Diffusion-weighted imaging features of brain in obesity

PURPOSE: Obesity is characterized by an altered distribution of body fluid. However, distribution of fluid (extracellular/intracellular) in brain tissues has not been studied in obese subjects yet. The purpose of this study was to detect possible brain diffusion changes especially in satiety and hunger related centers in obese subjects by diffusion weighted imaging (DWI). METHODS: Conventional MRI and DWI of the brain was obtained from 81 obese patients (obese=68, morbid obese=13) and 29 age-matched, nonobese. The apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values were calculated in hypothalamus; amygdala; hippocampal gyrus; thalamus; insula; cingulate gyrus; orbitofrontal, dorsomedial and dorsolateral frontal, middle temporal and occipital cortex; cerebellum; midbrain and corpus striatum. RESULTS: The ADC values of hypothalamus, hippocampal gyrus, amygdala, insula, cerebellum and midbrain were significantly increased in patients (n:81) when compared to nonobese subjects. The ADC values of thalamus, hippocampal gyrus, amygdala, orbitofrontal, occipital, dorsolateral and middle temporal cortex, insula and midbrain were significantly increased in morbid obese when compared to nonobese subjects. The ADC values of orbitofrontal and occipital cortex were significantly higher in morbid obese than the values in the obese. The body mass index positively correlated with ADC values of amygdala, insula, orbitofrontal and middle temporal cortex. CONCLUSION: We observed increased ADC values of distinct locations related to satiety and hunger that suggest altered fluid distribution and/or vasogenic edema in obese subjects. Awareness of this abnormalities in brain tissue composition/function in obesity may contribute to better understanding of the underlying mechanisms.     

Heterotrimetallic Mixed-Valent Molecular Precursors Containing Periodic Table Neighbors: Assignment of Metal Positions and Oxidation States

A known trinuclear structure was used to design the heterobimetallic mixed-valent, mixed-ligand molecule [Co^II(hfac)₃−Na−Co^III(acac)₃] ( 1 ). This was used as a template structure to develop heterotrimetallic molecules [Co^II(hfac)₃−Na−Fe^III(acac)₃] ( 2 ) and [Ni^II(hfac)₃−Na−Co^III(acac)₃] ( 3 ) via isovalent site-specific substitution at either of the cobalt positions. Diffraction methods, synchrotron resonant diffraction, and multiple-wavelength anomalous diffraction were applied beyond simple structural investigation to provide an unambiguous assignment of the positions and oxidation states for the periodic table neighbors in the heterometallic assemblies. Molecules of 2 and 3 are true heterotrimetallic rather than a statistical mixture of two heterobimetallic counterparts. Trinuclear platform 1 exhibits flexibility in accommodating a variety of di- and trivalent metals, which can be further utilized in the design of molecular precursors for the NaMM′O₄ functional oxide materials.     

Theoretical investigation of excited states of oligothiophene anions

Electron-hole symmetry upon p- and n-doping of conducting organic polymers is rationalized with Hückel theory by the presence of symmetrically located intragap states. Since density functional theory (DFT) predicts very different geometries and energy level diagrams for conjugated pi-systems than semiempirical methods, it is an interesting question whether DFT confirms the existence of electron-hole symmetry predicted at the Hückel level. To answer this question, geometries of oligothiophene anions with 5-19 rings were optimized and their UV/vis spectra were calculated with time-dependent DFT. Although DFT does not produce symmetrically placed sub-band energy levels, spectra of cations and anions are almost identical. The similarity in transition energies and oscillator strengths of anions and cations can be explained by the fact that the single sub-band energy level of cations lies above the valence band by the same amount of energy as the single sub-band level of anions lies below the conduction band. This and the resemblance of the energy level spacings in valence bands of cations to those in conduction bands of anions give rise to peaks with equal energies and oscillator strengths.     

Analysis of the bond‐valence method for calculating 29Si and 31P magnetic shielding in covalent network solids

²⁹Si and ³¹P magnetic‐shielding tensors in covalent network solids have been evaluated using periodic and cluster‐based calculations. The cluster‐based computational methodology employs pseudoatoms to reduce the net charge (resulting from missing co‐ordination on the terminal atoms) through valence modification of terminal atoms using bond‐valence theory (VMTA/BV). The magnetic‐shielding tensors computed with the VMTA/BV method are compared to magnetic‐shielding tensors determined with the periodic GIPAW approach. The cluster‐based all‐electron calculations agree with experiment better than the GIPAW calculations, particularly for predicting absolute magnetic shielding and for predicting chemical shifts. The performance of the DFT functionals CA‐PZ, PW91, PBE, rPBE, PBEsol, WC, and PBE0 are assessed for the prediction of ²⁹Si and ³¹P magnetic‐shielding constants. Calculations using the hybrid functional PBE0, in combination with the VMTA/BV approach, result in excellent agreement with experiment. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Solvent Effect upon Ion-pair Extraction of Different Sodium Dyes Using Some Crown Ethers

