Optical properties and nondestructive estimation of anthocyanin content in plant leaves.

Absorption and reflectance spectra of maple (Acer platanoides), cotoneaster (Cotoneaster alaunica), dogwood (Cornus alba) and pelargonium (Pelargonium zonale) leaves with a wide range of pigment content and composition were studied in visible and near-infrared spectra in order to reveal specific anthocyanin (Anth) spectral features in leaves. Comparing absorption spectra of Anth-containing and Anth-free leaves with the same chlorophyll (Chl) content, absorption spectra of Anth in leaves were derived. The main spectral feature of Anth absorption in vivo was a peak around 550 nm; the peak magnitude was closely related to Anth content. A quantitative nondestructive technique was developed to subtract Chl contribution to reflectance in this spectral region and retrieve Anth content from reflectance over a wide range of pigment content and composition. Anth reflectance index in the form ARI = (R550)-1 - (R700)-1, where (R550)-1 and (R700)-1 are inverse reflectances at 550 and 700 nm, respectively, allowed an accurate estimation of Anth accumulation, even in minute amounts, in intact senescing and stressed leaves.     

流体力学半径对估算胶体微球聚集速率常数的影响

胶体粒子聚集速率常数实验值远低于理论值一直是被普遍关注的问题.聚集速率常数的理论推导是基于粒子的几何半径来考虑的,但决定粒子扩散速率及聚集速率的应该是粒子的流体力学半径(大于几何半径),因而它是使聚集速率常数实验值低于理论值的因素之一.影响流体力学半径的因素很多,其中,带电粒子在溶液中因表面存在双电层,会明显增大流体力学半径,造成聚集速率减慢.而双电层的厚度又随溶液中离子强度的不同而改变.本工作在聚集速率的公式中引入了修正因子,即几何半径与其流体力学半径之比,以修正由于用几何半径代替流体力学半径带来的误差.其中几何半径和流体力学半径可以分别用扫描电镜(SEM)和动态光散射(DLS)来测定.以两种粒径的聚苯乙烯带电微球为例,考察了在不同离子强度下,该误差的大小.结果发现,对于半径为30 nm的微球,用流体力学半径计算的慢聚集速率常数比理论值偏低约8%.该误差随离子强度增加而减少.对于快聚集情况,流体力学半径对聚集速率基本没有影响.     

Synthetic magnetic opals

We present studies of novel nanocomposites of BiNi impregnated into the structure of opals as well as inverse opals. Atomic force microscopy and high resolution elemental analyses show a highly ordered structure and uniform distribution of the BiNi filler in the matrix. These BiNi-based nanocomposites are found to exhibit distinct ferromagnetic-like ordering with transition temperature of about 675 K. As far as we know there exists no report in literature on any BiNi compound which is magnetic.     

Assessing carotenoid content in plant leaves with reflectance spectroscopy

Spectral reflectance of maple, chestnut and beech leaves in a wide range of pigment content and composition was investigated to devise a nondestructive technique for total carotenoid (Car) content estimation in higher plant leaves. Reciprocal reflectance in the range 510 to 550 nm was found to be closely related to the total pigment content in leaves. The sensitivity of reciprocal reflectance to Car content was maximal in a spectral range around 510 nm; however, chlorophylls (Chl) also affect reflectance in this spectral range. To remove the Chl effect on the reciprocal reflectance at 510 nm, a reciprocal reflectance at either 550 or 700 nm was used, which was linearly proportional to the Chl content. Indices for nondestructive estimation of Car content in leaves were devised and validated. Reflectances in three spectral bands, 510+/-5 nm, either 550+/-15 nm or 700+/-7.5 nm and the near infrared range above 750 nm are sufficient to estimate total Car content in plant leaves nondestructively with a root mean square error of less than 1.75 nmol/cm2.     

Temperature hysteretic effect and its influence on colossal magnetoresistance of La0.33Nd0.33Ca0.33MnO3

Electrical resistance (R) measurements of a bulk La_0.33Nd_0.33Ca_0.33MnO₃ perovskite in magnetic fields up to 40 kOe have revealed anomalous temperature hysteretic effects both in 0 Oe and 20 kOe magnetic fields. The sharp peak observed in the R vs. T plot indicates the occurrence of metal-to-insulator (M-I) transition at a temperature of T _MI=110 K and 140 K, for cooling and warming paths, respectively. An applied magnetic field of 20 kOe reduces the resistance and shifts T _MI to 160 K and 185 K for cooling and warming, respectively. We have observed a much higher resistance in the cooling path than in the warming path leading to the hysteretic resistance ratio (R _cool/R _warm) of 200 at 110 K and 1.8 at 160 K for 0 Oe and 20 kOe, respectively. Record values of colossal magnetoresistance (CMR) have been achieved. The CMR value reaches nearly 99% in the temperature ranges of 90 K to 140 K and 90 K to 170 K for 20 kOe and 40 kOe magnetic fields in the cooling mode, respectively. The observed unusual behavior is attributed to the co-existence of La-rich and Nd-rich domains assumed to be distributed randomly in the compound.     

Peak effect studies in single crystals CeRu2 and 2H-NbS2

We have studied the peak effect (PE) phenomenon in single crystals of weakly pinned superconductors CeRu₂ and 2H-NbS₂. 2H-NbS₂ is iso-structural and iso-electronic to 2H-NbSe₂, whose similarity with CeRu₂ as regards the PE representing the order-to-disorder transformation of the flux line lattice was claimed some time ago. We report on the step change in equilibrium magnetization across the peak effect in CeRu₂. We also present the vortex phase diagram of 2H-NbS₂ obtained from the magnetization data, and compare the PE phenomenon in 2H-NbS₂ and 2H-NbSe₂.     

Direct one-index transformations in multiconfiguration response calculations

The evaluation of gradient vectors of a general operator with one-index, double-one-index, or higher-order one-index transformed integrals is a key operation in multiconfiguration response theory calculations. We describe an integral-driven direct algorithm that carries out this operation efficiently without pretransforming the integrals. The use of this algorithm leads to a considerable reduction in disk space and timing. © 1994 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Design,synthesis of novel quinazolin-4-one derivatives and biological evaluation against human MCF-7 breast cancer cell line

A new series of 6,8-dibromo-2-(4-chlorophenyl)quinazolin-4(3H)-one derivatives VI–XIII were synthesized. Their chemical structures were confirmed by spectral and elemental analysis. The cytotoxic effect of the newly synthesized compounds was tested in vitro against human breast cancer cell line (MCF-7). Most of the tested compounds have shown promising cytotoxic activity. Compounds X and XIIIb exerted a powerful cytotoxic effect against MCF-7 with a very low IC50 (0.0015 and 0.0047 µmol/ml), while compounds VI, VII, VIII, XIIb, XI, XIIIc and IX exerted a moderate cytotoxic effect (IC50 0.01523, 0.0213, 0.031, 0.0478, 0.049, 0.068 and 0.079 µmol/ml respectively), compared to doxorubicin (0.0025 µmol/ml). Exploring their apoptotic effect; interestingly,all compounds activated apoptotic cascade in MCF-7. Compounds VI, XIIIb, XIIb, XI, XIIa, VII, V and VIII showed potent effect even much more than doxorubicin by 12.87–5.91 folds, while compounds XIIIc, IX, XIIIa, XIIc and X showed moderate increase in CASP3 activity by 4.96–3.22 folds relative to untreated cells more or less similar to doxorubicin (5.57 folds).