Benzimidazole condensed ring systems. 5. Studies on the Synthesis of Pyrimido[1,6-α]benzimidazole-1,3(2H,5H)-diones

The reaction of ethyl 1H-benzimidazole-2-acetate (1) with methyl or ethyl isocyantes 2a,b resulted in excellent yields of the respective 2-methyl- or 2-ethylpyrimido[1,6-a]benzimidazole-1,3(2H,5H)-diones 3a,b , while the reaction of 1 with phenyl isocyanate (2c) gave, unexpectedly, ethyl 2-(1-phenylcarbamoyl-1H,3H-benzimidazol-2-ylidene)-2-phenylcarbamoylacetate (4). Alkylation of 3 with trimethyl or triethyl phosphates 5a,b led to the 5-methyl or 5-ethyl derivatives 6a-d . Chlorination of 6 with sulfuryl chloride afforded the 4-chloro derivatives 7a-d.     

Simultaneous determination of aluminium and iron in glasses,phosphate rocks and cement using first- and second-derivative spectrophotometry

First- and second-derivative spectrophoto-metric methods for the simultaneous determination of aluminium and iron in their mixtures are described. The methods are based on the colored complexes formed by aluminium and iron with hematoxylin in the presence of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide as a surfactant. The zero-crossing method has been utilized to measure the first- and second-derivative value of the derivative spectrum. Aluminium (0.05–1 gml^-1) could be determined in the presence of iron (0.09–1.6 gml^-1) and vice versa. The detection limits of aluminium and iron are 0.01 and 0.09 gml^-1, respectively in the first-derivative mode and 0.014 and 0.1 gml^-1 in the second-derivative mode. The proposed method has been applied to the simultaneous determination of aluminium and iron in glasses, phosphate rocks, cement and magnesite alloy.     

POWER- AND TIME-RESOLVED RESONANCE RAMAN STUDIES AND CONFORMATIONAL CHANGES IN BACTERIORHODOPSIN

Abstract— By comparing the resonance Raman spectra of the retinal of the intermediates of bacteriorho-dopsin (obtained by using fixed flow with residence of time of 10 ps. variable laser power and frequency as well as computer subtraction techniques) with those of model compounds and with each other, the following possible conclusions can be obtained: (1) There exists stronger interaction between the retinal and the opsin in bacteriorhodopsin than that present in rhodopsin. (2) Conformational changes seem to take place during the dark light adaptation process as well as during the photosynthetic cycle. (3) The appearance of the spectrum of the retinal in the fingerprint region for the bL₅₅₀ and bM₄₁₂ intermediates is similar despite large shifts in their optical absorption maxima. This might argue against the theory that proposes ground state retinal conformational changes to explain the observed red shift in the optical spectra of retinal upon combining with the opsin. (4) Contrary to bM ₄₁₂ , the bL₅₅₀ species seems to be protonated. The fact that loss of proton does not seem to change the retinal conformation greatly might suggest that the protein and its ionic environment might carry the larger share of the load in the deprotonation process.     

Lysinibacillus Isolate MK212927: A Natural Producer of Allylamine Antifungal ‘Terbinafine’

Resistance to antifungal agents represents a major clinical challenge, leading to high morbidity and mortality rates, especially in immunocompromised patients. In this study, we screened soil bacterial isolates for the capability of producing metabolites with antifungal activities via the cross-streak and agar cup-plate methods. One isolate, coded S6, showed observable antifungal activity against Candida (C.) albicans ATCC 10231 and Aspergillus (A.) niger clinical isolate. This strain was identified using a combined approach of phenotypic and molecular techniques as Lysinibacillus sp. {"type":"entrez-nucleotide","attrs":{"text":"MK212927","term_id":"1520090447"}}MK212927. The purified metabolite displayed fungicidal activity, reserved its activity in a relatively wide range of temperatures (up to 60 °C) and pH values (6–7.8) and was stable in the presence of various enzymes and detergents. As compared to fluconazole, miconazole and Lamisil, the minimum inhibitory concentration of the metabolite that showed 90% inhibition of the growth (MIC₉₀) was equivalent to that of Lamisil, half of miconazole and one fourth of fluconazole. Using different spectroscopic techniques such as FTIR, UV spectroscopy, 1D NMR and 2D NMR techniques, the purified metabolite was identified as terbinafine, an allylamine antifungal agent. It is deemed necessary to note that this is the first report of terbinafine production by Lysinibacillus sp. {"type":"entrez-nucleotide","attrs":{"text":"MK212927","term_id":"1520090447"}}MK212927, a fast-growing microbial source, with relatively high yield and that is subject to potential optimization for industrial production capabilities.     

