This study investigated a natural indicator for acid-base titration which is extracted from guinea corn leaves popularly called “waakye leaves” in Ghana. Four types of acid-base titration were studied: strong acid v...This study investigated a natural indicator for acid-base titration which is extracted from guinea corn leaves popularly called “waakye leaves” in Ghana. Four types of acid-base titration were studied: strong acid versus (v/s) strong base, strong acid versus weak base, weak acid versus strong base, and weak acid versus weak base. The indicator color change, pH range and the average titre values were determined for each type of acid-base titration. These values were comparable to those obtained from three standard indicators: methyl orange, methyl red and phenolphthalein. Total flavonoids (TF) and condensed tannin (CT) from the crude leaves extract were determined which might be the major reasons for the activity of the extract as an indicator for simple acid-base titration. The authors suggest that the natural indicator is cheap, available, simple to extract, user and environmentally friendly and could be an excellent replacement for standard indicators.展开更多
The use of silver metal for hydrodeoxygenation(HDO) applications is scarce and different studies have indicated of its varying HDO activity. Several computational studies have reported of silver having almost zero tur...The use of silver metal for hydrodeoxygenation(HDO) applications is scarce and different studies have indicated of its varying HDO activity. Several computational studies have reported of silver having almost zero turnover frequency for HDO owing to its high C\\O bond breaking energy barrier and low carbon and oxygen binding energies.Herein this work, titania supported silver catalysts were synthesized and firstly used to examine its phenol HDO activity via experimental reaction runs. BET, XRD, FESEM, TEM, EDX, ICP–OES, Pyridine-FTIR, NH_3-TPD and H_2-TPD analyses were done to investigate its physicochemical properties. Phenomena of hydrogen spillover and metal–acid site synergy were examined in this study. With the aid of TiO_2 reducible support, hydrogen spillover and metal–acid site interactions were observed to a certain extent but were not as superior as other Pt, Pd, Ni-based catalysts used in other HDO studies. The experimental findings showed that Ag/TiO_2 catalyst has mediocre phenol conversion but high benzene selectivity which confirms the explanation from other computational studies.展开更多
Glutamic acid-salicylaldehyde Schiff-base metal complexes are bound into bovine serum albumin （BSA）, which afforded BSA binding Schiff-base metal complexes （BSA-SalGluM, M=Cu, Co, Ni, Zn）. The BSA binding metal co...Glutamic acid-salicylaldehyde Schiff-base metal complexes are bound into bovine serum albumin （BSA）, which afforded BSA binding Schiff-base metal complexes （BSA-SalGluM, M=Cu, Co, Ni, Zn）. The BSA binding metal complexes were characterized by UV-vis spectra and Native PAGE. It showed that the protein structures of BSA kept after coordinating amino acid Schiff-bases metal complexes. The effect of the antioxidant activity was investigated. The results indicate that the antioxidant capacity of BSA increased more than 10 times after binding Schiff-base metal complexes.展开更多
The surface acidity of synthetic amorphous AI hydroxide was determined by acid/base titration with several complementary methods including solution analyses of the reacted solutions and XRD characterization of the rea...The surface acidity of synthetic amorphous AI hydroxide was determined by acid/base titration with several complementary methods including solution analyses of the reacted solutions and XRD characterization of the reacted solids. The synthetic specimen was characterized to be the amorphous material showing four broad peaks in XRD pattern. XRD analyses of reacted solids after the titration experiments showed that amorphous AI hydroxide rapidly transformed to crystalline bayerite at the alkaline condition （pH〉10）. The solution analyses after and during the titration Ksp=^aAl^3＋/aH^＋^3 ,was 10^10.3. The amount of consumption of added acid or base during the titration experiment was attributed to both the protonation/deprotonation of dissolved AI species and surface hydroxyl group. The surface acidity constants, surface hydroxyl density and specific surface area were estimated by FITEQL 4.0.展开更多
