Two new species of Eimeria Schneider, 1875 (Apicomplexa: Eimeriidae) from emerald tree skinks, Lamprolepis smaragdina (Lesson) (Sauria: Scincidae) from Papua New Guinea and the Philippines

Two new species of Eimeria Schneider, 1875, from emerald tree skinks, Lamprolepis smaragdina (Lesson) are described from specimens collected in Papua New Guinea (PNG) and the Philippines. Oöcysts of Eimeria nuiailan n. sp. from the only L. smaragdina from PNG are ovoidal, with a smooth, colourless, bi-layered wall, measure 23.7 × 19.1 μm, and have a length/width (L/W) ratio of 1.3; both micropyle and oöcyst residuum are absent, but a fragmented polar granule is present. Sporocysts are ovoidal to ellipsoidal, 11.9 × 7.0 μm, L/W 1.7, and the wall is composed of two valves joined by a longitudinal suture; neither Stieda nor sub-Stieda bodies are present; a sporocyst residuum is present as a compact mass of granules. Sporozoites are elongate, 14.6 × 2.6 μm, and contain anterior and posterior refractile bodies with a nucleus between them. Oöcysts of Eimeria auffenbergi n. sp. from L. smaragdina collected in the Philippines are ovoidal, with a smooth, colourless, bi-layered wall, measure 19.9 × 15.8 μm, L/W 1.3; both micropyle and oöcyst residuum are absent, but one to four polar granules are present. Sporocysts are ovoidal to ellipsoidal, 10.3 × 5.8 μm, L/W 1.8, and the wall is composed of two valves joined by a longitudinal suture; neither Stieda nor sub-Stieda bodies are present; a sporocyst residuum is composed of dispersed granules. © 2013 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

Stretching the IR theoretical spectrum on Irish neutrality: a critical social constructivist framework

In a 2006 International Political Science Review article, entitled "Choosing to Go It Alone: Irish Neutrality in Theoretical and Comparative Perspective," Neal G. Jesse argues that Irish neutrality is best understood through a neoliberal rather than a neorealist international relations theory framework. This article posits an alternative "critical social constructivist" framework for understanding Irish neutrality. The first part of the article considers the differences between neoliberalism and social constructivism and argues why critical social constructivism's emphasis on beliefs, identity, and the agency of the public in foreign policy are key factors explaining Irish neutrality today. Using public opinion data, the second part of the article tests whether national identity, independence, ethnocentrism, attitudes to Northern Ireland, and efficacy are factors driving public support for Irish neutrality. The results show that public attitudes to Irish neutrality are structured along the dimensions of independence and identity, indicating empirical support for a critical social constructivist framework of understanding of Irish neutrality

Doctors under the microscope: the birth of medical audit

In 1989 a UK government White Paper introduced medical audit as a comprehensive and statutory system of assessment and improvement in quality of care in hospitals. A considerable body of research has described the evolution of medical audit in terms of a struggle between doctors and National Health Service managers over control of quality assurance. In this paper we examine the emergence of medical audit from 1910 to the early 1950s, with a particular focus on the pioneering work of the American surgeons Codman, MacEachern and Ponton. It is contended that medical professionals initially created medical audit in order to articulate a suitable methodology for assessing individual and organisational performance. Rather than a means of protecting the medical profession from public scrutiny, medical auditing was conceived and operationalised as a managerial tool for fostering the active engagement of senior hospital managers and discharging public accountability. These early debates reveal how accounting was implicated in the development of a system for monitoring and improving the work of medical professionals, advancing the quality of hospital care, and was advocated in ways, which included rather than excluded managers

Antileishmanial activity of cryptolepine analogues and apoptotic effects of 2,7-dibromocryptolepine against Leishmania donovani promastigotes.

noCryptolepine (5-methyl-10H-indolo [3, 2-b] quinoline), an indoloquinoline alkaloid (1) isolated from a medicinal plant traditionally used in Western Africa for treatment of malaria, has been shown to possess broad spectrum biological activity in addition to its antiplasmodial effect. Here, the antileishmanial properties of 11 synthetic derivatives of cryptolepine against Leishmania donovani parasites have been evaluated for the first time. 2,7-Dibromocryptolepine (8; IC50 0.5 ± 0.1 μM) was found to be the most active analogue against the promastigote form of a classical L. donovani strain (AG83) in comparison to the natural alkaloid, cryptolepine (1; IC50 1.6 ± 0.1 μM). Further, 8 was found to substantially inhibit the intracellular amastigote forms of two clinical isolates, one of them being an SbV-resistant strain of L. donovani. Moreover, the toxicity of 8 against normal mouse peritoneal macrophage cells was markedly lower than that of 1 (IC50 values: 9.0 ± 1.2 and 1.1 ± 0.3 μM, respectively), indicating 8 to be a prospective “lead” towards novel antileishmanial therapy. This was supported by studies on the mechanism of cytotoxicity induced by 8 in L. donovani promastigotes (AG83), which revealed the cytoplasmic and nuclear features of metazoan apoptosis. Light microscopic observation demonstrated a gradual decline in the motility, cell volume, and survival of the treated parasites with increasing incubation time. Flow cytometric analysis of phosphatidylserine externalization and distribution of cells in different phases of cell cycle confirmed the presence of a substantial percentage of cells in early apoptotic stage. Disruption of mitochondrial membrane integrity in terms of depolarization of membrane potential, and finally degradation of chromosomal DNA into oligonucleosomal fragments—the hallmark event of apoptosis—characterized the mode of cell death in L. donovani promastigotes

Evaluation of cryptolepine and huperzine derivatives as lead compounds towards new agents for the treatment of human African Trypanosomiasis.

noThe alkaloid cryptolepine (1) and eight synthetic analogues (2-8) were assessed for in vitro activities against Trypanosoma brucei. Four of the analogues were found to be highly potent with IC50 values of less than 3 nM and three of these were assessed against T. brucei brucei infection in rats. The most effective compound was 2,7-dibromocryptolepine (7); a single oral dose of 20 mg/Kg suppressed parasitaemia and increased the mean survival time to 13.6 days compared with 8.4 days for untreated controls. In addition, four huperzine derivatives (9-12) were shown to have in vitro antitrypanosomal activities with IC50 values from 303-377 nM