Position and Velocity Time Delay for Suppression Vibrations of a Hybrid Rayleigh-Van der Pol-Duffing Oscillator

In this paper, we used time delay feedback to minimize the vibrations of a hybrid Rayleigh–van der Pol–Duffing oscillator. This system is a one-degree-offreedom containing the cubic and fifth nonlinear terms and an external force. We applied the multiple scales method to get the solution from first approximation. Graphically and numerically, we studied the system before and after adding time delay feedback at the primary resonance case (Ω ≌ ω). We used MATLAB program to simulate the efficacy of different parameters and the time delay on the main system.     

Anticancer Activity of Cordia dichotoma against a Panel of Human Cancer Cell Lines and Their Phytochemical Profiling via HPLC and GCMS

The current study was conducted to examine the in vitro anticancer potential of Cordia dichotoma (bark, leaves, pulp and seed). The plant material was collected from UT of J&K and methodical bioassays were carried out on ten human cancer cell lines (Michigan Cancer Foundation-7 (MCF-7), M.D. Anderson-Metastatic Breast (MDA-MB-231), Neuroblastoma-2a (N2A), SH-SY5Y, U-251, HCT-116, SW-620, A-549, MIA PaCa-2, Panc-1) from five different origins (breast, CNS, colon, lung, pancreas) respectively. Methanolic extracts were produced and fractions were then obtained from the extracts and evaluated for cytotoxicity. Mechanistic assays, HPLC, and GCMS profiling were performed on the highest active fraction. The Sulforhodamine B (SRB) assay determined the in vitro cytotoxicity. The findings revealed that the bark portion had in vitro cytotoxicity against the A-549 human lung cancer cell line. To our knowledge, this is the first study to show that the plant’s bark has anticancer properties and induced chromatin condensation, confirmed cell death via ROS generation, and significantly decreased colony formation in A-549 cell line from lung origin in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, HPLC and GCMS investigations indicated the presence of a number of bioactive molecules such as gallic acid (144,969.86) uV*sec, caffeic acid (104.26) uV*sec, ferulic acid (472.87) uV*sec, vanillic acid (13,775.39) uV*sec, palmitic acid (18.34%), cis vaccenic acid (28.81%), etc. and one of the compounds was reported for the first time from the bark. As a result of its promising efficacy, it may become an essential cancer chemopreventive or chemotherapeutic medication for patients with lung carcinoma.     

EFFECTS OF MUTAGENETIC SUBSTITUTION OF PROLINES ON THE RATE OF DEPROTONATION and REPROTONATION OF THE SCHIFF BASE DURING THE PHOTOCYCLE OF BACTERIORHODOPSIN

Abstract— Membrane-buried proline residues are found in many transport proteins. To study their roles in the structure and function of bacteriorhodopsin (bR), effects of the individual substitutions ofPro–50,Pro–91 andPro–186 on the deprotonation and reprotonation kinetics of the Schiffbase (SB) were determined by flash photolysis. The obtained rate constants and the amplitudes of the slow and fast components were compared with those of ebR (wild-type bR, the native protein that is expressed in Escherichia coli). The deprotonation rates of PSB were found to be 10 times faster than that of ebR for P50A, P91A and P91G mutants, and 4 times faster for the P50G mutant. These mutations also increased the initial reprotonation rate of the SB, although the overall change in the reprotonation rate is not as significant as that in the deprotonation rate. Our results indicate thatPro–50 andPro–91, as well asPro–186, are important for the proton-pumping function of bR.     

On stability, persistence, and Hopf bifurcation in fractional order dynamical systems

This is a preliminary study about the bifurcation phenomenon in fractional order dynamical systems. Persistence of some continuous time fractional order differential equations is studied. A numerical example for Hopf-type bifurcation in a fractional order system is given, hence we propose a modification of the conditions of Hopf bifurcation. Local stability of some biologically motivated functional equations is investigated.