Synthesis and in vitro antibacterial evaluation of 6-substituted 4-amino-pyrazolo[3,4-<Emphasis Type="Italic">d</Emphasis>]pyrimidines

Pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidines are one of the most important classes of fused heterocyclic compounds which exhibit a broad range of biological and medicinal properties. They are known as anticancer, antifungal, antibacterial, antiviral and anti-inflammatory agents. In this study, some new 6-substituted 4-amino-pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidine derivatives were prepared via reaction of 5-amino-3-methyl-1-phenyl-1H-pyrazole-4-carbonitrile with various nitriles in the presence of sodium ethoxide as catalyst. The inhibitory properties of synthesized compounds were studied according to CLSI guidelines against some pathogenic bacteria including four gram-positive strains (Streptococcus pyogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus and Bacillus subtilis subsp. spizizenii) and three gram-negative strains (Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Shigella flexneri and Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica). The antibacterial effects of all derivatives were compared with those of antibiotics belonging to different classes. The values were reported as inhibition zone diameter (IZD), minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC). The effect of substituents on the biological activity of derivatives was discussed as well. The inhibitory effect of compound 6a, was shown to be the most, with MIC values in the range of 32–4096 μg/mL. Since most of the synthesized compounds were effective against Streptococcus pyogenes and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, they can be considered as inhibitors of these two bacteria.     

Biotransformation of some monoterpenoid ketones by <Emphasis Type="Italic">Chlorella vulgaris</Emphasis> MCCS 012

Biotransformation of several monoterpene ketones, including carvone, pulegone, piperitone, menthone, and fenchone, was carried out by the locally isolated unicellular microalgae Chlorella vulgaris. The microalgal strain was isolated during a screening program from soil samples collected from paddy-fields of Fars Province, in the south of Iran. Chlorella vulgaris was cultured in 250 mL conical flasks, each containing 50 mL of BG-11 liquid medium and 20 μL levels of terpene substrates, incubated at a temperature of 28±2°C and illuminated continuously with fluorescent lamps with shaking at 80 rpm. The metabolites were identified by thin-layer chromatography and GC-MS. Chlorella vulgaris has the ability to reduce the C=C double bond of carvone to yield trans-dihydrocarvone and cis-dihydrocarvone. The cell line reduced menthone and pulegone to the same product and gave menthol. Study of Chlorella vulgaris with substrates of piperitone and fenchone showed no reaction in these substrates. Chlorella vulgaris MCCS 012 was assigned according to the 18S rRNA gene sequence. The DNA sequence of the 18S rRNA gene of Chlorella vulgaris MCCS 012 was recorded in the NCBI under the accession number EU374170.     

Numerical study of magnetic nanoparticles concentration in biofluid (blood) under influence of high gradient magnetic field

Ferrofluids are widely used in pharmaceutical industries as magnetic separation tools, anti-cancer drug carriers and micro-valve applications. The purpose of the current study is to investigate the effect of a magnetic field on the volume concentration of magnetic nanoparticles of a non-Newtonian biofluid (blood) as a drug carrier. The effect of particles on the flow field is considered. The governing non-linear differential equations, concentration and Naviar-stokes are coupled with the magnetic field. To solve these equations, a finite volume based code is developed and utilized. The results show accumulation of magnetic nanoparticles near the magnetic source until it looks like a solid object. The accumulation of nanoparticles is due to the magnetic force that overcomes the fluid drag force. As the magnetic strength and size of the magnetic particles increase, the accumulation of nanoparticles increases, as well. The magnetic susceptibility of particles also affects the flow field and the contour of the concentration considerably.     

