Antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory effects of a lectin-like substance from Clitoria fairchildiana R. Howard seeds

Lectins are proteins that have the ability to bind specifically and reversibly to carbohydrates and glycoconjugates, without altering the structure of the glycosyl ligand. They are found in organisms such as viruses, plants and humans, and they have been shown to possess important biological activities. The objective of this study was to purify and characterize lectins in the seeds of Clitoria fairchildiana, as well as to verify their biological activities. The results indicated the presence of a lectin (CFAL) in the glutelin acid protein fraction, which agglutinated native rabbit erythrocytes. CFAL was purified by column chromatography ion-exchange, DEAE-Sephacel, which was obtained from a peak of protein retained in the matrix by applying 0.5 M NaCl using the step-wise method. Electrophoretic analysis of this lectin in SDS-PAGE indicated a two band pattern protein molecular mass of approximately 100 and 116 kDa. CFAL proved to be unspecific to all carbohydrates/glycoconjugates in common use for the sugar inhibition test. This lectin showed no significant cytotoxicity to human red blood cells. It was observed that CFAL has anti-inflammatory activity in the paw edema induced by carrageenan model, in which a 64% diminution in edema was observed. Antinociceptive effects were observed for CFAL in the abdominal writhing test (induced by acetic acid), in which increasing doses of the lectin caused reduction in the number of contortions by up to 72%. It was concluded that the purified and characterized lectin from the seeds of Clitoria fairchildiana has anti-inflammatory and antinociceptive activity, and is not cytotoxic to human erythrocytes.     

Synthesis,Crystal Structure and Spectroscopic Properties of Bis(1‐(E)‐2‐formylpyridine semicarbazone)nickel(II) Diperchlorate Monohydrate

Pale‐green crystals of the title complex were prepared by reaction of 2‐formylpyridine semicarbazone (HCSpy) and nickel(II) perchlorate in boiling ethanol. The crystals are triclinic with the nickel ion in an octahedral arrangement, coordinated by two nitrogen atoms and one oxygen donor atom from each ligand molecule. The effect of coordination on bond lengths and angles was explored by comparison with the single‐crystal structure data of the free ligand HSCpy, which was collected as well. The assumed coordination mode was supported by ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectroscopic data. A detailed analysis of the electronic properties, including semi‐empirical quantummechanical calculations is presented. Furthermore, the data obtained from magnetic susceptibility and EPR measurements are in accordance with a low‐spin d⁸ nickel(II) complex.     

Structured sublinear compressive sensing via belief propagation

Compressive sensing (CS) is a sampling technique designed for reducing the complexity of sparse data acquisition. One of the major obstacles for practical deployment of CS techniques is the signal reconstruction time and the high storage cost of random sensing matrices. We propose a new structured compressive sensing scheme, based on codes of graphs, that allows for a joint design of structured sensing matrices and logarithmic-complexity reconstruction algorithms. The compressive sensing matrices can be shown to offer asymptotically optimal performance when used in combination with orthogonal matching pursuit (OMP) methods. For reduced-complexity greedy reconstruction schemes, we propose a new family of list-decoding belief propagation algorithms, as well as reinforced and multiple-basis belief propagation (BP) algorithms. Our simulation results indicate that reinforced BP CS schemes offer very good complexity–performance tradeoffs for very sparse signal vectors.     

Dosage de quelques impuretés dans le gallium par activation neutronique

Neutron activation is suggested for the determination of Pt, Au, Hg, Sc, Zn and Sn in high purity gallium. Pt, Hg and Au are reduced to metals, gallium is extracted and then Sc, Zn, and Sn are separated on Dowex 1×8 ion exhanger. All components except Sn are determined by substoichiometric methods in the form of chelate complexes. Sn is extracted with oxine into chloroform, and the chemical yield measured by spectrophotometry.      

Extraction chromatography with bis(2-ethylhexyl)phosphoric acid for separation of tin(IV)

Tin is extracted from 0.01M hydrochloric acid on a silica-gel column impregnated with bis(2-ethylhexyl)phosphoric acid, stripped with 5M hydrochloric acid, and then determined spectrophotometrically as its Pyrocatechol Violet complex at 555 nm. Tin has been separated from several multicomponent mixtures containing arsenic, antimony, bismuth, lead and copper, and determined in various alloys.     

Phytochemical study,an evaluation of the antioxidant potential and the antimicrobial activity of Inga semialata (Vell.) C. Mart. hydroalcohol extract

Abstract

Inga semialata (Vell.) C. Mart. belongs to the family Fabaceae. It is known for its therapeutic properties, highlighting its antimicrobial and antioxidant potential. The objective of the present work was to obtain crude extract leaves of Inga semialata, to identify and quantify active compounds, to evaluate the antioxidant potential of the crude extract in vitro, as well as to determine its antimicrobial activity. The crude extract was obtained by the maceration process. The identified and quantified of compounds present in the crude extract of Inga semialata was performed by high performance liquid chromatography. The evaluation of the antioxidant potential of the extract was realized by in vitro tests (DPPH, diacetate dichlorofluorescein test and nitric oxide test) and the evaluation of the antimicrobial activity was carried out using the minimum inhibitory concentration methodology.     

