Synthesis of oxetane and azetidine ethers as ester isosteres by Brønsted acid catalysed alkylation of alcohols with 3-aryl-oxetanols and 3-aryl-azetidinols

Oxetanes and azetidines continue to draw significant interest in medicinal chemistry, as small, polar and non-planar motifs. Oxetanes also represent interesting surrogates for carbonyl-containing functional groups. Here we report a synthesis of 3,3- disubstituted oxetane- and azetidine-ethers, with comparisons made to the ester functional group. The tertiary benzylic alcohols of the 4-membered rings are selectively activated using Brønsted acid catalysis and reacted with simple alcohols to form the ethers and maintain the oxetane ring intact. This approach avoids the use of strong bases and halide alkylating agents and allows alcohol libraries to be leveraged. Oxetane ethers demonstrate excellent chemical stability across a range of conditions and an improved stability vis-à-vis analogous esters under basic and reducing conditions

Characterization of a raspberry Pi as the core for a low-cost multimodal EEG-fNIRS platform.

Poor understanding of brain recovery after injury, sparsity of evaluations and limited availability of healthcare services hinders the success of neurorehabilitation programs in rural communities. The availability of neuroimaging ca-pacities in remote communities can alleviate this scenario supporting neurorehabilitation programs in remote settings. This research aims at building a multimodal EEG-fNIRS neuroimaging platform deployable to rural communities to support neurorehabilitation efforts. A Raspberry Pi 4 is chosen as the CPU for the platform responsible for presenting the neurorehabilitation stimuli, acquiring, processing and storing concurrent neuroimaging records as well as the proper synchronization between the neuroimaging streams. We present here two experiments to assess the feasibility and characterization of the Raspberry Pi as the core for a multimodal EEG-fNIRS neuroimaging platform; one over controlled conditions using a combination of synthetic and real data, and another from a full test during resting state. CPU usage, RAM usage and operation temperature were measured during the tests with mean operational records below 40% for CPU cores, 13.6% for memory and 58.85 ° C for temperatures. Package loss was inexistent on synthetic data and negligible on experimental data. Current consumption can be satisfied with a 1000 mAh 5V battery. The Raspberry Pi 4 was able to cope with the required workload in conditions of operation similar to those needed to support a neurorehabilitation evaluation

Quantitative principles of cis-translational control by general mRNA sequence features in eukaryotes.

BackgroundGeneral translational cis-elements are present in the mRNAs of all genes and affect the recruitment, assembly, and progress of preinitiation complexes and the ribosome under many physiological states. These elements include mRNA folding, upstream open reading frames, specific nucleotides flanking the initiating AUG codon, protein coding sequence length, and codon usage. The quantitative contributions of these sequence features and how and why they coordinate to control translation rates are not well understood.ResultsHere, we show that these sequence features specify 42-81% of the variance in translation rates in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Schizosaccharomyces pombe, Arabidopsis thaliana, Mus musculus, and Homo sapiens. We establish that control by RNA secondary structure is chiefly mediated by highly folded 25-60 nucleotide segments within mRNA 5' regions, that changes in tri-nucleotide frequencies between highly and poorly translated 5' regions are correlated between all species, and that control by distinct biochemical processes is extensively correlated as is regulation by a single process acting in different parts of the same mRNA.ConclusionsOur work shows that general features control a much larger fraction of the variance in translation rates than previously realized. We provide a more detailed and accurate understanding of the aspects of RNA structure that directs translation in diverse eukaryotes. In addition, we note that the strongly correlated regulation between and within cis-control features will cause more even densities of translational complexes along each mRNA and therefore more efficient use of the translation machinery by the cell

Condición física de niños futbolistas en función de la posición de juego

The practice of football, requires the execution of demanding movements of high energy demand, being the position in the field of play one of the factors that influences the physiological requirements of these athletes, so the objective of this study is to assess the Physical condition of children footballers depending on the playing position. The present is a cross-sectional correlational study; A sample of 240 children belonging to the soccer schools of Neiva, which have a minimum age of 7 years and a maximum of 17 with an average of 13 years, were available for its realization. For the measurement of aerobic power the Course Navette test was taken, the anaerobic power the RAST test, for the power of the lower limbs the horizontal jump test and for flexibility the Flexitest. As a result, statistically significant differences were found between the game position and fatigue index, maximum power and horizontal jump p <0.001, so it is concluded that the aerobic and anaerobic power varies depending on the position. La práctica del fútbol, requiere de la ejecución de movimientos exigentes de alta demanda energética, siendo la posición en el terreno de juego uno de los factores que influye en los requerimientos fisiológicos de estos deportistas, por lo que el objetivo del estudio es valorar la condición física de niños futbolistas en función de la posición de juego. El estudio es de tipo correlacional, transversal; para su realización se contó con una muestra de 240 niños pertenecientes a las escuelas de fútbol de Neiva-Huila Colombia, los cuales presentan una edad mínima de 7 años y máxima de 17 con una media de 13 años. Para la medición de la potencia aeróbica se tomó el test Course Navette, la potencia anaeróbica el test de RAST, para la potencia de miembros inferiores el test de salto horizontal y para la flexibilidad el Flexitest. Como resultado se encontraron diferencias estadísticamente significativas entre la posición de juego y el índice de fatiga, potencia máxima y salto horizontal p<0,001, por lo que se concluye que la potencia aeróbica y anaeróbica varía en función de la posición

MartiTracks: A Geometrical Approach for Identifying Geographical Patterns of Distribution

