Copper and iron interactions with angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors. A study by fast-atom bombardment tandem mass spectrometry

Fast atom bombardment, combined with high-energy collision-induced tandem mass spectrometry, has been used to investigate gas-phase metal-ion interactions with captopril, enalaprilat and lisinopril, all angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors.Suggestions for the location of metal-binding sites are presented. For captopril, metal binding occurs most likely at both the sulphur and the nitrogen atom. For enalaprilat and lisinopril, binding preferably occurs at the amine nitrogen. Copyright 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A nonrigid registration algorithm for longitudinal breast MR images and the analysis of breast tumor response

Dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) can estimate parameters relating to blood flow and tissue volume fractions and therefore may be used to characterize the response of breast tumors to treatment. To assess treatment response, values of these DCE-MRI parameters are observed at different time points during the course of treatment. We propose a method whereby DCE-MRI data sets obtained in separate imaging sessions can be co-registered to a common image space, thereby retaining spatial information so that serial DCE-MRI parameter maps can be compared on a voxel-by-voxel basis. In performing inter-session breast registration, one must account for patient repositioning and breast deformation, as well as changes in tumor shape and volume relative to other imaging sessions. One challenge is to optimally register the normal tissues while simultaneously preventing tumor distortion. We accomplish this by extending the adaptive bases algorithm through adding a tumor-volume preserving constraint in the cost function. We also propose a novel method to generate the simulated breast magnetic resonance (MR) images, which can be used to evaluate the proposed registration algorithm quantitatively. The proposed nonrigid registration algorithm is applied to both simulated and real longitudinal 3D high resolution MR images and the obtained transformations are then applied to lower resolution physiological parameter maps obtained via DCE-MRI. The registration results demonstrate the proposed algorithm can successfully register breast MR images acquired at different time points and allow for analysis of the registered parameter maps.     

Creating mixed Fe/Al coatings on planar gamma-Al2O3 surfaces

Insufficient understanding of the interactions of reactive phases (e.g., Fe and Al oxides) with minerals, other reactive phases and sorbing species has made predicting and modeling metal sorption on natural sediment surfaces difficult. This work develops a method to create mixed Fe/Al planar oxide surfaces by coating well-characterized planar gamma-Al2O3 with ferric iron. The objective is to closely control the Fe/Al ratio as well as the distribution of Fe on the planar surface. Effects of starting Fe(III) concentration, reaction time and number of coating sequences were examined using XPS and ToF-SIMS. No observable trend was seen in Fe/Al ratios by varying the starting Fe(III) concentration or reaction time. For both 4- and 14-day reactions, lower concentrations of Fe(III) produced oxide phases with a homogeneous distribution of Fe at the surface as detected by ToF-SIMS. ToF-SIMS Fe elemental maps of the oxide phases resulting from the highest Fe(III) concentration showed areas of localized Fe deposition. A sequential coating procedure allowed for a closer control of the concentration and spatial distribution of Fe(III) in the resulting oxide phase. This work provides methodology that can be used to create Fe/Al oxide phases whose Fe/Al content can be controlled for use in subsequent sorption studies to better understand the effects of mixed phase oxides on metal ion uptake.     

Solvent effects on resonant first hyperpolarizabilities and Raman and hyper-Raman spectra of DANS and a water-soluble analog

The two-photon-resonant first hyperpolarizabilities associated with hyper-Rayleigh and hyper-Raman scattering are reported for 4-dimethylamino-4-nitrostilbene in 1,4-dioxane, dichloromethane, acetonitrile, and methanol, and for an ionic analog, 4-N,N-bis(6-(N,N,N-trimethylammonium)-hexyl)amino-4-nitrostilbene dibromide in methanol and water. Resonance Raman and hyper-Raman excitation profiles are also measured and modeled. The resonance Raman and hyper-Raman spectra show very similar relative intensities which do not vary much as the excitation frequency is tuned across the lowest-energy strong linear absorption band, suggesting that a single resonant electronic state dominates the one- and two-photon absorptions in this region. The absorption, resonance Raman, and hyper-Raman profiles can be simulated reasonably well with a common set of parameters. The peak resonant (absolute value of beta)2, measured by hyper-Rayleigh scattering, varies by about 50% over the range of solvents examined and shows a weak correlation with the linear absorption maximum, with the redder-absorbing systems exhibiting larger peak hyperpolarizabilities. The experimental hyper-Rayleigh intensities are higher than those calculated, possibly reflecting contributions from nonresonant electronic states.     

