Occurrence of wax esters and 1-O-alkyl-2,3-diacylglycerols in goat epididymal sperm plasma membrane

Two unusual lipid classes were detected by thin-layer chromatography in the neutral lipids derived from goat cauda-epididymal sperm plasma membrane. The lipids were identified as wax esters and 1-O-alkyl-2,3-diacylglycerols based on chromatographic properties, identity of their hydrolysis products, and infrared/¹H nuclear magnetic resonance spectral evidence. The membrane containedca. 3 and 5 μg/mg protein of wax esters and alkyldiacylglycerols, respectively. The relative proportions of wax esters and alkyldiacylglycerols in the total neutral lipids were 1.5% and 2.4%, respectively. The lipids contained fatty acids with chain lengths of C₁₄ to C₂₂. The major fatty acids of the wax esters were 14∶0, 16∶0, 16∶1ω7, 18∶0 and 18∶1ω9. The fatty acids in alkyldiacylglycerol were 16∶0, 18∶0, 22∶5ω3 and 22∶6ω3. Alkyldiacylglycerol was particularly rich in docosahexaenoic acid 22∶6ω3) representing 30% of the total fatty acids. The alcohols of wax ester were all saturated with C₂₀–C₂₉ carbon chains. The deacylated products derived from alkyldiacylglycerols were identified as hexadecyl, octadecyl and octadec-9′-enyl glycerol ethers.     

Influence of different polyesters and their molecular weight on the textural and electrooptical behavior of polymer‐dispersed liquid crystals

The textural and electrooptical behavior of a nematic liquid crystal (LC) dispersed in a flexible and rigid polyester was studied. The dispersion of LC in the polymer matrix and light transmission through the polymer‐dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) is governed by the nature of the polymer, its molecular weight, and the applied voltage. It was observed that the transmission of light and the dispersion of LC maximizes their respective values at the minimum molecular weight irrespective of the nature of the polymer and at the maximum voltage. The reason is the predominance of chain alignment over entanglement at the minimum molecular weight. As molecular weight increases, the transmission of light as well as the dispersion of LC in the polymer may increase or decrease depending on the predominance of chain entanglement or chain alignment. The alignment of LC droplets in the direction of the applied voltage is increased by an increase in the applied voltage, causing enhancement of the light transmission. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 87: 284–289, 2003     

Instability due to Viscosity Stratification Downstream of a Centerline Injector

A common injector geometry upstream of a static mixer is the centerline injector. A flow instability can arise due to viscosity differences between the injected core‐flow and the outer co‐flow. This instability can adversely affect the effectiveness of the mixing operation. An experimental investigation of miscible viscosity‐stratified flow in a circular geometry was performed using Laser Induced Fluorescence (LIF) and Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV). The experimental results for the stable region agree with the analytical results. The unstable region exhibits different modes depending on the viscosity ratio, volume flux ratio, and Reynolds number. The modes include wavy core‐flow with fissures and wavy core‐flow with core breakup. The time‐averaged experiment velocity profiles for the unstable core indicate a broadening of the jet at the centerline, which is consistent with the LIF visualization.     

Effect of omega fatty acid-rich oil blend supplementation on the growth,carcass, meat quality,and gene expression of Barbari goats

This study investigated the effect of supplementing omega fatty acids-rich oil blend, composed of sunflower oil (1.5% and 3.0%), linseed oil (1.5% and 3.0%), and FineXNV1810 (20 g) on the carcass, meat quality, fatty acid profile, and genes (peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-α, stearoyl-CoA desaturase, acetyl-CoA carboxylase, hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A, and leptin) of Barbari goats. The goat kids (n = 18) were divided into three groups, namely, group A: basal diet; group B: basal diet + oil blend level 1; and group C: basal diet + oil blend level 2, and subjected to the feeding trial for 120 days followed by slaughter and meat quality studies. No treatment effect was recorded in carcass characteristics, pH, water holding capacity, and proximate composition of meat. However, a significant (p < 0.05) treatment effect was observed in cooking loss, lightness, yellowness, and shear force values of meat. There were significant differences (p < 0.05) in linoleic acid, α-linolenic acids, conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA), n − 3 and n − 6 PUFA, PUFA/saturated fatty acids and n − 6/n − 3 ratios, and thrombogenic index among groups. An upregulation of the studied genes in the supplemented groups was observed. There were upregulations in the studied genes in the supplemented groups. Practical applications: Goat meat is in great demand the world over, especially in tropical countries, including India, and does not carry any social or religious prohibition. Although goat meat has relatively less fat, consumers express their concern over the presence of undesirable fatty acids. The present study shows that the fatty acid configuration of goat meat can be improved by a dietary supplementation of an oil blend rich in omega fatty acids. The amount of n − 3 PUFA, n − 6 PUFA, and CLA in goat meat was significantly increased due to the dietary oil blend making it healthy for the consumers. Moreover, the dietary oil blend at the studied levels did not significantly affect the growth and meat quality parameters of the goats. Thus, the studied approach can be successfully followed to produce healthier goat meat.     

