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Atomic clocks based on coherent population trapping (CPT) and constructive polarization modulation are promising for high performance and compact devices. We propose a new method to act on the power repartition between the two laser frequency sidebands via the microwave power. We show an improvement of the frequency stability by a factor 10 after 1000 s integration time. Now we are mainly limited by the temperature variations of the polarization modulator.

International audience

This study examined the family emotional climate as assessed by Five Minute Speech Samples and the relation with parenting stress and parenting behaviors among parents of children (6-17 years, 64.7% boys) with autism spectrum disorder, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, and without any known disability (n = 447). The large majority of parents (79%) showed low levels of Expressed Emotion, an indicator of a positive family climate. In all groups, more Emotional Over-involvement, more Criticism and fewer expressions of Warmth were associated with higher levels of parenting stress. Across groups, Emotional Over-involvement was related to more autonomy-supportive parenting, Criticism to more psychologically controlling and overreactive parenting, and Warmth was associated with more responsive and less psychologically controlling and overreactive parenting.

This two-year longitudinal study addressed the joint contribution of parent-rated parenting behaviors and child personality on psychosocial outcomes in 118 families of children with Cerebral Palsy (M age Time 1 = 10.9 years old, 64.4% boys). Latent change modeling revealed intra-individual changes in children's psychosocial development as internalizing and externalizing behaviors increased from the first to the second assessment and psychosocial strengths increased from the second to the third assessment, whereas externally controlling and autonomy-supportive parenting behavior remained stable over time. Externally controlling parenting related to higher levels of, and increases in behavioral problems, with these associations being most pronounced among children low on Extraversion, Conscientiousness, or Imagination. Autonomy-supportive parenting related to higher levels of psychosocial strengths, with this association being most pronounced among children high on Emotional Stability.

This nine-year longitudinal study addresses the joint contribution of parent-rated negative controlling parenting and child personality on psychosocial outcomes in 141 families of children with autism spectrum disorder (83% boys, mean age Time 1 = 10.1). Latent change modeling revealed substantial variation in within-person change in parenting and psychosocial outcomes across a six- and three-year-interval. Over time, negative controlling parenting and child personality were consistently related to externalizing problems, whereas child personality was differentially related to internalizing problems and psychosocial strengths. Three personality-by-parenting interactions were significant, suggesting that children with less mature personality traits show more externalizing behaviors in the presence of controlling parenting. This study identified both parenting and child personality as important modifiers of developmental outcomes in youth with autism.

Issue Excess weight status is one of the main metabolic risk factors for non-communicable diseases. According to the Belgian health interview survey of 2018, 49.3% of the adult population suffered from overweight. Despite the great national burden, and apart from isolated actions, there is not anymore a comprehensive nutritional and physical activity health plan in Belgium. Consequentially, Belgium requires action-oriented research to support the implementation of evidence-based policies for the prevention of excessive weight gain. Description of the Problem The WaIST project aims to assess the contribution of excess weight status to the societal impact of non-communicable diseases, disability and multi-morbidity, and to model and compare the potential impact of internationally recommended health policies. The project also aims to support knowledge translation and policy transfer through a close interaction with national decision makers and stakeholders. Results The disease burden of diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, cancer and musculoskeletal disorders will be estimated in terms of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) and healthcare expenses from a societal perspective. For this purpose, survey, registry, health insurance, and hospital discharge data will be used. Subsequently, health interventions tackling overweight will be selected considering scientific evidence and stakeholder priorities. Health impact assessments will then be conducted projecting the future impact of the interventions on health outcomes and costs related to excess weight status. Lessons The use of national data for the computation of the burden of disease provides better estimates for DALYs and costs compared to European or global study results. Moreover, the results of the project will allow to explore the impact of health intervention specific for the Belgian case. Key messages Considering the burden associated with overweight-related diseases, preventing obesity is important from a public health and financial perspective. Integrating these results into evidence-based policies could provide governments and partners with a key tool for effective health interventions.

