Insights on the adsorption behavior of aromatics in MIL-47 and MIL-53 from a theoretical perspective

Recently, the spectrum of nanoporous materials like zeolites and zeotype structures has been further expanded through the discovery of a new class of hybrid porous solids [1, 2]. Those materials, nowadays also known as metal organic frameworks or MOFs, consist of both inorganic and organic moieties. Certain MOFs exhibit a very interesting adsorption and even catalytic behavior. Within this contribution, we will mainly focus on adsorption and separation of aromatic species in MIL-47 and MIL-53 [3, 4, 5]. Some of the presenting authors reported for first time on the successful use of MOFs as selective adsorbents for the extremely difficult and industrially relevant separations of para-xylene versus meta-xylene and para-xylene versus ethylbenzene [3]. Their study focuses on the MIL-47, which was first synthesized by Barthelet [4]. This separation behavior of MIL-47 could be better understood with adsorption studies [3, 5]. The packing of each C8-pair will be discussed on the basis of the interactions between those two aromatic compounds and MIL-47 [3]. In order to unravel the interaction between the guest molecules and the lattice, periodic Density Functional Theory calculations have been conducted. The DFT calculations were corrected for dispersion interaction [6] to include the long-range attractive forces. It seems that pi-pi stacking energies between pairs of aromatics but also with the walls of the MOF are crucial for the packing behavior in the pores

A stable neurotensin-based radiopharmaceutical for targeted imaging and therapy of neurotensin receptor-positive tumours

Purpose: Neurotensin (NT) and its high affinity receptor (NTR1) are involved in several neoplastic processes. Thus, NT-based radiopharmaceuticals are potential tracers for targeted diagnosis and therapy of NTR-positive tumours. A new analogue based on NT(8-13), NT-XIX, with the three enzymatic cleavage sites stabilised, was synthesised and tested. Methods: The synthesis was performed by Boc strategy. Labelling with 99mTc/188Re was performed using the tricarbonyl technique. Metabolic stability was tested in vitro and in vivo. NT-XIX was further characterised in vitro in HT-29 cells and in vivo in nude mice with HT-29 xenografts. Results: NT-XIX showed much longer half-lives than non-stabilised analogues. Binding to NTR1 was highly specific, although the affinity was lower than that of natural NT. Bound activity rapidly internalised into HT-29 cells and 50% remained trapped after 24h. In the time-course biodistribution, the highest uptake was found in the tumour at all p.i. times. In vivo uptake was specific, and accumulation of activity in the kidneys was low. Radioactivity clearance from healthy organs was faster than that from the tumour, resulting in improved tumour-to-tissue ratios and good SPECT/CT imaging. Treatment with 188Re-NT-XIX (30MBq, in three or four fractions) decreased tumour growth by 50% after 3weeks. Conclusion: The high in vivo stability and the favourable in vivo behaviour makes NT-XIX an excellent candidate for the imaging and therapy of NTR1-positive tumour

Identification of gap soliton through phase measurement

Paper TuC4info:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Honey-bee-associated prokaryotic viral communities reveal wide viral diversity and a profound metabolic coding potential

Honey bees (Apis mellifera) produce an enormous economic value through their pollination activities and play a central role in the biodiversity of entire ecosystems. Recent efforts have revealed the substantial influence that the gut microbiota exert on bee development, food digestion, and homeostasis in general. In this study, deep sequencing was used to characterize prokaryotic viral communities associated with honey bees, which was a blind spot in research up until now. The vast majority of the prokaryotic viral populations are novel at the genus level, and most of the encoded proteins comprise unknown functions. Nevertheless, genomes of bacteriophages were predicted to infect nearly every major bee-gut bacterium, and functional annotation and auxiliary metabolic gene discovery imply the potential to influence microbial metabolism. Furthermore, undiscovered genes involved in the synthesis of secondary metabolic biosynthetic gene clusters reflect a wealth of previously untapped enzymatic resources hidden in the bee bacteriophage community