Inorganic Elements in Mytilus galloprovincialis Shells: Geographic Traceability by Multivariate Analysis of ICP-MS Data

The international seafood trade is based on food safety, quality, sustainability, and traceability. Mussels are bio-accumulative sessile organisms that need regular control to guarantee their safe consumption. However, no well-established and validated methods exist to trace mussel origin, even if several attempts have been made over the years. Recently, an inorganic multi-elemental fingerprint coupled to multivariate statistics has increasingly been applied in food quality control. The mussel shell can be an excellent reservoir of foreign inorganic chemical species, allowing recording long-term environmental changes. The present work investigates the multi-elemental composition of mussel shells, including Al, Cu, Cr, Zn, Mn, Cd, Co, U, Ba, Ni, Pb, Mg, Sr, and Ca, determined by inductively-coupled plasma mass-spectrometry in Mytilus galloprovincialis collected along the Central Adriatic Coast (Marche Region, Italy) at 25 different sampling sites (18 farms and 7 natural banks) located in seven areas. The experimental data, coupled with chemometric approaches (principal components analysis and linear discriminant analysis), were used to create a statistical model able to discriminate samples as a function of their production site. The LDA model is suitable for achieving a correct assignment of >90% of individuals sampled to their respective harvesting locations and for being applied to counteract fraud.     

Synthesis and Antiviral Evaluation of (1,4-Disubstituted-1,2,3-Triazol)-(E)-2-Methyl-but-2-Enyl Nucleoside Phosphonate Prodrugs

A series of hitherto unknown (1,4-disubstituted-1,2,3-triazol)-(E)-2-methyl-but-2-enyl nucleosides phosphonate prodrugs bearing 4-substituted-1,2,3-triazoles were prepared in a straight approach through an olefin acyclic cross metathesis as the key synthetic step. All novel compounds were evaluated for their antiviral activities against HBV, HIV and SARS-CoV-2. Among these molecules, only compound 15j, a hexadecyloxypropyl (HDP)/(isopropyloxycarbonyl-oxymethyl)-ester (POC) prodrug, showed activity against HBV in Huh7 cell cultures with 62% inhibition at 10 μM, without significant cytotoxicity (IC₅₀ = 66.4 μM in HepG2 cells, IC₅₀ = 43.1 μM in HepG2 cells) at 10 μM.     

Effects of Grape Polyphenols on the Life Span and Neuroinflammatory Alterations Related to Neurodegenerative Parkinson Disease-Like Disturbances in Mice

Functional nutrition is a valuable supplementation to dietary therapy. Functional foods are enriched with biologically active substances. Plant polyphenols attract particular attention due to multiple beneficial properties attributed to their high antioxidant and other biological activities. We assessed the effect of grape polyphenols on the life span of C57BL/6 mice and on behavioral and neuroinflammatory alterations in a transgenic mouse model of Parkinson disease (PD) with overexpression of the A53T-mutant human α-synuclein. C57BL/6 mice were given a dietary supplement containing grape polyphenol concentrate (GPC—1.5 mL/kg/day) with drinking water from the age of 6–8 weeks for life. Transgenic PD mice received GPC beginning at the age of 10 weeks for four months. GPC significantly influenced the cumulative proportion of surviving and substantially augmented the average life span in mice. In the transgenic PD model, the grape polyphenol (GP) diet enhanced memory reconsolidation and diminished memory extinction in a passive avoidance test. Behavioral effects of GP treatment were accompanied by a decrease in α-synuclein accumulation in the frontal cortex and a reduction in the expression of neuroinflammatory markers (IBA1 and CD54) in the frontal cortex and hippocampus. Thus, a GP-rich diet is recommended as promising functional nutrition for aging people and patients with neurodegenerative disorders.     

