Metallic radionuclides in the development of diagnostic and therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals

Metallic radionuclides are the mainstay of both diagnostic and therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals. Therapeutic nuclear medicine is less advanced but has tremendous potential if the radionuclide is accurately targeted. Great interest exists in the field of inorganic chemistry for developing target specific radiopharmaceuticals based on radiometals for non-invasive disease detection and cancer radiotherapy. This perspective will focus on the nuclear properties of a few important radiometals and their recent applications to developing radiopharmaceuticals for imaging and therapy. Other topics for discussion will include imaging techniques, radiotherapy, analytical techniques, and radiation safety. The ultimate goal of this perspective is to introduce inorganic chemists to the field of nuclear medicine and radiopharmaceutical development, where many applications of fundamental inorganic chemistry can be found.     

On the existence of an invariant non-degenerate bilinear form under a linear map

Let V be a vector space over a field F. Assume that the characteristic of F is large, i.e. char(F)>dimV. Let T:V→V be an invertible linear map. We answer the following question in this paper. When doesVadmit a T-invariant non-degenerate symmetric (resp. skew-symmetric) bilinear form? We also answer the infinitesimal version of this question.Following Feit and Zuckerman 2, an element g in a group G is called real if it is conjugate in G to its own inverse. So it is important to characterize real elements in GL(V,F). As a consequence of the answers to the above question, we offer a characterization of the real elements in GL(V,F).Suppose V is equipped with a non-degenerate symmetric (resp. skew-symmetric) bilinear form B. Let S be an element in the isometry group I(V,B). A non-degenerate S-invariant subspace W of (V,B) is called orthogonally indecomposable with respect to S if it is not an orthogonal sum of proper S-invariant subspaces. We classify the orthogonally indecomposable subspaces. This problem is non-trivial for the unipotent elements in I(V,B). The level of a unipotent T is the least integer k such that (T-I)^k=0. We also classify the levels of unipotents in I(V,B).     

The Influence of Science Summer Camp on African‐American High School Students' Career Choices

This study explored if a weeklong science camp changed Louisiana African‐American high school students' perception of science. A semi‐structured survey was used before and after the camp to determine the changes in science attitudes and career choices. Among the perceived benefits were parental involvement, increased science academic ability, and deepened scientific knowledge. These perceived benefits influenced the identities that students constructed for themselves in relation to science in their lives. Students who reported doing well in school science courses believed that science was more relevant to their lives. Female students who cited doing well in science reported less parental involvement in their schoolwork than males. This study draws attention to gender differences in science and to designing informal science learning experiences for African‐American high school students that can change attitudes toward career choices in science‐related fields.     

Femtosecond study of ultrafast fluorescence resonance energy transfer in a catanionic vesicle

Ultrafast fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) in a catanionic [sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)-dodecyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (DTAB)] vesicle is studied by femtosecond up-conversion. The vesicles (diameter ～400 nm for SDS-rich and ～250 nm for DTAB-rich vesicles) are much larger than the SDS and DTAB micelles (diameter ～4 nm). In both micelle and vesicles, FRET occurs in multiple time scales and the time scales of FRET correspond to a donor-acceptor distance varying between 12 and 36 A?.     

Role of higher excited electronic states on high harmonic generation in H2(+)--a time-independent Hermitian Floquet approach

We have theoretically studied the role of high-lying molecular electronic states on the high harmonic generation (HHG) in H(2)(+) within the framework of a time-independent Hermitian nonperturbative three-dimensional Floquet technique for continuous wave monochromatic lasers of intensities of 2.59 × 10(13), 4.0 × 10(13), and 5.6 × 10(13) W∕cm(2), and wavelengths of 1064, 532, and 355 nm. To evaluate the HHG spectra, the resonance Floquet quasienergy and the Fourier components of the Floquet state corresponding to the initial vibrational-rotational level v = 0, J = 0 have been computed by solving the time-independent close-coupled Schro?dinger equation following the Floquet method. The calculations include seven molecular electronic states in the basis set expansion of the Floquet state. The electronic states considered, apart from the two lowest 1sσ(g) and 2pσ(u) states, are 2pπ(u), 2sσ(g), 3pσ(u), 3dσ(g), and 4fσ(u). All the concerned higher excited molecular electronic states asymptotically degenerate into the atomic state H(2 l) with l = 0, 1. The computations reveal signature of significant oscillations in the HHG spectra due to the interference effect of the higher molecular electronic states for all the considered laser intensities and wavelengths. We have attempted to explain, without invoking any ionization, the dynamics of HHG in H(2)(+) within the framework of electronic transitions due to the electric dipole moments and the nuclear motions on the field coupled ground, the first and the higher excited electronic states of this one-electron molecular ion.     

Studies on the radiolytic stability of N,N,N′,N′-tetra-2-ethylhexyl diglycolamide in n-dodecane solution containing different phase modifiers

The radiolytic stability of a branched diglycolamide extractant, namely N,N,N′,N′-tetra-2-ethylhexyl diglycolamide (T2EHDGA) dissolved in n-dodecane containing several phase modifiers, viz. N,N-dihexyloctanamide (DHOA), tri-n-butyl phosphate (TBP), 1-decanol and iso-decanol has been investigated. The distribution ratio of Am(III) decreased with increased radiation dose studied up to 1000 kGy. Nevertheless, all the composition of extractants showed satisfactory results up to 500 kGy, beyond which the extractants degraded drastically. The stripping behaviour of Am(III) with 0.2 M HNO₃ was found to be unaffected even with the ligand solution irradiated up to 1000 kGy. Extraction of fission product and structural elements was also investigated using the irradiated solvents and was found to be not significantly affected with increasing absorbed dose with the exception of Mo which showed sharp rise in the distribution coefficient values. Loading of Nd in the organic phase decreased with the irradiated solvent due to degradation of the carrier. The effect of the absorbed dose on physical parameters such as density, viscosity and interfacial tension of the solvents has also been investigated.     

