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.     

Tachyon kinematics and causality: A systematic thorough analysis of the tachyon causal paradoxes

The chronological order of the events along a spacelike path is not invariant under Lorentz transformations, as is well known. This led to an early conviction that tachyons would give rise to causal anomalies. A relativistic version of the Stückelberg-Feynman switching procedure (SWP) has been invoked as the suitable tool to eliminate those anomalies. The application of the SWP does eliminate the motions backwards in time, but interchanges the roles ofsource anddetector. This fact triggered the proposal of a host of causal paradoxes. Till now, however, it has not been recognized that such paradoxes can be sensibly discussed (and completely solved, at least in microphysics)only after the tachyon relativistic mechanics has been properly developed. We start by showing how to apply the SWP, both in the case ofordinary special relativity and in the case with tachyons. Then we carefully exploit the kinematics of the tachyon exchange between to (ordinary) bodies. Being finally able to tackle the tachyon causality problem, we successively solve the paradoxes of : (i) Tolman-Regge, (ii) Pirani, (iii) Edmonds, and (iv) Bell. Finally, we discuss a further, new paradox associated with the transmission of signals by modulated tachyon beams.Work partially supported by MPI and by FAP-UNICAMP.     

The strong coupling constant: Its theoretical derivation from a geometric approach to hadron structure

Since more than a decade, abi-scale, unified approach to strong and gravitational interactions has been proposed, that uses the geometrical methods of general relativity, and yielded results similar to strong gravity theory's. We fix our attention, in this note, on hadron structure, and show that also the strong interaction strength _S, ordinarily called the (perturbative) coupling-constant square, can be evaluated within our theory, and found to decrease (increase) as the distancer decreases (increases). This yields both the confinement of the hadron constituents (for large values ofr) and their asymptotic freedom (for small values ofr inside the hadron): in qualitative agreement with the experimental evidence. In other words, our approach leads us, on a purely theoretical ground, to a dependence of _S onr which had been previously found only on phenomenological and heuristic grounds. We expect the above agreement to be also quantitative, on the basis of a few checks performed in this paper, and of further work of ours on calculating meson mass spectra.     

Rigidified calixarenes bearing four carbamoylmethylphosphineoxide or carbamoylmethylphosphoryl functions at the wide rim

Conformationally rigidified tetraCMPO derivatives have been prepared from calix[4]arene bis(crown ether) 4a in which adjacent oxygens are bridged at the narrow rim by two diethylene glycol links. Acylation of the tetraamine 4c with the CMPO-active ester 5b gave the tetraphosphine oxide 6a, while the tetraphosphinate 6b and the tetraphosphonate 6c were obtained by Arbuzov reaction of tetrabromoacetamido derivative 7 with PhP(OEt)2 or P(OEt)3. The extraction ability of these CMPO derivatives was checked for selected lanthanides and actinides and compared with the analogous compounds 1b, 10b and 10d derived from calix[4]arene tetrapentyl ether. All rigidified bis(crown ether) ligands are more effective extractants than their pentyl ether counterparts and require only 1/10 of the concentration (cL= 10 4M) to obtain the same distribution coefficients, while with CMPO itself a 2,000-fold concentration is necessary. This could be a consequence of a better preorganisation of the ligating functions owing to the rigidity which on the other hand did not change the observed selectivity for americium (DAm/DEu=9-19) and for light lanthanides over heavy ones. NMR relaxivity titration curves show that the complex of Gd3+ with ligand 6a is highly oligomerised in anhydrous acetonitrile over a large range of ligand:metal concentration ratios. Nuclear magnetic relaxation dispersion (NMRD) profiles also showed that large oligomers were formed, and their mean tumbling times were deduced from the Solomon-Bloembergen-Morgan equations. The NMR spectra of dia- and paramagnetic lanthanide complexes with 6a agreed with the presence of two conformers with an elongated calix[4]arene skeleton in which the distances between opposite methylene groups are different. Contrary to what was observed with ligand 2a, the addition of nitrate ions does not labilize the metal complexes, presumably because of the rigidification effect of the ether bridges. Single-crystal X-ray structures were obtained for the active ester 5b and for diphenylphosphorylacetic acid 5a.     

Gadolinium‐Decorated Silica Microspheres as Redox‐Responsive MRI Probes for Applications in Cell Therapy Follow‐Up

The redox microenvironment within a cell graft can be considered as an indicator to assess whether the graft is metabolically active or hypoxic. We present a redox‐responsive MRI probe based on porous silica microparticles whose surface has been decorated with a Gd‐chelate through a disulphide bridge. Such microparticles are designed to be interspersed with therapeutic cells within a biocompatible hydrogel. The onset of reducing conditions within the hydrogel is paralleled by an increased clearance of Gd, that can be detected by MRI.     

Refined hierarchical kinematics quasi-3D Ritz models for free vibration analysis of doubly curved FGM shells and sandwich shells with FGM core

In this paper, the Ritz minimum energy method, based on the use of the Principle of Virtual Displacements (PVD), is combined with refined Equivalent Single Layer (ESL) and Zig Zag (ZZ) shell models hierarchically generated by exploiting the use of Carrera's Unified Formulation (CUF), in order to engender the Hierarchical Trigonometric Ritz Formulation (HTRF). The HTRF is then employed to carry out the free vibration analysis of doubly curved shallow and deep functionally graded material (FGM) shells. The PVD is further used in conjunction with the Gauss theorem to derive the governing differential equations and related natural boundary conditions. Donnell–Mushtari's shallow shell-type equations are given as a particular case. Doubly curved FGM shells and doubly curved sandwich shells made up of isotropic face sheets and FGM core are investigated. The proposed shell models are widely assessed by comparison with the literature results. Two benchmarks are provided and the effects of significant parameters such as stacking sequence, boundary conditions, length-to-thickness ratio, radius-to-length ratio and volume fraction index on the circular frequency parameters and modal displacements are discussed.     

Design and Synthesis of a γ1β8‐Cyclodextrin Oligomer: A New Platform with Potential Application as a Dendrimeric Multicarrier

We report the synthesis and characterization of a water‐soluble, star‐shaped macromolecular platform consisting of eight β‐cyclodextrin (β‐CD) units anchored to the narrower rim of a γ‐CD core through bis(triazolyl)alkyl spacers. The efficient synthetic protocol is based on the microwave (MW)‐promoted Cu‐catalyzed 1,3‐dipolar cycloaddition of CD monoazides to CD monoacetylenes. The ligand‐hosting capability of the construct has been assessed by relaxometric titration and nuclear magnetic relaxation dispersion (NMRD) profiling, which showed it to be good, and this was supported by molecular dynamics simulations. To demonstrate the feasibility of obtaining supramolecular structures with high hosting ability, we designed a dimeric platform, formed by joining two nonamers through the γ‐CD cores through a bis(lithocholic acid) linker. With a view to the potential biological applications, cytotoxicity and extent of binding to human serum albumin were assessed. The properties of this dendrimeric multicarrier make it suitable for pharmaceutical and diagnostic purposes, ranging from targeted drug delivery to molecular imaging.     

Dynamic properties of soy globulin adsorbed films at the air-water interface

In this paper we present surface dilatational properties of soy globulins (beta-conglycinin, glycinin, and reduced glycinin with 10 mM of dithiothreitol (DTT)) adsorbed onto the air-water interface, as a function of adsorption time. The experiments were performed at constant temperature (20 degrees C), pH (8.0), and ionic strength (0.05 M). The surface rheological parameters were measured as a function of protein concentration (ranging from 1 to 1x10(-3)% wt/wt). We found that the surface dilatational modulus, E, increases, and the phase angle, phi, decreases with time, theta, which may be associated with protein adsorption. These phenomena have been related to protein adsorption, unfolding, and/or protein-protein interactions (at long-term adsorption) as a function of protein concentration in solution. From a rheological point of view, the surface viscoelastic characteristics of soy globulin films adsorbed at the air-water interface are practically elastic. The main conclusion is that the dilatational properties of the adsorbed films depend on the molecular structure of the protein.     

Superluminal Motions? A Bird's-Eye View of the Experimental Situation

In this article, after a theoretical introduction and a sketch of some related long-standing predictions, a bird's-eye view is presented—with the help of nine figures—of the various experimental sectors of physics in which Superluminal motions seem to appear (thus contributing support to those past predictions). In particular, a panorama is presented of the experiments with evanescent waves and/or tunnelling photons, and with the localized Superluminal solutions to the Maxwell equations (like the so-called X-shaped beams). The present review is brief, but is followed by a large enough bibliography to allow the interested reader deepening the preferred topic.