Electrified Water as a Regulator of Cell Proliferation

It was previously found that the electric charge of water determines its ability to interact with other substances, including biologically significant ones. It is shown here that the electric charge of water can also determine its ability to penetrate and accumulate in living cells. In particular, it has been shown that the high penetrating ability of positively charged water determines both its active penetration into cells and accumulation in them, which creates favourable conditions for cell proliferation. At the same time, it has been shown that the low penetrating ability of negatively charged water determines its ability to slow down cell  proliferation. It also discusses how medics can obtain and use water at different charges

Russia’s Foreign Policy Evolution in the New Balkan Landscape

The article reflects on the issue of the foreign policy strategy of modern Russia in the Balkans region. One of the most significant aspects of this problem is the difference in views between Russia and the West. Authors show how different interpretations of the events in former Yugoslavia in the 1990s and the beginning of the 2000s predetermined the sense of mutual suspicion and mistrust which spread to other regions such as the post-Soviet space. Exploring differences between the Russian and the Western (Euro-Atlantic) views on the current matters, authors draw attention to fundamental differences in terminology: while the Western narrative promotes more narrow geographical and political definitions (such as the Western Balkan Six), traditional Russian experts are more inclined to wider or integral definitions such as “the Balkans” and “Central and Southeast Europe”. Meanwhile none of these terms are applicable for analysis of the current trends such as the growing transit role of the Balkans region and its embedding in the European regional security architecture. Therefore, a new definition is needed to overcome the differences in vision and better understand significant recent developments in the region. Conceptualizing major foreign policy events in Central and Southeast Europe during the last three decades (the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s), authors demonstrate the significance of differences in tools and methods between the Soviet Union and the modern Russia. Permanent need for adaptation to changing political and security context led to inconsistence in Russian Balkan policy in the 1990s. Nevertheless, Russia was able to preserve an integral vision of the region and even to elaborate new transregional constructive projects, which in right political circumstances may promote stability and become beneficial for both Russia and the Euro-Atlantic community

Nature of the of polymorphism of salt crystals in the aspect of arborization diagnostic method

Background. A method of medical diagnostics, called arborization (or ferning), is widely used. Despite this, nature of arborization of biological liquids remains unclear. As it is not enough, we tried to reveal the physical basis of arborization. Objective. To make known the physical and chemical bases of salts polymorphism, including arborization. Results. It was found that a crystal shapes that had been formed upon evaporation of saline solutions depends on the value of the electric potential of such solutions also on the value of the electric charge of the surface on which crystals are formed. It has been particularly found that the evaporation of solutions with positive electric potential is accompanied by the formation of cubic crystals and the evaporation of solutions with negative electric potential is accompanied by the formation of needle-like crystals. It was shown that the cubic crystals of NaCl, the basic salt component of human biological fluids, are formed on the positively charged surface of activated carbon. It was also shown that the needle-shaped crystals of NaCl are formed on the negatively charged surface of silica gel. Conclusion. Various forms of the crystals formed during evaporation of biological liquids of women, reflect the cyclic change in electric potential in such liquids during the menstrual cycle. Citation: Pivovarenko YuV. Nature of the of polymorphism of salt crystals in the aspect of arborization diagnostic method. Morphologia. 2016;10(1):72-6

3-Hy­droxy-2-(4-hy­droxy­phen­yl)-4H-chromen-4-one

In the title compound, C15H10O4, the benzene ring is twisted at an angle of 20.7 (1)° relative to the 4H-chromene skeleton. In the crystal, adjacent mol­ecules are linked via a network of O—H⋯O and C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds. The mean planes of adjacent 4H-chromene moieties are parallel or oriented at an angle of 20.9 (1)° in the crystal structure

2-(Furan-2-yl)-3-hy­droxy-4H-chromen-4-one

In the crystal structure of the title compound, C13H8O4, the inversely oriented mol­ecules form inversion dimers through pairs of O—H⋯O hydrogen-bonding inter­actions. An intramolecular O—H⋯O hydrogen bond occurs. In the packing of the mol­ecules, the nearly planar 2-(furan-2-yl)-4H-chromene units [dihedral angle between the chromene and furan rings = 3.8 (1)°] are either parallel or inclined at an angle of 80.7 (1)°

2-(4-Fluoro­phen­yl)-3-hy­droxy-4H-chromen-4-one

In the crystal structure of the title compound, C15H9FO3, inversely oriented mol­ecules form inversion dimers through pairs of O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds. The benzene ring is twisted at an angle of 12.0 (1)° relative to the 4H-chromene skeleton of the mol­ecule. Adjacent 4H-chromene units are parallel in a given column or oriented at an angle of 50.0 (1)° in neighboring, inversely oriented, columns, forming a herringbone pattern

Non-coordinating anions assemble cyanine amphiphiles into ultra-small fluorescent nanoparticles

A non-coordinating anion, fluorinated tetraphenylborate, assembles specially designed cationic cyanine amphiphiles into 7–8 nm fluorescent nanoparticles that are >40-fold brighter than a single cyanine dye. This kind of anion, combining hydrophobic and electrostatic forces in aqueous media, constitutes promising building blocks in the self-assembly of functional nanomaterials

In Vivo Behavior of the Antibacterial Peptide Cyclo[RRRWFW], Explored Using a 3-Hydroxychromone-Derived Fluorescent Amino Acid

Labeling biomolecules with fluorescent labels is an established tool for structural, biochemical, and biophysical studies; however, it remains underused for small peptides. In this work, an amino acid bearing a 3-hydroxychromone fluorophore, 2-amino-3-(2-(furan-2-yl)-3-hydroxy-4-oxo-4H-chromen-6-yl)propanoic acid (FHC), was incorporated in a known hexameric antimicrobial peptide, cyclo[RRRWFW] (cWFW), in place of aromatic residues. Circular dichroism spectropolarimetry and antibacterial activity measurements demonstrated that the FHC residue perturbs the peptide structure depending on labeling position but does not modify the activity of cWFW significantly. FHC thus can be considered an adequate label for studies of the parent peptide. Several analytical and imaging techniques were used to establish the activity of the obtained labeled cWFW analogues toward animal cells and to study the behavior of the peptides in a multicellular organism. The 3-hydroxychromone fluorophore can undergo excited-state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT), resulting in double-band emission from its two tautomeric forms. This feature allowed us to get insights into conformational equilibria of the labeled peptides, localize the cWFW analogues in human cells (HeLa and HEK293) and zebrafish embryos, and assess the polarity of the local environment around the label by confocal fluorescence microscopy. We found that the labeled peptides efficiently penetrated cancerous cells and localized mainly in lipid-containing and/or other nonpolar subcellular compartments. In the zebrafish embryo, the peptides remained in the bloodstream upon injection into the cardinal vein, presumably adhering to lipoproteins and/or microvesicles. They did not diffuse into any tissue to a significant extent during the first 3 h after administration. This study demonstrated the utility of fluorescent labeling by double-emission labels to evaluate biologically active peptides as potential drug candidates in vivo