Antioxidant Effects and Phytochemical Properties of Seven Taiwanese Cirsium Species Extracts

In the present investigation, we compared the radical-scavenging activities and phenolic contents of seven Taiwanese Cirsium species with a spectrophotometric method. We further analyzed their phytochemical profiles with high-performance liquid chromatography–photodiode array detection (HPLC–DAD). We found that the flower part of Cirsium japonicum var. australe (CJF) showed the best radical-scavenging activities against 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2,2′-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS), and the hypochlorite ion, for which the equivalents were 6.44 ± 0.17 mg catechin/g, 54.85 ± 0.66 mmol Trolox/g and 418.69 ± 10.52 mmol Trolox/g respectively. CJF also had the highest contents of total phenolics (5.23 ± 0.20 mg catechin/g) and phenylpropanoids (29.73 ± 0.72 mg verbascoside/g). According to the Pearson’s correlation coefficient, there was a positive correlation between the total phenylpropanoid content and ABTS radical-scavenging activities (r = 0.979). The radical-scavenging activities of the phenylpropanoids are closely related to their reducing power (r = 0.986). HPLC chromatograms obtained in validated HPLC conditions confirm that they have different phytochemical profiles by which they can be distinguished. Only CJF contained silicristin (0.66 ± 0.03 mg/g) and silydianin (9.13 ± 0.30 mg/g). CJF contained the highest contents of apigenin (5.56 ± 0.09 mg/g) and diosmetin (2.82 ± 0.10 mg/g). Among the major constituents, silicristin had the best radical-scavenging activities against DPPH (71.68 ± 0.66 mg catechin/g) and ABTS (3.01 ± 0.01 mmol Trolox/g). However, diosmetin had the best reducing power and radical-scavenging activity against the hypochlorite anion (41.57 ± 1.14 mg mmol Trolox/g). Finally, we found that flavonolignans (especial silicristin and silydianin) and diosmetin acted synergistically in scavenging radicals.     

Nuclear quantum effects in calculated NMR shieldings of benzene; a Feynman path integral study

The Feynman path integral Monte Carlo approach has been coupled to the gauge including atomic orbital formalism in order to analyse the absolute magnetic shieldings of the benzene nuclei under the conditions of thermal equilibrium. The Hamiltonian employed in the derivation of ensemble averaged NMR quantities is of the Hartree-Fock type. The basis set used is of 6–31G quality. The spatial delocalization of the atoms leads to a deshielding of both types of benzene nuclei relative to the shieldings experienced at the minimum of the potential energy surface. This deshielding has to be traced back to bond length elongations in thermal equilibrium. The influence of the nuclear fluctuations on the NMR parameters of benzene is quantum driven up to temperatures of 400 K; classical fluctuations are of minor importance in this low-temperature window.     

Ab initio calculations on the singlet and triplet energy surfaces for CsiH2

Singlet and triplet calculations, including configuration interaction, are reported for H₂CSi, HCSiH and CSiH₂, and for the transition state on both surfaces.     

High-spin particle states in 151Sm studied with the (α, 3He) reaction

High-spin states have been located in ¹⁵¹Sm by means of the (α, ³He) reaction with 40 MeV α-particles. The scattered particles were momentum analyzed in a QMG/2 magnetic spectrometer and recorded in a position sensitive detector. Several high-spin states were observed in the energy range below 1.7 MeV excitation. The previously unknown strongly populated levels at 867 and 1480 keV can most likely be interpreted as $\text{13}\text{2}{}^{\mathrm{+}}$ states. Both the deduced nuclear structure factors and the energy location of these levels are in excellent agreement with a simple Coriolis coupling calculation.     

Variable range hopping in doped crystalline semiconductors

The computer simulation is made to determine the temperature dependence of the hopping conductivity in the variable range hopping regime. It is found to obey the equation (1) rather than the Mott law. A simple analytical procedure is proposed which fits well the results of simulation.     

Studies of single neutron holes in the transitional nuclei N = 83–89:: The 150, 148Nd(d,t) and 150, 148, 146Nd(3He, α) pick-up reactions

The level structures of the ^{145, 147, 149}Nd nuclei up to about 5 MeV excitation energy have been investigated with the (³He, α) reaction at 24 MeV. Additional 17 MeV (d, t) data have been obtained for ^{147, 149}Nd. The angular distributions have been analyzed with standard DWBA calculations, and spectroscopic factors have been deduced. Two groups of states carrying h_{$\text{11}\text{2}$} single-particle strength may be associated with the $\text{9}\text{2}$^? [514] and $\text{11}\text{2}$^? [505] Nilsson orbitals. A considerable amount of high-l single-particle strength may be found in the continuum observed in the (³He, α) spectra above 3 MeV in all the nuclei.     

Enhanced stabilization and deposition of Pt nanocrystals on carbon by dumbbell-like polyethyleniminated poly(oxypropylene)diamine

Pseudo-dendritic polyethyleniminated poly(oxypropylene)diamine (D400(EI)(20)) was used as a stabilizer and promoter to prepare Pt nanoparticles in aqueous solution, which was then deposited on carbon surface followed by calcination. After being deposited on carbon surface, no Pt(0) could be detected in the solution phase. In all steps, the increasing molar ratio of the amino groups of D400(EI)(20) to H(2)PtCl(6) ([N]/[Pt]) drastically reduced the size and the polydispersity and kept a constant low value after [N]/[Pt] = 20. Under a [N]/[Pt] ratio of 20, the particle sizes obtained from transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were very small in solution (2.7-2.4 nm) and remained the same after being deposited on carbon surface (2.7-2.4 nm), and were only slightly increased to 3.6-3.0 nm after calcination. The stabilizing ability of D400(EI)(20) to Pt on carbon surface before and after calcination can be interpreted by the existence of binding energy between Pt and amine nitrogen. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern together with the TEM image reveals that the obtained Pt nanoparticles exist in single-crystal form. The results of photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) evidence that the metallic Pt(0) rather than the oxidized Pt is the predominant species in the Pt/C catalysts. The electrochemical active surface (EAS) area of the Pt/C catalyst is only slightly higher than that of the E-TEK Pt/C catalyst, but the utilization factor (93.4%) is remarkably higher than the latter (62.8%). The increasing time of thermal treatment increases the crystallinity of Pt(0) on carbon, accompanied by the increasing EAS areas, which corresponds to its enhanced electrocatalytic performance to methanol oxidation.     

On σ(·, W)-Holomorphic Functions and Theorems of Vitali-Type

The aim of this paper is to give some criterions for holomorphy of F-valued σ(F, W)-holomorphic functions which are bounded on bounded sets in a domain D of Fréchet spaces E (resp. ${\mathbb{C}^n}$ ) where ${W \subset F'}$ defines the topology of Fréchet space F. Base on these results we consider the problem on holomorphic extension of F-valued σ(F, W)-holomorphic functions from non-rare subsets of D and from subsets of D which determines uniform convergence in H(D). As an application of the above, some theorems of Vitali-type for a locally bounded sequence ${\{f_i\}_{i \in \mathbb{N}}}$ of Fréchet-valued holomorphic functions are also proved.