Self‐assembled centimetre‐sized rods obtained in the oxidation of o‐phenylenediamine and aniline

Morphologically well‐defined rods of approximately 1 cm in length are effectively and economically obtained by mixing ortho‐phenylenediamine (30 mmol L^?1) with ammonium persulfate (12.5 mmol L^?1) in an acidic solution (0.37 mol L^?1 HCl) at room temperature with and without the presence of 50 mmol L^?1 aniline. These self‐assembled, morphologically uniform products can be potentially scaled up and used as morphological templates to fabricate well‐defined structures of other materials such as conducting polymers. The products were characterized using Raman, UV‐visible, high‐resolution NMR (¹H and ¹³C) and mass spectroscopies, X‐ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and elemental analysis. Apart from certain differences in visual appearance and in X‐ray diffractograms, other analytical data suggest that there are no structural changes upon addition of aniline into the reaction mixture. NMR and mass spectra imply that all syntheses carried out either with or without aniline result in a mixture of two products, attributed to 2,3‐phenazinediamine and 3‐aminophenazin‐2‐ol. A formation mechanism based on hydrogen bonding and π–π stacking has been proposed. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry     

Antiproliferative and Proapoptotic Activities of Methanolic Extracts from Ligustrum vulgare L. as an Individual Treatment and in Combination with Palladium Complex

The aim of this study is to examine the growth inhibitory effects of methanolic leaf and fruit extracts of L. vulgare on HCT-116 cells over different time periods and their synergistic effect with a Pd(apox) complex. The antiproliferative activity of plant extracts alone or in combination with the Pd(apox) complex was determined using MTT cell viability assay, where the IC(50) value was used as a parameter of cytotoxicity. Results show that antiproliferative effects of L. vulgare extracts increase with extension of exposure time, with decreasing IC(50) values, except for 72 h where the IC(50) values for methanolic leaf extract were lower than for the fruit extract. The Pd(apox) complex alone had a weak antiproliferative effect, but combination with L. vulgare extracts caused stronger effects with lower IC(50) values than with L. vulgare extracts alone. The type of cell death was explored by fluorescence microscopy using the acridin orange/ethidium bromide method. Treatments with plant extracts caused typical apoptotic morphological changes in HCT-116 cells and co-treatments with Pd(apox) complex caused higher levels of apoptotic cells than treatment with plant extracts alone. The results indicate that L. vulgare is a considerable source of natural bioactive substances with antiproliferative activity on HCT-116 cells and which have a substantial synergistic effect with the Pd(apox) complex.     

High value polyurethane resins from rubber seed oil

Rubber seed oil having high free fatty acid content and high unsaturation was used to obtain high quality polyurethane resins through epoxidation and ring opening with methanol and free fatty acids. Two polyols prepared with free fatty acids and without were cured with modified methylene diphenyl diisocyanate to obtain strong, high modulus glassy polyurethanes. The effect of structure on thermal and mechanical properties was analyzed. This showed that the polyol with free fatty acid utilized to obtain a branched structure gave superior crosslinking density and mechanical properties. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry     

A Mathematical Model for the Calculation of the Adhesion of a Flame Sprayed Coating of Aluminum on S 235 JR Steel

In this work the method of response surfaces was used for the purpose of drawing up a mathematical model for the calculation (forecasting) of the adhesion of a flame sprayed coating of powdered aluminum on S 235 JR steel. Experimental work was conducted according to a fractional central-composite design at three levels. The adhesion of the coatings made with combinations of input parameters of the procedure according to the experiment plan mentioned is measured in line with the EN 582 standard. A mathematical model was derived describing the dependence of the experimentally obtained adhesion values on the input parameters of the procedure. The possibility of analyzing the influence of the parameters on the adhesion for a certain combination of input parameters has been presented with the use of perturbation plots.     

Phosphine functionalized polyaniline nanostructures

We study the problem of limited functionalization options for polyaniline through the surface attachment of phosphine coupling reagents. These studied linkers are P(CH₂OH)₃ and Ph₂PCH₂OH, and are attached to both conventional and nanostructured polyaniline. Additionally, model compounds are considered, extending the scope of our analysis. The successful attachment results indicate the potential for further functionalization, using the hydroxymethyl terminal groups of the phosphines for primary and secondary amine chemistry. These results should enable the development of sensitive and molecule-specific polyaniline-based devices.     

