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Molecules, Vol. 17, Pages 12163-12171: Synthesis and Characterization of New Thieno[3,2-b]thiophene Derivatives

Posted: 16 Oct 2012 12:00 AM PDT

Three derivatives of thieno[3,2-b]thiophene end-capped with phenyl units have been synthesized and characterized by MALDI TOF mass spectroscopy, elemental analysis, UV-vis absorption spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). All compounds were prepared using Pd-catalyzed Stille or Suzuki coupling reactions. Optical measurements and thermal analysis revealed that these compounds are promising candidates for p-type organic semiconductor applications.

Molecules, Vol. 17, Pages 12151-12162: Side-chain Modifications of Highly Functionalized 3(2H)-Furanones

Posted: 16 Oct 2012 12:00 AM PDT

A series of 3(2H)-furanones, based on side-chain modifications of a parent 3(2H)-furanone, was synthesized in good yield. The parent compound was prepared by hydrogenolysis, and subsequent acid hydrolysis, of isoxazole derivatives. The isoxazole was prepared by a [3+2] 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction between 3-butyn-2-ol and nitrile oxide.

Molecules, Vol. 17, Pages 12140-12150: Synthesis and Field Evaluation of the Sex Pheromone Analogues to Soybean Pod Borer Leguminivora glycinivorella

Posted: 16 Oct 2012 12:00 AM PDT

In order to develop efficient lures for soybean pod borer Leguminivora glycinivorella (Matsumura) in China, (E,E)-8,10-dodecadienyl acetate (EE-8,10-12:Ac), the main component of the pheromone of L. glycinivorella, and 12 structurally-related compounds were synthesised in good overall yields, regiospecificities, and stereo-selectivities via coupling reactions catalysed by Li2CuCl4. The effect of different synthetic compounds, alone or in combination with EE-8,10-12:Ac, on numbers of captured L. glycinivorella males was evaluated. EE-8,10-12:Ac, (E)-10-dodecenyl acetate (E-10-12:Ac), (E)-8-dodecenol (E-8-12:OH), tetradecyl acetate (14:Ac), and (Z)-9-tetradecenyl acetate (Z-9-14:Ac) alone displayed different attractiveness to L. glycinivorella males. 14:Ac, E-8-12:OH, E-10-12:Ac, (E,E)-8,10-dodecadienal (EE-8,10-12:Ald), (E)-8-dodecenal (E-8-12:Ald), (E)-10-dodecenal (E-10-12:Ald) and Z-9-14:Ac all showed a synergistic effect to EE-8,10-12:Ac at certain dosages. The binary mixtures of EE-8,10-12:Ac and E-10-12:Ald, Z-9-14:Ac,14:Ac, E-8-12:Ald, EE-8,10-12:Ald, E-8-12:OH, or E-10-12:Ac in suitable ratios give 17.00-, 10.98-, 10.67-, 6.73-, 5.54-, 4.30- and 4.50-fold increases in trap catch, respectively, over the standard pheromone lure, and as novel pheromone blends, demonstrated potential use in pheromone traps to monitor or control L. glycinivorella populations in China.

Molecules, Vol. 17, Pages 12121-12139: Suzuki-Miyaura Reactions Catalyzed by C2-Symmetric Pd-Multi-Dentate N-Heterocyclic Carbene Complexes

Posted: 16 Oct 2012 12:00 AM PDT

Suzuki-Miyaura coupling reactions are promoted by Pd complexes ligated with C2-symmetric multi-dentate N-heterocyclic carbenes derived in situ from Pd(OAc)2 and imidazolium salts. Good to excellent yields were obtained for aryl bromides as substrates. Turnover numbers of up to 105 could be achieved with 5 × 10−4 mol% of Pd(OAc)2/1 × 10−3 mol% NHC precatalyst in 24 h.

Molecules, Vol. 17, Pages 12102-12120: Acetylated and Methylated β-Cyclodextrins as Viable Soluble Supports for the Synthesis of Short 2′-Oligodeoxyribo-nucleotides in Solution

