Radioactive Phosphorylation of Alcohols to Monitor Biocatalytic Diels-Alder Reactions

Nature has efficiently adopted phosphorylation for numerous biological key processes, spanning from cell signaling to energy storage and transmission. For the bioorganic chemist the number of possible ways to attach a single phosphate for radioactive labeling is surprisingly small. Here we describe a very simple and fast one-pot synthesis to phosphorylate an alcohol with phosphoric acid using trichloroacetonitrile as activating agent. Using this procedure, we efficiently attached the radioactive phosphorus isotope 32P to an anthracene diene, which is a substrate for the Diels-Alderase ribozyme—an RNA sequence that catalyzes the eponymous reaction. We used the 32P-substrate for the measurement of RNA-catalyzed reaction kinetics of several dye-labeled ribozyme variants for which precise optical activity determination (UV/vis, fluorescence) failed due to interference of the attached dyes. The reaction kinetics were analyzed by thin-layer chromatographic separation of the 32P-labeled reaction components and densitometric analysis of the substrate and product radioactivities, thereby allowing iterative optimization of the dye positions for future single-molecule studies. The phosphorylation strategy with trichloroacetonitrile may be applicable for labeling numerous other compounds that contain alcoholic hydroxyl groups

Natural parenting : back to basics in infant care

Peer reviewe

What do we learn from the clinical and biological evaluation of the oral cavity in centenarians?

The number of centenarians is rapidly increasing worldwide and so are the studies on this segment of the population. A general consensus in the literature is that healthy longevity is an outcome of multiple factors, but the interrelationship between good oral health and healthy aging remains not fully understood. As part of the \u201cCaT: Centenari a Trieste\u201d study, a population-based cohort study set in Trieste, Italy, we report here the results of subjective self-reported oral health parameters and objective clinical and biological oral variables and their association with cognitive impairment in 25 centenarians enrolled in the study from September 2017 to May 2019. Oral health-related variables were recorded by means of a self-evaluation questionnaire and a compre- hensive oral examination of teeth, prostheses and mucosae conducted by a trained dentist. In addition, 6-n- propylthiouracil (PROP) taste perception and salivary oxidative stress markers, specifically the Total Oxidative Status and Ferric Reducing Ability of Saliva, were measured. Finally, the oral data obtained were compared with the presence or absence of dementia in the enrolled subjects. The centenarians included in our study were generally satisfied with their oral health. Among the causes of discomfort, the most prevalent were difficulties in chewing and biting, with few subjects describing a correlation between their oral health and psycho-social issues. We evaluated possible relations of clinical and biological variables to the likelihood of being demented and did not find significant associations. We found a higher though not statistically significant mean salivary flow and antioxidant capacity of saliva in non-demented subjects. When evaluating the PROP taste perception profile, we found a higher proportion of supertasters compared with previous studies and different taste perception profiles according to dementia. Despite the relatively small number of participants, we believe that our study contributes to a better understanding of the clinical and biological profile of the oral cavity in subjects aged over 100 years, encouraging the inclusion of a comprehensive evaluation of the oral cavity in centenarian studies performed worldwide

Opera in Prison: Impact of an artistic project on the reintegration of young people in prison

The social intervention through the artistic languages can represent in the life of each subject a great socio-educational significance, contributing to reinforce numerous personal, social, affective, emotional and relational skills. The social reintegration of young prisoners presents a great challenge for professionals, since the period of detention can indeed allow the individual a period of reflection, there are also ties (of friendship, family ...) that fall apart, and that, in most cases, it is important to reconcile. The project "Opera in Prison" searched, through music, theater and dance to promote a strategy of socio-educational intervention that catalyzes a socially framed life. This project, funded by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, took place in the Leiria Prison (youth), having been promoted by Sociedade Artística Musical dos Pousos (SAMP). Since the beginning of 2014, a group of 50 prisoners. To understand the impact of this project on the process of social reintegration of young prisoners, a research methodology was adopted based on interviews with the various stakeholders in the project. The results presented evidenced the role that artistic languages have played in the lives of young prisoners and their families and the way in which they have contributed to a more effective social reintegration.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio