10-Ethynyl-2,3,6,6a,9,10-hexa­hydro-1H-6,9-methano­pyrrolo[2,1-i][2,1]benzo­thia­zol-10-ol 5,5-dioxide

In the title compound, C13H15NO3S, the sole classical hydrogen-bond donor is involved in an intra­molecular O—H⋯N hydrogen bond. In the crystal structure, pairs of mol­ecules related by inversion centres are linked by pairs of weak inter­molecular C—H⋯O inter­actions; these centrosymmetric pairs are, in turn, linked further by weak inter­molecular C—H⋯O inter­actions, forming two-dimensional sheets oriented parallel to (101)

The risk/benefit profile of biologic drugs in real-world rheumatology practice. From ANTARES to MonitorNet

Le principali artriti croniche ad eziopatogenesi immunoflogistica, nelle quali trovano applicazione i farmaci "biologici" (v. oltre) sono la reumatoide e le sieronegative: artrite psoriasica, spondilite anchilosante, artriti reattive ed artriti "enteropatiche" (1-7). L'artrite reumatoide (AR) è una malattia cronica progressiva delle articolazioni associata a significativa morbilità, deformità e riduzione della qualità di vita. La prevalenza nella popolazione, a livello mondiale, è compresa tra 0,3 ed 1%. Pur interessando in modo elettivo le articolazioni, l'AR è una malattia sistemica che può condurre a severa disabilità ed a complicanze talora fatali. La terapia farmacologica tradizionale si basa su varie combinazioni di farmaci definiti sintomatici, come gli anti-infiammatori non-steroidei (FANS), gli analgesici ed i corticosteroidi e quelli "di fondo" chiamati correntemente DMARDs (disease modifying anti-rheumatic drugs)..

The Organophosphate Chlorpyrifos Interferes with the Responses to 17β-Estradiol in the Digestive Gland of the Marine Mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis

BACKGROUND: Many pesticides have been shown to act as endocrine disrupters. Although the potencies of currently used pesticides as hormone agonists/antagonists are low compared with those of natural ligands, their ability to act via multiple mechanisms might enhance the biological effect. The organophosphate Chlorpyrifos (CHP) has been shown to be weakly estrogenic and cause adverse neurodevelopmental effects in mammals. However, no information is available on the endocrine effects of CHP in aquatic organisms. In the digestive gland of the bivalve Mytilus galloprovincialis, a target tissue of both estrogens and pesticides, the possible effects of CHP on the responses to the natural estrogen 17β-estradiol (E(2)) were investigated. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Mussels were exposed to CHP (4.5 mg/l, 72 hrs) and subsequently injected with E(2) (6.75 ng/g dw). Responses were evaluated in CHP, E(2) and CHP/E(2) treatment groups at 24 h p.i. by a biomarker/transcriptomic approach. CHP and E(2) induced additive, synergistic, and antagonistic effects on lysosomal biomarkers (lysosomal membrane stability, lysosome/cytoplasm volume ratio, lipofuscin and neutral lipid accumulation). Additive and synergistic effects were also observed on the expression of estrogen-responsive genes (GSTπ, catalase, 5-HTR) evaluated by RT-Q-PCR. The use of a 1.7K cDNA Mytilus microarray showed that CHP, E(2) and CHP/E(2), induced 81, 44, and 65 Differentially Expressed Genes (DEGs), respectively. 24 genes were exclusively shared between CHP and CHP/E(2), only 2 genes between E(2) and CHP/E(2). Moreover, 36 genes were uniquely modulated by CHP/E(2). Gene ontology annotation was used to elucidate the putative mechanisms involved in the responses elicited by different treatments. CONCLUSIONS: The results show complex interactions between CHP and E(2) in the digestive gland, indicating that the combination of certain pesticides and hormones may give rise to unexpected effects at the molecular/cellular level. Overall, these data demonstrate that CHP can interfere with the mussel responses to natural estrogens

