Untersuchungen zur trägerarmen Radiofluorierung nicht-aktivierter Aromaten mit n.c.a. [18F]Fluorid

In vivo imaging with positron emission tomography generally demands radiotracers with a high specific activity. In case of fluorine-18 the required no-carrier-added (n.c.a.) starting material is only available in form of fluoride. This and the short half-life of 109.7 minutes of the radionuclide lead to the demand of special methods for radiosyntheses. The only practical procedure for manufacturing n.c.a. [$^{18}$F]fluoro-compounds is therefore nucleophilic substitution. There is, however, still a lack of effective procedures for the labelling of electron rich aromatic molecules starting from n.c.a. [$^{18}$F]fluoride. A process for n.c.a. radiofluorination of these compounds is offered by the reaction of iodonium compounds as starting materials. In this study modern procedures for the synthesis of iodoniumsalts and -ylides were investigated. Several precursor molecules for the versatile synthetic building block 4-[$^{18}$F]fluoroiodobenzene were synthesised. In this course, a new one- pot procedure for the synthesis of iodoniumylides was developed. Further on, the syntheses of suitable iodonium precursors for two fluorophenoxy-derivatives, which are possible antidepressants, were investigated. Due to their binding profile these compounds can be considered as ligands for the serotonin reuptake transporter (SERT) and the norepinephrin reuptake transporter (NET), respectively. The preparation of appropriate iodonium salts proved to be too problematic, while the synthesis of suitable iodoniumylides could be accomplished with satisfactory yields of about 30 % and 40 %, respectively. Both compounds were labelled with n.c.a. [$^{18}$F]fluoride and deprotected to the desired targetcompounds 4-((3-[$^{18}$F]fluorophenoxy)(phenyl)methyl)piperidine and 4-((4-[$^{18}$F]fluorophenoxy)(phenyl)methyl)piperidine in radiochemical yields of about 40 % and 25 %, respectively. Those are now available for preclinical evaluation studies. Furthermore, a process for the palladium catalysed synthesis of $^{18}$F-labelled aromatic molecules was investigated. Initially a suitable reaction protocol was developed for further examination of the dependence of the radiochemical yield on the amount of added carrier. It turned out, however, that the reaction did not proceed without the addition of fluoride-carrier. For the identification of the radioactive products and the determination of the radiochemical yields suitable Chromatographic conditions for the identification of all radioactive products and the determination of their radiochemical yields via HPLC were developed. Furthermore chromatographic conditions for the isolation of the pharmacological relevant n.c.a. [$^{18}$F]fluorophenoxy-derivatives in highest purity were developed

Charmless B decays at LHCb

The study of charmless b-hadron decays provides information for testing the CKM picture of CP violation in the Standard Model. In addition, as they can proceed through loop diagrams, they are also sensitive to physics beyond the Standard Model. A review of recent results from LHCb on charmless b-hadron decays is presented.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, presented at The Second Annual Conference on Large Hadron Collider Physics (LHCP2014), Columbia University, New York, U.S.A June 2-7, 201

Measurements of the relative branching fractions of the B+→ppˉK+B^{+} \to p \bar p K^{+} decay channel including charmonium contributions

The study of the $B^{+}\to p \bar p K^{+}$ decay channel at LHCb offers great opportunities to study different aspects of the Standard Model and possibly Beyond Standard Model physics. In particular it can be interesting not only for the possibility to measure CP asymmetry but also to study possible intermediate resonances. The ratios of the branching fractions of the $B^{+}\to p \bar p K^{+}$ decay channel, of the charmless component with M_{p\bar p} < 2.85\unitm{GeV/}c^{2} and of the charmonium contribution $\eta_{c}$ relative to the $J/\psi$ are presented.Comment: Presented at the 2011 Hadron Collider Physics symposium (HCP-2011), Paris, France, November 14-18 2011, 3 pages, 4 figur