FT IR, Raman microscopy, XRD, 29 Si and 27 Al MAS NMR, were used to investigate changes in surface properties of a natural illite sample after acid base potentiometric titration. The characteristic ...FT IR, Raman microscopy, XRD, 29 Si and 27 Al MAS NMR, were used to investigate changes in surface properties of a natural illite sample after acid base potentiometric titration. The characteristic XRD lines indicated the presence of surface Al Si complexes, preferable to Al(OH) 3 precipitates. In the microscopic Raman spectra, the vibration peaks of Si O and Al O bonds diminished as a result of treatment with acid, then increased after hydroxide back titration. The varied ratio of signal intensity between IV Al and VI Al species in 27 Al MAS NMR spectra, together with the stable BET surface area after acidimetric titration, suggested that edge faces and basal planes in the layer structure of illite participated in dissolution of structural components. The combined spectroscopic evidence demonstrated that the reactions between illite surfaces and acid leaching silicic acid and aluminum ions should be considered in the model description of surface acid base properties of the aqueous illite.展开更多
The following article has been retracted due to the investigation of complaints received against it. The Editorial Board found that the paper has been submitted to other journals at the same time. The scientific commu...The following article has been retracted due to the investigation of complaints received against it. The Editorial Board found that the paper has been submitted to other journals at the same time. The scientific community takes a very strong view on this matter, and the International Journal of Organic Chemistry treats all unethical behavior seriously. This paper published in Vol. 2 No.2 166-171, 2012, has been removed from this site.展开更多
Novel human interferon alpha 2b (hIFNα2b) muteins were developed by substituting cysteine residue (C) at positions 2 and 99 with aspartic acid residues (D). The mutein forms were then studied for pharmacokinetic prof...Novel human interferon alpha 2b (hIFNα2b) muteins were developed by substituting cysteine residue (C) at positions 2 and 99 with aspartic acid residues (D). The mutein forms were then studied for pharmacokinetic profile. In addition, the influence of charge on the protein structure was tested in vivo for the biodistribution pattern. Codon substitutions were performed by Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)-based site-directed mutagenesis on a previously constructed synthetic hIFNα2b open reading frame (ORF) cloned in pET32b expression plasmid. The result of nucleotide sequencing analysis confirmed that all codons were replaced successfully without any additional mutation. Three mutant forms of hIFNα2b ORF were overexpressed in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) resulted in three muteins: hIFNα2b C2D, hIFNα2b C99D, hIFNα2b C2D C99D. To follow the kinetic and localization of the mutein interferon after intravenous administration, Tc99m was used to label the proteins. In particular of elimination half-life, it was shown that hIFNα2b C2D C99D > hIFNα2bC2D > hIFNα2bC99D > wild type. hIFNα2b C2D C99D mutein showed highest blood accumulation after 30 minutes administration. Taken together, the charge of hIFNα2b seems to be responsible for the fate of hIFNα2b in vivo.展开更多
Precisely designed protein-based nanodrugs, as a kind of colloidal drug system, have attracted significant attention in tumor therapy because of their refined drug loading ratio, controlled delivery efficacy and natur...Precisely designed protein-based nanodrugs, as a kind of colloidal drug system, have attracted significant attention in tumor therapy because of their refined drug loading ratio, controlled delivery efficacy and natural biocompatibility. However, most drugs are conjugated to the protein carriers randomly without specific binding sites. Moreover, such sites could easily be replaced by lipophilic molecules in the physiological environment and result in low delivery efficiency. With strong and specific binding locations especially comparatively narrow spatial binding sites and nonflexible structure, hemin (FePPIX)-free hemoglobin or apohemoglobin (apoHb), as a natural metalloporphyrin protein carrier, represents great potential in bioapplication. Therefore, we herein introduce a folate acid (FA) modified, zinc-substituted hemoglobin (ZnPHb-FA) as a naturally occurring protein matrix-based photosensitizer for cancer photodynamic therapy (PDT). Noncovalent inserted ZnPPIX molecules in apoHb possess an extremely stable property and significant recovered photoproperties with superior biocompatibility and phototoxicity, both