Biochemical Effects of Meditation: A Literature Review

Meditation is an activity that can help reduce stress and anxiety from daily life as well as help cultivate overall feel- ings of peacefulness, relaxation, and contentment. This review describes several studies that have been used to assess how meditation can influence the body at the molecular level. The presented results focus on small-molecule metab- olites, which are broadly defined as naturally-produced molecules that weigh less than approximately 1000 Da. The results show that meditation can significantly affect hormones and neurotransmitters such as cortisol, dehydroepi- androstrone, serotonin, melatonin, and epinephrine. Some common and modern experimental techniques that are relevant to these studies are also discussed, as well as some challenges of accurately interpreting the results. Overall, understanding the molecular-level effects of meditation can provide a more detailed understanding of its physiologi- cal effects because many of the affected molecules are known to be linked to changes in stress responses and mood

Bistability in organic magnetic materials: a comparative study of the key differences between hysteretic and non-hysteretic spin transitions in dithiazolyl radicals

Dithiazolyl (DTA)- based radicals have furnished many examples of organic spin- transition materials, some of them occurring with hysteresis and some others without. Herein, we present a combined computational and experimental study aimed at deciphering the factors controlling the existence or absence of hysteresis by comparing the phase transitions of 4- cyanobenzo- 1,3,2- dithiazolyl and 1,3,5trithia- 2,4,6- triazapentalenyl radicals, which are prototypical examples of non- bistable and bistable spin transitions, respectively. Both materials present low- temperature diamagnetic and high- temperature paramagnetic structures, characterized by dimerized (center dot center dot center dot A-A center dot center dot center dot A-A center dot center dot center dot) n and regular (center dot center dot center dot A center dot center dot center dot A center dot center dot center dot A center dot center dot center dot A center dot center dot center dot) n pi- stacks of radicals, respectively. We show that the regular pi-stacks are not potential energy minima but average structures arising from a dynamic inter-conversion between two degenerate dimerized configurations: (center dot center dot center dot A-A center dot center dot center dot A-A center dot center dot center dot)n (-A center dot center dot center dot A-A center dot center dot center dot A-)n. The emergence of this intrastack dynamics upon heating gives rise to a second-order phase transition that is responsible for the change in the dominant magnetic interactions of the system. This suggests that the promotion of a (center dot center dot center dot A-A center dot center dot center dot A-A center dot center dot center dot)n (-A center dot center dot center dot A-A center dot center dot center dot A-) n dynamics is a general mechanism for triggering spin transitions in DTA-based materials. Yet, this intra-stack dynamics does not suffice to generate bistability, which also requires a rearrangement of the intermolecular bonds between the pstacks via a first-order phase transition

How to Identify-with as Little as One Question-Students Who Are Likely to Struggle in Undergraduate Organic Chemistry

Our goal as educators should be to help our students become well positioned to achieve future success. To develop effective strategies for accomplishing this objective, we must first understand the root causes of success. Thus, to best serve undergraduate students who are taking organic chemistry courses, we must understand the attributes that most significantly enable students to be successful in these courses. The current work evaluates an assessment of undergraduate students’ abilities to answer simple general chemistry questions on the first day of an organic chemistry course. The results show that this assessment, as well as some but not all of its component questions, have high ability to predict student outcomes in an organic chemistry 1 course. This type of assessment can provide a tool for instructors to easily identify high-risk students right at the beginning of the semester. The results of this study also identify some particular prerequisite knowledge and skills that are especially important for positioning students to succeed in organic chemistry courses. © 2023 American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc

Incorporating an Intelligent Tutoring System into the DiscoverOChem Learning Platform

