Chiral transition-metal complexes as Brønsted-acid catalysts for the asymmetric Friedel-Crafts hydroxyalkylation of indoles.

The Friedel-Crafts reaction between 3,3,3-trifluoropyruvates and indoles is efficiently catalysed by the iridium complex [(η5-C 5Me5)Ir{(R)-Prophos}(H2O)][SbF 6]2 (1) with up to 84% ee. Experimental data and theoretical calculations support a mechanism involving the Brønsted-acid activation of the pyruvate carbonyl by the protons of the coordinated water molecule in 1. Water is not dissociated during the process and, therefore, the catalytic reaction occurs with no direct interaction between the substrates and the metal. This journal is © the Partner Organisations 2014.The authors acknowledge the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO, Grants CTQ2006-03030/BQU, CTQ2009-10303/BQU, CTQ2011-27033 and Consolider Ingenio 2010 CSD2006-003), Gobierno de Aragón (Grupo Consolidado: Catálisis Homogénea Enantioselectiva), Generalitat de Catalunya (2009SGR0259) and the ICIQ foundation for financial support. A. S. and R. R. acknowledge MINECO for predoctoral fellowships. S. D.-G. acknowledges MINECO for a “Torres Quevedo” contract.Peer Reviewe

Analisis numerico de una bomba semiaxial

This spanish language paper presents the three-dimensional turbulent flow through the impeller passages and surroundings of a mixed-flow pump. The model has five impeller blades mounted on a conical hub and nine stator blades in a diffuser which brings the diagonally outward flow back to the axial direction. This pump was tested with air, giving a nominal flow-rate of 1.01 m3/s and 250 Pa at 1200 rpm

The dynamics of cultivation and floods in arable lands of Central Argentina

Although floods in watersheds have been associated with land-use change since ancient times, the dynamics of flooding is still incompletely understood. In this paper we explored the relations between rainfall, groundwater level, and cultivation to explain the dynamics of floods in the extremely flat and valuable arable lands of the Quinto river watershed, in central Argentina. The analysis involved an area of 12.4 million hectare during a 26-year period (1978–2003), which comprised two extensive flooding episodes in 1983–1988 and 1996–2003. Supported by information from surveys as well as field and remote sensing measurements, we explored the correlation among precipitation, groundwater levels, flooded area and land use. Flood extension was associated to the dynamics of groundwater level. While no correlation with rainfall was recorded in lowlands, a significant correlation (<i>P</i><0.01) between groundwater and rainfall in highlands was found when estimations comprise a time lag of one year. Correlations between groundwater level and flood extension were positive in all cases, but while highly significant relations (<i>P</i><0.01) were found in highlands, non significant relations (<i>P</i>>0.05) predominate in lowlands. Our analysis supports the existence of a cyclic mechanism driven by the reciprocal influence between cultivation and groundwater in highlands. This cycle would involve the following stages: (a) cultivation boosts the elevation of groundwater levels through decreased evapotranspiration; (b) as groundwater level rises, floods spread causing a decline of land cultivation; (c) flooding propitiates higher evapotranspiration favouring its own retraction; (d) cultivation expands again following the retreat of floods. Thus, cultivation would trigger a destabilizing feedback self affecting future cultivation in the highlands. It is unlikely that such sequence can work in lowlands. The results suggest that rather than responding directly and solely to the same mechanism, floods in lowlands may be the combined result of various factors like local rainfall, groundwater level fluctuations, surface and subsurface lateral flow, and water-body interlinking. Although the hypothetical mechanisms proposed here require additional understanding efforts, they suggest a promising avenue of environmental management in which cultivation could be steered in the region to smooth the undesirable impacts of floods

Asymmetric 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reactions between enals and nitrones catalysed by half-sandwich rhodium or iridium diphosphane complexes

The aqua complexes ¿(¿5-C5Me5)M¿PP*)¿H2O)]¿SbF6]2 (M = Rh, Ir; PP* = chiral diphosphane) have been tested as catalysts for the asymmetric 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of nitrones to a,ß-unsaturated aldehydes. Quantitative conversions with very high regioselectivity, perfect endo selectivity and excellent enantioselectivity (up to 99% ee) were achieved. The stereochemical outcome was analyzed on the basis of the stereoelectronic properties of the intermediate enal complexes of the formula ¿(¿5-C5Me5)M¿PP*)¿enal)]¿SbF6]2

Breeding transients in capture-recapture modeling and their consequences for local population dynamics

