Synthesis and catalase-like activity of dimanganese complexes with phthalazine-based ligands

Dimanganese complexes Mn₂ ^III(L¹)(OAc)₄ and Mn₂ ^III(L²)(OAc)₄ with the phthalazine-based ligands 1,4-di(2′-benzimidazolyl)aminophthalazine (H₂L¹) and 1,4-di(N-methyl-2′-benzimidazolyl)aminophthalazine (H₂L²) have been prepared and characterized. The complexes accelerate the disproportionation of H₂O₂ into water and dioxygen in buffered aqueous solutions in a near-neutral pH range thus can be regarded as catalase models. Results of kinetic measurements indicate a similar mechanism for the two catalysts, but formation of the proposed peroxo-adduct intermediate is less favored for Mn₂ ^III(L¹)(OAc)₄. It is presumed to be the reason for the lower rates for this catalyst even at higher pH.     

Intranasal phototherapy is more effective than fexofenadine hydrochloride in the treatment of seasonal allergic rhinitis: results of a pilot study

We recently showed that intranasal phototherapy represents an efficient therapeutic modality for the treatment of patients with seasonal allergic rhinitis (SAR). The aim of this pilot study was to compare the efficacy of intranasal phototherapy with that of the new generation antihistamine fexofenadine HCl in SAR. A randomized open study was conducted in patients with a history of moderate-to-severe ragweed-induced SAR. Thirty-one patients were randomly assigned to receive either intranasal irradiation three times a week for 2 weeks, or 180 mg fexofenadine HCl per day for 2 weeks. Each patient kept a diary of symptoms for nasal obstruction, nasal itching, rhinorrhea, sneezing and palate itching. Total nasal score (TNS), a sum of scores for nasal symptoms, was also calculated. In the rhinophototherapy group the individual scores significantly decreased compared with baseline for all of the parameters. In the fexofenadine HCl group none of the scores improved significantly at the end of the treatment except sneezing. TNS was significantly decreased in the rhinophototherapy group, but no significant change was observed in the fexofenadine HCl group after 2 weeks of treatment. In conclusion, we found that intranasal phototherapy is more efficient than fexofenadine HCl in reducing clinical symptoms for SAR.     

Microanalytical method development for Fe, Cu and Zn determination in colorectal cancer cells

Microanalytical methods suitable for the determination of Fe, Cu in HT-29 (human colon adenocarcinoma) cells treated with different iron compounds (Fe(II) sulfate, Fe(III) chloride, Fe(III) citrate and Fe(III) transferrin) and cultured in medium supplemented or not with 10% (v/v) fetal calf serum (FCS) by total reflection X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (TXRF) and simultaneous graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry (GF-AAS) were developed. The developed TXRF method was also suitable for Zn determination in the samples. The main advantage of the proposed methods is the execution of all sample preparation steps following incubation and prior to the elemental analysis in the same Eppendorf tubes. Sample preparation was performed at microscale (115 μL sample volume) with 65% nitric acid and 30% hydrogen peroxide. According to scanning electron microscopic measurements, the organic matrix of the cell samples could be eliminated to the extent that accurate results were obtained for Cu and Fe by analyzing the same samples by TXRF and GF-AAS. Concerning the iron uptake, HT-29 cells incubated in FCS-free medium contained Fe in cca. 5-50 times higher amounts compared to cells cultured in FCS supplemented medium. Pronounced differences in the iron uptake compared to the iron supply (inorganic vs. organic chelated as well as iron(II) vs. iron(III)) were observed in the case of cell lines incubated in FCS-free medium.     

An organocatalytic ionic liquid

The carbene concentration in 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium-acetate ionic liquid is sufficiently high to act as a catalyst in benzoin condensation, hydroacylation and also in oxidation of an alcohol by using CO(2) and air. This observation reveals the potential of ionic liquid organocatalysts, uniting the beneficial properties of these two families of compounds.     

Explicit formulas for Laplace transforms of certain functionals of some time inhomogeneous diffusions

We consider a process given by the SDE , t∈[0,T), with initial condition , where T∈(0,∞], α∈R, (Bt)_t∈[0,T) is a standard Wiener process, b:[0,T)→R?{0} and σ:[0,T)→(0,∞) are continuously differentiable functions. Assuming , t∈[0,T), with some K∈R, we derive an explicit formula for the joint Laplace transform of and for all t∈[0,T) and for all α∈R. Our motivation is that the maximum likelihood estimator (MLE) of α can be expressed in terms of these random variables. As an application, we show that in case of α=K, K≠0,

     

On the equality of quasi-arithmetic and Lagrangian means

The paper deals with the equality problem of quasi-arithmetic and Lagrangian means which is to determine all pairs of continuous strictly monotone functions φ,ψ:I→R such that, for all x,y∈I,

     

Strengthening of strong and approximate convexity?

Let X be a real linear space and $D\subseteq X$ be a nonempty convex subset. Given an error function E:[0,1]×(D?D)?????{+??} and an element $t\in\left]0,1\right[$ , a function f:D??? is called (E,t)-convex if $$f(tx+(1-t)y)\le tf(x)+(1-t)f(y)+E(t,x-y)$$ for all x,y??D. The main result of this paper states that, for all a,b??(???{0})+{0,t,1?t} such that {a,b,a+b}??????, every (E,t)-convex function is also $\big(F,\frac{a}{a+b}\big)$ -convex, where $$F(s,u):=\frac{{(a+b)}^2s(1-s)}{t(1-t)}E\left(t,\frac{u}{a+b}\right),\qquad (u\in (D-D), \, s\in\left]0,1\right[).$$ As a consequence, under further assumptions on E, the strong and approximate convexity properties of (E,t)-convex functions can be strengthened.     

Plan-view preparation of TEM specimens from thin films using adhesive tape

A simple plan-view sample preparation technique for transmission electron microscopy (TEM) specimens is proposed for thin films by tearing-off the film with adhesive tape. The demand for very thin samples is highest for nanostructured materials where the structure of 2-5 nm sized features (grains) needs to be resolved; therefore, overlapping of nanometer-sized features should be avoided. The method provides thin areas at the fracture edges of plan-view specimens with thickness in the range of the grain size in the film allowing for artifact free high-resolution TEM imaging. Nanostructured materials typically fracture between the grains providing areas with the thickness of the grain size. Besides the swiftness of the method, the samples are free of surface amorphization artifacts, which can occur in ion beam milling up to 1 nm depth even at low energy ion bombardment. The thin film tear-off technique is demonstrated on a CuMn alloy thin film with grain size of 2 nm.     

On the equality of two-variable general functional means

Aequationes mathematicae - Given two functions $$f,g:I\rightarrow \mathbb {R}$$ and a probability measure $$\mu $$ on the Borel subsets of [0, 1], the two-variable mean $$M_{f,g;\mu...