Design and concise synthesis of fully protected analogues of l-gamma-carboxyglutamic acid

The design and synthesis of four nonnaturally occurring amino acid analogues of l-gamma-carboxyglutamic acid (Gla), appropriately protected for Fmoc-based solid-phase peptide synthesis (SPPS), is described. These amino acids are Bu-Mal 2, BCAH 3, Pen-Mal 4, and Cm-Gla 5. These Gla analogues have been designed to replace the glutamic acid of position 1 in the cyclic decapeptide G1TE, which is a potent inhibitor of tyrosine kinase, to further enhance binding to the Grb2-SH2 domain of signal transduction receptors. In the new amino acids, the propionic acid side chain of Glu has been replaced by a malonyl or a carboxymethylmalonyl moiety located at different distances from the alpha-carbon to optimize interactions in the phosphotyrosine-binding cavity of the Grb2-SH2 domain. Additionally, a direct and efficient synthetic route for the preparation of Fmoc-protected l-gamma-carboxyglutamic acid, which is amenable to large-scale production, has been developed to provide this important and unique amino acid(1) in 55% overall yield.     

Tuning azolium azolate ionic liquids to promote surface interactions with titanium nanoparticles leading to increased passivation and colloidal stability

The passivation and stability of suspensions of titanium nanoparticles in azolium azolate ionic liquids can be tuned by introducing metal specific binding sites in the azolate anion.     

Metallomacrocycles as ligands: synthesis and characterisation of aluminium-bridged bisglyoximato complexes of palladium and iron

Dialuminiummacrocycles based on bisglyoximato moieties were prepared and their coordination chemistry with Fe(II) and Pd(II) was investigated. The bridging aluminium centers were supported by several types of tetradentate diphenoxide diamine ligands. The nature of the ancillary ligands bound to aluminium was found to affect the overall geometry and symmetry of the metallomacrocycles. Enantiopure, chiral diphenoxide ligands based on the (R,R)-trans-1,2-diaminocyclohexane backbone afforded cleanly one metallomacrocycle isomer. The size and electronic properties of remote substituents on aluminium-bound ligands affected the binding mode and electronic properties of the central iron. A structurally characterized iron complex shows trigonal prismatic coordination mode, with phenoxide bridges between iron and aluminium. Increasing the size of the phenoxide substituents led to square bipyramidal coordination at iron. Employing p-NO(2)- instead of p-tBu-substituted phenoxide as supporting ligands for aluminium caused a 0.27 V positive shift of the Fe(III)/Fe(II) reduction potential. These results indicate that the present synthetic approach can be applied to a variety of metallomacrocycles based on bisglyoximato motifs to affect the chemistry at the central metal.     

Photodisintegration cross section of the reaction (4)He(γ,p)(3)H between 22 and 30 MeV

The two-body photodisintegration cross section of (4)He into a proton and triton was measured with monoenergetic photon beams in 0.5 MeV energy steps between 22 and 30 MeV. High-pressure (4)He-Xe gas scintillators of various (4)He/Xe ratios served as targets and detectors. Pure Xe gas scintillators were used for background studies. A NaI detector together with a plastic scintillator paddle was employed for determining the incident photon flux. Our comprehensive data set follows the trend of the theoretical calculations of the Trento group very well, although our data are consistently lower in magnitude by about 5%. However, they differ significantly from the majority of the previous data, especially from the recent data of Shima et al. The latter data had put into question the validity of theoretical approaches used to calculate core-collapse supernova explosions and big-bang nucleosynthesis abundances of certain light nuclei.     

Systems theoretic questions in coding theory

A central theme of current research in coding theory are low density parity-check (LDPC) codes and more generally codes defined via graphs. There exist various decoding algorithms which work in a decentralized manner and which can be viewed as discrete dynamical systems. In this talk, we explain these algorithms from a systems theoretic point of view. (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)