ParaHydrogen Polarized Ethyl-[1-13C]pyruvate in Water,a Key Substrate for Fostering the PHIP-SAH Approach to Metabolic Imaging

An efficient synthesis of vinyl-[1-¹³C]pyruvate has been reported, from which ¹³C hyperpolarized (HP) ethyl-[1-¹³C]pyruvate has been obtained by means of ParaHydrogen Induced Polarization (PHIP). Due to the intrinsic lability of pyruvate, which leads quickly to degradation of the reaction mixture even under mild reaction conditions, the vinyl-ester has been synthesized through the intermediacy of a more stable ketal derivative. ¹³C and ¹H hyperpolarizations of ethyl-[1-¹³C]pyruvate, hydrogenated using ParaHydrogen, have been compared to those observed on the more widely used allyl-derivative. It has been demonstrated that the spin order transfer from ParaHydrogen protons to ¹³C, is more efficient on the ethyl than on the allyl-esterdue to the larger J-couplings involved. The main requirements needed for the biological application of this HP product have been met, i. e. an aqueous solution of the product at high concentration (40 mM) with a good ¹³C polarization level (4.8 %) has been obtained. The in vitro metabolic transformation of the HP ethyl-[1-¹³C]pyruvate, catalyzed by an esterase, has been observed. This substrate appears to be a good candidate for in vivo metabolic investigations using PHIP hyperpolarized probes.     

Dependence of Doubly Charged Ion Formation by the Two-Electron Mechanism on the intensity of Laser Radiation

Experimental dependences of the doubly charged ion yield N ²⁺ on the laser radiation intensity F are analyzed for the case of ion formation by the two-electron mechanism. It is shown that the region where the dependence N ²⁺(F) is characterized by the degree of nonlinearity K≈2.5 corresponds to the saturation of the process of doubly charged ion formation. This region is described well by theoretical calculations performed for Gaussian laser beams.     

Pion pair production in photon-photon collisions

The process γγ→π⁺π^? was measured using the detector MD-1 at VEPP-4. The two-photon reactionse ⁺ e ^?, μ⁺ μ^? and π⁺ π^? pair production were separated using scintillation counters, Cherenkov counters and shower-range chambers. A radiation widthГ _γγ(f ₂(1270))=3.1±0.35±0.35 keV was obtained.     

Synthesis and some properties of titanium-containing silica gels

Microporous silica gels containing small amounts of titanium ions have been synthesized. Porous structure and surface active sites of silica gels have been studied. It has been found that the titanium ions are distributed uniformly in silica gel matrix, substituting silicon ions isomorphically.     

Structural materials: metal-silicon-Boron. The Nb-rich corner of the Nb-Si-B system

Phase equilibria in the Nb-Nb₅Si₃-NbB region were studied in the melting (crystallization) range by means of light microscopy, XRD, SEM and EMPA on alloys after arc-melting and annealing at 1800°C and at subsolidus temperatures. Phase transition and melting temperatures were determined by DTA and pyrometric Pirani-Alterthum technique resulting in a solidus projection and two isopleths, Nb₇₇Si₂₃-Nb₇₇B₂₃ and Nb₉₉Si₁-Nb₅Si₂B. The T₂-phase Nb₅Si_3−xB_x (0?x?2, Cr₅B₃-type) was found to form equilibria with (Nb), NbB, Nb₃Si, and with the T₁-phase (Mn₅Si₃ derivative type). The T₂-phase melts incongruently (Nb₅Si_1.8B_1.2 at 2245°C) and forms a quasibinary eutectic with the niobium solid solution on a minimum tie-line at ∼1880°C.