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Background: According to WHO estimates, 35% of global measles deaths in 2011 occurred in India. In 2013, India committed to a goal of measles elimination by 2020. Laboratory supported case based measles surveillance is an essential component of measles elimination strategies. Results from a case-based measles surveillance system in Pune district (November 2009 through December 2011) are reported here with wider implications for measles elimination efforts in India., Methods: Standard protocols were followed for case identification, investigation and classification. Suspected measles cases were confirmed through serology (IgM) or epidemiological linkage or clinical presentation. Data regarding age, sex, vaccination status were collected and annualized incidence rates for measles and rubella cases calculated., Results: Of the 1011 suspected measles cases reported to the surveillance system, 76% were confirmed measles, 6% were confirmed rubella, and 17% were non-measles, non-rubella cases. Of the confirmed measles cases, 95% were less than 15 years of age. Annual measles incidence rate was more than 250 per million persons and nearly half were associated with outbreaks. Thirty-nine per cent of the confirmed measles cases were vaccinated with one dose of measles vaccine (MCV1)., Conclusion: Surveillance demonstrated high measles incidence and frequent outbreaks in Pune where MCV1 coverage in infants was above 90%. Results indicate that even high coverage with a single dose of measles vaccine was insufficient to provide population protection and prevent measles outbreaks. An effective measles and rubella surveillance system provides essential information to plan, implement and evaluate measles immunization strategies and monitor progress towards measles elimination.

There is a constant need for developing new fragrance ingredients in the flavor and fragrance industry, as it allows perfumers to create unique and differentiating perfumes for fine as well as functional products. Among all the categories of notes used in perfume creation, amber notes are indispensible and ubiquitous in their presence in all perfumes. Not only amber notes impart high performance and substantivity to fragrances, but they are paramount in the development of classic and legendary fragrances. This article is based on the plenary lecture delivered at the flavor & fragrance 2013 conference of the German Chemical Society in Leipzig, Germany. The strategy, rationale, and the various synthetic approaches that led to the discovery of two new very powerful, woody, amber materials, Amber Xtreme(®) (1) and Trisamber(®) (2), are delineated., (Copyright © 2014 Verlag Helvetica Chimica Acta AG, Zürich.)

Functional perfumery is an integral part of the fragrance business. It demands that the ingredients chosen for compounding withstand the aggressive nature of some of the bases used for soaps, detergents, softeners, bleach, and personal-care products. The synthetic efforts in this area reported in this short personal account, presented in a talk at the RSC/SCI conference Flavours & Fragrances 2004 (Manchester), have resulted in the discovery of the two new proprietary molecules Fleuranil (5/6) and Khusinil (7), which fulfill the criteria of functional perfumery. The structure-odor relationships of several analogs of Fleuranil and Khusinil prepared in the course of these investigations are also presented.

An analysis of data on 45 intravenous drug abusers treated for skeletal infection in 1982-1983 is presented. Eighty percent of patients were younger than 40 years old. None had any serious underlying illnesses. Septic arthritis was noted in 33 patients, osteomyelitis in seven, and both in five. Bone or joint infection involved the extremities in 78% of patients. The knee joint (left, 11 patients; right, four) was most commonly affected, and the left groin was the most frequent site of drug injections, a finding that suggests a relationship between the sites of injection and infection. Fever was absent in 16 (36%) of 45 patients. The predominant pathogens isolated were methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and groups A and G streptococci. Pseudomonas aeruginosa was much less common (11% of patients). Treatment included bed rest, intravenous antibiotics, and arthrocentesis when needed. Surgery was required in only seven (16%) of 45 patients. The immediate prognosis for intravenous drug abusers with skeletal infection was excellent. Attempts to obtain follow-up information from most patients, however, were unsuccessful.

Flupenthixyl chloride (FPT-Cl), a derivative of the dopamine (DA) receptor antagonist and neuroleptic alpha-flupenthixol possessing a chloroethyl side chain, has been prepared and evaluated for use in vivo in affinity labeling of DA receptors. Binding of [3H]spiperone to rat striatal DA receptors was markedly altered up to 12 h after intraventricular injection of FPT-Cl as compared with controls, while Scatchard plots of [3H]spiperone binding obtained on rat striatal homogenates 24 and 48 h after injection of FPT-Cl had values of Bmax significantly lower than in controls. The results suggest that the administration of FPT-Cl leads to irreversible and possibly covalent blockade of a portion of the spiperone binding sites in rat striatum. A second population of receptors appears to be blocked reversibly and presumably noncovalently by FPT-Cl, and these spiperone binding sites are partially reactivated in vivo after 48 h.

The potency of structurally rigid analogues of dopamine (DA) at striatal dopamine receptors was evaluated in rats using three types of assessments: (a) effectiveness in producing rotational and sniffing behaviors by intrastriatal injections (b) inhibition of [3H]-spiroperidol binding and (c) stimulation of adenylate cyclase activity. The compounds included apomorphine (APO) and its analogues, (R)-2,10,11-trihydroxyaporphine (R-THA) and (R)-2-hydroxy-10,11-methylenedioxyaporphine (MDO-APO), 2-amino-6,7-dihydroxyaminotetraline (ADTN) and its analogue, exo-2-amino-6,7-dihydroxybenzonorbornene (exo-amine). (R)-THA produced no stereotypy yet it was a potent inhibitor of [3H]-spiroperidol binding and adenylate cyclase activity. MDO-APO was quite active in inducing stereotypy and stimulating cyclase activity, but it showed low potency in displacing [3H]-spiroperidol. The exo-amine and ADTN were equally potent in enhancing rotation and sniffing intensity, however, the former was completely inactive in biochemical assessments. Except for (R)-THA, all DA analogues studied elicited dopaminomimetic behavioral activities of circling and sniffing. Relationships between the actions of these drugs in the behavioral and biochemical assessments are discussed.

Two bridged tricyclic analogues of 2-amino-6,7-dihydroxytetrahydronaphthalene (ADTN) in which the amino group is held rigidly in an equatorial and axial conformation, respectively, and in which the catechol ring is twisted out of the plane of the ethylamine chain have been synthesized and assayed for their effects on the binding of [3H]dopamine, [3H]apomorphine, and [3H]spiperone to calf and rat striatal homogenates. Up to concentrations of 2000 nM, these exo- and endo-2-amino-6,7-dihydroxybenzonorbornenes displayed no ability to displace any of the radioligands from their receptor sites in the calf and rat brain homogenates, in contrast to measured IC50 values of 6 and 3.1 nM for racemic ADTN vs. [3H]dopamine in the two preparations, respectively. The enantiomers of the exo amine showed no specific activity vs. [3H]dopamine in the two preparations, respectively. The enantiomers of the exo amine showed no specific activity vs [3H]dopamine. Although negative, these data are informative in molecular modeling of dopaminergic receptor interactions.