Unexpected Variation of the Codeine/Morphine Ratio Following Fatal Heroin Overdose

Postmortem samples from 14 cases of suspected heroin overdose were subjected to a preliminary systematic toxicological analysis in order to highlight the presence of unknown exogenous compounds (e.g., drugs of abuse, alcohol) that may have played a role in the mechanism of death. This analysis unveiled histories of poly-drug use in seven of the cases under investigation. Moreover, the concentrations of morphine and codeine in the brain were also investigated, and the results were compared with the data obtained from the blood specimens. The concentration of morphine in blood ranged from 33 to 688 ng/mL, while the concentration of codeine ranged from 0 to 193 ng/mL. However, in the brain, the concentration of morphine was found to be between 85 and 396 ng/g, while the levels of codeine ranged from 11 to 160 ng/g. The codeine/morphine ratio in the blood ranged from 0.043 to 0.619; however, in the brain, the same ratio was found to be between 0.129 and 0.552. In most cases, a significantly higher codeine/morphine ratio was found in the brain, suggesting the accumulation of codeine in brain tissue due its high lipophilicity as compared with morphine

Silver colloids as plasmonic substrates for direct label-free surface-enhanced Raman scattering analysis of DNA

Ultrasensitive direct SERS analysis offers a powerful analytical tool for the structural characterization and classification of nucleic acids. However, acquisition of reliable spectral fingerprints of such complex biomolecules poses important challenges. In recent years, many efforts have been devoted to overcome these limitations, mainly implementing silver colloids as plasmonic substrates. However, a reliable cross-comparison of results reported in the recent literature is extremely hard to achieve, mostly due to the broad set of different surface properties of the plasmonic nanoparticles. Herein, we perform a thorough investigation of the role played by the metal/liquid interface composition of silver colloids in the direct label-free SERS analysis of DNA. Target molecules of increasing complexity, from short homopolymeric strands to long genomic duplexes, were used as probes. We demonstrate how apparently subtle changes in the colloidal surface chemistry can dramatically modify the affinity and the final SERS spectral profile of DNA. This has significant implications for the future design of new analytical strategies for the detection of DNA using SERS without labels

The birth of a business icon through cultural branding: Ferrari and the Prancing Horse, 1923 - 1947

This article examines the origin of the ‘Prancing Horse’ symbol, and its role in helping the racing team Ferrari survive under the Fascist regime in Italy. Enzo Ferrari, the company’s founder, adopted the coat of arms of Francesco Baracca, the most renowned Italian military aviator during World War I, as the logo of his new racing team. By repurposing it from military aviation to motorsport, he benefitted from powerful cultural associations and strong political and cultural endorsement towards Baracca’s persona. Drawing on scholarship on cultural branding and consumer culture, this study shows how new companies can establish powerful business icons by borrowing symbols connected to populist worlds and national ideologies, and transfer them to various industries. Strategic repurposing thus emerges as a distinct process within cultural branding to obtain institutional support and establish powerful brand identities in challenging contexts

Molecular phylogeography of the smooth-­‐coated otter (Lutrogale perspicillata, Mustelidae) for its conservation in the Mesopotamian marshes of Iraq

The smooth-coated otter (Lutrogale perspicillata) (SCO) includes perspicillata (SE Asia), sindica (SE Pakistan, W India) and endemic-to-Iraq maxwelli morphological subspecies. Classified as vulnerable by IUCN, the SCO is threatened by habitat transformation, illegal trade and poaching. Non-invasively collected samples in Iraq (10), central and E Asia (nine countries, 46) were sequenced at the entire mtDNA Cytochrome-b gene and genotyped (ongoing) at the microsatellite DNA. We also obtained 307 bp-long gene fragments from 16 SCOs resident to US and European museums. We used 19 Lutrinae GenBank entries. In Iraq, we provided genetic evidence for endemicity of maxwelli to Mesopotamia (private haplotype, mostly from Al-Hawizeh Marsh, S Iraq), while we could not confirm the occurrence of the SCO in N Iraq (Kurdistan).We found reciprocally monophyletic mtDNA lineages across the SCO range each corresponding to a subspecies. Preliminary microsatellite DNA results confirmed this mtDNA picture, overall pointing to three Evolutionarily Significant Units. Looking-like SCOs from Singapore showed oriental small-clawed otter (Aonyx cinerea) mtDNA. We will investigate A. cinerea-mtDNA introgressed SCOs at the microsatellite DNA to assess if they are descendant of L. perspicillata x A. cinerea otters (i.e., first hybrid record in the wild for Lutrinae). Several museum specimens were genetically identified as other than the SCO (even an African otter),indicating that morphology can be not sufficient to reliably catalogue otter study skins. In Iraq, genetic and fieldwork (not shown) data will help establishing a National Single Species Action Plan for the SCO. [National Geographic Society Conservation

