Cucurbit[8]uril-mediated pseudo[2,3]rotaxanes.

Pseudo[2,3]rotaxanes have been successfully fabricated by the complexation of cucurbit[8]uril (CB[8]) macrocycles with extended viologen derivatives. Two design rules enable the incorporation of a third CB[8] onto a recently reported pseudo[2,2]rotaxane. Incorporation of a third macrocycle confines the dimeric stacking of chromophores into specific alignment, leading to effective electron-delocalisation along their long molecular axis.- Leverhulme Trust (project: “Natural material innovation for sustainable living”), - EPSRC Programme Grant (NOtCH, EP/L027151/1), - ERC-2016 Consolidator Grant (CAM-RIG, 726470,), - EPSRC (EP/R013012/1, EP/N020669/1), - BBSRC (BB/N007700/1), - ERC Starting Grant (BioNet,757850

Estetika Musik Zapin sebagai Budaya Populer di Pekanbaru

Music Zapin in Pekanbaru as popular culture is a phenomenon of shifting concept, form, function, aesthetics and meaning to community supporters. Pendekonstruksian certain patterns (traditions to uniformity, standardization, imaging, capitalism, creativity and innovation of artists. Practically it is a form of creativity and innovation in the work of artists, both regard the development or preservation of Malay culture and art. Zapin music as popular culture has a postmodern aesthetic, including: parody, pastiche, parody, kitsch, camp, and schizophrenia. Zapin music performances shifting values keteradisiannya (traditional aesthetic concept ) to the modern aesthetic and even postmodern. The shift is due to social change Pekanbaru. Openness and homogenitasan, both ethnic and cultural openness menciptakaan Zapin space for musical performances to adapt to the space and the needs of society. Therefore, musical performances Zapin as popular culture (aesthetic profane)

Bentuk Dan Fungsi Rumah Adat Raja Pamusuk Mandailing

As the chief (king) custom, he is the leader of the indigenous peoples in the region. Authority board chairman and chairman of the village's land is specialized in the field of government, while the indigenous affairs retained and carried out by those who are entitled according to the customs of indigenous peoples concerned. That is why to this day remains traditional ceremonies led by the king of custom pamusuk.menurut. Chairman of the country has never been recognized as a king sitting Mandailaing community customs. King and his descendants to this day still recognized as king of indigenous peoples in traditional ceremonies, and they called the king of custom. So the king pamusuk in symbolized as banyan tree beneath always protect the public, because people always take shelter beneath it

Desain Komunikasi Visual sebagai Media Promosi Pariwisata

Bukittinggi is one of tourism city in Indonesia, Geographic location and natural resources become an asset to the city as a tourism Bukittinggi, this is because the number of interesting attractions, make this city dubbed as a "tourist town". Canyon Sianok is one of the natural attractions which are visited by tourists both from within and outside the country, where there are parks Panorama that allows tourists to view the scenic beauty of the canyon Sianok. Development of tourism promotion Bukittinggi in animated form, can improve communication reliability and overcome the limitations of time and distance so that what is displayed to attract attention and can create dynamic and interactive presentations. Animation can also create something that has a unique character that is easy to remember and is known, even well like, through animation is expected to increase tourist arrivals in Bukittinggi

Environmental education through mural painting activities as to enhance secondary school students' knowledge and awareness on environment

This study aims to evaluate the impact of environmental education activities and mural painting appreciation in enhancing students' knowledge and awareness to the environment. Environmental education activities were performed in classes for an hour per week for four times. Mural painting activity with the theme of marine ecosystems were conducted outside the classroom for a month. The design of this study was quasi-experimental with a pretest-posttest control group and experimental group, involving 128 students from two ordinary secondary schools in Gombak district, Selangor. The students divided into two groups according to the schools to represent the control and experimental groups, i.e. 64 students for each group. This study used three types of instruments, which are pretest, first post-test and second post-test. Each instrument consists of 20 multiple choice knowledge questions and 18 statements on the environmental awareness based on the 5 Likert scale. The results indicated that the experimental group significantly increased their environmental knowledge and awareness after the experiment, whereas the control group did not

Light-Regulated Molecular Trafficking in a Synthetic Water-Soluble Host.

Cucurbit[8]uril (CB[8])-mediated complexation of a dicationic azobenzene in water allows for the light-controlled encapsulation of a variety of second guest compounds, including amino acids, dyes, and fragrance molecules. Such controlled guest sequestration inside the cavity of CB[8] enables the regulation of the thermally induced phase transition of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide)-which is not photosensitive-thus demonstrating the robustness and relevancy of the light-regulated CB[8] complexation.J.D.B. thanks Marie Curie IEF (project no. 273807). S.T.J.R. acknowledges the Cambridge Home and European Scholarship Scheme and the Robert Gardiner memorial scholarship. This work was supported by the EPSRC (reference no. EP/G060649/ 1), an ERC Starting Investigator Grant (project no. 240629), and a Next Generation Fellowship from the Walters-Kundert Foundation. The authors thank HECBioSim (EPSRC grant no. EP/L000253/1) via ARCHER, and the Ada King’s HPC3 service.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from ACS Publications via http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/jacs.5b1164

Hair mercury levels in relation to marine fish consumption among adults in Malaysia.