in vitro and in vivo. This stability was verified by molecular docking analysis and calculation of binding constant, representing a total of five drug binding sites of apoHb for ZnPPIX molecules, four of which are energetically favorable (△G value of -11.9 kcal/mol), and one which is energetically acceptable (△G value of -9 kcal/mol). Folate acid modification has been shown to efficiently enhance the internalization and retention time of ZnPHb nanodrug. ZnPHb-FA is also an efficient depressor of hemin oxygenase-1 (HO-1), which could, in turn, lower the antioxidant ability of cancer cells by decreasing the production of biiirublin. Results in vitro and in vivo both indicated that the firmly combination of apoHb and ZnPPIX described here represents a novel and efficient protein nanodrug systems for cancer therapy.展开更多
文摘This study investigated a natural indicator for acid-base titration which is extracted from guinea corn leaves popularly called “waakye leaves” in Ghana. Four types of acid-base titration were studied: strong acid versus (v/s) strong base, strong acid versus weak base, weak acid versus strong base, and weak acid versus weak base. The indicator color change, pH range and the average titre values were determined for each type of acid-base titration. These values were comparable to those obtained from three standard indicators: methyl orange, methyl red and phenolphthalein. Total flavonoids (TF) and condensed tannin (CT) from the crude leaves extract were determined which might be the major reasons for the activity of the extract as an indicator for simple acid-base titration. The authors suggest that the natural indicator is cheap, available, simple to extract, user and environmentally friendly and could be an excellent replacement for standard indicators.
基金GSP-MOHE,University of Malaya for fully funding this study through the project number "MO008-2015"Ministry of Higher Education of Malaysia (MOHE) for MyBrain15 (MyPhD) programIPPP for project "PG081-2016A"
文摘The use of silver metal for hydrodeoxygenation(HDO) applications is scarce and different studies have indicated of its varying HDO activity. Several computational studies have reported of silver having almost zero turnover frequency for HDO owing to its high C\\O bond breaking energy barrier and low carbon and oxygen binding energies.Herein this work, titania supported silver catalysts were synthesized and firstly used to examine its phenol HDO activity via experimental reaction runs. BET, XRD, FESEM, TEM, EDX, ICP–OES, Pyridine-FTIR, NH_3-TPD and H_2-TPD analyses were done to investigate its physicochemical properties. Phenomena of hydrogen spillover and metal–acid site synergy were examined in this study. With the aid of TiO_2 reducible support, hydrogen spillover and metal–acid site interactions were observed to a certain extent but were not as superior as other Pt, Pd, Ni-based catalysts used in other HDO studies. The experimental findings showed that Ag/TiO_2 catalyst has mediocre phenol conversion but high benzene selectivity which confirms the explanation from other computational studies.
文摘Glutamic acid-salicylaldehyde Schiff-base metal complexes are bound into bovine serum albumin （BSA）, which afforded BSA binding Schiff-base metal complexes （BSA-SalGluM, M=Cu, Co, Ni, Zn）. The BSA binding metal complexes were characterized by UV-vis spectra and Native PAGE. It showed that the protein structures of BSA kept after coordinating amino acid Schiff-bases metal complexes. The effect of the antioxidant activity was investigated. The results indicate that the antioxidant capacity of BSA increased more than 10 times after binding Schiff-base metal complexes.
文摘The surface acidity of synthetic amorphous AI hydroxide was determined by acid/base titration with several complementary methods including solution analyses of the reacted solutions and XRD characterization of the reacted solids. The synthetic specimen was characterized to be the amorphous material showing four broad peaks in XRD pattern. XRD analyses of reacted solids after the titration experiments showed that amorphous AI hydroxide rapidly transformed to crystalline bayerite at the alkaline condition （pH〉10）. The solution analyses after and during the titration Ksp=^aAl^3＋/aH^＋^3 ,was 10^10.3. The amount of consumption of added acid or base during the titration experiment was attributed to both the protonation/deprotonation of dissolved AI species and surface hydroxyl group. The surface acidity constants, surface hydroxyl density and specific surface area were estimated by FITEQL 4.0.
