4-Meth­oxy-3-(trifluoro­meth­yl)aniline

In title compound, C8H8F3NO, the meth­oxy group is inclined at 8.7 (4)° to the benzene ring plane. The crystal structure is stabilized by inter­molecular N—H⋯F, N—H⋯N and C—H⋯F hydrogen-bonding inter­actions

Isolation of the monooxygenase complex from Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus:Clues to understanding acaricide resistance

The monooxygenase complex is composed of three key proteins, a cytochrome P450 (CYP), the cytochrome P450 oxidoreductase (CPR) and cytochrome b5 and plays a key role in the metabolism and detoxification of xenobiotic substances, including pesticides. In addition, overexpression of these components has been linked to pesticide resistance in several important vectors of disease. Despite this, the monooxygenase complex has not been isolated from the Southern cattle tick Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus, a major disease vector in livestock. Using bioinformatics 115 transcriptomic sequences were analyzed to identify putative pesticide metabolizing CYPs. RACE-PCR was used to amplify the full length sequence of one CYP; CYP3006G8 which displays a high degree of homology to members of the CYP6 and 9 subfamilies, known to metabolize pyrethroids. mRNA expression levels of CYP3006G8 were investigated in 11 strains of R. microplus with differing resistance profiles by qPCR, the results of which indicated a correlation with pyrethroid metabolic resistance. In addition to this gene, the sequences for CPR and cytochrome b5 were also identified and subsequently isolated from R. microplus using PCR. CYP3006G8 is only the third CYP gene isolated from R. microplus and the first to putatively metabolize pesticides. The initial results of expression analysis suggest that CYP3006G8 metabolizes pyrethroids but further biochemical characterization is required to confirm this. Differences in the kinetic parameters of human and mosquito CPR in terms of NADPH binding have been demonstrated and could potentially be used to design species specific pesticides. Similar differences in the tick CPR would confirm that this is a characteristic of heamatophagous arthropods

Performance analysis and optimization for workflow authorization

Many workflow management systems have been developed to enhance the performance of workflow executions. The authorization policies deployed in the system may restrict the task executions. The common authorization constraints include role constraints, Separation of Duty (SoD), Binding of Duty (BoD) and temporal constraints. This paper presents the methods to check the feasibility of these constraints, and also determines the time durations when the temporal constraints will not impose negative impact on performance. Further, this paper presents an optimal authorization method, which is optimal in the sense that it can minimize a workflow’s delay caused by the temporal constraints. The authorization analysis methods are also extended to analyze the stochastic workflows, in which the tasks’ execution times are not known exactly, but follow certain probability distributions. Simulation experiments have been conducted to verify the effectiveness of the proposed authorization methods. The experimental results show that comparing with the intuitive authorization method, the optimal authorization method can reduce the delay caused by the authorization constraints and consequently reduce the workflows’ response time

Rapid, metal-free and aqueous synthesis of imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine under ambient conditions

A novel, rapid and efficient route to imidazo[1,2-a]pyridines under ambient, aqueous and metal-free conditions is reported. The NaOH-promoted cycloisomerisations of N-propargylpyridiniums give quantitative yield in a few minutes (10 g scale). A comparison of common green metrics to current routes showed clear improvements, with at least a one order of magnitude increase in space-time-yield

Toward a quantitative understanding of the Wnt/beta-catenin pathway through simulation and experiment

Wnt signaling regulates cell survival, proliferation, and differentiation throughout development and is aberrantly regulated in cancer. The pathway is activated when Wnt ligands bind to specific receptors on the cell surface, resulting in the stabilization and nuclear accumulation of the transcriptional co‐activator β‐catenin. Mathematical and computational models have been used to study the spatial and temporal regulation of the Wnt/β‐catenin pathway and to investigate the functional impact of mutations in key components. Such models range in complexity, from time‐dependent, ordinary differential equations that describe the biochemical interactions between key pathway components within a single cell, to complex, multiscale models that incorporate the role of the Wnt/β‐catenin pathway target genes in tissue homeostasis and carcinogenesis. This review aims to summarize recent progress in mathematical modeling of the Wnt pathway and to highlight new biological results that could form the basis for future theoretical investigations designed to increase the utility of theoretical models of Wnt signaling in the biomedical arena

Inequalities in the commuting burden: Institutional constraints and job-housing relationships in Tianjin, China

