Description: The title compound, [K(C 14 H 23 )(C 4 H 8 O)] n , comprises zigzag chains of alternating bridging 2,3,4,5-tetramethyl-1- n -pentylcyclopentadienyl ligands and potassium ions, with an ancillary tetrahydrofuran ligand in the coordination environment of potassium. The coordination polymer strands so formed extend by 2 1 screw symmetry in the b -axis direction. The chemically modified cyclopentadienyl ligand, with a tethered n -pentyl group, was synthesized from 2,3,4,5-tetramethylcyclopent-2-enone by a Grignard reaction.

Description: Below the temperature of maximum density (TMD) in freshwater lakes, heating at the lateral margins produces gravity currents along the bottom slope, akin to katabatic winds in the atmosphere and currents on continental shelves. We describe axisymmetric basin-scale circulation driven by heat flux at the shorelines in polar Lake Kilpisjärvi. A dense underflow originating near the shore converges towards the lake center, where it produces warm upwelling and return flow across the bulk of lake water column. The return flow, being subject to Coriolis force, creates a lake-wide anticyclonic gyre with velocities of 2-4 cm s -1 . While warm underflows are common on ice-covered lakes, the key finding is the basin-scale anticyclonic gyre with warm upwelling in the core. This circulation mechanism provides a key to understanding transport processes in (semi-) enclosed basins subject to negative buoyancy flux due to heating (or cooling at temperatures above TMD) at their lateral boundaries.

Description: The phenotype associated to spontaneous mutation in the Tetratricopeptide Repeat Domain 7A (TTC7A) in the flaky skin ( fsn ) mice 1 combines gastric hyperplasia, hyperproliferative immune disorder and skin anomalies. All fsn mice progressively develop thick white scales and patchy alopecia that turns into papulo-squamous lesions, marked hyperkeratosis and hypergranulosis associated to a dermal mixed inflammatory infiltrate on skin biopsy 2,3 . To date, the fsn mouse constitutes a model for human psoriasis vulgaris 3 . This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Description: Introduction As the accurate diagnosis and treatment of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is of increasing importance; new diagnostic approaches for the assessment of GDM in early pregnancy were recently suggested. We evaluate the diagnostic power of an ‘early’ oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) 75 g and glycosylated fibronectin (glyFn) for GDM screening in a normal cohort. Methods and analysis In a prospective cohort study, 748 singleton pregnancies are recruited in 6 centres in Switzerland, Austria and Germany. Women are screened for pre-existing diabetes mellitus and GDM by an ‘early’ OGTT 75 g and/or the new biomarker, glyFn, at 12–15 weeks of gestation. Different screening strategies are compared to evaluate the impact on detection of GDM by an OGTT 75 g at 24–28 weeks of gestation as recommended by the International Association of Diabetes and Pregnancy Study Groups (IADPSG). A new screening algorithm is created by using multivariable risk estimation based on ‘early’ OGTT 75 g and/or glyFn results, incorporating maternal risk factors. Recruitment began in May 2014. Ethics and dissemination This study received ethical approval from the ethics committees in Basel, Zurich, Vienna, Salzburg and Freiburg. It was registered under http://www.ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02035059) on 12 January 2014. Data will be presented at international conferences and published in peer-reviewed journals. Trial registration number NCT02035059.