Chip-scale atomic devices built around micro-fabricated alkali vapor cells are at the forefront of compact metrology and atomic sensors. We demonstrate a micro-fabricated vapor cell that is actively-pumped to ultra-high-vacuum (UHV) to achieve laser cooling. A grating magneto optical trap (GMOT) is incorporated with the 4 mm-thick Si/glass vacuum cell to demonstrate the feasibility of a fully-miniaturized laser cooling platform. A two-step optical excitation process in rubidium is used to overcome surface-scatter limitations to the GMOT imaging. The unambiguous miniaturization and form-customizability made available with micro-fabricated UHV cells provide a promising platform for future compact cold-atom sensors., Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures

Experience with vascular pathology and vascular surgery, especially with the use of grafts, is limited in horses. Only one case of a venous aneurysm has been described in the horse, but without successful surgical correction. This case report describes the treatment of a 3-year-old female pony presented with an intermittent localised swelling of the left jugular vein after a previous thrombophlebitis. Ultrasonographic examination revealed a large jugular vein pseudoaneurysm. Treatment consisted of a partial aneurysmectomy preserving the healthy medial wall of the jugular vein. An autologous saphenous vein patch technique was used to reconstruct the vein with the largest possible lumen to minimise thrombus formation. Anticoagulants, antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory drugs were administered pre- and post-operatively. Follow-up ultrasound examinations initially showed local narrowing of the graft. At 2 and 8 months post-operatively, no external deformation of the jugular vein was visible and ultrasonography revealed patent blood flow with only a slight difference in lumen diameter. The patch venoplasty proved a viable surgical technique for jugular vein reconstruction resulting in a sufficient lumen, no thrombus formation and a good cosmetic and functional outcome.

Compared with vaccines, antivirals for curbing COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2 infection) have been developed at a much lower pace. Favipiravir has proven efficacious (in hamsters) but only at a very high dose which may not be feasible in humans. Remdesivir is the sole antiviral approved by the US FDA, but it has not been extensively evaluated for its safety. EIDD-1931 and EIDD-2801 have not been evaluated clinically. Mpro (protease) inhibitors likewise need to be subjected to clinical efficacy and safety studies. Remdesivir is a C-nucleoside and this class of compounds should be further evaluated. Polyanionic substances interfering with virus adsorption to the host cells have not been explored. They may possibly be administered by inhalation. Corticosteroids (such as dexamethasone), while virus-stimulating rather than inhibitory, may counteract the ‘cytokine storm’. Combination of (two or more of) the compounds mentioned above may offer an increased benefit through a synergistic interaction.

International audience; Atomic clocks based on coherent population trapping and constructive polarization modulation are promising for high performance and compact devices. We have demonstrated a cw mode CPT clock with a short-term fractional frequency stability at the level of 3. \pmb2×10 -13 /√{τ} for a few 100 s integration time. This Double-Modulation CPT technology can be reduced to a miniature and robust setup due to its linear architecture. This clock could find future applications in industry, telecommunications, instrumentation, or global navigation satellite systems.

Species distribution modelling is a very useful tool in vector management. Ticks are vectors of various pathogens which cause serious problems in livestock production in tropical countries. They have a high dispersal potential which is mainly facilitated by the movement of animals from one area to another. In light of the observed geographic expansion of Rhipicephalus microplus in Zimbabwe, we used species distribution modelling techniques to identify areas which may provide suitable habitats for the occurrence of this invasive tick species as well as the autochthonous Rhipicephalus decoloratus. Our results suggest that, despite the geographic expansion of R. microplus, climate will continue to be a limiting factor for the further expansion of this tick species. We expect its distribution to be restricted to the most favourable areas in the eastern and northern parts. The greater part of Zimbabwe is suitable for R. decoloratus, although in areas where R. microplus occurs, displacement of the former by the latter will be expected to occur. A heterogeneous climate, unregulated movement of cattle and episodic droughts are suggested to be possible factors for the continued existence of R. microplus and R. decoloratus in Zimbabwe and the partial displacement.

We report here the performance obtained with a laboratory compact caesium clock based on coherent population trapping (CPT). The clock is working with two orthogonal linear polarizations made by two phase-locked continuous lasers tuned to 895 nm and separated by 9.192 GHz. Here we focus on the laser power and magnetic field fluctuations which mainly contribute to the mid-term frequency stability of the CPT clock.

Laryngeale hemiplegie is een bekende aandoening van de bovenste luchtwegen bij het paard. Het komt niet alleen voor bij volbloeden maar eveneens bij warmbloedpaarden, koudbloeden en pony’s. Deze aandoening wordt voornamelijk aan de linkerzijde gezien. De functie van de linker nervus laryngeus recurrens wordt geinhibeerd, waardoor een verlamming van de linker cricoarythenoideus dorsalis-spier optreedt. Laryngeale hemiplegie aan de rechterzijde heeft bijna altijd een onderliggende oorzaak in tegenstelling tot laryngeale hemiplegie aan de linkerzijde. Deze aandoening geeft mogelijk aanleiding tot een vermindering van het prestatievermogen van het paard, maar vaak is de primaire klacht die de eigenaar waarneemt de aanwezigheid van een inspiratoir geluid. De diagnose is niet altijd simpel, voornamelijk omdat de meeste praktijkdierenartsen geen endoscoop ter beschikking hebben. Recente studies wijzen uit dat echografisch onderzoek van de larynx kan helpen bij de diagnose van deze aandoening. Dit is een goed en beter beschikbaar alternatief. Indien de enige klacht die de eigenaar waarneemt het geluid is dat het paard maakt tijdens de arbeid, dan is een laserbehandeling de beste keuze. Ondervindt het paard problemen met de intensiteit van het werk dan is verdere chirurgische interventie nodig. Laryngoplastie of “tie-back” krijgt tegenwoordig nog steeds de voorkeur van de meeste chirurgen. Er zijn echter nieuwe behandelingen in ontwikkeling, waarbij gebruik wordt gemaakt van zenuwgreffes en pacemakers om reinnervatie mogelijk te maken. Deze laatste vernieuwingen zorgen voor een sterke reductie van de complicaties die wel vaker gezien worden bij laryngoplastie. Niettegenstaande is de prognose voor sportpaarden met idiopathische linker laryngeale hemiplegie die een laryngoplastie ondergaan zonder postoperatieve complicaties, goed.

International audience; Ticks are economically and medically important ectoparasites due to the injuries inflicted through their bite, and their ability to transmit pathogens to humans, livestock, and wildlife. Whereas hard ticks have been intensively studied, little is known about soft ticks, even though they can also transmit pathogens, including African Swine Fever Virus (ASFV) affecting domestic and wild suids or Borrelia bacteria causing tick-borne relapsing fever (TBRF) in humans. We thus developed a regional model to identify suitable spatial areas for a community of nine Ornithodoros tick species (O. erraticus, O. sonrai, O. alactagalis, O. nereensis, O. tholozani, O. papillipes, O. tartakovskyi, O. asperus, O. verrucosus), which may be of medical and veterinary importance in the Western Palearctic region. Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis was used due to the relative scarcity of high-quality occurrence data. After an in-depth literature review on the ecological requirements of the selected tick community, five climate related factors appeared critical for feeding activity and tick development: (i) a spring temperature exceeding 10 degrees C to induce the end of winter soft tick quiescent period, (ii) a three-months summer temperature above 20 degrees C to allow tick physiological activities, (iii) annual precipitation ranging from 60 mm to 750 mm and, in very arid areas, (iv) dry seasons interrupted by small rain showers to maintain minimum moisture inside their habitat along the year or (v) residual water provided by perennial rivers near habitats. We deliberately chose not to include biological factors such as host availability or vegetation patterns. A sensitivity analysis was done by performing multiple runs of the model altering the environmental variables, their suitability function, and their attributed weights. To validate the models, we used 355 occurrence data points, complemented by random points within sampled ecoregions. All models indicated suitable areas in the Mediterranean Basin and semi desert areas in South-West and Central Asia. Most variability between models was observed along northern and southern edges of highly suitable areas. The predictions featured a relatively good accuracy with an average Area Under Curve (AUC) of 0.779. These first models provide a useful tool for estimating the global distribution of Ornithodoros ticks and targeting their surveillance in the Western Palearctic region.

Thirteen kinds of N-monosubstituted thioureas have been synthesized from various primary amines through three differentmethods. The chemical structures of all the compounds have been characterized by the various spectral analyses. Fourof them were evaluated for the anti-HIV-1 activity. The results showed that compound 1b, showing the IC50 = 29.7 (μg/ mL) to the strain of ROD of HIV-1, CC50 > 50 (μg/mL), SI (selectivity index) > 2, was the best one among the test compounds.As for other compound 1a, 1c and 1d, the SI of them was less than 1, which means that these compounds might betoxic at the therapeutic level. Both the steric, electronic and topologic descriptors of the molecules were calculated to assistunderstanding the basic relationship between the structure and the biological activity. The docking result of 1c with HIV-1reverse transcriptase (HIV-1 RT, PDB ID: 2HNZ) showed that there were still more unexploited rooms in the active site ofthe binding pocket of HIV-1 RT with compounds 1c

The robust generation of quantum states in the presence of decoherence is a primary challenge for explorations of quantum mechanics at larger scales. Using the mechanical motion of a single trapped ion, we utilize reservoir engineering to generate squeezed, coherent and displaced-squeezed states as steady states in the presence of noise. We verify the created state by generating two-state correlated spin-motion Rabi oscillations resulting in high contrast measurements. For both cooling and measurement, we use spin-oscillator couplings that provide transitions between oscillator states in an engineered Fock state basis. Our approach should facilitate studies of entanglement, quantum computation, and open-system quantum simulations in a wide range of physical systems., 17 pages, 4 figures, typos corrected

