Phase equilibria study of the binary systems (1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tosylate ionic liquid + water,or organic solvent)

(Solid + liquid) phase equilibria (SLE) and (liquid + liquid) phase equilibria (LLE) for the binary systems: ionic liquid (IL) 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolim tosylate (p-toluenesulfonate) {[BMIM][TOS] + water, an alcohol (ethanol, or 1-butanol, or 1-hexanol, or 1-octanol, or 1-decanol), or n-hexane, or an aromatic hydrocarbons (benzene, or toluene, or ethylbenzene, or propylbenzene, or thiophene)} have been determined at ambient pressure. A dynamic method was used over a broad range of mole fractions and temperatures from (230 to 340) K. For the binary systems containing water, or an alcohol, simple eutectic diagrams were observed with complete miscibility in the liquid phase. As usual, with increasing chain length of the alcohol the solubility decreases. In the case of mixtures {IL + n-hexane, or benzene, or alkylbenzene, or thiophene} the eutectic systems with mutual immiscibility in the liquid phase with an upper critical solution temperature (UCST) were detected. The basic thermal properties of the pure IL, i.e. melting and glass-transition temperatures, as well as the enthalpy of fusion have been measured using a differential scanning microcalorimetry technique (DSC). Density at high temperatures was determined and extrapolated to 298.15 K. Well-known UNIQUAC, Wilson and NRTL equations have been used to correlate experimental SLE data sets for alcohols and water. For the systems containing immiscibility gaps {IL + n-hexane, or benzene, or alkylbenzene, or thiophene}, parameters of the LLE correlation equation have been derived using only the NRTL equation.     

Determination of side‐chain‐rotamer and side‐chain and backbone virtual‐bond‐stretching potentials of mean force from AM1 energy surfaces of terminally‐blocked amino‐acid residues,for coarse‐grained simulations of protein structure and folding. I. The method

In this and the accompanying article, we report the development of new physics‐based side‐chain‐rotamer and virtual‐bond‐deformation potentials which now replace the respective statistical potentials used so far in our physics‐based united‐reside UNRES force field for large‐scale simulations of protein structure and dynamics. In this article, we describe the methodology for determining the corresponding potentials of mean force (PMF's) from the energy surfaces of terminally‐blocked amino‐acid residues calculated with the AM1 quantum‐mechanical semiempirical method. The approach is based on minimization of the AM1 energy for fixed values of the angles λ for rotation of the peptide groups about the C^α ··· C^α virtual bonds, and for fixed values of the side‐chain dihedral angles χ, which formed a multidimensional grid. A harmonic‐approximation approach was developed to extrapolate from the energy at a given grid point to other points of the conformational space to compute the respective contributions to the PMF. To test the applicability of the harmonic approximation, the rotamer PMF's of alanine and valine obtained with this approach have been compared with those obtained by using a Metropolis Monte Carlo method. The PMF surfaces computed with the harmonic approximation are more rugged and have more pronounced minima than the MC‐calculated surfaces but the harmonic‐approximation‐and MC‐calculated PMF values are linearly correlated. The potentials derived with the harmonic approximation are, therefore, appropriate for UNRES for which the weights (scaling factors) of the energy terms are determined by force‐field optimization for foldability. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comput Chem, 2010     

Electrochemical monitoring of citric acid production by Aspergillus niger

Hybrid electronic tongue was developed for the monitoring of citric acid production by Aspergillus niger. The system based on various potentiometric/voltammetric sensors and appropriate chemometric techniques provided correct qualitative and quantitative classification of the samples collected during standard Aspergillus niger culture and culture infected with yeast. The performance of the proposed approach was compared with the monitoring of the fermentation process carried out using classical methods. The results obtained proved, that the designed hybrid electronic tongue was able to evaluate the progress and correctness of the fermentation process.     

Synthesis,Characterization and Evaluation of Antimicrobial and Antituberculosis Activities of New N‐(Substituted‐thioureido)aminobicyclo Dicarboximide and 3,4‐Disubstituted 1,2,4‐Triazolino‐5‐thione

The novel N‐(substituted‐thioureido)aminobicyclo dicarboximide and 3,4‐disubstituted 1,2,4‐triazolino‐5‐thione were synthesized and their antimicrobial and antituberculosis activities were examined. Selected dicarboxylic acid anhydrides were used to obtain derivatives of thiosemicarbazide and dicarboximide. Dicarboximides were also cyclized in the presence of an alkaline solution giving 1,2,4‐triazolino‐5‐thione. The chemical structure of all compounds was confirmed by IR, ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, the X‐ray crystallography ( 6 , 11 ) and elemental analysis. Antimicrobial and antituberculosis activities of the derivatives were measured.     

