Bucky-bowls: a general approach to benzocorannulenes: synthesis of mono-, di- and tri-benzocorannulenes

We outline a conceptually simple and general route to bowl-shaped benzocorannulenes based on readily assembled PAHs which on flash vacuum pyrolysis result in the sequential formation of a five- and six-membered ring; following this approach, syntheses of mono-, di- and tri-benzocorannulenes have been achieved

A rapid, two step construction of novel C<SUB>48</SUB>H<SUB>24</SUB> and C<SUB>54</SUB>H<SUB>24</SUB> polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons represented on the C<SUB>60</SUB>-fullerene surface via a threefold intramolecular heck coupling reaction

In a new approach towards deeper, higher order 'bucky bowls', two step syntheses of novel polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, C48H24 and C54H24, having 13 and 16 rings, respectively, from readily available precursors and involving threefold palladium mediated intramolecular Heck coupling as the pivotal step is described

Chiral dialkyl cycloheptanones from R-(+)-Citronellal

A diastereoselective preparation of chiral cycloheptanones, having a methyl and an isopropyl group in 1,4-relationship, from R-(+)-citronellal is described

Molecular structure and reactions of 1,1'-bi(acenaphthen-1-ylidene)-2,2'-dione

The molecular structure of 1,1'-bi(acenaphthen-1-ylidene)-2,2'-dione 1, a potential building-block for the synthesis of fullerene fragments, has been investigated by X-ray crystallography and semi-empirical (AM1 and PM3) calculations. There is a good agreement between the calculated and crystal structure which is essentially planar and has E-configuration. In the solid state, molecules of 1 pack in an interesting manner as corrugated sheets sustained by a network of C-H···O hydrogen bonds and resulting in the formation of tetrameric loops. While steric factors limit the reactivity of the carbonyl groups in 1, the ene double bond of the ene-dione moiety present in it exhibits propensity toward [4 + 2]-cycloadditions to furnish novel and highly compressed polycycles 8-10

Intrathecal baclofen in management of a patient with very severe tetanus

Tetanus is uncommon in developed countries. The majority of tetanus cases occur in third world countries and 50% of these cases occur in neonates. There are more than 800,000 deaths due to tetanus each year in the world. We present a case of 40-year-old male patient diagnosed to have very severe tetanus - Grade IV as per Ablett classification of severity, managed in our hospital with aggressive treatment for 27-days and use of intrathecal baclofen he showed drastic improvement in this status.  He was discharged in neurological intact conditions with hemodynamic stability.

Recent Ancestry of Kyasanur Forest Disease Virus

Clinicians in Asia should consider this disease when diagnosing acute febrile illnesses

Differential expression of MUC genes in endometrial and cervical tissues and tumors

BACKGROUND: Mucin glycoprotein's are major components of mucus and are considered an important class of tumor associated antigens. The objective of this study was to investigate the expression of human MUC genes (MUC1, MUC2, MUC5B, MUC5AC and MUC8) in human endometrium and cervix, and to compare and quantitate the expression of MUC genes in normal and cancerous tissues. METHODS: Slot blot techniques were used to study the MUC gene expression and quantitation. RESULTS: Of the five-mucin genes studied, MUC1, MUC5B and MUC8 showed high expression levels in the normal and cancerous endometrial and cervical tissues, MUC2 and MUC5AC showed considerably lower expression. Statistically, higher levels of MUC1, MUC5B and MUC8 were observed in endometrial adenocarcinomas compared to normal tissues. In contrast, only MUC1 levels increased with no significant changes in expression of MUC5B and MUC8 in cervical tumors over normal cervical tissues. CONCLUSION: Endometrial tumors showed increased expression of MUC1, MUC5B and MUC8 over normal tissues. Only MUC1 appears to be increase, in cervical tumors. All the studied tissues showed high and consistent expression of MUC8 mRNA. Low to neglible levels of MUC2 and MUC5AC were observed in all studied endometrial and cervical tissues

Preexisting Japanese Encephalitis Virus Neutralizing Antibodies and Increased Symptomatic Dengue Illness in a School-Based Cohort in Thailand

