[PdCl2{8-(di-tert-butylphosphinooxy)quinoline)}]: a highly efficient catalyst for Suzuki-Miyaura reaction

The complex [PdCl2(P-N)] containing the basic and sterically demanding 8-(di-tert-butylphosphinooxy)quinoline ligand (P-N) is a highly efficient catalyst for the coupling of phenylboronic acid with aryl bromides or aryl chlorides. The influence of solvent and base has been investigated, the highest rates being observed at 110 C in toluene with K2CO3 as the base. With aryl bromides the reaction rates are almost independent on the electronic properties of the para aryl substituents, on the contrary, reduced reaction rates are observed when bulky substituents are present on the substrate. Nevertheless the coupling of 2-bromo-1,3,5-trimethylbenzene with phenylboronic acid can be carried out to completion in 2 h using a catalyst loading of 0.02 mol %. Under optimized reaction conditions, turnover frequencies as high as 1900 h(-1) can be obtained in the coupling of 4-chloroacetophenone with phenylboronic acid: lower reaction rates are obtained with Substrates bearing EDG substituents on the aryl group. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

To respond or not to respond - a personal perspective of intestinal tolerance

For many years, the intestine was one of the poor relations of the immunology world, being a realm inhabited mostly by specialists and those interested in unusual phenomena. However, this has changed dramatically in recent years with the realization of how important the microbiota is in shaping immune function throughout the body, and almost every major immunology institution now includes the intestine as an area of interest. One of the most important aspects of the intestinal immune system is how it discriminates carefully between harmless and harmful antigens, in particular, its ability to generate active tolerance to materials such as commensal bacteria and food proteins. This phenomenon has been recognized for more than 100 years, and it is essential for preventing inflammatory disease in the intestine, but its basis remains enigmatic. Here, I discuss the progress that has been made in understanding oral tolerance during my 40 years in the field and highlight the topics that will be the focus of future research

Demographic genetics of the endangered Amiata donkey breed

The demogenetic structure of the Amiata donkey, an endangered breed from Central Italy, was investigated using information from pedigrees. Genealogical data of 602 donkeys reared in Tuscany were recorded in a database and analysed by the computer package ENDOG. Population size increased from 89 subjects in 1995 to 503 (129 males and 374 females) in 2005. Animals were distributed among 152 herds, but the effective number of herds was 21, suggesting that a small number of herds provided stallions for the entire breed. The maximum number of traced generation was 4, the mean maximum generation was 1.14, the mean com- plete generation was 0.53, and the mean equivalent generation was 0.78. The average relatedness coeffi- cient (AR) in the 503 alive animals was 0.94% while the mean F was 0.29% so the effective population size was 172.41. Among 24 animals with a 4-generation history, 3 (12.5%) were 25% inbred. Although the incompleteness of genealogical information did not permit accurate inference of the current values of popu- lation genetic parameters, the present work represents a first step towards an efficient management of the breed

Effects of water stress on spectral reflectance of bermudagrass

In the south-central Italy, during summer rainfall does not supply a sufficient amount of water. Therefore, irrigation management during dry periods is important for maintaining turf quality. The hybrid bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers. × Cynodon transvaalensis Burtt–Davy) is known to represent the dominant warm-season turfgrass in warm to temperate climatic regions and its drought tolerance make bermudagrass a competitive turfgrass. A greenhouse experiment was conducted using uniform cores of hybrid bermudagrass, which were secured in a polyvinyl chloride cylinders and watered by constant sub-irrigation. The objectives of the present research were to measure the spectral reflectance with a new generation handheld spectroradiometer on hybrid bermudagrass and to explore various vegetation indices to be used as future detecting tool to study water stress in bermudagrass. Moreover, the potential uses of multivariate processing techniques for discriminating different water stress conditions in turfgrass has been investigated. Besides spectral indices, multivariate methods, although performed on a data set limited in terms of sample size, have shown a great potential for water stress monitoring in turfgrass and surely deserve further investigations. There are different indices that use distinct water absorption features independent of chlorophyll concentration, such as water index (WI = R900/R970) that has been reported to be a robust index of canopy water content and is used as an active indicator of changes in Leaf Relative Water Content (LRWC). Also, the ratio of WI with NDVI (WI/NDVI = (R900/R970)/((R800 − R680)/(R800 + R680)]) was found to be an effective indicator of water stress. Another vegetation index to detect water features is normalized difference water index (NDWI), designed to maximize reflectance of water by using green wavelengths. In our trial in bermudagrass the relationships studied, suggest that WI (900/970) and WI/NDVI, among the indices studied, are the more effective indicators of water stress. In fact, lower values of WI indicate higher water stress, while higher values of WI/NDVI indicate higher water stress levels

