Viologen‐Templated Arrays of Cucurbit[7]uril‐Modified Iron‐Oxide Nanoparticles

Magnetic and fluorescent assemblies of iron‐oxide nanoparticles (NPs) were constructed by threading a viologen‐based ditopic ligand, DPV²⁺, into the cavity of cucurbituril (CB[7]) macrocycles adsorbed on the surface of the NPs. Evidence for the formation of 1:2 inclusion complexes that involve DPV²⁺ and two CB[7] macrocycles was first obtained in solution by ¹H NMR and emission spectroscopy. DPV²⁺ was found to induce self‐assembly of nanoparticle arrays (DPV²⁺?CB[7]NPs) by bridging CB[7] molecules on different NPs. The resulting viologen‐crosslinked iron‐oxide nanoparticles exhibited increased saturation magnetization and emission properties. This facile supramolecular approach to NP self‐assembly provides a platform for the synthesis of smart and innovative materials that can achieve a high degree of functionality and complexity and that are needed for a wide range of applications.     

Absolute configuration of diterpenoids from Jatropha dioica by vibrational circular dichroism

The absolute configuration of jatropholone A 1 and B 2, including the possibility to observe the vibrational circular dichroism (VCD) capacity to differentiate between two epimeric compounds in the presence of an inherently dissymmetric chromophore, which normally dominates VCD and electronic circular dichroism (ECD) spectra, followed after comparison of their experimental and DFT calculated VCD spectra, allowed us to conclude that although non-local (M/P) chirality generated by atropisomerism dominates over local chirality generated by an (R/S) change, the stereogenic center can confidently be assigned by VCD after DFT calculations. In addition, the absolute configurations of jatrophatrione 3 and citlalitrione 4, a compound proposed as a taxonomic marker for the genus Jatropha, were assigned by contrasting their respective calculated and experimental IR and VCD spectra. The evaluation of Flack and Hooft parameters obtained from the single-crystal X-ray diffraction data of jatropholone B acetate 6, and of 4 independently confirmed the absolute configurations of these molecules.     

Coating of polyamide 12 by sol–gel methodology

The combination of sol–gel methodology with rapid prototyping (RP) produces functionalized 3D structures with potential applications in various fields. However, this combination has been little explored. In this paper, we used the sol–gel method to deposit vanadium isopropoxide onto polyamide (PA12) constructed by RP and pretreated with acetic acid, to obtain a functionalized substrate with new thermal, physical, and chemical properties. Vanadium isopropoxide (one, five, or ten layers) was deposited onto the PA12 piece by dip-coating. We characterized the coated PA12 by thermal analyses, X-ray diffraction, and infrared spectroscopy, which revealed that V=O and Si–O–Si groups exist on the PA12 surface. PA12 coating with vanadium isopropoxide enhanced the decomposition temperature. Differential scanning calorimetry revealed increased fusion and decomposition enthalpy as a function of the PA12 coating. Therefore, deposition of vanadium isopropoxide onto PA12 pretreated with acetic acid improves the thermal stability of PA12 prepared by RP.     

The Zakai Equation of Nonlinear Filtering for Jump-Diffusion Observations: Existence and Uniqueness

In this paper we study a nonlinear filtering problem for a general Markovian partially observed system (X,Y), whose dynamics is modeled by correlated jump-diffusions having common jump times. At any time t∈[0,T], the σ-algebra $\mathcal{F}^{Y}_{t}:= \sigma\{ Y_{s}: s\leq t\}$ provides all the available information about the signal X _t . The central goal of stochastic filtering is to characterize the filter, π _t , which is the conditional distribution of X _t , given the observed data $\mathcal{F}^{Y}_{t}$ . In Ceci and Colaneri (Adv. Appl. Probab. 44(3):678–701, 2012) it is proved that π is the unique probability measure-valued process satisfying a nonlinear stochastic equation, the so-called Kushner-Stratonovich equation (in short KS equation). In this paper the aim is to improve the hypotheses to obtain the KS equation and describe the filter π in terms of the unnormalized filter ?, which is solution of a linear stochastic differential equation, the so-called Zakai equation. We prove the equivalence between strong uniqueness of the solution of the KS equation and strong uniqueness of the solution of the Zakai one and, as a consequence, we deduce pathwise uniqueness of the solution of the Zakai equation by applying the Filtered Martingale Problem approach (Kurtz and Ocone in Ann. Probab. 16:80–107, 1988; Ceci and Colaneri in Adv. Appl. Probab. 44(3):678–701, 2012). To conclude, we discuss some particular models.     