Dengue viruses (DENVs) and Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) have significant cross-reactivity in serological assays, but the possible clinical implications of this remain poorly understood. Interactions between these flaviviruses are potentially important for public health because wild-type JEV continues to co-circulate with DENV in Southeast Asia, the area with the highest burden of DENV illness, and JEV vaccination coverage in this region is high. In this study, we examined how preexisting JEV neutralizing antibodies (NAbs) influenced the clinical severity of subsequent DENV infection using data from a prospective school-based cohort study in Thailand that captured a wide range of clinical severities, including asymptomatic, non-hospitalized, and hospitalized DENV infections. We found that the prior existence of JEV NAbs was associated with an increased occurrence of symptomatic versus asymptomatic DENV infection. This association was most notable in DENV-naives, in whom the presence of JEV NAbs was also associated with an illness of longer duration. These findings suggest that the issue of heterologous flavivirus immunity and DENV infection merits renewed attention and interest and that DENV vaccine developers might incorporate detailed assessments of preexisting immunity to non-DENV flaviviruses and histories of vaccination against non-DENV flaviviruses in evaluating DENV vaccine safety and efficacy

Peripheral blood mononuclear cells from neovascular age-related macular degeneration patients produce higher levels of chemokines CCL2 (MCP-1) and CXCL8 (IL-8)

Flow cytometry analysis of PBMCs. PBMCs were first divided into CD11b+CD3−, CD11b−CD3+ and CD11b−CD3− cells (A) and the average percentage of all samples (n = 55) was analysed before and after stimulation with PMA/ionomycin (B). Figure S2. Percentage of total IL-4 and IL-10 producing PBMCs and percentage of CD11b−CD3+ IL-17A and IFNγ producing PBMCs (almost all of IL-17A and IFNγ producing PBMCs were CD11b−CD3+) from controls and nAMD patients under non-stimulated culture conditions and after stimulation with PMA/ionomycin. Controls n = 27, nAMD = 28; mean + SEM are shown. (PDF 413 kb

Genetic polymorphisms associated with the inflammatory response in bacterial meningitis

BACKGROUND Bacterial meningitis (BM) is an infectious disease that results in high mortality and morbidity. Despite efficacious antibiotic therapy, neurological sequelae are often observed in patients after disease. Currently, the main challenge in BM treatment is to develop adjuvant therapies that reduce the occurrence of sequelae. In recent papers published by our group, we described the associations between the single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) AADAT +401C > T, APEX1 Asn148Glu, OGG1 Ser326Cys and PARP1 Val762Ala and BM. In this study, we analyzed the associations between the SNPs TNF -308G > A, TNF -857C > T, IL-8 -251A > T and BM and investigated gene-gene interactions, including the SNPs that we published previously. METHODS The study was conducted with 54 BM patients and 110 healthy volunteers (as the control group). The genotypes were investigated via primer-introduced restriction analysis-polymerase chain reaction (PIRA-PCR) or polymerase chain reaction-based restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) analysis. Allelic and genotypic frequencies were also associated with cytokine and chemokine levels, as measured with the x-MAP method, and cell counts. We analyzed gene-gene interactions among SNPs using the generalized multifactor dimensionality reduction (GMDR) method. RESULTS We did not find significant association between the SNPs TNF -857C > T and IL-8 -251A > T and the disease. However, a higher frequency of the variant allele TNF -308A was observed in the control group, associated with changes in cytokine levels compared to individuals with wild type genotypes, suggesting a possible protective role. In addition, combined inter-gene interaction analysis indicated a significant association between certain genotypes and BM, mainly involving the alleles APEX1 148Glu, IL8 -251 T and AADAT +401 T. These genotypic combinations were shown to affect cyto/chemokine levels and cell counts in CSF samples from BM patients. CONCLUSIONS In conclusion, this study revealed a significant association between genetic variability and altered inflammatory responses, involving important pathways that are activated during BM. This knowledge may be useful for a better understanding of BM pathogenesis and the development of new therapeutic approaches