Rigorous interpretation of electronic density functions of axial and equatorial conformers of dimethylphosphinoylcyclohexane, 2-(dimethylphosphinoyl)-1,3,5-trithiane, and 2-(dimethylphosphinoyl)-1,3-dithiane-1,1,3,3-tetraoxide

Theoretical analysis within the frame of the Topological Theory of Atoms in Molecules confirms the repulsive steric interaction between an axial dimethylphosphinoyl group and the syn-diaxial hydrogens in cyclohexane derivative 2-ax. In seemingly good agreement with experiment, equatorial isomer 2-eq was calculated to be 1.49 kcal/mol more stable than 2-ax. (Experimental energy difference in (diphenylphosphinoyl)cyclohexane, Delta H(o) = 1.96 kcal/mol.) In contrast, axial 2-(dimethylphosphinoyl)-1,3,5-trithiane, 3-ax, was calculated to be 6.38 kcal/mol more stable than 3-eq. (Experimentally, the axial conformer of 2-(diphenylphosphinoyl)-1,3,5-trithiane, was found to be 1.43 kcal/mol more stable than the equatorial conformer, in solvent chloroform.) Theoretical analysis, in particular the electron density at the bond critical point within the C(4,6)-H...O=P bonding trajectory, implies significant bonding in this segment of interacting atoms. By the same token, substantial positive charge is acquired by the C--H bonds adjacent to the sulfonyl groups in disulfone 4. Hydrogen bonding between the phosphoryl group and H(4,6) leads to stabilization of 4-ax, which is estimated to be 5.0 kcal/mol lower in energy than 4-eq. This conclusion is supported by examination of P==O...H--C(4,6) bond trajectories, as well as from evaluation of the critical point properties along those interacting moieties. By contrast, fluorinated derivative 5 is more stable in the equatorial conformation, indicating a repulsive electrostatic interaction of the C--F...O-P entity in 5-ax.     

Fractionation of potentially toxic elements in urban soils from five European cities by means of a harmonised sequential extraction procedure

The revised (four-step) BCR sequential extraction procedure has been applied to fractionate the chromium, copper, iron, manganese, nickel, lead and zinc contents in urban soil samples from public-access areas in five European cities. A preliminary inter-laboratory comparison was conducted and showed that data obtained by different laboratories participating in the study were sufficiently harmonious for comparisons to be made between cities and land types (e.g. parks, roadside, riverbanks, etc.). Analyte recoveries by sequential extraction, with respect to direct aqua regia digestion, were generally acceptable (100 ± 15%). Iron, nickel and, at most sites, chromium were found mainly in association with the residual phase of the soil matrix. Copper was present in the reducible, oxidisable and residual fractions, whilst zinc was found in all four sequential extracts. Manganese was strongly associated with reducible material as, in some cities, was lead. This is of concern because high lead concentrations were present in some soils (>500 mg kg⁻¹) and the potential exists for remobilisation under reducing conditions. As would be expected, extractable metal contents were generally highest in older, more heavily industrialised cities. Copper, lead and zinc showed marked (and often correlated) variations in concentrations between sites within the same city whereas manganese and, especially, iron, did not. No overall relationships were, however, found between analyte concentrations and land use, nor between analyte partitioning and land use.     

Preconditioned iterative methods for coupled discretizations of fluid flow problems

Computational fluid dynamics, where simulations require largecomputation times, is one of the areas of application of highperformance computing. Schemes such as the SIMPLE (semi-implicitmethod for pressure-linked equations) algorithm are often usedto solve the discrete Navier-Stokes equations. Generally theseschemes take a short time per iteration but require a largenumber of iterations. For simple geometries (or coarser grids)the overall CPU time is small. However, for finer grids or morecomplex geometries the increase in the number of iterationsmay be a drawback and the decoupling of the differential equationsinvolved implies a slow convergence of rotationally dominatedproblems that can be very time consuming for realistic applications.So we analyze here another approach, DIRECTO, that solves theequations in a coupled way. With recent advances in hardwaretechnology and software design, it became possible to solvecoupled Navier-Stokes systems, which are more robust but implyincreasing computational requirements (both in terms of memoryand CPU time). Two approaches are described here (band blockLU factorization and preconditioned GMRES) for the linear solverrequired by the DIRECTO algorithm that solves the fluid flowequations as a coupled system. Comparisons of the effectivenessof incomplete factorization preconditioners applied to the GMRES(generalized minimum residual) method are shown. Some numericalresults are presented showing that it is possible to minimizeconsiderably the CPU time of the coupled approach so that itcan be faster than the decoupled one.     

Will black holes eventually engulf the Universe?

The Babichev–Dokuchaev–Eroshenko model for the accretion of dark energy onto black holes has been extended to deal with black holes with non-static metrics. The possibility that for an asymptotic observer a black hole with large mass will rapidly increase and eventually engulf the Universe at a finite time in the future has been studied by using reasonable values for astronomical parameters. It is concluded that such a phenomenon is forbidden for all black holes in quintessential cosmological models.     

Hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin-based extraction for diuron bioaccessibility in an artificially contaminated soil

Different extraction techniques are presented here to determine whether their extraction abilities correlate with the bioaccessible diuron fraction in an aged contaminated soil. Diuron bioaccessibility was tested establishing correlations between the amount of diuron biodegraded after different aging periods, using a specific diuron biodegrader microorganism consortium, and the amount of diuron extracted by 50 mM hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (HPBCD), 10 mM CaCl₂, hexane, or butanol. HPBCD extraction procedure correlated better than the other extraction techniques tested with diuron measured microbial biodegradation for all aging times (1, 30, 60, 90, and 120 days). The results obtained with this soil indicate that the aqueous HPBCD extraction technique has potential to become a valuable tool for estimating the bioaccessible fraction of soil-associated diuron at different aging times, and it could be applicable in the assessment of risk and contaminated land bioremediation potential.     

Preparation, structural analysis and dielectric properties of Bi x La1−x FeO3 perovskite

Rare earth element substituted bismuth ferrites (BiFeO₃) are of enormous importance as magnetoelectric materials. The polycrystalline samples of Bi _x La_1−x FeO₃ (x=0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8) were prepared by solid-state reaction using standard ceramic method. The single-phase formation of these compounds was confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies. The samples with x=0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6 are found to be orthorhombic while the sample with x=0.8 is triclinic. The dielectric constant (ε′) and dissipation factor (tan δ) were measured in the frequency range 100 Hz to 1 MHz at room temperature and as a function of temperature at certain fixed frequencies (1 kHz, 10 kHz, 100 kHz, 1 MHz). All the samples showed dielectric dispersion. The dielectric constant with temperature shows a broad peak; the peak temperature shifts with frequency which reflects the relaxor-type behavior. The peak above 600 K in the measured temperature range corresponds to antiferromagnetic ordering temperature (Néel temperature). The broadness of the peak changes with composition. The ac conductivity as well as ε′ are found to be maximum for the sample x=0.2 at room temperature.     

BKP方程族的Pfaffian解

本文从约化的角度考虑BKP方程族的Pfaffian形式的解.证明了通过施加适当的微分约束,KP方程族的格拉姆行列式的解很自然的约化为BKP方程族的解.     

Antifungal activity of eugenol analogues. Influence of different substituents and studies on mechanism of action

Twenty one phenylpropanoids (including eugenol and safrole) and synthetic analogues, thirteen of them new compounds, were evaluated for antifungal properties, first with non-targeted assays against a panel of human opportunistic pathogenic fungi. Some structure-activity relationships could be observed, mainly related to the influence of an allyl substituent at C-4, an OH group at C-1 and an OCH(3) at C-2 or the presence of one or two NO(2) groups in different positions of the benzene ring. All active compounds were tested in a second panel of clinical isolates of C. albicans and non-albicans Candida spp., Cryptococcus neoformans and dermatophytes. The eugenol derivative 4-allyl-2-methoxy-5-nitrophenol (2) was the most active structure against all strains tested, and therefore it was submitted to targeted assays. These studies showed that the antifungal activity of 2 was not reversed in the presence of an osmotic support such as sorbitol, suggesting that it does not act by inhibiting the fungal cell wall synthesis or assembly. On the other hand, the Ergosterol Assay showed that 2 did not bind to the main sterol of the fungal membrane up to 250 μg mL-1. In contrast, a 22% of fungal membrane damage was observed at concentrations = 1 × MIC and 71% at 4× MIC, when 2 was tested in the Cellular Leakage assay. The comparison of log P and MICs for all compounds revealed that the antifungal activity of the eugenol analogues would not to be related to lipophilicity.     

Effect of backbone flexibility on charge transfer rates in peptide nucleic acid duplexes

Charge transfer (CT) properties are compared between peptide nucleic acid structures with an aminoethylglycine backbone (aeg-PNA) and those with a γ-methylated backbone (γ-PNA). The common aeg-PNA is an achiral molecule with a flexible structure, whereas γ-PNA is a chiral molecule with a significantly more rigid structure than aeg-PNA. Electrochemical measurements show that the CT rate constant through an aeg-PNA bridging unit is twice the CT rate constant through a γ-PNA bridging unit. Theoretical calculations of PNA electronic properties, which are based on a molecular dynamics structural ensemble, reveal that the difference in the CT rate constant results from the difference in the extent of backbone fluctuations of aeg- and γ-PNA. In particular, fluctuations of the backbone affect the local electric field that broadens the energy levels of the PNA nucleobases. The greater flexibility of the aeg-PNA gives rise to more broadening, and a more frequent appearance of high-CT rate conformations than in γ-PNA.     

Differential protein expression of hepatic cells associated with MeHg exposure: deepening into the molecular mechanisms of toxicity

Understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying MeHg toxicity and the way in which this molecule interacts with living organisms is a critical point since MeHg represents a well-known risk to ecosystems and human health. We used a quantitative proteomic approach based on stable isotopic labeling by amino acids in cell culture in combination with SDS-PAGE and nanoflow LC-ESI-LTQ for analyzing the differential protein expression of hepatic cells associated to MeHg exposure. Seventy-eight proteins were found de-regulated by more than 1.5-fold. We identified a number of proteins involved in different essential biological processes including apoptosis, mitochondrial dysfunction, cellular trafficking and energy production. Among these proteins, we found several molecules whose de-regulation has been already related to MeHg exposure, thus confirming the usefulness of our discovery approach, and new ones that helped to gain a deeper insight into the biomolecular mechanisms related to MeHg-induced toxicity. Overexpression of several HSPs and the proteasome 26S subunit itself showed the proteasome system as a molecular target of toxic MeHg. As for the interaction networks, the top ranked was the nucleic acid metabolism, where many of the identified de-regulated proteins are involved.