New organic-inorganic hybrid compounds based on sodium peroxidomolybdates (VI) and derivatives of pyridine acids : structure determination and catalytic properties

Two organic-inorganic hybrids based on sodium peroxidomolybdates(VI) and 3,5-dicarboxylic pyridine acid (Na-35dcpa) or N-oxide isonicotinic acid (Na-isoO) have been synthesized and characterized. All compounds contain inorganic parts: a pentagonal bipyramid with molybdenum center, and an organic part containing 3,5-dicarboxylic pyridine acid or N-oxide isonicotinic acid moieties. The type of organic part used in the synthesis influences the crystal structure of obtained compounds. This aspect can be interesting for crystal engineering. Crystal structures were determined using powder X-ray diffraction or single crystal diffraction for compounds Na-35dcpa and Na-isoO, respectively. Elemental analysis was used to check the purity of the obtained compounds, while X-ray Powder Diffraction (XRPD) vs. temp. was applied to verify their stability. Moreover, all the compounds were examined by Infrared (IR) spectroscopy. Their catalytic activity was tested in the Baeyer–Villiger (BV) oxidation of cyclohexanone to ε-caprolactone in the oxygen-aldehyde system. The highest catalytic activity in the BV oxidation was observed for Na-35dcpa. The compounds were also tested for biological activity on human normal cells (fibroblasts) and colon cancer cell lines (HT-29, LoVo, SW 620, HCT 116). All compounds were cytotoxic against tumor cells with metastatic characteristics, which makes them interesting and promising candidates for further investigations of specific anticancer mechanisms

Resonant third harmonic generation of KrF laser in Ar gas

Investigations of emission of harmonics from argon gas jet irradiated by 700 fs, 5 mJ pulses from a KrF laser are presented. Harmonics conversion was optimized by varying the experimental geometry and the nozzle size. For the collection of the harmonic radiation silicon and solar-blind diamond semiconductor detectors equipped with charge preamplifiers were applied. The possibility of using a single-crystal CVD diamond detector for separate measurement of the 3rd harmonic in the presence of a strong pumping radiation was explored. Our experiments show that the earlier suggested 0.7% conversion efficiency can really be obtained, but only in the case when phase matching is optimized with an elongated gas target length corresponding to the length of coherence

The Council of Europe's Approach towards Ageism

In this chapter, I examine the degree of interest in ageism among Council of Europe members, and the degree of interest in its elimination through the Council of Europe forum. I also examine the interpretation of the concept of ageism by various Council of Europe institutions. Finally, I explore the Council’s willingness and ability to eliminate or at least mitigate ageism effect

Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm is a potent inducer of phagocyte hyperinflammation

OBJECTIVE: Pseudomonas aeruginosa effectively facilitate resistance to phagocyte killing by biofilm formation. However, the cross talk between biofilm components and phagocytes is still unclear. We hypothesize that a biofilm provides a concentrated extracellular source of LPS, DNA and exopolysaccharides (EPS), which polarize neighbouring phagocytes into an adverse hyperinflammatory state of activation. METHODS: We measured the release of a panel of mediators produced in vitro by murine neutrophils and macrophages exposed to various biofilm components of P. aeruginosa cultures. RESULTS: We found that conditioned media from a high biofilm-producing strain of P. aeruginosa, PAR5, accumulated high concentrations of extracellular bacterial LPS, DNA and EPS by 72 h. These conditioned media induced phagocytes to release a hyperinflammatory pattern of mediators, with enhanced levels of TNF-α, IL-6, IL12p40, PGE2 and NO. Moreover, the phagocytes also upregulated COX-2 and iNOS with no influence on the expression of arginase-1. CONCLUSIONS: Phagocytes exposed to biofilm microenvironment, called by us biofilm-associated neutrophils/macrophages (BANs/BAMs), display secretory properties similar to that of N1/M1-type phagocytes. These results suggest that in vivo high concentrations of LPS and DNA, trapped in biofilm by EPS, might convert infiltrating phagocytes into cells responsible for tissue injury without direct contact with bacteria and phagocytosis

