Enhanced Antioxidant Activity of Fresh Fruits through Salicylic Acid/β-CD Hydroalcoholic Gels

Oxidation is an important cause of fruit spoilage, and therefore improving the antioxidant capacity of fresh fruits is beneficial to their preservation. Herein, fresh-cut bananas were used as a type of fresh fruit and soaked in 75% hydroalcoholic gels containing salicylic acid (SA) or SA/β-CD inclusion complex (SA/β-CD). After treatment, they were placed in an atmosphere at 85% relative humidity at 20 °C for 12 days. A significant reduction in spoilage in bananas treated with the hydroalcoholic gels in the presence of SA/β-CD was observed, compared with those treated with gels in the presence or absence of SA. The free-radical-scavenging performances of SA and its complex were investigated using the DPPH (1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazil) method. Based on the results, the significant increase in antioxidant activity was attributed to the fact that the inclusion complex could break the intramolecular hydrogen bonding of SA, thus efficiently eliminating ROS in the fruits. The formation of the inclusion complex was confirmed by experiments and theoretical calculations. Our findings indicate that treatment with SA/β-CD can provide an efficient method of maintaining postharvest quality and extending the shelf life of bananas.

Halogenated Greenhouse Gases Made Global Warming Primarily

Time-series observations of global lower stratospheric temperature (GLST), global land surface air temperature (LSAT), global mean surface temperature (GMST), sea ice extent (SIE) and snow cover extent (SCE), together with observations reported in Paper I, combined with theoretical calculations of GLSTs and GMSTs, have provided strong evidence that ozone depletion and global climate changes are dominantly caused by human-made halogen-containing ozone-depleting substances (ODSs) and greenhouse gases (GHGs) respectively. Both GLST and SCE have become constant since the mid-1990s and GMST/LSAT has reached a peak since the mid-2000s, while regional continued warmings at the Arctic coasts (particularly Russia and Alaska) in winter and spring and at some areas of Antarctica are observed and can be well explained by a sea-ice-loss warming amplification mechanism. The calculated GMSTs by the parameter-free warming theory of halogenated GHGs show an excellent agreement with the observed GMSTs after the natural El Niño southern oscillation (ENSO) and volcanic effects are removed. These results provide a convincing mechanism of global climate change and will make profound changes in our understanding of atmospheric processes. This study also emphasizes the critical importance of continued international efforts in phasing out all anthropogenic halogenated ODSs and GHGs.

Josephson junctions based on amorphous MoGe: prospects for use in superconducting electronics

We have fabricated and characterized all-MoGe Josephson junctions with a very thin Al/AlOx/(Al) barrier, where the amorphous MoGe films exhibit superconducting transition temperatures up to 7 K. Due to the uniformity of the surface morphology of the MoGe films, the junctions demonstrate high uniformity of their tunneling properties. The experimental data on the temperature dependence of the subgap current agree well with theoretical calculations. The results obtained imply that Josephson tunnel junctions based on amorphous superconductors are promising candidates for use in superconducting electronics, especially in applications requiring multiple stacked junctions or the creation of a nonequilibrium quasiparticle distribution.

A Practical Hydrazine-Carbothioamide-Based Fluorescent Probe for the Detection of Zn2+: Applications to Paper Strip, Zebrafish and Water Samples

A practical hydrazine-carbothioamide-based fluorescent chemosensor TCC (N-(4-chlorophenyl)-2-(thiophene-2-carbonyl)hydrazine-1-carbothioamide) was applied for Zn2+ detection. TCC exhibited selective fluorescence emission for Zn2+ and did not show any interference with other metal ions. In particular, TCC was utilized for the detection of Zn2+ in paper strips, zebrafish and real water samples. TCC could detect Zn2+ down to 0.39 μM in the solution phase and 51.13 μM in zebrafish. The association ratio between TCC and Zn2+ was determined to be 2:1 by ESI-mass and Job plot. The sensing mechanism of TCC for Zn2+ was illustrated to be a chelation-enhanced fluorescence process through spectroscopic experiments and theoretical calculations.

Defect-Induced π-Magnetism into Non-Benzenoid Nanographenes

The synthesis of nanographenes (NGs) with open-shell ground states have recently attained increasing attention in view of their interesting physicochemical properties and great prospects in manifold applications as suitable materials within the rising field of carbon-based magnetism. A potential route to induce magnetism in NGs is the introduction of structural defects, for instance non-benzenoid rings, in their honeycomb lattice. Here, we report the on-surface synthesis of three open-shell non-benzenoid NGs (A1, A2 and A3) on the Au(111) surface. A1 and A2 contain two five- and one seven-membered rings within their benzenoid backbone, while A3 incorporates one five-membered ring. Their structures and electronic properties have been investigated by means of scanning tunneling microscopy, noncontact atomic force microscopy and scanning tunneling spectroscopy complemented with theoretical calculations. Our results provide access to open-shell NGs with a combination of non-benzenoid topologies previously precluded by conventional synthetic procedures.