Dimethyl 2,2'-di-nitro-biphenyl-4,4'-di-carboxyl-ate.

The title compound, C16H12N2O8, exhibits two near-planar aromatic ester groups with ar-yl-ester dihedral angles of 2.1 (2) and 4.2 (3)°. The dihedral angle between the aromatic rings is 58.0 (1)°. The two nitro groups are tilted slightly from the plane of the aromatic rings, making dihedral angles of 14.1 (1) and 8.2 (2)°. In the crystal, mol-ecules are connected by weak C-H⋯O inter-actions, forming a three-dimensional network

Crystal structure of dimethyl 9H-carbazole-2,7-di-carb-oxy-late.

In the title compound, C16H13NO4, the carbazole ring system is almost planar with non-H atoms possessing a mean deviation from planarity of 0.037 Å. The two ester groups are orientated trans to one another and tilted slightly from the mean plane of the carbazole ring system, making dihedral angles of 8.12 (6) and 8.21 (5)°. In the crystal, mol-ecules are linked by pairs of N-H⋯O hydrogen bonds forming inversion dimers. The dimers are linked by parallel slipped π-π inter-actions, forming slabs propagating along the b-axis direction [inter-centroid distance = 3.6042 (8) Å, inter-planar distance = 3.3437 (5) Å, slippage = 1.345 Å]

Mothers' voices: hearing and assessing the contributions of 'birth mothers' to the development of social work interventions and family support

This paper focuses on interviews with ‘birth mothers’ who experienced successive losses of their children to public care in one local area of London, England. Interviews were conducted during a project partnership between a London borough and university staff, aiming to provide a localised, pilot support initiative which responded to mothers’ viewpoints. To ‘hear’ mothers’ own voices more clearly, we analysed interview transcripts using a methodology which separates out elements of how the interviewee tells her story, how she speaks about herself and about her relationships, taking into account surrounding social complexities and researchers’ reactions to the story. To explain how professionals could subsequently draw upon these ‘mothers’ voices’ for a pilot support initiative, we identify some key messages for professionals from these interviews, including: women wanting clear and honest communication between themselves and workers, and between staff; women often feeling ‘let down’ by professional procedures and court processes that were moving too fast for them to keep up; women wanting to be treated with more respect. Women respected some professionals but not others and this seemed to relate partly to personalities. Some mothers experienced being ‘left alone’ or ‘abandoned’ to deal with the aftermath of children’s removal and/or adoption

Verapamil-Sensitive Transport of Quinacrine and Methylene Blue via the Plasmodium falciparum Chloroquine Resistance Transporter Reduces the Parasite's Susceptibility to these Tricyclic Drugs.

BACKGROUND: It is becoming increasingly apparent that certain mutations in the Plasmodium falciparum chloroquine resistance transporter (PfCRT) alter the parasite's susceptibility to diverse compounds. Here we investigated the interaction of PfCRT with 3 tricyclic compounds that have been used to treat malaria (quinacrine [QC] and methylene blue [MB]) or to study P. falciparum (acridine orange [AO]). METHODS: We measured the antiplasmodial activities of QC, MB, and AO against chloroquine-resistant and chloroquine-sensitive P. falciparum and determined whether QC and AO affect the accumulation and activity of chloroquine in these parasites. We also assessed the ability of mutant (PfCRT(Dd2)) and wild-type (PfCRT(D10)) variants of the protein to transport QC, MB, and AO when expressed at the surface of Xenopus laevis oocytes. RESULTS: Chloroquine resistance-conferring isoforms of PfCRT reduced the susceptibility of the parasite to QC, MB, and AO. In chloroquine-resistant (but not chloroquine-sensitive) parasites, AO and QC increased the parasite's accumulation of, and susceptibility to, chloroquine. All 3 compounds were shown to bind to PfCRT(Dd2), and the transport of QC and MB via this protein was saturable and inhibited by the chloroquine resistance-reverser verapamil. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings reveal that the PfCRT(Dd2)-mediated transport of tricyclic antimalarials reduces the parasite's susceptibility to these drugs

Can partial reduction of shoot biomass during early vegetative phase of chickpea save subsoil water for reproductive and pod filling?

