Inhibition of LPS-induced no production in RAW264.7 cell lines: synthesis and molecular modeling of α-ketophosphonates of febuxostat

In an effort to develop novel anti-inflammatory agents, we synthesized phosphorylated derivatives of febuxostat using various phosphates/phosphonites by Michaelis-Arbuzov reaction. Their inhibitory activity on nitric oxide (NO) production, reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and cytotoxicity were evaluated using lipopolysaccharide (LPS) activated macrophages RAW264.7 assay, flow-cytometry analysis and MTT method respectively. Some of these compounds showed potent inhibition of NO and ROS production without obvious cytotoxicity. Furthermore, docking simulations were performed to positional compounds 3g, 3h, 3i and 3j into the COX-2 active site to determine the probable binding model. Physicochemical parameters revealed that most of the compounds possessed drug-like properties.     

A Comprehensive Review on Therapeutic Perspectives of Phytosterols in Insulin Resistance: A Mechanistic Approach

Natural products in the form of functional foods have become increasingly popular due to their protective effects against life-threatening diseases, low risk of adverse effects, affordability, and accessibility. Plant components such as phytosterol, in particular, have drawn a lot of press recently due to a link between their consumption and a modest incidence of global problems, such as Type 2 Diabetes mellitus (T2DM), cancer, and cardiovascular disease. In the management of diet-related metabolic diseases, such as T2DM and cardiovascular disorders, these plant-based functional foods and nutritional supplements have unquestionably led the market in terms of cost-effectiveness, therapeutic efficacy, and safety. Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder categoriszed by high blood sugar and insulin resistance, which influence major metabolic organs, such as the liver, adipose tissue, and skeletal muscle. These chronic hyperglycemia fallouts result in decreased glucose consumption by body cells, increased fat mobilisation from fat storage cells, and protein depletion in human tissues, keeping the tissues in a state of crisis. In addition, functional foods such as phytosterols improve the body’s healing process from these crises by promoting a proper physiological metabolism and cellular activities. They are plant-derived steroid molecules having structure and function similar to cholesterol, which is found in vegetables, grains, nuts, olive oil, wood pulp, legumes, cereals, and leaves, and are abundant in nature, along with phytosterol derivatives. The most copious phytosterols seen in the human diet are sitosterol, stigmasterol, and campesterol, which can be found in free form, as fatty acid/cinnamic acid esters or as glycosides processed by pancreatic enzymes. Accumulating evidence reveals that phytosterols and diets enriched with them can control glucose and lipid metabolism, as well as insulin resistance. Despite this, few studies on the advantages of sterol control in diabetes care have been published. As a basis, the primary objective of this review is to convey extensive updated information on the possibility of managing diabetes and associated complications with sterol-rich foods in molecular aspects.     

Sulfur Transfer Reactions of Tetrathiomolybdate in Water: Synthesis of Alkyl Disulfides from Alkyl Halides

Abstract: Reaction of a number of alkyl halides with tetrathiomolybdate in water as the solvent affords the corresponding disulfides in good yields.     

The credit risk+ model with general sector correlations

We consider an enhancement of the credit risk⁺ model to incorporate correlations between sectors. We model the sector default rates as linear combinations of a common set of independent variables that represent macro-economic variables or risk factors. We also derive the formula for exact VaR contributions at the obligor level.     

One‐pot direct synthesis of fluorescent polyaniline‐porphyrin macrospheres from porphyrin

Porphyrins are very important chromophores as sensitizer in solar cell. Hole and electron transport layers are being used as an important layer to move the electrons and holes away from the sensitizer molecule to electrodes. In this work, a simple process has been developed for the synthesis of one layer combination of sensitizer and hole transport, that is, polyaniline‐porphyrin (PANI‐TPPS₄) system as a bulk heterojunction. Macrospheres of fluorescent PANI‐TPPS₄ materials were synthesized by one‐pot as well as two step processes directly from porphyrin for the first time. The advantage of this process is no need to isolate sulfonated porphyrin (TPPS₄), which is a difficult process. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2012     

Electrochemical characterization of copper chemical mechanical polishing in l-glutamic acid–hydrogen peroxide-based slurries

The effect of l-glutamic acid as complexing agent in the presence of hydrogen peroxide as oxidizer in copper chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) slurry is investigated. In the CMP process, the work surface is moved against a pad, with slurry flowing between the surface and the pad. The polish rate was found to be stable over a wide range of hydrogen peroxide concentration. High concentration of either l-glutamic acid or hydrogen peroxide leads to a reduction in polish rate, but a high concentration of both chemicals does not reduce the polish rate. In the absence of hydrogen peroxide, the Cu polish rate was 0 for all the l-glutamic acid concentrations investigated. However, potentiodynamic polarization curves do not show any sign of passivation when l-glutamic acid was present in the solution. In situ open circuit potential measurements show that copper redox reactions as well as hydrogen peroxide redox reactions contribute in determining the electrochemical behavior. We propose that l-glutamic acid inhibits the copper dissolution by adsorption onto the metallic copper, but enhances copper dissolution by complexing copper ions. The results show that it is possible to conduct controllable copper CMP in mildly acidic slurries with hydrogen peroxide as oxidizer and l-glutamic acid as complexing agent.     

The parameter uniform numerical method for singularly perturbed parabolic reaction–diffusion problems on equidistributed grids

This article presents the study of singularly perturbed parabolic reaction–diffusion problems with boundary layers. To solve these problems, we use a modified backward Euler finite difference scheme on layer adapted nonuniform meshes at each time level. The nonuniform meshes are obtained by equidistribution of a positive monitor function, which involves the second-order spatial derivative of the singular component of the solution. The equidistributing monitor function at each time level allows us to use this technique to non-linear parabolic problems. The truncation error and the stability analysis are obtained. Parameter–uniform error estimates are derived for the numerical solution. To support the theoretical results, numerical experiments are carried out.     

Synthesis and characterization of submicron-sized mesoporous aluminosilicate spheres

Mesoporous aluminosilicate spheres of 0.3–0.4 Μm diameter, with different Si/Al ratios, have been prepared by surfactant templating. Surface area of these materials is in the 510–970 m² g^-1 range and pore diameter in the 15–20 ? range.