Inhibition of the Quorum Sensing System,Elastase Production and Biofilm Formation in Pseudomonas aeruginosa by Psammaplin A and Bisaprasin

Natural products derived from marine sponges have exhibited bioactivity and, in some cases, serve as potent quorum sensing inhibitory agents that prevent biofilm formation and attenuate virulence factor expression by pathogenic microorganisms. In this study, the inhibitory activity of the psammaplin-type compounds, psammaplin A (1) and bisaprasin (2), isolated from the marine sponge, Aplysinella rhax, are evaluated in quorum sensing inhibitory assays based on the Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 lasB-gfp(ASV) and rhlA-gfp(ASV) biosensor strains. The results indicate that psammaplin A (1) showed moderate inhibition on lasB-gfp expression, but significantly inhibited the QS-gene promoter, rhlA-gfp, with IC₅₀ values at 14.02 μM and 4.99 μM, respectively. In contrast, bisaprasin (2) displayed significant florescence inhibition in both biosensors, PAO1 lasB-gfp and rhlA-gfp, with IC₅₀ values at 3.53 μM and 2.41 μM, respectively. Preliminary analysis suggested the importance of the bromotyrosine and oxime functionalities for QSI activity in these molecules. In addition, psammaplin A and bisaprasin downregulated elastase expression as determined by the standard enzymatic elastase assay, although greater reduction in elastase production was observed with 1 at 50 μM and 100 μM. Furthermore, the study revealed that bisaprasin (2) reduced biofilm formation in P. aeruginosa.     

Rheoreversible Metallogels Derived from Coordination Polymers

A series of mixed‐ligand‐based Cd^II/Co^II coordination polymers (CPs) that were derived from two bis(pyridyl)–bis(amide) ligands, 4,4′‐oxybis(N‐(pyridin‐3‐yl)benzamide) ( LP ) and 4,4′‐oxybis(N‐(pyridin‐4‐yl)benzamide) ( LP1 ), and a variety of dicarboxylates isophthalates, terephthalates, 1,2‐carboxytranscinamates, and 1,3‐ and 1,4‐phenylene dicarboxylates were synthesized based on a rationale that they would occlude solvate guests inside their crystal lattice, thereby rendering these CPs suitable as metallogelators. The CPs were characterized by using single‐crystal X‐ray diffraction, elemental analysis, powder X‐ray diffraction (PXRD), FTIR spectroscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Structural analyses revealed that the majority of the CPs were lattice‐occluded molecular solids, which provided us with an opportunity to study their gelation behavior. We observed that, out of eight CPs that were tested, seven were able to produce metallogels. A thorough study of the rheological behavior of the metallogels was performed and CPG1 , CPG2 , CPG4 , and CPG5 were found to exhibit rheoreversible behavior, which was further confirmed by rheological experiments. Interestingly, ligand LP was found to form an aqueous gel, which was exploited to produce silver nanoparticles.     

New insights into polylactide biodegradation from molecular ecological techniques

Molecular ecological techniques for direct identification of microbes involved in PLA degradation under aerobic composting conditions are described. Gene sequences from genera Paecilomyces, Thermomonospora, and Thermopolyspora were most abundant in the compost samples. Members of these phylogenetic lineages are therefore likely to play an important role in PLA degradation. The use of molecular ecological techniques to design cultivation strategies may also provide a new tool for identification and investigation of biodegradation mechanisms and for future development of efficient biological treatment or recycling processes for PLA and other biodegradable polymers.     

Biodegradation of chemically modified wheat gluten-based natural polymer materials

Biodegradation of a series of chemically modified thermally processed wheat gluten (WG)-based natural polymers were examined according to Australian Standard (AS ISO 14855). Most of these materials reached 93-100% biodegradation within 22 days of composting, and the growth of fungi and significant phase deformation were observed during the process. Chemical crosslinking did slow down the rate or reduce the degree of the biodegradation with different behaviours for different modified systems. The segments containing structures derived from the reactions with additives such as tannin or epoxidised soybean oil remained in the degradation residues while the glycidoxypropyl trimethoxysilane agent produced ∼20% un-degraded residues containing silicon-crosslinking structures. The biodegradation rate of each component of the materials was also different with the protein and starch components degraded fast but lipid degraded relatively slowly.     