The present study investigated if partial reduction of shoot dry matter during early vegetative growth phase of chickpea crop (cv. PBA Seamer) saves sub-soil water for reproductive growth and grain filling of the crop grown at 9 diverse environments. The environments were created by a combination of 3 sites (Emerald, Hermitage and Kingaroy), 3 planting windows (environments 1, 2, 3 at each site) with and without supplementary irrigation. The effects of environments on canopy management (partial reduction in shoot dry matter vs control) and irrigation treatments on the water uptake by roots, crop growth and yield performance and yield components were investigated. Crops in the planting windows (EN 1, 2, 3) experienced variable environments at each site. Days to 50% flowering and crop maturity reduced progressively from EN 1 to EN 3 at the three sites. The environment had significant effect on shoot biomass, yield and HI at the three sites (P  0.5 in EN 2 at Emerald. There was a trend for an increase in HI from EN 1 to EN 3 at all sites. The response to Irr, computed as the difference in peak shoot biomass and yield between the Irr and RF treatments, was the highest at Hermitage and the least at Emerald site. Vapour pressure deficit during reproductive phase accounted for the majority of variation in shoot biomass response to irrigation (r2 =0.66, P < 0.001) for total dry matter and (r2 =0.46, P < 0.01) for yield. The environments had a significant effect on radiation use efficiency and water use efficiency and the yield components including hundred seed weight

Dimethyl 2,2′-dinitrobiphenyl-4,4′-dicarboxylate

The title compound, C16H12N2O8, exhibits two near-planar aromatic ester groups with aryl–ester dihedral angles of 2.1 (2) and 4.2 (3)°. The dihedral angle between the aromatic rings is 58.0 (1)°. The two nitro groups are tilted slightly from the plane of the aromatic rings, making dihedral angles of 14.1 (1) and 8.2 (2)°. In the crystal, molecules are connected by weak C—H...O interactions, forming a three-dimensional network

Using molecular data for epidemiological inference: assessing the prevalence of Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense in Tsetse in Serengeti, Tanzania

Background: Measuring the prevalence of transmissible Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense in tsetse populations is essential for understanding transmission dynamics, assessing human disease risk and monitoring spatio-temporal trends and the impact of control interventions. Although an important epidemiological variable, identifying flies which carry transmissible infections is difficult, with challenges including low prevalence, presence of other trypanosome species in the same fly, and concurrent detection of immature non-transmissible infections. Diagnostic tests to measure the prevalence of T. b. rhodesiense in tsetse are applied and interpreted inconsistently, and discrepancies between studies suggest this value is not consistently estimated even to within an order of magnitude. Methodology/Principal Findings: Three approaches were used to estimate the prevalence of transmissible Trypanosoma brucei s.l. and T. b. rhodesiense in Glossina swynnertoni and G. pallidipes in Serengeti National Park, Tanzania: (i) dissection/microscopy; (ii) PCR on infected tsetse midguts; and (iii) inference from a mathematical model. Using dissection/microscopy the prevalence of transmissible T. brucei s.l. was 0% (95% CI 0–0.085) for G. swynnertoni and 0% (0–0.18) G. pallidipes; using PCR the prevalence of transmissible T. b. rhodesiense was 0.010% (0–0.054) and 0.0089% (0–0.059) respectively, and by model inference 0.0064% and 0.00085% respectively. Conclusions/Significance: The zero prevalence result by dissection/microscopy (likely really greater than zero given the results of other approaches) is not unusual by this technique, often ascribed to poor sensitivity. The application of additional techniques confirmed the very low prevalence of T. brucei suggesting the zero prevalence result was attributable to insufficient sample size (despite examination of 6000 tsetse). Given the prohibitively high sample sizes required to obtain meaningful results by dissection/microscopy, PCR-based approaches offer the current best option for assessing trypanosome prevalence in tsetse but inconsistencies in relating PCR results to transmissibility highlight the need for a consensus approach to generate meaningful and comparable data

Prospects for the development of odour baits to control the tsetse flies Glossina tachinoides and G. palpalis s.l.

