Eigenvalue problems on Riemannian manifolds with a modified Ricci tensor

In this paper, we study the eigenvalue problems on a Riemannian manifold with a modified Ricci tensor. We obtain some sharp lower bound estimates for the first eigenvalue of Laplacian. We also prove some rigidity theorems for the Riemannian manifold with some suitable conditions.     

Chromatographic Fingerprint Analysis of Macrothelypteris torresiana and Simultaneous Determination of Several Main Constituents by LC

A simple and reliable identification and quality control system has been developed for monitoring a herbal plant (Macrothelypteris torresiana) based on quantitative fingerprinting analysis using liquid chromatographic method with ultra-violet detector. The herbal extract was obtained by ultrasonic-assisted extraction. The separation was performed on a Burospher-100 C₁₈ column by gradient elution with acetonitrile and aqueous phase (containing 0.5% H₃PO₄, pH 3.0) at a flow rate of 1.0 mL min^?1. Under the optimal chromatographic condition, the relative standard deviations of the retention time and the peak area were less than 0.39 and 5.51%, respectively. The intra- and inter-day precisions were ranged from 0.76 to 3.23%. Good linear behaviors over the investigated concentration ranges were obtained with the values of R ² higher than 0.999 for all analytes. The recoveries for spiked samples were in the range of 92.2–106.0%. Eleven peaks in the chromatograms of M. torresiana were identified for chromatographic fingerprint analysis. The proposed method was successfully applied to determine the contents of main constituents (protoapigenone, protoapigenin 4′-O-β-D-glucoside, apigenin 4′-O-β-D-glucoside, and apigenin) in different batches of M. torresiana. The proposed analytical procedure was proved to be a reliable and rapid method for the identification and quality control of the herbal plant M. torresiana.     

Generation and α-hydroxyalkylation of a novel 3-piperidinol N-α-carbanion intermediate

The (S)-sulfide 6 has been synthesized as a synthetic equivalent of novel 3-piperidinol N-α-carbanion B via deprotonation and lithium naphthanelide (LN)-mediated reductive lithiation. The reaction of the 3-piperidinol N-α-carbanion intermediate B with carbonyl compounds gave, besides some reduced product 2a, the desired α-hydroxyalkylation products 12—17 with excellent 2,3-diastereoselectivity. The reductive α-hydroxyalkylation with unsymmetric carbonyl compounds led to only 50:50 to 77:23 diastereoselectiv...     

Density functional theory study on surface-enhanced Raman scattering of 4,4′-azopyridine on silver

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) of 4,4′-azopyridine (AZPY) on silver foil substrate was measured under 1064 nm excitation lines. Density-functional theory (DFT) methods were used to calculate the structure and vibrational spectra of models such as Ag–AZPY, Ag₄–AZPY and Ag₆–AZPY complexes with B3LYP/6-31++G(d,p)(C,H,N)/Lanl2dz(Ag) basis set. The Raman bands of AZPY were identified on the ground of analog computation of potential energy distribution. The calculated spectra of Ag₄–AZPY and Ag₆–AZPY models were much approximated to the experimental results than that of Ag–AZPY model. The DFT results showed that the angles between two pyridyl rings keep 0° from AZPY to Ag–AZPY, Ag₄–AZPY and Ag₆–AZPY model. The energy gaps between the HOMO and LUMO changed from 363 to 1140 nm for AZPY-Ag complexes according to the DFT results. An conclusion was conceived that chemical enhancement mechanism may play an important role in the SERS of AZPY on silver substrate.     

Analysis and prediction of RNA-binding residues using sequence, evolutionary conservation, and predicted secondary structure and solvent accessibility

Identification and prediction of RNA-binding residues (RBRs) provides valuable insights into the mechanisms of protein-RNA interactions. We analyzed the contributions of a wide range of factors including amino acid sequence, evolutionary conservation, secondary structure and solvent accessibility, to the prediction/characterization of RBRs. Five feature sets were designed and feature selection was performed to find and investigate relevant features. We demonstrate that (1) interactions with positively charged amino acids Arg and Lys are preferred by the egatively charged nucleotides; (2) Gly provides flexibility for the RNA binding sites; (3) Glu with negatively charged side chain and several hydrophobic residues such as Leu, Val, Ala and Phe are disfavored in the RNA-binding sites; (4) coil residues, especially in long segments, are more flexible (than other secondary structures) and more likely to interact with RNA; (5) helical residues are more rigid and consequently they are less likely to bind RNA; and (6) residues partially exposed to the solvent are more likely to form RNA-binding sites. We introduce a novel sequence-based predictor of RBRs, RBRpred, which utilizes the selected features. RBRpred is comprehensively tested on three datasets with varied atom distance cutoffs by performing both five-fold cross validation and jackknife tests and achieves Matthew's correlation coefficient (MCC) of 0.51, 0.48 and 0.42, respectively. The quality is comparable to or better than that for state-of-the-art predictors that apply the distancebased cutoff definition. We show that the most important factor for RBRs prediction is evolutionary conservation, followed by the amino acid sequence, predicted secondary structure and predicted solvent accessibility. We also investigate the impact of using native vs. predicted secondary structure and solvent accessibility. The predictions are sufficient for the RBR prediction and the knowledge of the actual solvent accessibility helps in predictions for lower distance cutoffs.     

