The Cancer Genetics Network: recruitment results and pilot studies

OBJECTIVE: The National Cancer Institute established the Cancer Genetics Network (CGN) to support collaborative investigations into the genetic basis of cancer susceptibility, explore mechanisms to integrate this new knowledge into medical practice, and identify ways of addressing the associated psychosocial, ethical, legal, and public health issues. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The CGN has developed the complex infrastructure required to support the projects, including the establishment of guidelines and policies, uniform methods, standard questionnaires to be used by all of the centers, and a standard format for submission of data to the Informatics Center. Cancer patients and their family members have been invited to enroll and be included in a pool of potential study participants. The Information Technology Group is responsible for support of the design, implementation, and maintenance of the multicenter Network-wide research protocols. RESULTS: As of January 2004, the CGN contained data on 23,995 probands (participants) and 425,798 family members. As a resource for cancer genetic studies, the CGN has a large number of probands and first-degree relatives with and without cancer and with multiple ethnicities. Different study designs can be used including case-control, case-case, and family studies. CONCLUSIONS: The unique resources of the CGN are available for studies on cancer genetic susceptibility, translational research, and behavioral research. The CGN is now at a point where approved collaborators may have access to enrolled patients and their families for special studies, as well as to the clinical, environmental and family cancer history data banked in the Informatics Center.     

Study of the Proton Magnetic Resonance of Methoxy-Tamoxifen Towards Ortho-Substitution

The objective of the work was to study the proton magnetic resonance of derivatives of methoxytamoxifen towards ortho substitution of a trialkylstannyl-moiety and iodine. Since Iodo-methoxytamoxifen was specially needed for further biological studies in the detection and characterisation of breast tumors, it was necessary to be certain of the position of substitution (i.e. ortho to the amino ether).     

Solid-phase synthesis of arylidene and alkylidene malonates,as versatile intermediates,catalyzed using mesoporous poly-melamine–formaldehyde as a nitrogen-rich porous organic polymer (POP)

Research on Chemical Intermediates - An efficient solid/slurry-state synthesis of arylidene and alkylidene malonates as versatile intermediates is developed in the presence of mesoporous...     

The impact of indium metal as a minor bimetal on the anodic dissolution and passivation performance of zinc for alkaline batteries: part I—potentiodynamic,potentiostatic, XRD,SEM, and EDAX studies

Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry - Zinc metal is an important element that can be used for long-life alkaline batteries. In this work, it is found that the addition of minor amounts of...     

On the fuzzy minimum entropy control to stabilize the unstable fixed points of chaotic maps

This paper presents a fuzzy algorithm for controlling chaos in nonlinear systems via minimum entropy approach. The proposed fuzzy logic algorithm is used to minimize the Shannon entropy of a chaotic dynamics. The fuzzy laws are determined in such a way that the entropy function descends until the chaotic trajectory of the system is replaced by a regular one. The Logistic and the Henon maps as two discrete chaotic systems, and the Duffing equation as a continuous one are used to validate the proposed scheme and show the effectiveness of the control method in chaotic dynamical systems.     

Supramolecular chemosensor for selective detection of iron in aqueous medium

We have successfully developed a ‘turn-on’ colorimetric chemosensor for Fe³⁺ based on 1,10-phenanthroline. An amide derivative of 1,10-phenanthroline 4 was developed for the selective recognition of Fe³⁺ over Co²⁺, Cr³⁺, Cu²⁺, Mn²⁺, Ni²⁺, Ag⁺ and Zn²⁺ and could measure Fe³⁺ concentration in the range of 15–210 μM by UV–vis spectroscopy. Moreover, the addition of Fe³⁺ to a colourless solution of 4 turned its colour to light pink, indicating that 4 is capable of detecting Fe³⁺ by the naked eye. Compound 4 exhibits a major absorption band centred at 268 which shifted to 278 nm after addition of Fe³⁺, and a shoulder band around 514 nm was also observed. The complexation of Fe³⁺ with 4 was analysed at a different pH and favourable binding was observed at pH 6.2.     

