Bronchiectasis in rheumatoid arthritis. A clinical appraisial

Bronchiectasis is defined as irreversibly damaged and dilated bronchi and is one of the most common pulmonary manifestations in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The model of RA-associated autoimmunity induced in some individuals by chronic bacterial infection in bronchiectasis is becoming increasingly acceptable, although a genetic predisposition to RA-associated bronchiectasis has also been demonstrated. Bronchiectasis should be suspected in RA patients with chronic cough and sputum production or frequent respiratory infections and the diagnosis must be confirmed by thoracic high-resolution computed tomography. Management of patients with RA-associated bronchiectasis includes a multimodal treatment approach. Similar to all patients with non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis, patients with RA-associated bronchiectasis benefit from a pulmonary rehabilitation program, including an exercise/muscle strengthening program and an education program with a specific session on airway clearance techniques. Prophylactic antibiotics are recommended for patients with frequent (3 or more infective exacerbations per year) or severe infections requiring hospitalization/intravenous antibiotics and inhaled corticosteroids and long-acting β2-agonists should be used in patients with non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis and associated airway hyper-responsiveness. In patients with RA-associated bronchiectasis the use of immunomodulatory drugs has to be carefully considered, as they are essential to control disease activity, despite being associated with an increased infectious risk. Pneumococcal and influenza vaccines are advised to all patients with RA-associated bronchiectasis in order to reduce the risk of infection. Patients with RA-associated bronchiectasis have a poorer prognosis than those with either RA or bronchiectasis alone and require regular follow-up, under the joint care of a rheumatologist and a pulmonologist

The structure of tagetitoxin

Based on detailed analysis of newly acquired NMR data, we show that the previously revised structure of tagetitoxin is incorrect. A new structure of tagetitoxin is proposed which is consistent with the NMR and MS data

Controlling electron emission from the photoactive yellow protein chromophore by substitution at the coumaric acid group

Understanding how the interactions between a chromophore and its surrounding protein control the function of a photoactive protein remains a challenge. Here, we present the results of photoelectron spectroscopy measurements and quantum chemistry calculations aimed at investigating how substitution at the coumaryl tail of the photoactive yellow protein chromophore controls competing relaxation pathways following photoexcitation of isolated chromophores in the gas phase with ultraviolet light in the range 350-315 nm. The photoelectron spectra are dominated by electrons resulting from direct detachment and fast detachment from the 2(1)ππ* state but also have a low electron kinetic energy component arising from autodetachment from lower lying electronically excited states or thermionic emission from the electronic ground state. We find that substituting the hydrogen atom of the carboxylic acid group with a methyl group lowers the threshold for electron detachment but has very little effect on the competition between the different relaxation pathways, whereas substituting with a thioester group raises the threshold for electron detachment and appears to 'turn off' the competing electron emission processes from lower lying electronically excited states. This has potential implications in terms of tuning the light-induced electron donor properties of photoactive yellow protein

Reversal of facial selectivity in a thia-Claisen rearrangement by incorporation of a vinylic bromine substituent

Thia-Claisen rearrangements have been carried out using N-benzylpyrrolidine-2-thione and chiral allylic bromides derived from D-mannitol. Introduction of a bromine atom onto the double bond of the allylic bromide reverses the sense of diastereoselectivity in the [3,3]-sigmatropic rearrangement. Density functional theory calculations lead us to rationalise the observed selectivity in terms of a Cíeplak effect

Can multilayer networks advance animal behavior research?

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Elsevier via the DOI in this record.Interactions among individual animals — and between these individuals and their environment — yield complex, multifaceted systems. The development of multilayer network analysis offers a promising new approach for studying animal social behavior and relating it to eco-evolutionary dynamics

