Biomimetic-Membrane-Protected Plasmonic Nanostructures as Dual-Modality Contrast Agents for Correlated Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering and Photoacoustic Detection of Hidden Tumor Lesions.

Optical imaging and spectroscopic modalities are of considerable current interest for in vivo cancer detection and image-guided surgery, but the turbid or scattering nature of biomedical tissues has severely limited their abilities to detect buried or occluded tumor lesions. Here we report the development of a dual-modality plasmonic nanostructure based on colloidal gold nanostars (AuNSs) for simultaneous surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) and photoacoustic (PA) detection of tumor phantoms embedded (hidden) in ex vivo animal tissues. By using red blood cell membranes as a naturally derived biomimetic coating, we show that this class of dual-modality contrast agents can provide both Raman spectroscopic and PA signals for the detection and differentiation of hidden solid tumors with greatly improved depths of tissue penetration.

Vaccination Following Intratumoral Injection of IL2 and Poly-l-lysine/Iron Oxide/CpG Nanoparticles to a Radiated Tumor Site.

The vaccine effect of radiation therapy (RT) has been shown to be limited in both preclinical and clinical settings, possibly due to the inadequacy of RT alone to stimulate vaccination in immunologically "cold" tumor microenvironments (TMEs) and the mixed effects of RT in promoting tumor infiltration of both effector and suppressor immune cells. To address these limitations, we combined intratumoral injection of the radiated site with IL2 and a multifunctional nanoparticle (PIC). The local injection of these agents produced a cooperative effect that favorably immunomodulated the irradiated TME, enhancing the activation of tumor-infiltrating T cells and improving systemic anti-tumor T cell immunity.

Biomimetic Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering Nanoparticles with Improved Dispersibility, Signal Brightness, and Tumor Targeting Functions.

The development of biocompatible and nontoxic surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) nanoparticles is of considerable current interest because of their attractive biomedical applications such as ultrasensitive in vitro diagnostics, in vivo tumor imaging, and spectroscopy-guided cancer surgery. However, current SERS nanoparticles are prepared and stored in aqueous solution, have limited stability and dispersibility, and are not suitable for lyophilization and storage by freeze-drying or other means. Here, we report a simple but robust method to coat colloidal SERS nanoparticles by naturally derived biomimetic red blood cell membranes (RBCM), leading to a dramatic improvement in stability and dispersibility under freeze-thawing, lyophilization, heating, and physiological conditions.

From the Other Side of the Bed: Lived Experiences of Registered Nurses as Family Caregivers.

Background: To provide patient- and family-centered care, health care providers must understand the caregiver experience. Evidence suggests that registered nurses functioning as family caregivers (RNFCs) may have unique experiences and challenges.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore the lived experiences of RNFCs during an adult family member's episode of care in the southern United States.

A Phenomenological Study of the Office Environments of Clinical Social Workers.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to explore the meaning and uses of the office space among licensed clinical social workers in private practice.

Background: Previous research suggests the importance of the office space in clinical practice in regard to therapeutic alliance, client behavior, and the well-being of the therapist. However, therapist offices contain much variation in design.

Functional communication training during reinforcement schedule thinning: An analysis of 25 applications.

Two principal goals of functional communication training (FCT) are (a) to eliminate destructive behavior and (b) to establish a more acceptable, yet functionally equivalent, communication response (FCR). A related and critically important goal is to thin the schedule of reinforcement for the FCR to levels that can be reasonably managed by caregivers. Researchers have described several approaches to thinning FCT reinforcement schedules.

High-Throughput Method of Whole-Brain Sectioning, Using the Tape-Transfer Technique.

Cryostat sectioning is a popular but labor-intensive method for preparing histological brain sections. We have developed a modification of the commercially available CryoJane tape collection method that significantly improves the ease of collection and the final quality of the tissue sections. The key modification involves an array of UVLEDs to achieve uniform polymerization of the glass slide and robust adhesion between the section and slide.

Reliability analysis of nutrient removal from stormwater runoff with green sorption media under varying influent conditions.

To support nutrient removal, various stormwater treatment technologies have been developed via the use of green materials, such as sawdust, tire crumbs, sand, clay, sulfur, and limestone, as typical constituents of filter media mixes. These materials aid in the physiochemical sorption and precipitation of orthophosphates as well as in the biological transformation of ammonia, nitrates and nitrites. However, these processes are dependent upon influent conditions such as hydraulic residence time, influent orthophosphate concentrations, and other chemical species present in the inflow.

