Gadolinium-DTPA-enhanced MRI of intraocular tumors

The value of gadolinium-enhanced MRI in 30 patients with intraocular lesions has been evaluated. Seventeen patients had a uveal melanoma, two a ciliary body melanoma, three had uveal metastases, one lymphoma, four had senile macula degenerations, and three uveal nevi. Twelve of 17 patients with melanoma were followed up by MRI after ruthenium plaque therapy on 2–4 occasions. Melanomas showed high precontrast signal intensities and only a slight enhancement after intravenous Gd-DTPA was given. After ruthenium plaque therapy precontrast signal intensities (SI) decreased while a moderate signal increase on postcontrast scans was noted. Scars or tumor residues were better delineated on enhanced images. All other tumors than melanotic melanomas showed low SI on precontrast scans and a high signal increase after Gd-DTPA administration. Small amelanotic tumors were better delineated on postcontrast scans. In addition Gd-DTPA-enhanced MRI allowed differentiation between tumor and hemorrhage. No signal increase after Gd-DTPA application was seen in subretinal or vitreous hemorrhages of varying ages.     

Rheological behavior of PS-melts containing surface modified PMMA-particles

The rheological properties of polystyrene (PS) compounds containing cross-linked PMMA particles are characterized by oscillatory shear experiments, while the amount of covalently grafted carboxylic-acid terminated polystyrene (CT-PS) on their surface is varied. All samples show an additional relaxation process with a long relaxation time in the frequency range where the matrix flows. The strength of this process depends strongly on the amount of particles, i.e., on the degree of filling and, to the same extent, on the different “coverage” of the particles surface, i.e., the degree of grafting. For the highest degrees of filling and in dependence on the degree of grafting a particle network is formed which is characterized by an evolving equilibrium modulus. Moreover, compatibilization by grafting CT-PS onto the PMMA particles' surface reduces the strength of the additional relaxation process remarkably. This surprising effect is related qualitatively to the balance of the interaction between particles and the interaction between the particles and the matrix due to PS grafts. Some of these results can be understood quantitatively on the basis of the sticky hard-sphere model. Received: 3 January 2000 Accepted: 14 August 2000     

Calcium Bis[bis(trimethylsilyl)amino‐triethylgallate] — A Molecule with Ca‐C‐Ga Three‐Center Bonds

The reaction of calcium‐bis[bis(trimethylsilyl)amide] with two equivalents triethylgallium yields nearly quantitatively the addition product. In the solid state the calcium atoms are coordinated by two nitrogen atoms and two ethyl groups, whereas in solution all ethyl substituents are magnetically equivalent even at low temperatures. The Ca‐C‐Ga two‐electron three‐center bonds show mean Ca‐N and Ca‐C distances of 243 and 268 pm, respectively.     

Factorization and the soft overlap contribution to heavy-to-light form factors

Using the formalism of soft-collinear effective theory, a complete separation of short- and long-distance contributions to heavy-to-light transition form factors at large recoil is performed. The universal functions ζ_M(E) parameterizing the “soft overlap” contributions to the form factors are defined in terms of matrix elements in the effective theory. Endpoint configurations corresponding to kinematic situations where one of the valence partons in the external mesons carries very small momentum are accounted for in terms of operators involving soft-collinear messenger fields. They contribute at leading order in Λ_QCD/E and spoil factorization. An analysis of operator mixing and renormalization-group evolution in the effective theory reveals that the intermediate scale is without significance to the soft functions ζ_M(E), and that the soft overlap contribution does not receive a significant perturbative (Sudakov) suppression.     

Silica-supported l-proline organocatalysts for asymmetric aldolisation

New heterogenised silica-based organocatalysts have been prepared via the sol–gel process from two silylated derivatives of l-proline, featuring either a carbamate or an ether linker. Co-gelification with variable amounts of TEOS was performed with and without porogen to yield high surface area solids. These materials were evaluated as heterogeneous phase organocatalysts for the asymmetric aldol reaction of p-nitrobenzaldehyde with acetone.     

H-fields and their Liouville extensions

We introduce H-fields as ordered differential fields of a certain kind. Hardy fields extending , as well as the field of logarithmic-exponential series over are H-fields. We study Liouville extensions in the category of H-fields, as a step towards a model theory of H-fields. The main result is that an H-field has at most two Liouville closures. Received: 15 November 1999 / in final form: 19 December 2000 / Published online: 1 February 2002