John B. Goodenough's Role in Solid State Chemistry Community: A Thrilling Scientific Tale Told by a French Chemist.

In this tribute to John B. Goodenough I will describe how John's talk on the metal-to-nonmetal transition of vanadium oxide VO, presented at the Bordeaux Conference (September 1964) attended by inorganic chemists, metallurgists, crystallographers, thermodynamicists and physicists, provided a pioneering vision of interdisciplinary research to come. John gave a complete description of the paradigm on how the physical properties of a solid depend on its structure and bonding, by employing the chemical notions as local distortions and interatomic distances as well as the physics notions such as band width and the Hubbard on-site repulsion U.

Paul Hagenmuller.

Paul Hagenmuller, honorary professor at the Université de Bordeaux, passed away at the age of 95 on January 7, 2017. Hagenmuller was one of the founders of solid-state chemistry at the interface between chemistry, physics, and material science, with contributions including high oxidation states in transition metal oxides, magnesium hydride for hydrogen-storage applications, and synthesis of copper perovskites.

Fiber evanescent wave spectroscopy using the mid-infrared provides useful fingerprints for metabolic profiling in humans.

Fiber evanescent wave spectroscopy (FEWS) explores the mid-infrared domain, providing information on functional chemical groups represented in the sample. Our goal is to evaluate whether spectral fingerprints obtained by FEWS might orientate clinical diagnosis. Serum samples from normal volunteers and from four groups of patients with metabolic abnormalities are analyzed by FEWS.

Real-space pairing through charge transfer excitons in high-TC cuprates.

While approaching a Mott-Hubbard transition by hole doping of the pristine La(2)CuO(4) cuprate, excitons are created because of exciton-exciton and exciton-doping hole stabilizing interactions. Here, excitons are of charge-transfer Frenkel-type, with effective Cu(+)O(-) electrical dipoles that solvate the doping charges. Assuming a moderate screening by charge carriers, we show that mobile exciton-solvated doping holes should be associated in pairs either by a deep energy well or as thermodynamically stable pairs that can glide in the [100] or [010] direction after Bose condensation.

Association between estrogen and androgen receptor genes and prostate cancer risk.

Objective: Prostate cancer (PC) is one of the principal causes of death among men. Steroid hormones are involved in normal prostate growth and carcinogenesis. The purpose of our study was to investigate the effects on PC risk of polymorphisms from three steroid hormone receptor genes: the androgen (AR), and the alpha (ESR1) and beta (ESR2) estrogen receptors.

Status of trivalent copper and charge-transfer excitons in high-TC cuprates.

A chemical bonding approach based on tight-binding cluster and band calculations, taking into account on-site Coulomb repulsion (Hubbard U parameter) to differentiate doubly and singly occupied states, was applied to high- T C superconducting cuprates and related compounds. This work provides rational insight and explanations for issues such as (i) the actual oxidation number Cu (I+) for formally trivalent copper in oxides such as La 2Li 1/2Cu 1/2O 4, (ii) the dominant oxygen character of the doping holes in (CuO 2) ( n- ) planes, (iii) the Mott-Hubbard character of the insulator-to-metal transition triggered by hole doping, leading to an oxygen-to-copper charge transfer of avalanche type, (iv) the occurrence of an excitonic phase with anisotropic Frenkel-type excitons, (v) the role of Coulomb interactions between excitons and between doping holes and their exciton surroundings, and (vi) the on-time pairing of doping holes by means of an "excitonic glue".

Plasma palmitoleic acid, a product of stearoyl-coA desaturase activity, is an independent marker of triglyceridemia and abdominal adiposity.

Background And Aim: In an animal model VLDL-triglyceride secretion is highly dependent on stearoyl-coA desaturase (SCD) activity and could explain abdominal fattening. The aim was to assess the relationship of plasma palmitoleic acid content, a product of SCD activity, with triglyceridemia and abdominal adiposity in humans.

Methods: We evaluated 134 healthy men.

Combination of polymorphisms from genes related to estrogen metabolism and risk of prostate cancers: the hidden face of estrogens.

Purpose: The association between common functional polymorphisms from the CYP17, CYP19, CYP1B1, and COMT genes involved in the estrogen metabolism and the risk of prostate carcinoma was evaluated.

Patients And Methods: The study investigated 1,983 white French men (1,101 patients with prostate cancer and 882 healthy controls) aged between 40 and 98 years. The different alleles and genotypes were analyzed according to case-control status, aggressiveness pattern of the tumors, age at onset, and family history of cancers.

Relative validity and reproducibility of a 14-item semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire for cardiovascular prevention.

Background: Dietary habits play a major role in cardiovascular disease risk but few simple nutrition assessment tools are available for clinical practice. We developed a 14-item food frequency questionnaire to evaluate dietary patterns in relation with coronary risk in a French population.

