Effects of a natural prolyl oligopeptidase inhibitor, rosmarinic acid, on lipopolysaccharide-induced acute lung injury in mice

Rosmarinic acid (RA), a polyphenolic phytochemical, is a natural prolyl oligopeptidase inhibitor. In the present study, we found that RA exerted potent anti-inflammatory effects in in vivo models of acute lung injury (ALI) induced by lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Mice were pretreated with RA one hour before challenge with a dose of 0.5 mg/kg LPS. Twenty-four hours after LPS was given, bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) was obtained to measure pro-inflammatory mediator and total cell counts. RA significantly decreased the production of LPS-induced TNF-a, IL-6, and IL-1β compare with the LPS group. When pretreated with RA (5, 10, or 20 mg/kg) the lung wet-to-dry weight (W/D) ratio of the lung tissue and the number of total cells, neutrophils and macrophages in the BALF were decreased significantly. Furthermore, RA may enhance oxidase dimutase (SOD) activity during the inflammatory response to LPS-induced ALI. And we further demonstrated that RA exerts anti-inflammation effect in vivo models of ALI through suppresses ERK/MAPK signaling in a dose dependent manner. These studies have important implications for RA administration as a potential treatment for ALI.     

Synthesis, radiolabeling and biological evaluation of propylene amine oxime complexes containing nitrotriazoles as hypoxia markers

Two propylene amine oxime (PnAO) complexes, 1, containing a 3-nitro-1,2,4-triazole and 2, containing two 3-nitro-1,2,4-triazoles, were synthesized and radiolabeled with (99m)Tc in high labeling yields. Cellular uptakes of (99m)Tc-1 and (99m)Tc-2 were tested using a S180 cells line. Under anoxic conditions, the cellular uptakes of (99m)Tc-1 and (99m)Tc-2 were 33.7 ± 0.2% and 35.0 ± 0.7% at 4 h, whereas the normoxic uptakes of the two complexes were 6.0 ± 1.6% and 4.6 ± 0.9%, respectively. Both (99m)Tc-1 and (99m)Tc-2 displayed significant anoxic/normoxic differentials. The cellular uptakes were highly dependent on oxygen and temperature. Biodistribution studies revealed that both (99m)Tc-1 and (99m)Tc-2 showed a selective localization in tumor and slow clearance from it. At 4 h, the tumor-to-muscle ratios (T/M) were 3.79 for (99m)Tc-1 and 4.58 for (99m)Tc-2. These results suggested that (99m)Tc-labeled PnAO complexes (99m)Tc-1 and (99m)Tc-2 might serve as novel hypoxia markers. By introducing a second nitrotriazole redox center, the hypoxic accumulation of the marker was slightly enhanced.     

An efficient one-pot synthesis of 1,4-disubstituted 3-amino-2-pyridone derivatives via three-component reactions of alkynyl aldehydes and amines with ethyl 2-((diphenylmethylene)amino)acetate

A facile and efficient one-pot synthesis of 1,4-disubstituted 3-amino-2-pyridone derivatives via three-component reactions of readily available alkynyl aldehydes, amines, and ethyl 2-((diphenylmethylene)amino)acetate has been developed. The alkynyl aldehyde substrates and the amine partners can be flexibly varied to achieve a range of 3-amino-2-pyridone derivatives, which could exert interesting chemical and biological properties. The reaction mechanism for the formation of 3-amino-2-pyridone derivatives is briefly explained.     

A cut-and-solve based algorithm for the single-source capacitated facility location problem

In this paper, we present a cut-and-solve (CS) based exact algorithm for the Single Source Capacitated Facility Location Problem (SSCFLP). At each level of CS’s branching tree, it has only two nodes, corresponding to the Sparse Problem (SP) and the Dense Problem (DP), respectively. The SP, whose solution space is relatively small with the values of some variables fixed to zero, is solved to optimality by using a commercial MIP solver and its solution if it exists provides an upper bound to the SSCFLP. Meanwhile, the resolution of the LP of DP provides a lower bound for the SSCFLP. A cutting plane method which combines the lifted cover inequalities and Fenchel cutting planes to separate the 0–1 knapsack polytopes is applied to strengthen the lower bound of SSCFLP and that of DP. These lower bounds are further tightened with a partial integrality strategy. Numerical tests on benchmark instances demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed cutting plane algorithm and the partial integrality strategy in reducing integrality gap and the effectiveness of the CS approach in searching an optimal solution in a reasonable time. Computational results on large sized instances are also presented.     

