Smectic polymorphism of 4-decyloxybenzylidene- 4′-alkyloxyanilines and their mixtures with polar standards of mesophases

This article describes liquid crystalline properties of the homologous series of 4-decyloxybenzylidene-4′-alkyloxyanilines. Based on the polarization microscopy (POM and TOA methods) and the calorimetric (DSC) measurements a rich polymorphism has been detected. Investigated compounds exhibit nematic, smectic A, smectic C, smectic B, smectic I and G (smectic G) mesophases with their characteristic configurations. The presence of these mesophases was confirmed by the miscibility method, using 4-heptyloxybenxylidene-4′-pentylaniline as a mesophase reference. Nine other smectic standards with different polarity have been applied in order to investigate their influence on the mesophase stability.     

Mechanism of Pterostilbene-Induced Cell Death in HT-29 Colon Cancer Cells

Pterostilbene is a dietary phytochemical that has been found to possess several biological activities, such as antioxidant and anti-inflammatory. Recent studies have shown that it exhibits the hallmark characteristics of an anticancer agent. The aim of the study was to investigate the anticancer activity of pterostilbene against HT-29 human colon cancer cells, focusing on its influence on cell growth, differentiation, and the ability of this stilbene to induce cell death. To clarify the mechanism of pterostilbene activity against colon cancer cells, changes in the expression of several genes and proteins that are directly related to cell proliferation, signal transduction pathways, apoptosis, and autophagy were also evaluated. Cell growth and proliferation of cells exposed to pterostilbene (5–100 µM) were determined by SRB and BRDU assays. Flow cytometric analyses were used for cell cycle progression. Further molecular investigations were performed using quantitative real-time RT-PCR. The expression of the signaling proteins studied was determined by the ELISA method. The results revealed that pterostilbene inhibited proliferation and induced the death of HT-29 colon cancer cells. Pterostilbene, depending on concentration, caused inhibition of proliferation, G1 cell arrest, and/or triggered apoptosis in HT-29 cells. These effects were mediated by the down-regulation of the STAT3 and AKT kinase pathways. It may be concluded that pterostilbene could be considered as a potential therapeutic option in the treatment of colon cancer in the future.     

Salicylic Acid as Ionic Liquid Formulation May Have Enhanced Potency to Treat Some Chronic Skin Diseases

In recent years, numerous studies have shown that conversion of conventional drugs in ionic liquid (IL) formulation could be a successful strategy to improve their physicochemical properties or suggest a new route of administration. We report the synthesis and detailed characterization of eight salicylic acid-based ILs (SA-ILs) containing cation non-polar or aromatic amino acid esters. Using in vitro assays, we preliminary evaluated the therapeutic potency of the novel SA-ILs. We observed that conversion of the SA into ionic liquids led to a decrease in its cytotoxicity toward NIH/3T3 murine embryo fibroblasts and human HaCaT keratinocytes. It should be mentioned is that all amino acid alkyl ester salicylates [AAOR][SA] inhibit the production of the proinflammatory cytokine IL-6 in LPS-stimulated keratinocytes. Moreover, keratinocytes, pretreated with [PheOMe][SA] and [PheOPr][SA] seem to be protected from LPS-induced inflammation. Finally, the novel compounds exhibit a similar binding affinity to bovine serum albumin (BSA) as the parent SA, suggesting a similar pharmacokinetic profile. These preliminary results indicate that SA-ILs, especially those with [PheOMe], [PheOPr], and [ValOiPr] cation, have the potential to be further investigated as novel topical agents for chronic skin diseases such as psoriasis and acne vulgaris.     

A New Protocol for Ash Wood Modification: Synthesis of Hydrophobic and Antibacterial Brushes from the Wood Surface

The article presents the modification of ash wood via surface initiated activators regenerated by electron transfer atom transfer radical polymerization mediated by elemental silver (Ag⁰ SI-ARGET ATRP) at a diminished catalyst concentration. Ash wood is functionalized with poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) and poly(2-(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate) (PDMAEMA) to yield wood grafted with PMMA-b-PDMAEMA-Br copolymers with hydrophobic and antibacterial properties. Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy confirmed the covalent incorporation of functional ATRP initiation sites and polymer chains into the wood structure. The polymerization kinetics was followed by the analysis of the polymer grown in solution from the sacrificial initiator by proton nuclear magnetic resonance (¹H NMR) and gel permeation chromatography (GPC). The polymer layer covalently attached to the wood surface was observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The hydrophobic properties of hybrid materials were confirmed by water contact angle measurements. Water and sodium chloride salt aqueous solution uptake tests confirmed a significant improvement in resistance to the absorption of wood samples after modification with polymers. Antibacterial tests revealed that wood-QPDMAEMA-Br, as well as wood-PMMA-b-QPDMAEMA-Br, exhibited higher antibacterial activity against Gram-positive bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus) in comparison with Gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli). The paper presents an economic concept with ecological aspects of improving wood properties, which gives great opportunities to use the proposed approach in the production of functional hybrid materials for industry and high quality sports equipment, and in furniture production.     

