3β,11α-Dihy­droxy-12-ursen-3-yl palmitate

In the title compound, C46H80O3, a natural ursane-type triperpenoid, four of the five six-membered rings adopt chair conformations; the fifth, which has a C=C double bond, adopts an approximate half-boat conformation. In the crystal, mol­ecules are linked by O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds, forming chains along [010]

Effects of condensed tannins from Leucaena on methane reduction, rumen fermentation and populations of methaogens and protozoa in vitro

Different levels of purified condensed tannins (CT) extracted from Leucaena leucocephala hybrid-Rendang (LLR) were investigated for their effects on CH4 production, rumen fermentation parameters such as pH, dry matter (DM) degradability, N disappearance and volatile fatty acid (VFA) concentrations, as well as on populations of rumen methanogenic archaea and protozoa in vitro. Purified CT concentrations of 0 (control), 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 mg, and 500 mg of oven dried guinea grass (Panicum maximum) with 40 ml of buffered rumen fluid were incubated for 24 h using an in vitro gas production procedure. Total gas (ml/g DM) decreased at a decreasing rate (linear P < 0.01; quadratic P < 0.05) with increased levels of CT inclusion. CH4 production (ml/g DM) decreased at a decreasing rate (linear P < 0.01; quadratic P < 0.01) with increasing levels of CT. Total VFA concentration (mmol/L) decreased at a decreasing rate (linear P < 0.01; quadratic P < 0.01) with increasing CT inclusions. In vitro DM degradation and N disappearance declined linearly (P < 0.01) with increasing levels of CT. Estimates of rumen methanogenic archaea and protozoa populations using microbiological methods and real-time PCR assay showed linear reductions in total methanogens (P < 0.01) and total protozoa (P < 0.01) with increasing levels of CT. Methanogens in the order Methanobacteriales also declined, but with quadratic and cubic aspects. Results suggest that CT from LLR at a relatively low level of 15 mg of CT/500 mg DM reduce CH4 production by 47%, with only 7% reduction in degradation of feed DM. However, higher CT inclusions, while further reducing CH4 emissions, have substantive negative effects on DM digestibility

Imprinting and Promoter Usage of Insulin-Like Growth Factor II in Twin Discordant Placenta

Case reports from infant twins suggest that abnormal genomic imprinting may be one of the important causes of twin discordance, but it is unknown whether abnormal genomic imprinting occurs in the placenta. Therefore, we sought to determine the relationship between the imprinting of insulin-like growth factor II (IGF-II) in placenta and twin discordance. We analyzed the imprinting and promoter usage of IGF-II in placenta of normal twins (T0 group), weight discordance (T1 group), and phenotype discordance (T2 group). We found the incidence of loss of imprinting (LOI) for IGF-II was higher in the T2 group than that in the T0 and T1 groups, while there was no difference between T0 and T1 groups. The transcripts of promoter 3 were lower in the T2 group than in the T0 and T1 groups, and lower in the twin placenta with LOI than in those with normal imprinting. Our findings indicate that the promoter 3 specific LOI of the IGF-II gene may be closely related with phenotype discordance, not weight discordance

Identification and determination of the major constituents in traditional Chinese medicine Longdan Xiegan Pill by HPLC-DAD-ESI-MS

AbstractA novel and sensitive HPLC-UV method has been developed for the simultaneous determination of twelve major compounds in Longdan Xiegan Pill. The chemical profile of the twelve compounds, including geniposidic acid (1), geniposide(2), gentiopicroside(3), liquiritin(4), crocin(5), baicalin(6), wogonoside(7), baicalein(8), glycyrrhizic acid (9), wogonin (10), oroxylin A (11) and aristolochic acid A (12), was acquired using high-performance liquid chromatography-diode array detector coupled with an electrospray tandem mass spectrometer (HPLC-DAD-ESI-MS). The analysis was performed on a Dikma Platisil ODS C18 column (250mm × 4. 6mm, 5μm) with a gradient solvent system of acetonitrile-0. 1% aqueous formic acid. The validation was carried out and the linearities (r>0. 9996), repeatability (RSD<1. 8%), intra- and inter-day precision (RSD< 1. 3%), and recoveries (ranging from 96. 6% to 103. 4%) were acceptable. The limits of detection (LOD) of these compounds ranged from 0.29 to 4. 17ng. Aristolochic acid A, which is the toxic ingredient, was not detected in all the batches of Longdan Xiegan Pill. Furthermore, hierarchical cluster analysis was used to evaluate the variation of the herbal prescription. The proposed method is simple, effective and suitable for the quality control of this traditional Chinese medicine (TCM)

{1,8-Bis[2-(2-oxidobenzyl­idene­amino)phen­oxy]-3,6-dioxaocta­ne}nitrato­praseodymium(III) trichloro­methane solvate

In the title compound, [Pr(C32H30N2O6)(NO3)]·CHCl3, the PrIII ion is ten-coordinated by eight O atoms and two N atoms from the acyclic crown-type Schiff base ligand and the bidentate nitrate group. The coordination polyhedron around PrIII is a distorted bicapped square anti­prism. The chloro­form solvent mol­ecule is not involved either in coordination to the PrIII center or in hydrogen bonding to the complex. The Pr—O(phenolate) bonds are significantly shorter than the Pr—O(ether) and Pr—O(nitrate) bonds, which suggests that the Pr—O(phenolate) bond is stronger than these other bonds. In the crystal structure, the acyclic crown-type Schiff base ligand wraps around the PrIII centre, forming a pseudo-ring

Optimized antimicrobial and antiproliferative activities of titanate nanofibers containing silver

Titanate nanofibers containing silver have been demonstrated through the experiments reported herein to have effective antifungal and antiproliferative activities in the presence of UV light. The titanate nanofibers containing silver can be fabricated by means of ion exchange followed by a topochemical process in an environment suitable for reductive reactions. Excellent antibacterial, antifungal, and antiproliferative activities could be demonstrated by both Ag2Ti5O11 · xH2O and Ag/titanate (UV light irradiation) due to their unique structures and compositions, which have photocatalytic activities to generate reactive oxygen species and capabilities to continuously release the silver ions. Therefore these materials have the potential to produce a membrane for the treatment of superficial malignant tumor, esophageal cancer, or cervical carcinoma. They may also hold utility if incorporated into a coating on stents in moderate and advanced stage esophageal carcinoma or for endoscopic retrograde biliary drainage. These approaches may significantly reduce infections, inhibit tumor growth, and importantly, improve quality of life and prolong survival time for patients with tumors