Design And Methods: This food frequency questionnaire gave different scores of intake: saturated fatty acids (six questions), mono-unsaturated fatty acids, Omega-3 and Omega-6/Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (five questions), and fruits and vegetables (three questions).

Phenotypic expression in detected C282Y homozygous women depends on body mass index.

Background/aims: In HFE-related haemochromatosis, a large proportion of C282Y homozygotes, especially women, are not detected by phenotypic screening using transferrin saturation. The aim of this study was to identify the clinical and biochemical factors associated with non-expression of the disease as defined as transferrin saturation <45%.

Methods: The study was performed in 78 (57 women and 21 men) C282Y homozygotes identified through a large-scale screening program conducted on 19,644 French subjects.

Structural trends and chemical bonding in Te-doped silicon clathrates.

The recently discovered tellurium-doped silicon clathrates, Te7+xSi20-x and Te16Si38, both low- and high-temperature forms (cubic and rhombohedral, respectively), exhibit original structures that are all derived from the parent type I clathrate G8Si46 (G = guest atom). The similarities and differences between the structures of these compounds and that of the parent one are analyzed and discussed on the basis of charge distribution and chemical bonding considerations. Because of the particular character of the Te atom, these compounds appear to be at the border between the clathrate and polytelluride families.

Redox active plasma iron in C282Y/C282Y hemochromatosis.

Labile plasma iron (LPI) represents the redox active component of non-transferrin-bound iron (NTBI). Its presence in thalassemic patients has been recently reported. The aim of the present study was to quantify LPI in HFE genetic hemochromatosis (GH) and to characterize the mechanisms accounting for its appearance.

Sigma ESR: an erythrocyte sedimentation rate adjusted for the hematocrit and hemoglobin concentration.

The aim of the study was to simplify the first Sigma erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) method (manual hematocrit adjustment to 0.35, sum of 4 sedimentation levels) and to confirm its clinical relevance. The erythrocyte sedimentation rate of undiluted blood samples from 576 patients was measured simultaneously with and without manual hematocrit adjustment to 0.

Serum ceruloplasmin and ferroxidase activity are not decreased in hepatic failure related to alcoholic cirrhosis: clinical and pathophysiological implications.

Background: A decrease in serum ceruloplasmin (Cp), a protein involved in iron metabolism through its ferroxidase activity, is classically claimed to be observed in severe hepatic failure of non-wilsonian chronic liver disease and therefore to be a confounding factor for the diagnosis of Wilson's disease. Moreover, a simultaneous decrease in ferroxidase activity could be hypothesized as playing a role in the development of the hepatic siderosis frequently observed in advanced chronic liver diseases. The aim of this study was to test the validity of these two statements.

Gender-specific phenotypic expression and screening strategies in C282Y-linked haemochromatosis: a study of 9396 French people.

Most features of C282Y-linked haemochromatosis support the implementation of population screening of the disorder in Caucasians. However, the penetrance of C282Y homozygosity is poorly documented and the strategy for population screening remains debated. Nine thousand three hundred and ninety-six subjects (3367 men, aged 25-40 years, and 6029 women, aged 35-50 years), attending three Health Appraisal Centres, were genotyped and assessed with respect to clinical and biochemical signs of haemochromatosis.

Effect of metal-oxygen covalent bonding on the competition between Jahn-Teller distortion and charge disproportionation in the perovskites of high-spin d(4) metal ions LaMnO(3) and CaFeO(3).

The perovskites LaMnO(3) and CaFeO(3) consisting of high-spin d(4) transition metal ions undergo different types of distortions, i.e., a Jahn-Teller distortion in LaMnO(3) and a charge disproportionation in CaFeO(3).

Serum ceruloplasmin and ferroxidase activity are decreased in HFE C282Y homozygote male iron-overloaded patients.

Background/aims: A body of evidence suggests that ceruloplasmin (Cp), the major serum copper-containing protein, acts in iron metabolism due to its ferroxidase activity which appears essential for iron movements and exchanges.

Methods: The present study investigated the serum levels of Cp and its ferroxidase activity in 53 C282Y homozygote genetic hemochromatosis (38 iron overloaded, 15 iron depleted) patients as compared to age and sex-matched healthy volunteers.

Results: Serum levels of Cp were significantly decreased in iron-overloaded male hemochromatotic patients vs.

Clathrate Structure of Silicon Na8Si46 and NaxSi136 (x < 11).

The crystal structure of two new cubic phases in the silicon-sodium system have been solved from their x-ray diffraction patterns. Both structures are of the clathrate type found for gas hydrates, consisting of tetrahedral networks which are combinations of pentagonal dodecahedra with 14-face polyhedra in one case and with 16-face polyhedra in the other case. There is strict correspondence between the silicon positions and the oxygen positions of the hydrate structures.