Amygdalar glutamatergic neuronal systems play a key role on the hibernating state of hamsters

Background  

Excitatory transmitting mechanisms are proving to play a critical role on neuronal homeostasis conditions of facultative hibernators such as the Syrian golden hamster. Indeed works have shown that the glutamatergic system of the main olfactory brain station (amygdala) is capable of controlling thermoregulatory responses, which are considered vital for the different hibernating states. In the present study the role of amygdalar glutamatergic circuits on non-hibernating (NHIB) and hibernating (HIB) hamsters were assessed on drinking stimuli and subsequently compared to expression variations of some glutamatergic subtype mRNA levels in limbic areas. For this study the two major glutamatergic antagonists and namely that of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR), 3-(+)-2-carboxypiperazin-4-yl-propyl-1-phosphonate (CPP) plus that of the acid α-amine-3-hydroxy-5-metil-4-isoxazol-propionic receptor (AMPAR) site, cyano-7-nitro-quinoxaline-2,3-dione (CNQX) were infused into the basolateral amygdala nucleus. Attempts were made to establish the type of effects evoked by amygdalar glutamatergic cross-talking processes during drinking stimuli, a response that may corroborate their major role at least during some stages of this physiological activity in hibernators.     

New Insights into Glycopeptide Antibiotic Binding to Cell Wall Precursors using SPR and NMR Spectroscopy

Glycopeptide antibiotics, such as vancomycin and teicoplanin, are used to treat life‐threatening infections caused by multidrug‐resistant Gram‐positive pathogens. They inhibit bacterial cell wall biosynthesis by binding to the D ‐Ala‐D ‐Ala C‐terminus of peptidoglycan precursors. Vancomycin‐resistant bacteria replace the dipeptide with the D ‐Ala‐D ‐Lac depsipeptide, thus reducing the binding affinity of the antibiotics with their molecular targets. Herein, studies of the interaction of teicoplanin, teicoplanin‐like A40926, and of their semisynthetic derivatives (mideplanin, MDL63,246, dalbavancin) with peptide analogues of cell‐wall precursors by NMR spectroscopy and surface plasmon resonance (SPR) are reported. NMR spectroscopy revealed the existence of two different complexes in solution, when the different glycopeptides interact with Ac2Kd AlaD AlaOH. Despite the NMR experimental conditions, which are different from those employed for the SPR measurements, the NMR spectroscopy results parallel those deduced in the chip with respect to the drastic binding difference existing between the D ‐Ala and the D ‐Lac terminating analogues, confirming that all these antibiotics share the same primary molecular mechanism of action and resistance. Kinetic analysis of the interaction between the glycopeptide antibiotics and immobilized AcKd AlaD AlaOH by SPR suggest a dimerization process that was not observed by NMR spectroscopy in DMSO solution. Moreover, in SPR, all glycopeptides with a hydrophobic acyl chain present stronger binding with a hydrophobic surface than vancomycin, indicating that additional interactions through the employed surface are involved. In conclusion, SPR provides a tool to differentiate between vancomycin and other glycopeptides, and the calculated binding affinities at the surface seem to be more relevant to in vitro antimicrobial activity than the estimations from NMR spectroscopy analysis.     

Protolytic equilibria in aqueous sodium deoxycholate solutions

Protolytic equilibria taking place in aqueous solutions of sodium deoxycholate (DCNa) have been studied at 25°C using 0.5M NaCl as ionic medium. Electromotive force measurements of a galvanic cell were carried out by means of a glass electrode.The reagent necessary to change the acidity of the solutions was produced in situ by supplying a constant small current.Solubility and acid constant of deoxycholic acid (HDC) have been determined for the chosen experimental conditions. Experimental data obtained in less acid solutions have been explained by assuming the presence of the species H(DC)₂. The relative stability constant has been determined. At higher deoxycholate concentration the presence of a polymeric micellar species has been assumed.

---

Protolytische Gleichgewichte in wäßrigen Natriumdesoxycholat-Lösungen

Zusammenfassung Die Protonierung von Natrium-Desoxycholat (DCNa) in wäßrigen Lösungen mit 0.5M NaCl wurde bei 25°C mit Hilfe von E.M.K. Messungen mit einer Glaselektrode untersucht.Das notwendige Reagens für die Umwandlung der Säure in den untersuchten Lösungen wurde in situ durch einen konstanten schwachen Strom erzeugt.Löslichkeit und Dissoziationkonstante von Desoxycholsäure (HDC) wurden unter den gewählten experimentellen Bedingungen bestimmt. Die experimentellen Daten in schwach sauren Lösungen konnten mit der Annahme der Existenz von H(DC)₂ erklärt werden. Die entsprechende Konstante wurde bestimmt. Zur Erklärung der Daten in stärker konzentrierten Lösungen von Desoxycholat ist die Annahme einer polynuklearen Spezies nötig.

