Long-Lived Nuclear Spin States in Methyl Groups and Quantum-Rotor-Induced Polarization

Substances containing rapidly rotating methyl groups may exhibit long-lived states (LLSs) in solution, with relaxation times substantially longer than the conventional spin-lattice relaxation time <i>T</i>₁. The states become long-lived through rapid internal rotation of the CH₃ group, which imposes an approximate symmetry on the fluctuating nuclear spin interactions. In the case of very low CH₃ rotational barriers, a hyperpolarized LLS is populated by thermal equilibration at liquid helium temperature. Following dissolution, cross-relaxation of the hyperpolarized LLS, induced by heteronuclear dipolar couplings, generates strongly enhanced antiphase NMR signals. This mechanism explains the NMR signal enhancements observed for ¹³C-γ-picoline (Icker, M.; Berger, S. <i>J. Magn. Reson.</i> <b>2012</b>, <i>219</i>, 1–3)

Synthesis of an Isotopically Labeled Naphthalene Derivative That Supports a Long-Lived Nuclear Singlet State

The synthesis of an octa-alkoxy substituted isotopically labeled naphthalene derivative, shown to have excellent properties in singlet NMR experiments, is described. This highly substituted naphthalene system, which incorporates an adjacent ¹³C spin pair, is readily accessed from a commercially available ¹³C₂-labeled building block via sequential thermal alkynyl- and arylcyclobutenone rearrangements. The synthetic route incorporates a simple desymmetrization approach leading to a small difference in the chemical shifts of the ¹³C spin pair, a design constraint crucial for accessing nuclear singlet order

Differential expression of key pneumococcal virulence genes in vivo

© 2006 Society for General MicrobiologyFew studies have examined in vivo virulence gene expression in Streptococcus pneumoniae. In this study, expression of key pneumococcal virulence genes cbpA, pspA, ply, psaA, cps2A, piaA, nanA and spxB in the nasopharynx, lungs and bloodstream of mice was investigated, following intranasal challenge with the serotype 2 strain D39. Bacterial RNA was extracted, linearly amplified and assayed by real-time RT-PCR. At 72 h, cbpA mRNA was present at higher levels in the nasopharynx and lungs than in the blood. At this time-point, the mRNAs for PspA and PiaA were most abundant in the nasopharynx, whereas no significant difference in gene expression between niches was observed for ply, psaA and cps2A. Both nanA and spxB mRNAs were present in higher amounts in the nasopharynx than in the lungs or blood. These findings illustrate the dynamic nature of pneumococcal virulence gene expression in vivo.Kim S. LeMessurier, Abiodun David Ogunniyi, and James C. Pato

Production of Tense Morphology by Afrikaans-Speaking Children With and Without Specific Language Impairment

Contains fulltext : 85996.pdf (publisher's version ) (Closed access)20 p