Rhipicephalus microplus is one of the most widely distributed and economically important ticks, transmitting Babesia bigemina, B. bovis and Anaplasma marginale. It was recently introduced to West Africa on live animals originating from Brazil. Knowing the precise environmental suitability for the tick would allow veterinary health officials to draft vector control strategies for different regions of the country. To test the performance of modelling algorithms and different sets of environmental explanatory variables, species distribution models for this tick species in Benin were developed using generalized linear models, linear discriminant analysis and random forests. The training data for these models were a dataset containing reported absence or presence in 104 farms, randomly selected across Benin. These farms were sampled at the end of the rainy season, which corresponds with an annual peak in tick abundance. Two environmental datasets for the country of Benin were compared: one based on interpolated climate data (WorldClim) and one based on remotely sensed images (MODIS). The pixel size for both environmental datasets was 1km. Highly suitable areas occurred mainly along the warmer and humid coast extending northwards to central Benin. The northern hot and drier areas were found to be unsuitable. The models developed and tested on data from the entire country were generally found to perform well, having an AUC value greater than 0.92. Although statistically significant, only small differences in accuracy measures were found between the modelling algorithms, or between the environmental datasets. The resulting risk maps differed nonetheless. Models based on interpolated climate suggested gradual variations in habitat suitability, while those based on remotely sensed data indicated a sharper contrast between suitable and unsuitable areas, and a patchy distribution of the suitable areas. Remotely sensed data yielded more spatial detail in the predictions. When computing accuracy measures on a subset of data along the invasion front, the modelling technique Random Forest outperformed the other modelling approaches, and results with MODIS-derived variables were better than those using WorldClim data.The high environmental suitability for R. microplus in the southern half of Benin raises concern at the regional level for animal health, including its potential to substantially alter transmission risk of Babesia bovis. The northern part of Benin appeared overall of low environmental suitability. Continuous surveillance in the transition zone however remains relevant, in relation to important cattle movements in the region, and to the invasive character of R. microplus.

We report here the performance obtained with a laboratory compact caesium clock based on coherent population trapping (CPT). The clock is working with two orthogonal linear polarizations made by two phase-locked continuous lasers tuned to 895 nm and separated by 9192 MHz. Since the Local Oscillator (LO) noise and the laser relative intensity noise (RIN) are the two main noise source contributions important effort has been done to reduce their contributions and therefore improve the short-term frequency stability at the level of about 2.3×10−13 at 1 s. We present in this paper the results of these studies.

Atomic clocks based on coherent population trapping and constructive polarization modulation are promising for their high performance and compactness. Here we demonstrate the feasibility toward an even more compact atomic clock design.

We simulate adaptive feedback control to coherently shape a femtosecond infrared laser pulse by means of a 4f-spatial light modulator in order to selectively excite the rovibrational modes of a polyatomic molecule. We preferentially populate an arbitrarily chosen upper rovibrational level by only employing these tailored temporally shaped pulses. A second laser would then allow for mode selective chemistry to interact selectively with the excited population. Alternatively the excited molecules enhanced reactivity could be exploited for selective chemistry.

Atomic clocks using coherent population trapping (CPT) allow to improve performances of vapour cell conventional microwave clocks, or else to miniaturize them thanks to of a full optical interrogation. In this paper, we describe a prototype developed at LNE-SYRTE. It combines two original techniques: an excitation scheme with two linearly and orthogonally polarized beams, and a Ramsey interrogation. This enables the observation of narrow resonances with a good signal-to-noise ratio. A few major effects influencing the frequency stability are addressed; they are the effect of the buffer gas, of the magnetic field, of the laser power, and finally the effect of the local oscillator noise or Dick effect. The measured frequency stability is 7 × 10−13 at 1 s and 2 × 10−14 at 2 000 s.

Mosquito (Diptera: Culicidae) distribution data from a recent inventory of native and invading mosquito species in Belgium were compared with historical data from the period 1900-1960 that were retrieved from a revision of the Belgian Culicidae collection at the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences. Both data sets were used to investigate trends in mosquito species richness in several regions in Belgium. The relative change in distribution area of mosquito species was particularly important for species that use waste waters and used tires as larval habitats and species that recently shifted their larval habitat to artificial larval habitats. More importantly, several of these species are known as vectors of arboviruses and Plasmodium sp. and the apparent habitat shift of some of them brought these species in proximity to humans. Similar studies comparing current mosquito richness with former distribution data retrieved from voucher specimens from collections is therefore encouraged because they can generate important information concerning health risk assessment at both regional and national scale.

