using the agar disc diffusion method was examined against both selected gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. Results indicated that the ligand Y and complexes 1 and 4 show good antibacterial effect against gram-positive bacteria tested; besides, the inhibition zones of complexes were significantly larger than those of chloramphenicol as standard.     

Kinetic study of carbothermal reduction of zirconia under vacuum condition

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - In this research, formation mechanism and kinetics of vacuum carbothermal synthesis of zirconium carbide using zirconium acetate and sucrose are...     

Fe3O4@SiO2‐copper sucrose xanthate as a green nanocatalyst for N‐, O‐ and S‐arylation

Formation of C(sp²)–X bonds was carried out using a Fe₃O₄@SiO₂‐copper(I) sucrose xanthate nanoparticle catalyst with the aid of the copper(I) xanthate moiety in the catalyst which was prepared from the reaction between sucrose and carbon disulfide through an alkaline medium via the traditional Zeise approach. Various techniques were employed for the characterization of these novel nanoparticles. Three sorts of heteroatoms, N, O and S, successfully underwent heteroatom arylation to produce secondary or tertiary amines, ethers and thioethers, respectively.     

A unique combination of KI/ZnFe2O4 as a catalyst for oxidative Strecker reaction

α‐Aminonitriles as key intermediates for the preparation of α‐amino acid derivatives, amides, diamines, peptides, proteins and heterocycles were synthesized through methylarene oxidation in the Strecker reaction using a unique combination of KI/ZnFe₂O₄ as the best catalyst and aqueous tert‐butyl hydroperoxide as oxidant. A wide range of amines and methylarenes were converted to the corresponding products. Operational simplicity, short reaction time and recyclability of the catalyst are advantages of this protocol.     

Effect of micropillar electrode spacing on the performance of electrohydrodynamic micropumps

Electrohydrodynamic (EHD) micropumps with three-dimensional 50 μm × 50 μm micropillar electrodes were fabricated and tested in this study. Two basic electrode configurations were investigated: (i) micropillar emitter and collector electrodes (symmetric) and (ii) micropillar emitter and planar collector electrodes (asymmetric). The micropumps were fabricated by integrating chromium/gold planar electrodes with electroplated 3-D Nickel micropillars on a glass substrate with a 100 μm high PDMS microchannel. The effect of the spanwise micropillar spacing on the pump performance was determined. The pumps were tested using HFE-7100 as the working fluid for the maximum pressure generation under a no flow condition. The micropumps with the asymmetric electrode design generated a significantly higher pressure head than the corresponding micropumps with symmetric electrode configuration for the same applied voltage, with lower power consumption. A decrease in the spanwise spacing of the micropillar electrodes increased the pump performance for the symmetric configuration, while the performance decreased for the asymmetric configuration.