Impaired adult olfactory bulb neurogenesis in the R6/2 mouse model of Huntington's disease

Background  

Huntington's disease (HD) is an autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disorder linked to expanded CAG-triplet nucleotide repeats within the huntingtin gene. Intracellular huntingtin aggregates are present in neurons of distinct brain areas, among them regions of adult neurogenesis including the hippocampus and the subventricular zone/olfactory bulb system. Previously, reduced hippocampal neurogenesis has been detected in transgenic rodent models of HD. Therefore, we hypothesized that mutant huntingtin also affects newly generated neurons derived from the subventricular zone of adult R6/2 HD mice.     

Pd-Xantphos-catalyzed direct arylation of nucleosides

Direct arylation of the exocyclic amino groups of nucleosides represents a simple approach to N-aryl nucleoside derivatives. To date, one limitation has been that only electron-deficient aryl bromides and triflates possessed adequate reactivity for efficient, direct N-arylation of nucleosides. We demonstrate herein that Pd-Xantphos catalytic systems lead to successful N-arylation of suitably protected 2'-deoxyadenosine and 2'-deoxyguanosine with a wide range of aryl bromides.     

From NEXAFS spectroscopy to new flat panel displays: A story of basic science with technological impact

The Twentieth NSRRC Users' Meeting was held successfully at the National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center (NSRRC) in Taiwan from September 10th to 12th, 2014. The three-day meeting was the first such event to be held at the newly furnished Activity Center on the NSRRC campus, celebrating 20 years since the first NSRRC Users' Meeting and highlighting the prospective scientific frontiers marked by the newly established Taiwan Photon Source (TPS) storage ring.     

Influence of 120 MeV Si9+ ion irradiation on ZnTe semiconductor thin films

ABSTRACT

ZnTe (Zinc Telluride) is a potential semiconducting material for many optoelectronic devices like solar cells and back contact material for CdTe-based solar cells. In the present study, ZnTe thin films were prepared by thermal evaporation technique and then irradiated with 120?MeV Si⁹⁺ ions at different fluences. These films are characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and UV–Visible spectroscopy techniques. XRD study confirms increased crystallinity and grain growth for post-irradiated ZnTe thin films for fluences, up to 1?×?10¹¹ ions cm^?2. However, the grain size and crystallinity decreased for higher fluence-exposed samples. SEM images confirm the observed structural properties. Modification of the surface morphology of the film due to the ion irradiation with different fluences is studied. Optical band gap of film is decreased from 2.31?eV (pristine) to 2.17?eV after irradiation of Si⁹⁺ ions.     

Intramolecular Heck reaction: A facile sequential one-pot synthesis of 1,2,3,4-tetrahydrobenzo[b][1,6]naphthyridines

A simple and convenient sequential one-pot synthesis of 1,2,3,4-tetrahydrobenzo[b][1,6] naphthyridines has been developed. The reductive amination of 2-chloro-3-formylquinolines with various amines in the presence of sodium borohydride provided the corresponding secondary amines in high yields. Further, a sequential one-pot reaction involving N-allylation and intramolecular Heck type 6-exo-trig cyclization was performed on the secondary amines to afford a range of desired 1,2,3,4-tetrahydrobenzo[b][1,6]-naphthyridine derivatives in good to high yields.     

Gelation of covalently edge-modified laponites in aqueous media. 1. rheology and nuclear magnetic resonance

We describe the covalent modification of the edges of laponite with organic groups and the influence of this modification on gelation behavior. We compare three materials: an unmodified laponite, a laponite edge modified with a trimethyl moiety (MLap), and an octyldimethyl moiety (OLap). Gelation is investigated using rheology and NMR T1 relaxation measurements and nuclear Overhauser enhancement spectroscopy (NOESY). MLap and OLap show qualitatively different gelation. Gelation of MLap is very similar to laponite: MLap gels over the same time scale as laponite and has about the same solid modulus, and the MLap gel is almost as transparent as laponite. In contrast, OLap gels rapidly relative to laponite and forms a weak, turbid gel. We believe that gelation in laponite and MLap results from the formation of a network of well-dispersed platelets (or a few platelets), while in OLap, gelation results from a network of stacks of several platelets. NMR relaxation measurements indicate that gelation does not affect the average relaxation of water protons. However, T1 increases marginally for the protons in the organic moieties in MLap and decreases for protons in the organic moieties in OLap. Relaxation measurements, analyses of line width, and NOESY taken together suggest that, in OLap, gelation is a consequence of association of the organic moieties on the laponite edges, and that this association strengthens with time. Thus, the time-dependent changes in NMR suggest a structural origin for the time-dependent changes in the rheological behavior.     

Tetranuclear manganese (III) salicylaldoxime ensemble

Crystal structure of {[Mn(salicylaldoximeH)(salicylaldoxime)]₄} · 3CHCl₃ 1 formed by the interaction of MnCl₂ · 4H₂O and salicylaldoxime in a 1:1 ratio is described. The compound crystallizes in the orthorhombic space group Pbca (No 61) with the lattice parameters; a = 27.769 (3), b = 22.672 (2), c = 21.650 (2) Å, V = 13630 (2) Å³, Z = 8, R ₁ = 0.0776, wR ₂ = 0.2356, S = 1.164. The cluster with four Mn (III) centers formed by four terminal and four bridging salicylaldoxime ligands results in a central rotating wheel-like core with the Mn–Mn separation varying from 3.531 to 3.576 Å and with the diagonal distances being 4.156–4.165 Å. Four intramolecular H-bonds between a terminal oxime (NOH) group and the adjacent phenolate oxygen atom of another ligand stabilize the structure of the cluster. Spectral, magnetic, and cyclic voltammetry studies corroborate a stable Mn (III) tetramer.     

Outstanding Quadratic to Septic Optical Nonlinearity at Dipolar Alkynylmetal-Porphyrin Hybrids

Porphyrins are important macrocycles with applications in several areas including therapy, catalysis, and sensing. Strong nonlinear optical (NLO) responses are the key to fully exploiting the potential of these biocompatible molecules. We herein report that certain metal-alkynyl donor/nitro acceptor-functionalized porphyrins are attractive candidates for NLO applications. We show that specific examples exhibit record quadratic optical nonlinearity, exceptional two-photon absorption, and outstanding three-photon absorption, and we report the first porphyrins that exhibit four-photon absorption. The two-, three-, and four-photon absorption maxima are found at the corresponding multiples of linear absorption bands that time-dependent density functional theory assigns as admixtures of porphyrin-localized π*←π and donor-porphyrin to porphyrin-acceptor charge-transfer transitions.     

Synthesis and structural studies of arene ruthenium and Cp*Rh/Cp*Ir complexes containing pyridylpyrazole- and pyridylthiazole-based ligands

The reactions of [(arene)RuCl₂]₂ (arene = p-cymene or benzene) and [Cp*MCl₂]₂ (M = Rh or Ir) with N,N′-bidentate chelating ligands 2-[3-(2-pyridyl)pyrazolyl]pyrimidine (L1) and 4-phenyl-(2-pyridyl)thiazole (L2) leads to the formation of mononuclear complexes of general formula [(arene)/Cp*M(L)Cl]PF₆. Eight such complexes have been prepared and characterized by spectroscopic techniques. In addition, five of the complexes were also characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. These complexes have typical piano-stool geometries around the metal center, with five-membered metellacycles in which L1 and L2 both act as N,N′-chelating ligands. Moreover, L1 prefers to coordinate through its pyrimidine and pyrazolyl nitrogen atoms, rather than the pyridine nitrogen.     

A comparison of different powder compaction processes adopted for synthesis of lead-free piezoelectric ceramics

Barium zirconium titanate, Ba(Zr_0.15Ti_0.85)O₃ nano-crystalline powders were synthesized using highenergy ball milling. The calcined powders were compacted adopting two different approachesviz. the conventional uniaxial pressing and cold-isostatic pressing (CIP) and the compactswere sintered at 1350 °C. Asingle phase perovskite structure was observed in both cases. BZT ceramics compacted usingCIP technique exhibited enhanced dielectric and ferroelectric properties compared toceramics compacted by uniaxial pressing. The polarization current peaks have been used inthis paper as an experimental evidence to prove the existence of ferroelectricity in theBZT ceramics under study. The peak polarization current was found to be ~700% higher in case of coldiso-statically compacted ceramics. Similarly electric field induces strain showed amaximum strain (S_max) of 0.08% at an electric fieldof 28 kV/cm. The dielectric and ferroelectric properties observed are comparable to singlecrystals of the same material.