Actinomycosis of the anterior abdominal wall is a rare infection caused by different Actinomyces species. We report a case of primary actinomycosis localized on the anterior abdominal wall, diagnosed by computed tomography (CT) scan, postoperatively confirmed by histopathological examination and treated by surgical resection combined with postoperative antibiotic therapy. The patient has been free of recurrence after 1 year. A review of the available literature is also presented.

SMILES notation based optimal descriptors as a universal tool for the QSAR analysis with further application in drug discovery and design is presented. The basis of this QSAR modeling is Monte Carlo method which has important advantages over other methods, like the possibility of analysis of a QSAR as a random event, is discussed. The advantages of SMILES notation based optimal descriptors in comparison to commonly used descriptors are defined. The published results of QSAR modeling with SMILES notation based optimal descriptors applied for various pharmacologically important endpoints are listed. The presented QSAR modeling approach obeys OECD principles and has mechanistic interpretation with possibility to identify molecular fragments that contribute in positive and negative way to studied biological activity, what is of big importance in computer aided drug design of new compounds with desired activity.

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Complexes of copper and zinc with chlorophyll, the major photosynthesis pigment, were studied by Vis, FTIR and fluorescence spectroscopy. Two types of complexes were recognized. While copper replaces the central magnesium atom of chlorophyll to form a "central" Cu-Chl complex, this was not proposed in the case of zinc. Instead, the zinc-mediated formation of a 6-membered chelate cycle fused at the periphery of the chlorophyll structure is proposed. The latter event could be ascribed to allomerization reactions of chlorophyll.

The goal of this work was to investigate a possible way of crosslinking polymer chains and the potential formation of intramolecular hydrogen bonds in thermosensitive poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-2-hydroxypropyl methacrylate) (p(NIPAM-HPMet)) hydrogels obtained by radical polymerization. The chemical structure of the synthesized hydrogels was investigated by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and XRD. The FTIR spectrum confirmed the presence of hydrogen bonds formed between the chains in the copolymer. XRD analysis confirmed the amorphous − crystalline structure of the copolymer. A three-glass transition and two melting temperatures were detected by DSC. It was found that the addition of HPMet increased the glass transition and melting temperatures of the p(NIPAM-HPMet) copolymer. The swelling transport mechanism of p(NIPAM-HPMet) changed from non-Fickian at 20 • C to case III or zero-order time-independent kinetics characterized by a linear mass uptake with time with increasing temperature at 40 • C.