Use of bis(benzimidazolium)–palladium system as a convenient catalyst for Heck and Suzuki coupling reactions of aryl bromides and chlorides

Six new, sterically demanding bis(benzimidazolium) salts (2a–f) as NHC precursors have been synthesized and characterized. These salts, in combination with palladium acetate, provide active catalysts for the cross‐coupling of aryl chlorides and bromides under mild conditions in aqueous media. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The radiativeK* meson decays in QCD

ThegK ^o* K ^o _γ andgK ^+* K ⁺ _γ coupling constants and the radiative decay widths are calculated in the context of QCD sum rules. It is found that the discrepancy between the experimental data and theoretical results still exists.     

Experimental and theoretical studies on the functionalization reactions of 4-benzoyl-1,5-diphenyl-1H-pyrazole-3-carboxylic acid and acid chloride with 2,3-diaminopyridine

The 1H-pyrazole-3-carboxylic acid 2 was converted in good yield (69%) into the corresponding 1H-pyrazole-3-carboxamide 5 via reaction of the acid chloride 3 with 2,3- diaminopyridine (4). A different product, the 3H-imidazo[4,5-b] pyridine derivative 6, was formed from the reaction of 3 with 4 and base in benzene for 5 hours. The structures of the synthesized compounds were determined spectroscopically. The mechanism of the reaction between 3 and 4 was examined theoretically.     

Limits on the high-energy gamma and neutrino fluxes from the SGR 1806-20 giant flare of 27 December 2004 with the AMANDA-II detector

On 27 December 2004, a giant gamma flare from the Soft Gamma-Ray Repeater 1806-20 saturated many satellite gamma-ray detectors, being the brightest transient event ever observed in the Galaxy. AMANDA-II was used to search for down-going muons indicative of high-energy gammas and/or neutrinos from this object. The data revealed no significant signal, so upper limits (at 90% C.L.) on the normalization constant were set: 0.05(0.5) TeV-1 m;{-2} s;{-1} for gamma=-1.47 (-2) in the gamma flux and 0.4(6.1) TeV-1 m;{-2} s;{-1} for gamma=-1.47 (-2) in the high-energy neutrino flux.     

Multiplex identification of bacteria in bacterial mixtures with surface‐enhanced Raman scattering

Surface‐enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) is a technique capable of identifying each component in a mixture because of its intrinsically narrow spectral bands. In a clinical setting, the identification of bacteria from its initial culture by collecting the colonies on the culture plate significantly decreases the analysis time and the cost. The identification of bacteria from their mixtures is attempted using SERS. A simple mixing procedure of bacterial samples and concentrated colloidal suspension is proven to be mostly satisfactory for the generation of the reproducible SERS spectra that can be used for bacterial identification. The mixture of three different but related bacterial species Shigella sonnei, Proteus vulgaris, and Erwinia amylovara and three Escherichia coli strains (BFK13, BHK7, DH5 α) are used as model systems to test the feasibility of the approach. The results indicate that it is possible to identify the composition of a bacterial mixture. This approach can easily be utilized for the bacteria originating from the same source with similar growth profiles. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Pediatric abdominal masses: diagnostic accuracy of diffusion weighted MRI

Purpose

To retrospectively identify apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values of pediatric abdominal mass lesions, to determine whether measured ADC of the lesions and signal intensity on diffusion-weighted (DW) images allow discrimination between benign and malignant mass lesions.

Materials and Methods

Approval for this retrospective study was obtained from the institutional review board. Children with abdominal mass lesions, who were examined by DW magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were included in this study. DW MR images were obtained in the axial plane by using a non breath-hold single-shot spin-echo sequence on a 1.5-T MR scanner. ADCs were calculated for each lesion. ADC values were compared with Mann–Whitney U test. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was performed to determine cut-off values for ADC. The results of visual assessment on b800 images and ADC map images were compared with chi-square test.

Results

Thirty-one abdominal mass lesions (16 benign, 15 malignant) in 26 patients (15 girls, 11 boys, ranging from 2 days to 17 years with 6.9 years mean) underwent MRI. Benign lesions had significantly higher ADC values than malignant ones (P<.001). The mean ADCs of malignant lesions were 0.84±1.7×10⁻³ mm²/s, while the mean ADCs of the benign ones were 2.28±1.00×10⁻³ mm²/s. With respect to cutoff values of ADC: 1.11×10⁻³ mm²/s, sensitivity and negative predictive values were 100%, specificity was 78.6% and positive predictive value was 83.3%. For b800 and ADC map images, there were statistically significant differences on visual assessment. All malignant lesions had variable degrees of high signal intensity whereas eight of the 16 benign ones had low signal intensities on b800 images (P<.001). On ADC map images, all malignant lesions were hypointense and most of the benign ones (n=11, 68.7%) were hyperintense (P<.001).

Conclusion

DW imaging can be used for reliable discrimination of benign and malignant pediatric abdominal mass lesions based on considerable differences in the ADC values and signal intensity changes.     

Warm-white light-emitting diodes integrated with colloidal quantum dots for high luminous efficacy and color rendering

Warm-white LEDs (WLEDs) with high spectral quality and efficiency are required for lighting applications, but current experimental performances are limited. We report on nanocrystal quantum dot (NQD) hybridized WLEDs with high performance that exhibit a high luminous efficacy of optical radiation exceeding 350lm/W(opt) and a high color rendering index close to 90 at a low correlated color temperature <3000K. These spectrally engineered WLEDs are obtained using a combination of CdSe/ZnS core/shell NQD nanophosphors integrated on blue InGaN/GaN LEDs.     

Improving weighted information criterion by using optimization

Although artificial neural networks (ANN) have been widely used in forecasting time series, the determination of the best model is still a problem that has been studied a lot. Various approaches available in the literature have been proposed in order to select the best model for forecasting in ANN in recent years. One of these approaches is to use a model selection strategy based on the weighted information criterion (WIC). WIC is calculated by summing weighted different selection criteria which measure the forecasting accuracy of an ANN model in different ways. In the calculation of WIC, the weights of different selection criteria are determined heuristically. In this study, these weights are calculated by using optimization in order to obtain a more consistent criterion. Four real time series are analyzed in order to show the efficiency of the improved WIC. When the weights are determined based on the optimization, it is obviously seen that the improved WIC produces better results.     

Hemoglobinopathy control program in Turkey

Hemoglobinopathies are a very important health problem in Turkey. To date many studies have been performed but there has been no national hemoglobinopathy control program (HCP). After the Turkish National Hemoglobinopathy Council (TNHC) was created all centers, foundations, and associations were combined into one organization controlled by the Ministry of Health (MOH). The MOH and the TNHC have started to register the results of the screening of 377,339 healthy subjects from 16 different cities and the recorded average frequency of the beta-thalassemia trait was 4.3%. The highest prevalence of thebeta-thalassemia trait (13.1%) was found in the Antalya region and of the HbS trait (10%) in the Cukurova region. Next, written regulations for the Fight against Hereditary Blood Disease were published especially for preventing and treating hemoglobinopathies. The MOH and the TNHC selected 33 provinces situated in the Thrace, Marmara, Aegean, Mediterranean and South Eastern regions with a high birth prevalence of severe hemoglobinopathies. The hemoglobinopathy scientific committee was set up, a guidebook was published and a national HCP was started in these high-risk provinces.