Panbiogeography represents an evolutionary approach to biogeography, using rational cost-efficient methods to reduce initial complexity to locality data, and depict general distribution patterns. However, few quantitative, and automated panbiogeographic methods exist. In this study, we propose a new algorithm, within a quantitative, geometrical framework, to perform panbiogeographical analyses as an alternative to more traditional methods. The algorithm first calculates a minimum spanning tree, an individual track for each species in a panbiogeographic context. Then the spatial congruence among segments of the minimum spanning trees is calculated using five congruence parameters, producing a general distribution pattern. In addition, the algorithm removes the ambiguity, and subjectivity often present in a manual panbiogeographic analysis. Results from two empirical examples using 61 species of the genus Bomarea (2340 records), and 1031 genera of both plants and animals (100118 records) distributed across the Northern Andes, demonstrated that a geometrical approach to panbiogeography is a feasible quantitative method to determine general distribution patterns for taxa, reducing complexity, and the time needed for managing large data sets

Tomography of Electrospun Carbon Nanotube Polymeric Blends by Focus Ion Beam: Alignment and Phase Separation Analysis from Multicontrast Electron Imaging

© 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim. Multimodal focused ion beam (FIB) imaging on a polydimethylsiloxane/poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA)/multiwall carbon nanotube (MWCNT) electrospun composite has been applied to discriminate the phase-separated polymer blend and identify MWCNT fillers. Upon tomographic reconstruction, this discrimination has been possible through both atomic number and voltage contrast, the latter being enabled by preferential MWCNT segregation to PMMA. This study suggests that electrospinning could be affecting not only MWCNT alignment but also phase separation dynamics of immiscible polymers, yielding a porous structure throughout the fibers. This work opens the door to correlative materials science in polymer nanocomposites through FIB tomography, where voltage contrast is a main actor. (Figure presented.)

Nut production in Bertholletia excelsa across a logged forest mosaic: implications for multiple forest use

Although many examples of multiple-use forest management may be found in tropical smallholder systems, few studies provide empirical support for the integration of selective timber harvesting with non-timber forest product (NTFP) extraction. Brazil nut (Bertholletia excelsa, Lecythidaceae) is one of the world’s most economically-important NTFP species extracted almost entirely from natural forests across the Amazon Basin. An obligate out-crosser, Brazil nut flowers are pollinated by large-bodied bees, a process resulting in a hard round fruit that takes up to 14 months to mature. As many smallholders turn to the financial security provided by timber, Brazil nut fruits are increasingly being harvested in logged forests. We tested the influence of tree and stand-level covariates (distance to nearest cut stump and local logging intensity) on total nut production at the individual tree level in five recently logged Brazil nut concessions covering about 4000 ha of forest in Madre de Dios, Peru. Our field team accompanied Brazil nut harvesters during the traditional harvest period (January-April 2012 and January-April 2013) in order to collect data on fruit production. Three hundred and ninety-nine (approximately 80%) of the 499 trees included in this study were at least 100 m from the nearest cut stump, suggesting that concessionaires avoid logging near adult Brazil nut trees. Yet even for those trees on the edge of logging gaps, distance to nearest cut stump and local logging intensity did not have a statistically significant influence on Brazil nut production at the applied logging intensities (typically 1–2 timber trees removed per ha). In one concession where at least 4 trees ha-1 were removed, however, the logging intensity covariate resulted in a marginally significant (0.09) P value, highlighting a potential risk for a drop in nut production at higher intensities. While we do not suggest that logging activities should be completely avoided in Brazil nut rich forests, when a buffer zone cannot be observed, low logging intensities should be implemented. The sustainability of this integrated management system will ultimately depend on a complex series of socioeconomic and ecological interactions. Yet we submit that our study provides an important initial step in understanding the compatibility of timber harvesting with a high value NTFP, potentially allowing for diversification of forest use strategies in Amazonian Perù

Survival and dispersal of a defined cohort of Irish cattle

An understanding of livestock movement is critical to effective disease prevention, control and prediction. However, livestock movement in Ireland has not yet been quantified. This study has sought to define the survival and dispersal of a defined cohort of cattle born in Co. Kerry during 2000. The cohort was observed for a maximum of four years, from January 1, 2000 to December 31, 2004. Beef and dairy animals moved an average 1.31 and 0.83 times, respectively. At study end, 18.8% of the beef animals remained alive on Irish farms, including 6.7% at the farm-of-birth, compared with 48.6% and 27.7% for dairy animals respectively. Beef animals werae dispersed to all Irish counties, but mainly to Cork, Limerick, Tipperary and Galway. Dairy animals mainly moved to Cork, Limerick, and Tipperary, with less animals going to Galway, Meath and Kilkenny. The four-year survival probability was 0.07 (male beef animals), 0.25 (male dairy), 0.38 (female beef), and 0.72 (female dairy). Although there was considerable dispersal, the number of moves per animal was less than expected

Circumstellar disks and planets. Science cases for next-generation optical/infrared long-baseline interferometers

We present a review of the interplay between the evolution of circumstellar disks and the formation of planets, both from the perspective of theoretical models and dedicated observations. Based on this, we identify and discuss fundamental questions concerning the formation and evolution of circumstellar disks and planets which can be addressed in the near future with optical and infrared long-baseline interferometers. Furthermore, the importance of complementary observations with long-baseline (sub)millimeter interferometers and high-sensitivity infrared observatories is outlined.Comment: 83 pages; Accepted for publication in "Astronomy and Astrophysics Review"; The final publication is available at http://www.springerlink.co