Conversion of α-amino acids into bioactive o-aminoalkyl resorcylates and related dihydroxyisoindolinones

The synthesis of biologically active o-aminoalkyl resorcylates and related dihydroxyisoindolinones from functionalized α-amino acids without the use of phenolic protection is described. The key aminoalkyl-diketo-dioxinone intermediates were prepared utilizing a crossed Claisen condensation reaction in the presence of diethylzinc. The aromatic unit was constructed via late stage cyclization and aromatization, and subsequent modification provided the novel resorcylates which showed activity against a selection of receptors and kinases, including 5-HT and CDK.     

Oriented polymers from solution. I. A novel method for producing polyethylene films

A novel method for the production of uniaxially oriented polyethylene film is demonstrated, it being an extension of the “surface growth” method for obtaining polyethylene fibers from solution using a Couette apparatus. The film growth is found to be affected by temperature, rotor speed, rotor material, and surface roughness. Together with its possible practical importance, film growth is presented as a useful means of sample preparation and as a way to increased linear fiber growth rates. In addition, its use for studies on solution grown polypropylene fibers is indicated as well as its implications for “surface growth” of polymer crystals in general.     

Triterpenoid acids and lactones from the leaves of Fadogia tetraquetra var. tetraquetra (Rubiaceae)

Four triterpenoids isolated from the leaves of Fadogia tetraquetra var. tetraquetra, 3beta-hydroxy-11alpha, 12alpha-epoxyoleanan-28,13beta-olide (1), 3beta-hydroxyurs-11-en-28,13beta-olide (2), oleanolic acid (3), and ursolic acid (4), were evaluated for their antiviral and antibacterial properties. Compound 4 showed potent activity against the Semliki Forest virus with an IC50 of 14.7 microM, but was also found to be significantly cytotoxic (68% reduction in cell viability after 24 hours exposure at 50 microM) towards baby hamster kidney (BHK21) host cells. A viability assay on the mammalian human hepatocellular carcinoma (Huh-7) cell line showed no significant effects on intracellular ATP content after 48 hours exposure to compounds 1-4 at this concentration. Compound 4 also inhibited Staphylococcus aureus (MIC 12.5 microM), but was inactive against Enterobacter aerogenes, Escherichia coli, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Compounds 1-3 were inactive against all tested bacterial strains at 50 microM concentration.     

An Efficient Algorithm to Generate Official Statistical Reporting Areas: The Case of the 1984 Travel-to-Work Areas Revision in Britain

Travel-to-work areas (T.T.W.A.s) are used by the Department of Employment for the reporting of monthly local unemployment statistics. T.T.W.A.s are also used to demarcate those parts of Britain to benefit from the public expenditure on industry under regional policy. The 1984 revision of T.T.W.A. boundaries provided academics with a rare opportunity to help rationalize official statistical areas. This involved the specification of zone-design criteria and the implementation of these in a regionalization methodology. It was found that methods based on the model of local labour market areas yielded the most reasonable set of boundaries. The final methodology is detailed here, together with the actual parameter values used in the analysis that produced the new T.T.W.A.s. The paper ends by considering the implementation of the results, and evaluates the new areas against the old T.T.W.A.s.     

Understanding cardiac alternans: a piecewise linear modeling framework

Cardiac alternans is a beat-to-beat alternation in action potential duration (APD) and intracellular calcium (Ca(2+)) cycling seen in cardiac myocytes under rapid pacing that is believed to be a precursor to fibrillation. The cellular mechanisms of these rhythms and the coupling between cellular Ca(2+) and voltage dynamics have been extensively studied leading to the development of a class of physiologically detailed models. These have been shown numerically to reproduce many of the features of myocyte response to pacing, including alternans, and have been analyzed mathematically using various approximation techniques that allow for the formulation of a low dimensional map to describe the evolution of APDs. The seminal work by Shiferaw and Karma is of particular interest in this regard [Shiferaw, Y. and Karma, A., "Turing instability mediated by voltage and calcium diffusion in paced cardiac cells," Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 103, 5670-5675 (2006)]. Here, we establish that the key dynamical behaviors of the Shiferaw-Karma model are arranged around a set of switches. These are shown to be the main elements for organizing the nonlinear behavior of the model. Exploiting this observation, we show that a piecewise linear caricature of the Shiferaw-Karma model, with a set of appropriate switching manifolds, can be constructed that preserves the physiological interpretation of the original model while being amenable to a systematic mathematical analysis. In illustration of this point, we formulate the dynamics of Ca(2+) cycling (in response to pacing) and compute the properties of periodic orbits in terms of a stroboscopic map that can be constructed without approximation. Using this, we show that alternans emerge via a period-doubling instability and track this bifurcation in terms of physiologically important parameters. We also show that when coupled to a spatially extended model for Ca(2+) transport, the model supports spatially varying patterns of alternans. We analyze the onset of this instability with a generalization of the master stability approach to accommodate the nonsmooth nature of our system.     

A comparison of methods for the determination of platinum in ores

Fire-assay and wet-extraction methods of determining platinum in ores have been evaluated. The fire-assay procedure using lead as a collector was used in combination with flame and flameless atomic-absorption, emission spectroscopy and X-ray fluorescence. In this last method flattened silver beads were analysed directly, whereas for the other methods the beads were dissolved in aqua regia and the solutions made up with concentrated hydrochloric acid before analysis. The wet procedures involved treatment of the ores with acids and subsequent analysis by flame atomic-absorption or by spectrophotometry after treatment with tin(II) chloride. Chromatographic, ion-exchange and solvent-extraction procedures were used to isolate platinum from base metals, the other platinum metals and gold. Results for each ore by fire assay-flame atomic-absorption, fire assay-emission spectroscopy, and wet extraction combined with spectrophotometry, showed no difference at the 99% confidence level. X-Ray fluorescence and flameless atomic-absorption results tended to be high and low respectively. The most precise method was wet extraction followed by spectrophotometric determination. Emission spectroscopy and X-ray fluorescence generally yielded the poorest precision. Wet-extraction methods were time-consuming and since no advantage was gained in accuracy over the fire-assay methods, a combined fire assay-flame atomic-absorption system was the preferred method of analysis.     

Determination of platinum in ores by a combined fire-assay and flameless atomic-absorption method

A combined fire-assay and flameless atomic-absorption procedure for the determination of platinum in ores is described. Silver beads obtained by cupellation are dissolved in aqua regia and made up to standard volume with 6M hydrochloric acid, then 50-mul aliquots are injected into a carbon tube. From 0.5 to 5 ppm platinum can be determined with a precision of approximately 5%. The procedure tolerates other platinum metals and gold in the amounts present in the ores analysed.     

The ipso-nitration of p-cresol

The nitration of $\text{p}$-cresol by nitric acid in aqueous sulphuric acid involves ~40% $\text{ipso}$-substitution at C^Me. The 4-methyl-4-nitrocyclohexa-2,5-dien-1-one (I) formed undergoes an acid-catalysed rearrangement to 4-methyl-2-nitrophenol.