Catalogue of BRITE-Constellation targets I. Fields 1 to 14 (November 2013 - April 2016)

The BRIght Target Explorer (BRITE) mission collects photometric time series in two passbands aiming to investigate stellar structure and evolution. Since their launches in the years 2013 and 2014, the constellation of five BRITE nano-satellites has observed a total of more than 700 individual bright stars in 64 fields. Some targets have been observed multiple times. Thus, the total time base of the data sets acquired for those stars can be as long as nine years. Our aim is to provide a complete description of ready-to-use BRITE data, to show the scientific potential of the BRITE-Constellation data by identifying the most interesting targets, and to demonstrate and encourage how scientists can use these data in their research. We apply a decorrelation process to the automatically reduced BRITE-Constellation data to correct for instrumental effects. We perform a statistical analysis of the light curves obtained for the 300 stars observed in the first 14 fields during the first ~2.5 years of the mission. We also perform cross-identification with the International Variable Star Index. We present the data obtained by the BRITE-Constellation mission in the first 14 fields it observed from November 2013 to April 2016. We also describe the properties of the data for these fields and the 300 stars observed in them. Using these data, we detected variability in 64% of the presented sample of stars. Sixty-four stars or 21.3% of the sample have not yet been identified as variable in the literature and their data have not been analysed in detail. They can therefore provide valuable scientific material for further research. All data are made publicly available through the BRITE Public Data Archive and the Canadian Astronomy Data Centre.Comment: accepted by Astronomy & Astrophysics, 13 pages main text, 22 pages of appendi

Long-range corrected DFT calculations of charge-transfer integrals in model metal-free phthalocyanine complexes

An assessment of several widely used exchange--correlation potentials in computing charge-transfer integrals is performed. In particular, we employ the recently proposed Coulomb-attenuated model which was proven by other authors to improve upon conventional functionals in the case of charge-transfer excitations. For further validation, two distinct approaches to compute the property in question are compared for a phthalocyanine dimer

Catechol-O-Methyltransferase Val158Met Polymorphism Associates with Individual Differences in Sleep Physiologic Responses to Chronic Sleep Loss

Val158Met polymorphism was a novel marker in healthy adults of differential vulnerability to chronic partial sleep deprivation (PSD), a condition distinct from total sleep loss and one experienced by millions on a daily and persistent basis. allelic frequencies were higher in whites than African Americans.-related treatment responses and risk factors for symptom exacerbation

Eating disorders: the current status of molecular genetic research

Anorexia nervosa (AN) and bulimia nervosa (BN) are complex disorders characterized by disordered eating behavior where the patient’s attitude towards weight and shape, as well as their perception of body shape, are disturbed. Formal genetic studies on twins and families suggested a substantial genetic influence for AN and BN. Candidate gene studies have initially focused on the serotonergic and other central neurotransmitter systems and on genes involved in body weight regulation. Hardly any of the positive findings achieved in these studies were unequivocally confirmed or substantiated in meta-analyses. This might be due to too small sample sizes and thus low power and/or the genes underlying eating disorders have not yet been analyzed. However, some studies that also used subphenotypes (e.g., restricting type of AN) led to more specific results; however, confirmation is as yet mostly lacking. Systematic genome-wide linkage scans based on families with at least two individuals with an eating disorder (AN or BN) revealed initial linkage regions on chromosomes 1, 3 and 4 (AN) and 10p (BN). Analyses on candidate genes in the chromosome 1 linkage region led to the (as yet unconfirmed) identification of certain variants associated with AN. Genome-wide association studies are under way and will presumably help to identify genes and pathways involved in these eating disorders. The elucidation of the molecular mechanisms underlying eating disorders might improve therapeutic approaches