On self-reciprocal polynomials

In this paper we establish a sharp result concerning integral mean estimates for self-reciprocal polynomials.     

Square-wave voltammetric (SWV) determination of Captopril in reconstituted serum and pharmaceutical formulations

A simple, fast and sensitive square-wave voltammetric (SWV) method for the determination of trace amounts of Captopril in pharmaceutical formulation and reconstituted serum is reported. A three-electrode system containing the static mercury drop electrode (SMDE) working electrode, Pt auxiliary electrode and Ag/AgCl reference electrode was used throughout. Sodium sulfite was used as both supporting electrolyte and oxygen removing agent. No nitrogen purging is needed for oxygen removal from sample solution. Calibration graph showed good linearity in the concentration range of 0.5-50.0 μg mL⁻¹ of Captopril and regression coefficient of 0.9957 is obtained. R.S.D. for eight replicate measurements and LOD of the proposed method are 1.2% and 6.28 × 10⁻³ μg mL⁻¹, respectively. The effect of various parameters (equilibration time, scan increment, pulse height, drop size, frequency and sodium sulfite concentration) on the determination were investigated. The procedure was successfully applied to the determination of Captopril in pharmaceutical formulation and reconstituted serum.     

Study of non-uniform viscoelastic nanoplates vibration based on nonlocal first-order shear deformation theory

Meccanica - In this paper, vibration features of variable thickness rectangular viscoelastic nanoplates are studied. In order to consider the small-scale and the transverse shear deformation...     

Evaluation of Phoma sp. Biomass as an Endophytic Fungus for Synthesis of Extracellular Gold Nanoparticles with Antibacterial and Antifungal Properties

The aim of our study was to examine the different concentrations of AuNPs as a new antimicrobial substance to control the pathogenic activity. The extracellular synthesis of AuNPs performed by using Phoma sp. as an endophytic fungus. Endophytic fungus was isolated from vascular tissue of peach trees (Prunus persica) from Baft, located in Kerman province, Iran. The UltraViolet-Visible Spectroscopy (UV–Vis spectroscopy) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy provided the absorbance peak at 526 nm, while the X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy images released the formation of spherical AuNPs with sizes in the range of 10–100 nm. The findings of inhibition zone test of Au nanoparticles (AuNPs) showed a desirable antifungal and antibacterial activity against phytopathogens including Rhizoctonia solani AG1-IA (AG1-IA has been identified as the dominant anastomosis group) and Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae. The highest inhibition level against sclerotia formation was 93% for AuNPs at a concentration of 80 μg/mL. Application of endophytic fungus biomass for synthesis of AuNPs is relatively inexpensive, single step and environmentally friendly. In vitro study of the antifungal activity of AuNPs at concentrations of 10, 20, 40 and 80 μg/mL was conducted against rice fungal pathogen R. solani to reduce sclerotia formation. The experimental data revealed that the Inhibition rate (RH) for sclerotia formation was (15, 33, 74 and 93%), respectively, for their corresponding AuNPs concentrations (10, 20, 40 and 80 μg/mL). Our findings obviously indicated that the RH strongly depend on AuNPs rates, and enhance upon an increase in AuNPs rates. The application of endophytic fungi biomass for green synthesis is our future goal.     

Acetone extraction and HPLC determination of acrylamide in potato chips

A new sensitive method using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and liquid extraction for the analysis of acrylamide (AA) in potato chips is reported. The method comprises extraction with acetone using ultrasonic bath and reversed phase C18-AQ (2 × 250 mm) column with water as eluent. Flow rate was 0.15 ml min^-1 and the column temperature was kept constant at 40 °C. The analysis was performed using a 20 μl injection loop and a UV detector adjusted at 202 nm. In this condition, the retention time for AA was 8 min. A linear calibration curve (regression coefficient = 0.999) in the range of 20–400 ng g^-1 was used for quantitative purposes. Limit of detection (LOD) (signal-to-noise ratio of 3:1) and limit of quantification (LOQ) (signal-to-noise ratio of 10:1) for the method was 2.46 and 3.14 ng g^-1, respectively. Extracted samples and standard solutions with different concentrations of AA were analyzed repeatedly in one day and different days to estimate the repeatability and reproducibility of the method. Analysis of variance on the obtained data showed no significant difference between variances in different days. Using the proposed method, different potato chips samples were analyzed in different days in another laboratory. Paired t-test showed no significant difference between the obtained results from the two laboratories.     