Description: Targeting cancer cells with vitamin B12 (cobalamin) is hampered by unwanted physiologic tissue uptake mediated by transcobalamin. Adhering to good manufacturing practice, we have developed a new 99m Tc-cobalamin derivative ( 99m Tc(CO) 3 -[(4-amido-butyl)-pyridin-2-yl-methyl-amino-acetato] cobalamin, 99m Tc-PAMA-cobalamin). The derivative shows no binding to transcobalamin but is recognized by haptocorrin, a protein present in the circulation and notably expressed in many tumor cells. In this prospective study, we investigated cancer-specific uptake of 99m Tc-PAMA-cobalamin in 10 patients with various metastatic tumors. Methods: Ten patients with biopsy-proven metastatic cancer were included. Dynamic imaging was started immediately after injection of 300–500 MBq of 99m Tc-PAMA-cobalamin, and whole-body scintigrams were obtained at 10, 30, 60, 120, and 240 min and after 24 h. The relative tumor activity using SPECT/CT over the tumor region after 4 h was measured in comparison to disease-free lung parenchyma. Patients 3–10 received between 20 and 1,000 μg of cobalamin intravenously before injection of 99m Tc-PAMA-cobalamin. The study population comprised 4 patients with adenocarcinomas of the lung, 3 with squamous cell carcinomas of the hypopharyngeal region, 1 with prostate adenocarcinoma, 1 with breast, and 1 with colon adenocarcinoma. Results: The median age of the study group was 61 ± 11 y. Six of 10 patients showed positive tumor uptake on 99m Tc-PAMA-cobalamin whole-body scintigraphy. The scan was positive in 1 patient with colon adenocarcinoma, in 3 of 4 lung adenocarcinomas, in 1 of 3 hypopharyngeal squamous cell carcinomas, and in 1 breast adenocarcinoma. Renal uptake was between 1% and 3% for the left kidney. Predosing with cobalamin increased the tumor uptake and improved blood-pool clearance. The best image quality was achieved with a predose of 20–100 ug of cold cobalamin. The mean patient dose was 2.7 ± 0.9 mSv/patient. Conclusion: To our knowledge, we report for the first time on 99m Tc-PAMA-cobalamin imaging in patients with metastatic cancer disease and show that tumor targeting is feasible.

Description: Earth's core is an iron-rich alloy containing several weight percent of light element(s), possibly including silicon. Therefore the high pressure-temperature equations of state of iron–silicon alloys can provide understanding of the properties of Earth's core. We performed X-ray diffraction experiments using laser-heated diamond anvil cells to achieve simultaneous high pressures and temperatures, up to ~200 GPa for Fe–9wt%Si alloy and ~145 GPa for stoichiometric FeSi. We determined equations of state of the D0 3 , hcp + B2, and hcp phases of Fe–9Si, and the B20 and B2 phases of FeSi. We also calculated equations of state of Fe, Fe 11 Si, Fe 5 Si, Fe 3 Si, and FeSi using ab initio methods, finding that iron and silicon atoms have similar volumes at high pressures. By comparing our experimentally-determined equations of state to the observed core density deficit, we find that the maximum amount of silicon in the outer core is ~11 wt%, while the maximum amount in the inner core is 6–8 wt%, for a purely Fe–Si–Ni core. Bulk sound speeds predicted from our equations of state also match those of the inner and outer core for similar ranges of compositions. We find a compositional contrast between the inner and outer core of 3.5–5.6 wt% silicon, depending on the seismological model used. Theoretical and experimental equations of state agree at high pressures. We find a good match to the observed density, density profile, and sound speed of the Earth's core, suggesting that silicon is a viable candidate for the dominant light element.

Description: Plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) play an important role in innate and adaptive immunity and were shown to be identical to previously described natural IFN-α-producing (NIP) cells. Here, we describe two functionally distinct pDC subpopulations that are characterized by the differential expression of stem cell antigen-1 (Sca-1; Ly-6A/E). Sca-1 − pDCs are mainly found in the bone marrow, appear first during development, show a higher proliferative activity and represent the more precursor phenotype. Sca-1 + pDCs are mostly located in secondary lymphoid organs and represent a later developmental stage. Sca-1 − pDCs give rise to a Sca-1 + subset upon activation or in response to endogenous type I IFN. Interestingly, in contrast to Sca-1 − pDCs, Sca-1 + pDCs are defective in IFN-α production upon endosomal TLR9 stimulation, whereas lysosomal signaling via TLR9 is functional in both subsets. Gene expression analysis revealed that osteopontin (Opn) is strongly upregulated in Sca-1 − pDCs. These data provide evidence for the molecular basis of the observed functional heterogeneity, as the intracellular isoform of Opn couples TLR9 signaling to IFN-α expression. Taken together, our results indicate that Sca-1 − pDCs are an early developmental stage of pDCs with distinct innate functions representing the true murine NIP cell.