Posted: 16 Oct 2012 12:00 AM PDT

Novel soluble supports for oligonucleotide synthesis 11a–c have been prepared by immobilizing a 5′-O-protected 3′-O-(hex-5-ynoyl)thymidine (6 or 7) to peracetylated or permethylated 6-deoxy-6-azido-β-cyclodextrins 10a or 10b by Cu(I)-promoted 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition. The applicability of the supports to oligonucleotide synthesis by the phosphoramidite strategy has been demonstrated by assembling a 3′-TTT-5′ trimer from commercially available 5′-O-(4,4′-dimethoxytrityl)thymidine 3′-phosphoramidite. To simplify the coupling cycle, the 5′-O-(4,4′-dimethoxytrityl) protecting group has been replaced with an acetal that upon acidolytic removal yields volatile products. For this purpose, 5′-O-(1-methoxy-1-methylethyl)-protected 3′-(2-cyanoethyl-N,N-diisopropyl-phosphoramidite)s of thymidine (5a), N4-benzoyl-2′-deoxycytidine (5b) and N6-benzoyl-2′-deoxyadenosine (5c) have been synthesized and utilized in synthesis of a pentameric oligonucleotide 3′-TTCAT-5′ on the permethylated cyclodextrin support 11c.

IJMS, Vol. 13, Pages 13275-13293: The Effect of Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate (SDS) and Cetyltrimethylammonium Bromide (CTAB) on the Properties of ZnO Synthesized by Hydrothermal Method

Posted: 16 Oct 2012 12:00 AM PDT

ZnO nanostructures were synthesized by hydrothermal method using different molar ratios of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and Sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) as structure directing agents. The effect of surfactants on the morphology of the ZnO crystals was investigated by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) techniques. The results indicate that the mixture of cationic-anionic surfactants can significantly modify the shape and size of ZnO particles. Various structures such as flakes, sheets, rods, spheres, flowers and triangular-like particles sized from micro to nano were obtained. In order to examine the possible changes in other properties of ZnO, characterizations like powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), thermogravimetric and differential thermogravimetric analysis (TGA-DTG), FTIR, surface area and porosity and UV-visible spectroscopy analysis were also studied and discussed.

IJMS, Vol. 13, Pages 13264-13274: Over-Expression of Semaphorin4D, Hypoxia-Inducible Factor-1α and Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Is Related to Poor Prognosis in Ovarian Epithelial Cancer

Posted: 16 Oct 2012 12:00 AM PDT

Semaphorin4D (SEMA4D) has been regarded as an important protein in tumor angiogenesis, though originally identified in neurodevelopment. SEMA4D is extensively expressed in several malignant solid tumors. Nevertheless, the function and expression of SEMA4D in epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is as yet not well understood. The aim of this study was to investigate SEMA4D expression in EOC and evaluate its clinical–pathological and prognostic significance. Immunohistochemistry was used to analyze SEMA4D expression and tumor angiogenesis-related proteins (HIF-1α and VEGF) in tissues from 40 patients with normal ovarian epithelia and 124 EOC patients. SEMA4D was found to be expressed in 61.3% of the 124 EOC tissues, which was significantly higher than in the normal ovarian epithelia (p < 0.001). SEMA4D expression correlated with HIF-1α and VEGF closely (ρ = 0.349 and 0.263, p < 0.001). Positive SEMA4D staining was significantly higher in tissues from patients with low histological grade, FIGO stage III-IV, lymph node metastasis and residual disease ≥1 cm (p < 0.05). In the Cox proportional hazard mode, SEMA4D expression and histologic grade were independent indicators of overall survival (OS) and progress-free survival (PFS) for EOC patients. These findings suggest that the cooperation of SEMA4D, HIF-1α, and VEGF may indicate poor prognosis for patients with EOC, thereby demonstrating that SEMA4D and its role in angiogenesis in EOC warrants further study.

IJMS, Vol. 13, Pages 13240-13263: The Behavior of Matrix Metalloproteinases and Their Inhibitors in Colorectal Cancer

Posted: 16 Oct 2012 12:00 AM PDT

Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) play an important role in the degradation of extracellular matrix components crucial for tumor growth, invasion and metastasis. MMPs are controlled by natural inhibitors called tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMPs). We and others have demonstrated that MMPs and TIMPs are especially important in the process of tumor invasion, progression and the metastasis of colorectal cancer (CRC). It has been proposed that MMPs and TIMPs might play a part not only in tumor invasion and initiation of metastasis but also in carcinogenesis from colorectal adenomas. Several recent studies demonstrated that high preoperative serum or plasma MMP-2, MMP-9 and TIMP-1 antigen levels are strong predictive factors for poor prognosis in patients with CRC and their determination might be useful for identification of patients with higher risk for cancer recurrence. MMP-9 and TIMP-1 have significant potential tumor marker impact in CRC. Their diagnostic sensitivity is consistently higher than those of conventional biomarkers. The pharmacological targeting of CRC by the development of a new generation of selective inhibitors of MMPs, that is highly specific for certain MMPs, is a promising and challenging area for the future.

