Profiling of Essential Oils from the Leaves of Pistacia lentiscus Collected in the Algerian Region of Tizi-Ouzou: Evidence of Chemical Variations Associated with Climatic Contrasts between Littoral and Mountain Samples

Leaves of Pistacia lentiscus were collected from two Algerian sites in the mountains and the littoral of the Tizi-Ouzou region. The harvest was conducted in four consecutive seasons on the same selected set of trees. Essential oils (EOs) were extracted by hydrodistillation; then, they were analyzed by gas chromatography coupled mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Forty-seven constituents could be detected and quantified, including α-pinene (2–13%), β-caryophyllene (8–25%), β-myrcene (0.3–19%), bornyl acetate (0.8–7%), δ-cadinene (3–8%), bisabolol (1–9%), β-pinene (0.9–7%), caryophyllene oxide (4–9%), and α-cadinol (3–11%). Antioxidant (AOx) activities of the EOs were assessed by ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), and 2,2′-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline)-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS) assays. Significant differences in EO composition and AOx activities appeared dependent on the season and the site. Variations of AOx activities were significant for the FRAP and ABTS tests but not for DPPH. Characterization of the leaf fatty acyl (FA) profiles was performed by GC-MS. Variability appeared according to season and altitude. Polyunsaturated fatty acids levels were high (27–55%) at the coldest date and place. The levels of linolenic acyl in the leaves were significantly correlated with bisabolol levels in the EOs (Spearman’s correlation coefficient: 0.818). Such results will be useful for the sustainable local valorization of wild P. lentiscus. These data also open new routes for further studies on terpenoid biosynthesis using correlation networks and fluxomic approaches.     

Unraveling the concerted catalytic mechanism of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) protease: a hybrid QM/MM study

Structural Chemistry - We give an account of a one-step concerted catalytic mechanism of HIV-1 protease (PR) hydrolysis of its natural substrate using a hybrid QM/MM method. The mechanism is a...     

N-Acetyl Cysteine,Selenium, and Ascorbic Acid Rescue Diabetic Cardiac Hypertrophy via Mitochondrial-Associated Redox Regulators

Metabolic disorders often lead to cardiac complications. Metabolic deregulations during diabetic conditions are linked to mitochondrial dysfunctions, which are the key contributing factors in cardiac hypertrophy. However, the underlying mechanisms involved in diabetes-induced cardiac hypertrophy are poorly understood. In the current study, we initially established a diabetic rat model by alloxan-administration, which was validated by peripheral glucose measurement. Diabetic rats displayed myocardial stiffness and fibrosis, changes in heart weight/body weight, heart weight/tibia length ratios, and enhanced size of myocytes, which altogether demonstrated the establishment of diabetic cardiac hypertrophy (DCH). Furthermore, we examined the expression of genes associated with mitochondrial signaling impairment. Our data show that the expression of PGC-1α, cytochrome c, MFN-2, and Drp-1 was deregulated. Mitochondrial-signaling impairment was further validated by redox-system dysregulation, which showed a significant increase in ROS and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances, both in serum and heart tissue, whereas the superoxide dismutase, catalase, and glutathione levels were decreased. Additionally, the expression levels of pro-apoptotic gene PUMA and stress marker GATA-4 genes were elevated, whereas ARC, PPARα, and Bcl-2 expression levels were decreased in the heart tissues of diabetic rats. Importantly, these alloxan-induced impairments were rescued by N-acetyl cysteine, ascorbic acid, and selenium treatment. This was demonstrated by the amelioration of myocardial stiffness, fibrosis, mitochondrial gene expression, lipid profile, restoration of myocyte size, reduced oxidative stress, and the activation of enzymes associated with antioxidant activities. Altogether, these data indicate that the improvement of mitochondrial dysfunction by protective agents such as N-acetyl cysteine, selenium, and ascorbic acid could rescue diabetes-associated cardiac complications, including DCH.     

Synthesis and antimicrobial studies of hydroxylated chalcone derivatives with variable chain length

A series of (E)-1-(4-alkyloxyphenyl)-3-(hydroxyphenyl)-prop-2-en-1-one have been successfully synthesised via Claisen-Schmidt condensation. The synthesised chalcone derivatives consisted of hydroxyl groups at either ortho, meta or para position and differed in the length of the alkyl groups, C (n) H(2) (n) (+1,) where n?=?6, 10, 12 and 14. The structures of all compounds were defined by elemental analysis, IR, (1)H- and (13)C-NMR. The antimicrobial studies were carried out against wild-type Escherichia coli American Type Culture Collection 8739 to evaluate the effect of the hydroxyl and the alkyl groups of the synthesised chalcones. All the synthesised compounds have shown significant antimicrobial activities. The optimum inhibition was dependent on the position of the hydroxyl group as well as the length of the alkyl chains.     

