Oral feeding of pomegranate fruit extract inhibits early biomarkers of UVB radiation-induced carcinogenesis in SKH-1 hairless mouse epidermis

Pomegranate from the plant Punica granatum L. possesses strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. Recently, we have demonstrated that treatment of normal human epidermal keratinocytes with pomegranate fruit extract (PFE) inhibited UVB-mediated activation of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) and mitogen activated protein kinases pathways. Here, we evaluated the effect of PFE on early biomarkers of photocarcinogenesis employing SKH-1 hairless mice. PFE was provided in drinking water (0.2%, wt/vol) to SKH-1 hairless mice for 14 days before a single UVB (180 mJ cm⁻²) irradiation. We found that oral feeding of PFE inhibited UVB-induced: (1) skin edema; (2) hyperplasia; (3) infiltration of leukocytes; (4) lipid peroxidation; (5) hydrogen peroxide generation; (6) ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) activity; and (7) ODC, cyclooxygenase-2 and proliferating cell nuclear antigen protein expression. Oral feeding of PFE enhanced repair of UVB-mediated formation of cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers (CPDs) and 8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-2′-deoxyguanosine (8-oxodG). Importantly, PFE treatment further enhanced UVB-mediated increase in tumor suppressor p53 and cyclin kinase inhibitor p21. Furthermore, oral feeding of PFE inhibited UVB-mediated: (1) nuclear translocation of NF-κB; (2) activation of IKKα; and (3) phosphorylation and degradation of IκBα. Taken together, we provide evidence that oral feeding of PFE to mice affords substantial protection from the adverse effects of UVB radiation via modulation in early biomarkers of photocarcinogenesis and provide suggestion for its photochemopreventive potential.     

Kinetics of formation of barium tungstate in equimolar powder mixture of BaCO<Subscript>3</Subscript> and WO<Subscript>3</Subscript>

The formation of Barium monotungstate (BaWO₄) particles in equimolar powder mixtures of BaCO₃ and WO₃ was examined under isothermal and non-isothermal conditions upon heating in air at 25–1200 °C, using thermogravimetry. Concurrence of the observed mass loss (due to the release of CO₂) to the occurrence of the formation reaction was evidenced. Accordingly, the extent of reaction (x) was determined as a function of time (t) or temperature (T). The x–t and x–T data thus obtained were processed using well established mathematical apparatus and methods, in order to characterize nature of reaction rate-determining step, and derive isothermal and non-isothermal kinetic parameters. Moreover, the reaction mixture quenched at various temperatures (600–1,000 °C) in the reaction course was analyzed by various spectroscopic and microscopic techniques, for material characterization. The results obtained indicated that the reaction rate may be controlled by unidirectional diffusion of WO₃ species across the product layer (BaWO₄), which was implied to form on the barium carbonate particles. The isothermally determined activation energy (118–125 kJ/mol) was found to be more credible than that (245 kJ/mol) determined non-isothermally.     

Sensitivity enhancement of CE and CE-MS for the analysis of peptides by a dynamic pH junction

An analytical method of CE-MS and CE with an online preconcentration technique induced by a dynamic pH junction, addition of organic solvent and large volume injection was developed for sensitive determination of peptides in biological samples. Leucine enkephalin, methionine enkephalin, dynorphin A, β-endorphin and angiotensin II were used as model peptides. The optimal online preconcentration conditions were obtained at a sample matrix consisting of 100?mM borate buffer (pH 10.0) with 50% v/v acetonitrile and a BGE containing 1?M formic acid at pH 2.0, along with a 25-cm injection length. Under the optimized conditions, a 4.0×10(3)-1.1×10(4)-fold increase in peak intensity was achieved without degrading the peak shape. This online preconcentration method was applied to analyze the intracellular angiotensin II within the peptides extracted from HL1 cells and approximately increase of 1×10(4)-fold sensitivity was achieved compared to normal condition. Thus, the developed method could be applied to the analysis of various peptides for peptidomics study in biological samples.     

Two-step on-particle ionization/enrichment via a washing- and separation-free approach: multifunctional TiO2 nanoparticles as desalting, accelerating, and affinity probes for microwave-assisted tryptic digestion of phosphoproteins in ESI-MS and MALDI-MS: comparison with microscale TiO2

We introduce a simplified sample preparation method using bare TiO₂ nanoparticles (NPs) to serve as multifunctional nanoprobes (desalting, accelerating, and affinity probes) for effective enrichment of phosphopeptides from microwave-assisted tryptic digestion of phosphoproteins (α-casein, β-casein and milk) in Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry (ESI-MS) and Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption Ionization Mass Spectrometry (MALDI-MS). The results demonstrate that TiO₂ NPs can effectively enrich and accelerate the digestion reactions of phosphoproteins in aqueous solutions and also from complex real samples. After the microwave experiments, we directly injected the resulting solutions into the ESI-MS and MALDI-MS systems for analysis, and excellent sensitivity was achieved without the need for any washing procedure or separation process. The reasons are attributed to the high binding affinity and selectivity of TiO₂ NPs toward phosphopeptides. Thus, phosphopeptides can be adsorbed onto the TiO₂ NP surface. The digested or partially digested phosphoproteins can be concentrated onto the TiO₂ NP surface. This results in the effective or complete digestion of phosphoproteins in a short period of time (45 s). In addition, high sensitivity and sequence coverage of phosphopeptide can be obtained using TiO₂ NPs as microwave absorbers and affinity probes in MALDI-MS and ESI-MS. This is due to the photocatalytic nature of the TiO₂ NPs because the absorption of microwave radiation that can accelerate the activation of trypsin for efficient digestion of phosphoproteins and enhances the ionization of phosphopeptides. The lowest concentrations detected for ESI-MS and MALDI-MS were 0.1 μM and 10 fmol, respectively, for α-casein. Comparing the two-step approach of TiO₂ NPs with microscale TiO₂ particles, the microscale TiO₂ particles shows no effect on the microwave-assisted tryptic digestion of phosphoproteins. The current approach offers multiple advantages, such as great simplicity, high sensitivity and selectivity, straightforward and separation/washing-free technique for phosphorpeptide enrichment analysis.     

