Journals
2014 EN
Marshall Daniel J. · Vitacco Michael J. · Read Joan B.
+1 more
The current study investigated factors associated with voluntary and involuntary readmissions to forensic hospitals 356 insanity acquittees on conditional release in the state of Maryland from 2007, 2008, and 2009 and monitored their community progress for a 3‐year follow‐up period. The results indicated that voluntarily readmitted insanity acquittees had fewer reported arrests on conditional release and fewer reported instances of non‐compliance with treatment compared with insanity acquittees who were returned involuntarily to hospital. As expected, arrests and treatment non‐compliance predicted involuntary readmission. A third group of insanity acquittees who were not readmitted on conditional release presented with numerous differences compared with voluntarily and involuntarily readmitted acquittees. These included a longer duration in the community prior to any psychiatric readmission and fewer community psychiatric admissions than both the voluntary and involuntary groups. Data from this study provide useful information on where community monitoring resources for insanity acquittees may best be allocated. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Journals
2014 EN
Campo Giuseppe M. · Avenoso Angela · D'Ascola Angela
+4 more
The aim of this study was to investigate the involvement of exchange proteins directly activated by cyclic adenosine (ADO) monophosphate (EPAC) in 4‐mer hyaluronan (HA) oligosaccharide‐induced inflammatory response in mouse normal synovial fibroblasts (NSF). Treatment of NSF with 4‐mer HA increased Toll‐like receptor‐4, TNF‐alpha and IL‐1beta mRNA expression and of the related proteins, as well as nuclear factor kappaB (NF‐kB) activation. Addition to NSF, previously stimulated with 4‐mer HA oligosaccharides, of ADO significantly reduced NF‐kB activation, TNF‐alpha and IL‐1beta expression. The pre‐treatment of NSF with cyclic ADO monophosphate and/or PKA and/or EPAC‐specific inhibitors significantly inhibited the anti‐inflammatory effect exerted by ADO. In particular, the EPAC inhibitor reduced the ADO effect to a major extent than the PKA inhibitor. These results mean that both PKA and EPAC pathways are involved in ADO‐induced NF‐kB inhibition although EPAC seems to be more involved than PKA. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Journals
2014 EN
Basoor Abhijeet · Patel Kiritkumar C. · Halabi Abdul R.
+7 more
Background Endovascular repair of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) has recently been made a class I indication in the treatment of AAA. In comparison to the conventional open surgical treatment, endovascular AAA repair (EVAR) is associated with equivalent long‐term morbidity and mortality rates. Vascular surgeons perform majority of EVAR. There are no reports for the long‐term results of this intervention performed by interventional cardiologists. We present one of the first reports of periprocedural and long‐term outcomes of EVAR performed by interventional cardiologists. Methods Retrospective chart review on patients with attempted EVAR between September 2005 and January 2011 was performed. Included cases were all consecutive patients who had attempted EVAR by interventional cardiologists. Results During the study period EVAR was attempted in 170 patients, with 27% being women. The mean age was 74 years (range 52–93). The endovascular graft placement was successful in 96% (163/170) of patients. Procedure failures were more common in women (6 of 46 vs 1 of 124, P = 0.003). The 30‐day mortality was 1.8 % (3 of 170). In patients with successful EVAR the mean follow‐up was 30 months and mean length of hospital stay was 3.5 ± 3.2 days. Major periprocedural complications were noted in 9% patients (15 of 167). During follow‐up, six patients (3.5%) required re‐intervention and additional 16 patients died with no aneurysm related deaths. Conclusion EVAR primarily performed by interventional cardiologists demonstrates high periprocedural and long‐term success rates. A higher EVAR failure rate has been observed in women. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Journals
2014 EN
Brenna Elisabetta · Crotti Michele · Gatti Francesco G.
+5 more
The enantioselective reduction of α‐methylene nitrile derivatives catalysed by ene‐reductases affords the corresponding ( R )‐2‐arylpropanenitriles with high conversion values. The reaction is investigated either in aqueous medium (with an organic cosolvent or by loading the substrate onto hydrophobic resins) or in a biphasic ionic liquid–water system. The use of ionic liquids, herein with isolated ene‐reductases, is found to improve the work‐up and the substrate recovery method. The synthetic manipulation of the final chiral nitrile derivatives indicates how this biocatalysed method can be exploited for the preparation of a wide range of chiral compounds.
Journals
2014 EN
De Filippo Christian C. · Tang Hao · Ravotto Luca
+6 more
The synthesis of a new class of robust squaraine dyes, colloquially named 1,2‐hemisquarimines (1,2‐HSQiMs), through the microwave‐assisted condensation of aniline derivatives with the 1,2‐squaraine core is reported. In CH 3 CN, 1,2‐HSQiMs show a broad absorption band with a high extinction coefficient and a maximum at around λ =530 nm, as well as an emission band centered at about λ =574 nm, that are pH dependent. Protonation of the imine nitrogen causes a redshift of both absorption and emission maxima, with a concomitant increase in the lifetime of the emitting excited state. Encapsulation of the chromophore into a cucurbit[7]uril host revealed fluorescence enhancement and increased photostability in water. The redox characteristics of 1,2‐HSQiMs indicate that charge injection into TiO 2 is possible; this opens up promising perspectives for their use as photosensitizers for solar energy conversion.
Journals
2014 EN
Vonci Michele · Akhlaghi Bagherjeri Fateme · Hall Peter D.
