Synthesis of isomeric, oxathiolone fused chalcones, and comparison of their activity toward various microorganisms and human cancer cells line

Isomeric oxathiolone fused chalcones were prepared by condensation of appropriate acetylbenzo[1,3]oxathiol-2-ones with benzaldehydes under acidic conditions. The synthesized compounds were screened for cytotoxic activity using HeLa cells, as well as for antibacterial activity against Micrococcus luteus, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella typhimurium, Escherichia coli, Proteus vulgaris, antifungal activity against Candida albicans, and tuberculostatic activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H(37)Rv and Mycobacterium kansasii strains.     

Antioxidant and Cytoprotective Properties of Plant Extract from Dry Flowers as Functional Dyes for Cosmetic Products

Nowadays, natural dyes are expected by the cosmetic and food industries. In contrast to synthetic dyes, colorants derived from natural sources are more environmentally friendly and safer for human health. In this work, plant extracts from Gomphrena globasa L., Clitoria ternatea L., Carthamus tinctorius L., Punica granatum L. and Papaver rhoeas L. as the natural and functional dyes for the cosmetics industry were assessed. Cytotoxicity on keratinocyte and fibroblast cell lines was determined as well as antioxidant and anti-aging properties by determining their ability to inhibit the activity of collagenase and elastase enzymes. In addition, the composition of the extracts was determined. The obtained extracts were also applied in face cream formulation and color analyses were performed. It has been shown that the obtained extracts were characterized by no cytotoxicity and a high antioxidant potential. The extracts also show strong ability to inhibit the activity of collagenase and moderate ability to inhibit elastase and provide effective and long-lasting hydration after their application on the skin. Application analyses showed that the extracts of P. rhoeas L., C. ternatea L. and C. tinctorius L. can be used as effective cosmetic dyes that allow for attainment of an intense and stable color during the storage of the product. The extracts of P. granatum L. and G. globasa L., despite their beneficial effects as active ingredients, did not work effectively as cosmetic dyes, because cosmetic emulsions with these extracts did not differ significantly in color from emulsions without the extract.     

Does local cryotherapy improve thermal diagnosis similar to whole-body cryotherapy in spinal diseases?

Thermal imaging has been used for patients with spinal diseases who were qualified by their physicians for whole-body treatment or local cryotherapy. The experimental groups of patients consisted of 20 males aged 51.6 ± 9.0 (12 treated by whole-body cryotherapy and 8 by local cryotherapy). The distribution of the skin surface temperature was monitored by using a Thermovision Camera E60 before and immediately after body cooling. The chosen spinal region (Th5/Th6–L5/S1) was taken into consideration for all of the research groups. An essential drop in skin temperature and a better differentiation of the body surface temperatures (leading to an increase in the diagnostic value of thermography) was observed after both methods of cold impact. In order to estimate the usefulness of thermovision used after body cooling, the quantitative parameters including temperature contrast—the difference between the maximum and minimum temperatures before and after cold impact and relative contrast ratio (related to the average temperature of the selected area of interest, before and after cooling, respectively)—were compared for both kinds of medical treatment. The statistical analysis proved that significant differences between the parameters obtained before and after body cooling in the case that patients treated by local and whole-body cryotherapy are similar. However, local therapy is cheaper and easy for application while whole-body therapy can give more information about the state of soft tissues for the whole back.     

The Interaction between Polycationic Poly-Lysine Dendrimers and Charged and Neutral Fluorescent Probes

The interactions between polycationic poly-lysine dendrimers and hydrophobic fluorescent probes (anionic ANS and neutral Prodan) were studied. R121 and R131 dendrimers were not able to interact with anionic and neutral hydrophobic groups. R124 was able to interact with neutral and anionic hydrophobic fluorescent probes, however mainly through hydrophobic forces. Dendrimers R155 and R169 showed the maximal effects. The strongest interactions observed for R169 can be explained by intramolecular folding (stacking) of its two L-proline residues. Using double fluorescence titration technique for ANS probe allowed to receive such constant of binding and the number of binding centers: for R121, 1.8·10³ (mol/l)⁻¹ and 1.07; for R124, 12.1·10³ (mol/l)⁻¹ and 0.48; for R131, 4.7·10³ (mol/l)⁻¹ and 0.48; for R155, 9.2·10³ (mol/l)⁻¹ and 1.36; for R169, 39.6·10³ (mol/l)⁻¹ and 0.97. Thus, neutral and anionic hydrophobic probes can be used for the fast preliminary screening of binding properties of newly synthesized polycationic dendrimers.     

