A MSFD complementary approach for the assessment of pressures, knowledge and data gaps in Southern European Seas: The PERSEUS experience.

PERSEUS project aims to identify the most relevant pressures exerted on the ecosystems of the Southern European Seas (SES), highlighting knowledge and data gaps that endanger the achievement of SES Good Environmental Status (GES) as mandated by the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD). A complementary approach has been adopted, by a meta-analysis of existing literature on pressure/impact/knowledge gaps summarized in tables related to the MSFD descriptors, discriminating open waters from coastal areas. A comparative assessment of the Initial Assessments (IAs) for five SES countries has been also independently performed. The comparison between meta-analysis results and IAs shows similarities for coastal areas only. Major knowledge gaps have been detected for the biodiversity, marine food web, marine litter and underwater noise descriptors. The meta-analysis also allowed the identification of additional research themes targeting research topics that are requested to the achievement of GES.

Interaction between grapefruit juice and diazepam in humans.

Grapefruit juice has been reported to markedly improve the bioavailability of triazolam, midazolam, terfenadine, cyclosporine and several dihydropyridine calcium channel blockers including felodipine, nifedipine, nitrendipine and nisoldipine. Because these drugs are metabolized by the hepatic cytochrome P450 isozyme (CYP) 3A4, the inhibitory effect of grapefruit juice is thought to results from inhibition of CYP3A4. In this study, our aim was to investigate the effects of grapefruit juice on plasma concentrations of diazepam. Eight healthy male and female subjects participated in this study. Oral (5 mg) diazepam was administered with either 250 ml water and grapefruit juice. Blood samples were collected for a 24 h period, and whole blood concentrations of diazepam were measured enzyme immunoassay. The mean AUC(0-24) of diazepam was increased 3.2-fold (P < 0.001) and Cmax was increased 1.5-fold (P < 0.05) by the grapefruit juice. Grapefruit juice postponed the tmax of diazepam from 1.50 h to 2.06 h (P < 0.01).

4-aryl-5-oxo-1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8-octahydroquinazoline-2-thione derivatives: synthesis, enantiomeric separation and in vitro screening as calcium antagonists.

Fourteen new 4-aryl-5-oxo-1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8-octahydroquinazoline-2-thione derivatives were synthesized and screened in vitro for their calcium antagonistic activities. The compounds were prepared by reacting 1,3-cyclo-hexanedione with appropriate aromatic aldehydes and thiourea under modified Biginelli reaction conditions. The structures of the compounds were proved by IR, 1H-NMR, mass spectroscopy and elemental analysis. The compounds synthesized exerted calcium antagonistic action on smooth musculature by inhibiting BaCl2-induced contractions of isolated rat ileum. It was found that compound 12l having 3-methoxyphenyl group at the 4th position was the most potent compound in this series (pEC50: 4.00 +/- 0.20). Rasemic compound 12l was resolved into its enantiomers by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) using a commercially available cellulose tris(p-methylbenzoate) chiral stationary phase, known as Chiralcel OJ. The enantiomeric ratio was validated and peak identification for each enantiomer was established according to their optical rotation sign.

Seasonal variations of epipelic algal community in relation to environmental factors in the Istanbul Strait (the Bosphorus), Turkey.

This study was implemented to investigate the species composition, abundance, seasonal variations and diversity of epipelic algae, to determine environmental variables affecting them and to reveal the accumulation of total organic carbon in the sediment in the coastal zone of the Istanbul Strait, Turkey. Epipelic algal community consisted of 44 taxa with a low diversity. The sediment structure which is highly unstable due to the high hydrodynamism of the zone played a dominant role as the main factor in the epipelic algal flora along the coasts of Istanbul Strait. Low TOC and high carbonate values also support this result. The dominance of cyanobacteria in some periods and, as a result of this, the record of the lowest diversity index values indicated the effect of nutrient enrichment and the risk of coastal eutrophication. High dominance of cyanobacteria may also be explicated by climate changes considering its effect in the other areas.

3-Acetyl-4-aryl-5-oxo-2,7,7-trimethyl-1,4,5,6,7,8-hexahydro-quinoline derivatives and their calcium antagonistic activities.

Thirteen 3-acetyl-4-aryl-5-oxo-2,7,7-trimethyl-1,4,5,6,7,8- hexahydroquinoline derivatives (5a-m), one of which was synthesized before, have been prepared. The structures of the products 5b-m were characterized by IR,1H-NMR and elemental analysis. The calcium antagonistic activity of these compounds was studied in rabbit taenia coli precontracted with 1 mmol/l Ca+2.