Capravirine (S-1153, AG1549), a 1,2,4,5-tetrasubstituted imidazole derivative, was firstly reported by the Shionogi company to inhibit HIV-1 strains which were resistant to other NNRTIs. However, safety and efficacy studies showed that capravirine had no specific advantages over currently used NNRTIs. Consequently, clinical trials were discontinued after phase IIb. Notwithstanding, with aim to obtain novel inhibitors against drug-resistant HIV-1 strains, an in-depth analysis of the particular binding mode of capravirine, together with the wide use of analogue-based chemical evolution strategies, such as bioisosteric replacement, molecular hybridization, prodrug approach, ligand efficiency, etc., gave a huge impetus to the optimization of capravirine. Especially, lersivirine (UK-453,061) was selected for further clinical evaluation due to its very impressive potency against a broad panel of key HIV-1 mutants, safety, pharmacokinetics and other pharmaceutical factors. In this review, we present a comprehensive survey of the literature on the development of capravirine- based NNRTIs. Other interesting NNRTIs with the same or similar binding mode like capravirine have been reported to highlight the structural diversity, pharmacophoric similarity of NNRTIs, which provided important hints for drug design.

Adults of an exotic mosquito, Aedes (Finlaya) koreicus (Edwards) (Diptera: Culicidae) were identiÞed by morphology and genotyping from one site in Belgium in 2008. In late summer of that year, the occurrence of adults and immature stages reconÞrmed its presence. This is the Þrst record of this species outside its native range and in particular in Europe. Two subsites of the original location were prospected from April until October 2009 with different traps to evaluate the extent of its presence and establishment in the area and to understand the dynamics of the speciesO population. Next to Ae. koreicus, 15 other mosquito species were collected. Adult individuals of Ae. koreicus were found from May to September and larvae were still found early October. Larvae were mainly retrieved from artiÞcial containers both in 2008 as in 2009. Containers with eggs and/or larvae were found up to 4 km away from the initial location, indicating the species is spreading locally. Though the introduction route is unknown, it may have occurred via international trade as a large industrial center was located nearby. A comparison of different climatic variables between locations in Belgium with Ae. koreicus and putative source locations in South Korea, revealed similarities between winter temperatures and the number of freezing days and nights in four consecutive years (2004 Ð2008), while humidity and precipitation values differed strongly. The introduction of a new potential disease vector into Europe seems to be a result of proper entrance points, created by intense worldwide trade and suitable environmental conditions.

We present a new interrogation scheme for the next generation of quantum clocks to suppress frequency-shifts induced by laser probing fields themselves based on Generalized Hyper-Ramsey resonances. Sequences of composite laser pulses with specific selection of phases, frequency detunings and durations are combined to generate a very efficient and robust frequency locking signal with almost a perfect elimination of the light-shift from off resonant states and to decouple the unperturbed frequency measurement from the laser's intensity. The frequency lock point generated from synthesized error signals using either $\pi/4$ or $3\pi/4$ laser phase-steps during the intermediate pulse is tightly protected against large laser pulse area variations and errors in potentially applied frequency shift compensations. Quantum clocks based on weakly allowed or completely forbidden optical transitions in atoms, ions, molecules and nuclei will benefit from these hyper-stable laser frequency stabilization schemes to reach relative accuracies below the 10$^{-18}$ level., Comment: accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. A

This paper reports on progress on a compact clock based on Coherent Population Trapping (CPT) using caesium vapour cell. The clock is working in a pulsed regime with two orthogonal linear polarizations made by two phase-locked lasers tuned to 895 nm and separated by 9.2 GHz. The short-term frequency stability is mainly limited by the Local Oscillator (LO) noise contribution and the laser relative intensity noise (RIN) at the level of 3.2×10−13 at 1 s. We present in this paper the work done to improve our experimental device by reducing the frequency noise source contributions.