GC/MS determination of fatty acid picolinyl esters by direct curie-point pyrolysis of whole bacterial cells

A single-step method suitable for cellular fatty acid derivatization to picolinyl esters with the use of a pyrolyzer as a thermochemical micro-reactor was developed for whole bacterial cells. This reduced the preparation time from several hours to less than two minutes. In addition, the minimal bacterial mass required for analysis was reduced from several milligrams to micrograms. The profiling of cellular fatty acids of gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria was achieved using three derivatization methods: preparation of methyl esters, beta-picolinyl esters by Harvey's method and a new method based on pyrolytic derivatization to beta-picolinyl esters. It was shown that there are great similarities between profiles of bacterial fatty acids determined by the pyrolytic derivatization method and traditional preparation methods of picolinyl and methyl esters prior to GC analysis. Results obtained by application of the new technique have immense diagnostic value due to vast similarities between profiles of fatty acids derivatized to either picolinyl and methyl esters. Although the latter are referred to in the literature most often, mass spectra of picolinyl esters contain fragment ions that provide structural information about the chain branching, position of unsaturation, and other substituents.     

The Kuratowski convergence and connected components

We investigate the Kuratowski convergence of the connected components of the sections of a definable set applying the result obtained to semialgebraic approximation of subanalytic sets. We are led to some considerations concerning the connectedness of the limit set in general. We discuss also the behaviour of the dimension of converging sections and prove some general facts about the Kuratowski convergence in tame geometry.     

Novel sample treatment procedures for the determination of phosphorus in Cu‐based alloys using X‐ray fluorescence spectrometry to solve the microstructural effect issue

The accurate analysis of hard CuP and CuPAg‐type solders using X‐ray fluorescence spectrometry is a difficult task. Surface milling, the most common sample preparation method for calibration materials, results in poor accuracy for the phosphorus analysis, as evidenced by the unacceptable values of the root mean square error. Meanwhile, the analysis of real samples provides incorrect results, and microstructural effects are the main source of error. Thus, this effect was negated by considering the information depth of the phosphorus Kα line and the microstructure size of the alloys. Phosphorus was measured using a thin layer of the sample (a thickness of several micrometers). As a result, the analyzed layer was a poor representative of the sample. Two different approaches for solving the microstructural effect issue were proposed. In the first method, the alloy was remelted under controlled conditions to obtain fine‐grain samples, which successfully limited the microstructural effects. The second solution used specially prepared thin layer samples, and the sample dissolution eliminated the microstructural effect. Using the developed sample treatment methods resulted in an improvement in the accuracy of the phosphorus calibration curves. This allowed for the correct determination of phosphorus and other alloying elements in the Cu‐based alloys with low uncertainties.     

Synthesis and Structural Studies of [Na(C7H6O4)(H2O)3](C7H5O4)?·?2H2O

Abstract  The mononuclear complex [Na(C₇H₆O₄)(H₂O)₃](C₇H₅O₄) · 2H₂O has been synthesized and characterized by IR, single crystal X-ray and thermal analysis. The compound crystallizes in the monoclinic space group P2₁ with a = 3.623(2) ?, b = 15.872(6) ?, c = 15.650(5) ?, β = 93.13(4)°, V = 896.6(7) ?³ and Z = 2. The central sodium ion is six coordinated with distorted octahedral geometry by two oxygen atoms from two bridging 3,5-dihydroxybenzoate ligands and four ones from different water molecules. The notable feature of the title complex is the formation of a three-dimensional network, through the combination of coordination bonds, hydrogen bonds and π···π interactions. There are one-dimensional channels in the structure, filled in by water molecules. The compound dehydrates in the temperature range of 70–125 °C and then is stable up to 230 °C. Index Abstract  The mononuclear complex [Na(C₇H₆O₄)(H₂O)₃](C₇H₅O₄) · 2H₂O has been synthesized and characterized by IR, single crystal X-ray and thermal analysis.      

Nonconscious control of fundamental voice frequency

The aim of this paper is to answer the question whether "perception-action" dissociation, which is well documented in vision, may also be found in auditory information processing. Trained singers were asked to produce vowel sounds into a microphone. The sound that each singer produced was fed back to their ears via headphones. Two seconds after the sound production had begun, the auditory feedback was shifted in pitch by a certain degree (9, 19, 50, or 99 cents in either direction). In every set of sounds, instances without any pitch shifts also appeared. After each trial, participants reported whether they were aware of a pitch change or not. It was found that even though the participants were unaware of subtle pitch changes, the fundamental frequency of their vowel production was found to shift slightly in the opposite direction to the pitch shift. These results show that auditory information is processed by two separate systems: one for perception and one for action. They also show that the function of the auditory control system differs from the visual control system. The latter is used to control bodily movements while the function of the former is a nonconscious, instant control of vocalization.     

Formation and stabilization of persistent free radicals

We demonstrate that stable and relatively unreactive “environmentally persistent free radicals (PFRs)” can be readily formed in the post-flame and cool-zone regions of combustion systems and other thermal processes. These resonance-stabilized radicals, including semiquinones, phenoxyls, and cyclopentadienyls, can be formed by the thermal decomposition of molecular precursors including catechols, hydroquinones and phenols. Association with the surfaces of fine particles imparts additional stabilization to these radicals such that they can persist almost indefinitely in the environment. A mechanism of chemisorption and electron transfer from the molecular adsorbate to a redox-active transition metal or other receptor is shown through experiment, and supported by molecular orbital calculations, to result in PFR formation. Both oxygen-centered and carbon-centered PFRs are possible that can significantly affect their environmental and biological reactivity.