Early-life nicotine or cotinine exposure produces long-lasting sleep alterations and downregulation of hippocampal corticosteroid receptors in adult mice

Early-life exposure to environmental toxins like tobacco can permanently re-program body structure and function. Here, we investigated the long-term effects on mouse adult sleep phenotype exerted by early-life exposure to nicotine or to its principal metabolite, cotinine. Moreover, we investigated whether these effects occurred together with a reprogramming of the activity of the hippocampus, a key structure to coordinate the hormonal stress response. Adult male mice born from dams subjected to nicotine (NIC), cotinine (COT) or vehicle (CTRL) treatment in drinking water were implanted with electrodes for sleep recordings. NIC and COT mice spent significantly more time awake than CTRL mice at the transition between the rest (light) and the activity (dark) period. NIC and COT mice showed hippocampal glucocorticoid receptor (GR) downregulation compared to CTRL mice, and NIC mice also showed hippocampal mineralocorticoid receptor downregulation. Hippocampal GR expression significantly and inversely correlated with the amount of wakefulness at the light-to-dark transition, while no changes in DNA methylation were found. We demonstrated that early-life exposure to nicotine (and cotinine) concomitantly entails long-lasting reprogramming of hippocampal activity and sleep phenotype suggesting that the adult sleep phenotype may be modulated by events that occurred during that critical period of life

Intracerebral Injection of Extracellular Vesicles from Mesenchymal Stem Cells Exerts Reduced Aβ Plaque Burden in Early Stages of a Preclinical Model of Alzheimer's Disease

Bone marrow Mesenchymal Stem Cells (BM-MSCs), due to their strong protective and anti-inflammatory abilities, have been widely investigated in the context of several diseases for their possible therapeutic role, based on the release of a highly proactive secretome composed of soluble factors and Extracellular Vesicles (EVs). BM-MSC-EVs, in particular, convey many of the beneficial features of parental cells, including direct and indirect \u3b2-amyloid degrading-activities, immunoregulatory and neurotrophic abilities. Therefore, EVs represent an extremely attractive tool for therapeutic purposes in neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease (AD). We examined the therapeutic potential of BM-MSC-EVs injected intracerebrally into the neocortex of APPswe/PS1dE9 AD mice at 3 and 5 months of age, a time window in which the cognitive behavioral phenotype is not yet detectable or has just started to appear. We demonstrate that BM-MSC-EVs are effective at reducing the A\u3b2 plaque burden and the amount of dystrophic neurites in both the cortex and hippocampus. The presence of Neprilysin on BM-MSC-EVs, opens the possibility of a direct \u3b2-amyloid degrading action. Our results indicate a potential role for BM-MSC-EVs already in the early stages of AD, suggesting the possibility of intervening before overt clinical manifestations

Mechanistic understanding of chromium-based oligomerisation catalysts : an EPR and ENDOR investigation

Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) and Electron Nuclear Double Resonance (ENDOR) spectroscopies have been used to study the fundamental nature of chromium-based selective oligomerisation catalysts. A series of 'pre-catalyst' complexes were fully characterised CW-EPR revealed each complex to possess an axial g matrix (g > ge > g ) and superhyperfine coupling to two equivalent 31P nuclei, consistent with a low-spin cf species of approximate Cjv symmetry, where the metal contribution to the SOMO is primarily dxy. The isotropic component to the 31P coupling was of a larger magnitude in those Cr(I) complexes bearing PNP ligands than those bearing PCP, indicating that the phosphorus 3s character in the SOMO was higher for the former. CW-ENDOR demonstrated that subtle structural differences in the complexes, namely in the phenyl ring conformations, occurred as a function of ligand type. Pulsed experiments proved that the technique is valid and viable for further work on the activated system. Upon activation of the pre-catalyst with an alkylaluminium, four distinct paramagnetic centres were identified. A Cr(I) bis-arene complex was firstly detected it was found to form either via intramolecular co-ordination of the ligand phenyl groups, or preferentially via solvent-based arene co-ordination, if such groups were available. Two further species (I and III) were subsequently observed at low temperatures the spin Hamiltonian parameters extracted for both showed that a significant modification to the structure of the pre-catalyst had occurred. Half-field transitions indicated the possibility of a dimeric nature to Species III. ENDOR measurements detected an exceptionally large proton coupling in the activated system, possibly due to the co ordination of alkyl fragments to the metal centre. A final, fourth paramagnetic centre (Species IV), was detected and classed as an intermediate species, due to the greater similarity between its g and A matrices with those of the parent complex, than the other activated species. Finally, a preliminary investigation into analogous pre-catalyst complexes bearing N-heterocyclic carbene ligands was performed, due to their similar employment in oligomerisation catalysis CW-EPR spectra revealed information on both their electronic and structural natures.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo