A DFT study of the mechanism and the regioselectivity of [3 + 2] cycloaddition reactions of nitrile oxides with α,β-acetylenic aldehyde

A DFT study of the (32CA) reaction of a series of some nitrile oxides with electron-deficient alkyne (3-phenylpropionlaldehyde) in gas phase and in toluene has been carried out using B3LYP functional with 6-31G(d) basis set. Two reactive channels 4- and 5-associated with the two regioisomeric modes have been located and characterised. These 32CA reactions are characterised by a low asynchronous one-step mechanism with a low-polar character. Analysis of the DFT reactivity indices indicates that the nucleophilic centre of the different nitrile oxides accounts for the 4-regioselectivity. Our calculations are in a good agreement with the experimental findings.     

Isolation and characterization of kurstakin and surfactin isoforms produced by Enterobacter cloacae C3 strain

In this work, the extraction, structural analysis, and identification as well as antimicrobial, anti‐adhesive, and antibiofilm activities of lipopeptides produced by Enterobacter cloacae C3 strain were studied. A combination of chromatographic and spectroscopic techniques offers opportunities for a better characterization of the biosurfactant structure. Thin layer chromatography (TLC) and HPLC for amino acid composition determination are used. Efficient spectroscopic techniques have been utilized for investigations on the biochemical structure of biosurfactants, such as Fourier transform infrared (FT‐IR) spectroscopy and mass spectrometry analysis. This is the first work describing the production of different isoforms belonging to kurstakin and surfactin families by E cloacae strain. Three kurstakin homologues differing by the fatty acid chain length from C₁₀ to C₁₂ were detected. The spectrum of lipopeptides belonging to surfactin family contains various isoforms differing by the fatty acid chain length as well as the amino acids at positions four and seven. Lipopeptide C3 extract exhibited important antibacterial activity against Gram‐positive and Gram‐negative bacteria, antifungal activity, and interesting anti‐adhesive and disruptive properties against biofilm formation by human pathogenic bacterial strains: Salmonella typhimurium, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, and Candida albicans.     

N-Propylsulfamic acid supported onto magnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles (MNPs-PSA) as a green and reusable heterogeneous nanocatalyst for the chemoselective preparation and deprotection of acylals

Research on Chemical Intermediates - N-propylsulfamic acid supported onto magnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles (MNPs-PSA) was simply synthesized and used as a highly efficient, environmentally friendly,...     

Direct Modification of a Glassy Carbon Electrode with Toluidine Blue Diazonium Salt: Application to NADH Determination and Biosensing of Ethanol

We describe here the covalent modification of a glassy carbon electrode with toluidine blue (TB) diazonium salt, which is generated in situ from the reaction between the aromatic amino phenyl group of TB and sodium nitrite. TB is attached directly to the electrode surface without any cross‐linking agent or complex matrices. The resulting TB films exhibit excellent electrocatalytic behavior toward NADH oxidation. Low potential detection of NADH is performed at 0.15 V vs. Ag/AgCl. Furthermore, an ethanol biosensor is developed using the TB modified electrode and alcohol dehydrogenase. The great stability and reusability, excellent electrochemical reversibility, technically simple preparation and short preparation time make this method suitable for low‐cost bioelectronical devices.     

Optimised cross-layer synchronisation schemes for wireless sensor networks

This paper aims at synchronisation between the sensor nodes. Indeed, in the context of wireless sensor networks, it is necessary to take into consideration the energy cost induced by the synchronisation, which can represent the majority of the energy consumed. On communication, an already identified hard point consists in imagining a fine synchronisation protocol which must be sufficiently robust to the intermittent energy in the sensors. Hence, this paper worked on aspects of performance and energy saving, in particular on the optimisation of the synchronisation protocol using cross-layer design method such as synchronisation between layers. Our approach consists in balancing the energy consumption between the sensors and choosing the cluster head with the highest residual energy in order to guarantee the reliability, integrity and continuity of communication (i.e. maximising the network lifetime).     

