Induction of E/Z isomerization in a pendant metal-bound azobenzene: a synthetic, spectroscopic and theoretical study.

Re(CO)3 conjugates 1 and 2 that incorporate azobenzenes can be readily generated via one-pot reactions using Schiff base reaction forming conditions. Excitation of the MLCT bands in 1 and 2 results in isomerization of the azobenzene moiety, and this process has been investigated via time-resolved photophysics and TDDFT calculations.

Ultrafast dynamics of a new class of highly fluorescent boron difluoride dyes.

The first ultrafast study of the dimeric fluorescent BF2 dye BOPHY is presented. When compared to a structurally related BODIPY dye, similar photophysical dynamics are observed, including an intermediate kinetic component present in both dye types.

[Human infection with Dicrocoelium dendriticum]. / Humane Infektion mit Dicrocoelium dendriticum.

UNLABELLED: MEDICAL HISTORY AND PHYSICAL EXAMINATION: A 36-year-old German reported having had chronic-relapsing diarrhea, right upper abdominal pain and weight-loss for about two years. His last journey had taken him to Morocco three and a half years ago. The physical examination was unremarkable except for an abdominal tenderness to palpation in the right upper quadrant. LABORATORY: The serum level of bilirubin was slightly raised to 1.13 mg/dl (<1.10 mg/dl) and the level of IgE was raised to 253 U/ml (<100 U/ml). All other laboratory findings were within normal limits. Stool examinations showed eggs of Dicrocoelium dendriticum. The abdominal ultrasound was unremarkable except for mild steatosis. TREATMENT AND COURSE: The patient denied consumption of liver or liver-products within the past weeks. Spurious infection due to eating infected liver could thus be excluded. The patient was treated for dicrocoeliasis with praziquantel (3 x 600 mg/day for three days). Further stool examinations for parasites were negative. Since the patient still had gastrointestinal discomfort, we decided to give a further therapy with triclabendazole (700 mg, single dose). Five weeks after the second treatment the patient was almost free of symptoms and stool examinations for parasites remained negative. CONCLUSION: Dicrocoeliasis can be associated with chronic diarrhea. Stool examinations for parasites are very important in patients with gastrointestinal symptoms.

Automated synthesis of 3'-metalated oligonucleotides.

We report the first synthesis of a metallonucleoside bound to a solid support and subsequent oligonucleotide synthesis with this precursor. Large-scale syntheses of metal-containing oligonucleotides are achieved using a solid support modified with [Ru(bpy)(2)(impy')](2+) (bpy is 2,2'-bipyridine; impy' is 2'-iminomethylpyridyl-2'-deoxyuridine). A duplex formed with the metal-containing oligonucleotide exhibits superior thermal stability when compared to the corresponding unmetalated duplex (T(m) = 50 degrees C vs T(m) = 48 degrees C). Electrochemical (E(1/2) = 1.3 V vs NHE), absorption (lambda(max) = 480 nm), and emission (lambda(max) = 720 nm, tau = 44 ns, Phi = 0.11 x 10(-)(3)) data for the ruthenium-modified oligonucleotides indicate that the presence of the oligonucleotide does not perturb the electronic properties of the ruthenium complex. The absence of any change in the emission properties upon duplex formation suggests that the [Ru(bpy)(2)(impy)](2+) chromophore will be a valuable probe for DNA-mediated electron-transfer studies. Despite the relatively high Ru(III/II) reduction potential, oxidative quenching of photoexcited [Ru(bpy)(2)(impy)](2+) does not lead to oxidative damage of guanine or other DNA bases.

Specific deficits in component reading and language skills: genetic and environmental influences.

Phonological coding, measured by the oral reading of nonwords, and orthographic coding, measured by the discrimination of words from homophonic nonwords (e.g., rane, rain), were compared for pairs of older children with reading disabilities (RD) and younger nondisabled readers matched on word recognition. Phonological coding was substantially lower for most children with RD, indicating a unique developmental deficit in phonological coding rather than an equal developmental lag across all component reading skills. Data from identical and fraternal twins indicated that the phonological coding deficit of the children with RD was highly heritable and accounted for most of the heritable variance in their word recognition deficits. The deficits of the twins with RD in segmental language skills (rhyming and phoneme segmentation) were related to the heritable variance in their phonological coding deficits. Orthographic coding was not significantly heritable, and it accounted for much of the environmental variance in word recognition deficits. Implications of the results for the remediation of reading disability are discussed.

Orthographic and phonetic coding in developmental dyslexia.

Memory coding in dyslexic readers and reading-age-matched controls was investigated using cued recall. In the first phase of the experiment subjects made rhyme judgements about pairs of words. In the second phase one member of each pair (the cue) was used to cue recall of the other member of the pair (the target). Cues and targets were either rhyming and orthographically similar, rhyming and orthographically distinct, orthographically similar and not rhyming, or unrelated. Dyslexics were as accurate at detecting rhyme compared to the reading-age-matched controls; however, they were slower and were subject to a greater orthography effect (Seidenberg & Tanenhaus, 1979). Overall memory performance did not differ between the two groups. However, dyslexics were found to make more use of an orthographic code with both visual and auditory presentation. They made less use of a phonetic code in the visual but not the auditory condition. The results support the view that dyslexics have less easy access to a phonological code in memory, but they are able to compensate for this by increased use of a visual/orthographic code.

The influence of smoking and intravenous nicotine on gastric mucus.

Smoking predisposes to peptic ulcer. Bound N-acetylneuraminic acid (NANA) is an essential constituent of mucus. In order to examine whether smoking changes gastric mucus secretion, the concentration of N-acetylneuraminic acid was measured in the gastric juice of 10 non-smokers and 10 smokers. Gastric juice was aspirated during intravenous infusion of 0.67 microgram/kg/hr pentagastrin given alone or together with 5 micrograms/kg/hr nicotine. Instead of intravenous nicotine, the 10 smokers smoked 5 cigarettes over a period of 2 hours. In the fasting gastric juice and during infusion of pentagastrin the gastric concentration and output of bound N-acetylneuraminic acid were similar in smokers and in non-smokers. Acute nicotine administered intravenously or by smoking left gastric output of bound N-acetylneuraminic acid unaffected. It is concluded that neither chronic nor acute consumption of nicotine affects gastric turnover or adherence of mucus to the mucosa.