Search for new antiphytovirucides

A convenient method to synthesize substituted 2-(2′-hydroxyphenyl) benzimidazoles is reported. Six title compounds have been synthesized by the reaction of salicylic acid and 4-substituted0-phenylenediamine in the presence pyridine-POCl₃. Three compounds were tested as plant virucide against tobacco mosaic virus and they exhibited some activities. Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, and National Laboratory of Elemento Organic Chemistry of Naikai University Huang Xiaoling: born in 1938, Professer     

Study of complexes of lanthanum with amino acids by titration calorimeter

The stability constants and thermodynamic functions for complexes of lanthanum with eight kind of amino acids according to 1∶1 and 1∶2 in proportion have been determined by titration calorimeter at 298.15 K. The enthalpy change makes a predominant contribution to the stability of these complexes. The ring in amino acid associated with lanthanum ion helps to enhance the stability of complexes. Steric effects between rings in complexes leads to that the equilibrium constants of reaction of the complexes (1∶2) is much less than that of the complexes (1∶1). Foundation item: Supported by the National Nature Science Foundation of China (29873036) Biography: Ye Gang (1974-), male, M S., research direction: thermochemistry.     

Influence of PrP 106―126 on expression of laminin and fibronectin in astrocyte

Astrogliosis is a hallmark of prion disease, but the metabolic alterations of astrocytes remain poorly documented. A synthetic peptide corresponding to amino acid 106-126 of the human prion protein （PrP） has been shown to be toxic to neurons. In this study, the effects of PrP 106-126 on astrocytes were investigated in vitro. The proliferation of astrocytes was significantly （P 〈 0.05） increased when grown in media conditioned with PrP 106-126 （80 μmol/L） from microglia. The expression of laminin （LN） and fibronectin （FN） was examined at both mRNA and protein levels. The results showed that exposure of astrocytes to PrP 106-126 enhanced the expression of LN and FN. The increase of FN in astrocyte cultures required cytokines previously released by activated microglia. This study reveals the expression of LN and FN affected by PrP106-126.     

Constructing supramolecular nanostructure by hydrogen-bonding

The diquinoxalino （2.3-2＂.3＂-a.c） phenazine （DQP）, containing 6 nitrogen atoms, was synthesized, and its adsorption and self-assembling behavior on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite （HOPG） was studied by scanning tunneling microscopy （STM） under ambient conditions. With 1,14-tetradecanedioic acid as a bridge, uniform two-dimensional arrays of 1,14-tetradecanedioic acid/DQP nanostructure were successfully fabricated. The result illustrates that it is possible to construct and control supramolecular nanostructure by intermolecular hydrogen-bonding.     

Determination of some carbonyl carboxylic acids using chemiluminescent reaction of Ru(bipy)3 2+−Ce(IV)

A coupled chemiluminescence method for the determination of some carboxylic acids was developed, based on their enhancement the chemiluminescence light emission of the reaction of tirs (2,2′-bipyridine) ruthenium(II) and Ce(IV) in sulfuric acid medium. The conditions for their determination were optimized. The following detection limits were obtained: oxalic acid, 2.67×10⁻⁸ mol/L; propandioic acid, 1.20×10⁻⁶ mol/L; pyruvic acid, 1.35×10⁻⁸ mol/L; citric acid, 5.10×10⁻⁸ mol/L; barbituric acid, 2.48×10⁻⁷ mol/L. The proposed method was successfully applied to determination of oxalic acid. The coupled chemiluminescent reaction mechanism and rate equation are proposed. Foundation item: Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Natural Science Foundation of Hubei Province Biography: HAN He-you (1962-), male, Associate professor, phD, graduate candidate     

The inhibition of corrosion of aluminum in acid environment byin situ electrocoagulation of polybutadienoic acid

