Concerted reductive coupling of an alkyl chloride at Pt(IV)

Oxidation of a doubly cyclometallated platinum(II) complex results in two isomeric platinum(IV) complexes. Whereas the trans isomer is robust, being manipulable in air at room temperature, the cis isomer decomposes at −20 °C and above. Reductive coupling of an alkyl chloride at the cis isomer gives a new species which can be reoxidised. The independence of this coupling on additional halide rules out the reverse of an SN2 reaction, leaving a concerted process as the only sensible reaction pathway

Administrative Collateral Estoppel in California: A Critical Evaluation of People v. Sims

Should an administrative adjudication by an agency not afforded judicial powers under the California Constitution be accorded preclusive effect in a related judicial proceeding? This Article suggests there should be no such effect, or that the legislature should create specific rules to govern its application. If neither, the author suggests that the legislature should simply limit its reach to less serious cases. The author critically examines a decision of the California Supreme Court allowing broad use of administrative collateral estoppel, a felony prosecution barred by the outcome of a welfare fair hearing, and concludes it was wrongly decided and misapplied or misunderstood much of the precedent and legal literature on point. Backing the discussion is a tour of virtually the entire field of issue preclusion, from double jeopardy to full faith and credit, law of the case, res judicata, collateral estoppel, and section 654 of the California Penal Code. The Article exposes the courts\u27 difficulties in identifying them and the problems encountered in their application. It warns that some of these devices, all of which are designed to put a finality to litigation, can pose a dangerous trap for the unwary practitioner representing a client in parallel or successive administrative and judicial proceedings

The nuclear pattern of the non-tectal portions of the midbrain and isthmus in the shrew and the bat

No Abstract.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/49934/1/900780307_ftp.pd

Institutional Identity and Self-Esteem among African American Males in College

This article explores the relationship between self-esteem and institutional identity among 411 Black male college freshmen. Institutional identity, especially a sense of belonging, did correlate with self-esteem at both Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and Predominately White Institutions (PWIs), though for different reasons

A Natural Plasmid Uniquely Encodes Two Biosynthetic Pathways Creating a Potent Anti-MRSA Antibiotic

Background Understanding how complex antibiotics are synthesised by their producer bacteria is essential for creation of new families of bioactive compounds. Thiomarinols, produced by marine bacteria belonging to the genus Pseudoalteromonas, are hybrids of two independently active species: the pseudomonic acid mixture, mupirocin, which is used clinically against MRSA, and the pyrrothine core of holomycin. Methodology/Principal Findings High throughput DNA sequencing of the complete genome of the producer bacterium revealed a novel 97 kb plasmid, pTML1, consisting almost entirely of two distinct gene clusters. Targeted gene knockouts confirmed the role of these clusters in biosynthesis of the two separate components, pseudomonic acid and the pyrrothine, and identified a putative amide synthetase that joins them together. Feeding mupirocin to a mutant unable to make the endogenous pseudomonic acid created a novel hybrid with the pyrrothine via “mutasynthesis” that allows inhibition of mupirocin-resistant isoleucyl-tRNA synthetase, the mupirocin target. A mutant defective in pyrrothine biosynthesis was also able to incorporate alternative amine substrates. Conclusions/Significance Plasmid pTML1 provides a paradigm for combining independent antibiotic biosynthetic pathways or using mutasynthesis to develop a new family of hybrid derivatives that may extend the effective use of mupirocin against MRSA

The prognostic value of derived neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio in oesophageal cancer treated with definitive chemoradiotherapy

Background and purpose The derived neutrophil–lymphocyte ratio (dNLR) is a validated prognostic biomarker for cancer survival but has not been extensively studied in locally-advanced oesophageal cancer treated with definitive chemoradiotherapy (dCRT). We aimed to identify the prognostic value of dNLR in patients recruited to the SCOPE1 trial. Materials and methods 258 patients were randomised to receive dCRT ± cetuximab. Kaplan–Meier’s curves and both univariable and multivariable Cox regression models were calculated for overall survival (OS), progression free survival (PFS), local PFS inside the radiation volume (LPFSi), local PFS outside the radiation volume (LPFSo), and distant PFS (DPFS). Results An elevated pre-treatment dNLR ≥ 2 was significantly associated with decreased OS in univariable (HR 1.74 [95% CI 1.29–2.35], p < 0.001) and multivariable analyses (HR 1.64 [1.17–2.29], p = 0.004). Median OS was 36 months (95% CI 27.8–42.4) if dNLR < 2 and 18.4 months (95% CI 14.1–24.9) if dNLR ≥ 2. All measures of PFS were also significantly reduced with an elevated dNLR. dNLR was prognostic for OS in cases of squamous cell carcinoma with a non-significant trend for adenocarcinoma/undifferentiated tumours. Conclusions An elevated pre-treatment dNLR may be an independent prognostic biomarker for OS and PFS in oesophageal cancer patients treated with definitive CRT. dNLR is a simple, inexpensive and readily available tool for risk-stratification and should be considered for use in future oesophageal cancer clinical trials