Metapopulation dynamics enable persistence of influenza A, including A/H5N1, in poultry.

Highly pathogenic influenza A/H5N1 has persistently but sporadically caused human illness and death since 1997. Yet it is still unclear how this pathogen is able to persist globally. While wild birds seem to be a genetic reservoir for influenza A, they do not seem to be the main source of human illness.

A low-cost technique to cryo-protect and freeze rodent brains, precisely aligned to stereotaxic coordinates for whole-brain cryosectioning.

A major challenge in the histological sectioning of brain tissue is achieving accurate alignment in the standard coronal, horizontal, or sagittal planes. Correct alignment is desirable for ease of subsequent analysis and is a prerequisite for computational registration and algorithm-based quantification of experimental data. We have developed a simple and low-cost technique for whole-brain cryosectioning of rodent brains that reliably results in a precise alignment of stereotactic coordinates.

Measured rates of fluoride/metal association correlate with rates of superoxide/metal reactions for Fe(III)EDTA(H2O)- and related complexes.

The effects of 10 paramagnetic metal complexes (Fe(III)EDTA(H2O)-, Fe(III)EDTA(OH)2-, Fe(III)PDTA-, Fe(III)DTPA2-, Fe(III)2O(TTHA)2-, Fe(III)(CN)6(3-), Mn(II)EDTA(H2O)2-, Mn(II)PDTA2-, Mn(II)beta-EDDADP2-, and Mn(II)PO4(-)) on F- ion 19F NMR transverse relaxation rates (R2 = 1/T2) were studied in aqueous solutions as a function of temperature. Consistent with efficient relaxation requiring formation of a metal/F- bond, only the substitution inert complexes Fe(III)(CN)6(3-) and Fe(III)EDTA(OH)2- had no measured effect on T2 relaxation of the F- 19F resonance. For the remaining eight complexes, kinetic parameters (apparent second-order rate constants and activation enthalpies) for metal/F- association were determined from the dependence of the observed relaxation enhancements on complex concentration and temperature.

Group 14 triple-decker cations.

The triple-decker cations trans-[(Cp*Sn)(2)(mu-eta(5):eta(5)-Cp*)](+) and trans-[(Cp*Pb)(2)(mu-eta(5):eta(5)-Cp*)](+) have been prepared and structurally characterized as their [B(C(6)F(5))(4)](-) salts from the reactions of [Cp*M][B(C(6)F(5))(4)](M = Sn, Pb) with the appropriate decamethylmetallocene. Both triple-decker cations adopt a cisoid arrangement of terminal Cp* groups, whereas the two known triple-decker main-group anions possess a transoid arrangement of terminal Cp groups. The reason for this conformational difference has been probed on the basis of DFT calculations.

Repressible transgenic model of NRAS oncogene-driven mast cell disease in the mouse.

To create a model in which to study the effects of RAS dysregulation in hematopoietic disease, we developed separate founder lines of transgenic mice, with the tetracycline transactivator (tTA) driven by the Vav hematopoietic promoter in one line and NRASV12 driven by the tetracycline responsive element (TRE2) in the other. When these lines are crossed, doubly transgenic animals uniformly develop a disease similar to human aggressive systemic mastocytosis (ASM) or mast cell leukemia (MCL) when they are between 2 and 4 months of age. Disease is characterized by tissue infiltrates of large, well-differentiated mast cells in the spleen, liver, skin, lung, and thymus.

Synthesis and characterization of a coordinated oxoborane: Lewis acid stabilization of a boron-oxygen double bond.

The first example of a stable oxoborane monomer (LB=O) stabilized by complexation to AlCl3 has been prepared by the reaction of LAlCl2 with BCl3 followed by treatment with H2O in CH2Cl2 (L = [HC(CMe)2(NC6F5)2]). DFT calculations reveal that considerable boron-oxygen double bond character is retained in this complex.

A cyclosporine-sensitive psoriasis-like disease produced in Tie2 transgenic mice.

Psoriasis is a common, persistent skin disorder characterized by recurrent erythematous lesions thought to arise as a result of inflammatory cell infiltration and activation of keratinocyte proliferation. Unscheduled angiogenic growth has also been proposed to mediate the pathogenesis of psoriasis although the cellular and molecular basis for this response remains unclear. Recently, a role for the angiopoietin signaling system in psoriasis has been suggested by studies that demonstrate an up-regulation of the tyrosine kinase receptor Tie2 (also known as Tek) as well as angiopoietin-1 and angiopoietin-2 in human psoriatic lesions.

pi-Indenyl tin(II) and lead(II) compounds.