+16 more
The first members of a promising new family of hybrid amino acid–polyoxometalates have emerged from a search for modular functional molecules. Incorporation of glycine (Gly) or norleucine (Nle) ligands into an yttrium‐tungstoarsenate structural backbone, followed by crystallization with p ‐methylbenzylammonium ( p ‐MeBzNH 3 + ) cations, affords ( p ‐MeBzNH 3 ) 6 K 2 (GlyH)[As III 4 (Y III W VI 3 )W VI 44 Y III 4 O 159 (Gly) 8 ‐ (H 2 O) 14 ] ⋅ 47 H 2 O ( 1 ) and enantiomorphs ( p ‐MeBzNH 3 ) 15 (NleH) 3 [As III 4 (Mo V 2 Mo VI 2 )W VI 44 Y III 4 O 160 (Nle) 9 (H 2 O) 11 ][As III 4 (Mo VI 2 W VI 2 )‐ W VI 44 Y III 4 O 160 (Nle) 9 (H 2 O) 11 ] (generically designated 2 : L ‐Nle, 2 a ; D ‐Nle, 2 b ). An intensive structural, spectroscopic, electrochemical, magnetochemical and theoretical investigation has allowed the elucidation of site‐selective metal substitution and photoreduction of the tetranuclear core of the hybrid polyanions. In the solid state, markedly different crystal packing is evident for the compounds, which indicates the role of noncovalent interactions involving the amino acid ligands. In solution, mass spectrometric and small‐angle X‐ray scattering studies confirm maintenance of the structure of the polyanions of 2 , while circular dichroism demonstrates that the chirality is also maintained. The combination of all of these features in a single modular family emphasizes the potential of such hybrid polyoxometalates to provide nanoscale molecular materials with tunable properties.
Journals
2014 EN
Panciera Michele · Amorín Manuel · Granja Juan R.
The hierarchical self‐assembly properties of a dimer‐forming cyclic peptide that bears a nicotinic acid moiety to form molecular pom‐pom‐like structures are described. This dimeric assembly self organizes into spherical structures that can encapsulate small organic molecules owing to its porosity and it can also facilitate metal deposition on its surface directed by the pyridine moiety.
Journals
2014 EN
da Silva Anderson G. M. · de Souza Michele L. · Rodrigues Thenner S.
+3 more
Metallic nanomaterials displaying hollow interiors as well as sharp tips/branches at their surface (such as hollow nanodendrites) are attractive, because these features enable higher surface‐to‐volume ratios than their solid and/or rounded counterparts. This paper describes a simple strategy for the synthesis of Ag–Au nanodendrites in 15 s using Ag nanospheres prepared in a previous synthetic step as seeds. Our approach was based on the utilization of Ag nanospheres as seeds for Au deposition by a combination of galvanic replacement reaction between Ag and AuCl 4 − (aq) and AuCl 4 − (aq) reduction using hydroquinone in the presence of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) as a stabilizer and water as the solvent. The produced Ag–Au nanodendrites presented monodisperse sizes, and their surface morphologies could be tuned as a function of growth time. Owing to their hollow interiors and sharp tips, the Ag–Au nanodendrites performed as effective substrates for surface‐enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) detection of 4‐MPy (4‐mercaptopyridine) and R6G (rhodamine 6G) as probe molecules. We believe that the approach described herein can serve as a protocol for the fast and one‐step synthesis of Ag–Au hollow nanondendrites with a wide range of sizes, compositions, and surface morphologies for applications in SERS and catalysis.
Journals
2014 EN
Spadavecchia Francesca · Ceotto Michele · Presti Leonardo Lo
+5 more
A state‐of‐the‐art overview of N‐dopant characterizations in nano‐TiO 2 second‐generation photocatalysts is provided. The related literature is very rich and sometimes offers contrasting interpretations. Here we critically discuss up‐to‐date literature results and our own findings, as retrieved by several experimental (BET, HR‐TEM, XPS, DRS, HR‐XRPD, EXAFS, electrochemical tools) and theoretical (periodic DFT) techniques. Our intent is to pull together outcomes from very different and complementary sources to make an as much as possible coherent picture of the morphological, electrochemical and electronic properties of N‐TiO 2 materials. It is commonly accepted that critical issues to be considered in the design of high‐performing N‐TiO 2 photocatalysts are synthetic strategy, defect concentration and chemical nature of the lattice point defects. We focus on the latter two issues, with emphasis on sol‐gel prepared materials, according to the specific area of expertise of our group. The problem of the chemical nature of guest N species into the lattice is crucial, as substitutional (N s ) or interstitial (N i ) nitrogen place their valence states just above the valence band or deeper into the band gap. Overall, we show how synergism among experimental and theoretical techniques is decisive to disentangle structural, electronic and morphological effects in complex N‐doped TiO 2 matrices.
Journals
2014 EN
Martins Gisele L. · Friggi Caroline A. · Prestes Osmar D.
+4 more
An effective method based on a modified quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe sample preparation step and determination by LC with MS/MS has been developed and validated for the simultaneous determination of pesticides with different characteristics in soil samples. Several parameters that affect the extraction and analysis were studied and the proposed method was validated using spiked blank soil samples. Recoveries for the herbicides clomazone, imazapic and imazethapyr, the insecticides fipronil and thiamethoxam, and the fungicides propiconazole and trifloxystrobin from blank samples spiked at levels between 2 and 100 µg kg −1 were in the acceptable range of 72.5–119.3% with relative standard deviation below 18.2%. Method limit of detection ranged between 0.12 and 0.6 µg kg −1 . The method was successfully applied to the analysis of soil samples from rice paddies were thiamethoxam (103.4–770.8 µg kg −1 ), imazethapyr (2.4–293.5 µg kg −1 ), and fipronil (2.1–170.0 µg kg −1 ) were found in all samples. Imazapic, clomazone, trifloxystrobin presented low concentrations and propiconazole was not detected. The main advantages of the method lie in the fact that is simple and quick to perform, demand small amount of solvent and permit the analysis of multiclass pesticides at trace levels in soil samples with good trueness and precision.