Superconductivity from a melted insulator in Josephson junction arrays.

Arrays of Josephson junctions are governed by a competition between superconductivity and repulsive Coulomb interactions, and are expected to exhibit diverging low-temperature resistance when interactions exceed a critical level. Here we report a study of the transport and microwave response of Josephson arrays with interactions exceeding this level. Contrary to expectations, we observe that the array resistance drops dramatically as the temperature is decreased-reminiscent of superconducting behaviour-and then saturates at low temperature. Applying a magnetic field, we eventually observe a transition to a highly resistive regime. These observations can be understood within a theoretical picture that accounts for the effect of thermal fluctuations on the insulating phase. On the basis of the agreement between experiment and theory, we suggest that apparent superconductivity in our Josephson arrays arises from melting the zero-temperature insulator.

Inductively shunted transmons exhibit noise insensitive plasmon states and a fluxon decay exceeding 3 hours.

Currently available quantum processors are dominated by noise, which severely limits their applicability and motivates the search for new physical qubit encodings. In this work, we introduce the inductively shunted transmon, a weakly flux-tunable superconducting qubit that offers charge offset protection for all levels and a 20-fold reduction in flux dispersion compared to the state-of-the-art resulting in a constant coherence over a full flux quantum. The parabolic confinement provided by the inductive shunt as well as the linearity of the geometric superinductor facilitates a high-power readout that resolves quantum jumps with a fidelity and QND-ness of >90% and without the need for a Josephson parametric amplifier. Moreover, the device reveals quantum tunneling physics between the two prepared fluxon ground states with a measured average decay time of up to 3.5 h. In the future, fast time-domain control of the transition matrix elements could offer a new path forward to also achieve full qubit control in the decay-protected fluxon basis.

Bioassay-guided isolation of the antinociceptive compounds motiol and beta-sitosterol from Scorzonera latifolia root extract.

Scorzonera latifolia (Asteraceae) is a plant widely distributed in Central and East Anatolia. A mastic, named yaki sakizi, is prepared from the latex and roots of S. latifolia and similar species. This latex is used in Turkish folk medicine for its analgesic activity, as anthelmintic and against infertility. The aim of this study was to isolate the compounds responsible for the antinociceptive activity of S. latifolia using bioassay-guided fractionation. The methanolic extract of the S. latifolia roots was prepared and subjected to chromatographic purification. Isolated active compounds were identified by means of MS and NMR techniques. Writhing and tail-flick tests were used to determine antinociceptive activity. Motiol and beta-sitosterol were isolated as compounds with promising antinociceptive activity. It is suggested that antinociceptive activity of the plant extract is probably caused by the synergic interaction of the isolated compounds.

A new triterpene from Scorzonera latifolia (Fisch. and Mey.) DC.

A novel triterpene 1 (3-ß-hydroxy-fern-7-en-6-one-acetate) together with four known compounds, urs-12-en-11-one-3-acetyl (2), 3-ß-hydroxy-fern-8-en-7-one-acetate (3), olean-12-en-11-one-3-acetyl (4) and leucodin (5) were obtained from the S. latifolia roots. All compounds were isolated from the n-hexane extract of S. latifolia roots using several chromatographic techniques. The structure of the isolated compounds was elucidated on the basis of (1)H-NMR, (13)C-NMR and 2D NMR data (HMBC, HMQC, COSY, TOCSY, NOESY, DEPT) as well as GC EITOF-HRMS.

Cholinesterase inhibitory effects of the extracts and compounds of Maclura pomifera (Rafin.) Schneider.

We have investigated anticholinesterase potential of the methanol extracts from the leaf, wood, flower, twig, and stem bark of the female and male individuals and rhizodermis and fruit from the female tree of Maclura pomifera (Rafin.) Schneider (Moraceae) along with its major isoflavonoids; osajin and pomiferin as well as their semi-synthetic derivatives; iso-osajin and iso-pomiferin. Anticholinesterase activity was determined by Ellman method using ELISA microplate reader. Osajin and pomiferin had a noticeable inhibition of AChE with IC(50) values of 2.239 and 0.096 mM, respectively, while their iso-derivatives were found to display less inhibition towards AChE. The extracts and compounds did not inhibit BChE. The extracts were analyzed for osajin and pomiferin contents by LC-DAD-MS and only the fruits and female flowers contained osajin (fruit: 8.87%, female flowers: 0.19%, w/w) and pomiferin (fruit: 13.6%, female flowers: 0.36%, w/w).

[Medicinal plants and diabetes mellitus]. / Lécivé rostliny a diabetes mellitus.

