Modified INOvent for delivery of inhaled nitric oxide during cardiac MRI

Background

The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility of delivering NO through a modified system to allow clearance of the magnetic field and thus compatibility with cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR). Nitric oxide (NO) is an inhalational, selective pulmonary vasodilator with a wide range of applications in a variety of disease states, including diseases that affect the right ventricle. Accurate assessment of dynamic changes in right ventricular function necessitates CMR; however, delivery of NO is only possible using equipment that is not magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) compatible (INOvent delivery system, Ohmeda, Inc., Madison, WI, USA).

Methods

The INOvent delivery system was modified by using 35 ft. of standard oxygen tubing to allow NO delivery through an electrical conduit and into the MRI suite. The concentrations of oxygen (O₂), nitrogen dioxide (a harmful byproduct, NO₂) and NO were measured in triplicate using the built-in electrochemical analyzer on the INOvent. After confirmation of safety, the system was used to administer drug to a patient x, and dynamic MRI measurements were performed.

Results

When the standard INOvent was set to administer 40 ppm of NO, the mean/standard deviation of gas delivered was as follows: NO: 42/0 ppm; NO₂: 0.3/0.1 ppm; and O₂: 93/0 ppm. In comparison, the gas delivery of the modified INOvent was follows: NO: 41/0 ppm; NO₂: 0.5/0 ppm; and O₂: 93.7/0.6 ppm. During administration to an index patient with severe pulmonic insufficiency (PI), a measurable reduction in PI was observed by CMR.

Conclusions

Nitric oxide can be administered through 35 ft. of standard oxygen tubing without significantly affecting dose delivery. This technique has potential application in patients with right-sided structural heart disease for determination of dynamic physiological changes.     

A self-heating cartridge for molecular diagnostics

A disposable, water-activated, self-heating, easy-to-use, polymeric cartridge for isothermal nucleic acid amplification and visual fluorescent detection of the amplification products is described. The device is self-contained and does not require any special instruments to operate. The cartridge integrates chemical, water-triggered, exothermic heating with temperature regulation facilitated with a phase-change material (PCM) and isothermal nucleic acid amplification. The water flows into the exothermic reactor by wicking through a porous paper. The porous paper's characteristics control the rate of water supply, which in turn controls the rate of exothermic reaction. The PCM material enables the cartridge to maintain a desired temperature independent of ambient temperatures in the range between 20 °C and 40 °C. The utility of the cartridge is demonstrated by amplifying and detecting Escherichia coli DNA with loop mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP). The device can detect consistently as few as 10 target molecules in the sample. With proper modifications, the cartridge also can work with other isothermal nucleic acid amplification technologies for detecting nucleic acids associated with various pathogens borne in blood, saliva, urine, and other body fluids as well as in water and food. The device is suitable for use at home, in the field, and in poor-resource settings, where access to sophisticated laboratories is impractical, unaffordable, or nonexistent.     

Model theory of operator algebras II: model theory

We introduce a version of logic for metric structures suitable for applications to C*-algebras and tracial von Neumann algebras. We also prove a purely model-theoretic result to the effect that the theory of a separable metric structure is stable if and only if all of its ultrapowers associated with nonprincipal ultrafilters on ? are isomorphic even when the Continuum Hypothesis fails.     

PHASE TRANSITIONS IN COLLOIDAL SYSTEMS PART I: REFRACTOMETRIC STUDY OF THE BINARY SYSTEM SDS+WATER OR PENTANOL-1+WATER AND THE TERNARY SYSTEM WATER+SDS+PENTANOL-1 AT 298.15 K.

The monophasic ranges for the binary systems water+SDS and water+pentanoM and for the ternary system water+SDS+pentanoM has been studied by means of refractametric experiments at 298 K.

The curves of refractometric index versus the composition of the system, has shown the existence of several transitions labeled successive critic micellar concentrations. These transitions are detected by a change of the variation of the refractive index.

We have evidenced the very importance of the pentanol-1 in these amphiphilic solutions, acting as a surfactant or as an oil according the concentration.

For these systems it is passible to better understand the phase inversion phenomena.

At last, we present the phase diagram indicating the concentration range of the different microstructures.     