New metal complexes derived from S-benzyldithiocarbazate (SBDTC) and chromone-3-carboxaldehyde: synthesis,characterization, antimicrobial,antitumor activity and DFT calculations

Novel monobasic tridentate ONS donor ligand (HL) was synthesized from the condensation reaction of chromone-3-carboxaldehyde with S-benzyldithiocarbazate (SBDTC). Reaction of the ligand with the metal ions copper(II), nickel(II), cobalt(II), oxidovanadium(IV), cerium(III), manganese(II), zinc(II), and cadmium(II) afforded dimeric complexes with the general formula [ML(Y)_m(H₂O)_x]₂·(Y)_m·nH₂O·zCH₃OH, Y?=?NO₃ or Cl, m?=?0–2, x?=?0–2, n?=?0–2, and z?=?0–1 for all complexes except oxidovanadium(IV) complex which has the formula [VOL(H₂O)]₂(SO₄). Structures of the ligand and its metal complexes were established through elemental, spectroscopic data (FT-IR, UV-Vis, and mass), thermal analyses, as well as conductivity and magnetic susceptibility measurements. The geometrical structures of the metal complexes are octahedral and square planar. The ligand and its complexes were subjected to in vitro bioassays against the gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria and the fungus strain with good results for some of these compounds. The antitumor activity of the ligand and its copper(II) and oxidovanadium(IV) complexes were investigated against HepG2 cell line. The molecular parameters of the ligand and its metal complexes have been calculated on the basis of DFT level implemented in the Gaussian 09 program, and computed data were correlated with the experimental results. The HOMO→LUMO electron transition potentially occurs from S-benzyldithiocarbazate to chromone moieties with 4.048?eV. The Mn(II) complex has the highest value of energy barrier, while Cu(II) complex has the lowest value among the complexes. All synthesized complexes have energy gap lower than free ligand and therefore these complexes are more reactive than the free ligand.     

Binding,and thermodynamics of <Emphasis Type="Italic">β</Emphasis>-cyclodextrin inclusion complexes with some coumarin laser dyes and coumarin-based enzyme substrates: a simulation study

This paper addresses modelling the nature of interactions between β-CD and some coumarins including recently reported novel sulphur analogues to form inclusion complexes of appealing medicinal, photochemical and photophysical properties. The binding energy and the total stabilization energy (E^ONIOM) are used to confirm the most favorable inclusion complex structure. Thermodynamic parameters reveal exothermic inclusion reaction in gas phase. Thermal stability of fluorescent enzyme substrate of coumarin nucleus increases in the order: gas?<?cyclohexane?<?water, indicating better stability in water. Furthermore, molecular characteristics such as optimized geometries, MO’s and electrostatic potential energy map surfaces and energies are reported and correlated with some reactivity indices. Our results validated the experimentally available data reported in the literature. Inclusion complexes of β-CD with coumarins should result in improving its laser efficiency in environmentally benign aqueous medium.     

Determination of lignans,phenolic acids and antioxidant capacity in transformed hairy root culture of Linum usitatissimum

Hairy root culture is a promising alternative method for the production of secondary metabolites. In this study, transformed root of Linum usitatissimum was established using Agrobacterium rhizogenes A4 strain from root cultures for lignans, phenolic acids and antioxidant capacity determination. Total lignin content (secoisolariciresinol diglucoside, secoisolariciresinol and matairesinol) was 55.5% higher in transformed root cultures than in the non-transformed root culture. Secoisolariciresinol was detected in higher concentration (2.107 μmol/g DM) in the transformed root culture than non-transformed culture (1.099 μmol/g DM). Secoisolariciresinol diglucoside and matairesinol were exclusively detected in the transformed root culture, but were not found in the non-transformed root culture. The overall production of phenolic acids in transformed roots was approximately 3.5 times higher than that of the corresponding non-transformed culture. Free radical scavenging DPPH˙ and ABTS˙⁺ assays showed 2.9-fold and 1.76-fold higher anti-oxidant activity in transformed root culture as compared to non-transformed.