Human serum haptoglobin is toxic to Plasmodium falciparum in vitro

Innate immune responses are important in the control of malaria, particularly in those who have not yet mounted an effective adaptive response. Here we report that the human serum acute phase protein, haptoglobin is toxic to Plasmodium falciparum cultured in vitro. This effect is phenotype-dependent and occurs during the trophozoite phase of the asexual life cycle. We propose that the increased levels of haptoglobin seen in the acute phase response may be protective against malaria in humans

Electrically tunable selective reflection of light from ultraviolet to visible and infrared by heliconical cholesterics

Cholesteric liquid crystals with helicoidal molecular architecture are known for their ability to selectively reflect light with the wavelength that is determined by the periodicity of molecular orientations. Here we demonstrate that by using a cholesteric with oblique helicoidal(heliconical) structure, as opposed to the classic right-angle helicoid, one can vary the wavelength of selectively reflected light in a broad spectral range, from ultraviolet to visible and infrared (360-1520 nm for the same chemical composition) by simply adjusting the electric field applied parallel to the helicoidal axis. The effect exists in a wide temperature range (including the room temperatures) and thus can enable many applications that require dynamically controlled transmission and reflection of electromagnetic waves, from energy-saving smart windows to tunable organic lasers, reflective color display, and transparent see-through displays.Comment: 11 pages, 5figure

4-Ferrocenylphenol

The title compound, [Fe(C5H5)(C11H9O)], is of inter­est as a precursor to the synthesis of cheap ferrocene-based liquid crystals. The –OH substituent only results in weak C—H⋯O weak inter­actions between one of cyclo­penta­dienyl (Cp) ring H atoms and the O atom of a neighbouring mol­ecule with a distance of 3.308 (3) Å between the donor and acceptor atoms. The inter­planar angle between the Cp and benzene rings is 13.0 (4)°. There are also weak O—H⋯π and C—H⋯π inter­actions involving the unsubstituted Cp and the benzene ring, respectively

A convenient one-pot synthesis, and characterisation of the ω-bromo-1-(4-cyanobiphenyl-4’-yl) alkanes (CBnBr)

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Nematic twist-bend phase with nanoscale modulation of molecular orientation

A state of matter in which molecules show a long-range orientational order and no positional order is called a nematic liquid crystal. The best known and most widely used (for example, in modern displays) is the uniaxial nematic, with the rod-like molecules aligned along a single axis, called the director. When the molecules are chiral, the director twists in space, drawing a right-angle helicoid and remaining perpendicular to the helix axis; the structure is called a chiral nematic. Here using transmission electron and optical microscopy, we experimentally demonstrate a new nematic order, formed by achiral molecules, in which the director follows an oblique helicoid, maintaining a constant oblique angle with the helix axis and experiencing twist and bend. The oblique helicoids have a nanoscale pitch. The new twist-bend nematic represents a structural link between the uniaxial nematic (no tilt) and a chiral nematic (helicoids with right-angle tilt)

Nematic Twist-Bend Phase with Nanoscale Modulation of Molecular Orientation

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Understanding the remarkable difference in liquid crystal behaviour between secondary and tertiary amides : the synthesis and characterisation of new benzanilide-based liquid crystal dimers

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Using lateral substitution to control conformational preference and phase behaviour of benzanilide-based liquid crystal dimers

Open access via the Wiley Agreement Funder: National Science Centre. Grant Number: 2021/43/B/ST5/00240 Acknowledgments D.P. gratefully acknowledges financial support from the National Science Centre (Poland) under the grant no. 2021/43/B/ST5/00240.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Controlling spontaneous chirality in achiral materials : liquid crystal oligomers and the heliconical twist-bend nematic phase

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