The dissolution rate of naked Al sheet in the acidic solutions containing polybutadienoic acid (PBA) with pH value of 0.3∼3.0 at 20∼60°C has been determined by electrometry and gravimetry methods. The form of electroactive Al(III) ions occurred on the anode and the behavior of electrocoagulation of PBA have been approached. The results indicate that the superior condition of electrocoagulation of water-soluble nonsaturable low polymer PBA is the adoption of the electroactive Al(III) ions occurred in electrolyte containing 1.0 g·L⁻¹ PBA+0.2 mol·L⁻¹C₆H₈O₇ citric acid with pH value of 3.0 at 30°C. The mechanism of corrosion-inhibited or electrocoagulation resulted from the electroactive Al(III) ions coordinate-COOH group of PBA and free ions of citric groups into the aluminum soaps with bicyclic structure are briefly discussed in this paper. Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China Tao Yingchu: born in 1943, Professor     

The synthesis and characterisation of polyaniline catalysed and doped by squaric acid

Aniline was polymerized in dilute aqueous squaric acid and the polyaniline (PAn) was doped with 10⁻¹–10⁻³ mol/L of squaric acid. The corresponding electrical conductivity of the PAn is 10⁻¹–10⁻² S ⊙ cm⁻¹. The solubility of the doped PAn has been improved in common polar organic solvents. The FTIR and UV—Vis spectra show that the PAn has the structure of both quinone and imine. Supported by the National Natural Sciences Foundation of China Zhan Caimao: born in 1948, Associate professor     

Synthesis and micellization behavior of stimuli-responsive polypeptide hybrid triblock copolymer

Polypeptide hybrid triblock copolymer, poly（L-glutamic acid）-b-poly（propylene oxide）-b-poly （L-glutamic acid） （PLGA-b-PPO-b-PLGA）, was synthesized by the ring-opening polymerization of benzyI-L- glutamic N-carboxyanhydride （BLG-NCA） using poly（propylene glycol） bis（2-aminopropyl ether） as initiator, followed by the subsequent deprotection step. The obtained double hydrophilic triblock co- polymer exhibits ＂schizophrenic＂ micellization behavior in aqueous solution upon dually playing with solution pH and temperature. The multi-responsive micellization behavior of this polypeptide hybrid triblock copolymer has been thoroughly investigated by 1H NMR, laser light scattering （LLS）, tempera- ture-dependent optical transmittance, and circular dichroism spectroscopy （CD）.     

HPLC determination of ascorbic acid using luminol-Cu (II) chemiluminescence-application to the analysis of Juice beverage

The chemiluminescence (CL) of luminol-Cu (II) was applied to HPLC determination of ascorbic acid, which was separated by a C₁₈ reverse-phase column with a mobile phase of 0.25 mol/L HAc. The eluted ascorbic acid was mixed with 0.3 mmol/L luminol and 0.05 mol/L CuSO₄. The light emission from the reaction of Cu(II) oxidized ascorbic acid and luminol was detected by a modified luminometer. The detection limit was 3.6×10⁻⁶ mol/L for ascorbic acid at aS/N ratio of 3, and the linear calibration range was 2×10⁻⁴–2×10⁻³ mol/L. The relative standard deviation for 5 replicate injections of 1×10⁻³ mol/L ascorbic acid was calculated as 4.3%. The method was successfully applied to determination of ascorbic acid in juice beverage. Foundation item: National Natural Science Foundation of China (29605001) Biography: Wu Feng-wu(1963-), male, research direction: analytical chemistry.     

Combining docking and comparative molecular similarity indices analysis （COMSIA） to predict estrogen activity and probe molecular mechanisms of estrogen activity for estrogen compounds

Estrogen compounds are suspected of disrupting endocrine functions by mimicking natural hormones, and such compounds may pose a serious threat to the health of humans and wildlife. Close attention has been paid to the prediction and molecular mechanisms of estrogen activity for estrogen com- pounds. In this article, estrogen receptor a subtype （ERa） -based comparative molecular similarity indices analysis （COMSIA） was performed on 44 estrogen compounds with structural diversity to find out the structural relationship with the activity and to predict the activity. The model with the significant correlation and the best predictive power （R^2= 0.965, Q^2 LOO： 0.599, R^2 pred ： 0.825） was achieved. The COMSIA and docking results revealed the structural features for estrogen activity and key amino acid residues in binding pocket, and provided an insight into the interaction between the ligands and these amino acid residues.     