Standard procedures for capture&ndash;mark&ndash;recapture modelling (CMR) for the study of animal demography include running goodness-of-fit tests on a general starting model. A frequent reason for poor model fit is heterogeneity in local survival among individuals captured for the first time and those already captured or seen on previous occasions. This deviation is technically termed a transience effect. In specific cases, simple, uni-state CMR modeling showing transients may allow researchers to assess the role of these transients on population dynamics. Transient individuals nearly always have a lower local survival probability, which may appear for a number of reasons. In most cases, transients arise due to permanent dispersal, higher mortality, or a combination of both. In the case of higher mortality, transients may be symptomatic of a cost of first reproduction. A few studies working at large spatial scales actually show that transients more often correspond to survival costs of first reproduction rather than to permanent dispersal, bolstering the interpretation of transience as a measure of costs of reproduction, since initial detections are often associated with first breeding attempts. Regardless of their cause, the loss of transients from a local population should lower population growth rate. We review almost 1000 papers using CMR modeling and find that almost 40% of studies fitting the searching criteria (N&thinsp;=&thinsp;115) detected transients. Nevertheless, few researchers have considered the ecological or evolutionary meaning of the transient phenomenon. Only three studies from the reviewed papers considered transients to be a cost of first reproduction. We also analyze a long-term individual monitoring dataset (1988&ndash;2012) on a long-lived bird to quantify transients, and we use a life table response experiment (LTRE) to measure the consequences of transients at a population level. As expected, population growth rate decreased when the environment became harsher while the proportion of transients increased. LTRE analysis showed that population growth can be substantially affected by changes in traits that are variable under environmental stochasticity and deterministic perturbations, such as recruitment, fecundity of experienced individuals, and transient probabilities. This occurred even though sensitivities and elasticities of these parameters were much lower than those for adult survival. The proportion of transients also increased with the strength of density-dependence. These results have implications for ecological and evolutionary studies and may stimulate other researchers to explore the ecological processes behind the occurrence of transients in capture&ndash;recapture studies. In population models, the inclusion of a specific state for transients may help to make more reliable predictions for endangered and harvested species. </div

Artificial Intelligence for Caries Detection: Value of Data and Information.

If increasing practitioners' diagnostic accuracy, medical artificial intelligence (AI) may lead to better treatment decisions at lower costs, while uncertainty remains around the resulting cost-effectiveness. In the present study, we assessed how enlarging the data set used for training an AI for caries detection on bitewings affects cost-effectiveness and also determined the value of information by reducing the uncertainty around other input parameters (namely, the costs of AI and the population's caries risk profile). We employed a convolutional neural network and trained it on 10%, 25%, 50%, or 100% of a labeled data set containing 29,011 teeth without and 19,760 teeth with caries lesions stemming from bitewing radiographs. We employed an established health economic modeling and analytical framework to quantify cost-effectiveness and value of information. We adopted a mixed public-private payer perspective in German health care; the health outcome was tooth retention years. A Markov model, allowing to follow posterior teeth over the lifetime of an initially 12-y-old individual, and Monte Carlo microsimulations were employed. With an increasing amount of data used to train the AI sensitivity and specificity increased nonlinearly, increasing the data set from 10% to 25% had the largest impact on accuracy and, consequently, cost-effectiveness. In the base-case scenario, AI was more effective (tooth retention for a mean [2.5%-97.5%] 62.8 [59.2-65.5] y) and less costly (378 [284-499] euros) than dentists without AI (60.4 [55.8-64.4] y; 419 [270-593] euros), with considerable uncertainty. The economic value of reducing the uncertainty around AI's accuracy or costs was limited, while information on the population's risk profile was more relevant. When developing dental AI, informed choices about the data set size may be recommended, and research toward individualized application of AI for caries detection seems warranted to optimize cost-effectiveness

Early (Ti, Zr)-late (Rh, Ir) heteronuclear complexes with bridging sulphido ligands

[EN]: We report in this account on the controlled synthesis of novel d0-d8 early-late heteropolynuclear diolefin and carbonyl clusters. The synthetic approach was based on additive-deprotonation reactions involving the titanium and zirconium bis-hydrosulphido complexes of formula [Cp2Ti(SH)2] and [Cptt 2Zr(SH)2] and appropriate rhodium and iridium diolefin and carbonyl compounds. The significant differences between the resulting early-late complexes and their structures coming from the titanium or zirconium metalloligand precursors are highlighted. The catalytic activity of some representative titanium-rhodium and zirconium-rhodium compounds towards alkene hydroformylation was explored. Interestingly, the heterotetranuclear 'CpTi(μ3-S)3Rh3' structure was maintained as such under mild conditions.[FR]: Nous rapportons dans cet article la préparation contrôlée de nouveaux clusters hétéropolynucléaires early-late d0–d8 portant les ligands oléfine et carbonyle. La réaction de déprotonation–addition a été la méthode de synthèse utilisée et implique la condensation de complexes bis-hydrogénosulfure du titane et du zirconium, de formule [Cp2Ti(SH)2] et [Cptt2Zr(SH)2], sur les composés adéquats du rhodium et de l’iridium portant les ligands oléfine et carbonyle. Les différences significatives de structure entre les complexes early-late ainsi préparés, dues à la nature du métalloligand précurseur du titane ou du zirconium employé, sont mises en évidence. L’activité catalytique de quelques composés représentatifs titane–rhodium et zirconium–rhodium dans l’hydroformylation d’alcènes a été mesurée. Il convient de noter que la structure hétérotétranucléaire « CpTi(μ3-S)3Rh3 » est maintenue comme telle sous des conditions douces de réaction.Peer Reviewe

c-FOS drives reversible basal to squamous cell carcinoma transition.

