False positive control of activated voxels in single fMRI analysis using bootstrap resampling in comparison to spatial smoothing

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is an effective tool for the measurement of brain neuronal activities. To date, several statistical methods have been proposed for analyzing fMRI datasets to select true active voxels among all the voxels appear to be positively activated. Finding a reliable and valid activation map is very important and becomes more crucial in clinical and neurosurgical investigations of single fMRI data, especially when pre-surgical planning requires accurate lateralization index as well as a precise localization of activation map.Defining a proper threshold to determine true activated regions, using common statistical processes, is a challenging task. This is due to a number of variation sources such as noise, artifacts, and physiological fluctuations in time series of fMRI data which affect spatial distribution of noise in an expected uniform activated region. Spatial smoothing methods are frequently used as a preprocessing step to reduce the effect of noise and artifacts. The smoothing may lead to a shift and enlargement of activation regions, and in some extend, unification of distinct regions.In this article, we propose a bootstrap resampling technique for analyzing single fMRI dataset with the aim of finding more accurate and reliable activated regions. This method can remove false positive voxels and present high localization accuracy in activation map without any spatial smoothing and statistical threshold setting.     

Efficient synthesis of new functionalized 2-(alkylamino)-3-nitro-4-(aryl)-4H-benzo[g]chromene-5,10-dione

Molecular Diversity - Structurally diverse benzo[g]chromenes were conveniently synthesized by one-pot, multi-component reaction of N-alkyl-1-(methylthio)-2-nitroethenamine (derived from the...     

Proton transfer process in synthesis of 3-acetyl-4-(substituted ethylenyl)coumarins and chromeno[3,4-c]pyridines

The triphenylphosphine mediated reactions of electron-deficient carbon-carbon triple bonds with 3-acetylcoumarins in dichloromethane afford functionalized 3-acetyl-4-(substituted ethylenyl)coumarins. Also, triphenylphosphine-catalyzed three-component cascade annulation reactions of 3-acetylcoumarins, activated acetylenic compounds, and hydrazines or amines provide a straightforward access to 3,5-dihydro-2H-chromeno[3,4-c]pyridine-1,2-dicarboxylates. In these strategies, the main step to the target products is proton transfer process. All products were obtained in good to high yields.     

Synthesis of new TCH/Ni‐based nanocomposite supported on SBA‐15 and its catalytic application for preparation of benzimidazole and perimidine derivatives

A stable nickel‐decorated SBA‐15 nanocomposite (Ni/TCH@SBA‐15) was synthesized through surface modification of silica nanoparticles with 3‐chloropropyltriethoxysilane (CPTES) and thiocarbohydrazide (TCH) followed by metal–ligand coordination with Ni (II). The structure of this organometallic nanocomposite was characterized by Fourier transform‐infrared, field emission‐scanning electron microscopy, EDAX, transmission electron microscopy, atomic absorption spectroscopy and N₂ adsorption–desorption (Brunauer–Emmett–Teller) techniques. The catalytic performance of Ni/TCH@SBA‐15 (NNTS‐15) was determined for the synthesis of 2‐aryl‐substituted benzimidazoles and 2,3‐dihydroperimidines. The excellent yields within shorter reaction times, simplicity of catalytic methods, non‐toxicity and clean reactions, mild reaction conditions and easy work‐up procedure are the important merits of these synthetic protocols. Moreover, the Ni (II) bonded to the SBA‐15 surface was stable under the catalytic reaction conditions resulting in its efficient recycling and reuse.     

Magnetic molecularly imprinted polymer for the efficient and selective preconcentration of diazinon before its determination by high‐performance liquid chromatography

A molecularly imprinted polymer was selectively applied for solid‐phase extraction and diazinon residues enrichment before high‐performance liquid chromatography. Diazinon was thermally copolymerized with Fe₃O₄@polyethyleneglycol nanoparticles, methacrylic acid (functional monomer), 2‐hydroxyethyl methacrylate (co‐monomer), and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (cross‐linking monomer) in the presence of acetonitrile (porogen) and 2,2‐azobisisobutyronitrile (initiator). Then, the imprinted diazinon was reproducibly eluted with methanol/acetic acid (9:1, v/v). The sorbent particles were characterized by X‐ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. The comprehensive study of variables through experimental design showed that the maximum performance was achieved under these conditions: pH 7, 10 mL sample volume, 15 mg sorbent, 10 min vortex time, 5 min ultrasonic time, 200 μL methanol/acetic acid (9:1, v/v) as eluent, and 5 min desorption time. Under optimized conditions, the molecularly imprinted polymer solid‐phase extraction method demonstrated a linear range (0.02–5 g/mL), a correlation coefficient of 0.997, and 0.005 g/mL detection limit.     

Highly Convergent One‐Pot Four‐Component Regioselective Synthesis of Spiro‐pyranopyrazoles and Oxa‐aza‐[3.3.3]propellanes

A concise and efficient route for the synthesis of spiro‐pyranopyrazoles and oxa‐aza‐[3.3.3]propellanes by simple regioselective multicomponent reaction of ninhydrin, malononitrile, hydrazine derivatives, and β‐keto esters or dimethyl acetylenedicarboxylate was developed. This protocol provides an alternative method for combinatorial and parallel syntheses in drug discovery. The value of this method lies in its simplicity, regioselectivity, and good yields. The structures of 3 and 4 were corroborated spectroscopically (IR, ¹H‐ and ¹³C‐NMR, and EI‐MS). A plausible mechanism for this type of reaction is proposed (Schemes 2 and 3).