Team functioning across different tumour types: Insights from a Swiss cancer center using qualitative and quantitative methods.

BACKGROUND: Multidisciplinary care is pivotal in cancer centres and the interaction of all cancer disease specialists in decision making processes is state-of-the-art. AIM: To describe differences of MDTMs by tumour type. METHODS: Twelve multidisciplinary team meetings (MDTMs) with participation of different cancer disease specialists at a tertiary hospital were assessed by an exploratory sequential mixed method approach with interviews, observations and a survey to address the following five topics: organisational structure and supporting technology; leadership; teamwork; decision-making, perceived value and motivation. Thirteen persons with different tumour specialities and levels of seniority were interviewed. The 12 MDTMs were observed twice by uninvolved persons and evaluated by the participating physicians with a survey. RESULTS: There were no systematic differences between MDTMs for different tumour types with the exception of the non-disease specific type MDTM, which was the only one for which the organisational structure was not driven by an electronic tool. However, several factors could be identified that generally influenced the functioning of the MDTMs. In particular, the quality of decision-making was highly dependent on the availability of case-based information and the presence of relevant cancer disease specialists. Leadership and teamwork were rated as important and were comparable across the MDTM. Team participants' motivation and perceived value of MDTMs was high across all meetings. CONCLUSION: MDTM at a single institution did not demonstrate disease specific characteristics. An effective MDTM, irrespective of the tumour type, can be successfully structured by technical means and a chairperson coordinating the interaction of cancer disease specialists to improve the decision-making process

High Pressure In Situ ¹²⁹Xe NMR Spectroscopy:: Insights into Switching Mechanisms of Flexible Metal-Organic Frameworks Isoreticular to DUT-49

Flexible metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are capable of changing their crystal structure as a function of external stimuli such as pressure, temperature, and type of adsorbed guest species. DUT-49 is the first MOF exhibiting structural transitions accompanied by the counterintuitive phenomenon of negative gas adsorption (NGA). Here, we present high pressure in situ ¹²⁹Xe NMR spectroscopic studies of a novel isoreticular MOF family based on DUT-49. These po-rous materials differ only in the length of their organic linkers causing changes in pore size and elasticity. The series encompasses both, purely microporous materials as well as materials with both, micropores and small mesopores. The chemical shift of adsorbed xenon depends on xenon-wall interactions and thus, on the pore size of the material. The xenon adsorption behavior of the different MOFs can be observed over the whole range of relative pressure. Chemical shift adsorption/desorption isotherms closely resembling the conventional, uptake-measurement based isotherms were obtained at 237 K where all materials are rigid. The comparable chemical environment for adsorbed xenon in these isoreticular MOFs allows establishing a correlation between the chemical shift at a relative pressure of p/p₀ = 1.0 and the mean pore diameter. Furthermore, the xenon adsorption behavior of the MOFs is studied also at 200 K. Here, struc-tural flexibility is found for DUT 50, a material with an even longer linker than the previously known DUT-49. Its structural transitions are monitored by ¹²⁹Xe NMR spectroscopy. This compound is the second known MOF showing the phenomenon of negative gas adsorption. Further increase in the linker length results in DUT-151, a material with interpenetrated network topology. In situ ¹²⁹Xe NMR spectroscopy proves that this material exhibits another type of flexibility compared to DUT-49 and DUT-50. Further surprising observations are made for DUT-46. Volumetric xenon adsorption measurements show that this non-flexible microporous material does not exhibit any hysteresis. In contrast, in situ ¹²⁹Xe NMR spectroscopically detected xenon chemical shift isotherms exhibit a hysteresis even after longer equilibration times than in the volumetric experiments. This indicates kinetically hindered re-distribution processes and long-lived metastable states of adsorbed xenon within the MOF persisting at the time scale of hours or longer

Solid-state NMR spectroscopic studies of 13C,15N,29Si-enriched biosilica from the marine diatom Cyclotella cryptica

Diatoms are algae producing micro- and nano-structured cell walls mainly containing amorphous silica. The shape and patterning of these cell walls is species-specific. Herein, the biosilica of Cyclotella cryptica , a centric marine diatom with a massive organic matrix, is studied. Solid-state NMR spectroscopy is applied to gain deeper insight into the interactions at the organic–inorganic interface of the cell walls. The various organic compounds like polysaccharides as well as proteins and long-chain polyamines (LCPAs) are detected by observation of heteronuclei like 13 C and 15 N whereas the silica phase is studied using 29 Si NMR spectroscopy. The sensitivity of the NMR experiments is strongly enhanced by isotope-labeling of the diatoms during cultivation with 13 C, 15 N and 29 Si. The presence of two different chitin species in the biosilica is demonstrated. This observation is supported by a monosaccharide analysis of the silica-associated organic matrix where a high amount of glucosamine is found. Moreover, the Rotational Echo Double Resonance (REDOR) experiment provides distance information for heteronuclear spins. 13 C{ 29 Si} REDOR experiments reveal proximities between different organic compounds and the silica phase. The closest contacts between silica and organic compounds appear for different signals in the 13 C-chemical shift range of 40–60 ppm, the typical range for LCPAs