Metabolites, Vol. 2, Pages 756-774: Characterization of the Interaction Between the Small Regulatory Peptide SgrT and the EIICBGlc of the Glucose-Phosphotransferase System of E. coli K-12

Posted: 16 Oct 2012 12:00 AM PDT

Escherichia coli is a widely used microorganism in biotechnological processes. An obvious goal for current scientific and technical research in this field is the search for new tools to optimize productivity. Usually glucose is the preferred carbon source in biotechnological applications. In E. coli, glucose is taken up by the phosphoenolpyruvate-dependent glucose phosphotransferase system (PTS). The regulation of the ptsG gene for the glucose transporter is very complex and involves several regulatory proteins. Recently, a novel posttranscriptional regulation system has been identified which consists of a small regulatory RNA SgrS and a small regulatory polypeptide called SgrT. During the accumulation of glucose-6-phosphate or fructose-6-phosphate, SgrS is involved in downregulation of ptsG mRNA stability, whereas SgrT inhibits glucose transport activity by a yet unknown mechanism. The function of SgrS has been studied intensively. In contrast, the knowledge about the function of SgrT is still limited. Therefore, in this paper, we focused our interest on the regulation of glucose transport activity by SgrT. We identified the SgrT target sequence within the glucose transporter and characterized the interaction in great detail. Finally, we suggest a novel experimental approach to regulate artificially carbohydrate uptake in E. coli to minimize metabolic overflow in biotechnological applications.

Molbank, Vol. 2012, Pages M783: (Z)-N-(7-Cyano-9,9,15,15-tetramethyl-9,10,11,13,14,15-hexahydro-6H-benzo[4'',5'']imidazo[1'',2'':1',2']pyrido[3',4':5, 6]pyrano[2,3-f]pyrido[3,2,1-ij]quinolin-6-ylidene)pent-4-ynamide

Posted: 16 Oct 2012 12:00 AM PDT

Coumarin-based dye (Z)-N-(7-cyano-9,9,15,15-tetramethyl-9,10,11,13,14,15-hexahydro-6H-benzo[4'',5'']imidazo[1'',2'':1',2']pyrido[3',4':5,6]pyrano[2,3-f]pyrido[3,2,1-ij]quinolin-6-ylidene)pent-4-ynamide (3) was obtained in 81% yield by reaction between primary imine precursor 1 and pent-4-ynoic anhydride (2) under thermal conditions. The title compound was characterized by elemental analysis, melting point, 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR, FT-IR, mass, UV-vis and fluorescence spectroscopy.

Mechwarrior Online open beta delayed

Posted: 16 Oct 2012 01:45 AM PDT

Postponement due to stability, matchmaking, and balancing issues.

Pirahna Games has announced that the Mechwarrior Online open beta will be pushed back to an undisclosed date.

According to an official post on the game's forums, lead designer Paul Inouye said that the game has matchmaking, game balance and connection stability issues. "[Pirahna Games] agree that the game's current state of stability is not allowing us to get the latest experience across to new and veteran players alike. This is a short push back on the date and will depend on the stability and playability of the build."

A patch for connection stabilities has been resolved at this point in time. The full details on the fixes for the rest of the game are on the forum post.

The open beta for Mechwarrior Online was originally due to start on October 16. For more information on the game, check out GameSpot's coverage on the title.

Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot

"Mechwarrior Online open beta delayed" was posted by Jonathan Toyad on Tue, 16 Oct 2012 01:45:34 -0700

Soul Reaver to originally be new IP - Naughty Dog director/writer

Posted: 15 Oct 2012 09:48 PM PDT

Crystal Dynamics was initially reluctant to fully adapt original concept into Legacy of Kain franchise.

 

The 1999 action adventure title Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver was initially planned to be a game called Shifter, according to former Crystal Dynamics producer/director/writer Amy Hennig.

In an interview on PlayStation Blog, Hennig--now a Naughty Dog writer/director--said that the game's narrative was inspired by John Milton's Paradise Lost.

"The protagonist was, essentially, a fallen angel of death, a reaper of souls hunted by his former brethren, and now driven to expose and destroy the false god they all served."

She also added that Crystal Dynamics was sceptical in adapting Shifter's concept into the Legacy of Kain franchise because of the unnecessary technical risks.

"Creative constraints can be inspiring and invigorating, and once we dug into the challenge, the concept evolved in all kinds of exciting ways."

