[N,N-Bis(diphenyl­phosphan­yl)propanamine-κ2 P,P′]dichloridonickel(II)

In the title complex, [NiCl2(C27H27NP2)], the Ni2+ ion is coordinated by two chloride ions and two P atoms of the bidentate N,N-bis­(diphenyl­phosphan­yl)propyl ligand to generate a strongly distorted cis-NiCl2P2 square-planar geometry for the metal ion. A NiP2N rhombus occurs within the chelating ligand

[N,N-Bis(diphenyl­phosphan­yl)benzyl­amine-κ2 P,P′]dichloridonickel(II) dichloro­methane monosolvate

In the title solvated complex, [NiCl2(C31H27NP2)]·CH2Cl2, the Ni2+ ion is coordinated by two chloride ions and two P atoms of the chelating N,N-bis­(diphenyl­phosphan­yl)benzyl ligand to generate a strongly distorted cis-NiCl2P2 square-planar geometry for the metal ion. In the crystal, the components are linked by C—H⋯Cl inter­actions

Visualization of facet-dependent pseudo-photocatalytic behavior of TiO2 nanorods for water splitting using In situ liquid cell TEM

We report an investigation of the pseudo-photocatalytic behavior of rutile TiO2 nanorods for water splitting observed with liquid cell transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The electron beam serves as a “light” source to initiate the catalytic reaction and a “water-in-salt” aqueous solution is employed as the electrolyte. The observation reveals that bubbles are generated preferentially residing near the {110} facet of a rutile TiO2 nanorod under a low electron dose rate (9.3–18.6 e-/Å2·s). These bubbles are ascribed to hydrogen gas generated from the pseudo-photocatalytic water splitting. As the electron beam current density increases to 93 e-/Å2 ·s, bubbles are also found at the {001} and {111} facets as well as in the bulk liquid solution, demonstrating the dominant effects of water electrolysis by electron beam under higher dose rates. The facet-dependent pseudo-photocatalytic behavior of rutile TiO2 nanorods is further validated using density functional theory (DFT)calculation. Our work establishes a facile liquid cell TEM setup for the study of pseudo-photocatalytic water splitting and it may also be applied to investigation of other photo-activated phenomena occurring at the solid-liquid interfaces

UNSWIRF: A Tunable Imaging Spectrometer for the Near-Infrared

We describe the specifications, characteristics, calibration, and analysis of data from the University of New South Wales Infrared Fabry-Perot (UNSWIRF) etalon. UNSWIRF is a near-infrared tunable imaging spectrometer, used primarily in conjunction with IRIS on the AAT, but suitable for use as a visitor instrument at other telescopes. The etalon delivers a resolving power in excess of 4000 (corresponding to a velocity resolution ~75 km/s), and allows imaging of fields up to 100" in diameter on the AAT at any wavelength between 1.5 and 2.4 microns for which suitable blocking filters are available.Comment: 16 pages, 10 figures, uses psfig.sty and html.sty (included). To appear in Publications of the Astronomical Society of Australi

Visual Reconstruction and Feature Analysis of the Three-Dimensional Surface of Earthworm

This paper demonstrates a method for visual reconstruction and feature analysis of the three-dimensional surface of earthworm in CATIA (Computer Aided Three Dimensional Interactive Application) and IDL (Interactive Data Language). The earthworm, with a relatively simple surface morphology and good capability in reducing soil adhesion and resistance, was selected to study the feasible methods in the visual reconstruction and feature analysis of the three-dimensional surface of living things. The digital measurements of surfaces of the earthworm were carried out using a three-dimensional laser scanner. Point clouds, the scanning digital data of the surface of the earthworm, were processed by screening unwanted data, reconstructing surface and analysing feature in CATIA. In order to get more detail information about the point clouds, IDL, which integrates a powerful, array-oriented language with numerous mathematical analysis and graphical display techniques, was adopted for the visual reconstruction and feature analysis of three- dimensional surface of the earthworm. Importing of point clouds and reconstruction of the surface of earthworm were conducted in CATIA. Analysis feature of the scanning data and reconstructing surface were carried out in IDL, which provides a high level of flexibility to access, analyse and visualize the data using different methods. Polynomial regression equation of the surface of earthworm in the longitudinal plane was derived. In addition, point clouds were more easily displayed and analysed by resizing, rotating and zooming in IDL. Methods and results presented in this paper prove to be potentially useful for analyzing the feature of biological prototype, optimizing the mathematical model and affording deformable physical model to bionic engineering, those works would have great implications to the research of biological coupling theory and technological creation in bionic engineering. Keywords: Visual Reconstruction; Feature Analysis; Three-Dimensional Surface; Earthworm; CATIA; ID

