Effects of native β-D-glucan and three β-D-glucan phosphates, GP-2, GP-4, and GP-5, on TNF-α (A) and IL-6 (B) production by RAW264.7 cells.

<p>RAW264.7 cells were treated as <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0103494#pone-0103494-g005" target="_blank">Fig. 5</a>. After incubation, the TNF-α and IL-6 concentrations in the supernatant were detected using commercial kits. The data represent the means ± SD. *<i>p</i><0.05, **<i>p</i><0.01 compared with control. Each point represents the average of three independent experiments.</p

β-D-glucan phosphates prepared under different operation conditions.

a<p>weight ratio of β-D-glucan : sodium hexametaphosphate [(NaPO₃)₆].</p><p>ND not detected.</p

FTIR spectra of insoluble β-D-glucan particles NG and soluble β-D-glucan phosphate GP-2 and GP-4 prepared by planetary ball milling.

<p>FTIR spectra of insoluble β-D-glucan particles NG and soluble β-D-glucan phosphate GP-2 and GP-4 prepared by planetary ball milling.</p

³¹P NMR spectra of insoluble β-D-glucan particles NG, β-D-glucan phosphate GP-2 prepared by planetary ball milling, and sodium hexametaphosphate (NaPO₃)₆ milled alone.

<p>³¹P NMR spectra of insoluble β-D-glucan particles NG, β-D-glucan phosphate GP-2 prepared by planetary ball milling, and sodium hexametaphosphate (NaPO₃)₆ milled alone.</p

Effects of native β-D-glucan and three β-D-glucan phosphates, GP-2, GP-4, and GP-5, on cell proliferation (A) and neutral red uptake (B) of RAW264.7 cells. RAW264.7 cells were treated with NG or GP (50, 100, and 500 µg/mL) or LPS (10, 100, and 1000 ng/mL) in different concentrations as described in the Materials and Methods.

<p>After incubation, the viability of RAW264.7 cells was measured by an MTT assay, and the A₅₇₀ value was recorded, whereas the amount of neutral red uptake was detected by the A₅₄₀ value. The data represent the means ± SD. *<i>p</i><0.05, **<i>p</i><0.01 compared with control. Each point represents the average of three independent experiments.</p

Water as Co-Hydrogen Donor in Reductive Aminations

Reductive amination generates an important reaction in fine chemical synthesis. The employment of water as the hydrogen donor for reductive amination might solve the long-time hydrogen supply problem. Here, we present our new results on reductive <i>N-</i>methylation reactions of amine with paraformaldehyde with water as the co-hydrogen donor catalyzed by a simple supported nanogold catalyst, i.e., Au/Al₂O₃. <i>N-</i>Methyl amines or <i>N</i>,<i>N</i>-dimethyl amines can be selectively synthesized with excellent yields. Isotope tracing reactions confirmed the transformation of hydrogen from water in the final product. In addition, this method can be applied in the <i>N</i>-methylation reactions of bioactive molecules with excellent performance. This concept may supply a potential methodology for sustainable reductive amination

Sustainable Catalytic Amination of Diols: From Cycloamination to Monoamination

<i>N</i>-Alkyl amines are extensively applied in the synthesis of functional materials, pharmaceuticals, and pesticides. The reaction of diols with amines is attractive and has been investigated for more than 30 years by using iridium, ruthenium, and other catalysts. However, the main products with diols as starting materials, especially for C₄–C₆ diols, are N-heterocyclic compounds because cyclization reaction is favorable in thermodynamics. Here, for the first time, a simple and non-noble catalyst CuNiAlO_<i>x</i> prepared by a coprecipitation method was developed for the reaction of C₄–C₆ diols with amines to give monoamination products. This method offers an efficient and environmentally friendly method for the selective monoamination of diols

Reductive Amination of Aldehydes and Amines with an Efficient Pd/NiO Catalyst

<div><p></p><p>By applying a simple Pd/NiO catalyst, the reductive amination of amines and aldehydes can progress efficiently under mild reaction conditions, and 24 substituted amines with different structures were synthesized with up to 98% isolated yields.</p> </div

Cell transmission model of dynamic assignment for urban rail transit networks

<div><p>For urban rail transit network, the space-time flow distribution can play an important role in evaluating and optimizing the space-time resource allocation. For obtaining the space-time flow distribution without the restriction of schedules, a dynamic assignment problem is proposed based on the concept of continuous transmission. To solve the dynamic assignment problem, the cell transmission model is built for urban rail transit networks. The priority principle, queuing process, capacity constraints and congestion effects are considered in the cell transmission mechanism. Then an efficient method is designed to solve the shortest path for an urban rail network, which decreases the computing cost for solving the cell transmission model. The instantaneous dynamic user optimal state can be reached with the method of successive average. Many evaluation indexes of passenger flow can be generated, to provide effective support for the optimization of train schedules and the capacity evaluation for urban rail transit network. Finally, the model and its potential application are demonstrated via two numerical experiments using a small-scale network and the Beijing Metro network.</p></div

Direct, Rapid, Facile Photochemical Method for Preparing Copper Nanoparticles and Copper Patterns

We develop a facile method for preparing copper nanoparticles and patterned surfaces with copper stripes by ultraviolet (UV) irradiation of a mixture solution containing a photoinitiator and a copper–amine coordination compound. The copper–amine compound is formed by adding diethanol amine to an ethanol solution of copper chloride. Under UV irradiation, free radicals are generated by photoinitiator decomposition. Meanwhile, the copper–amine coordination compound is rapidly reduced to copper particles because the formation of the copper–amine coordination compound prevents the production of insoluble cuprous chloride. Poly­(vinylpyrrolidone) is used as a capping agent to prevent the aggregation of the as-prepared copper nanoparticles. The capping agent increases the dispersion of copper nanoparticles in the ethanol solution and affects their size and morphology. Increasing the concentration of the copper–amine coordination compound to 0.1 M directly forms a patterned surface with copper stripes on the transparent substrate. This patterned surface is formed through the combination of the heterogeneous nucleation of copper nanoparticles and photolithography. We also investigate the mechanism of photoreduction by UV–vis spectroscopy and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry