A Possible Relation Between Mechanical, Chemical and Electrical Quantities

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A neutral low-coordinate heterocyclic bismuth-tin species

The reaction of distannadiazane bearing bulky RAr*-groups (RAr* = C6H2{C(H)Ph2}2R-2,6,4; R = iPr, tBu) with ECl3 (E = Sb, Bi) was studied resulting in the isolation of previously unknown N,N-bis(dichloropnictino)amines (3) and a novel heterocyclic carbenoid bismuth species (4) bearing a Bi(III) and a Sn(IV) center. The structure and bonding was investigated by means of X-ray structure elucidations and DFT calculations

Dose-area product measurements during Barium enema radiograph examinations -a Western Cape study

The aim of this study was to obtain a direct measurement of the typical dose delivered to an average adult patient during a barium enema examination. Measurement was done on a sample of 50 patients at three departments, using a dose-area product (DAP) meter. The comparison of the results with UK median levels indicates that the doses measured in South Africa are higher (41 Gy cm2 (dose x area) v. 48 Gy cm2 ). Patient protection can be improved by comparing local practice with national reference levels. The values obtained in this study (first quartile 35 Gy cm2, median 48 Gy cm2, third quartile 84 Gy cm2) are recommended as initial reference dose levels for barium enemas in South Africa

Block-Transitive Designs in Affine Spaces

This paper deals with block-transitive $t$-$(v,k,\lambda)$ designs in affine spaces for large $t$, with a focus on the important index $\lambda=1$ case. We prove that there are no non-trivial 5-$(v,k,1)$ designs admitting a block-transitive group of automorphisms that is of affine type. Moreover, we show that the corresponding non-existence result holds for 4-$(v,k,1)$ designs, except possibly when the group is one-dimensional affine. Our approach involves a consideration of the finite 2-homogeneous affine permutation groups.Comment: 10 pages; to appear in: "Designs, Codes and Cryptography

State dependent dissociation of HERG channel inhibitors

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Inhibition of HERG channels prolongs the ventricular action potential and the QT interval with the risk of torsade de pointes arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death. Many drugs induce greater inhibition of HERG channels when the cell membrane is depolarized frequently. The dependence of inhibition on the pulsing rate may yield different IC(50) values at different frequencies and thus affect the quantification of HERG channel block. We systematically compared the kinetics of HERG channel inhibition and recovery from block by 8 blockers at different frequencies. EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH: HERG channels were expressed heterologously in Xenopus oocytes and currents were measured with the two-electrode voltage clamp technique. KEY RESULTS: Frequency-dependent block was observed for amiodarone, cisapride, droperidol and haloperidol (group 1) whereas bepridil, domperidone, E-4031 and terfenadine (group 2) induced similar pulse-dependent block at all frequencies. With the group 1 compounds, HERG channels recovered from block in the presence of drug (recovery being voltage-dependent). No substantial recovery from block was observed with the second group of compounds. Washing out of bepridil, domperidone, E-4031 and terfenadine was substantially augmented by frequent pulsing. Mutation D540K in the HERG channel (which exhibits reopening at negative voltages) facilitated recovery from block by these compounds at −140 mV. CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS: Drug molecules dissociate at different rates from open and closed HERG channels (‘use-dependent' dissociation). Our data suggest that apparently ‘trapped' drugs (group 2) dissociated from the open channel state whereas group 1 compounds dissociated from open and resting states

Vascular white matter lesions negatively correlate with brain metastases in malignant melanoma - results from a retrospective comparative analysis

Brain metastasis (BM) is a major complication of different cancers. There is increasing evidence for influence of vascular factors on BM in patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). It is not known if the same is true for other tumors that might rely on different forms of vasculogenesis. The objective of this retrospective study was to evaluate a possible negative association of vascular white matter lesions and vascular risk factors (vasRF) with brain metastases in patients with melanoma

Enhancement of the Deuteron-Fusion Reactions in Metals and its Experimental Implications

Recent measurements of the reaction d(d,p)t in metallic environments at very low energies performed by different experimental groups point to an enhanced electron screening effect. However, the resulting screening energies differ strongly for divers host metals and different experiments. Here, we present new experimental results and investigations of interfering processes in the irradiated targets. These measurements inside metals set special challenges and pitfalls which make them and the data analysis particularly error-prone. There are multi-parameter collateral effects which are crucial for the correct interpretation of the observed experimental yields. They mainly originate from target surface contaminations due to residual gases in the vacuum as well as from inhomogeneities and instabilities in the deuteron density distribution in the targets. In order to address these problems an improved differential analysis method beyond the standard procedures has been implemented. Profound scrutiny of the other experiments demonstrates that the observed unusual changes in the reaction yields are mainly due to deuteron density dynamics simulating the alleged screening energy values. The experimental results are compared with different theoretical models of the electron screening in metals. The Debye-H\"{u}ckel model that has been previously proposed to explain the influence of the electron screening on both nuclear reactions and radioactive decays could be clearly excluded.Comment: 22 pages, 12 figures, REVTeX4, 2-column format. Submitted to Phys. Rev. C; accepte