Vibsanin O, a novel diterpenoid from Viburnum awabuki

Vibsanin O, isolated from the leaves and twigs of Viburnum awabuki, is an unprecedented bicyclic diterpenoid. The structures of vibsanin O was established by extensive analysis of spectroscopic data.     

Insecticidal Activity and Free Radical Scavenging Properties of Isolated Phytoconstituents from the Saudi Plant Nuxia oppositifolia (Hochst.)

Chromatographic purification of the alcoholic extract from the aerial parts of the Saudi plant Nuxia oppositifolia (Hochst.), Benth., resulted in five isolated phenolic compounds. Two flavones, hispidulin (1) and jaceosidin (2), and the phenylethanoid glycosides, verbascoside (3), isoverbascoside (4), and conandroside (5), were identified and their chemical structures were determined by spectroscopic analyses. The insecticidal activity of compounds 1 and 2, in addition to 11 compounds isolated in a previous research (6–16), was evaluated against the Yellow Fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti. Four compounds displayed adulticidal activity with LD₅₀ values of 2–2.3 μg/mosquito. Free radical scavenging properties of the plant extracts and compounds (1–5) were evaluated by measuring the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl radical (DPPH) and 2,2′-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonate radical cation (ABTS^•+) scavenging activity. All compounds exhibited notable activity, compared with the positive control, l-Ascorbic acid. This study suggests that N. oppositifolia could be a promising source of secondary metabolites, some with lethal adulticidal effect against Ae. aegypti.     

Umbellactal, a novel diterpenoid from the Formosan soft coral Xenia umbellata

Umbellactal, isolated from the soft coral Xenia umbellata, is an unprecedented diterpenoid. The structure of umbellactal was established by extensive analysis of spectroscopic data.     

Xenibellols A and B, new diterpenoids from the formosan soft coral Xenia umbellata

Xenibellols A (1) and B (2), possessing an unprecedented diterpenoid skeleton, were isolated from the soft coral Xenia umbellata. The structures of xenibellols A and B were established by extensive analysis of spectroscopic data.     

Isothermal dimensional changes of some dental materials

The isothermal dimensional changes of four types of dental amalgams during the setting and for the next 24 hours after condensation have been studied by means of a Heraeus TA 500 thermal analysis system. The four types of dental amalgams were the lathe-cut conventional lowcopper amalgam (Amalcap), the spherical conventional low-copper amalgam (Spheralloy), the ternary unicomposition high-copper amalgam (Sybralloy) and the admixed high-copper (Dispersalloy) amalgam.The dimensional changes of the four types of amalgams are explained on the basis of their particle sizes and shapes and their constitutions.

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Zusammenfassung Mittels eines Heraeus TA 500 Thermoanalysensystemes wurden isotherme Größenveränderungen von Dentalamalgamen während des Setting und der 24 Stunden nach der Kondensation untersucht. Die Größenveränderungen der vier Amalgamgrundtypen (am Beispiel von Amalcap, Spheralloy, Sybralloy und Dispersalloy) wurden auf der Grundlage ihrer Teilchengröße und -form sowie auf der Grundlage ihrer Zusammensetzung erklärt.

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Spectrofluorimetric Determination of Terbinafine Hydrochloride and Linezolid in their Dosage Forms and Human Plasma

A highly sensitive, simple and rapid spectrofluorimetric method was developed for the determination of Terbinafine HCl (TRH) and linezolid (LNZ) in their pharmaceutical formulations. The proposed method is based on measuring the native fluorescence of the studied drugs in water at 336 nm after excitation at 275 nm for TRH and 375 nm after excitation at 254 nm for LNZ. The fluorescence–concentration plots were rectilinear over the range of 0.02–0.15 μg/mL for TRH and 0.5–5.0 μg/mL for LNZ. With lower detection limits of 3.0 and 110.0 ng/mL and a lower quantification limit of 9.0 and 320.0 ng/mL for TRH and LNZ, respectively. The method was successfully applied to the analysis of TRH in its commercial tablets, cream, gel and spray formulations and the results were in good agreement with those obtained with the official method. In addition the method was also applied to the analysis of LNZ in its capsule and I.V solution and the results were in good agreement with those obtained with the comparison method. The effect of sensitizers was studied. The method was extended to the determination of the studied drugs in spiked human plasma and the results were satisfactory.     

