Visualized detection of quality change of cooked beef with condiments by hyperspectral imaging technique.

The heat treatment and seasoning of meat are indispensable before its consumption. In this work, the spectral characteristics of cooked meat and condiments were analysed by hyperspectral imaging (HSI) technology. The spectral reflectance of spices was significantly lower than that of meat protein, and that the spectral reflectance of protein regularly increased upon heating at 800-956 nm range. PCA pre-process and SVM models were used to predict beef moisture (R 2 = 0.912) and tenderness (R 2 = 0.771) based on 100 beef data. Mapping technology clearly showed the dynamic change of meat tenderness during heating, and the performance of 3D mapping was better than that of 2D mapping. Based on 750 nm/900 nm ratio image and machine-vision method, spice uniformity was accurately calculated. Thus, the quality of cooked meat and condiments distribution can be simultaneously evaluated by HSI. This technology can be used in the intelligent production of complex meat products in the future.

Synthesis and structure-activity relationships of a novel class of dithiocarbamic acid esters as anticancer agent.

Based on a novel lead compound 4-methylpiperazine-1-carbodithioic acid 3-cyano-3,3-diphenylpropyl ester 1, the systematic structural modification was carried out. All the synthesized compounds were evaluated for their in-vitro anticancer activities on four to six different cell lines at three different concentrations. Most of the tested compounds could selectively inhibit the growth of HL-60 and Bel-7402 cell lines at a medium concentration. Four compounds (3f, 3g, 3n, and 5) were selected for the IC(50) test, and the results revealed that three compounds (3g, 3n, and 5) showed almost the same or a slightly weaker activity than compound 1 against HL-60, and three compounds (3f, 3g, and 3n) showed >2-fold higher potency than compound 1 against Bel-7402. The in-vivo efficacy of 3n · HCl was evaluated with transplanted hepatocyte carcinoma 22 as an in-vivo test model. It was found that 3n · HCl could inhibit significantly the growth of tumor, and that this effect was dose-dependent. Meanwhile, the compound 3n · HCl showed low toxicity compared with compound 1 · HCl as evidenced by the little body-weight loss. These results confirmed that compound 3n · HCl is more potent than the lead compound 1 · HCl. Preliminary structure-activity relationships indicated that: a) Both nitrile group and the cyclic amine containing at least two nitrogens were indispensable moieties to keep the activity; b) substitution of the piperazine ring is unfavorable for the improvement of activity; c) the suitable linker joining the piperazinyl dithiocarboxyl and diphenylacetonitril group should be ethylene; d) a non-coplanar arrangement of the two benzene rings appears to be essential for activity.

Discovery of ANA975: an oral prodrug of the TLR-7 agonist isatoribine.

ANA975, a 5-amino-3-beta -D-ribofuranosyl-3H-thiazolo[4,5-d]pyrimidin-2-one derivative, was synthesized in the search of an oral prodrug of isatoribine, a small molecule toll-like receptor 7 (TLR-7) agonist. Several strategies were studied to enable the kilogram-scale synthesis of ANA975. Three general total syntheses are described. In the phase I clinical study of ANA975 against hepatitis C virus (HCV), conversion to isatoribine in plasma was rapid and effective, delivering levels of isatoribine that have been shown to be clinically relevant.

Dithiocarbamic acid esters as anticancer agent. Part 1: 4-substituted-piperazine-1-carbodithioic acid 3-cyano-3,3-diphenyl-propyl esters.

A variety of 4-N atom substituted derivatives were synthesized and evaluated for their in vitro anticancer activities using 4-methylpiperazine-1-carbodithioic acid 3-cyano-3,3-diphenyl-propyl ester 4 as lead compound. Among them, compound 6a without any substituent on 4-N atom (R(1) = H) was found to be the most active anticancer agent with IC(50) = 5.3 microM against HL-60 and IC(50) = 11.5 microM against Bel-7402, respectively. Increase in the polarity and/or introduction of suitable acyl groups at the 4-N atom of the lead compound 4 are favorable for the improvement of activity.