Mapping the Hidden Universe: The Galaxy Distribution in the Zone of Avoidance

Due to the foreground extinction of the Milky Way, galaxies become increasingly faint as they approach the Galactic Equator creating a ``zone of avoidance'' (ZOA) in the distribution of optically visible galaxies of about 25%. A ``whole-sky'' map of galaxies is essential, however, for understanding the dynamics in our local Universe, in particular the peculiar velocity of the Local Group with respect to the Cosmic Microwave Background and velocity flow fields such as in the Great Attractor (GA) region. The current status of deep optical galaxy searches behind the Milky Way and their completeness as a function of foreground extinction will be reviewed. It has been shown that these surveys - which in the mean time cover the whole ZOA (Fig. 2) - result in a considerable reduction of the ZOA from extinction levels of A_B = 1.0 mag (Fig. 1) to A_B = 3.0 mag (Fig. 2). In the remaining, optically opaque ZOA, systematic HI surveys are powerful in uncovering galaxies, as is demonstrated for the GA region with data from the full sensitivity Parkes Multibeam HI survey (300 < l < 332 deg, |b| < 5.5 deg, Fig. 4).Comment: Accepted for publication in PASA (Volume 17, 1, to appear April 2000); LaTex, 4 encapsulated (reduced) ps-figures, requires psfig. Full-resolution color figures 1, 3, and 4 are available upon request at e-mail: [email protected] or at http://www.atnf.csiro.au/pasa/17_1

Acylsulfonamide safety-catch linker : promise and limitations for solid-phase oligosaccharide synthesis

Safety-catch linkers are useful for solid-phase oligosaccharide synthesis as they are orthogonal to many common protective groups. A new acylsulfonamide safety-catch linker was designed, synthesized and employed during glycosylations using an automated carbohydrate synthesizer. The analysis of the cleavage products revealed shortcomings for oligosaccharide synthesis

Semiheterogeneous Dual Nickel/Photocatalytic (Thio)etherification Using Carbon Nitrides

A carbon nitride material can be combined with homogeneous nickel catalysts for light-mediated cross-couplings of aryl bromides with alcohols under mild conditions. The metal-free heterogeneous semiconductor is fully recyclable and couples a broad range of electron-poor aryl bromides with primary and secondary alcohols as well as water. The application for intramolecular reactions and the synthesis of active pharmaceutical ingredients was demonstrated. The catalytic protocol is applicable for the coupling of aryl iodides with thiols as well

Discovery of semi- and fully-synthetic carbohydrate vaccines against bacterial infections using a medicinal chemistry approach

The glycocalyx, a thick layer of carbohydrates, surrounds the cell wall of most bacterial and parasitic pathogens. Recognition of these unique glycans by the human immune system results in destruction of the invaders. To elicit a protective immune response, polysaccharides either isolated from the bacterial cell surface or conjugated with a carrier protein, for T-cell help, are administered. Conjugate vaccines based on isolated carbohydrates currently protect millions of people against Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae type b, and Neisseria meningitides infections. Active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) are increasingly discovered by medicinal chemistry and synthetic in origin, rather than isolated from natural sources. Converting vaccines from biologicals to pharmaceuticals requires a fundamental understanding of how the human immune system recognizes carbohydrates and could now be realized. To illustrate the chemistry-based approach to vaccine discovery, I summarize efforts focusing on synthetic glycan-based medicinal chemistry to understand the mammalian antiglycan immune response and define glycan epitopes for novel synthetic glycoconjugate vaccines against Streptococcus pneumoniae, Clostridium difficile, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and other bacteria. The chemical tools described here help us gain fundamental insights into how the human system recognizes carbohydrates and drive the discovery of carbohydrate vaccines

Ankle prophylactic interventions in Division III male and female basketball athletes

Prophylactic ankle taping has been considered the basis of lateral ankle injury prevention and has been used at all levels of sport competition. An alternative to ankle taping is a semirigid reusable ankle brace. This study compared the incidence of ankle sprains in Division III collegiate basketball players during a 4 week period. Each subject was randomly selected to one of four groups which include a taping group, bracing group, PowerTape® group, and rehabilitation group. The purpose of this study was to prospectively compare ankle taping, bracing, PowerTaping, and rehabilitation for the prevention of ankle sprains. A total of 25 men and women basketball players were followed up for a 4 week period, 5 ankle sprains occurred with no lateral ankle injuries occurring in either of the PowerTape® groups. There were no statistically significant differences in the incidence of ankle sprains between the 4 groups. Findings of the survey data revealed that subjects reported having no performance deficits in basketball drills, athletic performance, and muscle performance

Real-time monitoring of solid-phase peptide synthesis using a variable bed flow reactor

On-resin aggregation and incomplete amide bond formation are major challenges for solid-phase peptide synthesis that are difficult to be monitored in real-time. Incorporation of a pressure-based variable bed flow reactor into an automated solid-phase peptide synthesizer permitted real-time monitoring of resin swelling to determine amino acid coupling efficiency and on-resin aggregation

Studying the Social Behavior and Preferences of Polar Bears at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium

Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) are relatively solitary animals unless it is breeding season. At the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, the polar bears participate in the Species Survival Plan where breeding for conservation efforts is encouraged. Lee, an 19-year-old male, came to the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium in the Fall of 2018 in hopes of breeding with 12-year-old twin females Aurora and Anana. Because Lee’s previous experience was only living with one female, I wanted to observe whether he would prefer a particular female because he now had two females to choose from. Not only did I look for preference, but I also observed and analyzed the social behaviors of all three polar bears. I hypothesized that Lee would show a preference for one female over the other, perhaps based on the female eostrus cycles, and would show differences in interaction behavior and location proximity. My hypothesis was supported in that Lee had a significantly higher amount of associations with Anana than he had with Aurora, and the bears showed differences in interaction behavior and location proximity. Lee and Anana spent most of their time resting in Region 1, while Aurora kept to herself mostly in Region 4. When Lee and Aurora did interact, most were interactions of aggression

Automated glycan assembly of arabinomannan oligosaccharides from Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Arabinomannan (AM) polysaccharides are clinical biomarkers for Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) infections due to their roles in the interaction with host cells and interference with macrophage activation. Collections of defined AM oligosaccharides can help to improve the understanding of these polysaccharides and the development of novel therapeutical and diagnostic agents. Automated glycan assembly (AGA) was employed to prepare the core structure of AM from MTB, containing α-(1,6)-Man, α-(1,5)-Ara, and α-(1,2)-Man linkages. The introduction of a capping step after each glycosylation and further optimized reaction conditions allowed for the synthesis of a series of oligosaccharides, ranging from hexa- to branched dodecasaccharides