Functional MRI changes in the central motor system in myotonic dystrophy type 1

Myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1) is a multisystemic disease involving multiple organ systems including central nervous system (CNS) and muscles. Few studies have focused on the central motor system in DM1, pointing to a subclinical abnormality in the CNS. The aim of our study was to investigate patterns of cerebral activation in DM1 during a motor task using functional MRI (fMRI). Fifteen DM1 patients, aged 20 to 59 years, and 15 controls of comparable age were scanned during a self-paced sequential finger-to-thumb opposition task of their dominant right hand. Functional MRI images were analyzed using SPM99. Patients underwent clinical and genetic assessment; all subjects underwent a conventional MR study. Myotonic dystrophy type 1 patients showed greater activation than controls in bilateral sensorimotor areas and inferior parietal lobules, basal ganglia and thalami, in the ipsilateral premotor area, insula and supplementary motor area (corrected P<.05). Analysis of the interaction between disease and age showed that correlation with age was significantly greater in patients than in controls in bilateral sensorimotor areas and in contralateral parietal areas. Other clinical and MR characteristics did not correlate with fMRI. Functional changes in DM1 may represent compensatory mechanisms such as reorganization and redistribution of functional networks to compensate for ultrastructural and neurochemical changes occurring as part of the accelerated aging process.     

Genesis of a highly active cerium oxide-supported gold catalyst for CO oxidation

X-Ray absorption spectra show that a CeO(2)-supported CO oxidation catalyst prepared from Au(III)(CH(3))(2)(C(5)H(7)O(2)) initially incorporated Au(III) complexes that were catalytically active at 353 K; during operation in a flow reactor, the gold aggregated into clusters and the catalytic activity increased.     

Structural Elucidation of Selective Solvatochromism in a Responsive-at-Metal Cyclometalated Platinum(II) Complex

We report the synthesis, characterization, and spectroscopic investigations of a new responsive-at-metal cyclometalated platinum(II) complex. With mild chemical oxidants and reductants, it was possible to obtain the same complex in three different oxidation states and each of these complexes was structurally characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. We discovered that the platinum(II) complex displays strong solvatochromism in the solid state, which can be attributed to modulation of Pt⋅⋅⋅Pt interactions that results in switching between optical and photoluminescent states. Incorporating responsive-at-metal species as dynamic components in nanostructured materials might facilitate response amplification, sensing, actuation, or self-healing processes.     

Raman fingerprint of chromate,aluminate and ferrite spinels

Synthetic and natural spinel single crystals having compositions closely approaching spinel end‐members ZnCr₂O₄, MgCr₂O₄, FeCr₂O₄, ZnAl₂O₄, MgAl₂O₄, CoAl₂O₄, FeAl₂O₄, MnAl₂O₄, MgFe₂O₄, and FeFe₂O₄ were investigated by Raman spectroscopy in the 100–900 cm⁻¹ range using both the red 632.8 nm line of a He‐Ne laser and the blue 473.1 nm line of a solid‐state Nd : YAG laser. Each end‐member exhibits a Raman fingerprint with at least one peculiar peak in terms of Raman shift and relative intensity. Chromates and ferrites exhibit the most intense A_1g mode at around 680 cm⁻¹, at lower wavenumbers than in the aluminates, in agreement with the heavier atomic mass of Cr and Fe with respect to Al. For aluminate spinels, the most intense and diagnostic peaks in the spectrum are as follows: F_2g(1) at 202 cm⁻¹ for MnAl₂O₄, E_g at 408 cm⁻¹ for MgAl₂O₄, F_2g(2) at 516 cm⁻¹ for CoAl₂O₄, F_2g(3) at 661 cm⁻¹ for ZnAl₂O₄, and A_1g at 748 cm⁻¹ for FeAl₂O₄. Noteworthy, analyzing the A_1g, F_2g(3), and, in particular, the E_g peak positions, it is possible to establish which subgroup a spinel belongs to; moreover, a careful inspection of both position and relative intensity of the same peaks allows the determination of the end‐member type. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Number 83

Reviews are listed in order of appearance in the sources indicated. In multidisciplinary review journals, only those reviews which fall within the scope of this Journal are included. Sources are listed alphabetically in three categories: regularly issued review journals and series volumes, contributed volumes, and other monographs. Titles are numbered serially, and these numbers are used for reference in the index. Major English-language sources of critical reviews are covered. Encyclopedic treatises, annual surveys such as Specialist Periodical Reports, and compilations of symposia proceedings are omitted. This installment of Recent Reviews covers principally the middle part of the 2006 literature. Previous installment: J. Org. Chem. 2006, 71(20), 7923-30.     

On semilinear elliptic equations with borderline Hardy potentials

In this paper, we study the asymptotic behavior of solutions of an elliptic equation near the singularity of an inverse square potential with a coefficient related to the best constant for the Hardy inequality. Due to the presence of a borderline Hardy potential, a proper variational setting has to be introduced in order to provide a weak formulation of the equation. An Almgren-type monotonicity formula is used to determine the exact asymptotic behavior of solutions.     

Sharp essential self-adjointness of relativistic Schrödinger operators with a singular potential

This paper is devoted to the study of essential self-adjointness of a relativistic Schrödinger operator with a singular homogeneous potential. From an explicit condition on the coefficient of the singular term, we provide a sufficient and necessary condition for essential self-adjointness.