The transient response of bedrock river networks to sudden base level fall

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences, 2006.Includes bibliographical references.Following a change in the factors that determine landscape form, a transient signal of adjustment propagates through the river network, progressively adjusting channels and hillslopes to the new conditions. When conditions favor incision, the rate and mechanism by which this signal propagates throughout the network determines basin response time. This ultimately influences the growth and stability of mountain ranges and the tempo of sediment delivery to depositional basins. As this incision signal propagates through the river network, its upstream extent is often recognized as a discrete, steep convexity in the channel profile, defined here as a knickpoint. In this thesis, theoretical, numerical, and field-based research techniques are utilized to study the initiation and distribution of knickpoints within fluvial networks. Field observations are derived from the Waipaoa River on the North Island of New Zealand. In the Waipaoa, 236 knickpoints distributed throughout the network define the upstream extent of a large magnitude incision signal initiated -18,000 years ago. These features, frequently located at the confluence between small drainage area tributaries and trunk-streams, are characterized as near-vertical single or multi-step waterfalls.(cont.) Though flights of trunk-stream strath terraces document a prolonged incision history, the single step knickpoints upstream of tributary junctions suggest that trunk-stream incision can outpace tributary response, producing fluvial hanging valleys. Variations in knickpoint form observed in non-hanging tributaries demonstrate that many factors, both internal and external to the tributary, ultimately determine knickpoint form. We use a two dimensional numerical landscape evolution model (CHILD) to test a suite of bedrock channel incision rules to determine whether instantaneous or prolonged base level fall can trigger erosion thresholds. These experiments reveal that for bedrock channel incision rules where the relationship between slope and erosion rate is not positive and monotonic, incision rate can decrease with increasing slope until the incision rate is less than the background uplift rate. This provides a mechanism for hanging valley formation when over-steepened tributaries cannot incise at rates equal to the incision in the mainstem. This suggests that if trunk-stream incision outpaces tributary response, hanging valleys form, thus limiting the upstream propagation of incision signals and ultimately increasing basin response time.by Benjamin T. Crosby.Ph.D

The Paramagnetic Meissner Effect (PME) in Metallic Superconductors

The experimental data in the literature concerning the Paramagnetic Meissner Effect (PME) or also called Wohlleben effect are reviewed with the emphasis on the PME exhibited by metallic, s-wave superconductors. The PME was observed in field-cool cooling (FC-C) and fieldcool warming (FC-W) m(T)-measurements on Al, Nb, Pb, Ta, in compounds such as, e.g., NbSe2, In-Sn, ZrB12, and others, and also in MgB2, the metallic superconductor with the highest transition temperature. Furthermore, samples with different shapes such as crystals, polycrystals, thin films, biand multilayers, nanocomposites, nanowires, mesoscopic objects, and porous materials exhibited the PME. The characteristic features of the PME, found mainly in Nb disks, such as the characteristic temperatures T1 and Tp and the apparative details of the various magnetic measurement techniques applied to observe the PME, are discussed. We also show that PME can be observed with the magnetic field applied parallel and perpendicular to the sample surface, that PME can be removed by abrading the sample surface, and that PME can be introduced or enhanced by irradiation processes. The PME can be observed as well in magnetization loops (MHLs, m(H)) in a narrow temperature window Tp < Tc, which enables the construction of a phase diagram for a superconducting sample exhibiting the PME. We found that the Nb disks still exhibit the PME after more than 20 years, and we present the efforts of magnetic imaging techniques (scanning SQUID microscopy, magneto-optics, diamond nitrogen-vacancy (NV)-center magnetometry, and low-energy muon spin spectroscopy, (LE-µSR)). Various attempts to explain PME behavior are discussed in detail. In particular, magnetic measurements of mesoscopic Al disks brought out important details employing the models of a giant vortex state and flux compression. Thus, we consider these approaches and demagnetization effects as the base to understand the formation of the paramagnetic signals in most of the materials investigated. New developments and novel directions for further experimental and theoretical analysis are also outlined

Role of nutritional status and intervention in oesophageal cancer treated with definitive chemoradiotherapy: outcomes from SCOPE1

ackground: Malnutrition is common in oesophageal cancer. We aimed to identify nutritional prognostic factors and survival outcomes associated with nutritional intervention in the SCOPE1 (Study of Chemoradiotherapy in OesoPhageal Cancer with or without Erbitux) trial. methods: Two hundred and fifty eight patients were randomly allocated to definitive chemoradiotherapy (dCRT) +/− cetuximab. Nutritional Risk Index (NRI) scores were calculated; NRI<100 identified patients at risk of malnutrition. Nutritional intervention included dietary advice, oral supplementation or major intervention (enteral feeding/tube placement). Univariable and multivariable analyses using Cox proportional hazard modelling were conducted. results: At baseline NRI<100 strongly predicted for reduced overall survival (hazard ratio (HR) 12.45, 95% CI 5.24–29.57; P<0.001). Nutritional intervention improved survival if provided at baseline (dietary advice (HR 0.12, P=0.004), oral supplementation (HR 0.13, P<0.001) or major intervention (HR 0.13, P=0.003)), but not if provided later in the treatment course. Cetuximab patients receiving major nutritional intervention had worse outcomes compared with controls (13 vs 28 months, P=0.003). conclusions: Pre-treatment assessment and correction of malnutrition may improve survival outcomes in oesophageal cancer patients treated with dCRT. Nutritional Risk Index is a simple and objective screening tool to identify patients at risk of malnutrition