Studies of structural and morphological characteristics of flower-like ZnO thin film and its application as photovoltaic material

In this work a new method has been employed to synthesize nanocrystalline ZnO powder under hydrothermal conditions at 80 °C using aqueous Zn(NO₃)₂·6H₂O solution and diethylamine (DEA) as the starting materials. The ZnO powder prepared by this novel method was characterized by XRD, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), FTIR and UV–vis techniques. Calculation based on XRD data revealed ZnO particles to be of nanometer size (∼33 nm). The ZnO powder was subsequently used to make its thin film which exhibited flower like morphology when examined by SEM. Thin ZnO films were sensitized with N719 dye, (Bu₄N)₂[Ru(dcbpyH)₂(NCS)₂], and used as photo-anode to construct sandwich type dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC). With such cells, V_OC = 0.680 V, J_SC = 0.61 mA cm⁻², fill factor = 0.43 and overall conversion efficiency η = 0.23% were achieved on illumination with visible light (80 mW cm⁻²).     

不同种质肉苁蓉矿质元素分析

矿质元素含量是中药材质量评价的重要指标,且与中药材生长发育、功效物质形成及其疗效发挥密切相关。矿质元素含量及比例因产地、采收时期、采收部位等不同存在差异,但种质是影响中药材矿质元素含量及比例最为稳定和重要的因素。电感耦合等离子体原子发射光谱法（ICP-AES法）可快速同时测定多种矿质元素,目前已广泛应用于中药材矿质元素含量测定。肉苁蓉为著名补益类中药,其矿质元素含量及比例越来越受到人们关注。该研究以不同花色肉苁蓉种质为材料,经硝酸和高氯酸消解后,采用ICP-AES法测定了不同花色肉苁蓉种质中的矿质元素K,P,Ca,Mg,Na,Fe,Mn,Zn,Cu和Mo含量,并对结果进行统计分析与比较。结果表明：（1）种质影响肉苁蓉矿质元素含量,不同花色肉苁蓉种质中均具有丰富的矿质元素K,P,Ca,Mg,Na,Fe,Mn,Zn,Cu,Mo,但含量具有明显差异。（2）不同花色肉苁蓉种质的常量矿质元素均以K含量和累积量最高,P含量和累积量最低;白色花种质K含量和累积量最高,为15.91 mg·g-1和727.76 mg·株-1;淡紫色花种质P含量和累积量最低,为0.45 mg·g-1和21.80 mg·株-1。（3）不同花色肉苁蓉种质的微量矿质元素均以Fe的含量和累积量最高,Mo含量和累积量最低;黄色花种质的Fe含量和累积量最高,达到了722.33 μg·g-1和30 251.29 μg·株-1;淡紫色花种质的Mo含量和累积量最低,为0.11 μg·g-1和5.12 μg·株-1。（4）白色花种质的K,Ca,Mg,Mn,Zn含量和累积量较高,而淡紫色花种质的K,Ca,Mg,Na,Mn含量和累积量较低。（5）种质影响肉苁蓉矿质元素比例,不同花色肉苁蓉种质中的矿质元素比例存在差异,其中K∶P和Fe∶Mn差异较大,而Ca∶Mg和Zn∶Cu差异较小。结果表明：肉苁蓉具有丰富的矿质元素,种质影响肉苁蓉中矿质元素含量、累积量及矿质元素比例,且不同花色种质间存在较大差异,应引起关注和重视。矿质元素为中药材质量评价的重要指标且影响中药材生长发育,研究结果可为不同花色肉苁蓉种质质量评价、营养价值评价及科学合理施肥提供依据。     

十二种花类药材中八种微量元素的含量测定及比较研究

选取藏药中极为常见的12种花类药材葛花、千日红、菊花、桃花、美人蕉、雪梨花、月季、鸡冠花、槐花、雪莲、马蔺花和秦艽花,利用空气-乙炔火焰原子吸收光谱法测定其Ca,Cu,Fe,Mn,Zn,K,Mg和Na八种微量元素的含量。通过对这些花类药材中微量元素含量的测定,观察不同药材中微量元素的含量差别。该方法的加标回收率在96.76%～102.93%之间,RSD值在1.13%～3.46%之间,具有较好的准确度和精密度。研究结果表明这12种花类药材中微量元素含量丰富,且K,Mg,Na的含量普遍较高。不同药材中各元素的含量均有差异,含微量元素较丰富的是雪莲、马蔺花、美人蕉、鸡冠花;含量较少的是槐花和秦艽花。本试验为这些花类药材的合理药用及进一步的开发利用提供了可靠依据。     

刺槐花中的营养成分

用现代仪器对刺槐花中蛋白质，糖，抗坏血酸，酶值，氨基氮及微量元素等营养成分进行了测试，对基营养价值进行了初步分析。     

Complex Formation and Flower Colors

The pigment of the blue cornflower, protocyanin, is a complex of high molecular weight. Iron(III) and aluminum ions combine with the anhydro base of the cyanin to form deep-blue complexes, which are stable in the physiological pH range. Complexes of this type also have been synthesized. Alkali metal salts play no part in blue flower pigments. Formation of blue complexes can be prevented by sequestration of the metal ions with stronger complexing agents, e.g. flavonols. The variation of flower colors can be explained to a large extent on the basis of the complex formation of anthocyanins. In delphinidin glycosides, the color base or anhydro base is stable even in slightly acidic media.     