We carry out investigations of inverted crossover resonances in $\pi$-driven four-level systems where $\Delta F$ can be zero. Through the use of sub-Doppler frequency modulation spectroscopy of the $(6s^{2})$ $^{1}S_{0}$ $-$ $(6s6p)$ $^{3}P_{1}$ transition in $^{171}$Yb the resonance becomes manifest. The centre-frequency is inherently insensitive to first-order Zeeman shifts and equates to the two-level resonance frequency in the absence of a magnetic field. A rate equation model is used to help validate the nature of the resonance. Optical frequency measurements of the $F'=1/2$ hyperfine line recorded over two months demonstrate a statistical uncertainty of $2\times10^{-11}$. The inverted crossover resonance found with the $F'=3/2$ line is used for 556 nm laser frequency stabilization, which is an alternative means when applied to magneto-optical trapping of $^{171}$Yb., Comment: 18 pages, 11 figures

The Hamiltonian of a closed quantum system governs its complete time evolution. While Hamiltonians with time-variation in a single basis can be recovered using a variety of methods, for more general Hamiltonians the presence of non-commuting terms complicates the reconstruction. Here using a single trapped ion, we propose and experimentally demonstrate a method for estimating a time-dependent Hamiltonian of a single qubit. We measure the time evolution of the qubit in a fixed basis as a function of a time-independent offset term added to the Hamiltonian. The initially unknown Hamiltonian arises from transporting an ion through a static laser beam. Hamiltonian estimation allows us to estimate the spatial beam intensity profile and the ion velocity as a function of time. The estimation technique is general enough that it can be applied to other quantum systems, aiding the pursuit of high-operational fidelities in quantum control., Nature Communications, 7, ISSN:2041-1723

1,3-Bis{(2-thiophene-2-yl)ethyl}-5-(arylidine)-2-thioxoimidazolidin-4-ones (5a – 5 m) have been synthesized by condensation of 1,3-diarylalkyl-2-thiohydantoin (4) with various aromatic aldehydes. Compound (4) was prepared by the reaction of 1,3-bis (2-thien-2-yl-ethyl)-thiourea (3) with chloroacetic acid. The synthesized compounds have been tested for their anti-HIV-1 and -2 effects, but did not show any specific anti-HIV activity. The structures of newly synthesized compounds were established on the basis of elemental analyses, 1 H NMR, IR and mass spectrometry data.

Data-driven models for the prediction of bluetongue vector distributions are valuable tools for the identification of areas at risk for bluetongue outbreaks. Various models have been developed during the last decade, and the majority of them use linear discriminant analysis or logistic regression to infer vector–environment relationships. This study presents a performance assessment of two established models compared to a distribution model based on a promising ensemble learning technique called Random Forests. Additionally, the impact of false absences, i.e. data records of suitable vector habitat that are, for various reasons, incorrectly labelled as absent, on the model outcome was assessed using alternative calibration–validation schemes. Three reduction methods were applied to reduce the number of false absences in the calibration data, without loss of information on the environmental gradient of suitable vector habitat: random reduction and stratified reduction based on the distance between absence and presence records in geographical (Euclidean distance) or environmental space (Mahalanobis distance). The results indicated that the predicted vector distribution by the Random Forest model was significantly more accurate than the vector distributions predicted by the two established models (McNemar test, p

The steroids 3,6,17-trihydroxy-stigmasta-4,7,24(28)-triene (A) and 14,15,18,20-diepoxyturbinarin (B) were isolated from the cyclohexane extract of brown alga, Turbinaria conoides (J. Agardh) Kutzing, and have been reported for their antimicrobial activity by us. In this study, the isolated compounds were evaluated for comprehensive antihistaminic, antiviral and cytotoxicity screening. The antihistaminic study was performed using in vitro standard animal models. Evaluation of the potency (EC(50)), affinity (pA(2)) and the maximal response (E(max)) of the histamine alone and in the presence of the compounds were determined. Antiviral activity and cytotoxicity were performed in Crandell-Rees feline kidney (CRFK) cells by a colorimetric formazan-based MTS assay. No significant antiviral activity or cytotoxicity were observed for the compounds in the CRFK cells. Compound A inhibited the histamine-induced concentration at 20 µg mL(-1)(p0.05). The most significant inhibition (97%) was observed for compound B (p0.01) at the same concentration, which was comparable to that of the positive control chlorpheniramine maleate (10 µg mL(-1)). This potentiality suggests that 14,15,18,20-diepoxyturbinarin (B) can be developed as a new lead antihistaminic agent.

International audience; We report a high-performance pulsed coherent population trapping (CPT) Cs cell atomic clock using the implementation of a symmetric auto-balanced Ramsey (SABR) interrogation sequence. The latter method is found to reduce the light-power induced frequency shift by an order of magnitude compared to a previous experiment using a simple auto-balanced Ramsey interrogation. The contribution of this shift to the clock frequency stability is now rejected in the 10−16 range at 104 s averaging time. Additional tricks, including a compensation method to reduce the laser amplitude noise contribution and the generation of novel error signals for local oscillator frequency and phase correction, have been implemented using a FPGA-based digital electronics board in order to improve the clock short-term stability by a of factor 2. The Allan deviation of the SABR-CPT clock, extracted from a selected 3 × 104 s-long dataset, is 2 × 10−13 τ−1∕2 and averages down to the level of 2.5 × 10−15 at 104 s. These results are encouraging to stimulate the development of hot cell CPT-based clocks for industrial, scientific, and instrumentation applications.

