Liquid-membrane electrode sensitive to ammonia and aliphatic amines based on 1-[(2-oxyphenyl)iminomethly]-2-oxybenzene-O,O',N-ammin-nickel(II) complex

In this study, an ammonia-gas-sensing liquid-state membrane electrode based on 1-[(2-oxyphenyl)iminomethyl]-2-oxybenzene-O,O',N-ammin-nickel(II) (Ni(II)-Schiff base) as an ionophore was developed. This membrane electrode gave a very good performance and exhibited linear response with near-Nernstian slope of 50.7+/-0.5 mV per decade, within a concentration range of 1.0x10(-1)-1.0x10(-3) M. The electrode performance depends on the pH of the test solution and the optimum pH range was 10.0-11.5. The effect of concentration of internal solutions in the electrode was also investigated. The selectivity properties of the electrode towards aliphatic amines at a pH value of 10.2 were investigated with the mixed-solution method. Furthermore, the response time and lifetime of the electrode prepared were determined.     

Two New Phenylpropanoid Glycosides from the Leaves and Flowers of Erica arborea

Two new phenylpropanoid glucosides, 1,2‐erythro‐1‐(3,4,5‐trimethoxyphenyl)‐2‐(β‐D ‐glucopyranosyloxy)propan‐1,3‐diol ( 1 ) and 7,8‐threo‐2′,8‐epoxysyringylglycerol‐7‐O‐α‐D ‐glucopyranoside (ericarboside; 2 ) have been isolated together with four known compounds 2′,7‐epoxysyringylglycerol‐8‐O‐β‐D ‐glucopyranoside (ficuscarpanoside B; 3 ), benzylrutinoside (hydrangeifolin; 4 ), phenethylrutinoside ( 5 ), and caffeic acid from the BuOH soluble part of the MeOH extract of the leaves and flowers of E. arborea L. Final purification of the compounds was achieved on a reversed‐phase HPLC. Their structures have been elucidated by extensive 1D‐ and 2D‐NMR, and mass spectroscopic techniques.     

Effect of the glutaraldehyde derivatives of Calix[n]arene as cross-linker reagents on lipase immobilization

Synthesis of the glutaraldehyde derivatives calix[n]arene (n = 4,6,8) (Calix[n]-GA) and using as cross-linkers for immobilization of Candida rugosa lipase (CRL) have been discussed in this paper. The amino functional calix[n]arene derivatives (Calix[n]-NH ₂) were synthesized via reduction of dinitrile, hexanitrile and octanitrile derivatives of calix[n]arenes. These amino functional calix[n]arene derivatives (Calix[n]-NH ₂) were converted to their aldehyde derivativatives with glutaraldehyde. The calix[n]arene derivatives were used in lipase immobilization in order to see the role of calix[n]arene binding site on the lipase activitiy and stability. The activity recovery of calix[n]arene-supported lipases (Calix[n]-CRL) based on the Calix[4]-CRL, Calix[6]-CRL and Calix[8]-CRL reaches to 53.5, 66.1 and 76.4%, respectively.     

Modeling and predicting binding affinity of phencyclidine‐like compounds using machine learning methods

Machine learning methods have always been promising in the science and engineering fields, and the use of these methods in chemistry and drug design has advanced especially since the 1990s. In this study, molecular electrostatic potential (MEP) surfaces of phencyclidine‐like (PCP‐like) compounds are modeled and visualized in order to extract features that are useful in predicting binding affinities. In modeling, the Cartesian coordinates of MEP surface points are mapped onto a spherical self‐organizing map (SSOM). The resulting maps are visualized using electrostatic potential (ESP) values. These values also provide features for a prediction system. Support vector machines and partial least‐squares method are used for predicting binding affinities of compounds. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Diabetes induces compositional, structural and functional alterations on rat skeletal soleus muscle revealed by FTIR spectroscopy: a comparative study with EDL muscle

Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is a metabolic disorder, characterized by abnormally high blood glucose levels due to decreased secretion or effectiveness in function of insulin. Having a role in carbohydrate and lipid metabolism, skeletal muscle is affected by the absence of insulin in diabetic conditions. This current study reports the application of Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy in the determination of macromolecular alterations in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rat skeletal Soleus (SOL) muscles, which highlight the promise of this technique in medical research. The results revealed that DM induced several alterations in macromolecular content and structure of slow-contracting SOL muscles. In diabetic SOL muscles, a decrease in the content of lipids, proteins and nucleic acids together with an increase in lipid order was observed. The decrease in the level of unsaturation and acyl chain length of lipids demonstrated the increased lipid peroxidation in DM. There were alterations in protein secondary structure in DM with a decrease in α-helix and β-sheet content of proteins, whereas the content of aggregated β-strands increased, which is generally seen when proteins denature. Besides, the integrity of collagen molecules was found to be decreased, demonstrating the alterations in its triple helical structure in diabetic muscles. Furthermore, the same alterations mentioned above were also observed in diabetic fast-contracting Extensor Digitorum Longus (EDL) muscles. However, having a high content of mitochondria and relying on an oxidative pathway, SOL muscle was found to be more affected by DM.     

Domain compression via anisotropic metamaterials designed by coordinate transformations

We introduce a spatial coordinate transformation technique to compress the excessive white space (i.e. free-space) in the computational domain of finite methods. This approach is based on the form-invariance property of Maxwell’s equations under coordinate transformations. Clearly, Maxwell’s equations are still satisfied inside the transformed space, but the medium turns into an anisotropic medium whose constitutive parameters are determined by the coordinate transformation. The proposed technique can be employed to reduce the number of unknowns especially in high-frequency applications wherein a finite method requires an electrically-large computational domain. After developing the analytical background of this technique, we report some numerical results for finite element simulations of electromagnetic scattering problems.     

A phenanthrene-based calix[4]arene as a fluorescent sensor for Cu and F

A new phenanthrene-based fluorescent calix[4]arene (4) has been synthesized in cone conformation. This compound was examined for its fluorescent properties towards different metal ions (Na⁺, Li⁺, Mg²⁺, Ni²⁺, Ba²⁺, Ca²⁺, Cu²⁺, Pb²⁺) and anions (F⁻, Cl⁻, Br⁻, H₂₄PO⁻,${{\text{H}}_2{\text{PO}}_4}^{-}\text{,}$₃NO⁻,${{\text{NO}}_3}^{-}\text{,}$₄HSO⁻,${{\text{HSO}}_4}^{-}\text{,}$ CH₃COO⁻) by fluorescence spectroscopy. The properties of the compound were evaluated and show that it is a fluorescence sensor for Cu²⁺ and F⁻. With the addition of Cu²⁺ and F⁻, the fluorescence was severely quenched.