Shedding new light on quadrupolar 1,4-dihydropyrrolo[3,2-]pyrroles: impact of electron-deficient scaffolds over emission.

In this work, we disclose a series of seven quadrupolar centrosymmetric 1,4-dihydropyrrolo[3,2-]pyrroles (DHPPs) linked to the two peripheral, strongly electron-accepting heterocycles such as benzoxadiazole, benzothiadiazole and benzoselenadiazole. This represents the first study probing the influence of electron-deficient heterocycles, rather that small electron-withdrawing substituents, on photophysics of DHPPs. These new acceptor-donor-acceptor hybrid dyes exhibit an appreciable combination of photophysical properties including absorption maxima in the range of 470-620 nm, and emission in the range of 500-720 nm with fluorescence quantum yields reaching 0.

Nanosecond-Lived Excimer Observation in a Crystal of a Rhodium(I) Complex via Time-Resolved X-ray Laue Diffraction.

The rare observation of transient Rh···Rh excimer formation in a single crystal is reported. The estimated excited-state lifetime at 100 K is 2 ns, which makes it the shortest-lived small-molecule species caught experimentally using the laser-pump/X-ray-probe time-resolved Laue method. Upon excitation with 390 nm laser light, the intermolecular Rh···Rh distance decreases from 3.

Using a Development Platform with an STM32 Processor to Prototype an Inexpensive 4-DoF Delta Parallel Robot.

This article presents a construction prototype of a delta 4-DoF (Degree of Freedom) parallel robot. The structure of kinematic chain was described and the problem of inverse kinematic was formulated and solved. The author also proposed a concept of a control system.

Rapid Prototyping of Pneumatic Directional Control Valves.

The main objective of the study was to design a pneumatic directional control valve for controlling pneumatic drives and produce it using a rapid prototyping technique. As the basic design assumption was to achieve high performance through a high flow rate and a low pressure drop, it was necessary to determine two flow parameters: the sonic conductance and the critical pressure ratio. The flow rate of compressed air and the diameters of the pneumatic conduits and fittings are important as they affect the rate of travel of the pneumatic cylinder piston.

Instrument-model refinement in normalized reciprocal-vector space for X-ray Laue diffraction.

A simple yet efficient instrument-model refinement method for X-ray diffraction data is presented and discussed. The method is based on least-squares minimization of differences between respective normalized ( unit length) reciprocal vectors computed for adjacent frames. The approach was primarily designed to work with synchrotron X-ray Laue diffraction data collected for small-molecule single-crystal samples.

Seed-skewness algorithm for X-ray diffraction signal detection in time-resolved synchrotron Laue photocrystallography.

A one-dimensional seed-skewness algorithm adapted for X-ray diffraction signal detection is presented and discussed. The method, primarily designed for photocrystallographic time-resolved Laue data processing, was shown to work well for the type of data collected at the Advanced Photon Source and European Synchrotron Radiation Facility. Nevertheless, it is also applicable in the case of standard single-crystal X-ray diffraction data.

Lung surgery for metastatic epithelial tumours.

Introduction: The aim of this study is to evaluate outcomes following the surgical treatment of pulmonary metastases in patients with different types of epithelial cancers, as well as to identify prognostic factors after metastasectomy.

Material/methods: We retrospectively reviewed data for 61 patients who underwent 76 curative resections of pulmonary metastases from epithelial tumours during 1997-2002 at our department. Potential prognostic factors affecting survival after lung metastasectomy were analysed: disease-free interval (DFI), gender, age, the size and number of metastases, mono- or bilateral tumour, number of operations and the extent of pulmonary resection.

Can we improve the dose distribution for single or multi-lumen breast balloons used for Accelerated Partial Breast Irradiation?

Purpose: The aim of the study was to verify dose distribution parameters for multi-lumen, and artificially created single-lumen balloon applicator used for the same patient with two optimization algorithms: inverse planning simulated annealing (IPSA) and dose point optimization with distance option.

