Search results for "CONSTANT"
showing 10 items of 1718 documents
Constant, cycling, hot and cold thermal environments: strong effects on mean viability but not on genetic estimates
2012
It has frequently been suggested that trait heritabilities are environmentally sensitive, and there are genetic trade-offs between tolerating different environments such as hot and cold or constant and fluctuating temperatures. Future climate predictions suggest an increase in both temperatures and their fluctuations. How species will respond to these changes is uncertain, particularly as there is a lack of studies which compare genetic performances in constant vs. fluctuating environments. In this study, we used a nested full-sib/half-sib breeding design to examine how the genetic variances and heritabilities of egg-to-adult viability differ at high and low temperatures with and without da…
Polyfunctional recognition of pyridinedicarboxylate anions with macrocyclic polyamine receptors containing heteroaromatic groups.
2008
The interaction of the biologically relevant anions deriving from the six pyridinedicarboxylic acids (H2PDC) with two macrocyclic receptors containing a pentamine chain and a bipyridine (1) or a phenanthroline (2) moiety, as well as with the aliphatic analogue [21]aneN7 (3), was studied by means of spectroscopic methods (UV-vis, NMR) and potentiometric titrations affording the stability constants of the adducts formed. All three receptors form stable complexes with the substrates thanks to the formation of several salt bridges and hydrogen bond contacts, as observed in the crystal structure of the H8[3(2,6-PDC)4] x H2O x 0.5 EtOH solid compound. Additional pi-stacking interactions between t…
Effect of laboratory procedures on the integrity of a sandy-loam soil sample for bi-directional measurement of saturated hydraulic conductivity
2011
Practical and validated methods to measure anisotropy of saturated, Ks, or field-saturated, Kfs, soil hydraulic conductivity on a single soil sample are still lacking. The objective of this investigation was to test factors affecting anisotropy measured in a sandy-loam soil by the constant-head laboratory permeameter and the modified cube method. The ratio, RK, between the conductivity results obtained with a long (6 h) and a short (0.5 h) duration run varied from a minimum of 0.29 to a maximum of 0.88 with the considered experimental procedure, differing by both the employed constant-head device (Mariotte bottle, siphon) and the initial soil water content (unsaturated, saturated). Maximum …
Tin(IV) catalyzed D-galacturonic acid anomerization
2008
A comparative kinetic study of anomerization between the four main forms (alpha/beta-pyranosides and alpha/beta-furanosides) of D-galacturonic acid (GalAH(2), 1) and tin(IV) complexed D-galacturonate ([Sn(CH(3))(2)(GalA)(H(2)O)(2)], 2) in D(2)O, is reported. Important differences are shown by pD vs. mutarotation rate profiles of 1 and 2. Coordination, in fact, causes: i) a spectacular increase of the rate due to kinetic template assistance of the carboxylic tail holding the metal in close proximity to the reactive centre and ii) a change in the dependence of the rate on the pD. Entropic and enthalpic factors contribute to the huge activation energy decrease in 2. Anomerization rates of the …
Supramolecular interactions of hexacyanocobaltate(III) with polyamine receptors containing a terminal anthracene sensor
2003
Abstract The fluorescence emission properties of a series of chemosensors containing a polyamine receptor bearing an anthracene signaling unit were studied. The fluorescence emission intensity is dependent on the protonation degree of the receptor, the fully protonated form exhibiting the highest emission intensity. By removing protons from the nitrogens a quenching effect can be observed, due to an electron-transfer from the amine to the excited fluorophore. The rate constant of the quenching process is exponentially dependent on the distance of the nitrogen from which the electron is transferred (β=0.6 A−1). The ability of the chemosensors for signaling anions was tested through the model…
Fine tuning of the photophysical properties of cofacial diporphyrins via the use of different spacers
2002
The crystal and molecular structures of two unmetallated diporphyrin species using the biphenylene and dibenzofuran spacers, H4(DPB) and H4(DPO), respectively (DPB 4 − =1,8-bis[5-(2,8,13,17-tetraethyl-3,7,12,18-tetramethylporphyrinyl)]biphenylene; DPO 4 − =4,6-bis[5-(2,8,13,17-tetraethyl-3,7,12,18-tetramethylporphyrinyl)]dibenzofuran), are reported. These data are compared to their literature metallated analogs, stressing on the properties related to the flexibility of the ligands, ··· and M···M interactions. In addition, the lowest energy fluorescence properties of these non-phosphorescent diporphyrin compounds as well as three other related species, H4(DPA), H4(DPX), and H4(DPS) (DPA 4 − …
Peptides of the Constant Region of Antibodies Display Fungicidal Activity
2012
Synthetic peptides with sequences identical to fragments of the constant region of different classes (IgG, IgM, IgA) of antibodies (Fc-peptides) exerted a fungicidal activity in vitro against pathogenic yeasts, such as Candida albicans, Candida glabrata, Cryptococcus neoformans, and Malassezia furfur, including caspofungin and triazole resistant strains. Alanine-substituted derivatives of fungicidal Fc-peptides, tested to evaluate the critical role of each residue, displayed unaltered, increased or decreased candidacidal activity in vitro. An Fc-peptide, included in all human IgGs, displayed a therapeutic effect against experimental mucosal and systemic candidiasis in mouse models. It is in…
Theoretical Determination of the pK a Values of Betalamic Acid Related to the Free Radical Scavenger Capacity: Comparison Between Empirical and Quant…
2015
Health benefits of dietary phytochemicals have been suggested in recent years. Among 1000s of different compounds, Betalains, which occur in vegetables of the Cariophyllalae order (cactus pear fruits and red beet), have been considered because of reducing power and potential to affect redox-modulated cellular processes. The antioxidant power of Betalains is strictly due to the dissociation rate of the acid moieties present in all the molecules of this family of phytochemicals. Experimentally, only the pK a values of betanin were determined. Recently, it was evidenced it was evidenced as the acid dissociation, at different environmental pHs, affects on its electron-donating capacity, and fur…
Nanosponges for the protection and release of the natural phenolic antioxidants quercetin, curcumin and phenethyl caffeate
2020
The inclusion of polyphenols into nanoporous materials may significantly improve their application as radical trapping agents for therapeutic purposes. In the present work, nanosponges based on hypercross- linked cyclodextrins and calixarenes (NS1–NS3) were used as carriers of three natural phenolic antioxidants: quercetin (Que), curcumin (Cur) and phenethyl caffeate (Phec). Good w/w loadings, namely 7.3% for the Que–NS1 composite, 17.3% for Cur–NS2 and 12.9% for Phec–NS3, were achieved. The release kinetics and the inhibition rate constants (kinh) of the reaction with alkylperoxyl radicals (ROO.) in 0.1 M phosphate buffer solutions at pH 7.4 were studied and indicated better antioxidant ac…
Betacyanins as phenol antioxidants. Chemistry and mechanistic aspects of the lipoperoxyl radical-scavenging activity in solution and liposomes.
2009
Reaction kinetics of betanin and its aglycone betanidin towards peroxyl radicals generated from the azo-initiated oxidation of methyl linoleate in methanol, and of a heterogeneous aqueous/soybean phosphatidylcholine liposomal system, were studied by monitoring formation of linoleic acid hydroperoxides and consumption of the pigments. Betanin was a weak retarder in methanol, and an effective chain breaking antioxidant in the liposomal model, indicating that kinetic solvent effects and partition in lipid bilayers may affect its activity. Betanidin behaved as a chain terminating antioxidant in both models. Kinetic parameters characterizing peroxyl radical-scavenging activity showed that betani…