Phytochemical profiling and antimicrobial activity of ginger (Zingiber officinale) essential oils against important phytopathogens

The objectives of this study were to profile ginger essential oils (EOs) phytochemical constituents and antimicrobial activity against important phytopathogens. Ginger EOs was extracted using a modified Clevenger-type apparatus by hydro-distillation then followed by GCMS and headspace analysis of its phytochemical constituents. The phytoconstituents identified were monoterpenes and sesquiterpene hydrocarbons. Food poisoned and disc diffusion techniques were applied to determine the percentage inhibition of fungal mycelial and bacterial growth respectively. The EOs produced mycelial growth inhibition in all the test fungal pathogens after five days of incubation. The MIC and MFC of the EOs on the tested fungi were in the range of 1 μl/ml and 5–6 μl/ml, respectively. The bacterial growth of all the tested isolates was also affected by EOs at 100–500 µl/ml, from weak to strong antibacterial activity. The EOs affected the Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae-strain A isolate most at a higher concentration of 400–500 μl/ml with mean inhibition of 20.66 mm and 22.66 mm respectively, which are found to be effective. The MIC values on the bacterial pathogens were at100 μl/ml. The inhibition zone of positive control (streptomycin) at 15 µg/disc was 25.00 mm and appeared to be efficient. Metabolomics analysis to concurrently quantify variability among multiple compounds in the data sets and identify such compounds responsible for the X. oryzae pv. oryzae-strain-A inhibition were determined. The cross-validated PLS model has shown a strong correlation between ginger EOs and bioactivity. The action of ginger EOs on the cell structure was fully identified using SEM by observing the changes in morphology and integrity of X. oryzae pv. oryzae-strain-A cells. The DMSO treatment (control) showed a normal rod shape cell, while treatment with the ginger EOs showed irregular shape with sunken surfaces, and treatment with antibiotics display abnormal growth of the cells. These findings can, therefore, propose that the ginger EOs could be used as a new antimicrobial agent in suppressing the growth of phytopathogens and as possible new alternatives to synthetic fungicides and bactericides.     

Determination of Brain Tissue Samples Storage Conditions for Reproducible Intraoperative Lipid Profiling

Ex-vivo molecular profiling has recently emerged as a promising method for intraoperative tissue identification, especially in neurosurgery. The short-term storage of resected samples at room temperature is proposed to have negligible influence on the lipid molecular profiles. However, a detailed investigation of short-term molecular profile stability is required to implement molecular profiling in a clinic. This study evaluates the effect of storage media, temperature, and washing solution to determine conditions that provide stable and reproducible molecular profiles, with the help of ambient ionization mass spectrometry using rat cerebral cortex as model brain tissue samples. Utilizing normal saline for sample storage and washing media shows a positive effect on the reproducibility of the spectra; however, the refrigeration shows a negligible effect on the spectral similarity. Thus, it was demonstrated that up to hour-long storage in normal saline, even at room temperature, ensures the acquisition of representative molecular profiles using ambient ionization mass spectrometry.     

Recoil spectrometry: Ion accelerator based elemental characterisation of surface layers

Recoil Spectrometry covers a group of techniques that are very similar to the well known Rutherford backscattering Spectrometry technique, but with the important difference that one measures the recoiling target atom rather than the projectile ion. This makes it possible to determine both the identity of the recoil and its depth of origin from its energy and velocity, using a suitable detector system. The incident ion is typically high-energy (30–100MeV)³⁵C1,⁸¹Br or¹²⁷I. Low concentrations of light elements such as C, O and N can be profiled in a heavy matrix such as Fe or GaAs. Here we present an overview of mass and energy dispersive recoil Spectrometry and illustrate its successful use in some typical applications.     

