Reactions of 5-methylcytosine cation radicals in DNA and model systems: thermal deprotonation from the 5-methyl group vs. excited state deprotonation from sugar.

Purpose: To study the formation and subsequent reactions of the 5-methyl-2'-deoxycytidine cation radical (5-Me-2'-dC•(+)) in nucleosides and DNA-oligomers and compare to one-electron oxidized thymidine.

Materials And Methods: Employing electron spin resonance (ESR), cation radical formation and its reactions were investigated in 5-Me-2'-dC, thymidine (Thd) and their derivatives, in fully double-stranded (ds) d[GC*GC*GC*GC*](2) and in the 5-Me-C/A mismatched, d[GGAC*AAGC:CCTAATCG], where C* = 5-Me-C.

Results: We report 5-Me-2'-dC•(+) production by one-electron oxidation of 5-Me-2'-dC by Cl(2)•- via annealing in the dark at 155 K.

Formation of S-Cl phosphorothioate adduct radicals in dsDNA S-oligomers: hole transfer to guanine vs disulfide anion radical formation.

In phosphorothioate-containing dsDNA oligomers (S-oligomers), one of the two nonbridging oxygen atoms in the phosphate moiety of the sugar-phosphate backbone is replaced by sulfur. In this work, electron spin resonance (ESR) studies of one-electron oxidation of several S-oligomers by Cl2(•-) at low temperatures are performed. Electrophilic addition of Cl2(•-) to phosphorothioate with elimination of Cl(-) leads to the formation of a two-center three-electron σ(2)σ*(1)-bonded adduct radical (-P-S-̇Cl).

Blogging and the health care manager.

The use of blogs in the workplace has emerged as a communication tool that can rapidly and simultaneously connect managers with their employees, customers, their peers, and other key stakeholders. Nowhere is this connection more critical than in health care, especially because of the uncertainty surrounding health care reform and the need for managers to have access to timely and authentic information. However, most health care managers have been slow to join the blogging bandwagon.

Physicians' use of the personal digital assistant (PDA) in clinical decision making.

Purpose: This study examined how frequently attending physicians and physicians in training used personal digital assistants (PDAs) for patient care and explored physicians' perceptions of the impact of PDA use on several areas of clinical decision making.

Setting/subjects: The 108 participants included 59 attending physicians and 49 physicians in training from teaching hospitals in Tennessee, Florida, Alabama, Kentucky, and Pennsylvania.

Methodology: Respondents completed a questionnaire designed to explore PDA use in a clinical setting.