Lanthanide-Containing Rotaxanes, Catenanes and Knots

The valuable luminescence, magnetic, and catalytic properties of lanthanide cations are beginning to be exploited in conjunction with structurally exotic mechanically interlocked molecules (MIMs) such as rotaxanes, catenanes and knots. This Minireview provides an account of this rapidly developing research area commencing with the use of lanthanides in extended MIM‐containing frameworks. Then, attention turns to discrete lanthanide‐containing pseudorotaxanes, followed by fully interlocked rotaxanes, catenanes and knots – where lanthanides have not only been incorporated into MIM architectures but have also been used to template formation of the interlocked structure. Particular focus is paid to examples where the lanthanide MIMs have been put to useful applications, in what is still a relatively youthful avenue of research in both lanthanide coordination chemistry and the chemistry of mechanically interlocked molecules

Blaming the rat?

The medical-humanities literature on zoonosis has overwhelmingly stressed the manner in which cross-species diseases challenge anthropocentric accounts of society. This article explores the colonial discovery, between 1896 and 1910, that bubonic plague (the disease responsible for the medieval Black Death) was zoonotic. This scientific work involved a massive, almost industrialised, examination of rat corpses so as to produce an animal linkage in plague. I show that this production of animal agency paradoxically served to hasten an ongoing process whereby human behaviour was identified as the moral locus of disease. The scientific production of zoonosis thus enabled another form of reasoning and judging to come to the fore, which ultimately had the effect of strengthening and heightening existing racial stereotypes and hierarchies. Far from challenging an anthropocentric worldview, this zoonosis helped to re-establish one

Long read review: rethinking and redefining Islam in South Asia

Nicholas H A Evans (LSE) goes on a journey through India’s past with Anand Vivek Taneja’s new book Jinnealogy: Time, Islam, and Ecological Thought in the Medieval Ruins of Dehli to find an analysis that complicates simple narratives about religion and offers anthropologists and ethnographers new reasons and methods to explore the definition of what Islam is in South Asia

Progress in the synthesis and exploitation of catenanes since the Millennium

Catenanes – molecules consisting of interlocked macrocyclic rings – have been prepared by templation strategies for some thirty years. The utilization of CuI cation, aromatic donor–acceptor interactions and hydrogen bonding assisted self-assembly strategies has led to the construction of numerous examples of these aesthetically pleasing species. This review seeks to discuss key developments in the synthesis and functional application of catenanes that have occurred since the Millennium. The much expanded range of metal cation templates; the genesis and growth of anion templation, as well as the use of alternative supramolecular interactions (halogen bonding and radical templation) and thermodynamically controlled reactions to synthesize catenanes are detailed. The class of catenanes that may be described as “molecular machines” are then highlighted and to conclude, attempts to fabricate catenanes onto surfaces and into metal organic frameworks (MOFs) are discussed

The rapid synthesis and dynamic behaviour of an isophthalamide [2]catenane

A [2]catenane has been prepared in three steps from commerically available starting materials. In solution, the rings of the catenane are able to rotate relative to one another, in a process that varies depending on solvent and temperature.</p

Advances in anion supramolecular chemistry:from recognition to chemical applications

Since the start of this millennium, remarkable progress in the binding and sensing of anions has been taking place, driven in part by discoveries in the use of hydrogen bonding, as well as the previously under-exploited anion–π interactions and halogen bonding. However, anion supramolecular chemistry has developed substantially beyond anion recognition, and now encompasses a diverse range of disciplines. Dramatic advance has been made in the anion-templated synthesis of macrocycles and interlocked molecular architectures, while the study of transmembrane anion transporters has flourished from almost nothing into a rapidly maturing field of research. The supramolecular chemistry of anions has also found real practical use in a variety of applications such as catalysis, ion extraction, and the use of anions as stimuli for responsive chemical systems

Gain of Function Research and Model Organisms in Biology

So-called ‘gain-of-function’ (GOF) research is virological research that results in a virus substantially more virulent or transmissible than its wild antecedent. GOF research has been subject to ethical analysis in the past, but the methods of GOF research have to date been underexamined by philosophers in these analyses. Here, we examine the typical animal used in influenza GOF experiments, the ferret, and show how despite its longstanding use, it does not easily satisfy the desirable criteria for an animal model. We then discuss the limitations of the ferret model, and how those epistemic limitations bear on ethical and policy questions around the risks and benefits of GOF research. We conclude with a reflection on how philosophy of science can contribute to ethical and policy debates around the risks, benefits and relative priority of life sciences research

Carotid Atheroinflammation Is Associated With Cerebral Small Vessel Disease Severity.

Background: Atherosclerosis is a systemic inflammatory disease, with common inflammatory processes implicated in both atheroma vulnerability and blood-brain barrier disruption. This prospective multimodal imaging study aimed to measure directly the association between systemic atheroma inflammation ("atheroinflammation") and downstream chronic cerebral small vessel disease severity. Methods: Twenty-six individuals with ischemic stroke with ipsilateral carotid artery stenosis of >50% underwent 18fluoride-fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography within 2 weeks of stroke. Small vessel disease severity and white matter hyperintensity volume were assessed using 3-tesla magnetic resonance imaging also within 2 weeks of stroke. Results: Fluorodeoxyglucose uptake was independently associated with more severe small vessel disease (odds ratio 6.18, 95% confidence interval 2.1-18.2, P < 0.01 for the non-culprit carotid artery) and larger white matter hyperintensity volumes (coefficient = 14.33 mL, P < 0.01 for the non-culprit carotid artery). Conclusion: These proof-of-concept results have important implications for our understanding of the neurovascular interface and potential therapeutic exploitation in the management of systemic atherosclerosis, particularly non-stenotic disease previously considered asymptomatic, in order to reduce the burden of chronic cerebrovascular disease