Description: Purpose To determine age- and gender-dependent whole-body adipose tissue and muscle volumes in healthy Swiss volunteers in Dixon MRI in comparison with anthropometric and bioelectrical impedance (BIA) measurements. Methods Fat–water-separated whole-body 3 Tesla MRI of 80 healthy volunteers (ages 20 to 62 years) with a body mass index (BMI) of 17.5 to 26.2 kg/m 2 (10 men, 10 women per decade). Age and gender-dependent volumes of total adipose tissue (TAT), visceral adipose tissue (VAT), total abdominal subcutaneous adipose tissue (ASAT) and total abdominal adipose tissue (TAAT), and the total lean muscle tissue (TLMT) normalized for body height were determined by semi-automatic segmentation, and correlated with anthropometric and BIA measurements as well as lifestyle parameters. Results The TAT, ASAT, VAT, and TLMT indexes (TATi, ASATi, VATi, and TLMTi, respectively) (L/m 2  ± standard deviation) for women/men were 6.4 ± 1.8/5.3 ± 1.7, 1.6 ± 0.7/1.2 ± 0.5, 0.4 ± 0.2/0.8 ± 0.5, and 5.6 ± 0.6/7.1 ± 0.7, respectively. The TATi correlated strongly with ASATi ( r  〉 0.93), VATi, BMI and BIA ( r  〉 0.70), and TAATi ( r  〉 0.96), and weak with TLMTi for both genders ( r  〉 –0.34). The VAT was the only parameter showing an age dependency ( r  〉 0.32). The BMI and BIA showed strong correlation with all MR-derived adipose tissue volumes. The TAT mass was estimated significantly lower from BIA than from MRI (both genders P  〈 .001; mean bias –5 kg). Conclusions The reported gender-specific MRI-based adipose tissue and muscle volumes might serve as normative values. The estimation of adipose tissue volumes was significantly lower from anthropometric and BIA measurements than from MRI. Magn Reson Med, 2017. © 2017 International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.

Description: Purpose: To evaluate the feasibility of semiquantitative measurement of liver perfusion from analysis of ferucarbotran induced signal-dynamics in double-contrast liver MR-imaging (DC-MRI). Materials and Methods: In total 31 patients (21 men; 58 ± 10 years) including 18 patients with biopsy proven liver cirrhosis prospectively underwent clinically indicated DC-MRI at 1.5 Tesla (T) with dynamic T2*-weighted gradient-echo imaging after ferucarbotran bolus injection. Breathing artefacts in tissue and input time curves were reduced by Savitzky-Golay-filtering and semiquantitative perfusion maps were calculated using a model free approach. Hepatic blood flow index (HBFI) and splenic blood flow index (SBFI) were determined by normalization of arbitrary perfusion values to the perfusion of the erector spinae muscle resulting in a semiquantitative perfusion measure. Results: In 30 of 31 patients the evaluated protocol could successfully be applied. Mean HBF was 7.7 ± 2.46 (range, 4.6–12.8) and mean SBF was 13.20 ± 2.57 (range, 8.5–17.8). A significantly lower total HBF was seen in patients with cirrhotic livers as compared to patients with noncirrhotic livers ( P 〈 0.05). In contrast, similar SBF was observed in cirrhotic and noncirrhotic patients ( P = 0.11). Conclusion: Capturing the signal dynamics during bolus injection of ferucarbotran in DC-MRI of the liver allows for semiquantitative assessment of hepatic perfusion that may be helpful for a more precise characterisation of liver cirrhosis and focal liver lesions. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2012;. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Description: Wüstite, Fe1-xO, is an important component in the mineralogy of Earth's lower mantle and may also be a component of the core. Therefore its high pressure-temperature behavior, including its electronic structure, is essential to understanding the nature and evolution of Earth's deep interior. We performed X-ray diffraction and radiometric measurements on wüstite in a laser-heated diamond anvil cell, finding an insulator-metal transition at high pressures and temperatures. Our data show a negative slope for this apparently isostructural phase boundary, which is characterized by a volume decrease and emissivity increase. The metallic phase of FeO is stable at conditions of the lower mantle and core, which has implications for the high P-T character of Fe-O bonds, magnetic field propagation, and lower mantle conductivity.