Fabrication and characterization of Zn1−xAlxO nanoparticles by DC arc plasma

In this paper we have introduced a simple method for the fabrication of aluminum doped zinc oxide (AZO) nanoparticles. The Zn_1−xAl_xO nanoparticles with different concentrations of Al (x=0.01, 0.03, 0.06, 0.09, 0.12) were fabricated successfully by this method. The samples were analyzed by the use of several techniques such as SEM, EDX, XRD, PL and UV-vis spectroscopy. The SEM images showed that the fabricated nanoparticles had spherical shapes. The XRD patterns of the samples indicated that the Al atoms substituted in the Zn positions in the crystal lattice of ZnO and there were some changes in the lattice parameters. A blue shift in the λ_max of the absorption and a red shift in the λ_max of the emission were observed. The results also indicated that the amount of shifts had a direct relationship with the changes in the lattice parameters.     

Self-assembly of boehmite nanopetals to form 3D high surface area nanoarchitectures

A flower-like boehmite nanostructure was prepared through a template-free chemical route by the self-assembly process of nanosize petals 800–1000 nm long, 200–250 nm wide, 20–50 nm thick and having an average crystallite size of about 2.21 nm. X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), DTA/TGA analyses and Brunauer–Emmet–Teller (BET-N₂) analyses were used in order to characterize the product obtained. XRD results exhibited that the obtained nanostructures composed of pure orthorhombic AlOOH phase. The effects of Cl⁻ ions and TEA on the growth of boehmite three-dimensional nanoarchitectures in the presence of NO₃^-\mathrm{NO}_{3}^{-} ions were investigated. BET analyses of as-prepared material demonstrate that this nanostructure material has a high specific surface area, as high as 123 m² g⁻¹.     

Inequalities Concerning The Maximum Modulus of Polynomials

Let P(z) be a polynomial of degree n having all its zeros in |z|≤k, k ≤1, then for every real or complex number β, with |β|≤ 1 and R ≥ 1, it was shown by A.Zireh et al. [7] that for |z|=1,min|z|=1|P(Rz)+β((R+k)/(1+k))~nP(z)|≥k~(-n)|R~n+β((R+k)/(1+k))~n|min|z|=k|P(z)|.In this paper, we shall present a refinement of the above inequality. Besides, we shall also generalize some well-known results.     

ON THE ZEROS OF A CLASS OF POLYNOMIALS AND RELATED ANALYTIC FUNCTIONS

In this paper we prove some interesting extensions and generalizations of Enestrom- Kakeya Theorem concerning the location of the zeros of a polynomial in a complex plane. We also obtain some zero-free regions for a class of related analytic functions. Our results not only contain some known results as a special case but also a variety of interesting results can be deduced in a unified way by various choices of the parameters.     

Three New Acrylic Acid Derivatives from Achillea mellifolium as Potential Inhibitors of Urease from Jack Bean and α-Glucosidase from Saccharomyces cerevisiae

(1) Background: Achillea mellifolium belongs to a highly reputed family of medicinal plants, with plant extract being used as medicine in indigenous system. However, limited data is available regarding the exploitation of the medicinal potential of isolated pure compounds from this family; (2) Methods: A whole plant extract was partitioned into fractions and on the basis of biological activity, an ethyl acetate fraction was selected for isolation of pure compounds. Isolated compounds were characterized using different spectroscopic techniques. The compounds isolated from this study were tested for their medicinal potential using in-vitro enzyme assay, coupled with in-silico studies; (3) Results: Three new acrylic acid derivatives (1–3) have been isolated from the ethyl acetate fraction of Achillea mellifolium. The characterization of these compounds (1–3) was carried out using UV/Vis, FT-IR, 1D and 2D-NMR spectroscopy (¹H-NMR, ¹³C-NMR, HMBC, NOESY) and mass spectrometry. These acrylic acid derivatives were further evaluated for their enzyme inhibition potential against urease from jack bean and α glucosidase from Saccharomyces cerevisiae, using both in-silico and in-vitro approaches. In-vitro studies showed that compound 3 has the highest inhibition against urease enzyme (IC₅₀ =10.46 ± 0.03 μΜ), followed by compound 1 and compound 2 with percent inhibition and IC₅₀ value of 16.87 ± 0.02 c and 13.71 ± 0.07 μΜ, respectively, compared to the standard (thiourea-IC₅₀ = 21.5 ± 0.01 μΜ). The investigated IC₅₀ value of compound 3 against the urease enzyme is two times lower compared to thiourea, suggesting that this compound is twice as active compared to the standard drug. On the other hand, all three compounds (1–3) revealed mild inhibition potential against α-glucosidase. In-silico molecular docking studies, in combination with MD simulations and free energy, calculations were also performed to rationalize their time evolved mode of interaction inside the active pocket. Binding energies were computed using a MMPBSA approach, and the role of individual residues to overall binding of the inhibitors inside the active pockets were also computed; (4) Conclusions: Together, these studies confirm the inhibitory potential of isolated acrylic acid derivatives against both urease and α-glucosidase enzymes; however, their inhibition potential is better for urease enzyme even when compared to the standard.