The institutions of archaic post-modernity and their organizational and managerial consequences: The case of Portugal

The long march of modernization of the Western societies tends to be presented as following a regular sequence: societies and institutions were pre-modern, and then they were modernized, eventually becoming post-modern. Such teleology may provide an incomplete or distorted narrative of societal evolution in many parts of the world, even in the ‘post-modern heartland’ of Western Europe, with Portugal being a case in point. The concept of archaic post-modernity has been developed by a philosopher, José Gil, to show how Portuguese institutions and organizations combine elements of pre-modernity and post-modernity. The notion of an archaic post-modernity is advanced in order to provide an alternative account of the modernization process, which enriches discussion of the varieties of capitalism. Differences in historical experiences create singularities that may be considered in the analysis of culture, management and organization

Evaluation of in vitro toxicity of N,N-dimethyl-2-propen-1-amines isomers

The trypanocidal activities of cis-3-(4'-bromo[1,1'-biphenyl]-4-yl)-3-(phenyl)-N,N-dimethyl-2-propen-1-amine (Vb) and cis-3-(4'-bromo[1,1'-biphenyl]-4-yl)-3-(4-bromophenyl)-N,N-dimethyl-2-propen-1-anine (Vg) appeared 6.3 and 3.5 fold more active than the trans-isomers, respectively Multi-endpoints for toxicity were also applied. Neutral red uptake (NRU), tetrazolium salt reduction (MTT), DNA content on V79 fibroblast cell culture and acute toxicity von E. coli were measured. The IC50 through DNA contents was lower for the cis-isomers in both series of compounds 5b: 7.8 mu M and 5g: 5.2 mu M). NRU values for derivative 5b in isomeric mixture shows the same value as the isolated isomers however, in the case of 5g a more significant toxicity of the cis-isomer was found. MTT values show that 5g is more toxic than 5b. In both cases, the acute toxicity of the trans-isomers was higher than that of the cis-isomers.541184785

Application of a multi-endpoint cytotoxicity assay to the trypanocidal compounds 2-propen-1-amine derivatives and determination of their acute toxicity

A multi-endpoint cytotoxicity method using the V79 fibroblast cell line was applied to 2-propen-1-amine derivatives and Nifurtimox that presented trypanocidal activity. The acute toxicity of the compounds was also studied using E. coli. The 2-propen-1-amine derivatives (X = p-H; p-Br; p-CH3SO2; p-NO2) exhibited higher trypanocidal activity (ID50) (trypomastigotes) 12.1-35.0 mu M) than Nifurtimox (157.0 mu M). For the cytotoxicity assessment, three independent endpoints, namely DNA content, neutral red uptake, and MTT, were used. Nifurtimox exhibited a lower toxicity (250-500 mu M) than the 2-propen-1-amine derivatives (4.9-48.0 mu M) and the 2-propen-1-amine derivatives exhibited lower EC50 values (5.7-24.0 mu M) than Nifurtimox (35.0 mu M), except for the p-CH3SO2 group whose IC50 was 110.0 mu M. Although Nifurtimox is a recognized toxic compound that needs metabolization to express its toxicity, its toxicity was lower than that of 2-propen-1-amines in all tests, Thus, we conclude that the multi-endpoint method for cytotoxicity evaluation using the V-79 fibroblast cell line is not adequate for compounds that need metabolization. This study led us to select the p-bromo 2-propen-1-amine derivative as one of the less toxic and more active trypanocide derivatives for further in vivo studies.11215316