Search

In this report, the stoichiometric ratio (R) for the interaction of diphenylpicrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radicals with the antioxidant was employed as an evaluation index for the DPPH radical scavenging activity of antioxidants. This evaluation index was related only to the stoichiometric relationship of DPPH radicals with the antioxidant and had no relationship with the initial DPPH amount and the sample volume, which could offer a solution to the problem of poor comparability of EC50 values under different conditions. A novel electrochemical micro-titration method was proposed for the determination of the stoichiometric ratio (R) for the interaction of DPPH radicals with the antioxidant. This electrochemical micro-titration model was verified using caffeic acid as the DPPH radical scavenger, with the stoichiometric ratio (R) of DPPH radicals to caffeic acid determined to be in the range of 2.003–2.046. The calculated EC50 values were 0.513, 1.011, and 1.981 × 10–5 mol/L for 2.10, 4.05, and 8.02 × 10–7 moL of added DPPH radicals, respectively. The proposed method showed no differences from the conventional method, but had better precision and reliability, and used a smaller amount of sample.

The electrochemical redox mechanism of polyphenolic compounds (gallic acid [GA], caffeic acid [CA], ferulic acid [FA], and vanillic acid [VA]) were investigated by electrochemical methods at the inlaid multi-walled carbon nanotubes-modified graphite electrode (MWCNTs/GCE). The obtained micro-information such as the number of electrons and protons were used to deduce the electrochemical oxidation mechanism of four polyphenolic compounds. The antioxidation activities of these compounds were also studied by two methods. The radical scavenging activity followed the order: GA > CA > FA > VA, which was in agreement with the result from the spectrophotometry method. The result indicated that compounds with lower oxidation peak potential (E pa) showed stronger antioxidation activity. At the same time, compounds with high E pa showed lower antioxidant activity. The greater the number of hydroxyls linked to the aromatic ring, the greater the antioxidation activities of four compounds. Structural analysis of these phenolic-based compounds suggested that multiple OH substitutions and conjugations determine their free radical scavenging activity and electrochemical behavior.

The aim of this study was to investigate the inner link between the small-world brain network and inhibitory control. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) was used to construct a neurofeedback (NF) training system and regulate the frontal small-world brain network. The small-world network downregulation group (DOWN, n = 17) and the small-world network upregulation group (UP, n = 17) received five days of fNIRS-NF training and performed the color–word Stroop task before and after training. The behavioral and functional brain network topology results of both groups were analyzed by a repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA), which showed that the upregulation training helped to improve inhibitory control. The upregulated small-world brain network exhibits an increase in the brain network regularization, links widely dispersed brain resources, and reduces the lateralization of brain functional networks between hemispheres. This suggests an inherent correlation between small-world functional brain networks and inhibitory control; moreover, dynamic optimization under cost efficiency trade-offs provides a neural basis for inhibitory control. Inhibitory control is not a simple function of a single brain region or connectivity but rather an emergent property of a broader network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]