Method development for the determination of wood preservatives in commercially treated wood using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

Fungicides and insecticides are commonly used preservatives to protect wood products against microbiological degradations. Currently, there is a lack of analytical methods addressing the quantitative determination of a wide range of wood preserving species in wood matrices. In this study, a reliable method was developed for the determination of a mixture of wood preserving agents with differing chemical structures (i.e., properties), including tebuconazole (TAZ), propiconazole (PAZ), 3-iodo-2-propynyl butylcarbamate (IPBC), and permethrin (PER), in pine wood. The analyte recoveries obtained by Soxhlet and multiple-stage sonication extractions were compared. While both extraction methods yielded similar results (80–100%), Soxhlet extraction was found to be less labor-intensive and thus preferred providing also lower RSDs of 1–6%. In comparison to methanol, commonly used as an extraction solvent for triazoles, acetone yielded similar extraction efficiencies for all analytes while reducing the time of sample concentration. The solid phase extraction method for triazoles was adapted to allow for a separation of IPBC and PER from the wood matrix. As opposed to previous studies, three recovery standards were employed, which enabled the correction of individual analyte losses during the sample preparation. The matrix-affected limits of detection (LODs) using gas chromatography with mass spectrometric detection were nearly the same for triazoles 0.07 and 0.21 ng g⁻¹ for PAZ and TAZ in sapwood and 0.18 and 0.21 ng g⁻¹ in heartwood, respectively. Higher LODs were observed for IPBC and PER: 3.9 and 1.7 ng g⁻¹ in sapwood, and 2.0 and 6.0 ng g⁻¹ in heartwood, respectively. The recoveries in the wood submitted to commercial sample treatment showed gradient distribution of analytes depending on the penetration of the treatment.     

Optical coherence refractometry

We introduce a novel approach to refractometry using a low coherence interferometer at multiple angles of incidence. We show that for plane parallel samples it is possible to measure their phase refractive index rather than the group index that is usually measured by interferometric methods. This is a significant development because it enables bulk refractive index measurement of scattering and soft samples, not relying on surface measurements that can be prone to error. Our technique is also noncontact and compatible with in situ refractive index measurements. Here, we demonstrate this new technique on a pure silica test piece and a highly scattering resin slab, comparing the results with standard critical angle refractometry.     

A Bayesian Motivated Two-Sample Test Based on Kernel Density Estimates

A new nonparametric test of equality of two densities is investigated. The test statistic is an average of log-Bayes factors, each of which is constructed from a kernel density estimate. Prior densities for the bandwidths of the kernel estimates are required, and it is shown how to choose priors so that the log-Bayes factors can be calculated exactly. Critical values of the test statistic are determined by a permutation distribution, conditional on the data. An attractive property of the methodology is that a critical value of 0 leads to a test for which both type I and II error probabilities tend to 0 as sample sizes tend to ∞. Existing results on Kullback–Leibler loss of kernel estimates are crucial to obtaining these asymptotic results, and also imply that the proposed test works best with heavy-tailed kernels. Finite sample characteristics of the test are studied via simulation, and extensions to multivariate data are straightforward, as illustrated by an application to bivariate connectionist data.     

Covalent Template-Directed Synthesis of a Spoked 18-Porphyrin Nanoring**

Rings of porphyrins mimic natural light-harvesting chlorophyll arrays and offer insights into electronic delocalization, providing a motivation for creating larger nanorings with closely spaced porphyrin units. Here, we demonstrate the first synthesis of a macrocycle consisting entirely of 5,15-linked porphyrins. This porphyrin octadecamer was constructed using a covalent six-armed template, made by cobalt-catalyzed cyclotrimerization of an H-shaped tolan with porphyrin trimer ends. The porphyrins around the circumference of the nanoring were linked together by intramolecular oxidative meso-meso coupling and partial β-β fusion, to give a nanoring consisting of six edge-fused zinc(II) porphyrin dimer units and six un-fused nickel(II) porphyrins. STM imaging on a gold surface confirms the size and shape of the spoked 18-porphyrin nanoring (calculated diameter: 4.7 nm).     

ChemInform Abstract: β-Dicobalt Pyrophosphate.

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