Seismic test of least-input-energy control with ground velocity feedback for variable-stiffness isolation systems

A variable-stiffness isolation system, whose isolation stiffness can be altered instantaneously in response to the seismic load, is able to provide better seismic protection for vibration-sensitive equipment or facilities than a conventional isolation system with a fixed stiffness. To determine its time-variant isolation stiffness, this system usually requires an effective on-line control law. In this study, a control strategy called the least input energy control (LIEC) is proposed for a general variable-stiffness isolation system. With the feedback of the ground velocity, at each time step the LIEC is able to determine the optimal isolation stiffness that minimizes the input seismic energy transmitted onto the isolated object. In order to evaluate its control performance, the LIEC was physically implemented on a leverage-type variable-stiffness isolation system, and tested in a seismic simulation test. The experimental response of the LIEC was then compared to the uncontrolled response, as well as the simulated responses of two semi-active control laws derived from the widely used LQR control and modal control. A comparison of the results demonstrates that, among all the control cases considered, the LIEC transmits the least seismic input energy to the isolated system, and thus has the best isolation performance. In addition, the test data also show that the LIEC requires the least control force and control energy. This indicates that the LIEC is also a very efficient control method for variable-stiffness isolation systems.     

Mechanism for the reaction of 2-naphthol with N-methyl-N-phenyl-hydrazine suggested by the density functional theory investigations

For the first time the computed mechanisms for the novel reaction of 2-naphthol with N-methyl-N-phenylhydrazine, leading to 1-amino-2-naphthol (Tang et al., J Am Chem Soc 2008, 130, 5840), have been investigated using the density functional theory. Four distinct possible pathways were evaluated: two amination mechanisms with the attack of NH(2) group respectively at the α-position C1 and β-position C3 atoms of 2-naphthol (pathways 1 and 2) as well as two rearrangement processes with displacement of the phenolic hydroxyl group followed by the benzidine-like rearrangement at the α-position C1 and β-position C3 atoms of 2-naphthol, respectively (pathways 3 and 4). Solvent effect has been tested based on the optimized geometries of the stationary points in solution at the B3LYP/PCM/6-31+G(d,p) level of theory with an averaged dielectric constant of binary solvent. Single-point energies of the optimized structures have been calculated using three hybrid density functionals, B3LYP, MPW3LYP, and B3PW91 with the 6-311++G(3df,2p) basis set. Our computed results clearly manifest that pathway 1 (α-amination) has the highest possibility to occur, with the Gibbs free energies being lower by 6 to 20 kcal/mol compared with the other three pathways, which leads to 1-amino-2-naphthol and N-methylaniline as products. It is in excellent agreement with the experimental observation.     

火焰原子吸收光谱法测定红土镍矿中铜、锌、铬含量

红土镍矿样品用盐酸、硝酸分解,残渣用焦硫酸钾熔融,在稀盐酸介质中,采用氘灯扣除背景,分别用原子吸收光谱仪于波长324.8,213.9,357.9 nm处,使用空气–乙炔火焰,测量铜、锌、铬的含量。在最佳实验条件下,铜、锌、铬的质量浓度分别在0.50～2.50,0.30～1.50,0.50～4.50 mg/L范围内与吸光度线性关系良好,相关系数r分别为0.9986,0.9943,0.9942。方法检出限铜为0.0067 mg/L,锌为0.0010 mg/L,铬为0.0014 mg/L,加标回收率为95.0%～105.7%。精密度试验验证铜、锌、铬的含量分别在0.01%～0.50%,0.01%～1.00%,0.01%～4.00%范围内重复性和再现性较好。此方法适合于红土镍矿中铜、锌、铬含量的测定。     

Theoretical study of static (Hyper)polarizabilities of twisted intramolecular charge transfer chromophores

Density functional theory calculations are performed to study the (hyper)polarizabilities of a series of planar and twisted intramolecular charge transfer molecules (tictoids) with different electron‐donating and electron‐withdrawing groups. Both similarity and difference between the planar and twisted molecules are noted in their (hyper)polarizability variation with respect to substituent and solvent dielectric constant. When compared with dramatic enhancements resulting from geometry twist and solvent effect, substitution to D/A pairs leads to relatively moderate variation in (hyper) polarizability. In addition, tictoids with different substituents may exhibit different solvent effects in their hyperpolarizability magnitudes. Our calculations suggest that the nonlinear optical response of the tictoids could be tuned by appropriately selecting the donor/acceptor pairs and solvents. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2012     

Infinite Series Identities on Harmonic Numbers

By means of Abel’s lemma on summation by parts, we derive several infinite series identities, which involve the classical harmonic numbers and their variants.     

Small value probabilities for continuous state branching processes with immigration

We consider the small value probability of supercritical continuous state branching processes with immigration.From Pinsky(1972) it is known that under regularity condition on the branching mechanism and immigration mechanism,the normalized population size converges to a non-degenerate finite and positive limit W as t tends to infinity.We provide sharp estimate on asymptotic behavior of P(W≤ε) as ε→ 0+ by studying the Laplace transform of W.Without immigration,we also give a simpler proof for the small value probability in the non-subordinator case via the prolific backbone decomposition.