The use of multilayer network analysis in animal behaviour

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Elsevier via the DOI in this record.We gratefully acknowledge the 806 supporters of MX16: the UC Davis Institute for Social Sciences, the U.S. Army Research Office 807 under Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative Award No. W911NF-13-1-0340, the UC 808 Davis Complexity Sciences Center, the UC Davis Anthropology Department, the UC Davis 809 Graduate Student Association, the UC Davis Department of Engineering, and the UC Davis 810 Office of Research.Network analysis has driven key developments in research on animal behaviour by providing quantitative methods to study the social structures of animal groups and populations. A recent formalism, known as multilayer network analysis, has advanced the study of multifaceted networked systems in many disciplines. It offers novel ways to study and quantify animal behaviour through connected ‘layers’ of interactions. In this article, we review common questions in animal behaviour that can be studied using a multilayer approach, and we link these questions to specific analyses. We outline the types of behavioural data and questions that may be suitable to study using multilayer network analysis. We detail several multilayer methods, which can provide new insights into questions about animal sociality at individual, group, population and evolutionary levels of organization. We give examples for how to implement multilayer methods to demonstrate how taking a multilayer approach can alter inferences about social structure and the positions of individuals within such a structure. Finally, we discuss caveats to undertaking multilayer network analysis in the study of animal social networks, and we call attention to methodological challenges for the application of these approaches. Our aim is to instigate the study of new questions about animal sociality using the new toolbox of multilayer network analysis.Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research FellowshipNFS IOS grantNIH R01NERC standard gran

Room-Temperature One-Pot Synthesis of pH-Responsive Pyridine-Functionalized Carbon Surfaces

Carbon surfaces (glassy carbon, graphite, and boron-doped diamond) were functionalized with layers composed of linked pyridinium and pyridine moieties using simple electrochemical reduction of trifluoroacetylpyridinium. The pyridinium species was generated in situ in solution by the reaction of trifluoroacetic anhydride and pyridine precursors and underwent electrochemical reduction at −1.97 V vs Fc/Fc+, as determined by cyclic voltammetry. The pyridine/pyridinium films were electrodeposited at room temperature, on a timescale of minutes, and were characterized using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The as-prepared films have a net positive charge in aqueous solution at pH 9 and below due to the pyridinium content, confirmed by the electrochemical response of differently charged redox molecules at the functionalized surfaces. The positive charge can be enhanced further through protonation of the neutral pyridine component by controlling the solution pH. Moreover, the nitrogen-acetyl bond can be cleaved through base treatment to purposefully increase the neutral pyridine proportion of the film. This results in a surface that can be “switched” from functionally near neutral to a positive charge by treatment in basic and acidic solutions, respectively, through manipulation of the protonation state of the pyridine. The functionalization process demonstrated here is readily achievable at a fast timescale at room temperature and hence can allow for rapid screening of surface properties. Such functionalized surfaces present a means to test in isolation the specific catalytic performance of pyridinic groups toward key processes such as oxygen and CO2 reduction

Regioselective Dehydration of Sugar Thioacetals under Mild Conditions

Sugars are abundant in waste biomass, making them sustainable chiral building blocks for organic synthesis. The demand for chiral saturated heterocyclic rings for pharmaceutical applications is increasing as they provide well-defined three-dimensional frameworks that show increased metabolic resistance. A range of sugar thioacetals can be dehydrated selectively at C-2 under mild basic conditions, and the resulting ketene thioacetals can be applied to the production of useful chiral building blocks via further selective dehydration reactions

Enhancement of 5-aminolaevulinic acid-induced photodynamic therapy in normal rat colon using hydroxypyridinone iron-chelating agents.

© Cancer Research Campaign 1998Full text is available as a scanned copy of the original print version.Currently, the clinical use of 5-aminolaevulinic acid (ALA)-induced protoporphyrin IX (PPIX) for photodynamic therapy (PDT) is limited by the maximum tolerated oral ALA dose (60 mg kg(-1)). This study investigates whether hydroxypyridinone iron-chelating agents can be used to enhance the tissue levels of PPIX, without increasing the administered dose of ALA. Quantitative charge-coupled device (CCD) fluorescence microscopy was employed to study PPIX fluorescence pharmacokinetics in the colon of normal Wistar rats. The iron chelator, CP94, when administered with ALA was found to produce double the PPIX fluorescence in the colonic mucosa, compared with the same dose of ALA given alone and to be more effective than the other iron chelator studied, CP20. Microspectrofluorimetric studies demonstrated that PPIX was the predominant porphyrin species present. PDT studies conducted on the colonic mucosa showed that the simultaneous administration of 100 mg kg(-1) CP94 i.v. and 50 mg kg(-1) ALA i.v. produced an area of necrosis three times larger than similar parameters without the iron-chelating agent with the same light dose. It is possible, therefore, to increase the amount of necrosis produced by ALA-induced PDT substantially, without increasing the administered dose of ALA, through the simultaneous administration of the iron-chelating agent, CP94.Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.DUSA Pharmaceutical