非晶碳纳米球的低温石墨化(英文)

The investigation by SEM/TEM, porosity, and X-ray diffraction measurements of the graphitization process starting from amorphous carbon nanospheres, prepared by glucose carbonization, is reported. Aspects studied are the annealing temperature in the 750–1000 °C range, the type of inert carrier gas, and time of treatment in the 2–6 h range. It is investigated how these parameters influence the structural and morphological characteristics of the carbon materials obtained as well as their nanostructure. It is shown that it is possible to maintain after graphitization the round-shaped macro morphology, a high surface area and porosity, and especially a large structural disorder in the graphitic layers stacking, with the presence of rather small ordered domains. These are characteristics interesting for various catalytic applications. The key in obtaining these characteristics is the thermal treatment in a flow of N2. It was demonstrated that the use of He rather than N2 does not allow obtaining the same results. The effect is attributed to the presence of traces of oxygen, enough to create the presence of oxygen functional groups on the surface temperatures higher than 750 °C, when graphitization occurs. These oxygen functional groups favor the graphitization process.     

Chemical Characterization of Three Accessions of Brassica juncea L. Extracts from Different Plant Tissues

Indian mustard or Brassica juncea (B. juncea) is an oilseed plant used in many types of food (as mustard or IV range salad). It also has non-food uses (e.g., as green manure), and is a good model for phytoremediation of metals and pesticides. In recent years, it gained special attention due to its biological compounds and potential beneficial effects on human health. In this study, different tissues, namely leaves, stems, roots, and flowers of three accessions of B. juncea: ISCI 99 (Sample A), ISCI Top (Sample B), and “Broad-leaf” (Sample C) were analyzed by HPLC-PDA/ESI-MS/MS. Most polyphenols identified were bound to sugars and phenolic acids. Among the three cultivars, Sample A flowers turned were the richest ones, and the most abundant bioactive identified was represented by Isorhamnetin 3,7-diglucoside (683.62 µg/100 mg dry weight (DW) in Sample A, 433.65 µg/100 mg DW in Sample B, and 644.43 µg/100 mg DW in Sample C). In addition, the most complex samples, viz. leaves were analyzed by GC-FID/MS. The major volatile constituents of B. juncea L. leaves extract in the three cultivars were benzenepropanenitrile (34.94% in Sample B, 8.16% in Sample A, 6.24% in Sample C), followed by benzofuranone (8.54% in Sample A, 6.32% in Sample C, 3.64% in Sample B), and phytone (3.77% in Sample B, 2.85% in Sample A, 1.01% in Sample C). The overall evaluation of different tissues from three B. juncea accessions, through chemical analysis of the volatile and non-volatile compounds, can be advantageously taken into consideration for future use as dietary supplements and nutraceuticals in food matrices.     

Transformation of Receptor Tyrosine Kinases into Glutamate Receptors and Photoreceptors

Receptor tyrosine kinases (RTKs) are key regulators of cellular functions in metazoans. In vertebrates, RTKs are mostly activated by polypeptides but are not naturally sensitive to amino acids or light. Taking inspiration from Venus kinase receptors (VKRs), an atypical family of RTKs found in nature, we have transformed the human insulin (hIR) and hepatocyte growth factor receptor (hMET) into glutamate receptors by replacing their extracellular binding domains with the ligand‐binding domain of metabotropic glutamate receptor type 2 (mGluR2). We then imparted light sensitivity through covalent attachment of a synthetic glutamate‐based photoswitch via a self‐labelling SNAP tag. By employing a Xenopus laevis oocyte kinase activity assay, we demonstrate how these chimeric RTKs, termed light‐controlled human insulin receptor (LihIR) and light‐controlled human MET receptor (LihMET), can be used to exert optical control over the insulin or MET signaling pathways. Our results outline a potentially general strategy to convert RTKs into photoreceptors.     

Une preuve de la conjecture de Mahler-Manin

Sans résumé Oblatum 7-IV-1995