---

Symbols H analytical excess of hydrogenions, if negative it corresponds to OH^–; - h free concentration of hydrogen ions; - A total concentration of deoxycholate; - a free concentration of deoxycholate; - K _a acid constant of deoxycholic acid (HDC) defined as follows: [HDC]K _a =ha; - _q,p stability constant of a speciesH _p (DC) _q defined as follows: [H _p (DC) _q ]= _q,p h ^p a ^q ; - C ⁰ solubility of HDC; - formation function representing the average number of H⁺ bonded to deoxycholate.     

Spontaneous self-assembly of water-soluble nucleotide-calixarene conjugates in small micelles coalescing to microspheres

Spontaneous self-assembly of calix[4]arenes bearing four 2'-deoxythymidine or 2'-deoxyadenosine nucleotide pendants is investigated using (1)H NMR, exchange NMR, and diffusion ordered NMR spectroscopies and dynamic light scattering. In aqueous medium, the nucleotide-calixarene conjugates, by noncovalent interactions involving both nucleobases and calixarene skeleton, form dimers which self-organize in micelles by increasing the concentration. Microscopic images (scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy) show that the nucleobase affects the aggregate morphology in the solid state.     

A novel palladium-catalyzed dicarbonylation process leading to coumarins

A novel approach to coumarin derivatives has been developed starting from readily available 2-(1-hydroxyprop-2-ynyl)phenols, based on an unprecedented palladium-catalyzed dicarbonylation process. Reactions were carried out in the presence of catalytic amounts of PdI2 in conjunction with an excess of KI in MeOH as the solvent at room temperature and under 90 atm of CO to give 3-[(methoxycarbonyl)methyl]coumarins in good to high isolated yields (62-87%).     

Regularity results for non-autonomous functionals with $$\varvec{{L}\log {L}}$$-growth and Orlicz Sobolev coefficients

We study the regularity properties of local minimizers of non-autonomous convex integral functionals of the type

$$\begin{aligned} \mathcal {F}( u, \Omega )= \int _{\Omega } \! f(x,Du) \, \,dx, \end{aligned}$$

when the integrand f has almost linear growth with respect to the gradient variable and the dependence on the x-variable is controlled by a function which belongs to a suitable Orlicz Sobolev space.

     

Tailoring Copper Nanocrystals towards C2 Products in Electrochemical CO2 Reduction

Favoring the CO₂ reduction reaction (CO2RR) over the hydrogen evolution reaction and controlling the selectivity towards multicarbon products are currently major scientific challenges in sustainable energy research. It is known that the morphology of the catalyst can modulate catalytic activity and selectivity, yet this remains a relatively underexplored area in electrochemical CO₂ reduction. Here, we exploit the material tunability afforded by colloidal chemistry to establish unambiguous structure/property relations between Cu nanocrystals and their behavior as electrocatalysts for CO₂ reduction. Our study reveals a non‐monotonic size‐dependence of the selectivity in cube‐shaped copper nanocrystals. Among 24 nm, 44 nm and 63 nm cubes tested, the cubes with 44 nm edge length exhibited the highest selectivity towards CO2RR (80 %) and faradaic efficiency for ethylene (41 %). Statistical analysis of the surface atom density suggests the key role played by edge sites in CO2RR.     

Liposomes from a new chiral cationic lipid based on iridoidic template

A new cationic polyhydroxylated lipid, characterized by a chiral template, was synthesized. It comes from an iridoid glucoside, as polyhydroxylated moiety. This lipid affords liposomes using cholesterol-like co-lipid. The liposomes had a spheroidal shape with a small size distribution.     

A constrained theory for single crystal shape memory wires with application to restrained recovery

The theory of thin wires developed in Dret and Meunier (Comptes Rendus de l’Académie des Sciences. Série I. Mathématique 337:143–147, 2003) is adapted to phase-transforming materials with large elastic moduli in the sense discussed in James and Rizzoni (J Elast 59:399–436, 2000). The result is a one-dimensional constitutive model for shape memory wires, characterized by a small number of material constants. The model is used to analyze self-accommodated and detwinned microstructures and to study superelasticity. It also turns out that the model successfully reproduces the behavior of shape memory wires in experiments of restrained recovery (Tsoi et al. in Mater Sci Eng A 368:299–310, 2004; Tsoi in 50:3535–3544, 2002; S̆ittner et al. in Mater Sci Eng A 286:298–311, 2000; vokoun in Smart Mater Struct 12:680–685, 2003; Zheng and Cui in Intermetallics 12:1305–1309, 2004; Zheng et al. in J Mater Sci Technol 20(4):390–394, 2004). In particular, the model is able to predict the shift to higher transformation temperatures on heating. The model also captures the effect of prestraining on the evolution of the recovery stress and of the martensite volume fraction.     

Multilevel Monte Carlo for stochastic differential equations with additive fractional noise

We adopt the multilevel Monte Carlo method introduced by M. Giles (Multilevel Monte Carlo path simulation, Oper. Res. 56(3):607–617, 2008) to SDEs with additive fractional noise of Hurst parameter H>1/2. For the approximation of a Lipschitz functional of the terminal state of the SDE we construct a multilevel estimator based on the Euler scheme. This estimator achieves a prescribed root mean square error of order ε with a computational effort of order ε ⁻².