Hydrangenone, a new isoprenoid with an unprecedented skeleton from Salvia hydrangea

Hydrangenone, a new heptacyclic isoprenoid with a 6/7/6/5/5 membered carbon ring skeleton, was isolated from the aerial parts of Salvia hydrangea. The structure was established by extensive NMR spectroscopic methods. The relative and absolute configuration of 1 was assigned by NOESY and X-ray crystallographic analysis and by comparison of experimental and calculated electronic circular dichroism (ECD) spectra. Compound 1 showed in vitro antiplasmodial activity, with an IC(50) value of 1.4 μM against P. falciparum. A plausible biosynthetic pathway of 1 was also proposed.     

Novel Steroidal (6R)‐Spiro‐1,3,4‐thiadiazoline Derivatives as Anti‐bacterial Agents

Novel steroidal (6R)‐spiro‐1,3,4‐thiadiazoline derivatives have been synthesized by the cyclization of steroidal thiosemicarbazones. Thiosemicarbazones have been synthesized by the reaction of steroidal ketones with thiosemicarbazide. All the compounds have been characterized by IR, ¹H NMR, mass and elemental analyses. The antibacterial activities of these compounds have been first tested in vitro by the disk diffusion assay against two Gram‐positive and two Gram‐negative bacteria, and then the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values have been determined with the reference of standard drug amoxicillin. The results showed that steroidal thiadiazoline derivatives exhibited better antibacterial activity than the steroidal thiosemicarbazone derivatives. Chloro and acetoxy substituents on the 3β‐position of the steroidal thiadiazoline ring increased the anti‐bacterial activity. Among all the compounds, compounds 7 and 8 were found better inhibitors as compared to the respective drug amoxicillin.     

Nonclassicality of two-mode nonorthogonal states

Nonclassical features of Schrödinger cat state with two-mode superposition state based on two coherent states π out of phase by fixing the relative phase equal to average photon number are discussed. Study of two-mode quadrature squeezing, oscillatory and sub-Poissonian photon statistics show that nonclassicality exists for these states. However, it is observed that the considered states do not violates the Cauchy–Schwarz inequality. Furthermore, simultaneously existence of quadrature squeezing and sub-Poissonian photon statistics shows that these states have more nonclassical features than that of famous even and odd coherent states.     

A novel one-pot isocyanide-based four-component reaction: synthesis of highly functionalized 1H-pyrazolo[1,2-b]phthalazine-1,2-dicarboxylates and 1H-pyrazolo[1,2-a]pyridazine-1,2-dicarboxylates

A new protocol has been developed for the efficient synthesis of structurally diverse 1H-pyrazolo[1,2-b]phthalazine-1,2-dicarboxylates and 1H-pyrazolo[1,2-a]pyridazine-1,2-dicarboxylates via a four-component reaction of hydrazine hydrate, dialkyl acetylenedicarboxylates, isocyanides and various cyclic anhydrides such as succinic anhydride, maleic anhydride and phthalic anhydride in ethanol/acetone (1:1) at room temperature in good to moderate yields.     

Synthesis and In Vitro Antibacterial Activity of Novel Steroidal (6R)‐Spiro‐1,3,4‐thiadiazoline Derivatives

Novel steroidal (6R)‐spiro‐1,3,4‐thiadiazoline derivatives were synthesized by the cyclization of steroidal thiosemicarbazones with acetic anhydride, screened in vitro against antibacterial activity using disc‐diffusion method and the minimum inhibitory concentration. The results showed that steroidal thiadiazoline derivatives exhibited better antibacterial activity than the steroidal thiosemicarbazone derivatives. Chloro and acetoxy substituents on the 3β‐position of the steroidal thiadiazoline ring increased the antibacterial activity. Among all the compounds, compound 7 and 8 were found better inhibitors of both types of bacteria (Gram‐positive and Gram‐negative) as compared to the respective drug amoxicillin. All the synthesized compounds were well characterized by spectroscopic methods such as IR, ¹H‐NMR, ¹³C‐NMR mass, and elemental analysis and their stereochemistry was also discussed.     

Resolvability in circulant graphs

A set W of the vertices of a connected graph G is called a resolving set for G if for every two distinct vertices u, v ∈ V (G) there is a vertex w ∈ W such that d(u, w) ≠ d(v, w). A resolving set of minimum cardinality is called a metric basis for G and the number of vertices in a metric basis is called the metric dimension of G, denoted by dim(G). For a vertex u of G and a subset S of V (G), the distance between u and S is the number min s∈S d(u, s). A k-partition Π = {S 1 , S 2 , . . . , S k } of V (G) is called a resolving partition if for every two distinct vertices u, v ∈ V (G) there is a set S i in Π such that d(u, Si )≠ d(v, Si ). The minimum k for which there is a resolving k-partition of V (G) is called the partition dimension of G, denoted by pd(G). The circulant graph is a graph with vertex set Zn , an additive group of integers modulo n, and two vertices labeled i and j adjacent if and only if i-j (mod n) ∈ C , where CZn has the property that C =-C and 0 ■ C. The circulant graph is denoted by Xn, Δ where Δ = |C|. In this paper, we study the metric dimension of a family of circulant graphs Xn, 3 with connection set C = {1, n/2 , n-1} and prove that dim(Xn, 3 ) is independent of choice of n by showing that dim(Xn, 3 ) ={3 for all n ≡ 0 (mod 4), 4 for all n ≡ 2 (mod 4). We also study the partition dimension of a family of circulant graphs Xn,4 with connection set C = {±1, ±2} and prove that pd(Xn, 4 ) is independent of choice of n and show that pd(X5,4 ) = 5 and pd(Xn,4 ) ={3 for all odd n ≥ 9, 4 for all even n ≥ 6 and n = 7.     