Extraction chromatographic study on the separation of Am<Superscript>3+</Superscript> and Eu<Superscript>3+</Superscript> using ethyl-BTP as the extractant

Ethyl-substituted bis-triazinylpyridine (Et-BTP), a nitrogen containing soft-donor extractant, was used in investigations pertaining to the separation of Am³⁺ and Eu³⁺ from dilute nitric acid feed solutions by extraction chromatography using XAD-4 as the inert support, chlorinated dicarbollide as the modifier and 2-nitrophenyloctylether (NPOE) as the diluent. After carrying out a series of experiments, the optimum composition of the extractant mixture for the resin was found out to be 0.1 M Et-BTP and 0.025 M CCD in NPOE. Separation factor values were encouraging to carry out subsequent batch uptake studies at varying nitrate ion concentration which indicated favourable separation behaviour up to NaNO₃ concentration of 2 M. Column studies have been carried out and conditions for elution and separation of Am³⁺ from Eu³⁺ have been found out. Long term stability of the resin was also investigated.     

Near‐exact supersymmetric partner potentials: Construction and exploitation

Precise supersymmetric (SUSY) partner potentials can be generated only for exactly solvable problems of the stationary Schrödinger equation. This is a severe restriction, as most problems are not amenable to exact solutions. We employ here a linear variational strategy to explicitly construct approximate SUSY partners of a few common, not exactly solvable potentials and subsequently examine their properties to explore the advantages in practical implementation. The efficacy of our proposed scheme is commendable. We demonstrate that, for symmetric potentials, the constructed partners may be so good that the overall recipe has the nicety of generating the whole eigenspectrum by employing only half of the full Hilbert space functions. A similar strategy is shown to work for the odd states too, with proper boundary conditions. Pilot calculations involve a number of low‐lying states of some mixed oscillator and double‐well potentials. Analysis of the results reveals a few interesting features of the problem of construction of approximate SUSY partners and their practical use. Particularly, we identify places where the operator‐level approximations are involved and how far they affect the bounding properties of energies that are obtained as eigenvalues of a matrix diagonalization problem associated with linear variations. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2011     

Electron distribution in partially reduced mixed metal oxide systems: infrared spectroscopy of CemVnOo(+) gas-phase clusters

Vibrational predissociation spectra of rare-gas-tagged [(CeO(2))(VO(2))(1-2)](+) and [(Ce(2)O(3))(VO(2))](+) clusters are measured in the 400-1200 cm(-1) region. Density functional theory (DFT) is used to determine the geometric and electronic structure of low-energy isomers of the partially reduced clusters. Comparison of experimental and simulated spectra provides evidence for the larger stability of Ce(+3)/V(+5) compared to that of Ce(+4)/V(+4), which confirms that the exceptionally high reducibility of Ce(+4) accounts for the promoting role of ceria in supported vanadium oxide catalysts.     

Gas-phase photooxidation of alkenes by V-doped TiO2-MCM-41: mechanistic insights of ethylene photooxidation and understanding the structure-activity correlation

Nanoparticles of Ti(0.95)V(0.05)O(2) were found to be impregnated in the hexagonal channels of the MCM-41 host, with a distribution of some particles on the surface, thus leading to an effective variation in the particle size as a function of loading host MCM-41 matrix. These catalysts were subjected to the photocatalytic degradation of alkenes under the ambient conditions in which the photocatalytic activity varied as a function of the loading percentage of Ti(0.95)V(0.05)O(2) in the host MCM-41.This is explained in light of the structure-activity correlation, and the better catalytic activity can be attributed to an electronic interaction between the host and guest molecules, as established from X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. To understand the mechanistic aspect of the photooxidation of ethylene on the vanadium-doped titania dispersed in the MCM-41 matrix, extensive in situ FTIR experiments were undertaken. The intermediate species produced on bare Ti(0.95)V(0.05)O(2) are different from that produced on the Ti(0.95)V(0.05)O(2)/MCM-41 surface. Moreover, different intermediates were produced during ethylene oxidation under UV and visible irradiation, thus leading to different rates. The ethylene decomposition over bare Ti(0.95)V(0.05)O(2) occurs by means of formation of ethoxy groups, transformed to acetaldehyde or enolates, subsequently to acetates, and then to CO(2) under both UV and visible irradiation. However, in the case of Ti(0.95)V(0.05)O(2)/MCM-41 catalyst with UV irradiation, the adsorbed acetaldehyde thus formed undergoes aldol condensation over the Lewis acid sites to lead to the formation of crotonaldehyde, which is subsequently oxidized to acetate and consequently to CO(2). It was observed that during visible irradiation labile ethyl acetate is produced either by the Tischenko reaction or by the reaction between the labile acetic acid and the unreacted ethoxy groups. The ethyl acetate produces acetic acid monomer, which is oxidized to CO(2). Furthermore, in this work the effects of particle size on the intermediate species were also studied.