Bioactive compounds and antioxidant activity of Rhaponticum acaule (L.) DC

Abstract

Rhaponticum acaule (L.) DC. is a medicinal plant commonly used for the treatment of some illnesses such as gastrointestinal infections. In this work, we report the composition of different parts of this plant on phenolic compounds, their quantification, and antioxidant activity. The obtained results reported that methanolic extracts of the three parts studied revealed high phenolic contents. For flavonoid contents, the highest contents were reported in organic extracts of leaf part. In addition, results obtained from the study of the antioxidant activity showed that methanolic extract of root presented the highest activity, in DPPH^? scavenging ability test with an IC₅₀ of 0.31?±?0.04?mg/mL and in FRAP test with an EC₅₀ of 1.06?±?0.02?mg/mL. The RP-HPLC-PDA analysis revealed the presence of five phenolic acids (sinapic, caffeic, chlorogenic, ferulic and syringic acids), one flavanone (naringenin), one flavonol (rutin) and vanillin.     

Tension–torsion fracture experiments—Part I: Experiments and a procedure to evaluate the equivalent plastic strain

Ductile failure experiments on a double notched tube (DNT) specimen subjected to a combination of tensile load and torque that was applied at a fixed ratio is presented. The experimental results extend those in Barsoum and Faleskog (2007a) down to zero stress triaxiality. A new and robust evaluation procedure for such tests is proposed, and a simple relation for the equivalent plastic strain at failure for combined normal and shear deformation, respectively, is developed. Tests were carried out on the medium strength medium hardening steel Weldox 420, and the high strength low hardening steel Weldox 960. The experimental results unanimously show that ductile failure not only depends on stress triaxiality, but is also strongly affected by the type of deviatoric stress state that prevails, which can be quantified by a stress invariant that discriminates between axisymmetric stressing and shear dominated stressing, e.g., the Lode parameter. Additional experiments on round notch bar (RNB) specimens are recapitulated in order to give a comprehensive account on how ductile failure depends on stress triaxiality, ranging from zero to more than 1.6, and the type of stress state for the two materials tested. This provides an extensive experimental data base that will be used to explore an extension of the Gurson model that incorporates damage development in shear presented in Xue et al. (2013) (Part II).     

Computer-assisted spectrophotometry: multicomponent analysis with a discrete fourier transform

A computer-assisted method for analysis of multicomponent mixtures by use of conventional absorbance as well as discrete Fourier transforin coefficients (combined trigonometric functions) is presented. The program can store absorbance data (A vs. λ), process data by convolution with combined trigonometric functions, apply least-squares analysis and solve the resultant simultaneous linear equations, and display data on screen, printer or plotter.     

Sodium mefenamate as a solution for the formulation and dissolution problems of mefenamic acid

Sodium salt formation of mefenamic acid (MA) was studied as a way to solve the formulation and dissolution problems of MA. For this purpose, sodium salt of mefenamic acid (Na-MA) was prepared by reacting MA powder with equimolar sodium hydroxide in an aqueous phase, and consequently, Na-MA solution was obtained. The resultant solution was lyophilized and Na-MA powder was collected. The salt formation was confirmed by the results of fourier transformation-infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) studies on Na-MA powder in comparison to MA powder. Na-MA powder was assessed for direct compressibility, in comparison to MA powder, when formulated as a mixture with minimum amount of Avicel((R)) pH 101 and then compressed into tablets using a hydraulic tablet press. Na-MA tablets exhibited satisfactory hardness and friability, and did not show capping or lamination. On the other hand, some MA tablets showed capping or lamination upon compression and all the tested MA tablets for friability capped. Na-MA tablets were also studied for drug dissolution, in comparison to MA tablets, in water, a pH 7.4 phosphate buffer, and a pH 7.4 phosphate buffer after soaking in 0.1 m HCl. Under these different dissolution conditions, Na-MA tablets showed much higher dissolution rate and extent than MA tablets. The results of the study suggested that Na-MA can be considered as a solution form for the formulation and dissolution problems of MA.     

Enantioselective total synthesis of 1-epi-pathylactone A

[structure: see text]. The first enantioselective total synthesis of 1-epi-pathylactone A, 3, has been accomplished using a PhI(OAc)2-mediated domino reaction as a key step. No diastereomeric separation was required throughout the whole synthetic scheme presented in this paper. Comparison of 1H and 13C NMR spectral data of the synthetic product with the reported spectral data of natural pathylactone A, coupled with an X-ray crystallographic analysis, led to the conclusion that the C1 configuration in the original paper was erroneously ascribed to (R).     

Non Parametric Distributed Inference in Sensor Networks Using Box Particles Messages

This paper deals with the problem of inference in distributed systems where the probability model is stored in a distributed fashion. Graphical models provide powerful tools for modeling this kind of problems. Inspired by the box particle filter which combines interval analysis with particle filtering to solve temporal inference problems, this paper introduces a belief propagation-like message-passing algorithm that uses bounded error methods to solve the inference problem defined on an arbitrary graphical model. We show the theoretic derivation of the novel algorithm and we test its performance on the problem of calibration in wireless sensor networks. That is the positioning of a number of randomly deployed sensors, according to some reference defined by a set of anchor nodes for which the positions are known a priori. The new algorithm, while achieving a better or similar performance, offers impressive reduction of the information circulating in the network and the needed computation times.     

Low-noise chip-based frequency conversion by four-wave-mixing Bragg scattering in SiN(x) waveguides

Low-noise, tunable wavelength-conversion through nondegenerate four-wave mixing Bragg scattering in SiN(x) waveguides is experimentally demonstrated. Finite element method simulations of waveguide dispersion are used with the split-step Fourier method to predict device performance. Two 1550 nm wavelength band pulsed pumps are used to achieve tunable conversion of a 980 nm signal over a range of 5 nm with a peak conversion efficiency of ≈5%. The demonstrated Bragg scattering process is suitable for frequency conversion of quantum states of light.     

Stereodivergent Transformation of Azepino[3,4,5-cd]indoles En Route to Nature-Inspired Scaffolds

Azepino[3,4,5-cd]indole derivatives represent the core scaffold of important natural products and biologically relevant compounds. Therefore, the establishment of step- and atom-economic strategies to access this class of compounds is of paramount importance. To this end, complexity-to-diversity (CtD) strategy has become one of the most important tools that transforms complex molecules into diverse skeleta. However, many of the reactions that could be employed in CtD are restricted by the functional handles exist in these molecules. This limits the achievement of the desired skeletal diversity. Herein, an efficient and step-economic strategy to access a diverse collection of azepino-[3,4,5-cd]indole architectures through a cascade that combines Pictet-Spengler with Michael addition, is described. This was achieved by reacting cyclohexadienone acetaldehydes 2 a – 2 d with indolyl-4-ethyl amine 1 . Employing a CtD strategy on the developed azepino-[3,4,5-cd]indoles, a rapid rearrangement reaction that provided a modular, chemo- and diastereoselective access to diverse collection of spiro azepinocarbazole nature-inspired frameworks, was encountered.