The current work develops intelligent tutoring aspects for the DiscoverOChem learning platform. Intelligent tutoring systems are technology-based learning systems that can adapt the learning experience to better serve individual users. DiscoverOChem (www.discoverochem.com) is a free Internet-based platform for learning undergraduate-level organic chemistry. Data from previous years of students were used to analyze how well individual students performed on various pages of the platform. Correlations between pairs of pages were analyzed. Predictive models, which use a user’s results on previous pages to predict that user’s likely performance on upcoming pages, were developed and evaluated. The most successful set of models, which utilizes random forests of one-branch decision trees, was incorporated into the DiscoverOChem platform as a recommender system. This system helps individual users to identify pages that are likely to challenge them and provides targeted recommendations about which previous pages to review in order to help them become better prepared to succeed on the upcoming page. We anticipate that learners will benefit from this new individualization of their learning experiences. We also anticipate that the general 6-step framework that was used to develop this system will be broadly useful for creating intelligent learning platforms for other subjects as well. American Chemical Society. Published 2023 by American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc

Challenges and Strategies for Synthesizing Glutamyl Hydrazide Containing Peptides

Herein, we detail several specific challenges that hinder the effective synthesis of glutamyl hydrazide containing peptides, and we describe a synthetic strategy to work around these challenges. Glutamyl hydrazide is an unnatural amino acid residue that bears an acyl hydrazide functional group on its side chain. This family of compounds has the potential to provide potent and selective inhibitor molecules for several families of enzymes. During peptide synthesis, however, these side chains-even in protected form-can derail the synthesis by initiating undesired side reactions. Avoiding these side reactions is critical for enabling effective access to this family of compounds. © 2022. Thieme. All rights reserved. Funding for this work was provided by Clark University. N.S.M. acknowledges a Gustaf H. Carlson Summer Research Fellowship. S.I. acknowledges a summer fellowship provided through Clark University’s Global Scholars program. J.P.M. acknowledges a summer fellowship from PCI Synthesis In

Using <i>N</i>-Nitrosodichloroacetamides to Conveniently Convert Linear Primary Amines into Alcohols

<div><p></p><p>The reported rearrangement of <i>N</i>-nitrosodichloroacetamides provides a practicalmethod for converting primary amines into primary alcohols. The reaction sequence is operationally simple, requires only a single purification, and is compatible with a number of common functional groups. Mechanistic studies of the nitrosylation and rearrangement reactions illustrate the increased utility of dichloroacetamides compared to various other amides for this transformation.</p></div

Comparing hydrazine-derived reactive groups as inhibitors of quinone-dependent amine oxidases

Lysyl oxidase has emerged as an important enzyme in cancer metastasis. Its activity has been reported to become upregulated in several types of cancer, and blocking its activity has been shown to limit the metastatic potential of various cancers. The small-molecules phenylhydrazine and β-aminopropionitrile are known to inhibit lysyl oxidase; however, issues of stability, toxicity, and poorly defined mechanisms limit their potential use in medical applications. The experiments presented herein evaluate three other families of hydrazine-derived compounds – hydrazides, alkyl hydrazines, and semicarbazides – as irreversible inhibitors of lysyl oxidase including determining the kinetic parameters and comparing the inhibition selectivities for lysyl oxidase against the topaquinone-containing diamine oxidase from lentil seedlings. The results suggest that the hydrazide group may be a useful core functionality that can be developed into potent and selective inhibitors of lysyl oxidase and eventually find application in cancer metastasis research

Reprogramming Urokinase into an Antibody-Recruiting Anticancer Agent

Synthetic compounds for controlling or creating human immunity have the potential to revolutionize disease treatment. Motivated by challenges in this arena, we report herein a strategy to target metastatic cancer cells for immune-mediated destruction by targeting the urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR). Urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) and uPAR are overexpressed on the surfaces of a wide range of invasive cancer cells and are believed to contribute substantially to the migratory propensities of these cells. The key component of our approach is an <u>a</u>ntibody-<u>r</u>ecruiting <u>m</u>olecule that targets the <u>u</u>rokinase receptor (ARM-U). This bifunctional construct is formed by selectively, covalently attaching an antibody-binding small molecule to the active site of the urokinase enzyme. We demonstrate that ARM-U is capable of directing antibodies to the surfaces of target cancer cells and mediating both antibody-dependent cellular phagocytosis (ADCP) and antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) against multiple human cancer cell lines. We believe that the reported strategy has the potential to inform novel treatment options for a variety of deadly, invasive cancers