Carbohydrate Hydrolase-Inhibitory Activity of Juice-Based Phenolic Extracts in Correlation to Their Anthocyanin/Copigment Profile

Red fruits and their juices are rich sources of polyphenols, especially anthocyanins. Some studies have shown that such polyphenols can inhibit enzymes of the carbohydrate metabolism, such as α-amylase and α-glucosidase, that indirectly regulate blood sugar levels. The presented study examined the in vitro inhibitory activity against α-amylase and α-glucosidase of various phenolic extracts prepared from direct juices, concentrates, and purees of nine different berries which differ in their anthocyanin and copigment profile. Generally, the extracts with the highest phenolic content—aronia (67.7 ± 3.2 g GAE/100 g; cyanidin 3-galactoside; chlorogenic acid), pomegranate (65.7 ± 7.9 g GAE/100 g; cyanidin 3,5-diglucoside; punicalin), and red grape (59.6 ± 2.5 g GAE/100 g; malvidin 3-glucoside; quercetin 3-glucuronide)—showed also one of the highest inhibitory activities against α-amylase (326.9 ± 75.8 μg/mL; 789.7 ± 220.9 μg/mL; 646.1 ± 81.8 μg/mL) and α-glucosidase (115.6 ± 32.5 μg/mL; 127.8 ± 20.1 μg/mL; 160.6 ± 68.4 μg/mL) and, partially, were even more potent inhibitors than acarbose (441 ± 30 μg/mL; 1439 ± 85 μg/mL). Additionally, the investigation of single anthocyanins and glycosylated flavonoids demonstrated a structure- and size-dependent inhibitory activity. In the future in vivo studies are envisaged.     

Relaxation spectroscopy of LC main chain polymers: Experimental and theoretical investigations

A series of thermotropic main chain polymers with extended dimethylsiloxane segments was investigated. The study of dielectric properties of polymers revealed the relationship between their ability to form a mesophase and their molecular mobility. The peculiar behaviour of dielectric α-relaxation parameters during the transition from mesomorphic to isotropic members of this polymeric series was shown. The theoretical approaches were developed for understanding macrochain dynamics of liquid crystalline polymers. The theoretical and experimental results are in good agreement.     

The Theoretical and Experimental Investigation of the Fluorinated Palladium β-Diketonate Derivatives: Structure and Physicochemical Properties

To search for new suitable Pd precursors for MOCVD/ALD processes, the extended series of fluorinated palladium complexes [Pd(CH₃CXCHCO(R))₂] with β-diketone [tfa−1,1,1-trifluoro-2,4-pentanedionato (1); pfpa−5,5,6,6,6-pentafluoro-2,4-hexanedionato (3); hfba−5,5,6,6,7,7,7-heptafluoro-2,4-heptanedionato (5)] and β-iminoketone [i-tfa−1,1,1-trifluoro-2-imino-4-pentanonato (2); i-pfpa−5,5,6,6,6-pentafluoro-2-imino-4-hexanonato (4); i-hfba-5,5,6,6,7,7,7-heptafluoro-2-imino-4-heptanonato (6)] ligands were synthesized with 70–80% yields and characterized by a set of experimental (SXRD, XRD, IR, NMR spectroscopy, TG) and theoretical (DFT, Hirshfeld surface analysis) methods. Solutions of Pd β-diketonates contained both cis and trans isomers, while only trans isomers were detected in the solutions of Pd β-iminoketonates. The molecules 2–6 and new polymorphs of complexes 3 and 5 were arranged preferentially in stacks, and the distance between molecules in the stack generally increased with elongation of the fluorine chain in ligands. The H…F contacts were the main ones involved in the formation of packages of molecules 1–2, and C…F, F…F, NH…F contacts appeared in the structures of complexes 4–6. The stability of complexes and their polymorphs in the crystal phases were estimated from DFT calculations. The TG data showed that the volatility differences between Pd β-iminoketonates and Pd β-diketonates were minimized with the elongation of the fluorine chain in the ligands.     

Dopant-modulated pair interaction in cuprate superconductors

A comparison of recent experimental STM data with single-impurity and many-impurity Bogoliubov-de Gennes calculations strongly suggests that random out-of-plane dopant atoms in cuprates modulate the pair interaction locally. This type of disorder is crucial to understanding the nanoscale electronic inhomogeneity observed in BSCCO-2212, and can reproduce observed correlations between the positions of impurity atoms and various aspects of the local density of states such as the gap magnitude and the height of the coherence peaks. Our results imply that each dopant atom modulates the pair interaction on a length scale of order one lattice constant.     

