Synthesis and physico-chemical studies of a novel noncentrosymmetric heptacoordinated cadmium(II) compound containing a tripodal amine, CdCl2[N(C2H6N)3]2

A new noncentrosymmetric Cd(II) complex with thetripodal amine tris(2-aminoethyl)amine, CdCl2[N(C2H6N)3]2, has been prepared and characterized by single crystal X-ray diffraction, solid state NMR and IR spectroscopies. In the complex, the Cd(II) ion is surrounded by sevennitrogen atoms. The organic molecule acts as both a tri-and a tetradentate ligand. The cationic complexes are linked to each other forming layers parallel to the (a, b)plan. The Cl- counter ions occupy the cavities created inside these layers. The 13C CP-MAS NMR spectra are in agreement with the X-ray structure. DFT calculations allow the attribution of the carbon peaks to the differentatoms.The vibrational absorption bands were identified by infrared spectroscopy and DFT calculations allowed their attributions

Synthesis, crystal structure and spectroscopic characterization of a new organic bismuthate (III) [C9H28N4][Bi2Cl10].H2O

The chemical preparation, crystal structure and spectroscopic characterization of [C9H28N4][Bi2Cl10].H2O have been reported. This compound crystallizes in the monoclinic system in space group P21/c and cell parameters a = 12.2385 (6), b = 17.3062 (7), c = 13.0772 (6) Å, β = 104.475 (5)°, Z = 4 and V = 2681.9 (2) Å3. Its crystal structure has been determined and refined to R = 0.049, using 5848 independent reflections. The atomic arrangement can be described by an alternation of organic and inorganic layers. The inorganic layer built up of [Bi2Cl10]4– bioctahedra arranged in sandwich between the organic layer. The organic groups are interconnected by the water molecules through N-H…O(W) hydrogen bonds to form infinite zig-zag chains spreading along the b-axis. These Chains are themselves interconnected by means of the N–H…Cl hydrogen bonds originating from [Bi2Cl10]4– anions, to form a three-dimensional network. Intermolecular Cl…Cl interactions between adjacent dimeric [Bi2Cl10]4– anions have been observed. The compound was also characterized by FT-IR and Raman spectrscopies

Interaction of Bacteroides fragilis and Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron with the kallikrein–kinin system

Many bacterial pathogens interfere with the contact system (kallikrein–kinin system) in human plasma. Activation of this system has two consequences: cleavage of high-molecular-mass kininogen (HK) resulting in release of the potent proinflammatory peptide bradykinin, and initiation of the intrinsic pathway of coagulation. In this study, two species of the Gram-negative anaerobic commensal organism Bacteroides, namely Bacteroides fragilis and Bacteroides thetaiotaomicron, were found to bind HK and fibrinogen, the major clotting protein, from human plasma as shown by immunoelectron microscopy and Western blot analysis. In addition, these Bacteroides species were capable of activating the contact system at its surface leading to a significant prolongation of the intrinsic coagulation time and also to the release of bradykinin. Members of the genus Bacteroides have been known to act as opportunistic pathogens outside the gut, with B. fragilis being the most common isolate from clinical infections, such as intra-abdominal abscesses and bacteraemia. The present results thus provide more insight into how Bacteroides species cause infection

Tracking the spatial footprints of extreme storm surges around the coastline of the UK and Ireland

Storm surges are the most important driver of flooding in many coastal areas. Understanding the spatial extent of storm surge events has important financial and practical implications for flood risk management, reinsurance, infrastructure reliability and emergency response. In this paper, we apply a new tracking algorithm to a high-resolution surge hindcast (CODEC, 1980–2017) to characterize the spatial dependence and temporal evolution of extreme surge events along the coastline of the UK and Ireland. We quantify the severity of each spatial event based on its footprint extremity to select and rank the collection of events. Several surge footprint types are obtained based on the most impacted coastal stretch from each particular event, and these are linked to the driving storm tracks. Using the collection of the extreme surge events, we assess the spatial distribution and interannual variability of the duration, size, severity, and type. We find that the northeast coastline is most impacted by the longest and largest storm surge events, while the English Channel experiences the shortest and smallest storm surge events. The interannual variability indicates that the winter seasons of 1989-90 and 2013–14 were the most serious in terms of the number of events and their severity, based on the return period along the affected coastlines. The most extreme surge event and the highest number of events occurred in the winter season 1989–90, while the proportion of events with larger severities was higher during the winter season 2013–14. This new spatial analysis approach of surge extremes allows us to distinguish several categories of spatial footprints of events around the UK/Ireland coast and link these to distinct storm tracks. The spatial dependence structures detected can improve multivariate statistical methods which are crucial inputs to coastal flooding assessments

Co-transplantation of Human Embryonic Stem Cell-derived Neural Progenitors and Schwann Cells in a Rat Spinal Cord Contusion Injury Model Elicits a Distinct Neurogenesis and Functional Recovery