Curcumin bioconjugates, viz. di-O-tryptophanylphenylalanine curcumin (2), di-O-decanoyl curcumin (3), di-O-pamitoyl curcumin (4), di-O-bis-(γ,γ)folyl curcumin (6), C4-ethyl-O-γ-folyl curcumin (8) and 4-O-ethyl-O-γ-folyl curcumin (10) have been synthesized and tested for their antibacterial and antiviral activities. The conjugates 2, 3, 4, 6 and 8 have shown very promising antibacterial activity with MIC ranging between 0.09 and 0.67 μM against Gram-positive cocci and Gram-negative bacilli. Further, the conjugates 2, 3, 6, 8 and 10 have been screened for their antiviral activities against HSV, VSV, FIPV, PIV-3, RSV and FHV and the molecules 2 and 3 have shown good results with EC50 0.011 μM and 0.029 μM against VSV and FIPV/FHV, respectively. However, the molecules did not show expected results against HIV-1 IIIB and ROD strains in MTT assay., Graphical abstract

Particle image velocimetry measurements and simultaneous force measurements have been performed on the DelFly II flapping-wing MAV, to investigate the flow-field behavior and the aerodynamic forces generated. For flapping wing motion it is expected that both the clap and peel mechanism and the occurrence of a leading edge vortex during the translational phase play an important role in unsteady lift generation. Furthermore, the flexibility of the wing foil is also considered of primary relevance. The PIV analysis shows a strong influx between the wings during the peel but no downward expelling jet during the clap. The force measurements reveal that the peel, oppositely to the clap, contributes significantly to the lift. The PIV visualization suggests the occurrence of a leading edge vortex during the first half of the in- and outstroke, which is supported by a simultaneous augmentation in lift. The early generation of a leading edge vortex during the flex cannot be assessed from the PIV images due to optical obstruction, but is likely to appear since the wing flexing is accompanied with a large increase in lift.

Mapping dominant vegetation communities is important work for vegetation scientists. It is very difficult to map dominant vegetation communities using multispectral remote sensing data only, especially in mountain areas. However plant community data contain useful information about the relationships between plant communities and their environment. In this paper, plant community data are linked with remote sensing to map vegetation communities. The Bayesian soft classifier was used to produce posterior probability images for each class. These images were used to calculate the prior probabilities. One hundred and eighty plant plots at Meili Snow Mountain, Yunnan Province, China were used to characterize the vegetation distribution for each class along altitude gradients. Then, the frequencies were used to modify the prior probabilities of each class. After stratification in a vegetation part and a non-vegetation part, a maximum-likelihood classification with equal prior probabilities was conducted, yielding...

A hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipient developed a mucosal herpes simplex virus-1 (HSV-1) infection while under acyclovir (ACV) treatment (HSV was later shown to be resistant to ACV). Concomitantly, the patient presented a hemorrhagic cystitis (HC) due to polyomavirus BK, for which intravenous cidofovir (CDV) was prescribed. The patient benefited from the broad-spectrum anti-DNA virus activity of CDV, and not only the HC resolved without signs of nephrotoxicity but also the HSV-1 lesions disappeared. This is the first report describing the effect of CDV on 2 simultaneous and unrelated DNA viral infections in an immunosuppressed transplant recipient. In addition, we describe here that this HSV-1 isolate possesses a unique phenotype and genotype.

Twenty years following the description of the broad-spectrum antiviral activity of S-9-(3-hydroxy-2-phosphonylmethoxypropyl)adenine [(S)-HPMPA] [De Clercq E, Holý A, Rosenberg I, Sakuma T, Balzarini J, Maudgal PC. A novel selective broad-spectrum anti-DNA virus agent. Nature 1986;323:464-7], the acyclic nucleoside phosphonates have acquired a prominent therapeutic position: (i) cidofovir in the treatment of papilloma-, herpes-, adeno- and poxvirus infections, (ii) adefovir in the treatment of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infections, and (iii) tenofovir in the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections (AIDS). Although formally approved only for the treatment of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) retinitis in AIDS patients, cidofovir has been used successfully in the treatment of various other DNA virus infections, particularly human papilloma virus (HPV)-associated lesions. Adefovir dipivoxil has become a standard therapy for HBV infections, especially when resistant to lamivudine. Tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) is the corner stone of the triple-drug (TDF, emtricitabine, and efavirenz) combination therapy for AIDS, and TDF, alone or combined with emtricitabine may in the future evolve to the standard therapy of hepatitis B. Guided by the results obtained with tenofovir in the prevention of parenteral, intravaginal and perinatal infections with simian immunodeficiency virus in monkeys, and the safety profile gathered with TDF in humans with AIDS over the past 5 years since TDF was licensed for clinical use, it should be further pursued for the pre- and post-exposure prophylaxis of HIV infections in humans. Meanwhile, new classes of both acyclic (i.e. PMPO-DAPy, PMEO-DAPy, HPMPO-DAPy) and cyclic nucleoside phosphonates (i.e. PMDTA, PMDTT, GS9148) have been accredited with an antiviral potency and selectivity similar to those of cidofovir, adefovir and/or tenofovir.

