Publications by authors named "L J Conway"

Inspired by the cyclopentenone family of prostaglandins, a series of 4-aza, cross-conjugated cyclopentenones is described. Synthesised from N-protected (4R)-aza-cyclopentenone 5, the exocyclic alkene was installed using a modified Baylis-Hillman type aldol reaction, whereby carbon-carbon bond formation is accompanied by dehydration. In this manner octanal and octenal, for example, can be introduced to mimic the ω-group present in the natural prostaglandins.

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Purpose: Pathogenic germline variants (PGVs) in a subset of cancer predisposition genes (CPGs) are associated with adult-onset autosomal dominant (AD) cancer susceptibility and life-limiting autosomal recessive (AR) disease. Counseling in adult cancer genetics clinics regarding reproductive risk for PGV heterozygotes is limited.

Methods: Estimated heterozygote frequencies across ancestries were calculated for AD CPGs with AR risk (ATM, BRCA1, BRCA2, BRIP1, FH, NBN, MLH1, MSH2, MSH6, PMS2, RAD51C, SDHA, SDHB, and SDHD) from gnomADv.

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Mutations in creatine transporter SLC6A8 cause creatine transporter deficiency (CTD), which is responsible for 2% of all cases of X-linked intellectual disability. CTD has no current treatments and has a high unmet medical need. Inspired by the transformational therapeutic impact of small molecule "correctors" for the treatment of cystic fibrosis, which bind to mutated versions of the CFTR ion channel to promote its trafficking to the cell surface, we sought to identify small molecules that could stabilize SLC6A8 as a potential treatment for CTD.

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Ammonium fluoride (NH₄F) exhibits a variety of crystalline phases depending on temperature and pressure. By employing Raman spectroscopy and synchrotron X-ray diffraction beyond megabar pressures (up to 140 GPa), we have here observed a novel dense solid phase of NH₄F, characterised by the tetragonal P4/nmm structure also observed in other ammonium halides under less extreme pressure conditions, typically a few GPa. Using detailed ab-initio calculations and reevaluating earlier theoretical models pertaining to other ammonium halides, we examine the microscopic mechanisms underlying the transition from the low-pressure cubic phase (P-43m) to the newly identified high-pressure tetragonal phase (P4/nmm).

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Controlling the formation and stoichiometric content of the desired phases of materials has become of central interest for a variety of fields. The possibility of accessing metastable states by initiating reactions by X-ray-triggered mechanisms over ultrashort time scales has been enabled by the development of X-ray free electron lasers (XFELs). Utilizing the exceptionally high-brilliance X-ray pulses from the EuXFEL, we report the synthesis of a previously unobserved yttrium hydride under high pressure, along with nonstoichiometric changes in hydrogen content as probed at a repetition rate of 4.

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