Identification of metabolites of rupestonic acid in rat urine by liquid chromatography combined with electrospray ionization quadrupole time‐of‐flight tandem mass spectrometry

Rupestonic acid, a potential anti‐influenza agent, is an important and characteristic compound in Artemisia rupestris L., a well‐known traditional Uighur medicine for the treatment of colds. In the present study, high‐performance liquid chromatography combined with electrospray ionization quadrupole time‐of‐flight tandem mass spectrometry was used to detect and identify the metabolites in rat urine after oral administration of rupestonic acid. A total of 10 metabolites were identified or partially characterized. The structure elucidations of the metabolites were performed by comparing the changes in accurate molecular masses and fragment ions with those of the parent compound. The results showed that the main metabolites of rupestonic acid in rat urine were formed by oxidation, hydrogenation and glucuronidation. A metabolism pathway was proposed for the first time based on the characterized structures. This metabolism study can provide essential information for drug discovery, design and clinical application of rupestonic acid. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A multiaxial elastic potential with error-minimizing approximation to rubberlike elasticity

This study is concerned with a new,explicit approach by means of which forms of the large strain elastic potential for multiaxial rubberlike elasticity may be obtained based on data for a single deformation mode.As a departure from usual studies,here for the first time errors may be estimated and rendered minimal for all possible deformation modes and,furthermore,failure behavior may be incorporated.Numerical examples presented are in accurate agreement with Treloar's well-known data.     

Chiral Interlocked Corrole Dimers Directly Linked at Inner Carbon Atoms of Confused Pyrrole Rings

A facile synthetic strategy towards conformationally stable chiral chromophores based on dimeric porphyrinoids has been established. A peculiar class of face-to-face intramolecularly interlocked corrole dimers were formed by the oxidative C−C coupling linked at the inner carbon sites upon simple treatment of copper(II) ions. Their intrinsic electronic structures were modulated by the peripheral corrole ring annulations, which lead to distinct optical properties and redox profiles. The stereogenic carbon centers implemented in the confused corrole skeleton provided a rationale for designing novel chiral materials.     

Precise Synthesis and Thin Film Self-Assembly of PLLA-b-PS Bottlebrush Block Copolymers

The ability of bottlebrush block copolymers (BBCPs) to self-assemble into ordered large periodic structures could greatly expand the scope of photonic and membrane technologies. In this paper, we describe a two-step synthesis of poly(l-lactide)-b-polystyrene (PLLA-b-PS) BBCPs and their rapid thin-film self-assembly. PLLA chains were grown from exo-5-norbornene-2-methanol via ring-opening polymerization (ROP) of l-lactide to produce norbornene-terminated PLLA. Norbonene-terminated PS was prepared using anionic polymerization followed by a termination reaction with exo-5-norbornene-2-carbonyl chloride. PLLA-b-PS BBCPs were prepared from these two norbornenyl macromonomers by a one-pot sequential ring opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP). PLLA-b-PS BBCPs thin-films exhibited cylindrical and lamellar morphologies depending on the relative block volume fractions, with domain sizes of 46–58 nm and periodicities of 70–102 nm. Additionally, nanoporous templates were produced by the selective etching of PLLA blocks from ordered structures. The findings described in this work provide further insight into the controlled synthesis of BBCPs leading to various possible morphologies for applications requiring large periodicities. Moreover, the rapid thin film patterning strategy demonstrated (>5 min) highlights the advantages of using PLLA-b-PS BBCP materials beyond their linear BCP analogues in terms of both dimensions achievable and reduced processing time.     

pH-Sensitive Oscillatory Motion of a Urease Motor on the Urea Aqueous Phase

A self-propelled object coupled with an enzyme reaction between urease and urea was investigated at the air/aqueous interface. A plastic object that was fixed to a urease-immobilized filter paper was used as a self-propelled object, termed a urease motor, placed on an aqueous urea solution. The driving force of the urease motor is the difference in the surface tension around the object. Oscillatory motion or no motion was triggered depending on the initial pH of the urea solution. Both the frequency and maximum speed of the oscillatory motion varied depending on the initial pH of the water phase. The mechanisms underlying the oscillatory motion and no motion were discussed in relation to the bell-shaped enzyme activity of urease in the enzyme reaction and the surface tension around the urease motor.     

Syntheses,Characterization, and Luminescence Properties of Three Coordination Complexes with Sulfonate-Phenol Anions and Trivalent Metal Ions

Russian Journal of General Chemistry - A dinuclear Tb complex, Tb2(H2L)3(phen)2 (1), and two similar N-donor coordination complexes, Fe(phen)3·HL (2), Fe(bipy)3·HL·5H2O (3) (Na2H2L =...     

Photons can hide where they have been

Recently,the nested Mach–Zehnder interferometer[Phys.Rev.Lett.111,240402(2013)]was modified by adding Dove prisms in a paper[Quantum Stud.:Math.Found.2,255(2015)],and an interesting result is that,after the Dove prisms were inserted,a signal at the first mirror of the nested interferometer was obtained.But,according to the former original paper,the photons have never been present near that mirror.In this work,we interpret this result naturally by resorting to the three-path interference method.Moreover,we find that even though the photons have been somewhere,they can hide the trace of being there.     

Study on the Relationship between Emulsion Properties and Interfacial Rheology of Sugar Beet Pectin Modified by Different Enzymes

The contribution of rheological properties and viscoelasticity of the interfacial adsorbed layer to the emulsification mechanism of enzymatic modified sugar beet pectin (SBP) was studied. The component content of each enzymatic modified pectin was lower than that of untreated SBP. Protein and ferulic acid decreased from 5.52% and 1.08% to 0.54% and 0.13%, respectively, resulting in a decrease in thermal stability, apparent viscosity, and molecular weight (Mw). The dynamic interfacial rheological properties showed that the interfacial pressure and modulus (E) decreased significantly with the decrease of functional groups (especially proteins), which also led to the bimodal distribution of particle size. These results indicated that the superior emulsification property of SBP is mainly determined by proteins, followed by ferulic acid, and the existence of other functional groups also promotes the emulsification property of SBP.