Selective and periodic inventory routing problem for waste vegetable oil collection

We consider a biodiesel production company that collects waste vegetable oil from source points that generate waste in large amounts. The company uses the collected waste as raw material for biodiesel production. The manager of this company needs to decide which of the present source points to include in the collection program, which of them to visit on each day, which periodic routing schedule to repeat over an infinite horizon and how many vehicles to operate such that the total collection, inventory and purchasing costs are minimized while the production requirements and operational constraints are met. For this selective and periodic inventory routing problem, we propose two different formulations, compare them and apply the better performing one on a real-world problem with 36 scenarios. We generate lower bounds using a partial linear relaxation model, and observe that the solutions obtained through our model are within 3.28% of optimality on the average. Several insights regarding the customer selection, routing and purchasing decisions are acquired with sensitivity analysis.     

Structural,Magnetic, and Electrical Properties of Al3+ Substituted CuZn-ferrites

Nanocrystalline Cu_0.5Zn_0.5Fe_2-xAl_xO₂ (x=0.0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, and 0.5) ferrite materials were synthesized using standard solid state reaction technique. The effects of Al³⁺ contents on the structural, electrical, and magnetic properties were investigated. Single phase cubic spinel structure was revealed by X-ray diffraction analysis. The crystallite size was evaluated considering the most intense diffraction peak (311) using Scherrer formula. Lattice constant decreased, whereas porosity increased with the increase in Al³⁺ concentration. The value of saturation magnetization decreased with increasing aluminum contents. Temperature dependent value of direct current electrical resistivity has been determined. It is observed that the substitution of Al³⁺ has significant impact on the dielectric constant, tangent of dielectric loss angle and dielectric loss factor. The variation in dielectric properties was attributed to space charge polarization.     

Development of a ~3He Gas Filling Station at the China Spallation Neutron Source

At the China Spallation Neutron Source(CSNS), we have developed a custom gas-filling station, a glassblowing workshop, and a spin-exchange optical pumping(SEOP) system for producing high-quality ~3He-based neutron spin filter(NSF) cells. The gas-filling station is capable of routinely filling ~3He cells made from GE180 glass of various dimensions, to be used as neutron polarizers and analyzers on beamlines at the CSNS. Performance tests on cells fabricated at our gas-filling station are conducted via neutron transmission and nuclear-magneticresonance measurements, revealing nominal filling pressures, and a saturated ~3He polarization in the region of 80%, with a lifetime of approximately 240 hours. These results demonstrate our ability to produce competitive NSF cells to meet the ever-increasing research needs of the polarized neutron research community.     

Galangin/β-Cyclodextrin Inclusion Complex as a Drug-Delivery System for Improved Solubility and Biocompatibility in Breast Cancer Treatment

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the potential of a newly modified cyclodextrin derivative, water-soluble β-cyclodextrin–epichlorohydrin (β-CD), as an effective drug carrier to enhance the poor solubility and bioavailability of galangin (GAL), a poorly water-soluble model drug. In this regard, inclusion complexes of GAL/β-CDP were prepared. UV-VIS spectrophotometry, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray crystallography (XRD), zeta potential analysis, particle size analysis, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were applied to characterize the synthesized GAL/β-CD. Michigan Cancer Foundation-7 (MCF-7; human breast cancer cells) and rat embryo fibroblast (REF; normal cells) were employed to examine the in vitro cytotoxic effects of GAL/β-CD using various parameters. The dye-based tests of MTT and crystal violet clearly exhibited that GAL/β-CD-treated cells had a reduced proliferation rate, an influence that was not found in the normal cell line. The cells’ death was found to follow apoptotic mechanisms, as revealed by the dye-based test of acridine orange/ethidium bromide (AO/EtBr), with the involvement of the mitochondria via caspase-3-mediated events, as manifested by the Rh 123 test. We also included a mouse model to examine possible in vivo toxic effects of GAL/β-CD. It appears that the inclusion complex does not have a significant influence on normal cells, as indicated by serum levels of kidney and liver enzymatic markers, as well as thymic and splenic mass indices. A similar conclusion was reached on the histological level, as manifested by the absence of pathological alterations in the liver, kidney, thymus, spleen, heart, and lung.