Rigid polyurethane foams based on soybean oil

Both HCFC‐ and pentane‐blown rigid polyurethane foams have been prepared from polyols derived from soybean oil. The effect of formulation variables on foam properties was studied by altering the types and amounts of catalyst, surfactant, water, crosslinker, blowing agent, and isocyanate, respectively. While compressive strength of the soy foams is optimal at 2 pph of surfactant B‐8404, it increases with increasing the amount of water, glycerin, and isocyanate. It also increases linearly with foam density. These foams were found to have comparable mechanical and thermoinsulating properties to foams of petrochemical origin. A comparison in the thermal and thermo‐oxidative behaviors of soy‐ and PPO‐based foams revealed that the former is more stable toward both thermal degradation and thermal oxidation. The lack of ether linkages in the soy‐based rather than in PPO‐based polyols is thought to be the origin of improved thermal and thermo‐oxidative stabilities of soy‐based foams. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 77: 467–473, 2000     

Influence of Rare-Earth Dopants on Barium Titanate Ceramics Microstructure and Corresponding Electrical Properties

In this article, ytterbium and erbium oxides are used as doping materials for barium titanate (BaTiO₃) materials. The amphoteric behavior of these rare-earth ions leads to the increase of dielectric permittivity and decrease of dielectric losses. BaTiO₃ ceramics doped with 0.01–0.5 wt% of Yb₂O₃ and Er₂O₃ were prepared by conventional solid-state procedure and sintered at 1320°C for 4 h. In BaTiO₃ doped with a low content of rare-earth ions (0.01 wt%) the grain size ranged between 10 and 25 μm. With the higher dopant concentration of 0.5 wt%, the abnormal grain growth is inhibited and the grain size ranged between 2 and 10 μm. The measurements of capacitance and dielectric losses as a function of frequency and temperature have been carried out in order to correlate the microstructure and dielectric properties of doped BaTiO₃ ceramics. The temperature dependence of the dielectric constant as a function of dopant amount has been investigated.     

Integration of Data from Liquid–Liquid Phase Separation Databases Highlights Concentration and Dosage Sensitivity of LLPS Drivers

Liquid–liquid phase separation (LLPS) is a molecular process that leads to the formation of membraneless organelles, representing functionally specialized liquid-like cellular condensates formed by proteins and nucleic acids. Integrating the data on LLPS-associated proteins from dedicated databases revealed only modest agreement between them and yielded a high-confidence dataset of 89 human LLPS drivers. Analysis of the supporting evidence for our dataset uncovered a systematic and potentially concerning difference between protein concentrations used in a good fraction of the in vitro LLPS experiments, a key parameter that governs the phase behavior, and the proteomics-derived cellular abundance levels of the corresponding proteins. Closer scrutiny of the underlying experimental data enabled us to offer a sound rationale for this systematic difference, which draws on our current understanding of the cellular organization of the proteome and the LLPS process. In support of this rationale, we find that genes coding for our human LLPS drivers tend to be dosage-sensitive, suggesting that their cellular availability is tightly regulated to preserve their functional role in direct or indirect relation to condensate formation. Our analysis offers guideposts for increasing agreement between in vitro and in vivo studies, probing the roles of proteins in LLPS.     

Lipids and Antiplatelet Therapy: Important Considerations and Future Perspectives

Lipids play an essential role in platelet functions. It is known that polyunsaturated fatty acids play a role in increasing platelet reactivity and that the prothrombotic phenotype plays a crucial role in the occurrence of major adverse cardiovascular events. The ongoing increase in cardiovascular diseases’ incidence emphasizes the importance of research linking lipids and platelet function. In particular, the rebound phenomenon that accompanies discontinuation of clopidogrel in patients receiving dual antiplatelet therapy has been associated with changes in the lipid profile. Our many years of research underline the importance of reduced HDL values for the risk of such a rebound effect and the occurrence of thromboembolic events. Lipids are otherwise a heterogeneous group of molecules, and their signaling molecules are not deposited but formed “on-demand” in the cell. On the other hand, exosomes transmit lipid signals between cells, and the profile of such changes can be monitored by lipidomics. Changes in the lipid profile are organ-specific and may indicate new drug action targets.     

CD73 Overexpression in Podocytes: A Novel Marker of Podocyte Injury in Human Kidney Disease

The CD73 pathway is an important anti-inflammatory mechanism in various disease settings. Observations in mouse models suggested that CD73 might have a protective role in kidney damage; however, no direct evidence of its role in human kidney disease has been described to date. Here, we hypothesized that podocyte injury in human kidney diseases alters CD73 expression that may facilitate the diagnosis of podocytopathies. We assessed the expression of CD73 and one of its functionally important targets, the C-C chemokine receptor type 2 (CCR2), in podocytes from kidney biopsies of 39 patients with podocytopathy (including focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS), minimal change disease (MCD), membranous glomerulonephritis (MGN) and amyloidosis) and a control group. Podocyte CD73 expression in each of the disease groups was significantly increased in comparison to controls (p < 0.001–p < 0.0001). Moreover, there was a marked negative correlation between CD73 and CCR2 expression, as confirmed by immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence (Pearson r = −0.5068, p = 0.0031; Pearson r = −0.4705, p = 0.0313, respectively), thus suggesting a protective role of CD73 in kidney injury. Finally, we identify CD73 as a novel potential diagnostic marker of human podocytopathies, particularly of MCD that has been notorious for the lack of pathological features recognizable by light microscopy and immunohistochemistry.