Response surface methodology toward the optimization of high-energy carotenoid extraction from Aristeus antennatus shrimp

High-energy assisted extraction techniques, like ultrasound assisted extraction (UAE) and microwave assisted extraction (MAE), are widely applied over the last years for the recovery of bioactive compounds such as carotenoids, antioxidants and phenols from foods, animals and herbal natural sources. Especially for the case of xanthophylls, the main carotenoid group of crustaceans, they can be extracted in a rapid and quantitative way with the use of UAE and MAE.     

Database reverse engineering: From requirements to CARE tools

This paper analyzes the requirements that CASE tools should meet for effective database reverse engineering (DBRE), and proposes a general architecture for data-centered applications reverse engineering CASE environments. First, the paper describes a generic DBMS-independent DBRE methodology, then it analyzes the main characteristics of DBRE activities in order to collect a set of desirable requirements. Finally, it describes DB-MAIN, an operational CASE tool developed according to these requirements. The main features of this tool that are described in this paper are its unique generic specification model, its repository, its transformation toolkit, its user interface, the text processors, the assistants, the methodological control and its functional extensibility. Finally, the paper describes five real-world projects in which the methodology and the CASE tool were applied. This is a heavily revised and extended version of “Requirements for Information System Reverse Engineering Support” by J.-L. Hainaut, V. Englebert, J. Henrard, J.-M. Hick, D. Roland, which first appeared in the Proceedings of the Second Working Conference on Reverse Engineering, IEEE Computer Society Press, pp. 136–145, July 1995. This paper presents some results of the DB-MAIN project. This project is partially supported by the Région Wallonne, the European Union, and by a consortium comprising ACEC-OSI (Be), ARIANE-II (Be), Banque UCL (Lux), BBL (Be), Centre de recherche public H. Tudor (Lux), CGER (Be), Cockerill-Sambre (Be), CONCIS (Fr), D'Ieteren (Be), DIGITAL, EDF (Fr), EPFL (CH), Groupe S (Be), IBM, OBLOG Software (Port), ORIGIN (Be), Ville de Namur (Be), Winterthur (Be), 3 Suisses (Be). The DB-Process subproject is supported by the Communauté Fran?aise de Belgique.     

How to assess and report the performance of a stochastic algorithm on a benchmark problem: mean or best result on a number of runs?

Some authors claim that reporting the best result obtained by a stochastic algorithm in a number of runs is more meaningful than reporting some central statistic. In this short note, we analyze and refute the main argument brought in favor of this statement.     

Optimization of the process variables for the synthesis of cardanol-based novolac-type phenolic resin using response surface methodology

Models capable of predicting the maximum extent of conversion (p) of cardanol-based novolac-type phenolic resin, have been developed using response surface methodology to determine the optimum reaction conditions. Three-dimensional response surface and their contour plot were drawn. The maximum extent of conversion (98.93%) was predicted when the cardanol was condensed with formaldehyde (molar ratio 1:0.652) at 119.84 °C for a time period of 3 h with the catalyst (e.g., citric acid) concentration of 1.988% of total volume of cardanol and formaldehyde. The pH of the reaction mixture was maintained at 3.0. These predicted values for optimum process conditions were in good agreement with experimental data.     

Ab initio calculations of vibronic activity in phosphorescence microwave double resonance spectra of p-dichlorobenzene

