Reassessing the molecular structures of some previously isolated abietane diterpenoids with a naphthalene moiety and the structure-activity relationship (SAR) of quinone diterpenoids.

Crystals of previously described para-naphthoquinone abietane diterpenoids 12,16-dideoxy-aegyptinone B and 12-deoxy-salvipisone were obtained from Zhumeria majdae Rech.f. & Wendelbo. However, single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis followed by reinterpretation of their NMR data revealed that their structures require revision, and they should be revised to the two ortho-naphthoquinones, zhumerianone C and aethiopinone, respectively. Interestingly, a further search through literature revealed that there were more of such cases, in which differentiation between the ortho-/para-orientation had not been carried out correctly in the structure elucidation of naphthalene containing abietane diterpenoids. Therefore, in the current study, we pointed out some 1D and 2D NMR generalizations that would help the unambiguous deduction of the ortho-/para-orientation of naphthalene containing abietanes and revised the structure of some previously described compounds accordingly. Based on these generalizations, structures of sibiriquinones A and B, sahandinone, and sahandone were revised to the known structures 1,2-didehydromiltirone, miltirone, saprorthoquinone, and sahandone B, respectivelyand tebesinone B, arucadiol, and sahandol II were revised to three undescribed structures. It was also proposed that structures of palmitoyl arucadiol and compounds with the salvifolane skeleton need revision. Furthermore, these structure revisions shed light on the structure-activity relationship of the quinone diterpenoids, approving that the ortho-quinone is the critical structural component for cytotoxicity in these compounds.

Spatio-temporal variability of malaria infection in Chahbahar County, Iran: association with the ENSO and rainfall variability.

Malaria is one of the most widespread communicable diseases in the southeast regions of Iran, particularly the Chabahar County. Although the outbreak of this disease is a climate-related phenomenon, a comprehensive analysis of the malaria-climate relationship has not yet been investigated in Iran. The aims of this study are as follows: a) analyzing the seasonal characteristics of the various species of the infection; b) differentiating between number of patients during El Niño and La Niña and also during the wet and dry years. The monthly malaria statistics collected from twelve health centers were firstly averaged into seasonal scale and then composited with the corresponding data of the ground-based meteorological records, Southern Oscillation Index (SOI), and the satellite-based rainfall data. The proper statistical tests were used to detect differences in the number of patients between El Niño and La Niña and also between the adopted wet and dry episodes. Infection rate from the highest to the lowest was associated with summer, autumn, spring, and winter, respectively. Plasmodium falciparum, P. vivax, and the other species were responsible for 22%, 75%, and 3% of the sickness, respectively. The outbreak of P. falciparum/P. vivax occurs during autumn/summer. Due to the malaria eradication programs in urban areas, infection statistics collected from the rural areas were found to be more climate-related than that of urban regions. For rural/urban areas, the infection statistics exhibited a significant decline/increase during El Niño episodes. In autumn, spring, and winter, the patient number has significantly increased/decreased during the dry/wet years, respectively. These relationships were, however, reversed in summer.