Tunable BODIPY derivatives amenable to "click" and peptide chemistry

Novel azido- and amino- functionalised fluorescent probes based on the BODIPY framework have been developed. The probes can be easily and cheaply synthesised, exhibit the highly desirable BODIPY fluorescent properties, and are amenable to “click” and peptide chemistry methodologies. These probes provide a stable and readily available tool amenable for the visualisation of both solution and solid supported events

Individual savings accounts for social insurance:Rationale and alternative designs

Using Danish data, we find that about three-fourths of the taxes levied to finance public transfers actually finance benefits that redistribute income over the life cycle of individual taxpayers rather than redistribute resources across people. This finding and similar results for other countries provide a rationale for financing part of social insurance via mandatory individual savings accounts. We discuss the advantages and disadvantages of mandatory individual savings accounts for social insurance and survey some recent alternative proposals for such accounts

Planteproduktion og fødevalg

Den overordnede baggrund for projektet var at få nogle kvantitative beskrivelser af, hvorledes man med forskellige former for ekstensiv græsmarksdrift kunne besvare eller øge artsdiversiteten på ferske enge. Samtidig ønskedes at kvantificere konsekvenserne for den landbrugsmæssige produktion på arealerne. Ferske enge varierer meget med hensyn til plantebestand, jordbundsforhold og fugtighed, og det er derfor væsentligt at kende disse faktorer, når man skal vurdere, hvilken produktion, der kan forventes på et givet engareal. Når stude og får afgræsser på halvkulturarealer er der et større udvalg af arter end der er på intensive græsmarker. Desuden er der som regel en lavere belægning, hvilket betyder at dyrene har gode muligheder for at selektere i det planteudbud, der er til rådighed. Målet med denne del af undersøgelsen var at få en beskrivelse af produktionens størrelse, foderkvalitet, artssammensætning, benyttelsens indvirkning på arterne, foderkvaliteten af enkeltarter og studenes fødevalg

Density of states and magnetoconductance of disordered Au point contacts

We report the first low temperature magnetotransport measurements on electrochemically fabricated atomic scale gold nanojunctions. As $T \to 0$, the junctions exhibit nonperturbatively large zero bias anomalies (ZBAs) in their differential conductance. We consider several explanations and find that the ZBAs are consistent with a reduced local density of states (LDOS) in the disordered metal. We suggest that this is a result of Coulomb interactions in a granular metal with moderate intergrain coupling. Magnetoconductance of atomic scale junctions also differs significantly from that of less geometrically constrained devices, and supports this explanation.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figures. Accepted to PRB as Brief Repor

Plasmon-resonant gold nanorods as low backscattering albedo contrast agents for optical coherence tomography

Plasmon-resonant gold nanorods are demonstrated as low back-scattering albedo contrast agents for optical coherence tomography (OCT). We define the backscattering albedo, a′, as the ratio of the backscattering to extinction coefficient. Contrast agents which modify a' within the host tissue phantoms are detected with greater sensitivity by the differential OCT measurement of both a′ and extinction. Optimum sensitivity is achieved by maximizing the difference between contrast agents and tissue, |a′ca - a′tiss|. Low backscattering albedo gold nanorods (14 × 44 nm; λmax = 780 nm) within a high backscattering albedo tissue phantom with an uncertainty in concentration of 20% (randomized 2±0.4% intralipid) were readily detected at 82 ppm (by weight) in a regime where extinction alone could not discriminate nanorods. The estimated threshold of detection was 30 ppm

Imaging gold nanorods in excised human breast carcinoma by spectroscopic optical coherence tomography

Plasmon-resonant gold nanorods (GNRs) can serve as imaging agents for spectroscopic optical coherence tomography (SOCT). The aspect ratio of the GNRs is adjusted for maximum absorption in the far red to create a partial spectral overlap with the short-wavelength edge of the near-infrared SOCT imaging band. The spectroscopic absorption profile of the GNRs is incorporated into a depth-resolved algorithm for mapping the relative GNR density within OCT images. This technique enables us to image GNR distributions in excised human breast carcinomas, demonstrating their potential as OCT contrast agents in heterogeneous, highly scattering tissues

Cardiovascular risk estimation and eligibility for statins in primary prevention comparing different strategies.

Recommendations for statin use for primary prevention of coronary heart disease (CHD) are based on estimation of the 10-year CHD risk. It is unclear which risk algorithm and guidelines should be used in European populations. Using data from a population-based study in Switzerland, we first assessed 10-year CHD risk and eligibility for statins in 5,683 women and men 35 to 75 years of age without cardiovascular disease by comparing recommendations by the European Society of Cardiology without and with extrapolation of risk to age 60 years, the International Atherosclerosis Society, and the US Adult Treatment Panel III. The proportions of participants classified as high-risk for CHD were 12.5% (15.4% with extrapolation), 3.0%, and 5.8%, respectively. Proportions of participants eligible for statins were 9.2% (11.6% with extrapolation), 13.7%, and 16.7%, respectively. Assuming full compliance to each guideline, expected relative decreases in CHD deaths in Switzerland over a 10-year period would be 16.4% (17.5% with extrapolation), 18.7%, and 19.3%, respectively; the corresponding numbers needed to treat to prevent 1 CHD death would be 285 (340 with extrapolation), 380, and 440, respectively. In conclusion, the proportion of subjects classified as high risk for CHD varied over a fivefold range across recommendations. Following the International Atherosclerosis Society and the Adult Treatment Panel III recommendations might prevent more CHD deaths at the cost of higher numbers needed to treat compared with European Society of Cardiology guidelines