Syntheses and reactions of terpene β-hydroxyselenides and β-hydroxydiselenides

A convenient method for the synthesis of optically active trans-hydroxyselenides and trans-hydroxydiselenides from the bicyclic terpene group based on the reactions of sodium selenide or sodium diselenide with cis- and trans-(+)-3-carane, trans-(+)-2-carane and (?)-β-pinane epoxides is described. The corresponding cis-hydroxy and cis-methoxydiselenides were obtained in the reaction of sodium diselenide with β-hydroxy- and β-methoxytosylates. The influence of a hydroxy group at the β-position on the diastereomeric ratio of the products of the asymmetric methoxyselenenylation of styrene has been established by composition of the products, crystal structure analyses, and theoretical calculations using a DFT method on the B3LYP level (6-311G(d)).     

Mass spectrometric study of glucose and cellobiose produced during enzymatic hydrolysis of α‐cellulose extracted from oak late‐wood annual rings

We present the first results concerning interannual variations in concentrations of glucose and cellobiose, obtained through enzymatic hydrolysis of α‐cellulose. The α‐cellulose was extracted from late‐wood of oak. The tree‐ring chronologies, wood components and their physical and chemical properties provide information about the ecosystem in which the tree grew, and thus information regarding climate variability and the impact of human activity in the past. The large molecular size and insolubility make it difficult to determine precisely the chemical and physical properties of the intact cellulose polymer. Enzymatic hydrolysis is the principal method of degradation of cellulose. In this study the feasibility has been examined of characterizing α‐cellulose through analysis by mass spectrometry (MS) of the degradation products from hydrolysis. Degradation of α‐cellulose was possible without using alkaline or acid buffers. Analysis by MS provided the opportunity to obtain information on the biodegradation of saccharides. The presence of cellobiose and glucose in the degradation product was evidenced by the mass spectra. We have compared the abundances of these glucose and cellobiose ions with carbon isotope ratios, the efficiency of extraction of α‐cellulose from the wood and tree‐ring width indices. The challenge is to establish, with respect to climate changes and environmental conditions, the significance of the variations from one year to another in the observed abundances of glucose and cellobiose ions. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The LIL for <Emphasis Type="Italic">U</Emphasis>-Statistics in Hilbert Spaces

We give necessary and sufficient conditions for the (bounded) law of the iterated logarithm for U-statistics in Hilbert spaces. As a tool we also develop moment and tail estimates for canonical Hilbert-space valued U-statistics of arbitrary order, which are of independent interest. R. Adamczak’s research partially supported by MEiN Grant 2 PO3A 019 30. R. Latała’s research partially supported by MEiN Grant 1 PO3A 012 29.     

The complexes of metal ions with fluoroquinolones

Fluoroquinolones are defined as an important group of synthetic antibacterial compounds, having a fluorine atom at position 6 and a piperazine ring at position 7 of quinolone-3-carboxylic acid. It was proved that the activity of quinolones was decreased in the environment of certain metal ions by the formation of sparingly soluble metal complexes. The proposed reason for such maintenance might be the chelate bonding of the quinolone to the metal. Again, it was proposed that metal ions, especially magnesium ions, were engaged in the mode of action of quinolones. In this review article, selected structures of fluoroquinolones metal complexes were performed and discussed in terms of their therapeutic application. The nuclease activity and antibacterial activity tests were presented and the effects of metal complexes were compared to free fluoroquinolones. Finally, the results were introduced. The article is published in the original.     

Spatial inhomogeneity of the interaction between bistable ferromagnetic wires

An experimental study and a theoretical calculation are presented of the hysteresis loop of two bistable ferromagnetic wires. A new effect—an asymmetry of the shift of the switching field at the first and the second Barkhausen jump—is found experimentally. The effect is explained as a consequence of the spatial dependence of the stray field. It is also reproduced within our recent calculation of the stray field from the magnetisation profile. Theoretical results qualitatively agree with the experimental data.     

Alignment of liquid crystal and dichroic dye molecules in mixed Langmuir and Langmuir-Blodgett films

A study of dichroic dye-liquid crystal mixtures (guest-host systems) in monolayers formed at a gas-liquid interface (Langmuir films) and at a solid surface (Langmuir-Blodgett films) has been made. As a host 4- n -octyl-4'-cyanobiphenyl (8CB) or 4- n -pentyl-4"-cyano- p -terphenyl (5CT) were chosen, while three dichroic azo dyes with various molecular structures were used as guest species. The dyes were added to the liquid crystal matrices at a concentration corresponding to the whole range of molar fractions and the surface pressure-mean molecular area isotherms for Langmuir films were recorded. On the basis of the isotherms, conclusions about the molecular organization and the miscibility of the components in the ultrathin films were drawn. The Langmuir films were transferred onto the quartz plates at surface pressures below the collapse point. The polarized absorption spectra of the Langmuir-Blodgett films were recorded and information about the alignment and intermolecular interactions in the mixtures of the non-amphiphilic dichroic dyes and the liquid crystals with strongly polar terminal groups were obtained.     

Entropy conjecture for continuous maps of nilmanifolds

In 1974 Michael Shub asked the following question [29]: When is the topological entropy of a continuous mapping of a compact manifold into itself is estimated from below by the logarithm of the spectral radius of the linear mapping induced in the cohomologies with real coefficients? This estimate has been called the Entropy Conjecture (EC). In 1977 the second author and Micha? Misiurewicz proved [23] that EC holds for all continuous mappings of tori. Here we prove EC for all continuous mappings of compact nilmanifolds. Also generalizations for maps of some solvmanifolds and another proof via Lefschetz and Nielsen numbers, under the assumption the map is not homotopic to a fixed points free map, are provided.     

New lacunar-type and pendant groups containing derivatives of β-unsubstituted dibenzotetraaza[14]annulenes—syntheses and crystal structures

Three new lacunar-type derivatives of β-unsubstituted dibenzotetraaza[14]annulene have been synthesized along with a range of their open-chain pendant group containing counterparts. The crystal structures of two representative products have been determined and the noncovalent interactions explored. A number of C-H?π and π?π interactions involving aliphatic chains and aromatic regions of the macrocycle have been evidenced. The relative ease and high yield of lacunization are suggested to be largely due to self-assembly processes, driven by favorable noncovalent interactions between reacting units.     

Strain coupling and scaling invariants in search for effective critical parameters of uniaxial ferroelectrics

A scaling equation of state giving a realistic ratio of Curie–Weiss constants and accounting for coupling of the order parameter with a strain (secondary order parameter) is used to describe the temperature dependence of the electric susceptibility in an external biasing field applied in case of uniaxial ferroelectrics. Explicit expressions for the resulting scaling invariants are given. The power laws for the temperature and field dependence of the maxima and of the inflection points of the susceptibility curves are found. The theory is exemplified by the effective critical behaviour of iono-molecular crystals (CH₃NH₃)₅Bi₂Cl₁₁ (MAPCB) and (CH₃NH₃)₅Bi₂Br₁₁ (MAPBB).