文摘FT IR, Raman microscopy, XRD, 29 Si and 27 Al MAS NMR, were used to investigate changes in surface properties of a natural illite sample after acid base potentiometric titration. The characteristic XRD lines indicated the presence of surface Al Si complexes, preferable to Al(OH) 3 precipitates. In the microscopic Raman spectra, the vibration peaks of Si O and Al O bonds diminished as a result of treatment with acid, then increased after hydroxide back titration. The varied ratio of signal intensity between IV Al and VI Al species in 27 Al MAS NMR spectra, together with the stable BET surface area after acidimetric titration, suggested that edge faces and basal planes in the layer structure of illite participated in dissolution of structural components. The combined spectroscopic evidence demonstrated that the reactions between illite surfaces and acid leaching silicic acid and aluminum ions should be considered in the model description of surface acid base properties of the aqueous illite.
文摘The following article has been retracted due to the investigation of complaints received against it. The Editorial Board found that the paper has been submitted to other journals at the same time. The scientific community takes a very strong view on this matter, and the International Journal of Organic Chemistry treats all unethical behavior seriously. This paper published in Vol. 2 No.2 166-171, 2012, has been removed from this site.
文摘Novel human interferon alpha 2b (hIFNα2b) muteins were developed by substituting cysteine residue (C) at positions 2 and 99 with aspartic acid residues (D). The mutein forms were then studied for pharmacokinetic profile. In addition, the influence of charge on the protein structure was tested in vivo for the biodistribution pattern. Codon substitutions were performed by Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR)-based site-directed mutagenesis on a previously constructed synthetic hIFNα2b open reading frame (ORF) cloned in pET32b expression plasmid. The result of nucleotide sequencing analysis confirmed that all codons were replaced successfully without any additional mutation. Three mutant forms of hIFNα2b ORF were overexpressed in Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) resulted in three muteins: hIFNα2b C2D, hIFNα2b C99D, hIFNα2b C2D C99D. To follow the kinetic and localization of the mutein interferon after intravenous administration, Tc99m was used to label the proteins. In particular of elimination half-life, it was shown that hIFNα2b C2D C99D > hIFNα2bC2D > hIFNα2bC99D > wild type. hIFNα2b C2D C99D mutein showed highest blood accumulation after 30 minutes administration. Taken together, the charge of hIFNα2b seems to be responsible for the fate of hIFNα2b in vivo.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos.21522501, 21521063, 31701249, and 31601125)Hunan Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos.2018JJ1007 and 2018JJ3037)+1 种基金the keypoint research and invention program of Hunan province (No.2017DK2011)the Science and Technology Development Fund of Macao S.A.R (FDCT, 196/2017/A3).
文摘Precisely designed protein-based nanodrugs, as a kind of colloidal drug system, have attracted significant attention in tumor therapy because of their refined drug loading ratio, controlled delivery efficacy and natural biocompatibility. However, most drugs are conjugated to the protein carriers randomly without specific binding sites. Moreover, such sites could easily be replaced by lipophilic molecules in the physiological environment and result in low delivery efficiency. With strong and specific binding locations especially comparatively narrow spatial binding sites and nonflexible structure, hemin (FePPIX)-free hemoglobin or apohemoglobin (apoHb), as a natural metalloporphyrin protein carrier, represents great potential in bioapplication. Therefore, we herein introduce a folate acid (FA) modified, zinc-substituted hemoglobin (ZnPHb-FA) as a naturally occurring protein matrix-based photosensitizer for cancer photodynamic therapy (PDT). Noncovalent inserted ZnPPIX molecules in apoHb possess an extremely stable property and significant recovered photoproperties with superior biocompatibility and phototoxicity, both in vitro and in vivo. This stability was verified by molecular docking analysis and calculation of binding constant, representing a total of five drug binding sites of apoHb for ZnPPIX molecules, four of which are energetically favorable (△G value of -11.9 kcal/mol), and one which is energetically acceptable (△G value of -9 kcal/mol). Folate acid modification has been shown to efficiently enhance the internalization and retention time of ZnPHb nanodrug. ZnPHb-FA is also an efficient depressor of hemin oxygenase-1 (HO-1), which could, in turn, lower the antioxidant ability of cancer cells by decreasing the production of biiirublin. Results in vitro and in vivo both indicated that the firmly combination of apoHb and ZnPPIX described here represents a novel and efficient protein nanodrug systems for cancer therapy.
