1,4-Bis(4-nitrosophenyl)piperazine: novel bridging ligand in dinuclear complexes of rhodium(III) and iridium(III).

The synthesis, spectroscopic characterization and crystal structures of the first 1,4-bis(4-nitrosophenyl)piperazine (BNPP) (4) bridged dinuclear complexes of rhodium(III) and iridium(III) are presented. The reaction of the μ2-halogenido-bridged dimers [(η5-C5Me5)IrX2]2 [X = Cl (5a), Br (5b), I (5c)] and [(η5- C5Me5)RhCl2]2 (6a) with 4 yields the dinuclear complexes [(η5-C5Me5)IrX2]2-BNPP (7a–c) and [(η5-C5Me5)RhCl2]2-BNPP (8a). All new compounds were characterized by their NMR, IR and mass spectra. The X-ray structure analyses of the obtained half-sandwich complexes revealed a slightly distorted pseudo-octahedral configuration (“three-legged pianostool”) for the metal(III) centers. The bridging BNPP ligand is σ-N coordinated by both nitroso groups and shows different conformations of the piperazine ring depending on the solvent used for crystallization. Moreover the crystal structures of 1,4-bis(4-nitrosophenyl)piperazine (4) and its precursor 1,4-diphenylpiperazine (3) are reported

µ1-Opioid Rezeptor vermittelte Effekte von Beta-Endorphin auf die endotheliale und monozytäre Endothelin-1 und Stickstoffmonooxid Freisetzung

Neben den klassischen kardiovaskulären Risikofaktoren sind psychosoziale Faktoren wie chronischer Stress oder Depression in der Genese der Atherosklerose von Bedeutung. Ob Stress dabei synergistisch zu den klassischen Risikofaktoren oder als selbstständiger Faktor die Erkrankung induziert, ist noch nicht hinreichend geklärt. Die Ergebnisse der vorliegenden Arbeit zeigen eine direkte Beeinflussbarkeit der Monozyten- und Endothelfunktion durch das Stresshormon Beta-Endorphin. Die Ergebnisse werden durch den Nachweis involvierter peripherer endothelialer und monozytärer µ1-Rezeptoren, sowie durch die erfolgreiche Blockierung der Stresshormoneffekte durch den Rezeptor-Antagonisten Naloxon bestätigt. Der Nachweis einer CRH-induzierten Stimulation der monozytären Beta-Endorphin-Synthese belegt zudem eine gegenseitige Beeinflussung beider Stresshormone. Somit ist es gelungen, einen pathophysiologischen Mechanismus einer Stress-induzierten Modifikation der Endothel- und Monozytenaktivität aufzuzeigen

An Upper Bound on the Number of Extreme Shortest Paths in Arbitrary Dimensions

Graphs with multiple edge costs arise naturally in the route planning domain when apart from travel time other criteria like fuel consumption or positive height difference are also objectives to be minimized. In such a scenario, this paper investigates the number of extreme shortest paths between a given source-target pair s, t. We show that for a fixed but arbitrary number of cost types d ? 1 the number of extreme shortest paths is in n^O(log^{d-1}n) in graphs G with n nodes. This is a generalization of known upper bounds for d = 2 and d = 3

Symmetry Breakdown Related Fracture in 42CrMo4 Steel

Austenite grains that underwent the f.c.c. to b.c.c. (or b.c.t.) transformation are typically composed of 24 Kurdjumov-Sachs variants that can be categorized by three axes of Bain transformations; thus, a complete transformation generally displays 3-fold symmetry in (001) pole figures. In the present work, crystallographic symmetry in 42CrMo4 steel austempered below martensite start temperature was investigated with the help of the orientation distribution function (ODF) analysis based on the FEG-SEM/EBSD technique. It is shown that, upon phase transformations, the specimens contained 6-fold symmetry in all (001), (011), and (111) pole figures of an ODF. The ODF analysis, verified by theoretical modeling, showed that under plane-strain conditions cracks prefer to propagate through areas strongly offset by the high symmetry. The origin of high symmetry was investigated, and the mechanism of the symmetry breakdown was explained.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figure