Phenolics and plant allelopathy

Phenolic compounds arise from the shikimic and acetic acid (polyketide) metabolic pathways in plants. They are but one category of the many secondary metabolites implicated in plant allelopathy. Phenolic allelochemicals have been observed in both natural and managed ecosystems, where they cause a number of ecological and economic problems, such as declines in crop yield due to soil sickness, regeneration failure of natural forests, and replanting problems in orchards. Phenolic allelochemical structures and modes of action are diverse and may offer potential lead compounds for the development of future herbicides or pesticides. This article reviews allelopathic effects, analysis methods, and allelopathic mechanisms underlying the activity of plant phenolic compounds. Additionally, the currently debated topic in plant allelopathy of whether catechin and 8-hydroxyquinoline play an important role in Centaurea maculata and Centaurea diffusa invasion success is discussed. Overall, the main purpose of this review is to highlight the allelopacthic potential of phenolic compounds to provide us with methods to solve various ecology problems, especially in regard to the sustainable development of agriculture, forestry, nature resources and environment conservation.     

Synthesis of oxygen heterocycles by regioselective Heck reaction

The regioselective Heck arylation of unsaturated alcohols is utilized as the key step in a convenient one-pot procedure for the production of 2,2-disubstituted tetrahydrofurans and tetrahydropyrans. The arylation reaction is effected with a palladium-diphosphine catalyst alongside a hydrogen bond donor; this is followed by the introduction of a Br?nsted acid to the reaction mixture, affording the oxygen heterocycles in moderate yields.     

One-pot reductive coupling of N-acylcarbamates with activated alkenes: application to the asymmetric synthesis of pyrrolo[1,2-a]azepin-5-one ring system and (-)-xenovenine

The one-pot reductive coupling of N-acylcarbamates with activated alkenes is described. The method is based on partial reduction of N-acylcarbamates with DIBAL-H, followed by N-acyliminium ion formation and SmI(2)-mediated radical coupling with activated alkenes. Both acyclic and cyclic N-acylcarbamates can be used as stable substrates, and a range of activated alkenes serve as effective radical receptors. The reductive coupling of l-N-acylcarbamates 12/13 gave 2,5-disubstituted pyrrolidine derivatives in high trans-diastereoselectivities. The reductive coupling with penta-2,4-dienoate proceeded exclusively in a 1,6-addition fashion, producing a single non-conjugated E-isomer. On the basis of this method, a three-step construction of pyrrolo[1,2-a]azepin-5-one 16, the skeleton of many stemona alkaloids and lehmizidine alkaloids, and a seven-step synthesis of (-)-xenovenine (pyrrolizidine cis-223H, ent-6), the unnatural enantiomer of the frog/ant venom alkaloid possessing potent inhibitory activity towards nAChR channel, were achieved starting from L-12.     

Highly Enantioselective Henry Reactions of Aromatic Aldehydes Catalyzed by an Amino Alcohol-Copper(II) Complex

Amino alcohol-Cu(II) catalyst: Highly enantioselective Henry reactions between aromatic aldehydes and nitromethane have been developed. The reactions were catalyzed by an easily available and operationally simple amino alcohol-copper(II) catalyst. In total, 38 substrates were tested and the R-configured products were obtained in good yields with excellent enantioselectivities.     

Growth of CdSiP2 single crystals by self-seeding vertical Bridgman method

Using a high purity CdSiP₂ polycrystalline charge synthesized in a single-temperature zone furnace, a CdSiP₂ single crystal with dimensions of 8 mm in diameter and 40 mm in length was successfully grown by the vertical Bridgman method. The quality of the crystal was characterized by high resolution X-ray diffraction and the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the rocking curve for the (200) face is 33″. Thermal property measurements show that: the mean specific heat of CdSiP₂ between 300 and 773 K is 0.476 J g^?1 K^?1; the thermal conductivity of the crystal along the a- and c-axes is 13.6 W m^?1 K^?1 and 13.7 W m^?1 K^?1 at 295 K, respectively; and the thermal expansion coefficient measured along the a- and c-axes is 8.4×10^?6 K^?1 and ?2.4×10^?6 K^?1, respectively. The optical transparency range of the crystal is 578–10,000 nm, and there is no absorption loss in the spectrum from 0.7 to 2.5 μm, as often exists with ZnGeP₂ crystals grown from the melt.