Tart Cherry Juice and Seeds Affect Pro-Inflammatory Markers in Visceral Adipose Tissue of High-Fat Diet Obese Rats

Background: Tart cherries (Prunus cerasus L.) are a rich source of anthocyanins. They are phytochemical flavonoids found in red and blue fruits, and vegetables that can reduce hyperlipidemia. Visceral Adipose Tissue (VAT) has emerged as a major player in driving obesity-related inflammatory response. Methods: This study has investigated the potential positive effects of tart cherries on rats with Diet-Induced Obesity (DIO). In particular, the inflammatory status in retroperitoneal (RPW) and perigonadal (PGW) adipose tissue were studied. Rats were fed ad libitum for 17 weeks with a hypercaloric diet with the supplementation of tart cherries seeds powder (DS) and seeds powder plus tart cherries juice containing 1mg of anthocyanins (DJS). In RPW and PGW, expression of CRP, IL-1 β, TNF-α, CCL2 and CD36, were measured by qRT-PCR, Western blot and immunohistochemistry techniques. Results: No differences in the weight of RPW and PGW animals were found between DS and DJS groups compared to DIO rats. However, an increase of inflammatory markers was observed in DIO group in comparison with control lean rats. A modulation of these markers was evident upon tart cherry supplementation. Conclusion: Study results suggest that tart cherry enriched-diet did not modify the accumulation of visceral fat, but it decreased inflammatory markers in both tissues. Therefore, this supplementation could be useful, in combination with healthy lifestyles, to modify adipose tissue cell metabolism limiting-obesity related organ damage.     

On the Exact Analysis of a Discrete-Time Queueing System with Autoregressive Inputs

In this paper, we provide an exact analysis of a discrete-time queueing system driven by a discrete autoregressive model of order 1 (DAR(1)) characterized by an arbitrary marginal batch size distribution and a correlation coefficient. Closed-form expressions for the probability generating function and mean queue length are derived. It is shown that the system performance is quite sensitive to the correlation of the arrival process. In addition, a comparison with traditional Markovian processes shows that arrival processes of DAR(1) type exhibit larger queue length as compared with the traditional Markovian processes when the marginal densities and correlation coefficients are matched.     

Designing chiral amido-oxazolines as new chelating ligands devoted to direct Cu-catalyzed oxidation of allylic CH bonds in cyclic olefins

A new type of amido-oxazoline ligands was conveniently synthesized from inexpensive and commercially available materials in high yields and enantiomeric excesses. The corresponding chiral copper complexes with this class of ligands [C₂ symmetric S,S-bis(amido-oxazoline-Cu(II) complex] were synthesized accordingly. The ORTEP diagram of ligand 6a and complex 6a-copper were compared and characterization of the complex confirmed the involvement of both dentate parts of the ligands, the oxygen and nitrogen atoms, in complexation with copper. The utilization of this amido-oxazoline ligands in the copper-catalyzed enantioselective esterification of allylic CH bonds of cyclic olefins with tert-butyl-4-nitrobenzoperoxoate resulted in the highest activities, yields (up to 95%) and enantioselectivities (up to 96%) in the presence of HZSM-5 zeolite. These new findings highlight the protocol as one of the most attractive and useful methods for the oxidation of the asymmetric allylic CH bond of cycloalkenes compared to other methodologies reported in the literature.     

Copper(II) Triflate,a New Reagent for Mild Dehydration of Alcohols: Synthetic Usefulness and Mechanistic Insight

The effectiveness of copper(II) triflate (copper(II) trifluoromethanesulfonate) as a new dehydrating reagent for a variety of alcohols has been demonstrated. Based on several control experiments, a possible mechanism is suggested.     

A facile synthesis of novel pyrrolizidines under classical and ultrasonic conditions

Novel pyrrolizidines (1) were synthesized from 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of azomethine ylides and dipolarophiles (4). The reactions were highly diastereoselective and regioselective and were carried out under reflux and ultrasonic condition at room temperature. In general, milder conditions and moderate improvements in rates and reaction times were observed when ultrasonic condition was used. The products were obtained in high yields, and their structures were determined by (1)H and (13)C NMR spectral data and X-ray diffraction.     

A Simple and Convenient Strategy for the Synthesis of Tolanophanes: Synthesis,Characterization and Conformational Analysis of a Novel Tolanophane

The bromination/dehydrobromination of stilbenophanes as a practical, simple and efficient strategy is applied to the synthesis of tolanophanes 1a (n = 2) and 1b (n = 4). The method is significantly superior to the reported methods. A careful conformational study on a novel tolanophane 1b showed that the relative stability of its conformers is directly linked to both twist angle between the two arene rings and the orientation of the alkoxy groups. The strong interaction between 1b and CDCl₃ at ? 60°C is an unusual feature that is attributed to high restriction in its molecular motion.     

Synthesis of novel chiral bidentate hydroxyalkyl-N-heterocyclic carbene ligands and their application in palladium-catalyzed Mizoroki–Heck couplings and asymmetric addition of diethylzinc to benzaldehyde

A small library of new chiral bidentate hydroxyalkyl-imidazolium salts 1 is conveniently synthesized on multi-gram scale from inexpensive and commercially available chiral pool amino acids. The corresponding carbenes, generated by deprotonation of imidazolium salts 1, in combination with palladium(II) chloride were tested in the Mizoroki–Heck coupling reaction. The most significant results in terms of yields and reactivities were achieved with low catalyst loading. The catalytic activities of these imidazolium salts were also investigated in the asymmetric addition of diethylzinc to benzaldehyde. The use of MgO nanoparticles as an additive in conjunction with these ligands played a crucial role in increasing the efficiency of these reactions.     

Anionic polymerisation of caprolactam at the small-scale via DSC investigations

This work was part of a major project aiming to produce polyamide 6 parts using an additive manufacturing process. This is by manufacturing 3D parts layer by layer. The influence of heating strategy (heating rate, cooling rate and maximum temperature) on anionic polymerisation of caprolactam in a small-scale was investigated by means of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The relationship between heating rate and the polymerisation–crystallisation processes was determined. Two different catalyst/activator compositions were used to study the influence of a di-functional activator on polymerisation. Results showed that unlike cooling rate, the heating rate and maximum heating temperature had a major effect on the final properties of polymer such as crystallinity, monomer conversion and polymer chains regularity. Using a di-functional activator resulted in slowing down the crystallisation process due to the enhanced rate of branching.