FPDock: Protein–protein docking using flower pollination algorithm

Proteins play their vital role in biological systems through interaction and complex formation with other biological molecules. Indeed, abnormalities in the interaction patterns affect the proteins’ structure and have detrimental effects on living organisms. Research in structure prediction gains its gravity as the functions of proteins depend on their structures. Protein–protein docking is one of the computational methods devised to understand the interaction between proteins. Metaheuristic algorithms are promising to use owing to the hardness of the structure prediction problem. In this paper, a variant of the Flower Pollination Algorithm (FPA) is applied to get an accurate protein–protein complex structure. The algorithm begins execution from a randomly generated initial population, which gets flourished in different isolated islands, trying to find their local optimum. The abiotic and biotic pollination applied in different generations brings diversity and intensity to the solutions. Each round of pollination applies an energy-based scoring function whose value influences the choice to accept a new solution. Analysis of final predictions based on CAPRI quality criteria shows that the proposed method has a success rate of 58% in top10 ranks, which in comparison with other methods like SwarmDock, pyDock, ZDOCK is better. Source code of the work is available at: https://github.com/Sharon1989Sunny/_FPDock_.     

α-glucosidase inhibitory,antioxidant activity,and GC/MS analysis of Descurainia sophia methanolic extract: In vitro,in vivo,and in silico studies

Due to the presence of various phenolic compounds in D.sophia, this plant may have an inhibitory effect on α-Glc and ultimately diabetes control. Therefore, this work aims to scrutinize total phenolic, flavonoid contents, antioxidant capacity, and α-Glc inhibitory activity in aerial parts of methanolic D.sophia extract. The methanolic flower extracts were selected from among aerial parts for the experimental study of anti-diabetic effects by α-Glc inhibitory assays. The flower extracts were also studied by GC/MS to detect the compounds. The total phenolic and flavonoid contents were 21.38 ± 0.93 GAE/g and 96.2 ± 0.20 QE/g, respectively. The IC₅₀ value of flower extract for α-Glc inhibition with mixed (Competitive/non-competitive) mode was found to be 20.34 ± 0.11 mg/ml. Furthermore, in-vivo studies showed that the blood glucose level reduced after consumption of flower extract compared to the control group. Twenty-one compounds were identified by GC/MS technique. These compounds were assessed for high docking scores against α-Glc in silico. Docking score calculations exhibited that the DES-α-Glc complex had a significantly higher binding energy (-6.13 Kcal/mol) than other compounds. The DES-α-Glc complex which displayed a higher docking energy value than the ACR was subjected to MDs studies. The findings of this study suggest that the flower extract of D.sophia can be used as a suitable additive in syrups or foods with anti-diabetic capacity.     

ICP-AES法测定刺槐花中铁、锰、锌、铜

使用PTFE高压密封消化罐,用ICP－AES法同时测定刺槐花中Fe,Mn,Cu,Zn元素,回收率均在96－106％之间,相对标准偏差在7．9％以下,结果令人满意。     

毛泡桐花中总黄酮含量的测定

以70%乙醇为溶剂回流提取了毛泡桐花中黄酮类化合物,用3种显色方法对其紫外可见光谱进行了定性研究。结果表明,在硝酸铝显色法中,芦丁标准品和样品溶液的吸收峰一致,并且该方法稳定性好,精密度高(RSD=1.37%),重现性好(RSD=5.57%),回收率高(RSD=3.74%),操作简单方便,可适用于毛泡桐花提取液中总黄酮含量的测定。     

Blue metal complex pigments involved in blue flower color

The blue pigment of cornflower, protocyanin, has been investigated for a long time, but its precise structure was not entirely explained until recently. The molecular structure of the pigment was recently shown to be a metal complex of six molecules each of anthocyanin and flavone glycoside, with one ferric iron, one magnesium and two calcium ions by X-ray crystallographic analysis. The studies provided the answer to the question posed in the early part of the last century, “why is the cornflower blue and rose red when both flowers contain the same anthocyanin?” This work was achieved on the basis of the results of long years of the studies made by many researchers. In this review, the author focuses on the investigations of the blue metal complex pigments involved in the bluing of flowers, commelinin from Commelina commusis, protocyanin from Centaurea cyanus, protodelphin from Salvia patens and hydrangea blue pigment.