Liquid and solid functional bio-based coatings

The development of new bio-based coating materials to be applied on cellulosic and plastic based substrates, with improved performances compared to currently available products and at the same time with improved sustainable end of life options, is a challenge of our times. Enabling cellulose or bioplastics with proper functional coatings, based on biopolymer and functional materials deriving from agro-food waste streams, will improve their performance, allowing them to effectively replace fossil products in the personal care, tableware and food packaging sectors. To achieve these challenging objectives some molecules can be used in wet or solid coating formulations, e.g., cutin as a hydrophobic water-and grease-repellent coating, polysaccharides such as chitosan-chitin as an antimicrobial coating, and proteins as a gas barrier. This review collects the available knowledge on functional coatings with a focus on the raw materials used and methods of dispersion/application. It considers, in addition, the correlation with the desired final properties of the applied coatings, thus discussing their potential

Recurrent acute idiopathic pericarditis: rheumatologic therapy, autoantibodies and long term outcome

Objective: To evaluate therapy and rheumatologic aspects of recurrent acute idiopathic pericarditis (RAIP). Methods: We studied 46 patients. We used non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) at high dosage. We did not start corticosteroid: if already started, we planned a very slow tapering; 37 patients (80.4%) were treated with colchicines. We also assessed the frequency of ANA, anti-SSA and Rheumatoid factor. Results:With our protocol recurrences dropped from 0.46 to 0.03 attacks/patient/month (p1/80, in 7 (15.2%) >1/160. Rheumatoid factor was positive in 7 (15.2%) and anti-SSA in 4 (8.7%). During the follow-up 4 (8.7%) new diagnosis of Sjogren and 1 (2.2%) of Rheumatoid Arthritis were made. Conclusion: NSAIDs at high dosage, slow tapering of corticosteroid and colchicine are very effective in RAIP. The improvement is more dramatic in colchicine treated patients, but also other patients can achieve good control of the disease. The finding of ANA, anti-SSA and the new rheumatological diagnoses support the involvement of autoimmunity

Immunotoxicity of polystyrene nanoplastics in different hemocyte subpopulations of Mytilus galloprovincialis

Plastic represents 60-80% of litter in the ocean. Degradation of plastic to small fragments leads to the formation of microplastics (MPs <5mm) and nanoplastics (NPs <1 mu m). One of the most widely used and representative plastics found in the ocean is polystyrene (PS). Among marine organisms, the immune system of bivalves is recognized as suitable to assess nanomaterial toxicity. Hemocyte subpopulations [R1 (large granular cells), R2 (small semi-granular cells) and R3 (small agranular or hyaline cells)] of Mytilus galloprovincialis are specialized in particular tasks and functions. The authors propose to examine the effects of different sizes (50 nm, 100 nm and 1 mu m) PS NPs on the different immune cells of mussels when they were exposed to (1 and 10mg.L-1) of PS NPs. The most noteworthy results found in this work are: (i) 1 mu m PS NPs provoked higher immunological responses with respect to 50 and 100nm PS NPs, possibly related to the higher stability in size and shape in hemolymph serum, (ii) the R1 subpopulation was the most affected with respect to R2 and R3 concerning immunological responses and (iii) an increase in the release of toxic radicals, apoptotic signals, tracking of lysosomes and a decrease in phagocytic activity was found in R1

Oligothiophene Interlayer Effect on Photocurrent Generation for Hybrid TiO₂/P3HT Solar Cells

Planells M, Abate A, Snaith HJ, Robertson N. Oligothiophene Interlayer Effect on Photocurrent Generation for Hybrid TiO /P3HT Solar Cells. ACS Applied Materials &amp; Interfaces. 2014;6(19):17226-17235.A series of conjugated 3-hexylthiophene derivatives with a cyanoacrylic acid group has been prepared with conjugation length from one up to five thiophene units (1T–5T). The UV–vis spectra, photoluminescence spectra, electrochemical data and DFT calculations show lowering of LUMO energies and red-shift of absorption into the visible as the thiophene chain length increases. TiO2/P3HT solar cells were prepared with prior functionalization of the TiO2 surface by 1T–5T and studies include cells using undoped P3HT and using P3HT doped with H-TFSI. Without H-TFSI doping, photocurrent generation occurs from both the oligothiophene and P3HT. Doping the P3HT with H-TFSI quenches photocurrent generation from excitation of P3HT, but enables very effective charge extraction upon excitation of the oligothiophene. In this case, photocurrent generation increases with the light harvesting ability of 1T–5T leading to a highest efficiency of 2.32% using 5T. Overall, we have shown that P3HT can act in either charge generation or in charge collection, but does not effectively perform both functions simultaneously, and this illustrates a central challenge in the further development of TiO2/P3HT solar cells

