Modified Fluoroquinolones as Antimicrobial Compounds Targeting Chlamydia trachomatis

Chlamydia trachomatis causes the most common sexually transmitted bacterial infection and trachoma, an eye infection. Untreated infections can lead to sequelae, such as infertility and ectopic pregnancy in women and blindness. We previously enhanced the antichlamydial activity of the fluoroquinolone ciprofloxacin by grafting a metal chelating moiety onto it. In the present study, we pursued this pharmacomodulation and obtained nanomolar active molecules (EC₅₀) against this pathogen. This gain in activity prompted us to evaluate the antibacterial activity of this family of molecules against other pathogenic bacteria, such as Neisseria gonorrhoeae and bacteria from the ESKAPE group. The results show that the novel molecules have selectively improved activity against C. trachomatis and demonstrate how the antichlamydial effect of fluoroquinolones can be enhanced.     

Antidiabetic Drugs in the Treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease

The public health burden of type 2 diabetes mellitus and Alzheimer’s disease is steadily increasing worldwide, especially in the population of older adults. Epidemiological and clinical studies suggest a possible shared pathophysiology between the two diseases and an increased risk of AD in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Therefore, in recent years, there has been a substantial interest in identifying the mechanisms of action of antidiabetic drugs and their potential use in Alzheimer’s disease. Human studies in patients with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease have shown that administration of some antidiabetic medications, such as intranasal insulin, metformin, incretins, and thiazolidinediones, can improve cognition and memory. This review aims to examine the latest evidence on antidiabetic medications as a potential candidate for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.     

Neurochemical Alterations in Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD): A Systematic Review of Proton Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopic Studies

(1) Objective: Considering that current knowledge of mechanisms involved in the molecular pathogenesis of Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) is limited, we conducted a systematic review to evaluate cumulative data obtained by Proton Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopic (¹H MRS) studies. (2) Methods: A computer-based literature search of Medline, EMBASE, PsycInfo, and ProQuest was performed. Only cross-sectional studies using ¹H MRS techniques in participants with SAD and healthy controls (HCs) were selected. (3) Results: The search generated eight studies. The results indicated regional abnormalities in the ‘fear neurocircuitry’ in patients with SAD. The implicated regions included the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC), dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC), insula, occipital cortex (OC), as well as the subcortical regions, including the thalamus, caudate, and the putamen. (4) Conclusions: The evidence derived from eight studies suggests that possible pathophysiological mechanisms of SAD include impairments in the integrity and function of neurons and glial cells, including disturbances in energy metabolism, maintenance of phospholipid membranes, dysregulations of second messenger systems, and excitatory/inhibitory neurocircuitry. Conducting more cross-sectional studies with larger sample sizes is warranted given the limited evidence in this area of research.     

Using Ideas of Kolmogorov Complexity for Studying Biological Texts

Kolmogorov complexity furnishes many useful tools for studying different natural processes that can be expressed using sequences of symbols from a finite alphabet (texts), such as genetic texts, literary and music texts, animal communications, etc. Although Kolmogorov complexity is not algorithmically computable, in a certain sense it can be estimated by means of data compressors. Here we suggest a method of analysis of sequences based on ideas of Kolmogorov complexity and mathematical statistics, and apply this method to biological (ethological) ??texts.?? A distinction of the suggested method from other approaches to the analysis of sequential data by means of Kolmogorov complexity is that it belongs to the framework of mathematical statistics, more specifically, that of hypothesis testing. This makes it a promising candidate for being included in the toolbox of standard biological methods of analysis of different natural texts, from DNA sequences to animal behavioural patterns (ethological ??texts??). Two examples of analysis of ethological texts are considered in this paper. Theses examples show that the proposed method is a useful tool for distinguishing between stereotyped and flexible behaviours, which is important for behavioural and evolutionary studies.     

Numerical Studies on the Seismic Retrofit of Bridges Using Shape Memory Alloys

Recent earthquakes have highlighted the seismic vulnerability of bridges due to excessive movements at the joints (in simply supported deck bridges) or concentration of seismic forces in a few piers (in multi-span continuous deck bridges). Steel-based seismic restrainers and viscous shock transmitters are used to limit the joint openings in simply supported deck bridges or to redistribute the seismic force among all piers in continuous deck bridges, respectively. Currently used devices, however, have some limitations such as large dimensions, no energy dissipation, possible large residual displacements, bad control of the force transmitted to the substructure (steel restrainers), large dimensions, difficulty of installation in existing structures, need of maintenance, and sensitivity to the earthquake characteristics (viscous shock transmitters). Shape memory alloys (SMAs) with superelastic behavior show the potential to overcome the limitations involved in the current technologies. In this article, a multi-performance seismic device based on superelastic SMA wires is proposed for the seismic retrofit of multi-span simply supported and continuous deck bridges. The effectiveness of the SMA devices is assessed through a number of nonlinear time-history analyses on two bridge structures representative of existing Italian highway bridges. Results are compared to the seismic response of the bridges in the as-built configuration.     

Improving the Design of Greek Hollow Clay Bricks

The hollow clay brick is the typical building unit that is employed not only over the whole Greece but also in many other Mediterranean countries. Nevertheless, its design is completely empirical. In this study, the design of the hollow clay brick is analyzed by employing a finite element package. To carry out this analysis, the thermal conductivity of the solid clay is measured by the transient hot-wire technique. As a consequence of the analysis, an improvement of 24 % in the design of the hollow clay brick is proposed.     

A Model Korean Ubiquitous Eco-City? The Politics of Making Songdo

Building cities from scratch has continued unabated since the latter half of the twentieth century despite some of these planned cities achieving global infamy for their failures. These endeavors are, in part, due to a persistent belief by governments that newly constructed cities can set their nations on a fast path to the future. Today, challenges posed both by global climate change and increased urbanization have widened this platform from projects almost exclusively of developing nations to include those in the developed world. Today we talk of the eco-city, a local solution to a global crisis. If completion is successfully fast-tracked, the resultant eco-city will position its respective nation at the forefront of innovation in what is effectively a global race: the resultant city can be exported as a model both locally and globally. In this regard, the envisioning and building of Songdo in South Korea may not be unique. Songdo is a city underway on flat land created from wetland reclamation. As part of the Incheon Free Economic Zone (IFEZ), Songdo's development has benefited from opportunistic circumstances that has led to its pursuit of becoming a “Ubiquitous Eco-City.” The green infrastructure of the new city is to be enhanced by the provision of extra services that combine information and communication technologies as well as digital networks to ideally create harmony among the environment, society, and technology. Songdo, as planned, will position South Korea among a group of leading nations, and possibly at the forefront of new city development, potentially producing a model for export.