The phytoalexins from cultivated and wild crucifers: chemistry and biology

Phytoalexins are antimicrobial secondary metabolites produced de novo by plants in response to stress, including microbial attack. In general, phytoalexins are important components of plant defenses against fungal and bacterial pathogens. The phytoalexins of crucifers are indole alkaloids derived from (S)-tryptophan, most of which contain a sulfur atom derived from cysteine. Beside their antimicrobial activity against different plant pathogenic species, cruciferous phytoalexins have shown anticarcinogenic effects on various human cell lines. This review focuses on the phytoalexins produced by cruciferous plants reported to date, with particular emphasis on their chemical synthesis, biosynthesis, metabolism by plant fungal pathogens and biological activities. A summary table containing all phytoalexins, their cultivated and wild cruciferous sources, their synthetic starting materials, biotransformation products and biological activities is provided.     

基于圆筒模型的热障涂层安定分析

热载荷作用下,由于热障涂层(thermal barrier coatings, TBCs) 各层材料的热不匹配以及材料参数的温度相关等因素,会使热障涂层界面区域存在复杂的应力应变场,影响系统安定性,并导致涂层开裂和剥落. 将热障涂层外凸和内凹微观界面结构简化为多层圆筒模型,借助经典机动安定定理,利用特雷斯卡(Tresca) 屈服准则和增量破坏准则处理对时间的积分问题,避免了常规安定性分析的数学规划问题,建立了热障涂层安定极限分析方法,将材料屈服强度随温度变化关系简化为双线性关系,利用补偿变换的方法简化求解过程,对典型热障涂层安定性进行了研究. 结果表明,利用基于圆筒的安定极限分析方法,能够方便求解安定极限,便于工程应用;热障涂层安定极限值明显高于弹性设计值,且界面外凸区域安定极限高于内凹区域极限值,结构首先在内凹处失效;圆筒模型基体曲率和涂层厚度越大,结构安定极限越高,分析结果与试验结果一致;所建立的热障涂层安定分析方法,对进一步研究考虑蠕变因素影响的热障涂层安定性具有重要意义.      

Density Functional Theory-Based Studies Predict Carbon Nanotubes as Effective Mycolactone Inhibitors

Fullerenes, boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs), and carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have all been extensively explored for biomedical purposes. This work describes the use of BNNTs and CNTs as mycolactone inhibitors. Density functional theory (DFT) has been used to investigate the chemical properties and interaction mechanisms of mycolactone with armchair BNNTs (5,5) and armchair CNTs (5,5). By examining the optimized structure and interaction energy, the intermolecular interactions between mycolactone and nanotubes were investigated. The findings indicate that mycolactone can be physically adsorbed on armchair CNTs in a stable condition, implying that armchair CNTs can be potential inhibitors of mycolactone. According to DOS plots and HOMO–LUMO orbital studies, the electronic characteristics of pure CNTs are not modified following mycolactone adsorption on the nanotubes. Because of mycolactone’s large π-π interactions with CNTs, the estimated interaction energies indicate that mycolactone adsorption on CNTs is preferable to that on BNNTs. CNTs can be explored as potentially excellent inhibitors of mycolactone toxins in biological systems.     

Electrodeposition of ZnO on carbon nanofiber buckypaper

ZnO nanostructures have been electrochemically synthesized on three-dimensional, interconnected, and porous carbon nanofiber Buckypaper substrates. Using potentiostatic deposition, wurtzite ZnO with controlled microstructure and morphology has been deposited. While all ZnO deposits exhibit a band gap value of around 3.2 eV, impurity states determined by photoluminescence (PL) measurements show strong deposition potential influences. Both the green and red emissions corresponding to respective oxygen vacancies and oxygen rich impurity states can be identified. Thermal annealing can greatly reduce oxygen vacancy concentration but has limited effects on the oxygen rich defects. This study suggests a cost-effective and high-throughput approach in deposition of ZnO nanostructures suitable for photovoltaic applications.     