Analysis of multitone microwave signals on optical fiber system using external laser modulation

In this paper, we Analyze multitone microwave signals on optical fiber with different tone signals and utilizing various possibilities of regeneration and amplification by different means. We compare out the performance analysis of Erbium doped fiber amplifiers (EDFAs) and Semi-conductor Optical Amplifiers (SOA). One tone's frequency varies from 1 to 20 GHz through parametric runs and other has fixed frequency of 5 GHz and third harmonic tones may be monitored.     

Microdetermination of Xanthates

Summary A rapid, convenient and accurate method for the determination of xanthates has been developed. N-bromosuccinimide has been used to displace iodine from potassium iodide which in turn oxidizes xanthate to dixanthogen. The p_H 4 is optimum for the determination. The maximum relative standard deviation is 6% in the case of ethyl potassium xanthate when a 0.5 mg sample was taken.

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Zusammenfassung Ein genaues Verfahren zur raschen Bestimmung von Xanthat wurde entwickelt. N-Bromsuccinimid dient zur Freisetzung von Jod aus KJ; Jod oxydiert Xanthat zu Dixanthogen. Das optimale p_H für die Bestimmung ist 4. Die größte relative Standardabweichung ist 6% bei einer Einwaage von 0,5 mg Kaliumäthylxanthat.

     

Mononuclear complexes of manganese(II), iron(II), cobalt(II), nickel(II), copper(II), and zinc(II), with 4-amino-3,5-bis(pyridin-2-yl)-1,2,4 triazole and tris(2-aminoethyl) amine: crystal structure of [Ni(tren)(abpt)](NO3)2(H2O)2.25

Complexes of the type [M(tren)(abpt)](NO₃)₂(H₂O)_n (1–6) [M = Mn^II, Fe^II, Co^II, Cu^II, Zn^II (n = 2), Ni^II (n = 2.25), tren = tris(2-aminoethyl)amine, and abpt = 4-amino-3,5-bis(pyridin-2yl)-1,2,4 triazole] have been prepared. The bonding mode and overall geometry of the complexes have been deduced by elemental analyses, molar conductance values, spectral studies (obtained from FT-IR), ¹H-n.m.r., electronic spectral analyses and magnetic susceptibility measurements. A detailed molecular structure of complex (4) has been determined by single X-ray crystallography.     

Synthesis of new dinuclear dicopper(II) and dinickel(II) complexes. The kinetics of catechol oxidase and electrochemistry of a dicopper(II) complex

A new dinuclear ligand L, ethylene[OO-bis-salicylidene--diketone] bearing two symmetrical coordination sites was synthesized by the condensation of salicylaldehyde and acetylacetone, L, with 1,2-dibromoethane under reflux. The ligand L in a 1:1 ratio was treated with CuCl₂ and NiCl₂ to yield the complexes, tetrachloro bis[OO-bis- salicylidene--diketone copper(II)] and bis[OO-bis-salicylidene--diketone nickel(II)] chloride. The complexes were subsequently characterized by spectroscopic techniques, elemental analysis, i.r., ¹H-n.m.r., ¹³C-n.m.r., u.v.–vis., e.p.r. spectroscopy, and conductance measurements. The conductance measurements in DMF reveal that the Cu^II complex is covalent while the Ni^II complex is ionic and the spectral data support the Cu^II complex to be distorted octahedral whereas the Ni^II complex has square-planar geometry. The dioxygen binding was studied spectrophotometrically by the oxidation of tetrachloro bis[OO-bis-salicylidene--diketone copper(II)] with pyrocatechol in the presence of oxygen. The kinetic experiments were performed with the copper complex in DMF by monitoring the increase in absorbance over time at pH 8.0 in the presence of pyrocatechol at 25 °C. The kinetic parameters V_max and K_M were determined on the Michaelis–Menten Approach. Redox behavior of the dinuclear copper(II) complex was investigated by cyclic voltammetry in the presence of O₂ with the pyrocatechol (substrate) and also without the substrate. The large difference in potentials E⁰ is indicative of reversible oxygen binding of the complex and distinct catalytic activity.     

On the geometry of null congruences in general relativity

Some theorems for the null conguences within the framework of general theory of relativity are given. These theorems are important in themselves as they illustrate the geometric meaning of the spin coefficients. The newly developed Geroch-Held-Penrose (GHP) formalism has been used throughout the investigations. The salient features of GHP formalism that are necessary for the present work are given, and these techniques are applied to a pair of null congruences C (l) and C(n).