[Re]Re- and [Tc]Tc-Tricarbonyl Metal Complexes with 1,4,7-Triazacyclononane-Based Chelators Bearing Amide, Alcohol, or Ketone Pendent Groups.

1,4,7-Triazacyclononane (TACN)-based chelators, such as NOTA and NODAGA, have shown great promise as bifunctional chelators for [M(CO)] cores (M = Tc and Re) in radiopharmaceutical development. Previous investigations of TACN-based chelators bearing pendent acid and ester arms demonstrated the important role the pendent arms have in successful coordination of the [M(CO)] core with the TACN backbone nitrogens. In this work, we introduce three TACN-based bifunctional chelators bearing amide, alcohol, and ketone pendent arms and evaluate their (radio)labeling efficiency with the [M(CO)] core as well as the stability and hydrophilicity of the resulting radiometal complexes.

The effects of extended-wear hearing aids on the localization accuracy of listeners with normal audiometric thresholds.

Extended-wear hearing aids (EWHAs) are small broadband analog amplification devices placed deeply enough in the ear canal to preserve most of the cues in the head-related transfer function. However, little is known about how EWHAs affect localization accuracy for normal hearing threshold (NHT) listeners. In this study, eight NHT participants were fitted with EWHAs and localized broadband sounds of different durations (250 ms and 4 s) and stimulus intensities (40, 50, 60, 70, and 80 dBA) in a spherical speaker array.

Clinical outcomes of female external urine wicking devices as alternatives to indwelling catheters: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Female patients using indwelling urinary catheters (IUCs) are disproportionately at risk for developing catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs) compared to males. Female external urine wicking devices (FEUWDs) have emerged as potential alternatives to IUCs for incontinence management.

Objectives: To assess the clinical risks and benefits of FEUWDs as alternatives to IUCs.

Distortion product otoacoustic mapping measured pre- and post-loud sound exposures.

Objective: Sampling distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs) at multiple f/f ratios and f frequency values produces a DPOAE "map." This study examined the efficacy of DPOAE mapping compared with pure tone audiometry and standard DPOAEs for detecting noise effects in subjects exposed to loud sound.

Design: A map significance score was developed as a single measure of map change.

Attenuation characteristics of an extended-wear hearing aid: Impulse and continuous noise.

The extended-wear hearing aid (EWHA) is a hearing assistive device that combines a low-power analog amplification circuit with a soft biocompatible foam plug that allows it to remain in the ear canal for several months at a time without replacement. EWHAs fit snugly in the ear canal and are not vented and so produce insertion losses comparable to a passive earplug when inserted into the ear canal with the active circuitry turned off. However, EWHAs are not marketed as hearing protection devices, and other than a general warning to users that the device will have impaired auditory awareness when the device is inserted in the "off" mode, relatively little has been reported about the attenuation characteristics of EWHAs.

Acquired Central Auditory Processing Disorder in Service Members and Veterans.

Purpose A growing body of evidence suggests that military service members and military veterans are at risk for deficits in central auditory processing. Risk factors include exposure to blast, neurotrauma, hazardous noise, and ototoxicants. We overview these risk factors and comorbidities, address implications for clinical assessment and care of central auditory processing deficits in service members and veterans, and specify knowledge gaps that warrant research.

Using the Omaha System to Evaluate the Integration of Behavioral Health Services into Nurse-Led Primary Health Care.

Integrating behavioral health services into nurse-led primary care at one location ensures that individuals receive a comprehensive array of preventive and restorative services, based on their varying needs. A formative program evaluation of a federally funded behavioral health integration (BHI) project in a small nurse-led clinic used the Omaha System taxonomy to explore the changes in the documented practice of providers due to the BHI implementation. The evaluation provided evidence of the benefits of a collaborative care model to urban low-income, underserved, adults who were predominantly African American/Blacks.

I'm Wearing My Hearing Protection - Am I Still At Risk for Hearing Loss? Lurking Ototoxins in the Military Environment.

Objective: Information is summarized from the overall body of published literature regarding ototoxic chemicals encountered outside of clinical exposures, largely in occupational settings. While summarizing the most common non-pharmaceutical ototoxins, this review provides clinically relevant information and recommendations such that hearing health professionals may adopt a more comprehensive and appropriate diagnostic case history, test battery, documentation scheme, and education delivery.

Methods: Solvents, metals, and asphyxiants literature was reviewed using PubMed, national and international agency websites, and communications with known ototoxicity experts.

The influence of anthropogenic edge effects on primate populations and their habitat in a fragmented rainforest in Costa Rica.

When a forest is fragmented, this increases the amount of forest edge relative to the interior. Edge effects can lead to loss of animal and plant species and decreased plant biomass near forest edges. We examined the influence of an anthropogenic forest edge comprising cattle pasture, coconut plantations, and human settlement on the mantled howler (Alouatta palliata), white-faced capuchin (Cebus capucinus), Central American spider monkey (Ateles geoffroyi), and plant populations at La Suerte Biological Research Station (LSBRS), Costa Rica.

Capillary electrophoresis for the analysis of the effect of sample preparation on early stages of Aβ1-40 aggregation.

Aggregation of the amyloid-β protein (Aβ) contributes to the neurodegeneration characteristic of Alzheimer's disease. Of particular importance are the early stages of aggregation, which involve the formation of soluble oligomers and protofibrils. In these studies, we demonstrate the potential for CE with UV detection using a polyethylene oxide separation matrix to identify the evolution of various oligomeric species of Aβ1-40 .