Effect of different blend compositions on properties of low-density polyethylene/ethylene vinyl alcohol/clay toward high oxygen barrier nanocomposite films

In this study, high oxygen barrier nanocomposite films were prepared by melt blending of low-density polyethylene/ethylene vinyl alcohol/nanoclay/polyethylene-grafted-maleic anhydride (LDPE/EVOH/nanoclay/LDPE-g-MA). Effect of each component presence was determined by using Box-Behnken experiment design methodology. For all the responses obtained, R ² was between 0.956 and 0.981 indicating a very good fitting of the experimental data with the response surface method (RSM) in the models. Oxygen transfer rate (OTR) results shown that the addition of EVOH, compatibilizer, and nanoclay in formulations significantly decreases oxygen permeability. The experimental results showed that addition of 30 wt % EVOH, 4 wt % nanoclay, and 5 wt % LDPE-g-MA to the LDPE matrix gave the best oxygen barrier properties. The crystallization behaviors of the samples and thermal analysis have been characterized by using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The addition of nanoclay to the blends has resulted in increased crystallinity of LDPE phase. The state of nanoclay dispersion in the samples was examined by the X-ray diffraction (XRD) tests. The reduction of EVOH and nanoclay content, as well as the increase of LDPE-g-MA, has resulted in the better dispersion of nanoclay in the polymer matrix. The morphology of specimens was observed by using energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM).     

Inhibitory effect of safranal and crocin,two principle compounds of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Crocus sativus</Emphasis>, on fibrillation of lysozyme

A key feature in more than twenty amyloid-related diseases is the aggregation of intra-and/or extracellular misfolded proteins as amyloid fibrils. Therefore, preventing or reversing amyloid aggregation by using of small molecules is considered as useful approaches to the treatment of these diseases. We have evaluated the ability of safranal and crocin, to inhibit amyloid self-assembly of hen egg white lysozyme (HEWL), as an in vitro model system. Structural properties of HEWL in the presence of these compounds were investigated individually using thioflavin T, anilinonaphthalene-8-sulfonic acid fluorescence assays, far-UV circular dichroism and scanning electron microscopy as well as docking method. Our results showed that incubation of HEWL with either crocin or safranal at various concentrations leads a significant inhibition in the rate of amyloid formation. Docking analysis revealed crocin and safranal interact with the central hydrophobic region of lysozyme through van der Waals interaction. Hydroxyl group in crocin through hydrogen bonds connected to the several hydrophilic amino acids of lysozyme, while in safranal there are just one aldehyde group that through hydrogen bonds connected to aspartic acid in lysozyme. It can be concluded that both hydrophobic and hydrophilic groups contribute to lower lysozyme fibril accumulation.     

Multi-wavelength spectrophotometric determination of the protolytic constants of tetracycline hydrochloride in some nonaqueous-water mixed solvents: a solvatochromism study

Annihilation of the contribution of one chemical component from the original data matrix is a general method in rank annihilation factor analysis (RAFA). However, RAFA is not applicable for studying the protonation equilibria of multiprotic acids but in this study two-rank annihilation factor analysis (TRAFA) was used as an efficient chemometrics algorithm for determination of the protolytic constants (pKa) of tetracycline hydrochloride (TCHC) in some nonaqueous-water mixed solvents such as acetonitrile (AN)-water and methanol (MeOH)-water from the spectral pH-absorbance data. The spectral data was obtained from spectrophotometric acid-base titrations of different solutions of TCHC at (25.0±0.10)°C and an ionic strength of 0.10 M. In TRAFA algorithm the pKa values were obtained with relationship between residual standard deviation (R.S.D.) and hypothetical pKa values. In the case of TCHC, the spectra were divided in two consecutive subdivisions according to their pH range having two pKa and TRAFA was run twice. The validity of the obtained pKa values was checked with well-known chemometrics algorithms such as DATAN, EQUSPEC, SPECFIT/32 and SQUAD. The effects of changing solvent composition on the protolytic constants were explained by linear solvation energy relationships (LSER) utilizing solvatochromic parameters.     

A Langevin equation for the rates of currency exchange based on the Markov analysis

We propose a method for analyzing the data for the rates of exchange of various currencies versus the U.S. dollar. The method analyzes the return time series of the data as a Markov process, and develops an effective equation which reconstructs it. We find that the Markov time scale, i.e., the time scale over which the data are Markov-correlated, is one day for the majority of the daily exchange rates that we analyze. We derive an effective Langevin equation to describe the fluctuations in the rates. The equation contains two quantities, D⁽¹⁾ and D⁽²⁾, representing the drift and diffusion coefficients, respectively. We demonstrate how the two coefficients are estimated directly from the data, without using any assumptions or models for the underlying stochastic time series that represent the daily rates of exchange of various currencies versus the U.S. dollar.