Synthesis of meso-tetrakis (2, 10-dioxo-2H, 10H-pyrano[2,3-f] chromene-9-yl) porphyrins are synthesized directly by reaction of pyrrole with substituted 4-methyl-2,10-dioxo-2H, 10Hpyrano[2,3-f]chromene-9-carbaldehydes in dichloromethane / acid media. The aldehyde’s molar ratio was controlled to optimize the synthesis and purification of the desired porphyrins. This new series of porphyrins was characterized by TLC, Mass Spectrometry (FAB mass), H NMR, UV and IR

More than 40 compounds have been formally licensed for clinical use as antiviral drugs, and half of these are used for the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections. The others have been approved for the therapy of herpesvirus (herpes simplex virus (HSV), varicella-zoster virus (VZV), cytomegalovirus (CMV)), hepadnavirus (hepatitis B virus (HBV)), hepacivirus (hepatitis C virus (HCV)), and myxovirus (influenza, respiratory synctural virus (RSV)) infections. New compounds are in clinical development or under preclinical evaluation, and, again, half of these target HIV infections. Yet, quite a number of important viral pathogens (i.e., human papilloma virus (HPV), HCV, hemorrhagic fever viruses) remain in need of effective and/or improved antiviral therapies.

An efficient one-pot synthesis of 3-(2-oxo-2H-chromen-3-yl)-[1,3,4] thiadiazino [2,3-b] quinazolin-6(2H)-ones in high yields has been developed by microwave-induced heterocyclization of 3-amino-2mercapto-3H-quinazolin-4-one when irradiated with 3-(2-bromo-acetyl)-chromen-2-one in ethanol and anhydrous potassium carbonate. A comparative study of conventional and MW methods is briefly discussed.

Quantum engineering of time-separated Raman laser pulses in three-level systems is presented to produce an ultra-narrow optical transition in bosonic alkali-earth clocks free from light shifts and with a significantly reduced sensitivity to laser parameter fluctuations. Based on a quantum artificial complex-wave-function analytical model, and supported by a full density matrix simulation including a possible residual effect of spontaneous emission from the intermediate state, atomic phase-shifts associated to Ramsey and Hyper-Ramsey two-photon spectroscopy in optical clocks are derived. Various common-mode Raman frequency detunings are found where the frequency shifts from off-resonant states are canceled, while strongly reducing their uncertainties at the 10$^{-18}$ level of accuracy., Comment: accepted for publication in PRA

This short review article on some pertinent observations in the unfolding story of interferon is dedicated to Professor Ilona Beladi on the occasion of her 80th birthday. This by no means covers the whole story on interferon. It just highlights some of the more striking findings made with interferon (or its inducers) over a time span of almost 50 years since its original discovery (in 1957) by Isaacs and Lindenmann. These observations concern (i) the induction of interferon by synthetic polyanions such as polyacrylic acid and polymethacrylic acid; (ii) the prolonged antiviral activity shown by polyacrylic acid in vivo (iii) the interferon-inducing ability of double-stranded RNAs such as poly(I)·poly(C) and (iv) mismatched derivatives thereof (i.e. ampligen); (v) the cloning and expression of interferon-b, and (vi) its usefulness in the treatment of multiple sclerosis; (vii) the potential of (pegylated) interferon-a in the treatment of hepatitis C and (viii) the therapy/prophylaxis of SARS; (ix) the effica...

Selected 4-thiazolidinone have been synthesized and tested as anti-HIV activity. The results of the in vitro tests showed that one of the compounds, 5, inhibited the enzyme at 0.204 microM concentration with minimal toxicity to MT-4 cell. Furthermore, the QSAR studies indicated the role of PMIZ, Ovality and Total energy content of the compounds in rationalizing the activity.