Simultaneous determination of trace rare earth elements and other elements in high purity terbium oxide (Tb4O7) by ICP-AES after HPLC separation using P507 resin

This article describes a new method for the simultaneous determination of trace rare earth elements (REEs) and non rare earth elements (NREEs) in high purity terbium oxide by ICP-AES after HPLC separation using P507 resin. The chromatographic separation of the analytes from the matrix using dilute nitric acid as mobile phase was studied. The experimental results showed that a favorable separation of trace metals (Cu and Gd) from the matrix (Tb) can easily be achieved by elution with dilute nitric acid within 25 min. The proposed method was applied to the determination of trace metals (Ca, Cu, Mg, Mn, Ni, Si, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu and Gd) in high purity terbium oxide. The detection limits (DLs) for the analytes ranged from 0.4–4.0 μg· g⁻¹, and the recoveries are from 78%–105%. Foundation item: Supported by the National Science Foundation of China (No. 20007010108) and Wuhan Municipal Science & Technology Commission (No. 995004080) Biography, Wanjau Ruth (1961-), female, Ph. D. candidate, Kenyatta University, Kenya, research direction: determination of trace elements.     

Preparation of pH-responsive ceramic composite membranes by grafting acrylic acid onto α-alumina membranes

A pH-responsive ceramic composite membrane was prepared by chemical graft polymerization of acrylic acid （AA） onto the KH-570 modified （x-alumina membrane. The influence of monomer concentration on the gating characteristics of the pH-responsive membrane was investigated. The FT-IR spectrum, contact angle and water filtration rate of the membrane were measured. The monomer concentration was found to have a remarkable effect on the pH-response coefficient and the water filtration rate. In addition, the grafted membrane exhibited fast and reversible response to the pH change in the external solution.     

Photodegradation of <Emphasis Type="Italic">N</Emphasis>-nitrosodiethylamine in water with UV irradiation

The direct photolysis of N-nitrosodiethylamine （NDEA） in water with ultraviolet （UV） irradiation was investigated. Results showed that NDEA could be completely degraded under the direct UV irradiation. The effects of the experimental conditions, including the initial concentration of NDEA, humic acid and solution pH, were studied. The degradation products of NDEA were identified and quantified with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry （GC-MS） and high performance liquid chromatography （HPLC）. It was confirmed that methylamine （MA）, dimethylamine （DMA）, ethylamine （EA）, diethylamine （DEA）, NO2^- and NO3^- were the main degradation products. The photolysis degradation mechanism of NDEA was also discussed. As a result of N-N bond fission, NDEA was degraded by direct UV irradiation.     

Synthesis and X-ray crystal structure of a new manganese 18-metallacrown-6

0　IntroductionThemetalionsinmetallamacrocylesformedbysupramolecularself assemblycantaketrigonal,square planar,andtetrahe dralconfiguration[1 ,2 ] .Metallacrownisaspecialclassofmetalla macrocyle,theyareanalogoustocrownethersinbothstructureandfunctionexceptthatthemetalionsarenowtakingthepositionsofcoordinationatomsincrownether[3,4] .Themetallacrownswithdifferentnumberof [M—N—O]repeatunithavedifferentcavitysizes,suchas 9 MC 3[5 7] ,12 MC 4 [4,8 1 4 ] and 15 MC 5 [1 5] .Thereportedazameta…     

Studies on syntheses of biscrown ether compounds

Multi-ester type biscrown ether compound(I) was prepared by the reaction of 6-bromoacetacetic ester dibenzo-16-crown-5(7) with phenyl-methyl ether-2,6-diformic acid potassium salt in anhydrous DMF at refluxed temperature, and color biscrown ether compound(II) was prepared by the reaction of 4′-aminobenzo-15-crown-5(12) with 2,2′(O-formoyl naphthyl)ethyl ether (9) in anhydrous ethanol at 40 C under N₂. New compounds(I, II) were characterized by IR,¹H NMR, MS and elemental analysis. Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China Niu Changrong: born in December, 12, 1938, Professor     

Solution of Cauchy’s problem for wave equations in higher space dimensions by means of D’Alembert’s formula

A simple method for solving Cauchy’s problem of wave equations in higher space dimensions with initial condition of separated variables, has been given by using D’Alembert’s formula and some examples have been shown. Foundation item: Supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Hubei Province (992P0307) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (39970203) Biography: YAO Duan-zheng (1946-), female, Professor, Research direction: mathematical physics and nonlinear optics.     

