Three-coordinate iron(II) expanded ring N-heterocyclic carbene complexes

A sterically demanding seven-membered expanded ring N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) ligand allows access to rare examples of three-coordinate iron(II)-NHC complexes incorporating only halide coligands of the general formula [Fe(NHC)X 2 ] (NHC = 7-DiPP; X = Br (1) Cl (2)). Reducing the steric influence of the ancillary NHC ligand through modulation of the N-aryl substituents leads to either four- or three-coordinate complexes of the general formula [Fe(NHC)Br 2 (THF)] (3) or [Fe(NHC)Br 2 ] (4) (NHC = 7-Mes), dependent upon the solvent of recrystallization. The further reduction of NHC steric influence results in four-coordinate geometries at iron in the form of the dimeric species [Fe(NHC)Br(μ-Br)] 2 (5) or [Fe(NHC)Br 2 (THF)] (6) (NHC = SDiPP), again dependent upon the solvent of recrystallization. Compounds 1-6 have been analyzed by 1 H NMR spectroscopy, X-ray crystallography, elemental microanalysis, Mössbauer spectroscopy (for 1 and 3-5), and Evans method magnetic susceptibility. In addition to these measurements the three-coordinate species 1 and 4 have been further analyzed by SQUID magnetometry and CASSCF calculations, which show significant magnetic anisotropy that is extremely sensitive to the coordination geometry

Selected College Students\u27 Knowledge and Perceptions of Biotechnology Issues Reported in the Mass Media

The purpose of this study was to determine college students\u27 awareness of and attitudes toward biotechnology issues reported in the mass media. Future agricultural communicators (N = 330) representing 11 land-grant universities in 10 states recorded their knowledge and perceptions of biotechnology issues as reported in the mass media. Respondents were mostly seniors (46%), female (55%), and considered themselves 8 average students (60%). Students achieved only 30% correct responses (M = 3.05) in a knowledge assessment of biotechnology practices, illustrating a lack of knowledge. However, nearly 84% of the respondents perceived their level of knowledge as average to high (24% perceived they possessed above-average scientific knowledge). Future agricultural communicators were somewhat accepting of biotechnology practices for genetically modified organisms involving plant life (M = 3.28), but viewed these same practices as somewhat unacceptable for use on humans (M = 1.84). Significant, low positive relationships existed between respondents\u27 perceived and assessed levels ofbiotechnology knowledge (r = .17) and between their assessed knowledge and acceptance of biotechnology practices (r = .16). Selected college students in the agricultural sciences have much less knowledge about biotechnology practices than what they believed to possess. Although correctable through increased study of biotechnology, this finding may pose serious problems for students choosing to communicate the science of biotechnology issues in the mass media. Agricultural communications faculty nationwide should analyze their curricula to determine if students are being given the opportunity to study biotechnology issues while learning how to communicate it to a larger audience

Water soluble, cyclometalated Pt(II)–Ln(III) conjugates towards novel bimodal imaging agents

Facile conjugation of a luminescent cyclometalated PtII complex with a DO3A-derived GdIII moiety yields a hybrid species with visible luminescence and enhanced relaxivity

Use of ring-expanded diamino- and diamidocarbene ligands in copper catalyzed azide-alkyne "click" reactions

The two-coordinate ring-expanded N-heterocyclic carbene copper­(I) complexes [Cu­(RE-NHC)₂]⁺ (RE-NHC = 6-Mes, 7-<i>o</i>-Tol, 7-Mes) have been prepared and shown to be effective catalysts under neat conditions for the 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of alkynes and azides. In contrast, the cationic diamidocarbene analogue [Cu­(6-MesDAC)₂]⁺ and the neutral species [(6-MesDAC)­CuCl]₂ and [(6-MesDAC)₂(CuCl)₃] show good activity when the catalysis is performed on water

Male Microchimerism at High Levels in Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells from Women with End Stage Renal Disease before Kidney Transplantation

Patients with end stage renal diseases (ESRD) are generally tested for donor chimerism after kidney transplantation for tolerance mechanism purposes. But, to our knowledge, no data are available on natural and/or iatrogenic microchimerism (Mc), deriving from pregnancy and/or blood transfusion, acquired prior to transplantation. In this context, we tested the prevalence of male Mc using a real time PCR assay for DYS14, a Y-chromosome specific sequence, in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from 55 women with ESRD, prior to their first kidney transplantation, and compared them with results from 82 healthy women. Male Mc was also quantified in 5 native kidney biopsies obtained two to four years prior to blood testing and in PBMC from 8 women collected after female kidney transplantation, several years after the initial blood testing. Women with ESRD showed statistically higher frequencies (62%) and quantities (98 genome equivalent cells per million of host cells, gEq/M) of male Mc in their PBMC than healthy women (16% and 0.3 gEq/M, p<0.00001 and p = 0.0005 respectively). Male Mc was increased in women with ESRD whether they had or not a history of male pregnancy and/or of blood transfusion. Three out of five renal biopsies obtained a few years prior to the blood test also contained Mc, but no correlation could be established between earlier Mc in a kidney and later presence in PBMC. Finally, several years after female kidney transplantation, male Mc was totally cleared from PBMC in all women tested but one. This intriguing and striking initial result of natural and iatrogenic male Mc persistence in peripheral blood from women with ESRD raises several hypotheses for the possible role of these cells in renal diseases. Further studies are needed to elucidate mechanisms of recruitment and persistence of Mc in women with ESRD

Diagnosis and management of drug-associated interstitial lung disease

Symptoms of drug-associated interstitial lung disease (ILD) are nonspecific and can be difficult to distinguish from a number of illnesses that commonly occur in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) on therapy. Identification of drug involvement and differentiation from other illnesses is problematic, although radiological manifestations and clinical tests enable many of the alternative causes of symptoms in advanced NSCLC to be excluded. In lung cancer patients, high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) is more sensitive than a chest radiograph in evaluating the severity and progression of parenchymal lung disease. Indeed, the use of HRCT imaging has led to the recognition of many distinct patterns of lung involvement and, along with clinical signs and symptoms, helps to predict both outcome and response to treatment. This manuscript outlines the radiology of drug-associated ILD and its differential diagnosis in NSCLC. An algorithm that uses clinical tests to exclude alternative diagnoses is also described