[Epidemiological, clinical and judicial aspects of sexual assault in Bamako (Mali)]. / Aspects épidémio-cliniques et judiciaires des agressions sexuelles au Mali.

BACKGROUND: Sexual assault rates are underestimated in Mali. This study was designed to assess the epidemiological, clinical and judicial aspects of sexual assault. PATIENTS AND METHOD: A retrospective study was conducted from 1st July 2007 to 30 April 2010 in the health care centre of the 4th Commune of Bamako. The study included 37 sexual assault victims selected from the medical records and sexual assault certificates from a total of 1,810 patients attending the gynaecology clinic during the study period. RESULTS: The frequency of sexual assault was therefore 2%. 78.4% of the victims took legal action against the alleged perpetrator. Victims admitted at the request of Police officers accounted for 43.25%; 59.5% of victims attended the clinic within 24 hours following the assault. The age ranged from 2 to 40 years with a mean of 21 years; 37.9% were single and 48.6% were students. The assault was perpetrated by one person in 89.2%, a relative was involved in 5.4%; rape consisted of genito-genital intercourse in 64.9%; 32.4% of the victims had perineal and/or vulval injuries. CONCLUSION: Sexual assault is relatively frequent in Mali, particularly among students and housewives. It represents a real tragedy, which must be prevented by increasing the awareness of the population, judicial assistance to victims and prosecution of perpetrators.

New aminopyrimidine derivatives as inhibitors of the TAM family.

In this study, we describe the synthesis of new pyrimidine analogs of BMS-777607, a potent and selective inhibitor of Met kinase. Inhibition of Met and Axl remained high whereas inhibition of Tyro3 and Mer decreased to some extend. The preferential moderate inhibition of the non-phosphorylated form of Abl1 of some derivatives suggests that they behave as type II inhibitors. This hypothesis was confirmed by docking studies into the structure of Met (3F82) and in a Tyro3 model where key interactions with the hinge region, the DFG-out motif and the allosteric pocket explain this inhibition.

"Clickable" hydrosoluble PEGylated cryptophane as a universal platform for 129Xe magnetic resonance imaging biosensors.

We describe the synthesis of a highly water-soluble cryptophane 1 that can be seen as a universal platform for the construction of (129)Xe magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based biosensors. Compound 1 is easily functionalized by Huisgen cycloaddition and exhibits excellent xenon-encapsulation properties. In addition, 1 is nontoxic at the concentrations typically used for hyperpolarized (129)Xe MRI.

The first metal-free water-soluble cryptophane-111.

Cryptophane-111 is one of the best candidates for (129)Xe MRI-based applications. Herein, we report the first metal-free and water-soluble cryptophane-111 core which involves an efficient and unusual post-synthetic sulfonation procedure.

Design and synthesis of new cryptophanes with intermediate cavity sizes.

The development of molecular imaging using hyperpolarized xenon MRI needs highly optimized biosensors. Cryptophane-111 and cryptophane-222 are promising candidates that show complementary encapsulation properties although they only differ by the length of the three alkane linkers joining two cyclotriphenolene units. Cryptophanes containing both methoxy and ethoxy linkers have never been synthesized. Here we synthesize two new cages with intermediate internal volumes, in two steps from cyclotriphenolene.

Scalable synthesis of cryptophane-1.1.1 and its functionalization.

Cryptophanes, cage molecules for which xenon exhibits a high affinity, are good candidates for xenon biosensing. Cryptophane-1.1.1 (1) exhibits the highest binding constant for xenon encapsulation in organic solution determined to date. This property suggests that the cryptophane-1.1.1 core (1) is optimal for sensing applications. A high-yielding scalable synthesis of compound 1 is reported as well as an easy way to functionalize it.

Metal-free one-pot oxidative amidation of aldoses with functionalized amines.

Metal-free one-pot oxidative amidation of aldoses with functionalized amines using iodine provides a rapid access to functionalized aldonamides. The main advantage of this approach relies on the fact that aldehyde oxidation and C-N bond formation are performed in a single synthetic operation.