Crystal structures of catalytic and regulatory subunits of rat protein kinase CK2

Protein kinase CK2 consists of two catalytic subunits (CK2α) and two regulatory subunits (CK2β). Here, we report the crystal structures of rat CK2α mutant (rCK2α-△C, 1—335) and CK2β (rCK2β). The overall topology of rCK2α-△C and rCK2β are very similar to the human enzyme, although large structural differences could be observed in the N-terminal domain of rCK2α-△C. Our reported structure of rCK2α-△C is in the close conformation state while the counterpart hCK2α is in the open conformation state, indi- cating ...     

Cellulose-hydrogen production from corn stalk biomass by anaerobic fermentation

Cellulose-hydrogen production from corn stalk by lesser panda manure was carried out in batch tests and a 5 L scale-up continuously stirred anaerobic bioreactor(CSABR),respectively.The bio-pretreatment of corn stalk was found most effective at 25℃ using microbe additive of 7.5 g/kg,in which the yields of soluble saccharides(SS) and lactic acid were 212 mg/g-TS and 21 mg/g-TS,respectively.The maximum cumulative H2 yield(176 ml/g-TS) and H2 production rate(14.5 ml/g-TS h-1) were obtained at pH 5.5,36℃ by trea...     

Floristic Characteristics of the Rare and Endangered Plants and the Conservation Countermeasures in Tibet, China

The floristic elements and the geographical distribution are analyzed in this paper based on statistics of elements of rare and endangered plants in Tibet. The results have been gained as following:① According to ““““the National Important Wild Conservative Plants List (List 1)““““ and ““““the National Important Wild Conservative Plants List (List 1)““““, there are a total of 54 plant species (48 genera and 33 families); ② The geographical elements are very complicated in Tibet with 12 of 15 distribution patterns of genera classified byacademician Wu; ③ There are obvious temperate genera with 28 genera accounting for 60.40% of the total genera; ④ There are abundant endemic speciesaccounting for 18.52% of total species but poor endemic genera; ⑤ The geographical distribution is uneven and a great of species distribute in the areas be-tween 1 000 m and 3 500 m above sea level; ⑥ To protect the rare and endangered plants efficiently, six conservation measures are proposed, and 35 species are suggested for the conservative plants of the autonomous conservation level.     

Organic media enhanced spectrofluorimetric determination of L-ascorbic acid

A novel spectrofluorimetric method for the determination of L-ascorbic acid is proposed. It is based on the inhibition of L-ascorbic acid on the formation of 2,3-diaminophenazine, which is an oxidation product ofo-phenylenediamine catalyzed by laccase. The fluorescence (at λ_cx/λ_cm=464 nm /530 nnm) was enhanced strongly in the presence of organic media. The mechanism ofo-phenylenediamine oxidation reaction catalyzed by laccase in the presence of L-ascorbic acid is discussed. L-ascorbic acid is determined in the ethanol, 1,4-dioxane and acetone over the linear range of 4.0×10⁻⁷≈1.2×10⁻⁴ mol/L, 4.0×10⁻⁷≈8.0×10⁻⁵ mol/L and 4.0×10⁻⁷≈1.0×10⁻⁴ mol/L with a detection limit of 1.20×10⁻⁵ mol/L, 1.19×10⁻⁵ mol/L and 1.24×10⁻⁸ mol/L, respectively. The method has been successfully applied to the simple and rapid determination of L-ascorbic acid in pharmaceuticals and milk powder. Supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China and the Special Funds of State Education Committe for Doctorate Research Huang Zuyun: born in Aug. 1963. Ph.D