A high-resolution photoemission study of nanoscale aluminum oxide films on NiAl(110)

Using high-resolution soft X-ray photoemission, Al 2p, we have been able to quantify the relative populations of tetrahedrally (Al(tet)) and octahedrally (Al(oct)) coordinated Al(3+) in three distinct phases of nanoscale aluminum oxide films on NiAl(110). We have hence determined the bulk alumina phases that the nanoscale films most resemble. Adsorption of oxygen at room temperature produces a layer which predominately (90%) contains Al(tet) and is analogous to the amorphous bulk phase of alumina. Annealing this layer results in an Al enrichment of the oxide layer, through the diffusion of metal from the substrate, and an increase in the relative amount of Al(oct), producing a gamma-alumina-like layer with a relative Al(oct)/Al(tet) occupancy of 28 +/- 3%/72 +/- 3%. Oxygen adsorption at 823 K also produces a gamma-like phase, with a relative Al(oct)/Al(tet) occupancy of 27 +/- 3%/73 +/- 3%, although this layer is thicker than that formed at room temperature. Both oxidation methods produce gamma-alumina layers that display poor translational order. However, these poorly ordered layers have a relative Al(oct)/Al(tet) occupation similar to that of well-ordered oxide films produced using different oxidation conditions in previous studies. Both gamma layers undergo partial decomposition upon annealing to 1273 K, producing an alpha-alumina-like oxide, which contains only Al(oct), and is highly deficient in Al. There are significant oxide-free areas within the alpha-alumina oxide layer, which is characteristic of crystallite formation. Repeated cycles of oxidation and annealing to 1273 K do not produce a homogeneous film, but they do make the alpha-like oxide more Al rich.     

On symmetric and asymmetric Van der Pol-Duffing oscillators

The European Physical Journal B - In 1961 Landauer argued that reset a bit of information requires a minimum energy expenditure of kBT ln 2. This quantity is directly related to the entropy...     

Chromatographic Separation of Bupivacaine Enantiomers by HPLC: Parameters Estimation of Equilibrium and Mass Transfer Under Linear Conditions

Bupivacaine is an amide type local anesthetic widely used in surgery and obstetrics because of its sustained peripheral and central nerve blockade. R-(+)-bupivacaine is more toxic to the central nervous and the cardiovascular systems than S-(?)-bupivacaine. To obtain S-(?)-bupivacaine with high degree of purity using a continuous simulated moving bed (SMB) unity, equilibrium and mass transfer parameters under dilute conditions were obtained by pulse experiments using 0,0′-bis[4-terc-butyl-benzoyl]-N,N′-diallyl-L-tartar diamide immobilized in silica (Kromasil^® CHI-TBB). The linear equilibrium constants were found to be 2.12 and 2.91 for R-(+)-and S-(?)-bupivacaine, respectively. Axial dispersion coefficients were found to be practically the same for both enantiomers. A fast kinetic of mass transfer was observed. The internal resistance to the mass transfer controls all the mass transfer process in this chiral column and the pore diffusion coefficients were of the order 10^?7cm²/s. The equilibrium and mass transfer parameters will be employed in future simulation and design of operating conditions of SMB unity.     

The Unique Ambiphilicity of Tellurium in the [MesitylTe(I)(I2)(I3)]− Anion

A first example of an aryltellurium(II) compound with three different bonding modes to iodine featuring covalent and non-covalent bonds such as two orthogonal, ambiphilic σ-hole interactions is introduced: [MesTe(I)(I₂)(I₃)]⁻. It is a member of a series of mesityltellurenyl anions, which are formed during reactions of (MesTe)₂ with ZnI₂, phenanthroline (phen) and iodine. [Zn(phen)₃][MesTe(I)₂] ( 1 ), [Zn(phen)₃][{MesTe(I)-(I)…Te(I)Mes}{MesTeI₂}] ( 2 ) and [Zn(phen)₃][MesTe(I)(I₂)(I₃)][MesTeI₂] ( 3 ) are isolated depending on the amount of iodine used. The products contain tellurium atoms bonded to a variety of iodine species (I⁻, μ₂-I⁻, I₂ and I₃⁻) and are, thus, perfectly suitable to explore the amphiphilic behavior of tellurium(II) and its relevance for the formation of non-covalent bonds, where tellurium acts as both donor and acceptor simultaneously. The character of chalcogen and halogen bonds are evaluated by the combination of crystallographic data and computational methods.