A Multivalent Ligand for the Mannose‐6‐Phosphate Receptor for Endolysosomal Targeting of an Activity‐Based Probe

The ubiquitously expressed mannose‐6‐phosphate receptors (MPRs) are a promising class of receptors for targeted compound delivery into the endolysosomal compartments of a variety of cell types. The development of a synthetic, multivalent, mannose‐6‐phosphate (M6P) glycopeptide‐based MPR ligand is described. The conjugation of this ligand to fluorescent DCG‐04, an activity‐based probe for cysteine cathepsins, enabled fluorescent readout of its receptor‐targeting properties. The resulting M6P‐cluster–BODIPY–DCG‐04 probe was shown to efficiently label cathepsins in cell lysates as well as in live cells. Furthermore, the introduction of the 6‐O‐phosphates leads to a completely altered uptake profile in COS and dendritic cells compared to a mannose‐containing ligand. Competition with mannose‐6‐phosphate abolished all uptake of the probe in COS cells, and we conclude that the mannose‐6‐phosphate cluster targets the MPR and ensures the targeted delivery of cargo bound to the cluster into the endolysosomal pathway.     

Virtual Screening,Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of Streptococcus mutans Mediated Biofilm Inhibitors

Dental caries, a global oral health concern, is a biofilm-mediated disease. Streptococcus mutans, the most prevalent oral microbiota, produces extracellular enzymes, including glycosyltransferases responsible for sucrose polymerization. In bacterial communities, the biofilm matrix confers resistance to host immune responses and antibiotics. Thus, in cases of chronic dental caries, inhibiting bacterial biofilm assembly should prevent demineralization of tooth enamel, thereby preventing tooth decay. A high throughput screening was performed in the present study to identify small molecule inhibitors of S. mutans glycosyltransferases. Multiple pharmacophore models were developed, validated with multiple datasets, and used for virtual screening against large chemical databases. Over 3000 drug-like hits were obtained that were analyzed to explore their binding mode. Finally, six compounds that showed good binding affinities were further analyzed for ADME (absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion) properties. The obtained in silico hits were evaluated for in vitro biofilm formation. The compounds displayed excellent antibiofilm activities with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values of 15.26–250 µg/mL.     

基于平行活动围道模型的高分辨率遥感影像城区主干道路段提取

为了提取并表示高分辨率遥感影像中的主干道路段,提出了一种多分辨框架下的平行活动围道模型的算法.该算法在活动围道模型原理的基础上,重新定义各能量项:采用抛物线做为道路段的先验模型,增加了平行性能量,并采用多分辨框架下的梯度做为外部能量.该模型的优化过程实现了道路的定位,得到的结果是平行抛物线的参数,实现了道路的矢量表示.实验结果表明,能有效提取高分辨率遥感影像中的主干道路段.     

非法冰毒晶体中有机杂质的气相色谱-质谱分析

建立了一种适用于分析冰毒杂质的方法,并分析其形成原因。将冰毒样品溶于1 mL 0.1 mol/L pH7.0的磷酸盐缓冲液(4份缓冲液1份10%Na2CO3),杂质用0.5 mL乙酸乙酯萃取。结果共有8种物质被检出。N-甲酰甲基安非他明、N-乙酰甲基安非他明在样品中出现,说明此批冰毒由苯丙酮(phenyl-2-propanone,P-2-P)经Leuckart法合成。N-乙基甲基安非他明的检出,则说明用于合成此批冰毒的P-2-P由苯甲醛和硝基乙烷合成。从实验结果看,该法可以满足冰毒杂质分析的需要,为分析冰毒杂质成分的成因、判断冰毒样品的合成路径提供重要信息。     

Hyperfine structure in Iodine at the 612-nm and 640-nm helium-neon laser wavelengths

The hyperfine structure of iodine-127 at 612 nm and 640 nm is observed by saturated absorption in a gas cell placed within a He-Ne laser cavity modified to operate at these wavelengths. At 612 nm, all the 21 components of the strong R 47 9-2 line lie within the laser gain profile, and the resulting saturated absorption peaks have a contrast of 10% at a gas pressure of 3 Pa.     

Diffusion-limited energy transfer from Tb3+ → Nd3+ and Tb3+ → Ho3+ in DMSO

The energy transfer phenomenon has been studied from Tb³⁺ → Nd³⁺ and Tb³⁺ → Ho³⁺ in DMSO. A diffusion limited dipole-dipole mechanism of energy transfer is suggested for both systems. At high acceptor concentrations, P_da depends linearly on C² consistent with the Fong and Diestler theory of energy transfer. However, at low acceptor concentrations the observations of time evolutions of Tb³⁺ luminescence decay following flash excitation has enabled us to examine diffusion limited energy transfer from Tb³⁺ to Nd³⁺ and Tb³⁺ to Ho³⁺ in DMSO.