The synthesis and evaluation of unsymmetrical dimeric X-ray contrast agents

Novel dimeric iodinated contrast agents with low osmolality have been prepared and evaluated with the aim of improving the already good safety profile of such agents. The aim of low osmolality was achieved, and the viscosity of these dimeric agents was also found to be beneficially lower than current dimeric agents in clinical use.     

The Effect of the Modification of Carbon Spheres with ZnCl2 on the Adsorption Properties towards CO2

Zinc chloride and potassium oxalate are often applied as activating agents for carbon materials. In this work, we present the preparation of ZnO/carbon spheres composites using resorcinol-formaldehyde resin as a carbon source in a solvothermal reactor heated with microwaves. Zinc chloride as a zinc oxide source and potassium oxalate as an activating agent were applied. The effect of their addition and preparation conditions on the adsorption properties towards carbon dioxide at 0 °C and 25 °C were investigated. Additionally, for all tested sorbents, the CO₂ sorption tests at 40 °C, carried out utilizing a thermobalance, confirmed the trend of sorption capacity measured at 0 and 25 °C. Furthermore, the sample activated using potassium oxalate and modified using zinc chloride (a carbon-to-zinc ratio equal to 10:1) displayed not only a high CO₂ adsorption capacity (2.69 mmol CO₂/g at 40 °C) but also exhibited a stable performance during the consecutive multicycle adsorption–desorption process.     

Interaction of hydrogen with palladium surface: FIM and FEM studies

In the present paper, we focus on the geometrical and electronic changes in palladium surface structure which appeared during its interaction with hydrogen in the presence of an external electric field. The interaction process was examined by using the field ion microscopy (FIM) as well as the field emission microscopy (FEM) techniques. In order to study the geometrical changes in substrate surface structure, the distance distribution function (DDF) was constructed on the basis of FIM patterns of both a clean and hydrogen-covered palladium surface. The electronic changes were examined by the measurement of the total energy distribution (TED) of electrons emitted from the palladium tip surface. The most pronounce examples of such changes are an expansion of the equilibrium interatomic distance in palladium surface and a shift of the Fermi level of the metal. These changes may be explained among others by palladium hydrides formation. This process is the most efficient if the field strength exceeds 23 V/nm.     

Heteroclinic solutions for a class of the second order Hamiltonian systems

We shall be concerned with the existence of heteroclinic orbits for the second order Hamiltonian system , where q∈Rn and V∈C¹(R×Rn,R), V?0. We will assume that V and a certain subset M⊂Rn satisfy the following conditions. M is a set of isolated points and #M?2. For every sufficiently small ε>0 there exists δ>0 such that for all (t,z)∈R×Rn, if d(z,M)?ε then −V(t,z)?δ. The integrals , z∈M, are equi-bounded and −V(t,z)→∞, as |t|→∞, uniformly on compact subsets of Rn?M. Our result states that each point in M is joined to another point in M by a solution of our system.     

Precision and control in polymer synthesis why it's important and some recent examples of how to do it

This paper discusses some of the reasons why precision and control in polymer synthesis is of importance. By way of illustration it describes in outline recent results from the authors' laboratories in three areas. Namely; the controlled syntheses of poly(arylene vinylene)s and the influence of cis/trans vinylene content on luminescence in such polymers; the living polymerisation of highly functionalised polymers in water and the regulation of the crystallisation of calcium carbonate from water by the resultant well-defined water soluble polymers; and a simple route to hyperbranched polymers and the influence of the structure and topology of the products on solution properties. In each case the influence of control of architecture on properties will be discussed.     

Membranes with a plasma deposited titanium isopropoxide layer

Porous polypropylene membranes were coated with plasma polymerized titanium isopropoxide in a 75 kHz plasma reactor. It was noted that the presence of air in the plasma chamber increased the amount of deposited polymer. Selection of the process parameters enabled obtaining membranes with up to 300 εg cm^?2 of polymerized titanium isopropoxide. Deposition of the titanium oxide layer resulted in the reduction of permeate flux but it significantly improved the membrane photocleaning ability. The recovery index reached the level of 95 % for membranes with the highest amount of the titanium oxide deposit.