In situ Raman and UV-vis spectroscopic studies of polypyrrole and poly(pyrrole-2,6-dimethyl-β-cyclodextrin)

Polypyrrole (PPy) and poly(pyrrole-2,6-dimethyl-β-cyclodextrin) [P(Py-β-DMCD)] films prepared by potential cycling in aqueous acidic solutions on indium tin oxide (ITO)-coated glass and gold electrodes were studied by in situ UV-vis and Raman spectroscopy. Characteristic UV-vis and Raman bands were identified and their dependencies on the electrode potential have been discussed. Spectroelectrochemical results reveal differences both in the position of the spectral bands and their potential dependence for PPy and P(Py-β-DMCD) films indicating interactions between polymer chains and CDs during electropolymerization process. The films were also characterized by cyclic voltammetry and FT-IR spectroscopy.     

Recent Updates on the Functional Impact of Kahweol and Cafestol on Cancer

Kahweol and cafestol are two diterpenes extracted from Coffea arabica beans that have distinct biological activities. Recent research describes their potential activities, which include anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic, and anti-cancer properties, among others. The two diterpenes have been shown to have anticancer effects in various in vitro and in vivo cancer models. This review aims to shed light on the recent developments regarding the potential effects of kahweol and cafestol on various cancers. A systematic literature search through Google Scholar and PubMed was performed between February and May 2022 to collect updates about the potential effects of cafestol and kahweol on different cancers in in vitro and in vivo models. The search terms “Kahweol and Cancer” and “Cafestol and Cancer” were used in this literature review as keywords; the findings demonstrated that kahweol and cafestol exhibit diverse effects on different cancers in in vitro and in vivo models, showing pro-apoptotic, cytotoxic, anti-proliferative, and anti-migratory properties. In conclusion, the diterpenes kahweol and cafestol display significant anticancer effects, while remarkably unaffecting normal cells. Our results show that both kahweol and cafestol exert their actions on various cancers via inducing apoptosis and inhibiting cell growth. Additionally, kahweol acts by inhibiting cell migration.     

Essential Spectra, Matrix Operator and Applications

This paper gives a survey on some recent results on the spectral theory of block operator matrices. We study the closeness in the product space and we give some conditions to characterize the essential spectra in the Browder resolvent set case. Furthermore, we apply the obtained results to several models such as delay equations, Sturm–Liouville problem and transport equations.     

Intramolecular Path Determination of Active Electrons on Push-Pull Oligocarbazole Dyes-Sensitized Solar Cells

Several push-pull oligocarbazole dye-sensitizers have been studied using theoretical methods in order to better understand the relationship between structural electronic or optical properties and intramolecular path of active electrons during the ionization and injection processes. DFT/TD-DFT calculations were performed on a series of five dye sensitizers. They differ by the presence of electron donating group (EDG) by inductive effect (noted+I) or electron releasing group (ERG) by mesomeric effect (noted+M) or electron withdrawing group by inductive effect (noted-I) on the pushed part of the dyes studied. Our work focused on the internal distribution of electrons in the different parts of dye that are the push/pull moieties and the π -bridge. The study concerned the ground state, the electronic transition process and the excited state. In each situation, the fragment acting in the ionization or transition phenomena were identified. In the ground state, the electrons of the push part appear to be the least bound because they have the highest probabilities of ionization. In the excited state, the ionized atoms are essentially positioned in the pushing part and some neighboring atoms of the bridge. In the electronic transition, the active atoms are located in the π -conjugated part but only on the side adjacent to the acceptor group. To arrive to this conclusion, we optimized the structures of the five dyes in their ground and excited states. We calculated the atomic charges, the wavelengths and intensities of electronic transitions in the visible domain, the reorganization energies as well as the oxidation potential. It appears that +M donor ligands improve the performance of a dye because the great distribution of atoms to be ionized in the push parts.     

High-performance liquid chromatography determination of nitrated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons by indirect fluorescence detection

A high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method for the analysis of nitrated polcyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (NPAHs) is reported. NPAH mixtures were pre-concentrated using solid-phase extraction and well resolved on a C(18) column. They were detected using an indirect method involving the quenching of the emission from the fluorophores 5,6,7,8-tetrahydronaphthol (5,6,7,8-THN-1-OH), 7-amino-4-methyl coumarin (Coumarin 120, COU-120) and 3-hydroxy-4-(2-hydroxy-4-sulfo-1-naphthylazo)2-naphthalene carboxylic acid (Calcon carboxylic acid, CCA). Linear calibration curves were obtained in the range 1.1 x 10(-9) to 1.1 x 10(-8) mol/L. Using COU 120 as the fluorophore, the detection limit was 2.9 x 10(-10) mol/L for 1-nitronaphthalene and 2.1 x 10(-11) mol/L for 2-nitrofluorene. Recoveries of NPAHs from spiked tap water samples were between 88 and 100%.     

On dominance-based multiobjective local search: design, implementation and experimental analysis on scheduling and traveling salesman problems

This paper discusses simple local search approaches for approximating the efficient set of multiobjective combinatorial optimization problems. We focus on algorithms defined by a neighborhood structure and a dominance relation that iteratively improve an archive of nondominated solutions. Such methods are referred to as dominance-based multiobjective local search. We first provide a concise overview of existing algorithms, and we propose a model trying to unify them through a fine-grained decomposition. The main problem-independent search components of dominance relation, solution selection, neighborhood exploration and archiving are largely discussed. Then, a number of state-of-the-art and original strategies are experimented on solving a permutation flowshop scheduling problem and a traveling salesman problem, both on a two- and a three-objective formulation. Experimental results and a statistical comparison are reported in the paper, and some directions for future research are highlighted.