While the plane-shifting concept was kept in the final product, Hennig mentioned that Raziel was originally planned to have shape-shifting powers, but was cut due to technical limitations at the time.

Concerning the first Soul Reaver's abrupt ending, Hennig said that the team had to cut the last few levels of the game and set it up so that Soul Reaver 2 would meet its August 1999 release date. The original plan was for protagonist Raziel to hunt down his former brother and antagonist Kain, then activate the pipes of the Silenced Cathedral to kill off the remaining vampires of Nosgoth. Hennig said that the final ending opened up more narrative options for future sequels, like Soul Reaver 2 and Legacy of Kain: Defiance.

A reboot of the franchise was rumoured earlier this year, thanks to a survey conducted by Square Enix.

Read and Post Comments | Get the full article at GameSpot

"Soul Reaver to originally be new IP - Naughty Dog director/writer" was posted by Jonathan Toyad on Mon, 15 Oct 2012 21:48:59 -0700

Energies, Vol. 5, Pages 3948-3971: Forecasting Annual Power Generation Using a Harmony Search Algorithm-Based Joint Parameters Optimization Combination Model

Posted: 16 Oct 2012 12:00 AM PDT

Accurate power generation forecasting provides the basis of decision making for electric power industry development plans, energy conservation and environmental protection. Since the power generation time series are rarely purely linear or nonlinear, no single forecasting model can identify the true data trends exactly in all situations. To combine forecasts from different models can reduce the model selection risk and effectively improve accuracy. In this paper, we propose a novel technique called the Harmony Search (HS) algorithm-based joint parameters optimization combination model. In this model, the single forecasting model adopts power function form with unfixed exponential parameters. The exponential parameters of the single model and the combination weights are called joint parameters which are optimized by the HS algorithm by optimizing the objective function. Real power generation time series data sets of China, Japan, Russian Federation and India were used as samples to examine the forecasting accuracy of the presented model. The forecasting performance was compared with four single models and four combination models, respectively. The MAPE of our presented model is the lowest, which shows that the proposed model outperforms other comparative ones. Especially, the proposed combination model could better fit significant turning points of power generation time series. We can conclude that the proposed model can obviously improve forecasting accuracy and it can treat nonlinear time series with fluctuations better than other single models or combination models.

IJERPH, Vol. 9, Pages 3685-3710: Modelling Mass Casualty Decontamination Systems Informed by Field Exercise Data

Posted: 16 Oct 2012 12:00 AM PDT

In the event of a large-scale chemical release in the UK decontamination of ambulant casualties would be undertaken by the Fire and Rescue Service (FRS). The aim of this study was to track the movement of volunteer casualties at two mass decontamination field exercises using passive Radio Frequency Identification tags and detection mats that were placed at pre-defined locations. The exercise data were then used to inform a computer model of the FRS component of the mass decontamination process. Having removed all clothing and having showered, the re-dressing (termed re-robing) of casualties was found to be a bottleneck in the mass decontamination process during both exercises. Computer simulations showed that increasing the capacity of each lane of the re-robe section to accommodate 10 rather than five casualties would be optimal in general, but that a capacity of 15 might be required to accommodate vulnerable individuals. If the duration of the shower was decreased from three minutes to one minute then a per lane re-robe capacity of 20 might be necessary to maximise the throughput of casualties. In conclusion, one practical enhancement to the FRS response may be to provide at least one additional re-robe section per mass decontamination unit.

Biology, Vol. 1, Pages 508-520: Improved Cholinergic Transmission is Detrimental to Behavioural Plasticity in Honeybees (Apis mellifera)

Posted: 16 Oct 2012 12:00 AM PDT

Unravelling the role of neuromessenger processes in learning and memory has long interested researchers. We investigated the effects of an acetylcholinesterase blocker, Methyl Parathion (MeP), on honeybee learning. We used visual and olfactory tasks to test whether MeP had a detrimental effect on the acquisition of new knowledge when this new knowledge contradicts previously acquired one. Our results indicate that treatment with MeP prior to conditioning was significantly detrimental to the acquisition of incongruous (but not irrelevant or congruous) new knowledge due to improved recall. The neurobiological and ecotoxicological consequences of these results are discussed.