Liquid-liquid extractive-spectrophotometric studies of sodium ion complexes of 18-crown-6(18C6), dibenzo-18-crown-6(DB18C6), 15-crown-5(15C5), and 12-crown-4(12C4) and anionic dyes [4-(2-pyridylazo)-resorcinol monosodium salt monohydrate (PAR), Eriochrom Black T (EBT), and methyl orange (MOR)] and sodium picrate (PICRAT) as the counter ion are described. The overall extraction equilibrium constants for the 1 : 1 complexes of the above crown ethers with sodium dyes between different organic solvents and water have been determined at 25deg;C. They were conducted in various solvent-water systems maintaining an identical initial cation concentration in water, [M0+]w, and macrocyclic ligand concentration in the organic phase, [L0]org}, so that in all extractions [M0+]w : [L0]org ratios were 1 : 1, 1 : 10, 1 : 20, 1 : 50, and 1 : 62.5. An ion association complex formed between the sodium-crown ether complex ion and a dye anion was extracted into the organic solvent, and then the dye concentration of the separated aqueous phase was measured with an ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometer. PAR was the best associated dye with all crown ethers sodium-dyes and the extracted dye occurs as the ion-pair complex. Methylene chloride was found to be better than other extractive solvents used in this study.     

Block copolymers of thiophene-capped poly(methyl methacrylate) with pyrrole

Poly(methyl methacrylate) with a thiophene end group having narrow polydispersity was prepared by the Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization (ATRP) technique. Subsequently, electrically conducting block copolymers of thiophene-capped poly(methyl methacrylate) with pyrrole were synthesized by using p-toluene sulfonic acid and sodium dodecyl sulfate as the supporting electrolytes via constant potential electrolysis. Characterization of the block copolymers were performed by CV, FTIR, SEM, TGA, and DSC analyses. Electrical conductivities were evaluated by the four-probe technique. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci A: Polym Chem 37: 4218–4225, 1999     

Adsorption of polyvinylimidazole onto kaolinite

The adsorption of polyvinylimidazole (PVI) onto kaolinite from aqueous solutions has been investigated systematically as a function of parameters such as calcination temperature of kaolinite, pH, ionic strength, and temperature. According to the experimental results, the adsorption of PVI increases with pH from 8.50 to 11.50, temperature from 25 to 55 degrees C, and ionic strength from 0 to 0.1 mol L(-1). The kaolinite sample calcined at 600 degrees C has a maximum adsorption capacity. Adsorption isotherms of PVI onto kaolinite have been determined and correlated with common isotherm equations such as Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models. The Langmuir isotherm model appeared to fit the isotherm data better than the Freundlich isotherm model. The physical properties of this adsorbent are consistent with the parameters obtained from the isotherm equations. Furthermore, the zeta potentials of kaolinite suspensions have been measured in aqueous solutions of different PVI concentrations and pH. From the experimental results, (i) pH strongly alters the zeta potential of kaolinite; (ii) kaolinite has an isoelectric point at about pH 2.35 in water and about pH 8.75 in 249.9 ppm PVI concentration; (iii) PVI changes the interface charge from negative to positive for kaolinite. The study of temperature effect has been quantified by calculating various thermodynamic parameters such as Gibbs free energy, enthalpy, and entropy changes. The dimensionless separation factor (RL) has shown that kaolinite can be used for adsorption of PVI from aqueous solutions.     

Occupational prolonged organic solvent exposure in shoemakers: brain MR spectroscopy findings

Our purpose was to investigate, by magnetic resonance (MR) spectroscopy, the metabolite changes in the brains of subjects in the shoemaking industry who had been chronically exposed to organic solvents. A total of 49 male subjects and 30 age-matched healthy volunteers underwent detailed neurological and psychiatric examinations. All subjects had long-echo [repetition time (TR) 2000 ms, echo time (TE) 136 ms] single-voxel MR spectroscopy. Voxels (15 x 15 x 15 mm(3)) were placed in the parietal white matter, thalamus, and basal ganglia. N-acetylaspartate (NAA)/creatine (Cr) and choline (Cho)/Cr ratios were calculated. There was no significant difference between the study subjects and the control group in NAA/Cr ratios obtained from thalamus, basal ganglia, and parietal white matter. Cho/Cr ratios in thalamus, basal ganglia, and parietal white matter were found to be significantly increased compared to controls. There was a positive correlation between basal ganglia Cho/Cr ratio and duration of exposure (r = 0.63). MR spectroscopy should be performed to reveal metabolite changes and determine the degree of brain involvement in solvent-related industry workers.     

Davenport constant for finite abelian groups

For a finite abelian group G, we investigate the length of a sequence of elements of G that is guaranteed to have a subsequence with product identity of G. In particular, we obtain a bound on the length which takes into account the repetitions of elements of the sequence, the rank and the invariant factors of G. Consequently, we see that there are plenty of such sequences whose length could be much shorter than the best known upper bound for the Davenport constant of G, which is the least integer s such that any sequence of length s in G necessarily contains a subsequence with product identity. We also show that the Davenport constant for the multiplicative group of reduced residue classes modulo n is comparatively large with respect to the order of the group, which is φ(n),when n is in certain thin subsets of positive integers. This is done by studying the Carmichael’s lambda function, defined as the maximal multiplicative order of any reduced residue modulo n, along these subsets.