The mechanisms of boronate ester formation and fluorescent turn-on in ortho-aminomethylphenylboronic acids

ortho-Aminomethylphenylboronic acids are used in receptors for carbohydrates and various other compounds containing vicinal diols. The presence of the o-aminomethyl group enhances the affinity towards diols at neutral pH, and the manner in which this group plays this role has been a topic of debate. Further, the aminomethyl group is believed to be involved in the turn-on of the emission properties of appended fluorophores upon diol binding. In this treatise, a uniform picture emerges for the role of this group: it primarily acts as an electron-withdrawing group that lowers the pK(a) of the neighbouring boronic acid thereby facilitating diol binding at neutral pH. The amine appears to play no role in the modulation of the fluorescence of appended fluorophores in the protic-solvent-inserted form of the boronic acid/boronate ester. Instead, fluorescence turn-on can be consistently tied to vibrational-coupled excited-state relaxation (a loose-bolt effect). Overall, this Review unifies and discusses the existing data as of 2019 whilst also highlighting why o-aminomethyl groups are so widely used, and the role they play in carbohydrate sensing using phenylboronic acids

Performance, carcass characteristics and economics of production of broilers fed diets containing Gliricidia sepium leaf meal as replacement for soya bean meal

This study was conducted to assess the growth performance, carcass traits and economics of production of broiler fed soya bean replaced with gliricidia sepium leaf meal diet. One hundred, 4 weeks old broiler chickens were randomly distributed to five treatments of two replicates with t10 birds per replicate. The birds were fed trial diets containing 0, 10, 20, 30 and 40% levels of soya bean replaced with G. sepium leaf meal for five weeks. Parameters measured included weight gain, weight of feed consumed, feed gain ratio, price per kg of feed, price per kg of broiler and weights of carcass parts among others. Data were analyzed using Analysis of Variance. Results showed that weight gain were not significantlyinfluenced (P>0.05) by the dietary treatments. Feeding trial exerted effects on feed intake however, feed gain ratio and feed efficiency were not significantly different (P>0.05). No significant difference (P>0.05) was observed in thigh, wing and breast muscle weights of the birds fed G. sepium meal substituted diet however, liver weight was significantly affected by the diet. Price/kg of feed reduced with increased G. sepium in the diets but the cost per/kg animal produced was not significantly affected (P>0.05). It could therefore be suggested that soya bean meal could be replaced with G. sepium leaf meal up to 40% level without adverse effect on performance and weights of major primal parts of the bird. This will also reduce thecost of feed and competition for soya beans between man and livestock industry

Morphometric Attributes and Differentiation of Selected Indigenous Cattle Breeds in Nigeria

Population differentiation of farm animals is used for objective choice of parental genotypes that constitutes new hybrids in crossbreeding. In Nigeria, population characteristics of selected indigenous cattle breeds have not been fully documented. Therefore, morphometric attributes of selected indigenous cattle breeds in Nigeria were assessed. Three hundred and one (301) White Fulani (WF), 242 Red Bororo (RB), 247 Sokoto Gudali (SG), 233 Bornu Kuri (BK) and 184 Muturu cattle in the age group of 3 to 31/2 years were purposively sampled from Gombe, Kaduna, Niger and Ogun States. Eighteen (18) morphometric parameters were measured using standard procedures. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, cluster analysis and Euclidean genetic distance. The EL (cm) for WF (23.86±3.08), SG (24.17±3.82), RB (24.07±3.74) and BK (24.17±3.15) were significantly higher than that of Muturu (14.62±2.01). The Foreleg length (FLL) and tail length (TL) of WF, SG, RB and BK were significantly longer than that of Muturu. Muturu has a significantly shorter TL than WF, SG, RB and BK. The longest genetic distance at the morphometric level was 146 between Muturu and BK and shortest (44) between BK and RB. Differences existed in face length, rear leg length, wither height and rump height of the various breeds of cattle.Keywords: Breed differentiation; Genetic distance; Indigenous cattle; Morphometricattributes

A new electrode for acid-base titration based on poly(copper phthalocyanine)

A new electrode based on poly(copper phthalocyanine) (poly(CuPc)) microparticles attached to gold is characterized and introduced as a simple, robust, and cheap tool for potentiometric acid-base titrations

Enhanced Optical Limiting Behavior of an Indium Phthalocyanine–Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube Composite: An Investigation of the Effects of Solvents

The nonlinear optical behavior of 2(3),9(10),16(17),23(24)-tetrakis-(4-aminophenoxy) phthalocyaninato indium (III) chloride (2) and its carbon nanotube composite in dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) and dimethylformamide (DMF) solutions is described. The nonlinear third-order susceptibility and second-order hyperpolarizability values are also reported. A large nonlinear absorption that increased on covalent linking with single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) was observed for the compound in DMSO. The nanosecond nonlinear absorption and the optical limiting behavior of this complex are shown to be dominated by a strong excited state absorption from a two-photon pumped state. The optical limiter using the new nanocomposite material (SWCNT-2) in the appropriate solvent showed a much lower threshold for optical limiting together with a much lower transmission at high fluences than previously reported nanocomposite limiters. The optical properties of the phthalocyanine and its conjugate were found to show high sensitivity toward the change of solvent matrix