The syntheses and structures of the first indenyl-substituted tin(II) complexes, [Sn{1,3-(SiMe3)2C9H5}2] and [Sn(C5Me5)-{1,3-(SiMe3)2C9H5}], are described; the lead(II) analogue of the latter compound has also been prepared and structurally characterized.

Fluoroaryl-substituted aminoalane dimers: syntheses and structures.

Six dimeric aminoalanes of formula [Me(2)Al-mu-N(H)Ar(F)](2)(Ar(F)= 4-C(6)H(4)F (1), 2-C(6)H(4)F (2), 3,5-C(6)H(3)F(2)(3), 2,3,4,5-C(6)HF(4)(4), 2,3,5,6-C(6)HF(4)(5) and C(6)F(5)(6)) have been prepared by treatment of the appropriate fluoroaniline with AlMe(3) in toluene solution at 25 degrees C. The structures of 1-6 were determined by X-ray crystallography.

The molecular structure of tetra-tert-butyldiphosphine: an extremely distorted, sterically crowded molecule.

The molecular structure of tetra-tert-butyldiphosphine has been determined in the gas phase by electron diffraction using the new DYNAMITE method and in the crystalline phase by X-ray diffraction. Ab initio methods were employed to gain a greater understanding of the structural preferences of this molecule in the gas phase, and to determine the intrinsic P-P bond energy, using recently described methods. Although the P-P bond is relatively long [GED 226.

Enzyme-catalyzed mechanism of isoniazid activation in class I and class III peroxidases.

There is an urgent need to understand the mechanism of activation of the frontline anti-tuberculosis drug isoniazid by the Mycobacterium tuberculosis catalase-peroxidase. To address this, a combination of NMR spectroscopic, biochemical, and computational methods have been used to obtain a model of the frontline anti-tuberculosis drug isoniazid bound to the active site of the class III peroxidase, horseradish peroxidase C. This information has been used in combination with the new crystal structure of the M.

Crystal structure of Mycobacterium tuberculosis catalase-peroxidase.

The Mycobacterium tuberculosis catalase-peroxidase is a multifunctional heme-dependent enzyme that activates the core anti-tuberculosis drug isoniazid. Numerous studies have been undertaken to elucidate the enzyme-dependent mechanism of isoniazid activation, and it is well documented that mutations that reduce activity or inactivate the catalase-peroxidase lead to increased levels of isoniazid resistance in M. tuberculosis.

Isolation of C-H...C(pi) complexes from the reaction of stable carbenes with hydrocarbons.

Several imidazolium-hydrocarbon salts have been isolated from the reaction of stable carbenes with hydrocarbons and some of the products have been structurally characterized showing ion pair formation in the solid state characterized by the presence of well defined and transferable C-H...

An unprecedented mode of ligation for a bridged amido-cyclopentadienide (constrained geometry) ligand; pi-olefinic interactions with gallium and indium.

The surprising reaction of GaCl3 or InBr3 with the di-Grignard reagent [Me2Si(C5Me4)(N-t-Bu)](MgCl)2 x THF results in salts of the bimetallic anions of composition [X3M[C5Me4(N-t-Bu)]MX2]- (M = Ga, X = Cl; M = In; X = Br) in which the MX2 moiety undergoes an eta2-interaction with one of the double bonds of the localized cyclopentadienide ring.

Synthesis of 1,2,4-triazol-5-ylidenes and their interaction with acetonitrile and chalcogens.

Two new, more convenient methods for the synthesis of 1,2,4-triazol-5-ylidenes are described. Four new 1,2,4-triazol-5-ylidenes have been prepared using these methods: 1-(1-adamantyl)-3,4-diphenyl-1,2,4-triazol-5-ylidene (2a), 1-(1-adamantyl)-3-phenyl-4-(p-bromophenyl)-1,2,4-triazol-5-ylidene (2b), 1-(1-adamantyl)-3-phenyl-4-(alpha-naphthyl)-1,2,4-triazol-5-ylidene (2c), and 1-(1-adamantyl)-3,4-di(p-bromophenyl)-1,2,4-triazol-5-ylidene (2d). The X-ray crystal structures of 2d and the precursor salt 1-(1-adamantyl)-3,4-di(p-bromophenyl)-1,2,4-triazolium bromide (1e) are described.