Chiral separation of substituted phenylalanine analogues using chiral palladium phosphine complexes with enantioselective liquid–liquid extraction

Chiral palladium phosphine complexes have been employed in the chiral separation of amino acids and phenylalanine analogues in particular. The use of (S)-xylyl-BINAP as a ligand for the palladium complex in enantioselective liquid–liquid extraction allowed the separation of the phenylalanine analogues with the highest operational selectivity reported to date. 31P NMR, FTIR, FIR, UV-Vis, CD and Raman spectroscopy methods have been applied to gain insight into the binding mechanism of the amino acid substrates with the chiral palladium phosphine complexes. A complexation in a bidentate fashion is proposed.

Novel compositions and methods for trehalose phospholipids

Provided herein are compositions of trehalose phospholipids and uses thereof, e.g., compounds and compositions comprising 6,6'-diphosphatidyltrehalose (diPT) and analogs thereof with modifications of the diPT chemical scaffold, that bind and agonize Mincle, and the use thereof as adjuvants

Trees, forests and water: Cool insights for a hot world

Forest-driven water and energy cycles are poorly integrated into regional, national, continental and global decision-making on climate change adaptation, mitigation, land use and water management. This constrains humanity’s ability to protect our planet’s climate and life-sustaining functions. The substantial body of research we review reveals that forest, water and energy interactions provide the foundations for carbon storage, for cooling terrestrial surfaces and for distributing water resources. Forests and trees must be recognized as prime regulators within the water, energy and carbon cycles. If these functions are ignored, planners will be unable to assess, adapt to or mitigate the impacts of changing land cover and climate. Our call to action targets a reversal of paradigms, from a carbon-centric model to one that treats the hydrologic and climate-cooling effects of trees and forests as the first order of priority. For reasons of sustainability, carbon storage must remain a secondary, though valuable, by-product. The effects of tree cover on climate at local, regional and continental scales offer benefits that demand wider recognition. The forest- and tree-centered research insights we review and analyze provide a knowledge-base for improving plans, policies and actions. Our understanding of how trees and forests influence water, energy and carbon cycles has important implications, both for the structure of planning, management and governance institutions, as well as for how trees and forests might be used to improve sustainability, adaptation and mitigation efforts

Fluid hydration to prevent post-ERCP pancreatitis in average- to high-risk patients receiving prophylactic rectal NSAIDs (FLUYT trial): Study protocol for a randomized controlled trial

Background: Post-endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) pancreatitis (PEP) is the most common complication of ERCP and may run a severe course. Evidence suggests that vigorous periprocedural hydration can prevent PEP, but studies to date have significant methodological drawbacks. Importantly, evidence for its added value in patients already receiving prophylactic rectal non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) is lacking and the cost-effectiveness of the approach has not been investigated. We hypothesize that combination therapy of rectal NSAIDs and periprocedural hydration would significantly lower the incidence of post-ERCP pancreatitis compared to rectal NSAIDs alone in moderate- to high-risk patients undergoing ERCP. Methods: The FLUYT trial is a multicenter, parallel group, open label, superiority randomized controlled trial. A total of 826 moderate- to high-risk patients undergoing ERCP that receive prophylactic rectal NSAIDs will be randomized to a control group (no fluids or normal saline with a maximum of 1.5 mL/kg/h and 3 L/24 h) or intervention group (lactated Ringer's solution with 20 mL/kg over 60 min at start of ERCP, followed by 3 mL/kg/h for 8 h thereafter). The primary endpoint is the incidence of post-ERCP pancreatitis. Secondary endpoints include PEP severity, hydration-related complications, and cost-effectiveness. Discussion: The FLUYT trial design, including hydration schedule, fluid type, and sample size, maximize its power of identifying a potential difference in post-ERCP pancreatitis incidence in patients receiving prophylactic rectal NSAIDs

Reconstruction of primary vertices at the ATLAS experiment in Run 1 proton–proton collisions at the LHC

This paper presents the method and performance of primary vertex reconstruction in proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment during Run 1 of the LHC. The studies presented focus on data taken during 2012 at a centre-of-mass energy of √s=8 TeV. The performance has been measured as a function of the number of interactions per bunch crossing over a wide range, from one to seventy. The measurement of the position and size of the luminous region and its use as a constraint to improve the primary vertex resolution are discussed. A longitudinal vertex position resolution of about 30μm is achieved for events with high multiplicity of reconstructed tracks. The transverse position resolution is better than 20μm and is dominated by the precision on the size of the luminous region. An analytical model is proposed to describe the primary vertex reconstruction efficiency as a function of the number of interactions per bunch crossing and of the longitudinal size of the luminous region. Agreement between the data and the predictions of this model is better than 3% up to seventy interactions per bunch crossing

Asymmetric Total Synthesis of Mycobacterial Diacyl Trehaloses Demonstrates a Role for Lipid Structure in Immunogenicity

The first asymmetric total synthesis of three structures proposed for mycobacterial diacyl trehaloses, DAT1, DAT2, and DAT3 is reported. The presence of two of these glycolipids, DAT1 and DAT3, within different strains of pathogenic M. tuberculosis was confirmed, and it was shown that their abundance varies significantly. In mass spectrometry, synthetic DAT2 possessed almost identical fragmentation patterns to presumptive DAT2 from Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv, but did not coelute by HPLC, raising questions as the precise relationship of the synthetic and natural materials. The synthetic DATs were examined as agonists for signaling by the C-type lectin, Mincle. The small differences in the chemical structure of the lipidic parts of DAT1, DAT2, and DAT3 led to drastic differences of Mincle binding and activation, with DAT3 showing similar potency as the known Mincle agonist trehalose dimycolate (TDM). In the future, DAT3 could serve as basis for the design of vaccine adjuvants with simplified chemical structure