While squamous transdifferentiation within subpopulations of adenocarcinomas represents an important drug resistance problem, its underlying mechanism remains poorly understood. Here, using surface markers of resistant basal cell carcinomas (BCCs) and patient single-cell and bulk transcriptomic data, we uncover the dynamic roadmap of basal to squamous cell carcinoma transition (BST). Experimentally induced BST identifies activator protein 1 (AP-1) family members in regulating tumor plasticity, and we show that c-FOS plays a central role in BST by regulating the accessibility of distinct AP-1 regulatory elements. Remarkably, despite prominent changes in cell morphology and BST marker expression, we show using inducible model systems that c-FOS-mediated BST demonstrates reversibility. Blocking EGFR pathway activation after c-FOS induction partially reverts BST in vitro and prevents BST features in both mouse models and human tumors. Thus, by identifying the molecular basis of BST, our work reveals a therapeutic opportunity targeting plasticity as a mechanism of tumor resistance

The anions [Cptt2Zr(μ-S)2M(CO)2]- (M = Rh, Ir) as versatile precursors for the synthesis of sulfido-bridged early−late heterotrimetallic (ELHT) compounds

The reaction of [Cp2 ttZr(μ3-S) 2{Ir(CO)2}2] (Cptt = η5-1,3-di-tert-butylcyclopentadienyl) with dppe (1,2-bis-(diphenylphosphino)ethane) affords the ion-pair compound [Ir(CO)(dPPe)2][Cp2 ttZr(μ-S) 2Ir(CO)2] (2). The related compound [Rh(dPPe) 2][Cp2 ttZr(μ-S)2Rh(CO) 2] (5) has been obtained in solution under a carbon monoxide atmosphere by reaction of [Cp2 ttZr(μ3-S) 2{Rh(CO)2}2] with dppe through the intermediate heterotrinuclear compound [Cp2 ttZr(μ3-S) 2{Rh(dppe)}{Rh(CO)2}] (4). Reaction of the heterodinuclear anion [Cp2 ttZr(μ-S)2Ir(CO) 2]-, generated in situ, with [Rh(μ-Cl)(cod)] 2, [RhCl2(CO)2]- and [Pd(μ-Cl)-(η3-C3H5)]2 affords the d0-d8-d8 early-late compounds [Cp 2 ttZr(μ3-S)2{Ir(CO) 2}{Rh(cod)}] (6), [Cp2 tt-Zr(μ3-S) 2{Ir(CO)2}{Rh(CO)2}] (7), and [Cp 2 ttZr(μ3-S)2{Ir(CO) 2}{Pd(η3-C3H5)}] (8) each with a symmetrical trigonal-bipyramidal M3(μ3-S)2 heterotrimetallic metal-sulfur core. In the same way, the reaction of [Cp 2 ttZr(μ-S)2M(CO)2]- (M = Rh, Ir) with [AuCl(PPh3)] leads to the preparation of the d 0-d8-d10 early-late compounds [Cp 2 ttZr(μ-S)2(Ir(CO)2}{Au(PPh 3)}] (9) and [Cp2 ttZr(μ-S) 2{Rh(CO)2}{Au(PPh3)}] (10) with an open M 3(μ3-S)(μ2-S) heterotrimetallic metal-sulfur framework. On the other hand, treatment of the bis(hydrosulfido) zirconium compound [Cp2 ttZr(SH)2] with triethylamine followed by addition of [Pd(μ-Cl)(η3-C 3H5)]2 or [AuCl(PPh3)] affords the sulfido-bridged early-late heterobimetallic compounds [Cp2 ttZr(μ3-S)2{Pd(η3-C 3H5)}2] (11) and [Cp2 ttZr(μ-S)2(Au(PPh3)}2] (12). The molecular structure of complexes 9 and 12 determined by X-ray diffraction methods are also described.The financial support from Ministerio de Educación y Ciencia (MEC/FEDER) is gratefully acknowledged (Projects CTQ2006-03973/BQU and Factoría de Cristalización, CONSOLIDER INGENIO-2010).Peer Reviewe