The phosphorescence spectrum of p-dichlorobenzene has been calculated using multiconfiguration self-consistent-field wave functions and the quadratic response technique. Attention has been paid to the intensity distribution of the singlet–triplet (³B_1u¹A_g) transition through a number of vibronic subbands. The second order spin–orbit coupling (SOC) contribution to the spin splitting of the ³B_1u (^3*) state is found to be almost negligible, and the calculations therefore provide a good estimate for the zero-field splitting (ZFS) parameters based only on the electron spin–spin coupling expectation values. Nuclear quadrupole resonance constants for the different Cl isotopes are also calculated to accomplish the ZFS assignment. The electric dipole activity of the spin sublevels in the triplet–singlet transitions to the ground-state vibrational levels is estimated by calculations of derivatives using distorted geometries which are shifted from the equilibrium position along different vibrational modes. A vibrational analysis of the phosphorescence spectrum, based on the SOC-induced mixing of the singlet and triplet states calculated along different vibrational modes, provides reasonable agreement with experimental data.Acknowledgment O. R.-P. would like to thank the European MOLPROP network for support. The authors thank Alexander Baev for fruitful discussions. This work was supported by the Swedish Royal Academy of Science (KVA).     

从炔烃衍生物出发的有机合成方法学

研究了过渡金属催化的炔烃衍生物的异构化反应.从α,β-炔酮、2-炔酸酯和2-炔酸酰胺可以生成相应的(E,E)-共轭双烯酮、双烯酸酯和双烯酸酰胺.首次从2-炔醇异构化为相应的2-烯酮或2-烯醛.这一反应具有简单、高产率和立体选择性的优点.假设反应烯经过连二烯中间体,然后再异构化成产物,这一反应提供了方便而有潜在应用价值的方法以制备天然产物合成时的重要中间体.     

分子内Diels-Alder反应在有机合成方面的新进展

本文按合成产物的结构类型,综述分子内 Diels-Alder 反应在有机合成方面的新进展。     

Optimization of St John's Wort flavonoid separation by reversed phase liquid chromatography on a silica-based monolithic column

Summary An optimization procedure for the separation of flavonoids from St John's Wort by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography on monolithic stationary phase is described. Three-component mobile phase systems are studied using experimental design methodology. The starting experimental domain is a triangle, each vertex of which is a pure component. From preliminary isocratic experiments, truncations in the domain are performed leading to a quadrilateral shape working domain with no symmetry. To cope with both separation and analysis time, desirability functions are used. Optimal conditions are finally given by binary systems and the four flavonoids are separated in less than seven minutes.     

Three-dimensional quantitative structure-activity relationships of steroid aromatase inhibitors

Summary Inhibition of aromatase, a cytochrome P450 that converts androgens to estrogens, is relevant in the therapeutic control of breast cancer. We investigate this inhibition using a three-dimensional quantitative structure-activity relationship (3D QSAR) method known as Comparative Molecular Field Analysis, CoMFA [Cramer III, R.D. et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc., 110 (1988) 5959]. We analyzed the data for 50 steroid inhibitors [Numazawa, M. et al., J. Med. Chem., 37 (1994) 2198, and references cited therein] assayed against androstenedione on human placental microsomes. An initial CoMFA resulted in a three-component model for log(1/K_i), with an explained variance r² of 0.885, and a cross-validated q² of 0.673. Chemometric studies were performed using GOLPE [Baroni, M. et al., Quant. Struct.-Act. Relatsh., 12 (1993) 9]. The CoMFA/GOLPE model is discussed in terms of robustness, predictivity, explanatory power and simplicity. After randomized exclusion of 25 or 10 compounds (repeated 25 times), the q² for one component was 0.62 and 0.61, respectively, while r² was 0.674. We demonstrate that the predictive r² based on the mean activity (Y_m) of the training set is misleading, while the test set Y_m-based predictive r² index gives a more accurate estimate of external predictivity. Using CoMFA, the observed differences in aromatase inhibition among C6-substituted steroids are rationalized at the atomic level. The CoMFA fields are consistent with known, potent inhibitors of aromatase, not included in the model. When positioned in the same alignment, these compounds have distinct features that overlap with the steric and electrostatic fields obtained in the CoMFA model. The presence of two hydrophobic binding pockets near the aromatase active site is discussed: a steric bulk tolerant one, common for C4, C6-alpha and C7-alpha substitutents, and a smaller one at the C6-beta region.