A Label-Free Biosensor for Protein Detection Based on Ring Slots in a Photonic Crystal

Journal of Russian Laser Research - We design a miniaturized and highly-sensitive biosensor based on a photonic-crystal aslant cavity (AC) to detect protein concentrations. The AC has seven ring...     

Synthesis,molecular modeling,TD-DFT,antimicrobial, and in vitro therapeutic activity of new spherical nano-sized sulfonamide imine ligands and their zinc (II) and copper (II) complexes

A series of nanometer-sized spherical sulfonamide imine ligands HL ¹ -HL ⁵ and their copper and zinc complexes were synthesized and fully characterized based on elemental analyses, spectroscopic (UV/vis, FT-IR, NMR, EPR, SEM) studies, molar conductance and thermal analyses. Furthermore, computational studies of HL ¹ -HL ⁵ were carried out by the DFT/B3LYP method. TD-DFT, HOMO and LUMO energy values, chemical hardness, electronegativity, electrophilic index, softness, and other parameters were calculated. Screening against several pathogenic microorganisms indicated that HL ¹ exhibited high activity against the tested Gram-negative bacteria relative to other analogues and the inhibition activity is greater than the standard Gentamicin. Analogously, HL ² exhibited high potent activity against the tested Gram-positive bacteria. Copper complexes exhibited a higher potent activity than zinc analogues. Noteworthy, inhibition activity of [Cu ( L ³ )(OAc)] complex is higher than that of the standard Ampicillin. [Cu ( L ² )(OAc)] complex displayed a similar activity of the standard bactericides and fungicides in use. The complexes showed appreciated values of MIC against bacterial strains: B. subtilis (MIC = 0.4 μg / mL), E. coli and S. pneumonia (MIC = 1.95 μg / mL) and P. aeruginosa (MIC = 7.81 μg / mL). in vitro cytotoxic activities study proved that [Cu ( L ³ )(OAc)] complex exhibited appreciable activity versus (HEPG-2); IC₅₀ = 4.8 μg/ml, while [Cu( L ² )(OAc)] complex showed a high activity against (MCF-7); IC₅₀ = 6.2 μg/ml. These results could be considered as new findings of promising antitumor candidates for experimental chemotherapy.     

Synthesis,Characterization and Theoretical Study of the Chemical Reactivity of New Cyclic Sulfamides Linked to Tetrathiafulvalene

Abstract

The synthesis of the title compounds has been carried out by condensation via a Wittig-type reaction of a pyridinium hexafluorophosphate with a phosphonate ester to give the desired (4-nitrophenyl)tetrathiafulvalene the nitro group of which was reduced to an amino group. Reaction of the amine with chlorosulfonyl isocyanate and subsequently with tert-butyl alcohol gave the corresponding open-chain sulfamide. Cyclization under basic conditions and de-protection led to 2-[4-(4′,5′-dipropyltetrathiafulvalen-4-yl)]phenyl-1,2,6-thiadiazinane 1,1-dioxide. Finally, N-alkylated and N-acylated cyclic sulfamides linked to tetrathiafulvalene were obtained. Their electron donor ability was measured by cyclic voltammetry. A detailed DFT study based on B3LYP/6–31G (d,p) of electronic properties is also presented. The calculated molecular electrostatic potential shows that, the negative charge covers the nitro and sulfamide function, while positive charge is located at the hydrogen atoms of the amine and sulfamide rings. The calculated HOMO and LUMO energy reveals that charge transfer occurs within the molecule. The chemical reactivity parameters reveal that tetrathiafulvalene 1 is highly reactive, which facilitates the desired formation of the cyclic sulfamide. The first hyperpolarizability β_tot shows that compounds 1 and 5 are good candidates as a NLO material.     