Gly‐Gly‐His Immobilized On Monolayer Modified Back‐Side Contact Miniaturized Sensors for Complexation of Copper Ions

Miniaturized planar back‐side contact transducers (BSC) with chemically modified gold surface have been utilized as electrochemical sensors. The electrodes have been functionalized by sequential immobilization of aryl diazonium salts or alkanethiols and short peptide Gly‐Gly‐His. The applicability of gold substrates modified with aryl diazonium salts in voltammetric detection of copper(II) ions in aqueous solutions has been studied. The combination of two fundamental elements of the solid‐state electrode, i.e. back‐side contact (BSC) gold sensor and self‐assembled monolayers, allowed one to obtain reliable miniaturized copper(II) ion sensors. It can have important future applications in environmental sensing or in implantable biodevices.     

Breakage and Coalescence Phenomena in Ultrasound Field for Liquid-Liquid Dispersion Systems

In this article, emulsification process of liquid-liquid systems was presented, where the emulsification was conducted using ultrasound energy. Mathematical model describing coalescence and droplet breakage phenomena in the ultrasound field based on the model of Laso, Steiner, and Hartland was proposed.     

Methionine Capped Nanoparticles as Acetylcholinesterase Inhibitors

The silver and gold L-methionine capped nanoparticles (Ag and Au @LM NPs) were analyzed as prospective acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitors to test their potential in the treatment of cognitive impairment in depression and Alzheimer's disease. The stability of NPs, and their ability to inhibit AChE were studied by UV-Vis and FTIR spectrophotometry. At the same time, TEM and SEM measurements, DLS, and zeta potential measurements were employed in the structural characterization of NPs. Nearly spherical, negatively charged Ag and Au @LM NPs, with 17 nm and 31 nm in diameter, respectively, showed moderate inhibitory potential toward AChE in the given frame of investigated concentrations. For both NPs IC50 is not reached. Furthermore, the adsorption of enzyme molecules on the surface of Ag and Au @LM NPs was demonstrated. Hence, our assumption is that inhibition of AChE is caused by blockage of the enzyme‘s active site due to the steric hindrance of NPs.     

High-performance thin-layer chromatography with densitometry for the determination of ciprofloxacin and impurities in drugs

A thin-layer chromatographic (TLC)-densitometric method has been developed for identification and quantification of ciprofloxacin (Rf = 0.61) and an ethylenediamine compound (Rf = 0.42), a desfluoro compound (Rf = 0.48), by-compound A (Rf = 0.53), and fluoroquinolonic acid (Rf = 0.68) as ciprofloxacin degradation products in pharmaceutical preparations. By using chloroform-methanol-25% ammonia (43 + 43 + 14, v/v/v) as the mobile phase and silica gel 60 F254 high-performance TLC plates as the stationary phase, it was possible to separate individual constituents that, when subjected to ultraviolet (UV) densitometric analysis at 330 nm for fluoroquinolonic acid and 277 nm for the other compounds, gave well developed peaks allowing easy qualitative and quantitative analyses. DMSO-methanol (1 + 1) was used to extract drug constituents. The method showed high sensitivity (limit of detection 10 to 44 ng), a wide linearity range (3 to 20 microg/mL), and good precision (2.32 to 6.46% relative standard deviation) and accuracy (percentage recoveries 98.62 to 101.52%) for individual constituents.     

Effect of the Addition of Dried Dandelion Roots (Taraxacum officinale F. H. Wigg.) on Wheat Dough and Bread Properties

Dried and crushed dandelion roots (Taraxacum officinale F. H. Wigg.) (TO) were used as a formulation additive (at the amount of 0, 1, 3, 4, 5, and 6 g 100 g⁻¹ flour) to wheat bread. The farinographic properties of the dough and the physical and chemical properties of the bread were evaluated. It was found that the addition of dried flour caused a significant decrease in water absorption by the flour (1% and higher TO level), an increase in the development time (from 2% to 5% TO addition) and dough stability (3% and 4% TO level), and an increase in dough softening (4% and higher TO level). As the substitution of TO for wheat flour increased, there was a gradual decrease in loaf volume, an increase in specific weight and crumb hardness, and a darkening of the crumb color. The total polyphenol content increased linearly with the percentage increase of dried root additions TO from 0.290 to 0.394 mg GAE g⁻¹ d.m_., which translated into an increase in the antioxidant activity of the bread. It was found that dried crushed roots of Taraxacum officinale can be a recipe additive for wheat bread; however, due to their specific smell and bitter aftertaste, the level of this additive should not exceed 3 g 100 g⁻¹ flour.