Bioarchaeological and molecular evidence of tuberculosis in human skeletal remains from 18th-19th century orthodox cemeteries in Irkutsk, Eastern Siberia.

In this study, we tested the skeletal human remains from the 18th - early 19th century Orthodox cemeteries in Irkutsk, Eastern Siberia, for tuberculosis-associated morphological alterations and Mycobacterium tuberculosis DNA. The morphologically studied bone collection included 591 individuals of mainly Caucasian origin. The molecular methods (IS6110-PCR and spoligotyping) suggested that at least four individuals (out of 15 TB-suspected, DNA-tested) were positive for the presence of M. tuberculosis DNA. All of them were males (3 maturus, 1 maturus senilis). Two of them date back to the second and third quarters of the 18th century, another to the last quarter of the 18th century, and the last one to the second half of the 19th century. The combined molecular analysis cautiously suggested presence of different strains and at least some of them represented not the currently predominant in Siberia Beijing genotype (M. tuberculosis East-Asian lineage) but strains of European origin. In conclusion, this study presented bioarchaeological and molecular evidence of tuberculosis in human skeletal remains from 18th-19th century Orthodox cemeteries in Irkutsk, Eastern Siberia. The samples are not M. bovis and represent human M. tuberculosis sensu stricto. Their precise phylogenetic identity is elusive but evokes the European/Russian origin of at least some isolates.

Synthesis, characterization, and sorption activity of novel azo-colorants derived from phloroglucinol and antipyrine and their metal complexes.

Two novel azo-colorants derived from phloroglucinol and antipyrine as well as 10 metal complexes with Co(ii), Ni(ii), Zn(ii), Cu(ii), and Cd(ii) were isolated and studied by a set of methods (1H, 13C NMR, IR, UV-VIS, EPR, X-ray structure determination). The azo-coupling of phloroglucinol with a 5-pyrazolone amino-derivative led to the isolation of a colorant H3L1 which was presented in the hydroxy-azo tautomeric form. At nitrosation of H3L1, the product H3L2 was isolated, which can be described as tri-oxo di-hydroxylamino hydrazone. According to the X-ray structure determination, the Cd-complex of H3L1 exhibited the dimeric form with two unionized organic ligands in the inner sphere. It was also found that chloride anions bridge two cadmium cations to form dimers. According to EPR spectra, the Cu-complex with H3L1 exhibited distorted tetragonal symmetry associated with the d x 2-y 2 ground state rather than d z 2 , and the corresponding Cu-H3L2 complex was described by a cubic symmetry of the coordination medium. Both H3L1, H3L2, and their metal complexes show coloristic activity towards wool, polyamide, and polyacetate fibers, which are strongly resistant towards UV-irradiation. The H3L2 compound possessed good sorption activity towards heavy metal cations from aqueous solutions of trace concentrations both under static and dynamic conditions.