Portable System for Monitoring the Microclimate in the Footwear-Foot Interface.

A new, continuously-monitoring portable device that monitors the diabetic foot has shown to help in reduction of diabetic foot complications. Persons affected by diabetic foot have shown to be particularly sensitive in the plantar surface; this sensitivity coupled with certain ambient conditions may cause dry skin. This dry skin leads to the formation of fissures that may eventually result in a foot ulceration and subsequent hospitalization. This new device monitors the micro-climate temperature and humidity areas between the insole and sole of the footwear. The monitoring system consists of an array of ten sensors that take readings of relative humidity within the range of 100% ± 2% and temperature within the range of -40 °C to 123.8 ± 0.3 °C. Continuous data is collected using embedded C software and the recorded data is processed in Matlab. This allows for the display of data; the implementation of the iterative Gauss-Newton algorithm method was used to display an exponential response curve. Therefore, the aim of our system is to obtain feedback data and provide the critical information to various footwear manufacturers. The footwear manufactures will utilize this critical information to design and manufacture diabetic footwear that reduce the risk of ulcers in diabetic feet.

Insecticidal efficacy and persistence of a co-occluded binary mixture of Helicoverpa armigera nucleopolyhedrovirus (HearNPV) variants in protected and field-grown tomato crops on the Iberian Peninsula.

BACKGROUND: A binary co-occluded mixture (HearSP1B:LB6) of Helicoverpa armigera single nucleopolyhedrovirus (HearNPV) variants was previously found to be highly pathogenic under laboratory conditions. The insecticidal efficacy and persistence of this mixture were determined in greenhouse and field-grown tomato crops in Spain and Portugal. RESULTS: Concentrations of 10(9) -10(11) occlusion bodies (OBs) L(-1) of HearSP1B:LB6 resulted in 89-100% mortality of larvae on treated tomato plants in growth chambers. In protected tomato crops, application of 10(10) OBs L(-1) of HearSP1B:LB6 was as effective as Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) and spinosad in reducing the percentage of damaged fruits, and resulted in higher larval mortality than the Bt treatment. In open-field tomato crops, virus treatments were as effective in reducing the percentage of damaged fruit as spinosad, Bt and chlorpyrifos treatments. The persistence of the insecticides on tomato plants was negatively correlated with solar radiation in both field and greenhouse settings. Residual insecticidal activity of OBs on protected tomato crops at 6 days post-application was 55 and 35% higher than that of Bt and spinosad respectively. On field-grown tomato, OB persistence was significantly lower than with spinosad or chlorpyrifos. CONCLUSION: The efficacy and persistence of HearSP1B:LB6 OBs were comparable with those of commercial insecticides in both field and greenhouse tomato crops. Future studies should focus on reducing application rates to determine insecticidal efficacy at lower OB concentrations. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry.

Discovery of a potent, dual serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor.

The objective of the described research effort was to identify a novel serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI) with improved norepinephrine transporter activity and acceptable metabolic stability and exhibiting minimal drug-drug interaction. We describe herein the discovery of a series of 3-substituted pyrrolidines, exemplified by compound 1. Compound 1 is a selective SNRI in vitro and in vivo, has favorable ADME properties, and retains inhibitory activity in the formalin model of pain behavior. Compound 1 thus represents a potential new probe to explore utility of SNRIs in central nervous system disorders, including chronic pain conditions.

Regioselective palladium-catalyzed arylation of 4-chloropyrazoles.

A highly regioselective Pd-catalyzed arylation of N-methylpyrazoles with aryl bromides is described. This transformation was studied extensively via automated reaction screening. A Design of Experiments (DoE) approach for optimizing the critical parameters was applied, resulting in excellent conditions for preparing selectively 5-arylpyrazoles in moderate to excellent yields under mild conditions.

Palladium-catalyzed arylation and heteroarylation of azolopyrimidines.

A comparative study of the palladium-catalyzed arylation and heteroarylation of 5-bromoazolopyrimidines shows that aryl and electron-rich heteroaryl boronic acids gave higher yields than those obtained using the corresponding aryl and heteroaryl tributyl stannanes. In contrast, the reaction with electron-poor heteroaryl tributyl stannanes gave better results than the corresponding boronic acids.

Heterocyclizations with tosylmethyl isocyanide derivatives. A new approach to substituted azolopyrimidines.

An efficient synthesis of substituted azolopyrimidines such as pyrido[3',2':4,5]pyrrolo[1,2-c]pyrimidines, pyrimido[1,6-a]indoles, benzo[4,5]imidazo-[1,2-c]pyrimidines, an imidazo[1,2-c]pyrimidine, and pyrazolo[1,5-c]pyrimidines is described. The method involves the reaction of N-protected bromomethylazoles and tosylmethyl isocyanide (TosMIC) derivatives in nonanhydrous media. The study of the reaction conditions shows that the method is only successful under phase-transfer conditions (CH2Cl2/30% aq NaOH) using benzyltriethylammonium chloride as a catalyst.

Reaction of bromomethylazoles and tosylmethyl isocyanide. A novel heterocyclization method for the synthesis of the core of marine alkaloids variolins and related azolopyrimidines.

A novel and efficient synthesis of the pyrido[3',2':4,5]pyrrolo[1,2-c]pyrimidine system, the heterocyclic core of the variolin family of marine alkaloids, is described. The route involves the reaction of 3-bromo-2-(bromomethyl)pyrrolo[2,3-b]pyridine and tosylmethyl isocyanide (TosMIC) under phase-transfer conditions. This unprecedented reaction was also used to synthesize a series of new methoxycarbonyl azolopyrimidines by reaction of TosMIC with bromomethylindoles, bromomethylbenzimidazole, and bromomethylpyrazole. Hydrolysis and decarboxylation of 5-bromo-7-methoxycarbonylpyrido[3',2':4,5]pyrrolo[1,2-c]pyrimidine obtained by this heterocyclization process and installation of the pyrimidine moiety in the C5 position open an alternative approach to complete a total synthesis of variolin B.