Co-transplantation of neural progenitors (NPs) with Schwann cells (SCs) might be a way to overcome low rate of neuronal differentiation of NPs following transplantation in spinal cord injury (SCI) and the improvement of locomotor recovery. In this study, we initially generated NPs from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and investigated their potential for neuronal differentiation and functional recovery when co-cultured with SCs in vitro and co-transplanted in a rat acute model of contused SCI. Co-cultivation results revealed that the presence of SCs provided a consistent status for hESC-NPs and recharged their neural differentiation toward a predominantly neuronal fate. Following transplantation, a significant functional recovery was observed in all engrafted groups (NPs, SCs, NPs+SCs) relative to the vehicle and control groups. We also observed that animals receiving co-transplants established a better state as assessed with the BBB functional test. Immunohistofluorescence evaluation five weeks after transplantation showed invigorated neuronal differentiation and limited proliferation in the co-transplanted group when compared to the individual hESC-NPs grafted group. These findings have demonstrated that the co-transplantation of SCs with hESC-NPs could offer a synergistic effect, promoting neuronal differentiation and functional recovery

COVID-19 impacts and adaptations in Asia and Africa's aquatic food value chains

The COVID-19 pandemic is a shock affecting all areas of the global food system. We tracked the impacts of COVID-19 and associated policy responses on the availability and price of aquatic foods and production inputs during 2020, using a high frequency longitudinal survey of 768 respondents in Bangladesh, Egypt, India, Myanmar, Nigeria. We found the following: (1) Aquatic food value chains were severely disrupted but most effects on the availability and accessibility of aquatic foods and production inputs were short-lived. (2) Impacts on demand for aquatic foods, production inputs, and labor have been longer lasting than impacts on their supply. (3) Retail prices of aquatic foods spiked briefly during March-May 2020 but trended down thereafter, whereas prices of production inputs rose. These trends suggest a deepening ‘squeeze’ on the financial viability of producers and other value chain actors. (4) Survey respondents adapted to the challenges of COVID-19 by reducing production costs, sourcing alternative inputs, diversifying business activities, leveraging social capital, borrowing, seeking alternative employment, and reducing food consumption. Many of these coping strategies are likely to undermine well-being and longer-term resilience, but we also find some evidence of proactive strategies with potential to strengthen business performance. Global production of aquatic food likely contracted significantly in 2020. The importance of aquatic food value chains in supporting livelihoods and food and nutrition security in Asia and Africa makes their revitalization essential in the context of COVID-19 recovery efforts. We outline immediate and longer-term policies and interventions to support this goal.Additional co-authors: Arun Padiyar, Suresh Rajendran, A B C Mohan, Ravi Babu, Michael Joseph Akester, Ei Ei Phyo, Khin Maung Soe, Ajibola Olaniyi, Sunil N Siriwardena, Michael Phillips, Shakuntala H Thilste

Prostaglandin E2 stimulates the expansion of regulatory hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells in type 1 diabetes

Hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) are multipotent stem cells that have been harnessed as a curative therapy for patients with hematological malignancies. Notably, the discovery that HSPCs are endowed with immunoregulatory properties suggests that HSPC-based therapeutic approaches may be used to treat autoimmune diseases. Indeed, infusion with HSPCs has shown promising results in the treatment of type 1 diabetes (T1D) and remains the only "experimental therapy" that has achieved a satisfactory rate of remission (nearly 60%) in T1D. Patients with newly diagnosed T1D have been successfully reverted to normoglycemia by administration of autologous HSPCs in association with a non-myeloablative immunosuppressive regimen. However, this approach is hampered by a high incidence of adverse effects linked to immunosuppression. Herein, we report that while the use of autologous HSPCs is capable of improving C-peptide production in patients with T1D, ex vivo modulation of HSPCs with prostaglandins (PGs) increases their immunoregulatory properties by upregulating expression of the immune checkpoint-signaling molecule PD-L1. Surprisingly, CXCR4 was upregulated as well, which could enhance HSPC trafficking toward the inflamed pancreatic zone. When tested in murine and human in vitro autoimmune assays, PG-modulated HSPCs were shown to abrogate the autoreactive T cell response. The use of PG-modulated HSPCs may thus provide an attractive and novel treatment of autoimmune diabetes

Lyapunov spectrum of asymptotically sub-additive potentials

For general asymptotically sub-additive potentials (resp. asymptotically additive potentials) on general topological dynamical systems, we establish some variational relations between the topological entropy of the level sets of Lyapunov exponents, measure-theoretic entropies and topological pressures in this general situation. Most of our results are obtained without the assumption of the existence of unique equilibrium measures or the differentiability of pressure functions. Some examples are constructed to illustrate the irregularity and the complexity of multifractal behaviors in the sub-additive case and in the case that the entropy map that is not upper-semi continuous.Comment: 44 page

Rediscovering vitamin D

Over the past 2 years there has been a radical change in standard clinical practice with respect to vitamin D. As a result of a growing body of knowledgeable physicians are assessing the vitamin D nutritional status of their patients and prescribing aggressive repletion regimens of a vitamin D supplement. The present paper summarizes some basic information about this essential nutrient and reviews some of the more recent data implicating vitamin D deficiency in disease etiology with an emphasis on cardiovascular disease and cancer. Finally a rational approach to the dosing of vitamin D in different patient populations is provided