Y-Ba-Cu-O系高临界温度超导陶瓷组成与性能关系的研究

研究了主组成及少量外加物对Y_xBa_(1-x)CuO_3系超导陶瓷导电性与超导电性的影响.研究表明,当配料组成Y∶Ba≈1∶2时最容易制取稳定的、零电阻为88K以上的高临界温度T_c的超导材料;采用Bi、Pb、Na、Co等对阳离子进行部分替位更换,仍能获得超导特性,但对T_c值没有改进;少量外加物对YBa_2Cu_3O_(7-δ)系超导陶瓷的T_c值有明显的影响,微量钴离子的掺入可使T_c提高到110K,但掺入量较多时反使T_c降低.     

磁铁矿增强土壤吸附典型雌激素的热力学规律

通过考察掺杂0.5%,5%,15%和30%磁铁矿的土壤吸附雌激素（雌酮（E1）、 雌二醇（E2）、 雌三醇（E3）、 17-α-乙炔基雌二醇（EE2）和双酚A
（BPA））的热力学规律, 探讨磁铁矿存在条件下雌激素在水和土壤中的迁移规律, 通过对比吸附前后磁铁矿土壤的红外光谱分析其吸附机理, 并利用红外光谱对雌激素的增强吸附机理进行定性分析. 结果表明: 雌激素吸附的热力学规律符合Langmuir等温式, 雌激素吸附是分配作用和表面吸附共同作用的结果; 土壤对雌激素的吸附能力随磁铁矿掺杂比例的升高而增强; 掺杂0.5%磁铁矿的土壤对E2和BPA的去除率显著提高; 掺杂磁铁矿的土壤对E2具有显著的吸持效果; 在吸附过程中掺杂磁铁矿的土壤和雌激素之间, 以及雌激素相互之间的氢键作用是雌激素增强吸附的主要因素.     

用密闭小室测定建材VOC散发特性

建筑材料散发的有机挥发物(VOC)能影响室内空气品质,为研究建材VOC的散发情况,提出了一种测量建材VOC散发特性(初始VOC平均浓度、分离系数)和对流传质系数的方法.选取了几种常见建材(复合地板、大芯板、地板砖和地毯)的甲醛散发作为测试对象,在密闭不锈钢小室内测量建材的甲醛散发曲线,用穿孔萃取仪测量建材内甲醛的平均浓度,通过拟合测量结果可以得出建材的散发参数.测试方法和测量结果为建材的筛选和VOC散发性能评价提供了参考依据.     

AB-8大孔树脂对菱角壳黄酮提取物的吸附性能研究

弱极性大孔树脂AB-8用于野生菱角壳提取物中的黄酮类化合物的分离纯化.实验结果表明,AB-8大孔树脂对菱角壳黄酮提取物的吸附在1 h后基本达到平衡,饱和吸附量为89.2 mg/g,最大吸附率为78.4%,当流速为10 mL/min,样品量为0.052 5 g时,用70%的乙醇对菱角壳提取物中黄酮类化合物进行解吸的解吸率为82.3%.     

Plant-Derived Natural Products as Lead Agents against Common Respiratory Diseases

Never has the world been more challenged by respiratory diseases (RDs) than it has witnessed in the last few decades. This is evident in the plethora of acute and chronic respiratory conditions, ranging from asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) to multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, pneumonia, influenza, and more recently, the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) disease. Unfortunately, the emergence of drug-resistant strains of pathogens, drug toxicity and side effects are drawbacks to effective chemotherapeutic management of RDs; hence, our focus on natural sources because of their unique chemical diversities and novel therapeutic applications. This review provides a summary on some common RDs, their management strategies, and the prospect of plant-derived natural products in the search for new drugs against common respiratory diseases.     

Virtual Screening and Hit Selection of Natural Compounds as Acetylcholinesterase Inhibitors

Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) is one of the classical targets in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Inhibition of AChE slows down the hydrolysis of acetycholine and increases choline levels, improving the cognitive function. The achieved success of plant-based natural drugs acting as AChE inhibitors, such as galantamine (GAL) from Galanthus genus and huperzine A from Huperzia serrate (approved drug in China), in the treatment of AD, and the fact that natural compounds (NCs) are considered as safer and less toxic compared to synthetic drugs, led us to screen the available NCs (almost 150,000) in the ZINC12 database for AChE inhibitory activity. The compounds were screened virtually by molecular docking, filtered for suitable ADME properties, and 32 ligands from 23 structural groups were selected. The stability of the complexes was estimated via 1 μs molecular dynamics simulation. Ten compounds formed stable complexes with the enzyme and had a vendor and a reasonable price per mg. They were tested for AChE inhibitory and antioxidant activity. Five compounds showed weak AChE inhibition and three of them exhibited high antioxidant activity.     