Encouraging transport equality is vital in order to create a liveable city. However, the burden of commuting has become a key concern in urban areas, particularly in developing countries. Inequalities in the commuting burden are accompanied by inequalities in housing and employment, because these institutions have a significant impact on individuals' choices of accommodation and jobs, thus shaping commuting behaviour and causing imbalances in job-housing relationships. Therefore, this paper aims to analyse the role of employment and housing system constraints in the unequal commuting burden by using Tianjin as a case study. The results of the study show that the effects of institutional factors, such as Hukou and the Danwei system, help to explain imbalances in the job-housing relationship and the unequal commuting burden. Some commuters are employed by Danweis or have Tianjin Hukou, and can, therefore, live in Danwei housing, which means that Danweis provide effective solutions for some people in terms of their accommodation, enabling them to significantly decrease the time they spend commuting. Moreover, our study provides new evidence that institutional barriers constrain the job-housing balance in the case of high-skilled immigrants, while local residents and low-skilled immigrants can avoid institutional barriers by returning to Danwei housing and choosing to live in informal housing. In terms of suggesting measures for improving commuting inequalities, commuters generally wanted to eliminate the housing benefits resulting from the legacy of the Danwei system and for equal housing subsidies to be implemented. At the same time, they appealed for improvements to be made in terms of housing benefits, the quality of public transport and mixed housing-workplace planning. This study finds that institutional discrimination causes social inequalities in relation to the commuting burden, which could continue to worsen unless the influence of institutional factors is eliminated. The findings could be used to assist planners and decision makers in developing effective strategies to promote sustainable urban development

Molecular control of HIV-1 postintegration latency: implications for the development of new therapeutic strategies

The persistence of HIV-1 latent reservoirs represents a major barrier to virus eradication in infected patients under HAART since interruption of the treatment inevitably leads to a rebound of plasma viremia. Latency establishes early after infection notably (but not only) in resting memory CD4+ T cells and involves numerous host and viral trans-acting proteins, as well as processes such as transcriptional interference, RNA silencing, epigenetic modifications and chromatin organization. In order to eliminate latent reservoirs, new strategies are envisaged and consist of reactivating HIV-1 transcription in latently-infected cells, while maintaining HAART in order to prevent de novo infection. The difficulty lies in the fact that a single residual latently-infected cell can in theory rekindle the infection. Here, we review our current understanding of the molecular mechanisms involved in the establishment and maintenance of HIV-1 latency and in the transcriptional reactivation from latency. We highlight the potential of new therapeutic strategies based on this understanding of latency. Combinations of various compounds used simultaneously allow for the targeting of transcriptional repression at multiple levels and can facilitate the escape from latency and the clearance of viral reservoirs. We describe the current advantages and limitations of immune T-cell activators, inducers of the NF-κB signaling pathway, and inhibitors of deacetylases and histone- and DNA- methyltransferases, used alone or in combinations. While a solution will not be achieved by tomorrow, the battle against HIV-1 latent reservoirs is well- underway

Equal or equitable pay? : individual differences in pay fairness perceptions

This study examined how social comparison (i.e., comparing one's pay to similar others' pay) and deserved comparison (i.e., comparing one's pay to one's deserved pay) affect pay fairness perceptions, and the individual differences in the comparison processes. Results based on a field study with a sample of 167 employees showed pay fairness was low when employees received lower pay than a similar other (or what they deserved), increased as their pay exceeded that of a similar other (or deserved pay) to some extent, and then decreased when overpayment was considerable. Second, pay fairness increased as one's actual and similar others' pay levels both increased while pay fairness remained the same as one's actual and the deserved pay levels both increased. In addition, the “threshold” that people start to perceive overpayment as less fair occurred more quickly for those with higher preference for consistency in social comparison and for those with higher preference for the merit principle in deserved comparison. We also conducted experiments, and the results generally replicated the findings in the field study. These findings offer theoretical implications regarding organizational justice, as well as practical implications for designing and executing a compensation system

Consensus guidelines for the use and interpretation of angiogenesis assays

The formation of new blood vessels, or angiogenesis, is a complex process that plays important roles in growth and development, tissue and organ regeneration, as well as numerous pathological conditions. Angiogenesis undergoes multiple discrete steps that can be individually evaluated and quantified by a large number of bioassays. These independent assessments hold advantages but also have limitations. This article describes in vivo, ex vivo, and in vitro bioassays that are available for the evaluation of angiogenesis and highlights critical aspects that are relevant for their execution and proper interpretation. As such, this collaborative work is the first edition of consensus guidelines on angiogenesis bioassays to serve for current and future reference