Singlet-Oxygen-Induced Phospholipase A2 Inhibition: A Major Role for Interfacial Tryptophan Dioxidation

Several studies have revealed that various diseases such as cancer have been associated with elevated phospholipase A₂ (PLA₂) activity. Therefore, the regulation of PLA₂ catalytic activity is undoubtedly vital. In this study, effective inactivation of PLA₂ due to reactive species produced from cold physical plasma as a source to model oxidative stress is reported. We found singlet oxygen to be the most relevant active agent in PLA₂ inhibition. A more detailed analysis of the plasma-treated PLA₂ identified tryptophan 128 as a hot spot, rich in double oxidation. The significant dioxidation of this interfacial tryptophan resulted in an N-formylkynurenine product via the oxidative opening of the tryptophan indole ring. Molecular dynamics simulation indicated that the efficient interactions between the tryptophan residue and phospholipids are eliminated following tryptophan dioxidation. As interfacial tryptophan residues are predominantly involved in the attaching of membrane enzymes to the bilayers, tryptophan dioxidation and indole ring opening leads to the loss of essential interactions for enzyme binding and, consequently, enzyme inactivation.     

Conductometric and 1H NMR studies of thermodynamics of complexation of Zn2+, Cd2+ and Pb2+ ions with tetrathia-12-crown-4 in dimethylsulfoxide-nitrobenzene mixtures

The complex formation between Zn²⁺, Cd²⁺ and Pb²⁺ ions with macrocyclic ligand, tetrathia12-crown-4 (12S4) was studied in dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO)–nitrobenzene binary mixtures at different temperatures using conductometric and ¹H NMR methods. In all cases, 12S4 found to form 1:1 complexes with these cations. The formation constants of the resulting 1:1 complexes in different solvent mixtures were determined by computer fitting of the resulting molar conductance- and chemical shift-mole ratio data. There is an inverse relationship between the complex stability and the amount of DMSO in the solvent mixtures. The stability of the resulting M²⁺-12S4 complexes found to decrease in the order Pb²⁺ > Cd²⁺ > Zn²⁺. The values of ?H°, ?S° and ?G° for complexation reactions were evaluated from the temperature dependence of formation constants via van’t Hoff method. The obtained results revealed that, in all cases, the complexes are enthalpy stabilized, but entropy destabilized and the values of ?H° and ?S° are strongly depend on the nature of medium. There is also a linear relationship between all ΔH° and TΔS° values indicating the existence of entropy–enthalpy compensation in complexation of the three cations and ligand in the solvent systems studied.     

Fuzzy-Q-learning-based autonomic management of macro-diversity algorithm in UMTS networks

Third generationUmts network has come with significant high-quality services that considerably increase the complexity of its management. Autonomic management has been introduced to alleviate these complex lengthy tasks. In this paper, we propose an autonomic management of macro-diversity algorithm inUmts networks. The new approach allows to dynamically adapt macro-diversity parameters to varying network situations. The online adaptation of these parameters is made by an intelligent controller calledfuzzy-Q-Learning. The combination of Fuzzy Inference System (Fis) and Q-learning algorithm allows to determine the best on-line parameterization of base stations and to deal with large number of continuous states and actions. The proposed scheme improves the system capacity up to 30% compared to a classical network with fixed parameters, balances the load between base stations and minimizes human interventions in the network management. However, the reactivity of the controller should be chosen with a special care since it impacts the frequency of active set updates and hence signalling messages in the radio interface as well as in the core network.     

Aluminumoxyhydride: improved synthesis and application as a selective reducing agent

Aluminumoxyhydride (HAlO) has been obtained by the reaction of aluminum hydride with the siloxane (Me2HSi)2O or the stannoxane (Bu3Sn)2O as an amorphous colorless insoluble powder. The highest-purity product resulted from the reaction of H3Al.NMe3 with (Me2HSi)2O. However, HAlO suspensions in tetrahydrofuran (THF) of sufficient quality for synthetic applications can be prepared from commercially available reagents with only minor precautions. A LiAlH4 solution in THF was treated successively with Me3SiCl and (Me2HSi)2O, followed by heating at 60 degrees C for 20 h. The resulting suspensions are 0.4-0.5 M in active hydride content and selectively reduce aldehydes and ketones to the respective alcohols in the presence of any other common nonprotic functional group.