Synthesis of Benzofurans by the Action of Copper on Terminal Alkynes and O-Halophenols

Cuprous acetylides react with aryl halides to yield aryl acetylenes and with o-halophenols to give benzofurans.^1,2 The broad scope of this latter reaction for the synthesis of benzofuran natural products is shown by application inter alia to norlignans,³ euparinoids,⁴ phytoalexins,⁵ furanocoumarins,⁶ fomannoxin,⁷ isotubaic acid⁸ and machicendiol.     

A feasibility study of X‐ray phase‐contrast mammographic tomography at the Imaging and Medical beamline of the Australian Synchrotron

Results are presented of a recent experiment at the Imaging and Medical beamline of the Australian Synchrotron intended to contribute to the implementation of low‐dose high‐sensitivity three‐dimensional mammographic phase‐contrast imaging, initially at synchrotrons and subsequently in hospitals and medical imaging clinics. The effect of such imaging parameters as X‐ray energy, source size, detector resolution, sample‐to‐detector distance, scanning and data processing strategies in the case of propagation‐based phase‐contrast computed tomography (CT) have been tested, quantified, evaluated and optimized using a plastic phantom simulating relevant breast‐tissue characteristics. Analysis of the data collected using a Hamamatsu CMOS Flat Panel Sensor, with a pixel size of 100 µm, revealed the presence of propagation‐based phase contrast and demonstrated significant improvement of the quality of phase‐contrast CT imaging compared with conventional (absorption‐based) CT, at medically acceptable radiation doses.     

Optimization and the ultimate convergence of QCD perturbation theory

I suggest that QCD perturbation theory can be convergent, and that “optimization” of the renormalization scheme choice is essential in achieving this. Arguing that higher orders probe shorter distances, I suggest that the effective expansion parameter (the “optimized” couplant) decreases at high orders, leading to an induced convergence. The mechanism is illustrated by a simple mathematical example. The point is that, even if the perturbation series is divergent in all fixed renormalization schemes, the sequence of “optimized” approximations may still converge. It is emphasized that the limit approached by perturbation theory, if any, will not be the exact result of the full theory. Allegations that QCD series are not Borel-summable are critically re-examined in this light.     

Some effects of tyre tread and road surface on road noise

A complex dynamic system can often be modeled in terms of coupled basic dynamic systems. A basic dynamic system is a system whose response can be specified in terms of a scalar quantity. A general formalism, dealing with the response of a complex dynamic system, is developed. The formalism spans several previous formalisms and encompasses new material that has not been previously considered, e.g., direct couplings between the ribs on a panel. The format is chosen so that it provides for consideration of elements of the statistical energy analysis (SEA). Thus, for example, the expression for the frequency spectral power flow between two basic dynamic systems is derived and cast in a modal form. In particular, various conditions and approximations under which cross modal terms vanish in the expression are specified and interpreted. Modal densities are defined and used to obtain further reductions in the expression for the power flow between two multimodal basic dynamic systems.     

A transient experiment to measure the diffusive permeability of hollow fiber membranes

A precise and rapid transient diffusion experiment has been developed to measure the diffusive permeability of hollow fibers. In this experiment a sealed hollow fiber containing a radioactive solute is exposed sequentially to several well-stirred solute-free reservoirs. This method was used to measure the diffusive permeability of collagen and Cuprophan hollow fibers in an isotonic saline solution for a spectrum of ¹⁴C labelled solutes: urea, sucrose and polyethylene glycol (PEG). To study the effect of environment on membrane permeability, collagen membranes were investigated with urea, sucrose and tritiated water in the following solutions with varying ionic strength and hydrogen ion concentration: pH2 HCl, distilled water and pH2 HCl with 0.8 M NaCl.In each environment, the membranes showed the expected decreases in diffusive permeaability with increasing molecular weight. Collagen membranes ranged from 4 (urea) to 40 (PEG) times the permeability of Cuprophan membranes. The Cuprophan data are consistent with results obtained elsewhere using scaled-down dialyzers. In response to environmental changes, the diffusive permeability of collagen membranes changed overall by a factor of 3 with the following rank: pH 2 HCl > distilled water > pH2 HCl and 0.8 M NaCl. The hydraulic permeability of these membranes changed by a factor of 2 but in a different order pH2 HCl > pH2 HCl and 0.8 M NaCl > distilled water. These permeability changes can be explained in terms of the known environmental dependence for the structure of collagen membranes and have been shown to be consistent with trends predicted by simple transport models.     

Comments on the Sterman-Weinberg jet formula

A simple derivation of the Sterman-Weinberg jet formula (the QCD perturbation theory formula for the 2-jet cross section) is described. Conditions on the jet parameters ? and δ for this formula to be applicable are discussed and the corrections to the formula up to O(?²), O(δ²) are presented.     

Discovery of structurally diverse natural product antagonists of chemokine receptor CXCR3

The chemokines (CXCL9, CXCL10 and CXCL11) and associated CXCR3 receptor are expressed during the inflammatory process from multiple sclerosis, atherosclerosis or organ transplantation resulting in the recruitment of lymphocytes leading to tissue damage. It is hypothesized that blocking of the ligand/CXCR3 receptor interaction has potential to provide opportunity for development of agents that would block tissue rejection. In this paper, four classes of natural product inhibitors (IC₅₀ ranging 0.1–41 M) have been described that block the CXCR3 receptor interaction of IP-10 ligand. These include a cyclic thiopeptide (duramycin), polyketide glycosides (roselipins), steroidal glycosides (hypoglausin A and dioscin) and a novel alkyl pyridinium alkaloid that were isolated by bioassay-guided fractionation of the organic extracts derived from actinomycete, fungal, plant and marine sources and discovered using ¹²⁵ I IP-10/CXCR3 binding assay. Duramycin was the most potent with an IC₅₀ of 0.1 M. Roselipins 2A, 2B and 1A showed IC₅₀ values of 14.6, 23.5, and 41 M, respectively. Diosgenin glycosides dioscin, hypoglaucin A and kallstroemin D exhibited IC₅₀ values of 2.1, 0.47 and 3 M, respectively. A novel cyclic 3-alkyl pyridinium salt isolated from a sponge displayed a binding IC₅₀ of 0.67 M.     

Bundle Gerbes for Chern-Simons and Wess-Zumino-Witten Theories

We develop the theory of Chern-Simons bundle 2-gerbes and multiplicative bundle gerbes associated to any principal G-bundle with connection and a class in H⁴(BG, ℤ) for a compact semi-simple Lie group G. The Chern-Simons bundle 2-gerbe realises differential geometrically the Cheeger-Simons invariant. We apply these notions to refine the Dijkgraaf-Witten correspondence between three dimensional Chern-Simons functionals and Wess-Zumino-Witten models associated to the group G. We do this by introducing a lifting to the level of bundle gerbes of the natural map from H⁴(BG, ℤ) to H³(G, ℤ). The notion of a multiplicative bundle gerbe accounts geometrically for the subtleties in this correspondence for non-simply connected Lie groups. The implications for Wess-Zumino-Witten models are also discussed.The authors acknowledge the support of the Australian Research Council. ALC thanks MPI für Mathematik in Bonn and ESI in Vienna and BLW thanks CMA of Australian National University for their hospitality during part of the writing of this paper.