Rapid screening of beta-adrenergic agents and related compounds in human urine for anti-doping purpose using capillary electrophoresis with dynamic coating

This paper presents a capillary electrophoresis method, developed for the detection, in human urine, of beta-adrenergic agents and phenolalkylamines. The electrophoretic separation is achieved in less than 10 min and is based on the use of CEofix kit, for the dynamic capillary coating. The effects of accelerator buffer pH and separation voltage were investigated. The optimum buffer pH was found to be 2.5 for beta2-agonists and 6.2 for beta-blockers and phenoalkylamines with a separation voltage of 15 IN. Urine samples spiked with the compounds here studied were treated according to the standard procedure (SPE and evaporation to dryness) and analyzed by CE interfaced with an UV diode-array, set at 195 and 210 nm. The quantitative validation results, obtained analyzing samples at three different concentrations, show a good precision of peak areas that do not exceed 5% for intra-day assays and 10% for inter-day assays. Good linearity (r(2) > 0.995) was obtained within the 50-500 ng/mL concentration range. The qualitative validation data show a relative migration times (MTs) variation lower than 1%. The analytes were clearly distinguishable in urine, with LOD and LOQ in the range of 10-80 and 40-100 ng/mL, respectively

NGC2180: a disrupting open cluster

The spatial dependence of luminosity and mass functions of evolved open clusters is discussed in this work using J and H 2MASS photometry. The target objects are the overlooked open cluster NGC2180 and the intermediate-age open cluster NGC3680. We conclude that, although in an advanced dynamical state (mass segregated), NGC3680 does not present strong signs of dissolution. On the other hand, NGC2180 presents flat, eroded LFs throughout its structure, indicating that in addition to mass segregation, Galactic tidal stripping has been effective in depleting this cluster of stars. Accordingly, NGC2180 may be the missing link between evolved open clusters and remnants. We study both clusters in the context of dynamical states estimated from diagnostic-diagrams involving photometric and structural parameters. Both clusters are dynamically evolved systems. In particular, NGC2180 is closer to open cluster remnants than NGC3680.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figure

Terapia dell'epatite C: identificazione di nuove molecole attive su diversi bersagli

Il virus dell'epatite C (HCV) è l'agente eziologico di una grave forma di epatite trasmessa per via parenterale. Le proteine codificate dal genoma virale rappresentano un appetibile target per lo sviluppo di farmaci antivirali. Le classi di molecole che abbiamo saggiato per la loro attività  inibente sui diversi enzimi sono numerose. Esse possono essere raggruppate in due famiglie, gli analoghi di struttura nucleosidi e i composti non-nucleosidici

Activity of Mannich bases of 7-hydroxycoumarin against Flaviviridae

Abstract-Some Mannich bases of 7-hydroxycoumarin (2) and their simple derivatives (3 and 4) were prepared and tested against viruses containing single-stranded, positive-sense RNA genomes (ssRNA + ). This study was directed toward Flaviviridae and, in particular, HCV surrogate viruses (BVDV, YFV). The 7-hydroxy derivatives 2 were generally devoid of activity, but when position 7 was propylated, the resulting 7-propyloxy derivatives 3 were in some cases endowed with an interesting activity against BVDV. The formation of 7-benzoyl derivatives 4 gave compounds generally lacking in activity against Flaviviridae, whereas the appearance of activity against RSV has been observed. Also some unsymmetrical methylene derivatives 5-7 (namely coumarins bridged to chromones or indoles) were found moderately active in antiviral tests. Derivatives 3 were submitted to a molecular modeling study using DNA polymerase of HCV as a target. The good correlation between calculated molecular modeling IC 50 and experimental EC 50 indicates that DNA polymerase is potentially involved in the inhibition of surrogate HCV viruses

Hygrothermal simulation-informed design of mesoporous desiccants for optimised energy efficiency of mixed mode air conditioning systems

