Asymmetric Synthesis of Functionalized α-Amino Acid Derivatives via the γ-Pyrone Carbaldimine-Based Organocatalytic Mannich Reaction.

A powerful synthetic strategy for the asymmetric synthesis of enantiomerically enriched γ-functionalized α-amino acid derivatives based on the highly stereoselective proline-catalyzed Mannich-type reaction of pre-prepared or in situ-generated γ-pyrone-derived aldimines with carbonyl compounds and subsequent transformations of multifunctional reaction products has been developed. A significant positive nonlinear effect was detected for the key organocatalytic reaction. The developed strategy was applied for facile gram-scale preparation of (S)-γ-oxonorvaline, used for site-specific modification of proteins, and both enantiomers of amycolatolide A recently isolated from the lichen-derived actinomycete Amycolatopsis sp. YIM 130923.

Intimate partner violence and ways of coping with stress: cross-sectional survey of female patients in Russian general practice.

BACKGROUND: Despite World Health Organization guidelines on health service responses to intimate partner violence (IPV) against women general practitioners (GPs) often overlook the problem. Training on IPV addresses GPs' barriers to asking women patients about abuse and responding appropriately. One of the barriers is stereotype of women as passive victims. Little is known about coping behaviour of women patients with a history of IPV. OBJECTIVES: The objectives are (i) to compare problem- and emotion-focused coping used by patients who have experienced IPV with those who have not; (ii) to examine whether greater coping resources (health, education, employment and income) would be associated with more problem-focused coping. METHODS: The Russian Ways of Coping Questionnaire was administered to every fifth woman who participated in a cross-sectional survey on IPV prevalence in 24 St Petersburg general practices. Linear regression was used (n = 159) to test associations between life-time IPV, coping resources and ways of coping. RESULTS: Mean problem-focused coping scores were 0.2-4.7 units higher in those patients who have experienced IPV compared with those who have not [95% confidence interval (CI): -4.2, 11.9; P = 0.16-0.92], while mean emotion-focused coping scores were 2.5-4.2 units higher (95% CI: -3.0, 11.0; P = 0.12-0.57). After adjustment for coping resources there was no evidence for an association between IPV and problem-focused coping. CONCLUSIONS: Patients who have experienced IPV use as much problem-focused and emotion-focused coping, as those patients who have not experienced IPV. These findings should be incorporated into training on IPV to address GPs' stereotypes towards patients who have experienced IPV.

Prevalence and associations of partner abuse in women attending Russian general practice.

BACKGROUND: although a solid body of international general practice studies focuses on epidemiological issues of partner abuse against women, there is no research in Russian primary care targeting its cultural diversity to provide sufficient evidence for health care intervention towards this important public health issue. OBJECTIVES: to measure lifetime and 1-year prevalence of partner abuse among women attending Russian general practice, to test for associations between lifetime partner abuse and socio-demographic factors and to assess the acceptability to women of GPs asking about partner abuse. METHODS: cross-sectional self-administered questionnaire survey in 24 general practices in St Petersburg. Russian Composite Abuse Scale was administered to consecutive woman patients. Prevalence was reported as proportions and logistic regression was used to test associations. RESULTS: one thousand two hundred and thirty-two respondents (age range 16-70 years); 70% response. Lifetime prevalence of partner abuse was 37.1% [95% confidence interval (CI) = 34.4-40.0%] and 1-year prevalence was 7.2% (95% CI = 4.6-11.2%). The multivariate analysis showed that cohabiting women were 1.9 (95% CI = 1.3-2.8) times more likely and divorced women were 2.3 (95% CI = 1.1-4.8) times more likely to be abused than married respondents. Only 34.7% (95% CI = 31.5-38.0%) of women would agree to GPs asking about partner abuse. CONCLUSIONS: the high prevalence of partner abuse is consistent with international findings in general practice-based studies. The predominantly negative attitude of women towards being asked about abuse is a challenge to future domestic violence interventions in Russian practices.

Paramagnetic Properties of Fullerene-Derived Nanomaterials and Their Polymer Composites: Drastic Pumping Out Effect.

The evolution of paramagnetic properties of the fullerene soot (FS), fullerene black (FB), and their polymer composites Phenylon C-2/FS, FB has been studied using the electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) method. For the first time, a drastic growth of the EPR signals in the FB, FS, and composite samples was observed under pumping out at temperatures T = 20 ÷ 300 °C, which is attributed to the interaction between carbon defects and adsorbed gas molecules, mainly oxygen.It is shown that the ensemble of paramagnetic centers in the FB, FS, and the composite is heterogeneous. This ensemble consists of three spin subsystems 1, 2, and 3 related with different structural elements. The subsystems give three corresponding contributions, L 1, L 2 and L 3, into the overall contour of the EPR signal. The most intensive and broad signal L 3 is caused by 2D electrons from the surface of carbon flakes. Theoretical calculations of the L 3 signal line shape were carried out, and the decay rate of the integral intensity has been obtained for each component L 1, L 2, and L 3 after the contact of the sample with the ambient air. The signal decay process in the bulk composite samples is much slower due to their low gas permeability at room temperature (RT).