Diabetes mellitus is a group of chronic metabolic disorders. Hyperglycaemia and other related disturbances in the body's metabolism can result in serious damage to many of the body's systems, especially the blood vessels and nerves. Across the globe, there are an estimated 150 million people suffering from diabetes mellitus, which causes about 5 % of all deaths globally each year. From many reports it is clear that diabetes will be one of the major diseases in the coming years. Existing treatment options are costly, and have limited palliative effects. It stimulates finding new medicines or suitable prophylactic treatments. Plant-based medicinal products known since ancient times have been used to control diabetes in the traditional medicinal systems. Numerous medicinal plants have been studied and validated for their hypoglycaemic properties using diabetic animal models but not so often in clinical studies. Testing of many plant extracts and plant substances continue. This review paper presents selected information on the hypoglycemic and antihyperglycaemic activities of tested preparations of plant origin.

[Antioxidative activity of some over-the-counter plant extracts]. / Antioxidacní aktivita nekterých volne prodejných rostlinných extraktu.

The recent years again saw increased interest of the public in the use of traditional natural remedies, such as plant extracts, for the treatment and prevention of diseases. This paper evaluates the antioxidative activity and content of phenolic substances of selected plant extracts from medicinal herbs, sold as dietary supplements with therapeutic effects. Using the production of 3-nitrotyrosine as the marker, the effects of extracts on the inhibition of peroxynitrite-induced nitration of tyrosine was examined, and the results were compared with the ability to extinguish the stable radical 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH). A linear correlation (r = 0.929) was found between the ability to extinguish DPPH and to inhibit tyrosine nitration. The found antioxidative activity ranged between values of 0-1702, or 0-1482 micromol of the catechine equivalent/100 ml of the extract. The total content of phenolic substances oscillated within values of 9.4-268.3 mg of the equivalent of gallic acid/100 ml of the extract. The significant linear relationship between antioxidative activities (r>0.9) and the total content of phenolic substances shows that phenolic substances are the principal group responsible for the antioxidative activity of the extracts tested.

[Radioprotective effects of basic copper carboxylate complexes]. / Radioprotektivní úcinek nekterých základních karboxylatomednatých komplexu.

The radioprotective activity of eight selected copper (II) carboxylates--Cu (RCOO)2.nL (R = alkyl, aryl, 2-furyl and 2-thienyl; L usually represents water)--was assayed in a model of lethally gamma-irradiated (9 Gy, 0.97 Gy/min) mice. The compounds tested were applied (as solutions in saline) s.c. in three single doses of 20 mumol/kg 48.24 and 6 h before irradiation. The highest radioprotective effects were measured by survival of mice achieved after premedication of animals with copper (II) 2-thenoate monohydrate (77%), copper (II) acetylsalicylate (64%), copper (II) 2-methoxybenzoate monohydrate (62%) and copper (II) acetate monohydrate (54%). On the other hand, survival of vehicle-pretreated mice was only 10%. The observed biological properties of complexes are discussed in relation to their structures.

[Antimicrobial activity of selected aqua-carboxyl-cupric complexes]. / Antimikróbna aktivita vybraných akva-karboxylátomednatých komplexov.

The activity of compounds of different structural types of aqua-complexes of the composition Cu(R-COO)2.nH2O-methoxybenzoatocupric complexes, R = 2-, 3- and 4-methoxyphenyl (n = 1, 1 and 3); aryloxyacetatocupric complexes, R = phenoxymethyl (n = 3), 2-, 3- and 4-chlorophenoxymethyl (n = 4, 2 and 2) and 1-naphthoxymethyl (n = 4), and furthermore isomeric furanecarboxylato-(R = 2- or 3-furyl, n = 3, or 1) and thiophencarboxylatocupric complexes (R = 2- or 3-thienyl, n = 1 and 1), was examined by the methods of the 1st screening on selected anthropo- and phytopathogenic microorganisms. The effects of all aqua-complexes (suspension dosage form) on the representatives of bacteria and yeasts are minimal. On the other hand, the effect of these substances on the causative agents of dermatomycoses (Trichophyton terrestre, Microsporum gypseum) in the case of methoxybenzoato- and furoatocupric complexes achieves a MIC value of 500 micrograms/cm3 and lower. The activity against phytopathogenic fungi (both in vitro and in vivo experiments) is generally relatively low at 0.05% concentration of active ingredients (dispersible powders). At the same time the antimicrobial activity of the pertinent free carboxylic acids was investigated in relation to the cupric salts being formed. They are able to form the required pharmacoactive form prevalently as late as they are in the form of aqua-carboxylatocupric complexes.