Thermal resistance,microstructure and mechanical properties of type I Portland cement pastes containing low-cost nanoparticles

This study aimed to utilize laboratory-prepared nano-silica (NS) and nano-alumina (NA) as low-cost nano-oxides additions for improving the mechanical properties and thermal resistance of hardened ordinary Portland cement (OPC) pastes. NS was synthesized from rice husk ash in the absence of any surfactant, while NA was synthesized from AlCl₃ in the presence of CTAB as a surfactant. The average particle sizes of synthesized NS and NA were 30 and 40 nm, respectively. Nano-silica or nano-alumina was added to OPC as a single phase with different ratios of 0.5, 1, 2 and 3 by mass % of OPC. The physico-chemical characteristics of different OPC-NS and OPC-NA hardened pastes were studied after 1, 3, 7, 14, 28 and 90 days of hydration. The resistance of the hardened composites for firing was evaluated for specimens cured for 28 days under tap water and then fired at 300, 600 and 800 °C for 3 h. The fired specimens were cooled by two methods: gradual cooling and rapid cooling. The compressive strength test was performed for all mixes at each firing temperature. The compressive strength results revealed that the optimum addition of NS is 1, whereas the optimum addition of NA is 0.5 by mass % of OPC. XRD, TG/DTG and SEM results indicated that ill-crystalline and nearly amorphous C–S–H, C–A–S–H and C–A–H were the main hydration products.     

Prenylbicyclogermacrane diterpenoids from the formosan soft coral Nephthea elongata

Seven new prenylbicyclogermacrane diterpenoids, pacificins K--Q (1--7), were isolated from the methylene chloride solubles of the Formosan soft coral Nephthea elongata. Their structures were elucidated by extensive spectroscopic analysis and their cytotoxicity against selected cancer cells was measured in vitro.     

Spectrophotometric determination of acyclovir and ribavirin in their dosage forms

Two simple, accurate, and reliable spectrophotometric methods have been developed for the determination of 2 antiviral drugs, acyclovir (ACV) and ribavirin (RBV), in their pharmaceutical formulations. These methods are based on oxidation of the 2 drugs with either cerium (IV) ammonium sulfate (Method A) or potassium persulfate (Method B). The products of oxidation in both methods are coupled with 3-methylbenzothiazolin 2-one hydrazone, producing a deep blue color with a maximum absorption wavelength at 630 nm. In Method A, the absorbance-concentration plots were linear over the ranges of 5-50 and 10-60 microg/mL with detection limits of 0.18 microg/mL (8 x 10(-7) M) and 0.63 microg/mL (2.58 x 10(-6) M) for ACV and RBV, respectively. In Method B, the ranges were 5-45 and 20-50 microg/mL with detection limits of 0.11 microg/mL (4.88 x 10(-7) M) and 1.40 microg/mL (5.73 x 10(-6) M) for the 2 drugs, respectively. The molar absorptivities were 4.1 x 10(3) and 3.65 x 10(3) L/mol/cm in Method A and 5.03 x 10(3) and 3.97 x 10(3) L/mol/cm in Method B for the 2 drugs, respectively. The proposed methods were applied successfully for the determination of the 2 drugs in their pharmaceutical formulations. The percentage recoveries +/- standard deviation were 99.57 +/- 0.86 and 100.82 +/- 0.46 for ACV; 99.41 +/- 1.08 and 100.35 +/- 1.03 for RBV. The results obtained were compared statistically with those given by official methods and showed no significant differences regarding accuracy and precision.     

Studying the recovery of as-received industrial Al alloys by positron annihilation spectroscopy

Positron annihilation lifetime (PAL) spectroscopy, Doppler broadening of annihilation radiation (DBAR) spectroscopy and Vickers microhardness (Hv) measurements were performed to study the micro- and macro-structure variations during isochronal annealing from room temperature (RT) to 500 °C of commercial pure Al (1 1 0 0), Al-Mn-Mg (3 0 0 4) and Al-Mg-Si (6 2 0 1) alloys. Three annealing stages of microstructures have been identified as recovery, partial recrystallization and complete recrystallization followed by grain growth. A positive correlation between the macroscopic mechanical properties (Hv) and positron annihilation parameters has been achieved for the three samples under investigation.