Toxicity and anticancer effects of an extract from Selaginella tamariscina on a mice model

The toxicity and antitumour effect of the ethanol extract of Selaginella tamariscina (STE), a plant widely used in folk medicine, were examined in a mice model. In the single-dose acute toxicity test, an oral administration of 10,000?mg?kg(-1) STE did not cause any lethality. The sub-acute toxicity study showed that the treatment by 250,?1000 and 3000?mg?kg(-1?)day(-1) for 30 continuous days did neither alter the body weights nor the haematological parameters in BALB/c mice. The anticancer effect of STE was evaluated in BALB/c mice inoculated with Lewis lung carcinoma cells. Oral administration of STE could not prevent the tumour formation but provided strong inhibition of tumour growth.     

An efficient palladium-benzimidazolyl phosphine complex for the Suzuki-Miyaura coupling of aryl mesylates: facile ligand synthesis and metal complex characterization

A new class of easily accessible hemilabile benzimidazolyl phosphine ligands has been developed. The ligand skeleton is prepared from commercially available and inexpensive o-phenylenediamine and 2-bromobenzoic acid. With catalyst loading down to 0.5 mol% palladium, excellent catalytic activity towards the Suzuki-Miyaura coupling of aryl mesylates is still observed. This represents the lowest catalyst loading achieved so far for this reaction in general. X-Ray crystallography shows that new ligand L2 is coordinated with Pd in a κ(2)-P,N fashion.     

Simultaneous Determination of Paracetamol,Ibuprofen, and Caffeine in Tablets by Molecular Absorption Spectroscopy Combined with Classical Least Square Method

In this paper, the classical least-squares (CLS) method with molecular absorption spectrophotometric measurement was used to determine simultaneously paracetamol (PAR), ibuprofen (IBU), and caffeine (CAF) in tablets. The absorbance spectra of the standard solutions and samples were measured over a wavelength from 220 to 300 nm with a 0.5 nm step. The concentration of PAR, IBU, and CAF in the sample solutions was calculated by using Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) and a program called CLS-Excel written in Microsoft Excel 2016. The method and the CLS-Excel program were tested on mixed standard laboratory samples with different PAR, IBU, and CAF concentration ratios, and they showed only small errors and a satisfying repeatability. An analytical procedure for tablets containing PAR, IBU, and CAF was developed. The reliability of the procedure was proved via the recovery and repeatability of the analysis results with an actual tablet sample and by comparing the mean contents of active substances in the tablets obtained from the analytical procedure with the HPLC method. The procedure is simple with a reduced cost compared with the HPLC standard method.     

Short and simple synthesis of chelating bis-ethers and bis-amines in the bicyclo[3.3.1]nonane series

A remarkably simple process for the synthesis of a series of rigid bicyclic diethers and diamines is described.     

Soft magnetic properties and giant magneto-impedance effect of Fe73.5−xCrxSi13.5B9Nb3Au1 (x=1–5) alloys

In this paper, the effect of microstructural and surface morphological developments on the soft magnetic properties and giant magneto-impedance (GMI) effect of Fe_73.5−xCr_xSi_13.5B₉Nb₃Au₁ (x=1, 2, 3, 4, 5) alloys was investigated. It was found that the Cr addition causes slight decrease in the mean grain size of α-Fe(Si) grains. AFM results indicated a large variation of surface morphology of density and size of protrusions along the ribbon plane due to structural changes caused by thermal treatments with increasing Cr content. Ultrasoft magnetic properties such as the increase of magnetic permeability and the decrease of coercivity were observed in the samples annealed at 540 °C for 30 min. Accordingly, the GMI effect was also observed in the annealed samples.     

Modelling coupled water and heat transport in a soil–mulch–plant–atmosphere continuum (SMPAC) system

This paper presents a physically based model coupling water and heat transport in a soil–mulch–plant–atmosphere continuum (SMPAC) system, in which a transparent polyethylene mulch is applied to a winter wheat crop. The purpose of the study is to simulate profiles of soil water content and temperature for different stages of wheat growth. The mass and energy balance equations are constructed to determine upper boundary conditions of governing equations. Energy parameters are empirically formulated and calibrated from three-month field observed data. Resistance parameters in the SMPAC system are calculated. The mass and energy equations are solved by an iterative Newton–Raphson technique and a finite difference method is used to solve the governing equations. Water-consuming experiments are performed within the growing period of wheat. The results show that the model is quite satisfactory, particularly for high soil water content, in simulating the water and temperature profiles during the growth of the winter wheat.     

An alternative proof of some percolation threshold (p c ) using the idea of self-organized criticality

Summary By means of a well-developed method in self-organized criticality, we can obtain the lower bound for the percolation threshold (p _c) of the corresponding site percolation problem. In some special cases, we have proved that such lower bounds are indeed the percolation thresholds. We can reproduce some well-known percolation thresholds of various lattices including the Cayley trees and Kock curves in this framework.     

A Practical Formal Synthesis of a Physiologically Active Analogue of Platelet Activating Factor

A synthesis of phosphocholine 9 was accomplished in 36% yield from isopropylidene glycerol in contrast to 2% yield as reported previously. Since 9 has been converted to platelet activating factor-analogue 2, this report constitutes a more practical synthesis of 2.