Synthesis and biological evaluation of new acinetoferrin homologues for use as iron transport probes in mycobacteria.

Four new acinetoferrin homologues were synthesized using a modular synthetic approach. Two linear and two cyclic imide derivatives were generated and evaluated for growth stimulating behavior in Mycobacterium avium subsp paratuberculosis. The yield for the tandem coupling of a functionalized aminohydroxamic acid motif (2 equiv) to a tert-butyl citrate derivative was significantly improved using DCC and N-hydroxysuccinimide. (1)H NMR spectroscopy (CD(3)OD) provided a convenient method for monitoring the final imidization step in TFA using the doublet patterns between 2.5 and 3.06 ppm. New protocols demonstrated that only a 20% growth enhancement was observed with M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis using the imide of acinetoferrin. Last, a siderophore from Streptomyces pilosus, deferrioxamine B, was shown to cross-feed M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis with the same efficiency as the more costly, native chelator, mycobactin J.

The psychodynamics of patients with false memory syndrome (FMS).

The False Memory Syndrome (FMS) diagnosis was very much in vogue from the late 1980s to the mid-1990s. It was an outgrowth of the belief held by many therapists that childhood sexual abuse was one of the most common causes of all forms of psychopathology. Although no longer in-vogue, the diagnosis is more recently being used for people who are falsely claiming that they were sexually abused by their priests. As was true in the earlier era, there were indeed many people who were sexually abused in childhood, but there were also many who were not and actually came to believe that they were, especially under the influence of therapists conducting "repressed memory therapy." Similarly, sexual abuse by priests has been a widespread phenomenon. Yet, there are still false accusers who are being led to believe by their overzealous therapists that they were indeed abused. As a psychoanalyst who has been asked to do forensic evaluations in many of these cases, I automatically ask myself questions about the psychodynamics of such falsely accusing patients. Here I describe those psychodynamic factors that I believe were operative in FMS cases, factors which in some cases apply to false sex abuse accusation against priests. Accordingly, this article is not simply of historical interest, but is still relevant and timely.