Swietenia macrophylla King is a plant commonly known as Brazilian mahogany. The wood from its stem is highly prized for its exceptional quality, while its leaves are valued for their high content of ...phragmalin-type limonoids, a subclass of compounds known for their significant biological activities, including antimalarial, antitumor, antiviral, and anti-inflammatory properties. In this context, twelve isolated limonoids from S. macrophylla leaves were employed as standards in mass spectrometry-based molecular networking to unveil new potential mass spectrometry signatures for phragmalin-type limonoids. Consequently, ultra-performance liquid chromatography coupled with high-resolution mass spectrometry was utilized for data acquisition. Subsequently, the obtained data were analyzed using the Global Natural Products Social Molecular Networking platform based on spectral similarity. In summary, this study identified 24 new putative phragmalin-type limonoids for the first time in S. macrophylla. These compounds may prove valuable in guiding future drug development efforts, leveraging the already established biological activities associated with limonoids.
Polymeric micelles have gained interest as novel drug delivery systems for the treatment and diagnosis of cancer, as they offer several advantages over conventional drug therapies. This includes drug ...targeting to tumor tissue,
biocompatibility and biodegradability, prolonged circulation time, enhanced accumulation, retention of the drug loaded micelle in the tumor and decreased side effects. This article provides an overview on the current state of micellar formulations as nanocarriers for anticancer drugs and their effectiveness in cancer therapeutics, including their clinical status. The type of copolymers used, their physicochemical properties and characterization as well as recent developments in the design of functional polymeric micelles are highlighted. The article also presents the design and outcomes of various types of stimuli-responsive polymeric micelles.
We study the soft and collinear contributions to inclusive Higgs-boson production in gluon-gluon fusion at four loops. Using recent progress for the quark and gluon form factors and Mellin moments of ...splitting functions, we are able to complete the soft-gluon enhanced contributions exactly in the limit of a large number of colours, and to a sufficiently accurate numerical accuracy for QCD. The four-loop soft and virtual contributions increase the QCD cross section at 14 TeV by 2.7% and 0.2% for the standard choices μR=mH and μR=mH/2 of the renormalization scale, and reduce the scale uncertainty to below ±3%. As by-products, we derive the complete δ(1−x) term for the gluon-gluon splitting function at four loops and its purely Abelian contributions at five loops, and provide a numerical result for the single pole of the four-loop gluon form factor in dimensional regularization. Finally we present the closely related fourth-order coefficients D4 for the soft-gluon exponentiation of Higgs-boson and Drell-Yan lepton-pair production.
In this work we have synthesized quaternary chalcogenide Cu2NiSnS4 (QC) nanoparticles grown in situ on 2D reduced graphene oxide (rGO) for application as anode material of solid-state asymmetric ...supercapacitors (ASCs). Thorough characterization of the synthesized composite validates the proper phase, stoichiometry, and morphology. Detailed electrochemical study of the electrode materials and ASCs has been performed. The as-fabricated device delivers an exceptionally high areal capacitance (655.1 mF cm–2), which is much superior to that of commercial micro-supercapacitors. Furthermore, a remarkable volumetric capacitance of 16.38 F cm–3 is obtained at a current density of 5 mA cm–2 combined with a very high energy density of 5.68 mW h cm–3, which is comparable to that of commercially available lithium thin film batteries. The device retains 89.2% of the initial capacitance after running for 2000 cycles, suggesting its long-term capability. Consequently, the enhanced areal and volumetric capacitances combined with decent cycle stability and impressive energy density endow the uniquely decorated QC/rGO composite material as a promising candidate in the arena of energy storage devices. Moreover, Cu2NiSnS4 being a narrow band gap photovoltaic material, this work offers a novel protocol for the development of self-charging supercapacitors in the days to come.
An unprecedented and direct PS‐MS (paper spray ionization mass spectrometry) method was proposed for the detection of native peptides, that is, glutathiones (GSHs), homoglutathiones (hGSHs), and ...phytochelatins (PCs), in basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) roots before and after cadmium exposure. The roots were submitted to cold maceration followed by sonication with formic acid as the extractor solvent for sample preparation. PS‐MS was used to analyze such extracts in the positive mode, and the results allowed for the detection of several GSHs, hGSHs, and PCs. Some of these PCs were not distinguished in the control samples, that is, basil roots not exposed to cadmium. Other PCs were noticed in both types of roots, uncontaminated and cadmium‐contaminated, but the intensities were higher in the former samples. Moreover, long‐time exposure to cadmium stimulated the formation of some of these PCs and their cadmium complexes. The results, therefore, provided some crucial insights into the defense mechanism of plants against an external stress condition due to exposure to a toxic heavy metal. The present study represents a promising alternative to investigate other crucial physiological processes in plants submitted to assorted stress conditions.
•Gate Assignment Problem (GAP) observed at airports, is important decision making problems.•Previously, GAP is studied by considering objectives related to passenger walking distance and ground ...operations.•New multi-objective models to investigate the possibility of increasing the shopping revenues of an airport operator are offered.•Performance of models varies in terms of total PWD and number of passengers at gates near airport shops.