Nanomaterials, Vol. 2, Pages 312-328: Simultaneous Patterning of Independent Metal/Metal Oxide Multi-Layer Films Using Two-Tone Photo-Acid Generating Compound Systems

Posted: 16 Oct 2012 12:00 AM PDT

(1) The photo-induced solubility and positive-tone direct photo-patterning of iron, copper and lanthanides chelated with 4-(2-nitrobenzyloxycarbonyl)catechol (NBOC) or 4-(6-nitroveratryloxycarbonyl)catechol (NVOC) was investigated. Photo-patterning of iron, copper, cerium, samarium, europium, terbium, dysprosium, holmium, erbium and lutetium complexes was accomplished. Continuous films were formed by the pyrolysis of metal complex films at 500 °C. (2) Based on the difference in the photo-reaction excitation wavelength profile of NBOC and NVOC complexes, a short and simple method for simultaneous micro-patterning of two independent films on each side of a transparent glass substrate was developed. Using the developed procedure, indium tin oxide and/or titanium oxide films were formed on each side of a quartz substrate without use of resist or etching.

Molbank, Vol. 2012, Pages M782: 3-Chloro-5-(4-dodecylthiophen-2-yl)-4H-1,2,6-thiadiazin-4-one

Posted: 16 Oct 2012 12:00 AM PDT

3-Chloro-5-trifluoromethanesulfonate-4H-1,2,6-thiadiazin-4-one 3 reacts with (4-dodecylthiophen-2-yl)trimethylstannane 5 (1 equiv.) in the presence of Pd(Ph3P)2Cl2 (5 mol%) in benzene at ca. 20 °C for 5 h to give 3-chloro-5-(4-dodecylthien-2-yl)-1,2,6-thiadiazinone 6 in 87% yield.

Metabolites, Vol. 2, Pages 733-755: Computational Methods for Metabolomic Data Analysis of Ion Mobility Spectrometry Data—Reviewing the State of the Art

Posted: 16 Oct 2012 12:00 AM PDT

Ion mobility spectrometry combined with multi-capillary columns (MCC/IMS) is a well known technology for detecting volatile organic compounds (VOCs). We may utilize MCC/IMS for scanning human exhaled air, bacterial colonies or cell lines, for example. Thereby we gain information about the human health status or infection threats. We may further study the metabolic response of living cells to external perturbations. The instrument is comparably cheap, robust and easy to use in every day practice. However, the potential of the MCC/IMS methodology depends on the successful application of computational approaches for analyzing the huge amount of emerging data sets. Here, we will review the state of the art and highlight existing challenges. First, we address methods for raw data handling, data storage and visualization. Afterwards we will introduce de-noising, peak picking and other pre-processing approaches. We will discuss statistical methods for analyzing correlations between peaks and diseases or medical treatment. Finally, we study up-to-date machine learning techniques for identifying robust biomarker molecules that allow classifying patients into healthy and diseased groups. We conclude that MCC/IMS coupled with sophisticated computational methods has the potential to successfully address a broad range of biomedical questions. While we can solve most of the data pre-processing steps satisfactorily, some computational challenges with statistical learning and model validation remain.

Materials, Vol. 5, Pages 1873-1889: In Vivo Toxicity of Intravenously Administered Silica and Silicon Nanoparticles

Posted: 16 Oct 2012 12:00 AM PDT

Both silicon and silica nanoparticles (SiNPs and SiO2NPs, respectively) are currently considered to be promising carriers for targeted drug delivery. However, the available data on their in vivo toxicity are limited. The present study was aimed at investigation of SiNP and SiO2NP (mean diameter 10 and 13 nm, respectively) toxicity using both morphological and functional criteria. Hematological and biochemical parameters were assessed in Sprague-Dawley rats 5, 21 and 60 days after administration of NPs. Inner ear function was determined using otoacoustic emission testing at 21 and 60 days after infusion of NPs. Furthermore, the histological structure of liver, spleen and kidney samples was analyzed. Intravenous infusion of SiNPs or SiO2NPs (7 mg/kg) was not associated with significant changes in hemodynamic parameters. Hearing function remained unchanged over the entire observation period. Both inter- and intragroup changes in blood counts and biochemical markers were non-significant. Histological findings included the appearance of foreign body-type granulomas in the liver and spleen as well as microgranulation in the liver after administration of NPs. The number of granulomas was significantly lower after administration of SiNPs compared with SiO2NPs. In conclusion, both tested types of NPs are relatively biocompatible nanomaterials, at least when considering acute toxicity.

Super Villainy

Posted: 16 Oct 2012 12:52 AM PDT

Play as a super villain in an addictive multi-directional shooting game! Choose evil missions and slay your enemies.
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