Structural properties of trans‐cyclohexane‐1,2‐diamine complexes of copper(II) and zinc(II) acesulfamates

The title compounds, trans‐bis(trans‐cyclohexane‐1,2‐diamine)bis(6‐methyl‐2,2,4‐trioxo‐3,4‐dihydro‐1,2,3‐oxathiazin‐3‐ido)copper(II), [Cu(C₄H₄NO₄S)₂(C₆H₁₄N₂)₂], (I), and trans‐diaquabis(cyclohexane‐1,2‐diamine)zinc(II) 6‐methyl‐2,2,4‐trioxo‐3,4‐dihydro‐1,2,3‐oxathiazin‐3‐ide dihydrate, [Zn(C₆H₁₄N₂)₂(H₂O)₂](C₄H₄NO₄S)₂·2H₂O, (II), are two‐dimensional hydrogen‐bonded supramolecular complexes. In (I), the Cu^II ion resides on a centre of symmetry in a neutral complex, in a tetragonally distorted octahedral coordination environment comprising four amine N atoms from cyclohexane‐1,2‐diamine ligands and two N atoms of two acesulfamate ligands. Intermolecular N—H...O and C—H...O hydrogen bonds produce R₂²(12) motif rings which lead to two‐dimensional polymeric networks. In contrast, the Zn^II ion in (II) resides on a centre of symmetry in a complex dication with a less distorted octahedral coordination environment comprising four amine N atoms from cyclohexane‐1,2‐diamine ligands and two O atoms from aqua ligands. In (II), an extensive two‐dimensional network of N—H...O, O—H...O and C—H...O hydrogen bonds includes R₂¹(6) and R₄⁴(16) motif rings.     

Manipulating atomic fragmentation processes by controlling the projectile coherence

We have measured the scattering angle dependence of cross sections for ionization in p+H2 collisions for a fixed projectile energy loss. Depending on the projectile coherence, interference due to indistinguishable diffraction of the projectile from the two atomic centers was either present or absent in the data. This shows that, due to the fundamentals of quantum mechanics, the preparation of the beam must be included in theoretical calculations. The results have far-reaching implications on formal atomic scattering theory because this critical aspect has been overlooked for several decades.     

Electrogravitational stability of oscillating streaming fluid cylinder

The electrogravitational instability of on oscillating streaming fluid cylinder under the action of the selfgravitating, capillary and electrodynamic forces has been discussed. The model is governed by the Mathieu second order integro-differential equation. Some limiting cases are recovering from the present general one. The capillary force is destabilizing in a small axisymmetric domain 0<x<1 and stabilizing otherwise. In the absence of electric fields, we found that the model is unstable in a small domain while it is selfgravitating stable in all other domains. The presence of the electric field led to the presence of a great number of stable waves. The electric field has a strong stabilizing influence on the selfgravitating instability of the model. The capillary force has a strong destabilizing influence on the selfgravitating instability of the model.Generally, the uniform stream supports the unstable waves, while the oscillating streaming has stability tendency.     

Impedance spectroscopy and investigation of conduction mechanism in BaMnO3 nanorods

BaMnO₃ nanorods were synthesized at 200 °C and atmospheric pressure using the composite-hydroxide mediated method. X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy were used to investigate the structure, size, morphology, phase purity and elemental composition of BaMnO₃ nanorods. Electrical characterization of BaMnO₃ pellet was performed at 300-400 K and in the frequency range 200 Hz-2 MHz. Temperature dependence of AC conductivity suggests that the BaMnO₃ pellet behaves as a semiconducting material and conduction across the pellet can be explained by the correlated barrier hopping model. Impedance analysis was performed using the equivalent circuit model (R₁Q₁C₁)(R₂C₂) and it suggests a single relaxation process in the BaMnO₃ pellet at a particular temperature. The analysis reveals that the BaMnO₃ pellet behaves like an n-type semiconductor material due to the presence of oxygen vacancies and some disorder. Modulus spectroscopy also supports the impedance results.     

A selective sensor for nanolevel detection of lead (II) in hazardous wastes using ionic-liquid/Schiff base/MWCNTs/nanosilica as a highly sensitive composite

An effective potentiometric sensor had been fabricated for the rapid determination of Pb²⁺ based on carbon paste electrode consisting of room temperature ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate (BMIM-PF₆), multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs), nanosilica, synthesized Schiff base, as an ionophore, and graphite powder. The constructed nanocomposite electrode showed better sensitivity, selectivity, response time, response stability, and lifetime in comparison with typical Pb²⁺ carbon paste electrode for the successfully determination of Pb²⁺ ions in water and in waste water samples. The best response for nanocomposite electrode was obtained with electrode composition of 18% ionophore, 20% BMIM-PF₆, 49% graphite powder, 10% MWCNT, and 3% nanosilica. The new electrode exhibited a Nernstian response (29.76?±?0.10 mV decade^?1) toward Pb²⁺ ions in the range of 5?×?10^?9?C1.0?×?10^?1 mol L^?1 with a detection limit of 2.51?×?10^?9 mol L^?1. The potentiometric response of prepared sensor is independent of the pH of test solution in the pH range of 4.5?C8.0. It has quick response with response time of about 6 s. The proposed electrode show fairly good selectivity over some alkali, alkaline earth, transition, and heavy metal ions.