Excelsanone,a new isoflavonoid from Erythrina excelsa (Fabaceae), with in vitro antioxidant and in vitro cytotoxic effects on prostate cancer cells lines

Abstract

A new isoflavonoid, excelsanone (2), was isolated from the ethyl acetate extract of Erythrina excelsa stem bark, together with three known compounds namely 6,8-diprenylgenistein (3), β-sitosterol (1) and sitosteryl-β-D-glucopyranoside (4). Their structures were elucidated using spectroscopic methods (HR-ESI-MS, NMR and IR) and by comparison with some literature data. The antioxidant activity of crude extracts and two isolated compounds was evaluated using free radical scavenging (DPPH) and Ferric Reducing Ability Power (FRAP) methods with catechin as standard. The results of the radical scavenging activity showed that excelsanone (2) has a moderate potential with an IC₅₀ of 1.31?mg/ml. The cytotoxicity of compounds 2 and 3 as well as the ethyl acetate extract was evaluated using 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay in two prostate cancer cell lines (DU145 and PC3). Excelsanone (2) induced a greater cytotoxicity in all tested cell lines, with a significant inhibition of DU145 cells growth in a concentration-dependent manner.     

Selective Functionalization of Aminoheterocycles by a Pyrylium Salt

The functionalization of aminoheterocycles by using a pyrylium tetrafluoroborate reagent (Pyry‐BF₄) is presented. This reagent efficiently condenses with a great variety of heterocyclic amines and primes the C?N bond for nucleophilic aromatic substitution. More than 60 examples for the formation of C?O, C?N, C?S, or C?SO₂R bonds are disclosed herein. In contrast to C?N activation through diazotization and polyalkylation, this method is characterized by its mild conditions and impressive functional‐group tolerance. In addition to small‐molecule derivatization, Pyry‐BF₄ allows the introduction of functional groups in a late‐stage fashion to furnish highly functionalized structures.     

Comparative Study of Phosgene Gas Sensing Using Carbon and Boron Nitride Nanomaterials—A DFT Approach

Phosgene (COCl₂), a valuable industrial compound, maybe a public safety and health risk due to potential abuse and possible accidental spillage. Conventional techniques suffer from issues related to procedural complexity and sensitivity. Therefore, there is a need for the development of simple and highly sensitive techniques that overcome these challenges. Recent advances in nanomaterials science offer the opportunity for the development of such techniques by exploiting the unique properties of these nanostructures. In this study, we investigated the potential of six types of nanomaterials: three carbon-based ([5,0] CNT, C60, C70) and three boron nitride-based (BNNT, BN60, BN70) for the detection of COCl₂. The local density approximation (LDA) approach of the density functional theory (DFT) was used to estimate the adsorption characteristics and conductivities of these materials. The results show that the COCl₂ molecule adsorbed spontaneously on the Fullerene or nanocages and endothermically on the pristine zigzag nanotubes. Using the magnitude of the bandgap modulation, the order of suitability of the different nanomaterials was established as follows: PBN60 (0.19%) < PC70 (1.39%) < PC60 (1.77%) < PBNNT (27.64%) < PCNT (65.29%) < PBN70 (134.12%). Since the desired criterion for the design of an electronic device is increased conductivity after adsorption due to the resulting low power consumption, PC60 was found to be most suitable because of its power consumption as it had the largest decrease of 1.77% of the bandgap.     

Intramolecular Cyclization of 1-Benzyl-2-(nitromethylene)pyrrolidines in Triflic Acid

1-Benzyl-2-(nitromethylene)pyrrolidines in triflic acid undergo intramolecular cyclization to afford the corresponding 2,3-dihydro-1H-pyrrolo[1,2-b]isoquinolinium triflates and/or 10-amino-2,3-dihydro-1H-pyrrolo[1,2-b]isoquinolinium triflates, depending on the nature of the aromatic substituent. Structures of products and reaction mechanisms are discussed.     

土质边坡震裂机制物理模拟研究

为了研究地震中土质边坡(包括覆盖层边坡)在强震作用下破裂的成因机制,以 "5 ·12" 汶川特大地震为背景资料,采用震动台模拟试验进行了研究。模拟试验结果表明:斜坡震裂变形破坏与斜坡外形结构特征具有相关性。坡面转折点应力最易集中,破坏的可能性较大。震动条件下土质边坡完全破坏也具有一般性的规律,即以"一垮到底"的方式堆积于坡脚。本次震裂边坡形成机制研究初步显示了一定规律,但在地震条件下的动力响应问题还需进行更深入研究。     

The Tsallis statistical distribution in a completely open system

We derive the statistical distributions, partition functions and thermodynamic formulas for a completely open system on the basis of Tsallis entropy. These results are derived for two types of constraints, using the method of maximum entropy.