Field studies were done of the responses of Glossina palpalis palpalis in Côte d'Ivoire, and G. p. gambiensis and G. tachinoides in Burkina Faso, to odours from humans, cattle and pigs. Responses were measured either by baiting (1.) biconical traps or (2.) electrocuting black targets with natural host odours. The catch of G. tachinoides from traps was significantly enhanced (~5×) by odour from cattle but not humans. In contrast, catches from electric targets showed inconsistent results. For G. p. gambiensis both human and cattle odour increased (>2×) the trap catch significantly but not the catch from electric targets. For G. p. palpalis, odours from pigs and humans increased (~5×) the numbers of tsetse attracted to the vicinity of the odour source but had little effect on landing or trap-entry. For G. tachinoides a blend of POCA (P = 3-n-propylphenol; O = 1-octen-3-ol; C = 4-methylphenol; A = acetone) alone or synthetic cattle odour (acetone, 1-octen-3-ol, 4-methylphenol and 3-n-propylphenol with carbon dioxide) consistently caught more tsetse than natural cattle odour. For G. p. gambiensis, POCA consistently increased catches from both traps and targets. For G. p. palpalis, doses of carbon dioxide similar to those produced by a host resulted in similar increases in attraction. Baiting traps with super-normal (~500 mg/h) doses of acetone also consistently produced significant but slight (~1.6×) increases in catches of male flies. The results suggest that odour-baited traps and insecticide-treated targets could assist the AU-Pan African Tsetse and Trypanosomiasis Eradication Campaign (PATTEC) in its current efforts to monitor and control Palpalis group tsetse in West Africa. For all three species, only ~50% of the flies attracted to the vicinity of the trap were actually caught by it, suggesting that better traps might be developed by an analysis of the visual responses and identification of any semiochemicals involved in short-range interaction

Gene expression profiling in brain of mice exposed to the marine neurotoxin ciguatoxin reveals an acute anti-inflammatory, neuroprotective response

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Ciguatoxins (CTXs) are polyether marine neurotoxins and potent activators of voltage-gated sodium channels. This toxin is carried by multiple reef-fish species and human consumption of ciguatoxins can result in an explosive gastrointestinal/neurologic illness. This study characterizes the global transcriptional response in mouse brain to a symptomatic dose of the highly toxic Pacific ciguatoxin P-CTX-1 and additionally compares this data to transcriptional profiles from liver and whole blood examined previously. Adult male C57/BL6 mice were injected with 0.26 ng/g P-CTX-1 while controls received only vehicle. Animals were sacrificed at 1, 4 and 24 hrs and transcriptional profiling was performed on brain RNA with Agilent whole genome microarrays. RT-PCR was used to independently validate gene expression and the web tool DAVID was used to analyze gene ontology (GO) and molecular pathway enrichment of the gene expression data.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A pronounced 4°C hypothermic response was recorded in these mice, reaching a minimum at 1 hr and lasting for 8 hrs post toxin exposure. Ratio expression data were filtered by intensity, fold change and p-value, with the resulting data used for time course analysis, K-means clustering, ontology classification and KEGG pathway enrichment. Top GO hits for this gene set included acute phase response and mono-oxygenase activity. Molecular pathway analysis showed enrichment for complement/coagulation cascades and metabolism of xenobiotics. Many immediate early genes such as Fos, Jun and Early Growth Response isoforms were down-regulated although others associated with stress such as glucocorticoid responsive genes were up-regulated. Real time PCR confirmation was performed on 22 differentially expressed genes with a correlation of 0.9 (Spearman's Rho, p < 0.0001) with microarray results.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Many of the genes differentially expressed in this study, in parallel with the hypothermia, figure prominently in protection against neuroinflammation. Pathologic activity of the complement/coagulation cascade has been shown in patients suffering from a chronic form of ciguatera poisoning and is of particular interest in this model. Anti-inflammatory processes were at work not only in the brain but were also seen in whole blood and liver of these animals, creating a systemic anti-inflammatory environment to protect against the initial cellular damage caused by the toxin.</p