Reaction mechanism of CO methanation on nickel catalysts,as studied by isotopic and nonstationary methods

Kinetic isotope effects were measured upon the replacement of hydrogen by deuterium in the reaction of carbon monoxide methanation on nickel catalysts supported on TiO₂ and γ-Al₂O₃. Data on the mechanism of the process were obtained with the use of a nonstationary method. A step-scheme was proposed, in which the interaction of oxygen-containing compounds with hydrogen is a slow step of the process.     

The acoustic and visual factors influencing the construction of tranquil space in urban and rural environments tranquil spaces-quiet places?

Prior to this work no structured mechanism existed in the UK to evaluate the tranquillity of open spaces with respect to the characteristics of both acoustic and visual stimuli. This is largely due to the fact that within the context of "tranquil" environments, little is known about the interaction of the audio-visual modalities and how they combine to lead to the perception of tranquillity. This paper presents the findings of a study in which visual and acoustic data, captured from 11 English rural and urban landscapes, were used by 44 volunteers to make subjective assessments of both their perceived tranquillity of a location, and the loudness of five generic soundscape components. The results were then analyzed alongside objective measurements taken in the laboratory. It was found that the maximum sound pressure level (L(Amax)) and the percentage of natural features present at a location were the key factors influencing tranquillity. Engineering formulas for the tranquillity as a function of the noise level and proportion of the natural features are proposed.     

Irreversible thermodynamics of non-uniform insulating ferromagnets

Two types of damping are commonly applied to describe ferromagnets at the phenomenological level: one by Landau and Lifshitz, and the other by Gilbert. This work successively applies the methods of irreversible thermodynamics to insulators, insulating paramagnets, and uniform insulating ferromagnets, in the last case uniquely obtaining Landau–Lifshitz damping. These methods are then applied to non-uniform insulating ferromagnets, for which new, non-current-related, spin fluxes and spin torques appear. These may be relevant to the dynamics of magnets in confined geometries, where boundary conditions impose complex non-trivial textures. Study of systems with very large damping might help distinguish between the two proposed forms of damping.     

The double-soft integral for an arbitrary angle between hard radiators

We consider the double-soft limit of a generic QCD process involving massless partons and integrate analytically the double-soft eikonal functions over the phase-space of soft partons (gluons or quarks) allowing for an arbitrary relative angle between the three-momenta of two hard massless radiators. This result provides one of the missing ingredients for a fully analytic formulation of the nested soft-collinear subtraction scheme described in Caola et al. (Eur Phys J C 77(4):248, 2017).     

Equation of state of boron subarsenide B12As2 to 47 GPa

Compressibility of boron subarsenide B₁₂As₂ has been studied by synchrotron X-ray diffraction up to 47?GPa at room temperature in a diamond anvil cell using Ne pressure transmitting medium. A fit of experimental p–V data by Vinet equation of state yielded the bulk modulus of 150(4) GPa and its first pressure derivative of 6.4(3). No pressure-induced phase transitions have been observed.     

Computational-Based Discovery of the Anti-Cancer Activities of Pyrrole-Based Compounds Targeting the Colchicine-Binding Site of Tubulin

Despite the tubulin-binding agents (TBAs) that are widely used in the clinic for cancer therapy, tumor resistance to TBAs (both inherited and acquired) significantly impairs their effectiveness, thereby decreasing overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) rates, especially for the patients with metastatic, recurrent, and unresectable forms of the disease. Therefore, the development of novel effective drugs interfering with the microtubules’ dynamic state remains a big challenge in current oncology. We report here about the novel ethyl 2-amino-1-(furan-2-carboxamido)-5-(2-aryl/tert-butyl-2-oxoethylidene)-4-oxo-4,5-dihydro-1H-pyrrole-3-carboxylates (EAPCs) exhibiting potent anti-cancer activities against the breast and lung cancer cell lines in vitro. This was due to their ability to inhibit tubulin polymerization and induce cell cycle arrest in M-phase. As an outcome, the EAPC-treated cancer cells exhibited a significant increase in apoptosis, which was evidenced by the expression of cleaved forms of PARP, caspase-3, and increased numbers of Annexin-V-positive cells. By using the in silico molecular modeling methods (e.g., induced-fit docking, binding metadynamics, and unbiased molecular dynamics), we found that EAPC-67 and -70 preferentially bind to the colchicine-binding site of tubulin. Lastly, we have shown that the EAPCs indicated above and colchicine utilizes a similar molecular mechanism to inhibit tubulin polymerization via targeting the T7 loop in the β-chain of tubulin, thereby preventing the conformational changes in the tubulin dimers required for their polymerization. Collectively, we identified the novel and potent TBAs that bind to the colchicine-binding site and disrupt the microtubule network. As a result of these events, the compounds induced a robust cell cycle arrest in M-phase and exhibited potent pro-apoptotic activities against the epithelial cancer cell lines in vitro.     

Autofluorescence-Based Investigation of Spatial Distribution of Phenolic Compounds in Soybeans Using Confocal Laser Microscopy and a High-Resolution Mass Spectrometric Approach

In this research, we present a detailed comparative analysis of the bioactive substances of soybean varieties k-11538 (Russia), k-11559 (Russia), k-569 (China), k-5367 (China), k-5373 (China), k-5586 (Sweden), and Primorskaya-86 (Russia) using an LSM 800 confocal laser microscope and an amaZon ion trap SL mass spectrometer. Laser microscopy made it possible to clarify in detail the spatial arrangement of the polyphenolic content of soybeans. Our results revealed that the phenolics of soybean are spatially located mainly in the seed coat and the outer layer of the cotyledon. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was used in combination with an amaZon SL BRUKER DALTONIKS ion trap (tandem mass spectrometry) to identify target analytes in soybean extracts. The results of initial studies revealed the presence of 63 compounds, and 45 of the target analytes were identified as polyphenolic compounds.     

Synthesis of ONO-Ligated Tetrylenes Based on 2,6-bis(2-Hydroxyphenyl)pyridines: Influence of Ligand Sterics on the Structure of the Products

A series of novel tetrylenes based on three 2,6-bis(2-hydroxyphenyl)pyridines 4 a – 4 c have been obtained by the reaction of Lappert's tetrylenes E[N(SiMe₃)₂]₂ (E=Ge, Sn) with corresponding tridentate pyridine-linked phenol-based ligands. It was found that the structure of the ligand and the size of the atom of the group 14 element drastically affect the structure of the reaction product. Ligand 4 c with a bulky tert-butyl group leads to monomeric tetrylenes, while ligands with less bulky groups lead to bis-ligand derivatives of M(IV) (M=Ge, Sn) and a coordination polymer. Also, derivatives of germanium (IV) and tin (IV) were obtained by the metathesis reaction of MCl₄ (M=Ge, Sn) with lithium phenoxides. The compositions and structures of the novel compounds were established by elemental analysis and ¹H, ¹³C, ¹¹⁹Sn ( 5 – 7 ), ¹H DOSY ( 6 ) NMR spectroscopy, in the solid state by X-ray diffraction analysis (germylene 10 , stannylene 6 , Ge⁴⁺ compound 8 , Sn⁴⁺ compound 7 ) and ¹¹⁹Sn Mössbauer spectrum of tin complex 6 . All the synthesized tetrylenes are monomeric. Tetrylenes 6 and 10 were characterized by cyclic voltammetry. A study of the redox behavior of 6 , 10 by cyclic voltammetry on a glassy carbon working electrode in acetonitrile solution of 0.1 M Bu₄NPF₆ as a supporting electrolyte showed that these compounds can be both oxidized and reduced electrochemically in the accessible potential range.