America\u27s Need for a Foreign Language Requirement

In lieu of an abstract, below is the article\u27s first paragraph. In the world we live in today, international relations are something that Americans should take extremely seriously. September 11, 2001 completely changed the way Americans see the world and the way the world sees us. Now more than ever, America should be teaching its youth about foreign affairs and governments. The first step in this process would be teaching a foreign language

Fatiguing Effects of Indirect Vibration Stimulation in Upper Limb Muscles- pre, post and during Isometric Contractions Superimposed on Upper Limb Vibration

© 2019 The Authors. Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ , which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited.Whole-body vibration and upper limb vibration (ULV) continue to gain popularity as exercise intervention for rehabilitation and sports applications. However, the fatiguing effects of indirect vibration stimulation are not yet fully understood. We investigated the effects of ULV stimulation superimposed on fatiguing isometric contractions using a purpose developed upper limb stimulation device. Thirteen healthy volunteers were exposed to both ULV superimposed to fatiguing isometric contractions (V) and isometric contractions alone Control (C). Both Vibration (V) and Control (C) exercises were performed at 80% of the maximum voluntary contractions. The stimulation used was 30 Hz frequency of 0.4 mm amplitude. Surface-electromyographic (EMG) activity of the Biceps Brachii, Triceps Brachii and Flexor Carpi Radialis were measured. EMG amplitude (EMGrms) and mean frequency (MEF) were computed to quantify muscle activity and fatigue levels. All muscles displayed significantly higher reduction in MEFs and a corresponding significant increase in EMGrms with the V than the Control, during fatiguing contractions (p < 0.05). Post vibration, all muscles showed higher levels of MEFs after recovery compared to the control. Our results show that near-maximal isometric fatiguing contractions superimposed on vibration stimulation lead to a higher rate of fatigue development compared to the isometric contraction alone in the upper limb muscles. Results also show higher manifestation of mechanical fatigue post treatment with vibration compared to the control. Vibration superimposed on isometric contraction not only seems to alter the neuromuscular function during fatiguing efforts by inducing higher neuromuscular load but also post vibration treatment.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

Illicit drug trafficking in the history of contemporary international relations

El artículo pretende comprender la evolución del consumo y tráfico de drogas a lo largo de la historia de las relaciones internacionales contemporáneas —1789-1991—, es decir, el contexto que posibilitó su surgimiento y expansión, identificando actores, canales utilizados y principales beneficiaros. Se consideran tres subperíodos dentro del largo plazo: 1) desde el Siglo XVIII a la Tercera Guerra del Opio —1860—; 2) Desde mediados del s. XIX hasta la Segunda Guerra Mundial y 3) Desde la posguerra —1945— hasta el fin de la Guerra Fría —1991— Las “drogas” son tan antiguas como las civilizaciones. Sin embargo, el circuito económico productivo de las mismas irrumpe como hecho internacional en un momento específico de la historia; cuyas claves serían: la expansión colonial/imperialista occidental, el crecimiento del comercio internacional, el desarrollo de la industrialización y la consolidación de un mercado mundial. Dichas sustancias transitarán de productos tradicionales de sociedades específicas a mercancías globales de consumo masivo en el siglo XIXThe article seeks to understand the evolution of consumption and drugs trafficking throughout the history of the contemporary international relations —1789-1991—, analyzing the context that made its emergence and expansion possible, identifying actors, principal links and beneficiaries. Will be considered three subperiods of time in the long term: 1) from the 18th century to the Third War of Opium —1860—; 2) From middle 19th century up to the Second World war and 3) From the postwar —1945— up to the end of the Cold War —1991—.The "drugs" are as ancient as the civilizations. Nevertheless, the economic productive circuit appeared as an international phenomenon in a specific moment of the history; marked by: the colonial / imperialistic western expansion, the growth of the international trade, the development of the industrialization and the consolidation of a world market. “Narcotics” will be transformed from traditional products of specific cultures to global goods of massive consumption in the 19th centur