Sex Hormones Changes in Blood and Their Effect on Fecundity of African Catfish (Clarias gariepinus Burchell, 1822) after Being Injected with Different Doses of Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (HCG) Hormone

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of different dosesinjection of human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) hormone on fecundityand serum sex hormones (FSH, LH, estrogen (E2), progesterone (P4),testosterone (T)) of African catfish (Clarias gariepinus). African catfishspawners were intermuscularly injected with different doses of HCG(500, 1500, 3000, 6000 IU/kg female), and group is not injected as acontrol; males were injected at half the female dose. The results showedthat, fish group injected by 6000 IU HCG/ kg female had the highestgonadsomatic index, absolute fecundity and relative fecundity, while,the lowest value of absolute fecundity and relative fecundity wererecorded with 500 IU HCG/ kg female. The group injected with thehighest amount of HCG (6000 IU/ kg female) recorded the lowest valuefrom egg diameter, while the highest egg diameter was observed in 500IU HCG/ kg female. In females, the group injected with 6000 IU HCG/kg female reflected the lowest level of FSH and the highest level of LHand the highest level of P4 compared to other treatments. Level of Trecorded the highest level with 1500 IU HCG/ kg female. The controlgroup reflected the highest level of FSH and E2, while the control groupreflected the lowest level of T and P4 level. In males, serum FSH, LH,P4 and E2 in male groups injected with HCG were relatively higher thanthose recorded in the control group. The highest level of T was recordedin treatment injected with the highest dose of HCG and decreased inother treatments until recorded the lowest level of T in the controlgroup. It was observed, HCG hormone has successfully and accelerateinduced spawning in African catfish (Clarias gariepinus) and increasedin reproductive performance with the increase in HCG dosage and ascompared to group not injected

p-Methoxy Azobenzene Terpolymer as a Promising Energy-Storage Liquid Crystal System

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS OKAZ, JH, and ARI would like to acknowledge the Sultan Qaboos University for its support through His Majesty’s Trust Fund for Strategic Research (SR/SCI/CHEM/18/01) and Internal Grant (IG/SCI/CHEM/21/03). SMA and NFKA would like to acknowledge Malaysian Ministry of Higher Education for the grant number 600-IRMI/FRGS 5/3 (374/2019). AMF would like to acknowledge the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland, for the Research Incentive Grant RIG008586, the Royal Society and Specac Ltd., for the Research Grant GS\R1\201397, the Royal Society of Chemistry for the award of a mobility grant (M19-0000), and the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the Scottish Government, for the award of a SAPHIRE project.Peer reviewedPostprin

Insights into the molecular interaction between sucrose and α-chymotrypsin

© 2018 Elsevier B.V. One of the most important purposes of enzyme engineering is to increase the thermal and kinetic stability of enzymes, which is an important factor for using enzymes in industry. The purpose of the present study is to achieve a higher thermal stability of α-chymotrypsin (α-Chy) by modification of the solvent environment. The influence of sucrose was investigated using thermal denaturation analysis, fluorescence spectroscopy, circular dichroism, molecular docking and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. The results point to the effect of sucrose in enhancing the α-Chy stability. Fluorescence spectroscopy revealed one binding site that is dominated by static quenching. Molecular docking and MD simulation results indicate that hydrogen bonding and van der Waals forces play a major role in stabilizing the complex. Tm of this complex was enhanced due to the higher H-bond formation and the lower surface hydrophobicity after sucrose modification. The results show the ability of sucrose in protecting the native structural conformation of α-Chy. Sucrose was preferentially excluded from the surface of α-Chy which is explained by the higher tendency of water toward favorable interactions with the functional groups of α-Chy than with sucrose

Quinazolin-4-one/3-cyanopyridin-2-one Hybrids as Dual Inhibitors of EGFR and BRAFV600E^{V600E}: Design, Synthesis, and Antiproliferative Activity

A novel series of hybrid compounds comprising quinazolin-4-one and 3-cyanopyridin-2-one structures has been developed, with dual inhibitory actions on both EGFR and BRAFV600E. These hybrid compounds were tested in vitro against four different cancer cell lines. Compounds 8, 9, 18, and 19 inhibited cell proliferation significantly in the four cancer cells, with GI50 values ranging from 1.20 to 1.80 µM when compared to Doxorubicin (GI50 = 1.10 µM). Within this group of hybrids, compounds 18 and 19 exhibited substantial inhibition of EGFR and BRAFV600E. Molecular docking investigations provided confirmation that compounds 18 and 19 possess the capability to inhibit EGFR and BRAFV600E. Moreover, computational ADMET prediction indicated that most of the newly synthesized hybrids have low toxicity and minimal side effects

Design, Synthesis, and Biological Evaluation of Novel 3-Cyanopyridone/Pyrazoline Hybrids as Potential Apoptotic Antiproliferative Agents Targeting EGFR/BRAFV600E^{V600E} Inhibitory Pathways

A series of novel 3-cyanopyridone/pyrazoline hybrids (21–30) exhibiting dual inhibition against EGFR and BRAFV600E has been developed. The synthesized target compounds were tested in vitro against four cancer cell lines. Compounds 28 and 30 demonstrated remarkable antiproliferative activity, boasting GI50 values of 27 nM and 25 nM, respectively. These hybrids exhibited dual inhibitory effects on both EGFR and BRAFV600E pathways. Compounds 28 and 30, akin to Erlotinib, displayed promising anticancer potential. Compound 30 emerged as the most potent inhibitor against cancer cell proliferation and BRAFV600E. Notably, both compounds 28 and 30 induced apoptosis by elevating levels of caspase-3 and -8 and Bax, while downregulating the antiapoptotic Bcl2 protein. Molecular docking studies confirmed the potential of compounds 28 and 30 to act as dual EGFR/BRAFV600E inhibitors. Furthermore, in silico ADMET prediction indicated that most synthesized 3-cyanopyridone/pyrazoline hybrids exhibit low toxicity and minimal adverse effects