Novel organometallic chalcones functionalized with a crown ether fragment as optical ion chemosensors

We previously reported the synthesis and characterization of new organometallic chalcones derived from ferrocene, cyrhetrene and cymantrene functionalized with a benzo‐15‐crown‐5 fragment. The ferrocene and cyrhetrene chalcones have been investigated as chemosensors for metal ions with optical response in acetonitrile. Several metal ions were selected considering the diameter of the cavity and the charge‐to‐radius ratio of the cation. The stoichiometry of the complexes was determined using Job's method. It was found that Na⁺ and Ca²⁺ complexes have a 1:1 stoichiometry while a 2:1 (metaloligand‐to‐cation) stoichiometry was determined for Ba²⁺ and Pb²⁺ complexes. The association constants were calculated according to the stoichiometry of the complex and the results showed that they are directly affected by the electron‐withdrawing nature of the organometallic fragment. Moreover, complexes of ferrocenyl chalcone have larger association constants than those of the cyrhetrenyl analogue. This experimental observation is consistent with the electronic properties of the ferrocenyl fragment.     

Direct and Fast Electrochemical Determination of Catechin in Tea Extracts using SWCNT‐Subphthalocyanine Hybrid Material

In this study, single walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) were covalently functionalized by terminal ethynyl bearing subphthalocyanine (SubPc) to obtain a new hybrid material, viz. SWCNT‐SubPc (CS), via “click” reaction for the first time. The structural characterization and study of the electrochemical sensor properties of the CS hybrid material to catechin were carried out. A convenient and fast analytical method was offered for the determination of catechin. It was shown that the deposition of CS on the surface of a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) led to a 2.2 and 8‐fold increase in the differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) responses to catechin in Britton‐Robinson (BR) buffer solution (a pH of 3) in comparison with SWCNT‐modified and bare GCE, respectively. The dynamic range, detection and quantification limits of catechin were determined to be 0.1–1.5 μM, 13 nM and 43 nM, respectively. Selectivity of the suggested CS/GCE sensor was investigated on addition of a number of interfering metal ions, antioxidants and biomolecules. The applicability of the modified electrode for the detection of catechin in real tea samples such as green, rosehip fruit, Turkish and Indian black tea was demonstrated with the standard addition method. Along with the ease in fabrication and low prices, the proposed CS/GCE sensor was reproducible, selective, stable and sensitive to catechin in major types of tea samples.     

Radiocaesium pollution of fly agaric Amanita muscaria in fruiting bodies decreases with developmental stage

Amanita muscaria collected from a forested area in northern Poland in 2015 were analysed for activity concentrations of ¹³⁷Cs and ⁴⁰K. Total K concentration values were calculated from ⁴⁰K data. Mushrooms were grouped in six fruiting bodies size classes regarding to their developmental stage. The ¹³⁷Cs activity concentrations declined in A. muscaria as the fruiting bodies maturated. The contents of ⁴⁰K/K activity remained constant in caps at different developmental stage, while for stipes an increase was around twofold (⁴⁰K from 925?±?55 Bq kg^?1 dry biomass in the baby individuals and 1600?±?63–1700?±?53 Bq kg^?1 dry biomass in two oldest classes). A. muscaria is a weak accumulator of ¹³⁷Cs, while a steep drop in activity concentrations of this nuclide in the fruiting bodies as they maturate has not been reported earlier for mushrooms. Clearly, a fate of ¹³⁷Cs in A. muscaria is highly different from that of ⁴⁰K/K that is an essential element to fungi. In parallel, an observed increase in the content of ⁴⁰K/K in stipes of fruiting bodies with developmental state can be related to its ‘hardening’ and more fibrous nature with age and basic function to support the cap, but this has not been studied.