Obstetric ultrasound education for the developing world: A learning partnership with the World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology.

The ultrasound techniques in pregnancy e-learning project is an online resource commissioned and supported by the Education Committee of the World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology (WFUMB). This currently consists of 10 e-learning sessions aimed at midwives and other health workers in developing countries where WFUMB has Educational Centres of Excellence, and in particular at those based mainly in rural communities at considerable distance from urban training centres. The project covers all of the basics of obstetric ultrasound such as fetal and maternal anatomy, ultrasound techniques, assessment in both early and late pregnancy, prediction of pregnancy complications and identification of common abnormalities that might interfere with delivery.

Bioactive labdane diterpenoids from Renealmia alpinia collected in the Suriname rainforest.

The preservation of tropical rainforests is an important goal both for the intrinsic value of their cultural and biological diversity as well as for the well-being of the peoples who make these forests their home. In addition, tropical forests are potential sources of new pharmaceutical products that can only be found by chemical prospecting in Nature's genetically encoded combinatorial library. As part of an effort to integrate biodiversity conservation and drug discovery with economic development, we have initiated a collaborative program to discover potential pharmaceuticals in the rainforest of Suriname.

C-geranyl compounds from Mimulus clevelandii.

Fractionation of the MeCOEt extract of Mimulus clevelandii yielded the novel 4-geranyl-5-hydroxy-2(3H)-benzofuranone (1) and the five known 6-geranylflavanones diplacone (2a), 3'-O-methyldiplacone (2b), diplacol (2c), mimulone (2d), and 3'-O-methyldiplacol (2e). 2D-NMR methods required revision of assignments for diplacone and diplacol and resolved the uncertainty in the site of methylation for the methyl ethers.

A DNA-damaging sesquiterpene and other constituents from Frullania nisquallensis.

Bioassay-guided fractionation of an MeCOEt extract of Frullania nisquallensis Sull. has furnished a DNA-damaging sesquiterpene, costunolide (1), and two inactive compounds, a sesquiterpene (-)-frullanolide (2) and a tridepside tenuiorin (3). (13)C-NMR data of 3 are reported.

Bioactive and other sesquiterpenoids from Porella cordeana.

Bioassay-directed fractionation of the MeCOEt extract of Porella cordeana yielded drimenin [1] and aristolone [4], which were moderately toxic towards DNA-repair-deficient mutants of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Three inactive sesquiterpenes, 7-ketoisodrimenin [2], 7-ketoisodrimenin-5-ene [3], and norpinguisanolide, were also obtained. Compounds 2 and 3 are new.