Sydnone C-4 heteroarylation with an indolizine ring via Chichibabin indolizine synthesis

The synthesis of sydnones heteroarylated at C-4 with an indolizine was achieved by Chichibabin (Tschitschibabin) indolizine synthesis starting from the corresponding sydnone-N-pyridinium bromides. The latter compounds were also transformed to sydnone-indolizines connected through a keto group at the C-4 position by refluxing them in 1,2-epoxybutane with an activated alkyne. The structures of the new compounds were assigned by FTIR, NMR spectroscopy and X-ray analysis

Antioxidant activity in selected tomato genotypes cultivated in conventional and organic culture systems

The present study is a compilation of results obtained at the Vegetable Research and Development Station Bacau regarding the influence of the culture system on the quantitative and qualitative yield of tomatoes. The present study provides comparative information regarding yield achievements of tomato genotypes cultivated in two different culture systems (conventional and organic), in order to highlight the suitability of the cultivation system. The best yield results were obtained at a density of 30,000 plants per hectare in both culture systems. All studied genotypes resulted in quantitatively superior yield in the conventional system as opposed to the organic system. Another purpose of this study was to determine the difference in antioxidant activity of tomato genotypes cultivated in the ecological and the conventional culture systems. The results indicate the suitability of the tomato to organic cultivation, highlighting the potential of the tomato species to be utilized as a significant source of natural antioxidants, and also the influence of cultivation systems on the accumulation of antioxidant compounds.Keywords: Lycopersicon esculentum, polyphenols, flavones, yieldAfrican Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 12(20), pp. 2884-289

A splitting theorem for Kahler manifolds whose Ricci tensors have constant eigenvalues

It is proved that a compact Kahler manifold whose Ricci tensor has two distinct, constant, non-negative eigenvalues is locally the product of two Kahler-Einstein manifolds. A stronger result is established for the case of Kahler surfaces. Irreducible Kahler manifolds with two distinct, constant eigenvalues of the Ricci tensor are shown to exist in various situations: there are homogeneous examples of any complex dimension n > 1, if one eigenvalue is negative and the other positive or zero, and of any complex dimension n > 2, if the both eigenvalues are negative; there are non-homogeneous examples of complex dimension 2, if one of the eigenvalues is zero. The problem of existence of Kahler metrics whose Ricci tensor has two distinct, constant eigenvalues is related to the celebrated (still open) Goldberg conjecture. Consequently, the irreducible homogeneous examples with negative eigenvalues give rise to complete, Einstein, strictly almost Kahler metrics of any even real dimension greater than 4.Comment: 18 pages; final version; accepted for publication in International Journal of Mathematic

New Onto-Tools: Promoter-Express, nsSNPCounter and Onto-Translate

The Onto-Tools suite is composed of an annotation database and eight complementary, web-accessible data mining tools: Onto-Express, Onto-Compare, Onto-Design, Onto-Translate, Onto-Miner, Pathway-Express, Promoter-Express and nsSNPCounter. Promoter-Express is a new tool added to the Onto-Tools ensemble that facilitates the identification of transcription factor binding sites active in specific conditions. nsSNPCounter is another new tool that allows computation and analysis of synonymous and non-synonymous codon substitutions for studying evolutionary rates of protein coding genes. Onto-Translate has also been enhanced to expand its scope and accuracy by fully utilizing the capabilities of the Onto-Tools database. Currently, Onto-Translate allows arbitrary mappings between 28 types of IDs for 53 organisms. Onto-Tools are freely available at