Achieving Large Volumetric Gas Storage Capacity in Metal–Organic Frameworks by Kinetic Trapping: A Case Study of Xenon Loading in MFU‑4

One of the main problems of gas storage in porous materials is that many molecules of interest adsorb too weakly to be retained effectively. To enhance gas storage in metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), we propose the use of kinetic trapping, i.e., a process where the guest gas is captured in the voids at loading conditions and not released immediately at normal conditions. In this approach, the diffusion-limiting pore size and the framework flexibility have to be matched to the gas, requiring flexible pore apertures to be smaller than the van der Waals diameter of the trapped guest. We selected the Metal–Organic Framework Ulm University-4 (MFU-4) with a pore aperture of 2.52 Å as a model coordination framework and used it for storage of xenon (with van der Waals diameter of 4.4 Å). Although xenon atoms are substantially larger than the MOF pore aperture, MFU-4 could be loaded with xenon by applying moderately high gas pressures. This is demonstrated to be due to the pore flexibility as confirmed by computational studies. The xenon loading could be tuned (from 0 wt % to more than 44.5 wt %) by changing the loading parameters such as pressure, temperature, and time, and the xenon atoms remained inside the pores upon exposing the material to air atmosphere at room temperature. To understand the material behavior, TGA, XRPD, and ¹²⁹Xe NMR spectroscopy and computational studies were carried out

Solid-state NMR spectroscopic studies of 13C,15N,29Si-enriched biosilica from the marine diatom Cyclotella cryptica

Diatoms are algae producing micro- and nano-structured cell walls mainly containing amorphous silica. The shape and patterning of these cell walls is species-specific. Herein, the biosilica of Cyclotella cryptica , a centric marine diatom with a massive organic matrix, is studied. Solid-state NMR spectroscopy is applied to gain deeper insight into the interactions at the organic–inorganic interface of the cell walls. The various organic compounds like polysaccharides as well as proteins and long-chain polyamines (LCPAs) are detected by observation of heteronuclei like 13 C and 15 N whereas the silica phase is studied using 29 Si NMR spectroscopy. The sensitivity of the NMR experiments is strongly enhanced by isotope-labeling of the diatoms during cultivation with 13 C, 15 N and 29 Si. The presence of two different chitin species in the biosilica is demonstrated. This observation is supported by a monosaccharide analysis of the silica-associated organic matrix where a high amount of glucosamine is found. Moreover, the Rotational Echo Double Resonance (REDOR) experiment provides distance information for heteronuclear spins. 13 C{ 29 Si} REDOR experiments reveal proximities between different organic compounds and the silica phase. The closest contacts between silica and organic compounds appear for different signals in the 13 C-chemical shift range of 40–60 ppm, the typical range for LCPAs

Towards general network architecture design criteria for negative gas adsorption transitions in ultraporous frameworks

International audienceSwitchable metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have been proposed for various energy-related storage and separation applications, but the mechanistic understanding of adsorption-induced switching transitions is still at an early stage. Here we report critical design criteria for negative gas adsorption (NGA), a counterintuitive feature of pressure amplifying materials, hitherto uniquely observed in a highly porous framework compound (DUT-49). These criteria are derived by analysing the physical effects of micromechanics, pore size, interpenetration, adsorption enthalpies, and the pore filling mechanism using advanced in situ X-ray and neutron diffraction, NMR spectroscopy, and calorimetric techniques parallelised to adsorption for a series of six isoreticular networks. Aided by computational modelling, we identify DUT-50 as a new pressure amplifying material featuring distinct NGA transitions upon methane and argon adsorption. In situ neutron diffraction analysis of the methane (CD4) adsorption sites at 111 K supported by grand canonical Monte Carlo simulations reveals a sudden population of the largest mesopore to be the critical filling step initiating structural contraction and NGA. In contrast, interpenetration leads to framework stiffening and specific pore volume reduction, both factors effectively suppressing NGA transitions

Towards General Network Architecture Design Criteria for Negative Gas Adsorption Transitions in Ultraporous Frameworks

Critical design criteria for negative gas adsorption (NGA), a counterintuitive feature of pressure amplifying materials, hitherto uniquely observed in a highly porous framework compound (DUT-49), are derived by analysing the physical effects of micromechanics, pore size, interpenetration, adsorption enthalpies, and the pore filling mechanism using advanced in situ X-ray and neutron diffraction, NMR spectroscopy, and calorimetric techniques parallelized to adsorption for a series of six isoreticular networks. Aided by computational modelling, we identify DUT-50 as a new pressure amplifying material featuring distinct NGA transitions upon methane and argon adsorption. In situ neutron diffraction analysis of the methane (CD4) adsorption sites at 111 K supported by grand canonical Monte Carlo simulations reveals a sudden population of the largest mesopore to be the critical filling step initiating structural contraction and NGA. In contrast, interpenetration leads to framework stiffening and specific pore volume reduction, both factors effectively suppressing NGA transitions.</p