Assessment of Chemical Composition and Anti-Penicillium Activity of Vapours of Essential Oils from Abies Alba and Two Melaleuca Species in Food Model Systems

The possibilities of the practical utilization of essential oils (EOs) from various plant species in the food industry have attracted the attention of the scientific community. Following our previous studies, the antifungal activities of three further commercial EOs, Melaleuca armillaris subsp. armillaris (rosalina; REO), Melaleuca quinquenervia (niaouli; NEO), and Abies alba (fir; FEO), were evaluated in the present research in respect to their chemical profiles, over four different concentrations, 62.5 μL/L, 125 μL/L, 250 μL/L, and 500 μL/L. The findings revealed that the major compounds of REO, NEO, and FEO were linalool (47.5%), 1,8-cineole (40.8%), and α-pinene (25.2%), respectively. In vitro antifungal determinations showed that the inhibition zones of a Penicillium spp. mycelial growth ranged from no inhibitory effectiveness (00.00 ± 00.00 mm) to 16.00 ± 1.00 mm, indicating a very strong antifungal activity which was detected against P. citrinum after the highest REO concentration exposure. Furthermore, the in situ antifungal efficacy of all EOs investigated was shown to be dose-dependent. In this sense, we have found that the highest concentration (500 µL/L) of REO, NEO, and FEO significantly reduced (p < 0.05) the growth of all Penicillium strains inoculated on the bread, carrot, and potato models. These results indicate that the investigated EOs may be promising innovative agents in order to extend the shelf life of different types of food products, such as bread, carrot and potato.     

In Vitro Inhibitory Effects of Viburnum opulus Bark and Flower Extracts on Digestion of Potato Starch and Carbohydrate Hydrolases Activity

One of the effective treatments for diabetes is to reduce and delay the absorption of glucose by inhibition of α-amylase and α-glucosidase in the digestive tract. Currently, there is a great interest in natural inhibitors from various part of plants. In the present study, the phenolic compounds composition of V. opulus bark and flower, and their inhibitory effects on in vitro potato starch digestion as well as on α-amylase and α-glucosidase, have been studied. Bark and flower phenolic extracts reduced the amount of glucose released from potato starch during tree-stage simulated digestion, with IC₅₀ value equal to 87.77 µg/mL and 148.87 µg/mL, respectively. Phenolic bark extract showed 34.9% and 38.4% more potent inhibitory activity against α-amylase and α-glucosidase, respectively, but the activity of plant extracts was lower than that of acarbose. Chlorogenic acid (27.26% of total phenolics) and (+)-catechin (30.48% of total phenolics) were the most prominent phenolics in the flower and bark extracts, respectively. Procyanidins may be responsible for the strongest V. opulus bark inhibitory activity against α-amylase, while (+)-catechin relative to α-glucosidase. This preliminary study provides the basis of further examination of the suitability of V. opulus bark compounds as components of nutraceuticals and functional foods with antidiabetic activity.     

Chemometric Analysis of Urinary Volatile Organic Compounds to Monitor the Efficacy of Pitavastatin Treatments on Mammary Tumor Progression over Time

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in urine are potential biomarkers of breast cancer. Previously, our group has investigated breast cancer through analysis of VOCs in mouse urine and identified a panel of VOCs with the ability to monitor tumor progression. However, an unanswered question is whether VOCs can be exploited similarly to monitor the efficacy of antitumor treatments over time. Herein, subsets of tumor-bearing mice were treated with pitavastatin at high (8 mg/kg) and low (4 mg/kg) concentrations, and urine was analyzed through solid-phase microextraction (SPME) coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Previous investigations using X-ray and micro-CT analysis indicated pitavastatin administered at 8 mg/kg had a protective effect against mammary tumors, whereas 4 mg/kg treatments did not inhibit tumor-induced damage. VOCs from mice treated with pitavastatin were compared to the previously analyzed healthy controls and tumor-bearing mice using chemometric analyses, which revealed that mice treated with pitavastatin at high concentrations were significantly different than tumor-bearing untreated mice in the direction of healthy controls. Mice treated with low concentrations demonstrated significant differences relative to healthy controls and were reflective of tumor-bearing untreated mice. These results show that urinary VOCs can accurately and noninvasively predict the efficacy of pitavastatin treatments over time.     

Discriminating between Parallel,Anti-Parallel and Hybrid G-Quadruplexes: Mechanistic Details on Their Binding to Small Molecules

G-quadruplexes (G4) are now extensively recognised as a peculiar non-canonical DNA geometry that plays a prime importance role in processes of biological relevance whose number is increasing continuously. The same is true for the less-studied RNA G4 counterpart. G4s are stable structures; however, their geometrical parameters may be finely tuned not only by the presence of particular sequences of nucleotides but also by the salt content of the medium or by a small molecule that may act as a peculiar topology inducer. As far as the interest in G4s increases and our knowledge of these species deepens, researchers do not only verify the G4s binding by small molecules and the subsequent G4 stabilisation. The most innovative studies now aim to elucidate the mechanistic details of the interaction and the ability of a target species (drug) to bind only to a peculiar G4 geometry. In this focused review, we survey the advances in the studies of the binding of small molecules of medical interest to G4s, with particular attention to the ability of these species to bind differently (intercalation, lateral binding or sitting atop) to different G4 topologies (parallel, anti-parallel or hybrid structures). Some species, given the very high affinity with some peculiar G4 topology, can first bind to a less favourable geometry and then induce its conversion. This aspect is also considered.