Levoglucosenone: Bio-Based Platform for Drug Discovery

Levoglucosone (LGO) is a bio-privileged molecule that can be produced on scale from waste biomass. This chiral building block has been converted via well-established chemical processes into previously difficult-to-synthesize building blocks such as enantiopure butenolides, dihydropyrans, substituted cyclopropanes, deoxy-sugars and ribonolactones. LGO is an excellent starting material for the synthesis of biologically active compounds, including those which have anti-cancer, anti-microbial or anti-inflammatory activity. This review will cover the conversion of LGO to biologically active compounds as well as provide future research directions related to this platform molecule

Exploring the reactivity of 2-trichloromethylbenzoxazoles for access to substituted benzoxazoles

The reactivity of 2-trichloromethylbenzoxazoles towards various nucleophiles, under metal free or iron-catalyzed conditions, for the synthesis of substituted benzoxazoles is described. These methods allow for selective substitution at either the 2- or 2’- position of the benzoxazoles using the same starting materials / reagents. This approach allows for the controlled synthesis of a variety of key derivatives from a single 2-trichloromethylbenzoxazole starting material

Exploring the reactivity of 2-trichloromethylbenzoxazoles for access to substituted benzoxazoles

The reactivity of 2-trichloromethylbenzoxazoles towards various nucleophiles, under metal free or iron-catalyzed conditions, for the synthesis of substituted benzoxazoles is described. These methods allow for selective substitution at either the 2- or 2’- position of the benzoxazoles using the same starting materials / reagents. This approach allows for the controlled synthesis of a variety of key derivatives from a single 2-trichloromethylbenzoxazole starting material

Oxa-Michael-initiated cascade reactions of levoglucosenone

The reactions of aromatic aldehydes and levoglucosenone promoted by methoxide gives bridged α,β-unsaturated ketones, formed by a series of oxa-Michael-initiated cascade reactions in yields of up to 91% (14 examples). A complex series of equilibria operate during the reaction, and the formation of the bridged species is thermodynamically favored, except in the case of 5-methylfurfural and pyrrole-2-carboxaldehyde. This is the first report detailing this type of aldol/Michael cascade involving oxa-Michael initiation

Applications of Satellite Remote Sensing for Response to and Recovery from Meteorological Disasters

Numerous onorbit satellites provide a wide range of spatial, spectral, and temporal resolutions supporting the use of their resulting imagery in assessments of disasters that are meteorological in nature. This presentation will provide an overview of recent use of Earth remote sensing by NASA's Shortterm Prediction Research and Transition (SPoRT) Center in response to disaster activities in 2012 and 2013, along with case studies supporting ongoing research and development. The SPoRT Center, with support from NASA's Applied Sciences Program, has explored a variety of new applications of Earthobserving sensors to support disaster response. In May 2013, the SPoRT Center developed unique power outage composites representing the first clear sky view of damage inflicted upon Moore and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma following the devastating EF5 tornado that occurred on May 20. Subsequent ASTER, MODIS, Landsat7 and Landsat8 imagery help to identify the damaged areas. Higher resolution imagery of Moore, Oklahoma were provided by commercial satellites and the recently available International Space Station (ISS) SERVIR Environmental Research and Visualization System (ISERV) instrument. New techniques are being explored by the SPoRT team in order to better identify damage visible in high resolution imagery, and to monitor ongoing recovery for Moore, Oklahoma. This presentation will provide an overview of near realtime data products developed for dissemination to SPoRT's partners in NOAA's National Weather Service, through collaboration with the USGS and other federal agencies. Specifically, it will focus on integration of various data sets within the NOAA National Weather Service Damage Assessment Toolkit, which allows meteorologists in the field to consult available satellite imagery while performing their damage assessment

Identification of equine mares as reservoir hosts for pathogenic species of Leptospira