Preference-Based Trajectory Clustering - An Application of Geometric Hitting Sets

In a road network with multicriteria edge costs we consider the problem of computing a minimum number of driving preferences such that a given set of paths/trajectories is optimal under at least one of these preferences. While the exact formulation and solution of this problem appears theoretically hard, we show that in practice one can solve the problem exactly even for non-homeopathic instance sizes of several thousand trajectories in a road network of several million nodes. We also present a parameterized guaranteed-polynomial-time scheme with very good practical performance

A simple, efficient, and general treatment of the singularities in Hartree-Fock and exact-exchange Kohn-Sham methods for solids

We present a general scheme for treating the integrable singular terms within exact exchange (EXX) Kohn-Sham or Hartree-Fock (HF) methods for periodic solids. We show that the singularity corrections for treating these divergencies depend only on the total number and the positions of k-points and on the lattice vectors, in particular the unit cell volume, but not on the particular positions of atoms within the unit cell. The method proposed here to treat the singularities constitutes a stable, simple to implement, and general scheme that can be applied to systems with arbitrary lattice parameters within either the EXX Kohn-Sham or the HF formalism. We apply the singularity correction to a typical symmetric structure, diamond, and to a more general structure, trans-polyacetylene. We consider the effect of the singularity corrections on volume optimisations and k-point convergence. While the singularity corrections clearly depends on the total number of k-points, it exhibits a remarkably small dependence upon the choice of the specific arrangement of the k-points.Comment: 24 pages, 5 Figures, re-submitted to Phys. Rev. B after revision

µ1-Opioid Rezeptor vermittelte Effekte von Beta-Endorphin auf die endotheliale und monozytäre Endothelin-1 und Stickstoffmonooxid Freisetzung

Neben den klassischen kardiovaskulären Risikofaktoren sind psychosoziale Faktoren wie chronischer Stress oder Depression in der Genese der Atherosklerose von Bedeutung. Ob Stress dabei synergistisch zu den klassischen Risikofaktoren oder als selbstständiger Faktor die Erkrankung induziert, ist noch nicht hinreichend geklärt. Die Ergebnisse der vorliegenden Arbeit zeigen eine direkte Beeinflussbarkeit der Monozyten- und Endothelfunktion durch das Stresshormon Beta-Endorphin. Die Ergebnisse werden durch den Nachweis involvierter peripherer endothelialer und monozytärer µ1-Rezeptoren, sowie durch die erfolgreiche Blockierung der Stresshormoneffekte durch den Rezeptor-Antagonisten Naloxon bestätigt. Der Nachweis einer CRH-induzierten Stimulation der monozytären Beta-Endorphin-Synthese belegt zudem eine gegenseitige Beeinflussung beider Stresshormone. Somit ist es gelungen, einen pathophysiologischen Mechanismus einer Stress-induzierten Modifikation der Endothel- und Monozytenaktivität aufzuzeigen

A browser-based modeling tool for studying the learning of conceptual modeling based on a multi-modal data collection approach

How do we learn conceptual modeling? What are common learning difficulties? Which tool support assists learners in what respect? The paper at hand reports on the design and development of a browser-based modeling tool integrated with a learning observatory in support of learning conceptual modeling and of studying the learning of conceptual modeling. Implementing a multimodal data collection approach, the learning observatory tracks learner-tool interactions, records verbal data from learners and surveys learners about their learning processes to provide for analyses at the individual and aggregate learner levels in the quest for identifying patterns of learning processes, learning barriers and difficulties. We report on the current state of prototype development, discuss its software architecture and outline future development steps

Robustness during Aging—Molecular Biological and Physiological Aspects

Understanding the process of aging is still an important challenge to enable healthy aging and to prevent age-related diseases. Most studies in age research investigate the decline in organ functionality and gene activity with age. The focus on decline can even be considered a paradigm in that field. However, there are certain aspects that remain surprisingly stable and keep the organism robust. Here, we present and discuss various properties of robust behavior during human and animal aging, including physiological and molecular biological features, such as the hematocrit, body temperature, immunity against infectious diseases and others. We examine, in the context of robustness, the different theories of how aging occurs. We regard the role of aging in the light of evolution