Analysis of Plant–Plant Interactions Reveals the Presence of Potent Antileukemic Compounds

A method to identify anticancer compounds in plants was proposed based on the hypothesis that these compounds are primarily present in plants to provide them with an ecological advantage over neighboring plants and other competitors. According to this view, identifying plants that contain compounds that inhibit or interfere with the development of other plant species may facilitate the discovery of novel anticancer agents. The method was developed and tested using Magnolia grandiflora, Gynoxys verrucosa, Picradeniopsis oppositifolia, and Hedyosmum racemosum, which are plant species known to possess compounds with cytotoxic activities. Plant extracts were screened for growth inhibitory activity, and then a thin-layer chromatography bioautography assay was conducted. This located the major antileukemic compounds 1, 2, 4, and 5 in the extracts. Once the active compounds were located, they were extracted and purified, and their structures were determined. The growth inhibitory activity of the purified compounds showed a significant correlation with their antileukemic activity. The proposed approach is rapid, inexpensive, and can easily be implemented in areas of the world with high biodiversity but with less access to advanced facilities and biological assays.     

High average power large-pitch fiber amplifier with robust single-mode operation

Ytterbium-doped large-pitch fibers with very large mode areas are investigated in a high-power fiber amplifier configuration. An average output power of 294?W is demonstrated, while maintaining robust single-mode operation with a mode field diameter of 62?μm. Compared to previous active large-mode area designs, the threshold of mode instabilities is increased by a factor of about 3.     

Quasicrystalline and rational approximant wave patterns in hydrodynamic and quantum nested wells

The eigenfunctions of nested wells with an incommensurate boundary geometry, in both the hydrodynamic shallow water regime and quantum cases, are systematically and exhaustively studied in this Letter. The boundary arrangement of the nested wells consists of polygonal ones, square or hexagonal, with a concentric immersed, similar but rotated, well or plateau. A rich taxonomy of wave patterns, such as quasicrystalline states, their crystalline rational approximants, and some other exotic but well known tilings, is found in these mimicked experiments. To the best of our knowledge, these hydrodynamic rational approximants are presented here for the first time in a hydrodynamic-quantum framework. The corresponding statistical nature of the energy level spacing distribution reflects this taxonomy by changing the spectral types.     

Resonances Generated by the Vector Meson-Baryon Dynamics

We have recently studied vector meson-octet baryon (VB) interactions with the aim to find dynamical generation of resonances in such systems. For this, we consider the s-, t-, u-channel diagrams along with a contact interaction originating from the hidden local symmetry Lagrangian. We find the contribution from all these sources, except the s-channel, to be important. The amplitudes obtained by solving the coupled channel Bethe–Salpeter equations for the systems with total strangeness zero show generation of one isospin 3/2, spin 1/2 resonance and three isospin 1/2 resonances: two with spin 3/2 and one with spin 1/2. We identify these resonances with Δ (1900) S ₃₁, N*(2080) D ₁₃, N* (1700) D ₁₃, and N*(2090) S ₁₁, respectively. Further, we briefly discuss the results of our investigation of the VB systems when coupled to the pseudoscalar meson-baryon (PB) channels. We find that the low-lying resonances couple strongly to the VB channels, a result which can be useful in studying the reactions involving pseudoscalar and vector meson exchanges. In case of the higher mass resonances (in the 1,800–2,200 MeV region), we find that some of the states claimed as dynamically generated states in the VB system can disappear due to their coupling to the PB channels. We also find that new states can appear from PB–VB coupled channel dynamics; for example, we find that a Σ resonance near 1,400 MeV gets developed due to such an effect.     

Laser ultrasonic receivers based on organic photorefractive polymer composites

We present two laser ultrasonic receivers based on organic photorefractive polymer composites with 2-[4-bis(2-methoxyethyl)aminobenzylidene]malononitrile (AODCST) or 2-dicyanomethylen-3-cyano-5,5-dimethyl-4-(4′-dihexylaminophenyl)-2,5-dihydrofuran nonlinear optical chromophores. Experimental results show sensitivities of the ultrasonic receivers of ~9.5 × 10^?8 nm (W/Hz)^0.5 for both composites, and a faster response time (~60 ms) for the AODCST-based laser ultrasonic receiver. We show that such LUS detectors are highly suitable for contactless thickness measurements of aluminum, steel sheets and defect detection with an accuracy of 100 μm.     

Rigid Motions in the Presence of a Magnetic Field

It is shown that, in the standard framework of non-relativistic quantum mechanics, the presence of a magnetic field implies that there are no operators representing those translations or rotations that do not leave invariant the magnetic field, and the corresponding components of the linear or angular momentum are undefined. Pacs: 03.65.-w. 02.20.-a     

A simple osmotic stress test to predict boar sperm cryosurvival

This work was carried out to test whether viability of pig spermatozoa subjected to an osmotic test is correlated to sperm cryosurvival. Spermatozoa were cooled from 22 degrees C to -5 degrees C, aliquots were exposed to a series of hyperosmotic solutions (300-2100 mOsm/kg) for 15 min, immediately spermatozoa were re-warmed to 37 degrees C and isosmolarity was restored. Spermatozoa were cooled from 22 degrees C to -5 degrees C and one aliquot was exposed to the osmotic test while diluted spermatozoa were frozen-thawed. Plasma membrane-intact spermatozoa decreased as osmolarity increased (P < 0.0001), a further decreased (P < 0.0001) was observed when isotonicity was restored. Proportions of plasma membrane-intact and acrosome-intact cells from the osmotic test were no different from those after freeze-thawing: 36% vs. 35%, 80% vs. 80%, respectively. A significant correlation was found between the proportion of acrosome-intact cells after freeze-thawing and that from the osmotic test (r = 0.81, P <0.01). This test provides a useful and economical mean to predict in vitro boar sperm cryosurvival.     

Effect of thermal treatment in vacuum on Fe-doped SnO2 powders

A sample of 10 at% Fe-doped SnO₂ powder was prepared by mechanical alloying and then thermally treated at 773 K in vacuum. The fit of the diffraction patterns and X-ray absorption spectroscopy measurements revealed that the as milled sample was pure doped rutile. Fe dissolved into SnO₂ was found in Fe²⁺/Fe³⁺ ionic valence with mainly paramagnetic behavior. After the thermal treatment all techniques indicate the formation of the ternary Sn_0.36Fe_2.64O₄ spinel phase, which is responsible for the observed ferromagnetism.     

Vibrational Spectrum of a Platinum Complex of Piroxicam

The infrared and Raman spectra of a platinum complex of the antiinflammatory drug piroxicam (Pir) and dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) of composition [PtCl₂Pir(DMSO)] were recorded and briefly discussed on the basis of its structural characteristics. The metal-to-ligand vibrations are analyzed in detail.