Time-dependent photoionization of azulene: Optically induced anisotropy on the femtosecond scale

We measure the photoionization cross-section of vibrationally excited levels in the S2 state of azulene by femtosecond pump-probe spectroscopy. At the wavelengths studied (349-265 nm in the pump) the transient signals exhibit two distinct and well-defined behaviours: (i) Short-term (on the order of a picosecond) polarization dependent transients and (ii) longer (10 ps - 1 ns) time-scale decays. This letter focuses on the short time transient. In contrast to an earlier study by Diau et al.22 [J. Chem. Phys. 110 (1999) 9785.] we unambiguously assign the fast initial decay signal to rotational dephasing of the initial alignment created by the pump transition.Comment: Chemical Physics Letters (2008

Two is Better Than One? Investigating the Effect of Incorporating Re(CO)₃Cl Side-Chains into Pt(II) Diynes and Polyynes

Pt(II) di-ynes and poly-ynes incorporating 5,5’- and 6,6’-disubstituted 2,2’-bipyridines were prepared following conventional Sonogashira and Hagihara dehydrohalogenation reaction protocols. Using Pt(II) dimers and polymers as a rigid-rod backbone, four new hetero-bimetallic compounds incorporating Re(CO)3Cl as a pendant functionality in the 2,2’-bipyridine core were obtained. The new hetero-bimetallic Pt-Re compounds were characterized by analytical and spectroscopic techniques. The solid state structures of a Re(I)-coordinated diterminal alkynyl ligand and a representative model compound were determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Detailed photo-physical characterization of the hetero-bimetallic Pt(II) di-ynes and poly-ynes was carried out. We find that the incorporation of the Re(CO)3Cl pendant functionality in the 2,2’-bipyridine-containing main-chain Pt(II) di-ynes and poly-ynes has a synergistic effect on the optical properties, red shifting the absorption profile and introducing strong long-wavelength absorptions. The Re(I) moiety also introduces strong emission into the monomeric Pt(II) di-yne compounds, whereas this is suppressed in the poly-ynes. The extent of the synergy depends on the topology of the ligands. Computational modelling was performed to compare the energetic stabilities of the positional isomers and to understand the microscopic origin of the major optical absorptions. We find that 5,5’-disubstituted 2,2’-bipyridine systems are better candidates in terms of yield, photophysical properties and stability than their 6,6’-substituted counterparts. Overall, this work provides an additional synthetic route to control the photo-physical properties of metalla-ynes for a variety of optoelectronic applications

Two is Better Than One? Investigating the Effect of Incorporating Re(CO)₃Cl Side-Chains into Pt(II) Diynes and Polyynes

Pt(II) di-ynes and poly-ynes incorporating 5,5’- and 6,6’-disubstituted 2,2’-bipyridines were prepared following conventional Sonogashira and Hagihara dehydrohalogenation reaction protocols. Using Pt(II) dimers and polymers as a rigid-rod backbone, four new hetero-bimetallic compounds incorporating Re(CO)3Cl as a pendant functionality in the 2,2’-bipyridine core were obtained. The new hetero-bimetallic Pt-Re compounds were characterized by analytical and spectroscopic techniques. The solid state structures of a Re(I)-coordinated diterminal alkynyl ligand and a representative model compound were determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Detailed photo-physical characterization of the hetero-bimetallic Pt(II) di-ynes and poly-ynes was carried out. We find that the incorporation of the Re(CO)3Cl pendant functionality in the 2,2’-bipyridine-containing main-chain Pt(II) di-ynes and poly-ynes has a synergistic effect on the optical properties, red shifting the absorption profile and introducing strong long-wavelength absorptions. The Re(I) moiety also introduces strong emission into the monomeric Pt(II) di-yne compounds, whereas this is suppressed in the poly-ynes. The extent of the synergy depends on the topology of the ligands. Computational modelling was performed to compare the energetic stabilities of the positional isomers and to understand the microscopic origin of the major optical absorptions. We find that 5,5’-disubstituted 2,2’-bipyridine systems are better candidates in terms of yield, photophysical properties and stability than their 6,6’-substituted counterparts. Overall, this work provides an additional synthetic route to control the photo-physical properties of metalla-ynes for a variety of optoelectronic applications

Polymeric seal degradation in nuclear power plants: Determination of physical and mechanical properties

o assess the suitability of different materials as polymeric seals in the Nuclear Industry three commercial samples of nitrile rubber at grades BA40, BA50, and BA60 have been tested. Differential scanning calorimetry was used to find the glass transition temperature (Tg) and a Lloyds Texture Analyser 500 (TA500) was used to find the ratio of energy returned during relaxation against energy applied during compression. The mechanical properties determined from these experiments were then compared against the materials infrared spectra to infer structural characteristics. These were in turn cross-analyzed against the materials ability to swell in a liquid solvent and absorption behavior in a gaseous solvent. From this information, a statement could be made about each material's capacity to perform as a seal. It was thus found that the high energy retention and low absorption characteristics of BA40 made this material the best choice out of those studied for use as a polymeric seal in the nuclear industry