This paper describes an optimization technique using hygrothermal numerical modelling to determine an ideal and unknown isotherm in order to inform the design of optimised mesoporous desiccants. Their suitability for passive humidity buffering as well as their impact on energy efficiency was assessed when assisting a mixed mode air-conditioning (AC) system. Three clear stages of water vapour adsorption were found that strongly correspond to the Dw gradient when assessing the kinetics of adsorption and exchange rates for periodic moisture loads. Consistent agreement was found between the latent heat of dehumidification used by the AC system and the desiccant decay time after successive sorption loop cycles. This confirmed the material's suitability for specific applications and was found to be highly sensitive to the portion of the isotherm between φi,L - φi,U (Dw gradient), compared with full adsorption capacity (total w) when assessing total energy consumption. The experimental results of sorption kinetics appeared to be slightly underestimated between the Dw gradient and the response time to reach equilibrium moisture content (EMC). The major underestimations were found to be consistent with the kinetics of adsorption/desorption when analysing their significance based on w differences. These were largely attributed to a combination of adsorption kinetics (time-response) and adsorption/desorption hysteresis. However, this was not evident when comparing long-term experimental data and numerical estimations for water vapour sorption isotherms, since numerical model accurately predicted them. This suggests that both adsorption kinetics and the scanning curve prediction, within a hysteresis loop, are not accurately represented by current hygrothermal models and are hence a priority for future research

Ataxin-1 and ataxin-2 intermediate-length PolyQ expansions in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

OBJECTIVE: Recent evidence suggests that intermediate-length polyglutamine (PolyQ) expansions in the ataxin-2 (ATXN-2) gene are a risk factor for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). This work was undertaken with the aim to investigate the frequency of ataxin-1 (ATXN-1) and ATXN-2 PolyQ expansions in a cohort of patients with sporadic ALS (sALS) and patients with familial ALS (fALS) from southern Italy. METHODS: We assessed the PolyQ lengths of ATXN-1 and ATXN-2 in 405 patients with sALS, 13 patients with fALS, and 296 unrelated controls without history of neurodegenerative disorders. RESULTS: We found significantly higher intermediate PolyQ expansions ≥ 32 for ATXN-1 alleles and ≥ 28 for ATXN-2 alleles in the sALS cohort (ATXN-1: ALS, 7.07% vs controls, 2.38%; p = 0.0001; ATXN-2: ALS, 2.72% vs controls, 0.5%; p = 0.001). ATXN-1 CAT and ATXN-2 CAA interruptions were detected in patients with ALS only. Age at onset, site of onset, and sex were not significantly related to the ATXN-1 or ATXN-2 PolyQ repeat length expansions. CONCLUSIONS: Both ATXN-1 and ATXN-2 PolyQ intermediate expansions are independently associated with an increased risk for ALS

FUS MUTATIONS IN SPORADIC AMYOTROPHIC LATERAL SCLEROSIS: CLINICAL AND GENETIC ANALYSIS

Fused in sarcoma (FUS) or translocation in liposarcoma (TLS), a DNA/RNA-binding protein, causes a dominant autosomal inherited form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), ALS 6. Its main role in neurodegeneration is highlighted by the presence of cytoplasmic accumulation of its mutant protein form in ALS patients. To further define the frequency and spectrum of FUS gene mutations, we have performed a molecular screening of a cohort of 327 Italian patients from Southern Italy with sporadic ALS (SALS). We identified 4 patients carrying 3 different missense mutations and several polymorphisms. Two different substitutions occurring in the same amino acidic position have been observed in 2 patients: R521G and R521C respectively; P525L mutation has been found in 2 additional cases. Most of the patients with FUS mutations showed early symptom onset and had short disease survival. We also detected 4 different polymorphic variants (3=-untranslated region [UTR] variant, c.*41G.A; c.52313ins[GAGGTG]; c.335-15del[TTTT]; and rs13331793) in 9 patients from within our cohort. This study underlines the importance of population-based mutation screening of newly identified genes. \ua9 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

Connecting the cosmic infrared background to the X-ray background

We estimate the contribution of AGNs and of their host galaxies to the infrared background. We use the luminosity function and evolution of AGNs recently determined by the hard X-ray surveys, and new Spectral Energy Distributions connecting the X-ray and the infrared emission, divided in intervals of absorption. These two ingredients allow us to determine the contribution of AGNs to the infrared background by using mostly observed quantities, with only minor assumptions. We obtain that AGN emission contributes little to the infrared background ($<$5% over most of the infrared bands), implying that the latter is dominated by star formation. However, AGN host galaxies may contribute significantly to the infrared background, and more specifically 10--20% in the 1--20$\mu$m range and $\sim$5% at $\lambda<60\mu m$. We also give the contribution of AGNs and of their host galaxies to the source number counts in various infrared bands, focusing on those which will be observed with Spitzer. We also report a significant discrepancy between the expected contribution of AGN hosts to the submm background and bright submm number counts with the observational constraints. We discuss the causes and implications of this discrepancy and the possible effects on the Spitzer far-IR bands.Comment: to appear in MNRAS, replaced with accepted version, paper shortened, results unchange