An approximation to the solution of telegraph equation by variational iteration method

The variational iteration method (VIM) has been applied to solve many functional equations. In this article, this method is applied to obtain an approximate solution for the Telegraph equation. Some examples are presented to show the ability of the proposed method. The results of applying VIM are exactly the same as those obtained by Adomian decomposition method. It seems less computation is needed in proposed method.© 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq, 2009     

Iodocyclisations reactions of Boc- and Cbz-protected N-allylguanidines

The cyclisation of mono-protected and bis-protected guanidines 8a–j under standard iodocyclisation conditions (I₂/K₂CO₃) gave the guanidine heterocycles 9–25 via either a direct cyclisation or by a cyclisation/ring-contraction process, which could be controlled by careful selection of conditions.     

Convergence of a step-doubling Galerkin method for parabolic problems

We analyze a single step method for solving second-order parabolic initial-boundary value problems. The method uses a step-doubling extrapolation scheme in time based on backward Euler and a Galerkin approximation in space. The technique is shown to be a second-order correct approximation in time. Since step-doubling can be used as a mechanism for step-size control, the analysis is done for variable time steps. The stability properties of step-doubling are contrasted with those of Crank-Nicolson, as well as those of more general extrapolated theta-weighted schemes. We provide an example computation that illustrates both the use of step-doubling for adaptive time step control and the application of step-doubling to a nonlinear system.

     

Exploring the Potential of Multinuclear Solid-State 1H, 13C,and 35Cl Magnetic Resonance To Characterize Static and Dynamic Disorder in Pharmaceutical Hydrochlorides

Crystallographic disorder, whether static or dynamic, can be detrimental to the physical and chemical stability, ease of crystallization and dissolution rate of an active pharmaceutical ingredient. Disorder can result in a loss of manufacturing control leading to batch-to-batch variability and can lengthen the process of structural characterization. The range of NMR active nuclei makes solid-state NMR a unique technique for gaining nucleus-specific information about crystallographic disorder. Here, we explore the use of high-field ³⁵Cl solid-state NMR at 23.5 T to characterize both static and dynamic crystallographic disorder: specifically, dynamic disorder occurring in duloxetine hydrochloride ( 1 ), static disorder in promethazine hydrochloride ( 2 ), and trifluoperazine dihydrochloride ( 3 ). In all structures, the presence of crystallographic disorder was confirmed by ¹³C cross-polarization magic-angle spinning (CPMAS) NMR and supported by GIPAW-DFT calculations, and in the case of 3 , ¹H solid-state NMR provided additional confirmation. Applying ³⁵Cl solid-state NMR to these compounds, we show that higher magnetic fields are beneficial for resolving the crystallographic disorder in 1 and 3 , while broad spectral features were observed in 2 even at higher fields. Combining the data obtained from ¹H, ¹³C, and ³⁵Cl NMR, we show that 3 exhibits a unique case of disorder involving the ⁺N−H hydrogen positions of the piperazinium ring, driving the chloride anions to occupy three distinct sites.     

One-pot and two-pot methods for chalcone derived pyrimidines synthesis and applications

Chalcone-derived pyrimidine is a well-known heterocyclic compound that is commonly present in ribonucleic acid (RNA) and deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) bio-isosteres. Pyrimidine derivatives are effective in both the electronic industry and drug industries. This review highlights the synthesis of pyrimidines, namely mono-pyrimidine, bis-pyrimidine, fused pyrimidine, symmetric, and asymmetric pyrimidine via one-pot and two-pot methods. The one-pot method is the direct reaction of amino derivatives with aldehydes and acetophenones, whereas the two-pot method is frequently reported for the synthesis of chalcone before the cyclization to a pyrimidine. This review is important in organic synthesis, particularly in the heterocyclic field, regarding pyrimidines and their significance in therapeutic and electronic industries.     

Synthesis,Characterization and Photocatalytic Behavior of SiO2@nitrized-TiO2 Nanocomposites Obtained by a Straightforward Novel Approach

We report on the facile synthesis of SiO₂@nitrized-TiO₂ nanocomposite (NST) by calcination of TiO₂ xerogel with OctaAmmonium POSS® (N-POSS; POSS=polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes). The as-obtained nanoporous mixed oxide is constituted by uniformly distributed SiO₂ and nitrized-TiO₂, where the silica component is present in an amorphous state and TiO₂ in an anatase/rutile mixed phase (92.1 % vs. 7.9 %, respectively) with very small anatase crystallites (3.7 nm). The TiO₂ lattice is nitrized both at interstitial and substitutional positions. NST features a negatively charged surface with a remarkable surface area (406 m² g⁻¹), endowed with special adsorption capabilities towards cationic dyes. Its photocatalytic behavior was tested by following the degradation of standard aqueous methylene blue and methyl orange solutions under UV and visible light irradiation, according to ISO 10678:2010. For comparison, analogous investigations were carried out on a silica-free N−TiO₂, obtained by using NH₄Cl as nitrogen source.