The structure of diheteropeptin (1), a TGF-beta-like active substance from Diheterospora chlamydosporia Q58044, was determined to be a new cyclotetrapeptide, cyclo[2aminoisobutyryl-(S)-phenylalanyl-(R)-prolyl-(2S,8R,9R)-2-am ino-8,9-dihydroxydecanoyl-] by NMR, mass spectrometric and chemical studies.

A novel adaptive-gain twisting controller that is robust to the bounded disturbances with the unknown boundaries is proposed. The control algorithm is derived using the Lyapunov function technique. It is shown that an ideal or real second order sliding mode is established, and the adaptation algorithm does not overestimate the control gain. The efficacy of the proposed adaptive twisting control...

A detailed understanding of the sources, transformations and fates of organic species in the environment is crucial because of the central roles that they play in human health, biogeochemical cycles and the Earth's climate. However, such an understanding is hindered by the immense chemical complexity of environmental mixtures of organics; for example, atmospheric organic aerosol consists of at ...

A series of potent antimicrobial agents have been prepared. These derivatives are cephalosporins carrying a pyridine ring substituted with a heterocycle in the C-3 position. Some of them showed excellent activity not only against Gram-negative organisms including Pseudomonas aeruginosa but also against Gram-positive ones. In view of their biological and physico-chemical properties, 7 beta-[2-(2...

DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) is the genetic material common to all of Earth's organisms. Our biological understanding of DNA is extensive and well-exploited. In recent years, chemists have begun to develop DNA for nonbiological applications in catalysis, encoding, and stereochemical control. This Review summarizes key advances in these three exciting research areas, each of which takes advantage...

The structure of a new antibiotic designated lydicamycin was elucidated as shown in Fig. 1 by NMR spectral analysis including a variety of 2D techniques. Lydicamycin possesses a novel skeleton containing tetramic acid and amidinopyrrolidine moieties.

In many crop producing areas of the world there are reports of yield decline and loss of productive potential in soils. Little is known about the long term effects of sugarcane monocropping on changes in physical, chemical and biological properties of soils. The aim of this study was to quantify the physical and chemical condition of soils under sugarcane production in northern Kwazulu-Natal, a...

The concept of hormesis, as an adaptive response of biological systems to moderate environmental challenges, has raised considerable nano-toxicological interests in view of the rapid pace of production and application of even more innovative nanomaterials and the expected increasing likelihood of environmental and human exposure to low-dose concentrations. Therefore, the aim of this review is t...

Morphological control of nanocrystals has become increasingly important, as many of their physical and chemical properties are highly shape dependent. Nanocrystal shape control for both single- and multiple-material systems, however, remains empirical and challenging. New methods need to be explored for the rational synthetic design of heterostructures with controlled morphology. Overgrowth of ...