Material And Methods: Group of 24 patients with multi-lumen balloon applied were investigated. Each patient received 10 fractions of 3.

Molecular Characterization of Stolbur Group Subgroup E (16SrXII-E) Phytoplasma Associated with Potatoes in China.

Phytoplasmas have been reported from more than 70 plant species in China, most of which are from woody plants and very few are from potatoes (Solanum tuberosum). During the growing seasons of 2005 through 2011, potato disease surveys were conducted in seed and commercial fields in Yunnan Province and Inner Mongolia. Potato plants displayed symptoms of curled, yellowish and purplish leaves, shortened internodes, aerial tuber formation, and few small malformed underground tubers.

Selected elements of socio-demographic status and lifestyle as factors determining subjective assessment of life in women after mastectomy.

Aim Of The Study: The main objective of the study is to specify whether socio-demographic factors and physical activity result in differences in subjective assessment of life in women diagnosed with breast cancer.

Material And Methods: The study group consisted of 145 women who had been diagnosed with breast cancer. The women had undergone radical surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

Surgical approach to pulmonary metastases from breast cancer.

One of the main characteristics of breast cancer is its capability to disseminate. Solitary pulmonary metastases from breast cancer occur rarely (0.4%).

First Report of Clover Proliferation Group Phytoplasmas (16SrVI-A) Associated with Purple Top Diseased Potatoes (Solanum tuberosum) in China.

Phytoplasma diseases on potatoes are not well understood and have gone largely undetected in China. During the growing seasons of 2005 through 2010, potato disease surveys were conducted in seed and commercial fields in Yunnan Province. Samples were also harvested from three seed potato production areas in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in 2007 and 2010.

First Report of Aster Yellows (16SrI-B) Associated with Potatoes in Alaska.

During a disease survey conducted in 2009 in Alaska, one potato plant (Solanum tuberosum) with symptoms characteristic of aster yellows, such as apical leaves rolling inward, leaves turning yellow or purple, and presence of aerial tubers, was found in a commercial field. Total DNA was extracted from leaves, stems, and roots of the symptomatic and symptomless plants with a DNeasy Plant Mini Kit (Qiagen, Valencia, CA) according to the instructions of the manufacturer. A nested PCR was carried out with the first round primer pair P1/P7 followed by second round primer pair R16F2n/R16R2 (1,3).

Molecular Characterization of 'Candidatus Phytoplasma asteris' Associated with Aster Yellows-Diseased Potatoes in China.

Potatoes (Solanum tuberosum) are one of the most important crops in China following rice, wheat, and corn. Aster yellows phytoplasma appeared to be widespread in China; it was found to cause diseases on alfalfa, oranges, peaches, periwinkles, bamboo (1), and cactus (4). However, scant information of this pathogen on potatoes is available except for a few short reports published during the 1950s.

Variation of the internal transcribed spacer 1 sequence within individual strains and among different strains of Neospora caninum.

Small differences have been reported in the internal transcribed spacer 1 (ITS1) region among strains of Neospora caninum. We compared ITS1 sequences among 6 N. caninum strains analyzed in our laboratory, including 2 strains that have not been examined previously (NC-Illinois and NC-Bahia).

Changes in ventricular fibrillation threshold induced by contrast agents during acute coronary artery occlusion.

In the first few hours after acute coronary thrombosis, clinical coronary angiography is associated with enhanced risk of ventricular fibrillation. In these experiments, the ventricular fibrillation threshold (VFT) was measured in anesthetized dogs before and during acute occlusion of the left circumflex coronary artery. Ischemia alone reduced the fibrillation threshold.

New angiographic agents with less fibrillatory propensity.

Coronary angiography with Renografin-76 (meglumine sodium diatrizoate, Squibb) lowers the ventricular fibrillation threshold (VFT) significantly and in a dose-dependent manner. Recently new contrast materials have been synthesized for possible angiographic use. We compared the fibrillatory propensities of Hexabrix (meglumine sodium ioxaglate, Guerbet), a monacid dimer; Exypaque (Nyegaard; U.