Equine leptospirosis can result in abortion, stillbirth, neonatal death, placentitis, and uveitis. Horses can also act as subclinical reservoir hosts of infection, which are characterized as asymptomatic carriers that persistently excrete leptospires and transmit disease. In this study, PCR and culture were used to assess urinary shedding of pathogenic Leptospira from 37 asymptomatic mares. Three asymptomatic mares, designated as H2, H8, and H9, were PCR-positive for lipL32, a gene specific for pathogenic species of Leptospira. One asymptomatic mare, H9, was culture-positive, and the recovered isolate was classified as L. kirschneri serogroup Australis serovar Rushan. DNA capture and enrichment of Leptospira genomic DNA from PCR-positive, culture-negative samples determined that asymptomatic mare H8 was also shedding L. kirschneri serogroup Australis, whereas asymptomatic mare H2 was shedding L. interrogans serogroup Icterohaemorrhagiae. Sera from all asymptomatic mares were tested by the microscopic agglutination test (MAT) and 35 of 37 (94.6%) were seropositive with titers ranging from 1:100 to 1:3200. In contrast to asymptomatic mares, mare H44 presented with acute spontaneous abortion and a serum MAT titer of 1:102,400 to L. interrogans serogroup Pomona serovar Pomona. Comparison of L. kirschneri serogroup Australis strain H9 with that of L. interrogans serogroup Pomona strain H44 in the hamster model of leptospirosis corroborated differences in virulence of strains. Since lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is a protective antigen in bacterin vaccines, the LPS of strain H9 (associated with subclinical carriage) was compared with strain H44 (associated with spontaneous abortion). This revealed different LPS profiles and immunoreactivity with reference antisera. It is essential to know what species and serovars of Leptospira are circulating in equine populations to design efficacious vaccines and diagnostic tests. Our results demonstrate that horses in the US can act as reservoir hosts of leptospirosis and shed diverse pathogenic Leptospira species via urine. This report also details the detection of L. kirschneri serogroup Australis serovar Rushan, a species and serotype of Leptospira, not previously reported in the US

The Case for Probe-class NASA Astrophysics Missions

Astrophysics spans an enormous range of questions on scales from individual planets to the entire cosmos. To address the richness of 21st century astrophysics requires a corresponding richness of telescopes spanning all bands and all messengers. Much scientific benefit comes from having the multi-wavelength capability available at the same time. Most of these bands,or measurement sensitivities, require space-based missions. Historically, NASA has addressed this need for breadth with a small number of flagship-class missions and a larger number of Explorer missions. While the Explorer program continues to flourish, there is a large gap between Explorers and strategic missions. A fortunate combination of new astrophysics technologies with new, high capacity, low dollar-per-kg to orbit launchers, and new satellite buses allow for cheaper missions with capabilities approaching strategic mission levels. NASA has recognized these developments by calling for Probe-class mission ideas for mission studies, spanning most of the electromagnetic spectrum from GeV gamma-rays to the far infrared, and the new messengers of neutrinos and ultra-high energy cosmic rays. The key insight from the Probes exercise is that order-of-magnitude advances in science performance metrics are possible across the board for initial total cost estimates in the range 500M-1B dollars

Quantitative trait loci for sensitivity to ethanol intoxication in a C57BL/6J × 129S1/SvImJ inbred mouse cross

Individual variation in sensitivity to acute ethanol (EtOH) challenge is associated with alcohol drinking and is a predictor of alcohol abuse. Previous studies have shown that the C57BL/6J (B6) and 129S1/SvImJ (S1) inbred mouse strains differ in responses on certain measures of acute EtOH intoxication. To gain insight into genetic factors contributing to these differences, we performed quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis of measures of EtOH-induced ataxia (accelerating rotarod), hypothermia, and loss of righting reflex (LORR) duration in a B6 × S1 F2 population. We confirmed that S1 showed greater EtOH-induced hypothermia (specifically at a high dose) and longer LORR compared to B6. QTL analysis revealed several additive and interacting loci for various phenotypes, as well as examples of genotype interactions with sex. QTLs for different EtOH phenotypes were largely non-overlapping, suggesting separable genetic influences on these behaviors. The most compelling main-effect QTLs were for hypothermia on chromosome 16 and for LORR on chromosomes 4 and 6. Several QTLs overlapped with loci repeatedly linked to EtOH drinking in previous mouse studies. The architecture of the traits we examined was complex but clearly amenable to dissection in future studies. Using integrative genomics strategies, plausible functional and positional candidates may be found. Uncovering candidate genes associated with variation in these phenotypes in this population could ultimately shed light on genetic factors underlying sensitivity to EtOH intoxication and risk for alcoholism in humans