Chemical constituents from the leaves of Manglietia phuthoensis and their effects on osteoblastic MC3T3-E1 cells

Two new phenyl glycosides, mangliesides A and B (1, 2), a new ionol glycoside, manglieside C (3), two new lignan glycosides, mangliesides D and E (4, 5), were isolated from the leaves of Manglietia phuthoensis, along with two known lignans, 3-methoxymagnolol (6) and obovatol (7). Their structures were established by means of 1D and 2D NMR, electrospray ionization (ESI)-MS and HR-ESI-MS experiments. Among them, compounds 2 and 5 significantly (p<0.05) increased the growth and differentiation of osteoblastic MC3T3-E1 cells in vitro.     

pH-temperature Responsive Hydrogel-Mediated Delivery of Exendin-4 Encapsulated Chitosan Nanospheres for Sustained Therapeutic Efficacy in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2D) is a chronic, obesity-related, and inflammatory disorder characterize by insulin resistance, inadequate insulin secretion, hyperglycemia, and excessive glucagon secretion. Exendin-4 (EX), a clinically established antidiabetic medication that acts as a glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist, is effective in lowering glucose levels and stimulating insulin secretion while significantly reducing hunger. However, the requirement for multiple daily injections due to EX's short half-life is a significant limitation in its clinical application, leading to high treatment costs and patient inconvenience. To address this issue, an injectable hydrogel system is developed that can provide sustained EX release at the injection site, reducing the need for daily injections. In this study, the electrospray technique is examine to form EX@CS nanospheres by electrostatic interaction between cationic chitosan (CS) and negatively charged EX. These nanospheres are uniformly dispersed in a pH-temperature responsive pentablock copolymer, which forms micelles and undergoes sol-to-gel transition at physiological conditions. Following injection, the hydrogel gradually degraded, exhibiting excellent biocompatibility. The EX@CS nanospheres are subsequently released, maintaining therapeutic levels for over 72 h compared to free EX solution. The findings demonstrate that the pH-temperature responsive hydrogel system containing EX@CS nanospheres can be a promising platform for the treatment of T2D.     

Two new simple iridoids from the ant-plant Myrmecodia tuberosa and their antimicrobial effects

Six iridoid derivatives (1–6), including two new compounds myrmecodoides A and B (1 and 2), were isolated from the ant-plant Myrmecodia tuberosa. Their structures were determined on the basis of spectroscopic data (¹H and ¹³C NMR, HSQC, HMBC, ¹H-¹H COSY, NOESY and HR-ESI-MS) and by comparison with the literature values. Among isolates, 3 and 4 exhibit weak antibacterial effect against Staphylococcus aureus subsp. aureus with MIC value of 100.0 μg/mL.     

Distinct reaction pathways followed upon reduction of oxy-heme oxygenase and oxy-myoglobin as characterized by Mössbauer spectroscopy

Activation of O(2) by heme-containing monooxygenases generally commences with the common initial steps of reduction to the ferrous heme and binding of O(2) followed by a one-electron reduction of the O(2)-bound heme. Subsequent steps that generate reactive oxygen intermediates diverge and reflect the effects of protein control on the reaction pathway. In this study, M?ssbauer and EPR spectroscopies were used to characterize the electronic states and reaction pathways of reactive oxygen intermediates generated by 77 K radiolytic cryoreduction and subsequent annealing of oxy-heme oxygenase (HO) and oxy-myoglobin (Mb). The results confirm that one-electron reduction of (Fe(II)-O(2))HO is accompanied by protonation of the bound O(2) to generate a low-spin (Fe(III)-O(2)H(-))HO that undergoes self-hydroxylation to form the alpha-meso-hydroxyhemin-HO product. In contrast, one-electron reduction of (Fe(II)-O(2))Mb yields a low-spin (Fe(III)-O(2)(2-))Mb. Protonation of this intermediate generates (Fe(III)-O(2)H(-))Mb, which then decays to a ferryl complex, (Fe(IV)=O(2-))Mb, that exhibits magnetic properties characteristic of the compound II species generated in the reactions of peroxide with heme peroxidases and with Mb. Generation of reactive high-valent states with ferryl species via hydroperoxo intermediates is believed to be the key oxygen-activation steps involved in the catalytic cycles of P450-type monooxygenases. The M?ssbauer data presented here provide direct spectroscopic evidence supporting the idea that ferric-hydroperoxo hemes are indeed the precursors of the reactive ferryl intermediates. The fact that a ferryl intermediate does not accumulate in HO underscores the determining role played by protein structure in controlling the reactivity of reaction intermediates.     

Double Yielding in a Styrene/Butadiene Star Block Copolymer

Summary: The morphology and tensile deformation behaviour of a highly asymmetric styrene/butadiene star block copolymer (polystyrene (PS) content = 74%) containing random PS‐co‐PB (polybutadiene) copolymer as a rubbery phase were investigated. The existence of double yielding, similar to that observed in some semicrystalline polymers, was detected in this nanostructured amorphous polymer. The observed phenomenon may be correlated with two different micromechanical processes taking place at the initial stage of deformation.

The stress‐strain curve of the star block copolymer prepared here (each curve represents a different method). The two yield points are clearly visible (labelled I and II).     

Research on Electroanalytical Chemical Methods for Trace Metal Speciation in Sea Water Samples

Since bioavalability of a trace metal in natural waters is affected by its chemical forms, the speciation of a trace metal becomes more and more important in environmental chemistry. Differential pulse anodic stripping voltammetry (DPASV) titration procedures are developed and applied to identify organic trace metal species of copper (Cu), lead (Pb) and zinc (Zn) in sea water and to determine their complexing capacity.     

Investigation for Differentiation of Bounding Strength Of Metals in Sediments

Only part of the metal present in sediments are involved in short-term geochemical processes and/or are bioavailable. Hydrous Fe- and Mn-oxides as well as organic matter partly as coatings on films on detail grains, are important substances for the interaction with dissolved metal species in aquatic systems.     

Strong Law of Large Numbers for Betti Numbers in the Thermodynamic Regime

Journal of Statistical Physics - We establish the strong law of large numbers for Betti numbers of random ?ech complexes built on $${\mathbb {R}}^N$$ -valued binomial point processes and...     

Slow salt-induced aggregation of citrate-covered silver particles in aqueous solutions of cellulose derivatives

In this work, the salt-induced aggregation of bare and polymer-covered silver particles has been studied with the aid of light scattering and UV-visible spectroscopy. Light scattering on a suspension of bare silver particles at a low salt concentration shows that the cluster fractal dimension d _f changes from 1.6 to 2 in the course of the aggregation process, whereas no restructuring of the clusters is observed at a higher salinity where d _f ≈ 1.6. The growth of the clusters over time can be described by a power law R _h ∝ t ^α , where R _h is the apparent hydrodynamic radius. The UV-visible experiments revealed that increasing the size of the bare silver particles lead to a significant broadening and red-shift of the absorbance band, whereas for salt-induced growth of Ag clusters, a blue-shift and broadening was observed. Addition of salt to a suspension of silver particles and hydroxyethylcellulose divulged a slower broadening of the surface plasmon peak than without polymer.     

Progress in Scanning Electrochemical Microscopy by Coupling with Electrochemical Impedance and Quartz Crystal Microbalance

Scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM) is a powerful technique for performing quantitative measurements at a local scale. This paper covers the development of combinations of SECM with electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance (EQCM). Basic aspects are described and potential applications reported by several research groups are covered. The unique advantages of the coupled techniques—with additional information being obtained from each coupling—are also discussed.