Assigning aircrafts to the available gates is an important decision problem that airport professionals face every day. However, this problem is generally studied by considering objectives related to the passenger walking distance and/or the ground operations. This paper investigates the possibility of increasing the shopping revenues of an airport operator through new multi-objective models. The overall aim of the proposed multi-objective models is both to assign passengers to specific gates near shopping facilities and to assign flights to gates such that the total passenger walking distance is minimized. Results of different test problems revealed that, the performance of the models varies in terms of total passenger walking distance and number of passengers assigned to the gates near airport shops.
The detection of a few molecules in a highly diluted solution is of paramount interest in fields including biomedicine, safety and eco-pollution in relation to rare and dangerous chemicals. ...Nanosensors based on plasmonics are promising devices in this regard, in that they combine the features of high sensitivity, label-free detection and miniaturization. However, plasmonic-based nanosensors, in common with general sensors with sensitive areas on the scale of nanometres, cannot be used directly to detect molecules dissolved in femto- or attomolar solutions. In other words, they are diffusion-limited and their detection times become impractical at such concentrations. In this Article, we demonstrate, by combining super-hydrophobic artificial surfaces and nanoplasmonic structures, that few molecules can be localized and detected even at attomolar (10-18 mol l-1 ) concentration. Moreover, the detection can be combined with fluorescence and Raman spectroscopy, such that the chemical signature of the molecules can be clearly determined.
First-principles density functional theory-based calculations have been performed to investigate the strain-induced modifications in the electronic and vibrational properties of monolayer (ML)-ZnO. A ...wide range of in-plane tensile and compressive strain along different directions are applied to analyse the modifications in detail. The electronic band gap decreases under both tensile and compressive strain, and a direct-to-indirect band gap transition occurs for high values of biaxial tensile strain. The relatively low rate of decrease of band gap and large required strain for direct-to-indirect band gap transition compared to other 2D materials are analysed. Systematic decrease in the frequency of the in-plane and increase in the out-of-plane optical phonon modes with increasing tensile strain are observed. The in-plane acoustic modes show linear dispersion for unstrained as well as strained cases. However, the out-of-plane acoustic mode (ZA), which shows quadratic dispersion in the unstrained condition, turns linear with strain. The dispersion of the ZA mode is analysed using the shell elasticity theory and the possibility of ripple formation with strain is analysed. The strain-induced linearity of the ZA mode indicates the absence of rippling under strain. Finally, the stability limit of ML-ZnO is investigated and found that for
18
%
biaxial tensile strain the structure shows instability with the emergence of imaginary phonon modes. Furthermore, the potential of ML-ZnO to be a good thermoelectric material is analysed in an intuitive way based on the calculated electronic and phononic properties. Our results, thus, not only highlight the significance of strain-engineering in tailoring the electronic and vibrational properties but also provide a thorough understanding of the lattice dynamics and mechanical strength of ML-ZnO.
Background: Low muscle strength is a predictor of mortality in older adults. Although the evidence concerning hyperglycemia is limited, evidence shows that omega-3 (ω-3) intake may be positively ...associated with muscle strength. However, the association between plasma ω-3 and muscle strength in older adults according to glycohemoglobin (HbA1c) levels has not yet been investigated. Objective: To evaluate whether plasma ω-3 levels are associated with handgrip strength in individuals over 50 years according to HbA1c levels. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 950 older adults (50–85 years) from NHANES 2011–2012. Linear regression analysis was performed to evaluate the association between plasma ω-3 and handgrip strength in individuals with elevated (≥5.7%) or normal HbA1c levels after adjustments for confounders. Results: Total plasma ω-3, docosahexaenoic acid, eicosapentaenoic acid and alpha-linolenic acid were not associated with handgrip strength in older adults regardless of HbA1c levels. Conclusion: Plasma ω-3 levels are not associated with handgrip strength in individuals over 50 years old independent of HbA1c levels.
Using first-principles density functional calculations, we show that a transition-metal (TM)-doped defected graphene sheet with periodic repetition of a C atom vacancy (Vc) can be used as a promising ...system for hydrogen storage. The TM atoms adsorbed above and below the defected site are found to have a strong bonding to the graphene sheet, thereby circumventing the problem of TM clustering, which is the main impediment for efficient hydrogen storage in nanostructure systems. The results reveal that, when the vacancy-modulated graphene sheet is decorated on both sides by a combination of less than half-filled (TM1) and more than half-filled (TM2) elements, it results in the adsorption of molecular hydrogen with a binding energy lying in the desirable energy window. Among all the different TM1−TM2 combinations at a C vacancy site, Fe−Ti turns out to be the best choice where five H2 molecules get attached on each pair. To underscore the stability of these hydrogenated systems, we have performed an ab initio molecular dynamics simulation for a fully decorated defected graphene structure. The results show that, at room temperature, the system is stable with a gravimetric efficiency of 5.1 wt % of hydrogen, whereas desorption starts only at ∼400 K.
PDF
