Application of spectroscopic imaging in epilepsy

Functional and anatomical neuroimaging has had a dramatic effect on the evaluation of patients for seizure surgery. The demonstration by PET that the epileptogenic focus has interictal metabolic abnormalities has allowed a greater number of patients to come to seizure surgery, with fewer of these patients requiring intracranial electrode evaluations. Metabolic changes have also been demonstrated utilizing single voxel and whole brain ¹H and ³¹P MRS imaging techniques with the interictal focus characterized by increased Pi, pH, and decreased PME and NAA. These findings can be used to accurately lateralize temporal lobe as well as frontal lobe epilepsy. Furthermore, there is evidence that these findings can be used to localize the seizure focus with the changes specific for the epileptogenic region; although, more diffuse changes both ipsilaterally and contralaterally have been seen. In patients with anterior hippocampal seizure foci the pH is significantly alkaline only in the ipsilateral hippocampus, whereas the increased Pi and decreased PME can be seen throughout the ipsilateral temporal lobe. When compared to controls the contralateral hemisphere is acidotic. Decreased NAA concentrations as well as NAA/Cr ratios have been demonstrated in the epileptogenic region in temporal and frontal lobe epilepsy. The decreased NAA has been correlated with the severity of cell loss, and may be a more sensitive measure than qualitative or quantitative measures of the hippocampal atrophy; however, the NAA decrease is more widespread than just the epileptogenic focus but may be maximal at the site of seizure initiation. In preliminary work, NAA maps of deviation from normality have suggested the maximal change to coincide with the epileptogenic region. These results suggest that in focal epilepsy there is abnormal metabolic activity throughout the brain detectable by MRS, with patterns of metabolic asymmetry that are useful for seizure localization.     

A Kinetic Spectrophotometric Method to Determine the Insecticide Methyl Parathion in Commercial Formulations and the Aqueous Environment

Abstract

A simple kinetic-spectrophotometric method for the analysis of the organophosphate insecticide methyl parathien is presented. The method is based on the alkaline hydrolysis of the insecticide into its main metabolite p-nitrophenol. The influence of reaction variables (pH and temperature), and the effect of other pesticides, are discussed. The calibration graphs (initial rate, fixed time, fixed absorbance) were linear from 2 to 30μg/ml. The precision was calculated for the different methods applied, the relative standard deviation being 6.25% for 4μg/ml.

The proposed kinetic method can be applied directly to synthetic mixtures, commercial formulations and different aqueous environment, with recoveries close to 100%.     

A New Synthesis of the Pyrido[2,3-d]Pyrimidine Ring System

Pyrido[2,3-d]pyrimidine derivatives are of chemotherapeutic interest since they have been shown¹ to act as inhibitors of dihydrofolate reductase and also because of their reported² anti-tumor activity. In view of the important biological implications of this ring system, we have investigated a new route to these substances. This paper details a simple and efficient route to the previously unknown 7-amino-1,3-dimethylpyrido[2,3-d]pyrimidine-2,4-dione (I).     

Chiralization in mesogenic 1,3-diacylaminobenzenes

The effect of molecular chirality in thermotropic mesomorphic H-bonded polymeric systems has not really been investigated so far. Therefore, five new chiral mesogenic diamides have been prepared and described. Besides more ordered mesophases, the enantiomers exhibit a chiral nematic polymorphism detected by microcalorimetry and probably corresponding to different modes of chiral coiling to give these singular twisted nematic phases.     

Binding Study of the [Ru(NH3)5pz]2+ Complex to Bile Anion Aggregates through Kinetic Measurements

The electron transfer reaction between [Ru(NH₃)₅pz]²⁺ and [Co(C₂O₄)₃]^3? was studied in the presence of monomers and aggregates of bile salts (sodium deoxycholate, sodium taurodeoxycholate, and sodium glycocholate) at 298.2 ± 0.1 K. The results show a decreasing rate constant with the successive addition of bile salts. To rationalize the trends of the reaction rate on the [bile salts], two models were used. One of them takes into account the aggregation feature by considering a stepwise self‐association between monomers, whereas the other assumes the formation of a critical micellar concentration. Binding constants between [Ru(NH₃)₅pz]²⁺ species and deoxycholate or taurodeoxycholate aggregates were higher than that for glycocholate aggregates. These results are consistent with the way in which the monomers are added to form the bile anion aggregates.     

Experimental characterization of dielectric-loaded plasmonic waveguide-racetrack resonators at near-infrared wavelengths

Dielectric-loaded plasmonic waveguide-racetrack resonators (WRTRs) were designed and fabricated for operating at near-infrared wavelengths (750–850 nm) and characterized using leakage radiation microscopy. The transmission spectra of the WRTRs are found experimentally and compared to the calculated analytical expression. The wavelength-dependent parameters of the analytical expression, i.e. the propagation length and effective-index dispersion, were also estimated experimentally by leakage radiation imaging of direct and Fourier space, respectively. The fabricated structures exhibited high extinction ratio (～20 dB) and good agreement between calculated and measured transmission values.     

Synthesis of 6-Ami NO-5-Nitro-4-Thi Oxopyri Mi Dines

The synthesis of 6-ami no-5-nitro-4-thioxo-pyrimidines starting from the C-adducts of nitro-keteneaminals and acyl isothiocyanates is described.