Structure and stability of two polymorphs of creatine and its monohydrate

An experimental search for crystalline forms of creatine including a variable temperature X-ray powder diffraction study has produced three polymorphs and a formic acid solvate. The crystal structures of creatine forms I and II were determined from X-ray powder diffraction data plus the creatine formic acid (1 : 1) solvate structure was obtained by single crystal X-ray diffraction methods. Evidence of a third polymorphic form of creatine obtained by rapid desolvation of creatine monohydrate is also presented. The results highlight the role of automated parallel crystallisation, slurry experiments and VT-XRPD as powerful techniques for effective physical form screening. They also highlight the importance of various complementary analytical techniques in structural characterisation and in achieving better understanding of the relationship between various solid-state forms. The structural relationships between various solid-state forms of creatine using the XPac method provided a rationale for the different relative stabilities of forms I and II of creatine with respect to the monohydrate form.

Neonatal environment exerts a sustained influence on the development of the intestinal microbiota and metabolic phenotype

The postnatal environment, including factors such as weaning and acquisition of the gut microbiota, has been causally linked to the development of later immunological diseases such as allergy and autoimmunity, and has also been associated with a predisposition to metabolic disorders. We show that the very early-life environment influences the development of both the gut microbiota and host metabolic phenotype in a porcine model of human infants. Farmpiglets were nursed by their mothers for 1 day, before removal to highly controlled, individual isolators where they received formula milk until weaning at 21 days. The experiment was repeated, to create two batches, which differed only in minor environmental fluctuations during the first day. At day 1 after birth, metabolic profiling of serum by 1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy demonstrated significant, systemic, inter-batch variation which persisted until weaning. However, the urinary metabolic profiles demonstrated that significant inter-batch effects on 3-hydroxyisovalerate, trimethylamine-N-oxide and mannitol persisted beyond weaning to at least 35 days. Batch effects were linked to significant differences in the composition of colonic microbiota at 35 days, determined by 16 S pyrosequencing. Different weaning diets modulated both the microbiota and metabolic phenotype independently of the persistent batch effects. We demonstrate that the environment during the first day of life influences development of the microbiota and metabolic phenotype and thus should be taken into account when interrogating experimental outcomes. In addition, we suggest that intervention at this early time could provide ‘metabolic rescue’ for at-risk infants who have undergone aberrant patterns of initial intestinal colonisation.

Una biografia per immagini

Life and work of screen-writer Enrico Medioli (b. 1925), following the criteria of Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani (by Istituto Enciclopedia Italiana), tht is the top of Italian tools (I wrote several items for it).

La vraie "géographie fausse" du Cycle Indien

Malgré les nombreuses revendications de Duras à la véracité historique mais fort ambigüe, de son œuvre, les critiques ont toujours tendance à souscrire à l'affirmation influente de l’auteur selon laquelle «toutes les références à la géographie physique, humaine, politique, d’India Song, sont fausses. » Cet article se donne pour objectif de démontrer, à la lumière d’une perspective postcoloniale, que l’écriture durassienne est en effet loin d’être divorcée des réalités historiques et politiques de son époque. Il examine donc la nature des représentations géographiques dans son « Cycle indien » en répondant à la question centrale : Quelle est la relation entre les noms de lieux évoqués dans l’imaginaire « indien » de Duras et les réalités historiques de la région géographique que ceux-ci désignent ? Une telle relecture du territoire bien battu du Vice-Consul et d’India Song, révèle un croisement dense et complexe d’histoires coloniales oubliées, négligées ou occultées qui mérite d’être enfin mis au jour.

The Golden Age returns: Virgil's fourth Eclogue in the political panegyric of the Italian courts

E. H. Gombrich and others have analysed the uses made of language and imagery from Virgil's famous fourth Eclogue in panegyrical writing by partisans of the Medici dynasty in Florence. This study examines the appropriation of the theme of the returning Golden Age and related motifs from the fourth Eclogue in other Italian courts during the same period, by supporters of the Visconti and Sforza of Milan, the Gonzaga of Mantua, Leonello d'Este and his successors in Ferrara, and the Bentivoglio of Bologna, among others. The deployment of this Virgilian material in political panegyric is seen to be a central element in the self-definition and self-promotion of dynastic rulers throughout the peninsula.

High-throughput phenotyping (HTP) identifies seedling root traits linked to variation in seed yield and nutrient capture in field-grown oilseed rape (Brassica napusL.)

Background and Aims Root traits can be selected for crop improvement. Techniques such as soil excavations can be used to screen root traits in the field, but are limited to genotypes that are well-adapted to field conditions. The aim of this study was to compare a low-cost, high-throughput root phenotyping (HTP) technique in a controlled environment with field performance, using oilseed rape (OSR; Brassica napus) varieties. Methods Primary root length (PRL), lateral root length and lateral root density (LRD) were measured on 14-d-old seedlings of elite OSR varieties (n = 32) using a ‘pouch and wick’ HTP system (∼40 replicates). Six field experiments were conducted using the same varieties at two UK sites each year for 3 years. Plants were excavated at the 6- to 8-leaf stage for general vigour assessments of roots and shoots in all six experiments, and final seed yield was determined. Leaves were sampled for mineral composition from one of the field experiments. Key Results Seedling PRL in the HTP system correlated with seed yield in four out of six (r = 0·50, 0·50, 0·33, 0·49; P < 0·05) and with emergence in three out of five (r = 0·59, 0·22, 0·49; P < 0·05) field experiments. Seedling LRD correlated positively with leaf concentrations of some minerals, e.g. calcium (r = 0·46; P < 0·01) and zinc (r = 0·58; P < 0·001), but did not correlate with emergence, general early vigour or yield in the field. Conclusions Associations between PRL and field performance are generally related to early vigour. These root traits might therefore be of limited additional selection value, given that vigour can be measured easily on shoots/canopies. In contrast, LRD cannot be assessed easily in the field and, if LRD can improve nutrient uptake, then it may be possible to use HTP systems to screen this trait in both elite and more genetically diverse, non-field-adapted OSR.