Synthesis of Novel Semiconducting Aromatic Polyesteramids Containing Pyridine: Characterization of Nanometer-Sized Rod-Like Analogues and their Copper (II) Complexes

In this paper, new thermally stable isomeric unsubstituted polyesteramides have been successfully prepared by condensation of aromatic acids chlorides namely; isophthaloyl, pyridine-3,5-dicarbonyl and pyridine-2,6-pyridine-dicarbonyl dichlorides with the aminophenol isomers in NMP. Conducting the reaction in NMP/H₂O (90/10 v/v) followed by centrifugal separation furnished the desired polymers as rod-like nanoparticles. The morphology of obtained nanoparticles were studied by SEM. Mixing NMP with H₂O was essential for controlling the particles morphology and as a reaction accelerator.

Pyridine-containing polymers exhibit semi-conducting nature as their conductivities increase with increasing temperature, while no variation of the conductivity with the temperature was observed for their corresponding phenylene analogues. Introduction of the nitro group into the polymer backbone led to a red shift in the absorption and the obtained polymers have a bright yellow color, which is unusual with this polymer group. Copper (II) ions were complexed the polyesteramides-containing nitro group in a (1:1) ratio. Complexes of pyridine-containing polymers exhibit semiconducting nature changed to metallic characters on heating and their conductivities increased tens of magnitudes than their corresponding ligands. These new types of polymeric materials and their nano-sized rods may have numerous applications in nanotechnology and their properties can be tuned for specific applications such as conducting adhesives and coating materials.     

Chemical composition and antioxidant activity of Borago officinalis L. leaf extract growing in Algeria

The aqueous and hydroalcoholic extracts of borage (Borago officinalis) leaves from Annaba region (Algeria) were preliminary analyzed for their phenolic profile (total phenolics, total flavonoids, total flavonols, total tannins and total anthocyanins). These extracts were evaluated for their antioxidant properties by different methods such as DPPH radical scavenging, test NBT and total antioxidant activity. The two extracts have exhibited a high antiradical capacity. Indeed, the ethanolic extract showed the lower IC50 values and the highest amount of phenolics (94.09 ± 1.72 mg gallic acid/g dry extract). Using LC-MS/MS analysis, it was possible to identify phenolic acids, flavonoids, sterol and for the first time oleuropein was identified in the aqueous extract of the plant. The obtained results have demonstrated that phenolic compounds are the major contributor to the antioxidant activity of plants.     

Functional Differential Equations With Delay and Random Effects

The authors study the existence of mild solutions to a functional differential equation with delay and random effects. They use a random fixed point theorem with a stochastic domain. An example is included to illustrate their results.     

Optimal control applied on an HIV‐1 within‐host model

The treatment of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) remains a major challenge, even if significant progress has been made in infection treatment by ‘drug cocktails’. Nowadays, research trend is to minimize the number of pills taken when treating infection. In this paper, an HIV‐1 within host model where healthy cells follow a simple logistic growth is considered. Basic reproduction number of the model is calculated using next generation matrix method, steady states are derived; their local, as well as global stability, is discussed using the Routh–Hurwitz criteria, Lyapunov functions and the Lozinskii measure approach. The optimal control policy is formulated and solved as an optimal control problem. Numerical simulations are performed to compare several cases, representing a treatment by Interleukin2 alone, classical treatment by multitherapy drugs alone, then both treatments at the same time. Objective functionals aim to (i) minimize infected cells quantity; (ii) minimize free virus particles number; and (iii) maximize healthy cells density in blood. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Strong isochronism of polynomial reversible dynamical systems on the plane with homogeneous nonlinearities of degree 4

We find the maximum order and initial polar angle of strongly isochronous two-dimensional polynomial reversible systems with homogeneous nonlinearities of the fourth degree.     

Construction of a Fuchs Equation with Four Given Finite Singular Points and Given Reducible 2 × 2 Monodromy Matrices

On the complex projective line, we construct a Fuchs equation with four given finite singular points and with fundamental solution matrix that has given reducible 2×2 monodromy matrices in the nonresonance case.     

On one conjecture in the theory of isochronous Liénard systems

New normal forms are obtained for the center as well as isochronous center of holomorphic Liénard systems.