Heparin and Heparan Sulfate: Analyzing Structure and Microheterogeneity [chapter]

available in PMC 2013 August 28The structural microheterogeneity of heparin and heparan sulfate is one of the major reasons for the multifunctionality exhibited by this class of molecules. In a physiological context, these molecules primarily exert their effects extracellularly by mediating key processes of cellular cross-talk and signaling leading to the modulation of a number of different biological activities including development, cell proliferation, and inflammation. This structural diversity is biosynthetically imprinted in a nontemplate-driven manner and may also be dynamically remodeled as cellular function changes. Understanding the structural information encoded in these molecules forms the basis for attempting to understand the complex biology they mediate. This chapter provides an overview of the origin of the structural microheterogeneity observed in heparin and heparan sulfate, and the orthogonal analytical methodologies that are required to help decipher this information

Trends in Metal Oxide Stability for Nanorods, Nanotubes, and Surfaces

The formation energies of nanostructures play an important role in determining their properties, including the catalytic activity. For the case of 15 different rutile and 8 different perovskite metal oxides, we find that the density functional theory (DFT) calculated formation energies of (2,2) nanorods, (3,3) nanotubes, and the (110) and (100) surfaces may be described semi-quantitatively by the fraction of metal--oxygen bonds broken and the bonding band centers in the bulk metal oxide

Unravelling the biogeography of secretive taxa by museum collections: the untold story of the black francolin (Francolinus francolinus, Phasianidae) in the Mediterranean

The black francolin (Francolinus francolinus) (BF) comprises six morphological subspecies distributed from Cyprus and Turkey across Asia to India. In spite of being renowned as courtly gamebird since the Classic Age, this species suffers from paucity of demographic and molecular studies. In order to update the BF biogeographic pattern by pursuing a thorough sampling across the unsafe and remote areas representing most of the specie’s range, tissues from museum specimens (76, XVIIIth c.-­‐1954) hosted in US and European ornithological collections were genotyped at a 185 bp-­‐long fragment of the mtDNA Control Region gene along with modern birds (205) sequenced at the entire gene. The access to ornithological collections opened the unforeseen opportunity to elucidate the genetic affinity of the extinct populations once residing in the western Mediterranean (Italy, Spain), thus settling the debate about autochthony versus allochthony in that region. Three well-­‐defined haplogroups -­‐ each one including a pair of morphological subspecies and matching the phylogeographical pattern inferred with the whole gene -­‐ were found to reflect a westward adaptive radiation, a more complex scenario being nonetheless disclosed in the Indian sub-­‐continent. The nonnative status of the western Mediterranean BFs was ultimately assessed, a tight genetic affinity with conspecifics from Cyprus and southern Asia being found. This finding, which partly confirmed the invoked importation during the Crusades, pointed to the major human impact on Mediterranean biodiversity through long-­‐distance trade across Asia to satisfy the high demand for exotic species by the European aristocracy during the Medieval times and the Renaissance

Impacts of biological globalization in the Mediterranean: Unveiling the deep history of human-mediated gamebird dispersal

Humans have a long history of moving wildlife that over time has resulted in unprecedented biotic homogenization. It is, as a result, often unclear whether certain taxa are native to a region or naturalized, and how the history of human involvement in species dispersal has shaped present-day biodiversity. Although currently an eastern Palaearctic galliform, the black francolin (Francolinus francolinus) was known to occur in the western Mediterranean from at least the time of Pliny the Elder, if not earlier. During Medieval times and the Renaissance, the black francolin was a courtly gamebird prized not only for its flavor, but also its curative, and even aphrodisiac qualities. There is uncertainty, however, whether this important gamebird was native or introduced to the region and, if the latter, what the source of introduction into the western Mediterranean was. Here we combine historical documentation with a DNA investigation of modern birds and archival (13th–20th century) specimens from across the species’ current and historically documented range. Our study proves the black francolin was nonnative to the western Mediterranean, and we document its introduction from the east via several trade routes, some reaching as far as South Asia. This finding provides insight into the reach and scope of long-distance trade routes that serviced the demand of European aristocracy for exotic species as symbols of wealth and prestige, and helps to demonstrate the lasting impact of human-mediated long-distance species dispersal on current day biodiversity

Atomically dispersed Pt-N-4 sites as efficient and selective electrocatalysts for the chlorine evolution reaction

Chlorine evolution reaction (CER) is a critical anode reaction in chlor-alkali electrolysis. Although precious metal-based mixed metal oxides (MMOs) have been widely used as CER catalysts, they suffer from the concomitant generation of oxygen during the CER. Herein, we demonstrate that atomically dispersed Pt-N-4 sites doped on a carbon nanotube (Pt-1/CNT) can catalyse the CER with excellent activity and selectivity. The Pt-1/CNT catalyst shows superior CER activity to a Pt nanoparticle-based catalyst and a commercial Ru/Ir-based MMO catalyst. Notably, Pt-1/CNT exhibits near 100% CER selectivity even in acidic media, with low Cl- concentrations (0.1M), as well as in neutral media, whereas the MMO catalyst shows substantially lower CER selectivity. In situ electrochemical X-ray absorption spectroscopy reveals the direct adsorption of Cl- on Pt-N-4 sites during the CER. Density functional theory calculations suggest the PtN4C12 site as the most plausible active site structure for the CER