Silent Love

The Real Life of Sebastian Knight is one of Vladimir Nabokov’s most autobiographical novels and it has often been observed that Sebastian’s passionate affair with the femme fatale Nina Rechnoy is a dramatized extension of Nabokov’s infatuation with Irina Guadanini. In this book it is shown that the novel also conceals another, secluded, love affair Sebastian had with a man, which reflects the main episode in the life of Nabokov’s brother Sergey. By pursuing many biographical and literary references and allusions, and by disregarding the deceptive guiding by the narrator (Sebastian’s half-brother), this moving story about Sebastian’s silent love becomes brightly visible

Cu(ii)-Catalysed β-silylation of dehydroalanine residues in peptides and proteins

We report the efficient and selective Cu(ii)-catalysed β-silylation of naturally occurring dehydroalanine (Dha) residues in various ribosomally synthesized and post-translationally modified peptides (RiPPs). The method is also applicable to proteins, as was shown by the modification of a Dha residue that was chemically introduced into Small Ubiquitin-like Modifier (SUMO)

DNA Fingerprinting for Tuberculosis Control in a Metropolitan Area

Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease that caused 9.2 million new cases and 1.7 million deaths in the world in 2006 (1). Over one-third of the world population is infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the causative organism of TB. In the Netherlands, TB was the leading cause of death in the first decades of the last century, but improved socioeconomic circumstances, infection-control measures and the introduction of effective chemotherapy have reduced TB to a relatively uncommon disease. TB mortality rates in the Netherlands declined a thousand fold in one century and incidence was the lowest ever recorded in 2006 (2). Prospects are yet less good in other parts of the world. The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) pandemic multiplied the TB caseload in many sub-Saharan countries and drug resistance is on the increase in several countries with high rates of multidrug-resistant (MDR) strains. Recently, extensively drug-resistance (XDR) was described and XDR-TB is an emerging public health probem in a number of countries (3)

Adaptation of hybrid five-phase ABS algorithms for experimental validation

International audienceThe Anti-lock Braking System (ABS) is the most important active safety system for passenger cars, but unfortunately the literature is not really precise about its description, stability and performance. This research improves a five-phase hybrid algorithm based on wheel deceleration and validate it on a tyre-in-the-loop laboratory facility. Five relevant effects are modelled so that the simulation matches the reality. Two methods to deal with the time delays are proposed. It can be verified that the limit cycle of the ABS encircle the optimal braking point without having any tyre parameter a priori known

Selective Modification of RiPPs via Diels-Alder Cycloadditions on Dehydroalanine Residues

We report the late stage chemical modification of ribosomally synthesized and posttranslationally modified peptides (RIPPs) by Diels-Alder cycloadditions to naturally occurring dehydroalanines. The tail region of the thiopeptide thiostrepton could be modified selectively and efficiently under microwave heating and transition metal free conditions. The Diels-Alder adducts were isolated and the different site- and endo/exo isomers were identified by 1D/2D 1H NMR. Via efficient modification of the thiopeptide nosiheptide and the lanthipeptide nisin Z the generality of the method was established. MIC assays of the purified thiostrepton Diels-Alder products against thiostrepton-susceptible strains displayed high activities comparable to that of native thiostrepton. These Diels-Alder products were also subjected successfully to Inverse-electron-demand Diels-Alder reactions with a variety of functionalized tetrazines, demonstrating the utility of this method for labeling of RiPPs

Patient support for tuberculosis patients in low-incidence countries: A systematic review.

Patient support during tuberculosis treatment is expected to be more often available and more customized in low tuberculosis incidence, high-resource settings than in lower-resource settings. The aim of this systematic review is to provide an overview of tuberculosis patient support interventions implemented in low-incidence countries and an evaluation of their effects on treatment-related outcomes as well as their acceptability by patients and providers