Mucinous Degeneration on MRI After Neoadjuvant Therapy in Patients With Rectal Adenocarcinoma: Frequency and Association With Clinical Outcomes.

Patients with nonmucinous rectal adenocarcinoma may develop mucinous changes after neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy, which are described as mucinous degeneration. The finding's significance in earlier studies has varied. The purpose of this study was to assess the frequency of mucinous degeneration on MRI after neoadjuvant therapy for rectal adenocarcinoma and to compare outcomes among patients with nonmucinous tumor, mucinous tumor, and mucinous degeneration on MRI.

Beneficial Effects of Physical Exercise on Functional Capacity and Skeletal Muscle Oxidative Stress in Rats with Aortic Stenosis-Induced Heart Failure.

Objective. We evaluated the influence of exercise on functional capacity, cardiac remodeling, and skeletal muscle oxidative stress, MAPK, and NF-κB pathway in rats with aortic stenosis- (AS-) induced heart failure (HF). Methods and Results.

Evolving factor analysis-based method for correcting monitoring delay in different batch runs for use with PLS: On-line monitoring of a transesterification reaction by ATR-FTIR.

In this work, the base-catalyzed transesterification of soybean oil with ethanol was monitored on-line using mid-infrared spectroscopy (MIRS) and the yield of fatty acid ethyl esters (biodiesel) was obtained by (1)H NMR spectroscopy. The MIRS monitoring carried out for 12min, was performed using a cylindrical internal reflectance cell of PbSe in the range of 3707-814cm(-1) with eight co-added scans. Two different data treatment strategies were used: in the first, the models were built using the raw data and in the other, evolving factor analysis (EFA) was used to overcome the sensor time delay due to the on-line analysis, producing significantly better results.

Transesterification of soybean oil catalyzed by sulfated zirconia.

Two sulfated zirconias were synthesized and characterized by X-ray diffraction and infrared spectroscopy. They were used as catalysts in the alcoholysis of soybean oil and in the esterification of oleic acid. Using sulfated zirconia prepared by the solvent-free method (S-ZrO(2)) as catalyst, the alcoholysis conversions of soybean oil under optimized conditions (120 degrees C, 1h and 5wt% of catalyst) were 98.

Spectroscopic studies of the intermolecular interactions of Congo red and tinopal CBS with modified cellulose fibers.

The adsorption of Congo red and tinopal CBS dyes on cellulose fibers was investigated using electronic absorption and fluorescence spectroscopies. Hydrogen bonds appear to be relevant for the dye-fiber interactions as indicated by the solvatochromism of Congo red in water, methanol, and dimethyl sulfoxide solutions, and when adsorbed on cellulose fibers. We also demonstrate that electrostatic interactions play an important role in the dye-medium interaction, through the analysis of absorption spectra of Congo red and fluorescence spectra of tinopal in aqueous solutions containing salt and in layer-by-layer nanostructured films with poly(allylamine hydrochloride).