Vascular deficits contributing to skeletal fragility in type 1 diabetes

Over 1 million Americans are currently living with T1D and improvements in diabetes management have increased the number of adults with T1D living into later decades of life. This growing population of older adults with diabetes is more susceptible to aging comorbidities, including both vascular disease and osteoporosis. Indeed, adults with T1D have a 2- to 3- fold higher risk of any fracture and up to 7-fold higher risk of hip fracture compared to those without diabetes. Recently, diabetes-related vascular deficits have emerged as potential risks factors for impaired bone blood flow and poor bone health and it has been hypothesized that there is a direct pathophysiologic link between vascular disease and skeletal outcomes in T1D. Indeed, microvascular disease (MVD), one of the most serious consequences of diabetes, has been linked to worse bone microarchitecture in older adults with T1D compared to their counterparts without MVD. The association between the presence of microvascular complications and compromised bone microarchitecture indicates the potential direct deleterious effect of vascular compromise, leading to abnormal skeletal blood flow, altered bone remodeling, and deficits in bone structure. In addition, vascular diabetic complications are characterized by increased vascular calcification, decreased arterial distensibility, and vascular remodeling with increased arterial stiffness and thickness of the vessel walls. These extensive alterations in vascular structure lead to impaired myogenic control and reduced nitric-oxide mediated vasodilation, compromising regulation of blood flow across almost all vascular beds and significantly restricting skeletal muscle blood flow seen in those with T1D. Vascular deficits in T1D may very well extend to bone, compromising skeletal blood flow control, and resulting in reduced blood flow to bone, thus negatively impacting bone health. Indeed, several animal and ex vivo human studies report that diabetes induces microvascular damage within bone are strongly correlated with diabetes disease severity and duration. In this review article, we will discuss the contribution of diabetes-induced vascular deficits to bone density, bone microarchitecture, and bone blood flow regulation, and review the potential contribution of vascular disease to skeletal fragility in T1D

Coincidence between transcriptome analyses on different microarray platforms using a parametric framework

A parametric framework for the analysis of transcriptome data is demonstrated to yield coincident results when applied to data acquired using two different microarray platforms. Discrepancies among transcriptome studies are frequently reported, casting doubt on the reliability of collected data. The inconsistency among observations can be largely attributed to differences among the analytical frameworks employed for data analysis. The existing frameworks normalizes data against a standard determined from the data to be analyzed. In the present study, a parametric framework based on a strict model for normalization is applied to data acquired using an in-house printed chip and GeneChip. The framework is based on a common statistical characteristic of microarray data, and each data is normalized on the basis of a linear relationship with this model. In the proposed framework, the expressional changes observed and genes selected are coincident between platforms, achieving superior universality of data compared to other methods

R spider: a network-based analysis of gene lists by combining signaling and metabolic pathways from Reactome and KEGG databases

R spider is a web-based tool for the analysis of a gene list using the systematic knowledge of core pathways and reactions in human biology accumulated in the Reactome and KEGG databases. R spider implements a network-based statistical framework, which provides a global understanding of gene relations in the supplied gene list, and fully exploits the Reactome and KEGG knowledge bases. R spider provides a user-friendly dialog-driven web interface for several model organisms and supports most available gene identifiers. R spider is freely available at http://mips.helmholtz-muenchen.de/proj/rspider

Short-term effects of very low dose cadmium feeding on copper, manganese and iron homeostasis:A gastropod perspective

The available information on the interplay between low-dose cadmium intake and copper, manganese, and iron homeostasis in invertebrates is limited. We have currently studied the accumulation of these trace metals in the hepatopancreas of adult snails, Cantareus aspersus, following 14 and 28 days of exposure to low doses of dietary cadmium, up to 1 mg/kg dw (dry weight). The cadmium dose, but not the duration of exposure, had a significant effect on hepatopancreas copper deposition, the values being significantly elevated compared to controls. A significant peak in manganese levels at 14 days was found in snails administered the lowest cadmium dose. These increases occurred even in the absence of cadmium increase in the hepatopancreas. Our data suggest that low dose cadmium feeding can produce a transient disturbance in hepatopancreas copper and manganese homeostasis. Such responses may serve as early biomarkers of physiological changes occurring during the initial stages of cadmium intoxication

PRELIMINARY RESULTS ON THE ACTION OF PLANT EXTRACTS ON GERMINATION AND ROOT GROWTH PROCESSES IN SEEDS OF PLANT SPECIES GROWN ON SANDY SOILS

In the context of global climate change, Romania is also seeing changes related mainly to the annual average temperature increase of about 1.6 ° C, the increase in summer temperatures (July and August), which led to changes in the biology of the diseases and pests. Combating crop pests is done through several methods: physical-mechanical (thermal disinfections of seeds), chemical (using pesticides), agro-technical (through soil works, including weeds) but also biological (by using natural and of antagonistic organisms). Bioproducts are biological means made on the basis of natural compounds (plant extracts) with a complex action on crop plants, biopreparations that have been shown to be stimulants of vegetative growth. Application of bioproducts is done by treatments, which are either seed treatments or treatments in vegetation (sprays with different volumes of liquid). In 2016 at CCDCPN Dăbuleni, were tested the basil oil for cowpea seeds, mint oil for peanut seeds, santal oil  for green melon seeds to germination and root growth.