Synthesis of Red-Light-Responsive Pheophorbide-a Tryptamine Conjugated Photosensitizers for Photodynamic Therapy

Six methyl pheophorbide-a derivatives were prepared by linking a tryptamine side chain at the C-13 ¹ , C-15 ² and C-17 ³ positions of pheophorbide-a. P repared conjugates were characterized and evaluated for their photocytotoxicity against A549 cells. The conjugate 6 a with strong absorption at 413 nm (Soret band), 663–671 nm (Q bands) and comparable fluorescence quantum yield (0.26) was found to exhibit significant cytotoxicity (659 nM). Molecular integration of pheophorbide-a and tryptamines showed synergistic effects as the most potent conjugate 6 a was identified with enhanced photocytotoxicity when compared to methyl pheophorbide-a. T he conjugate 6 a was smoothly taken up by A549 cells and exhibited intracellular localization predominantly to lysosome in the cytoplasm. Upon photoirradiation 6 a generated singlet oxygen to show potent cytotoxicity toward A549 cells.     

Chromophore‐Linked Substrate (CLS405): Probing Metallo‐β‐Lactamase Activity and Inhibition

Serine‐ and metallo‐β‐lactamases present a threat to the clinical use of nearly all β‐lactam antibiotics, including penicillins, cephalosporins, and carbapenems. Efforts to develop metallo‐β‐lactamase (MBL) inhibitors require suitable screening platforms to allow the rapid determination of β‐lactamase activity and efficient inhibition. Unfortunately, the platforms currently available are not ideal for this purpose. Further progress in MBL inhibitor identification requires inexpensive and widely applicable assays. Herein the identification of an inexpensive and stable chromogenic substrate suitable for use in assays of clinically relevant MBLs is described. (6R,7R)‐3‐((4‐Nitrophenoxy)methyl)‐8‐oxo‐7‐(2‐phenylacetamido)‐5‐thia‐1‐azabicyclo[4.2.0]oct‐2‐ene‐2‐carboxylic acid 5,5‐dioxide (CLS405) was synthesised in a three‐step protocol. CLS405 was then characterised spectroscopically, and its stability and kinetic properties evaluated. With a Δλ_max value of 100 nm between the parent and hydrolysis product, a higher analytical accuracy is possible with CLS405 than with commonly used chromogenic substrates. The use of CLS405 in assays was validated by MBL activity measurements and inhibitor screening that resulted in the identification of N‐hydroxythiazoles as new inhibitor scaffolds for MBLs. Further evaluation of the identified N‐hydroxythiazoles against a panel of clinically relevant MBLs showed that they possess inhibitory activities in the mid‐ to low‐micromolar range. The findings of this study provide both a useful tool compound for further inhibitor identification, and novel scaffolds for the design of improved MBL inhibitors with potential as antibiotics against resistant strains of bacteria.     

Indole‐based polymer and its silver nanocomposite as advanced antibacterial agents: synthetic path,kinetics of polymerization and applications

Atom transfer radical polymerization of 1‐allylindole‐3‐carbaldehyde (AIC) was studied by employing 2‐bromoisobutyryl bromide as initiator in toluene. It led to controlled radical polymerization of AIC, with an increase of molecular weight along with the conversion of the monomer, and a relatively narrow molar mass distribution was obtained, as determined by gel permeation chromatography. The living nature of poly(1‐allylindole‐3‐carbaldehyde) (PAIC) was confirmed by the chain extension polymerization whereas ¹H NMR analysis showed that the major population of PAIC retained the chain‐end functional group. PAIC and its silver nanocomposite were found to be biologically active against some tested bacterial pathogens. Minimum inhibitory concentration tests revealed that PAIC exhibited antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Proteus mirabilis and Klebsiella pneumonae whereas PAIC/Ag nanocomposite showed antibacterial activity against Enterococcus faecalis and K. pneumonae. © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry     

The fast reaction asymptote of the coalescence-redispersion model

The coalescence-redispersion (CRD) model is examined in the fast chemistry limit for the single bimolecular reaction A+B M R and the series parallel reactions A+B M R;B+R M S occurring in a plug flow reactor with unmixed feed streams. For the single bimolecular reaction it is shown that in this limit the CRD model is asymptotically equivalent to the 3E fast closure as t M 0. For the series parallel reactions the CRD model predictions tend to be bracketed by the 3E slow and fast closure formulations. Representative results are presented for the variance decay of the individual reactants, and it is seen that even in the fast reaction limit where mixing is controlling, the shape of the feed stream PDFs has negligible influence on the progress of the reaction.