Consumption of carnivorous fish is one of the major sources of human exposure to methyl mercury (MeHg). This study presents the data on fish consumption habits and hair mercury levels taken from 201 adults aged between 17- 72 years from four districts in the Peninsular Malaysia. The means for total mercury (THg) ranged from 0.93 ppm-1.69 ppm. The means for females and males were 1.21 ppm (SD=0.76) and 1.48 ppm (SD=0.89) respectively. The THg level for 59.30% of the study population (26.60% female participants) exceeded the USEPA recommendation of 1 ppm. The average fish consumption was 180.19+11.34g/ day/person with higher fish consumption in both rural coastal areas compared with the urban communities (p=0.0001). Age was positively correlated with THg (rs=0.4588; p=0.0001) followed by the amount of fish eaten (rs=0.4199; p=0.0001), use of whitening cream (rs=0.2410; p=0.006), BMI (rs=0.2034; p=0.0041), location of study (rs=0.1818; p=0.01), and gender (0.1637; p=0.0241). However, we found negative correlation between the numbers of filling with THg (rs=-0.2485; p=0.004)

Molecular Screening for Terahertz Detection with Machine-Learning-Based Methods

The molecular requirements are explored for achieving efficient signal up-conversion in a recently developed technique for terahertz (THz) detection based on molecular optomechanics. We discuss which molecular and spectroscopic properties are most important for predicting efficient THz detection and outline a computational approach based on quantum-chemistry and machine-learning methods for calculating these properties. We validate this approach by bulk and surface-enhanced Raman scattering and infrared absorption measurements. We develop a virtual screening methodology performed on databases of millions of commercially available compounds. Quantum-chemistry calculations for about 3000 compounds are complemented by machine-learning methods to predict applicability of 93 000 organic molecules for detection. Training is performed on vibrational spectroscopic properties based on absorption and Raman scattering intensities. Our top molecules have conversion intensity two orders of magnitude higher than an average molecule from the database. We also discuss how other properties like molecular shape and self-assembling properties influence the detection efficiency. We identify molecular moieties whose presence in the molecules indicates high activity for THz detection and show an example where a simple modification of a frequently used self-assembling compound can enhance activity 85-fold. The capabilities of our screening method are demonstrated on narrow-band and broadband detection examples, and its possible applications in surface-enhanced spectroscopy are also discussed

Mercury exposure in coastal communities of Kedah and Kelantan, Malaysia.

A cross-sectional study of mercury concentration in hair was conducted in two rural coastal communities of Yan (state of Kedah) and Bachok (state of Kelantan) from March to May 2006. For the comparative groups, the urban communities of Alor Setar (Kedah) and Kota Bharu (Kelantan) were chosen. This study was carried out in collaboration with the National Institute for Minamata Disease (NIMD), Minamata, Japan. A total of 201 hair samples were collected from the residents. Samples were analyzed by the NIMD, using the oxygen combustion-gold combustion method. The geometric means for total mercury in each district were 1.38 ppm (Yan), 1.20 ppm (Alor Setar), 1.24 ppm (Bachok) and 1.07 ppm (Kota Bharu). Two persons, each from Alor Setar and Kota Bharu, had high total mercury (washed sample 223.58 ppm and 803.16 ppm respectively). However, further analysis for methyl mercury showed that the levels were within 1.36 ppm and 1.91 ppm, respectively. Of the ten exposure parameters tested, only age (p < 0.001) and fish consumption (p < 0.01) appeared to have significant effect on hair mercury levels. Concerns about mercury were related to a severe outbreak of neurological disease in Minamata, Japan. In 1950s, a huge amount of methyl mercury (MeHg) formed in the chemical factory had been discharged to the Minamata Bay. Although inorganic mercury (I-Hg) was also discharged, contribution of biomethylation is considered too small for the Minamata disease. Bioaccumulation of MeHg into the aquatic food chain resulted in the neurological syndrome in adults who has eaten contaminated fish and prenatal exposures to MeHg from maternal consumption of fish which resulted in mental retardation, seizures and cerebral palsy (ATSDR, 1999; and Harada et al., 1999)

Structural basis of second-generation HIV integrase inhibitor action and viral resistance

Despite worldwide prescription, the mechanistic basis for superiority of second-generation HIV integrase (IN) strand transfer inhibitors (INSTIs) is poorly understood. We use single-particle cryo-electron microscopy to visualize the mode of action of the advanced INSTIs dolutegravir and bictegravir at near atomic resolution. Q148H/G140S amino acid substitutions in IN that pervade clinical INSTI failure perturb optimal magnesium ion coordination in the enzyme active site. The expanded chemical scaffolds of second-generation compounds mediate interactions with the protein backbone, which are critical for antagonizing Q148H/G140S mutant virus. Our results reveal that binding to magnesium ions underpins a fundamental weakness of the INSTI pharmacophore that is exploited by the virus to engender resistance and provide a structural framework for the development of this important class of anti-HIV/AIDS therapeutics