IL-18 polymorphisms and tuberculosis susceptibility: a meta-analysis

Objective: To investigate the association between IL-18 polymorphisms and Tuberculosis(TB). Materials and methods: We searched PubMed and Embase databases, and conducted a meta-analysis using 4 models. Data were extracted from the studies by two independent reviewers. Statistical analysis was performed using STATA 12.0 software. Results: Five qualified studies with a total of 1293 TB patients and 1724 controls were included.There was no significant association between the IL-18 -607C>A polymorphism and TB risk in the total population(AA vs CC: OR=1.27,95% CI=0.82-1.96;-CA vs CC:OR=1.06,95% CI=0.89-1.26; Dominant model: OR =1.09, 95% CI =0.83-1.43; Recessive model:OR=1.23, 95% CI=0.92-1.65).For IL-18 -137G>C polymorphism, lack of an association was also found(GG vs CC: OR=1.42,95% CI=0.78-2.58;GC vs CC:OR=1.16,95% CI=0.62-2.16; Dominant model: OR =1.34,95% CI=0.74-2.43;Recessive model:OR=0.96,95%- CI=0.26-3.56). Conclusion: The present meta-analysis found no evidence for IL-18 -607C>A and -137G>C polymorphisms as risk factors for TB. Further large-scale and well-designed articles are still needed to validate this result. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/ahs.v19i1.2 Cite as: Zhen L-B, Sun Y-P, Chen Y-Y, Yin L-S. IL-18 polymorphisms and tuberculosis susceptibility: a meta-analysis. Afri Health Sci. 2019;19(1): 1311-1320. https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/ahs.v19i1.

Efficient Prodrug Activator Gene Therapy by Retroviral Replicating Vectors Prolongs Survival in an Immune-Competent Intracerebral Glioma Model.

Prodrug activator gene therapy mediated by murine leukemia virus (MLV)-based retroviral replicating vectors (RRV) was previously shown to be highly effective in killing glioma cells both in culture and in vivo. To avoid receptor interference and enable dual vector co-infection with MLV-RRV, we have developed another RRV based on gibbon ape leukemia virus (GALV) that also shows robust replicative spread in a wide variety of tumor cells. We evaluated the potential of GALV-based RRV as a cancer therapeutic agent by incorporating yeast cytosine deaminase (CD) and E. coli nitroreductase (NTR) prodrug activator genes into the vector. The expression of CD and NTR genes from GALV-RRV achieved highly efficient delivery of these prodrug activator genes to RG-2 glioma cells, resulting in enhanced cytotoxicity after administering their respective prodrugs 5-fluorocytosine and CB1954 in vitro. In an immune-competent intracerebral RG-2 glioma model, GALV-mediated CD and NTR gene therapy both significantly suppressed tumor growth with CB1954 administration after a single injection of vector supernatant. However, NTR showed greater potency than CD, with control animals receiving GALV-NTR vector alone (i.e., without CB1954 prodrug) showing extensive tumor growth with a median survival time of 17.5 days, while animals receiving GALV-NTR and CB1954 showed significantly prolonged survival with a median survival time of 30 days. In conclusion, GALV-RRV enabled high-efficiency gene transfer and persistent expression of NTR, resulting in efficient cell killing, suppression of tumor growth, and prolonged survival upon CB1954 administration. This validates the use of therapeutic strategies employing this prodrug activator gene to arm GALV-RRV, and opens the door to the possibility of future combination gene therapy with CD-armed MLV-RRV, as the latter vector is currently being evaluated in clinical trials

R-parity violation effect on the top-quark pair production at linear colliders

We investigate in detail the effects of the R-parity lepton number violation in the minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM) on the top-quark pair production via both $e^--e^+$ and $\gamma-\gamma$ collision modes at the linear colliders. We find that with the present experimental constrained $\rlap/{R}$ parameters, the effect from $\rlap/{R}$ interactions on the processes $e^+e^-\to t\bar{t}$ and $e^+e^- \to \gamma\gamma \to t\bar{t}$ could be significant and may reach -30% and several percent, respectively. Our results show that the $\rlap/{R}$ effects are sensitive to the c.m.s. energy and the relevant $\rlap/{R}$ parameters. However, they are not sensitive to squark and slepton masses when $m_{\tilde{q}} \geq 400 GeV$ (or $m_{\tilde{l}} \geq 300 GeV$) and are almost independent on the $\tan\beta$Comment: Accepted by Phys.Rev.