Insights into the innate immunity of the Mediterranean mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Sessile bivalves of the genus <it>Mytilus </it>are suspension feeders relatively tolerant to a wide range of environmental changes, used as sentinels in ecotoxicological investigations and marketed worldwide as seafood. Mortality events caused by infective agents and parasites apparently occur less in mussels than in other bivalves but the molecular basis of such evidence is unknown. The arrangement of Mytibase, interactive catalogue of 7,112 transcripts of <it>M. galloprovincialis</it>, offered us the opportunity to look for gene sequences relevant to the host defences, in particular the innate immunity related genes.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We have explored and described the Mytibase sequence clusters and singletons having a putative role in recognition, intracellular signalling, and neutralization of potential pathogens in <it>M. galloprovincialis</it>. Automatically assisted searches of protein signatures and manually cured sequence analysis confirmed the molecular diversity of recognition/effector molecules such as the antimicrobial peptides and many carbohydrate binding proteins. Molecular motifs identifying complement C1q, C-type lectins and fibrinogen-like transcripts emerged as the most abundant in the Mytibase collection whereas, conversely, sequence motifs denoting the regulatory cytokine MIF and cytokine-related transcripts represent singular and unexpected findings. Using a cross-search strategy, 1,820 putatively immune-related sequences were selected to design oligonucleotide probes and define a species-specific Immunochip (DNA microarray). The Immunochip performance was tested with hemolymph RNAs from mussels injected with <it>Vibrio splendidus </it>at 3 and 48 hours post-treatment. A total of 143 and 262 differentially expressed genes exemplify the early and late hemocyte response of the <it>Vibrio</it>-challenged mussels, respectively, with AMP trends confirmed by qPCR and clear modulation of interrelated signalling pathways.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The Mytibase collection is rich in gene transcripts modulated in response to antigenic stimuli and represents an interesting window for looking at the mussel immunome (transcriptomes mediating the mussel response to non-self or abnormal antigens). On this basis, we have defined a new microarray platform, a mussel Immunochip, as a flexible tool for the experimental validation of immune-candidate sequences, and tested its performance on <it>Vibrio</it>-activated mussel hemocytes. The microarray platform and related expression data can be regarded as a step forward in the study of the adaptive response of the <it>Mytilus </it>species to an evolving microbial world.</p

A comparison of SERS and MEF of rhodamine 6G on a gold substrate

Rhodamine 6G is spin-cast onto gold surfaces and the reflectance, emission, excitation, and SERS spectra are reported. Electron microscopy shows that the particle sizes of the gold are uniform for all preparations. Reflection spectra demonstrate the spectroscopic signature for Rh6G aggregates for thicker films and that the gold plasmon band shifts due to the refractive index change on the surface. The intensity of the SERS spectra increases with increasing surface coverage but the change is nonlinear between submonolayer and multilayer surface densities. The SERS resonance frequencies are unchanged as a function of Rh6G thickness, indicating that there is no coupling between Rh6G molecules in the ground state. The emission spectra behave unexpectedly as a function of Rh6G coverage. At submonolayer coverage the emission is relatively strong, decreases as the surface density increases to a monolayer, and then increases as the Rh6G thickness increases. Excitation spectra demonstrate that the emitting species at low surface density is monomeric but for thicker layers the moiety responsible for emission is Rh6G excited state aggregates. For the thicker films, the Rh6G acts as its own dielectric layer for metal enhanced fluorescence of the aggregates, which is the first example of a system where the fluorophore acts as its own dielectric for metal enhanced fluorescence. The intensity of the aggregate emission on gold intensity is three times of that found when Rh6G is deposited on glass. The gold induces emission in the Rh6G excited state aggregates that are quenched in the absence of the plasmon field