Unraveling the early events of amyloid-β protein (Aβ) aggregation: techniques for the determination of Aβ aggregate size.

The aggregation of proteins into insoluble amyloid fibrils coincides with the onset of numerous diseases. An array of techniques is available to study the different stages of the amyloid aggregation process. Recently, emphasis has been placed upon the analysis of oligomeric amyloid species, which have been hypothesized to play a key role in disease progression.

Biostable multi-Aib analogs of tachykinin-related peptides demonstrate potent oral aphicidal activity in the pea aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum (Hemiptera: Aphidae).

The tachykinin-related peptides (TRPs) are multifunctional neuropeptides found in a variety of arthropod species, including the pea aphid Acyrthosiphon pisum (Hemiptera: Aphidae). Two new biostable TRP analogs containing multiple, sterically hindered Aib residues were synthesized and found to exhibit significantly enhanced resistance to hydrolysis by angiotensin converting enzyme and neprilysin, membrane-bound enzymes that degrade and inactivate natural TRPs. The two biostable analogs were also found to retain significant myostimulatory activity in an isolated cockroach hindgut preparation, the bioassay used to isolate and identify the first members of the TRP family.

Evaluation of a PK/PBAN analog with an (E)-alkene, trans-Pro isostere identifies the Pro orientation for activity in four diverse PK/PBAN bioassays.

The pyrokinin/pheromone biosynthesis activating neuropeptide (PK/PBAN) family plays a multifunctional role in an array of important physiological processes in a variety of insects. An active core analog containing an (E)-alkene, trans-Pro isosteric component was evaluated in four disparate PK/PBAN bioassays in four different insect species. These bioassays include pheromone biosynthesis in the moth Heliothis peltigera, melanization in the larval Spodoptera littoralis, pupariation acceleration in the larval fly Neobellieria bullata, and hindgut contraction in the cockroach Leucophaea maderae.

Inhibition of PK/PBAN-mediated functions in insects: discovery of selective and non-selective inhibitors.

The antagonistic properties of a few linear and backbone cyclic (BBC) conformationally constraint peptide libraries and their analogs, were tested for the ability to inhibit pyrokinin/pheromone biosynthesis activating neuropeptide (PK/PBAN) mediated functions: sex pheromone biosynthesis in Heliothis peltigera female moths, cuticular melanization in Spodoptera littoralis larvae, pupariation in the fleshfly Neobellieria bullata and hindgut contraction in Leucophaea maderae, elicited by exogenously injected PBAN, pheromonotropin (PT), leucopyrokinin (LPK), myotropin (MT) or by the endogenous peptides. The data revealed differential inhibitory patterns within the same assay with different elicitors (in both the pheromonotropic and melanotropic assays) and among the different functions and disclosed selective antagonists, hinting at the possibility that the receptors that mediate those functions may differ from one another structurally.

A C-terminal aldehyde insect kinin analog enhances inhibition of weight gain and induces significant mortality in Helicoverpa zea larvae.

The first reported examples of C-terminal aldehyde analogs of an insect neuropeptide are described. They are hexapeptide insect kinin analogs Boc-VFFPWG-H and Fmoc-RFFPWG-H. Activity observed for these modified analogs in an in vitro insect diuretic assay confirms that the C-terminal aldehyde group is tolerated by an insect kinin receptor.

Enhanced in vivo activity of peptidase-resistant analogs of the insect kinin neuropeptide family.

The diuretic/myotropic insect kinin neuropeptides, which share the common C-terminal pentapeptide core FX(1)X(2)WG-NH(2), reveal primary (X(2)-W) and secondary (N-terminal to F) sites of susceptibility to peptidases bound to corn earworm (H. zea) Malpighian tubule tissue. Analogs designed to enhance resistance to tissue-bound peptidases, and pure insect neprilysin and ACE, demonstrate markedly enhanced in vivo activity in a weight gain inhibition assay in H.

Structural characterization of peripheral nerve cells and nerve-muscle junctions of the oviduct of stable fly (Diptera:Muscidae).

Fine structure of both peripheral nerve cells and neuromuscular junctions associated with the oviduct of stable fly. Stomoxys calcitrans (L.), was described.

Lewis Acid-Promoted, Stereocontrolled, Gram Scale, Diels-Alder Cycloadditions of Electronically Matched 2-Pyrones and Vinyl Ethers: The Critical Importance of Molecular Sieves and the Temperature of Titanium Coordination with the Pyrone.

(R)-(+)-Binol-titanium coordinates with commercial methyl 2-pyrone-3-carboxylate and promotes mild, highly enantiocontrolled Diels-Alder cycloadditions with electron-rich vinyl ether CH(2)=CHOCH(2)-1-naphthyl and vinyl silyl ether CH(2)=CHOSiMe(2)Bu-t leading to valuable 1alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D(3) (calcitriol) intermediate (-)-2. Unexpectedly, two subtle variables were found to be critical for obtaining reproducibly over 90% enantioselectivities in gram scale cycloadditions: (1) the moisture content (15-17% is best) of the molecular sieves used to prepare the binol-titanium complex according to the Mikami protocol and (2) the temperature (50 degrees C is best) at which the pyrone ester is mixed with the binol-titanium complex. Unsubstituted 2-pyrone undergoes ytterbium-promoted, high-pressure, regioselective, and stereoselective Diels-Alder cycloaddition with benzyl vinyl ether to form versatile bicyclic lactone (+/-)-4 on gram scale.

Structural characterization of muscles and epithelial sheaths of the oviduct of Stomoxys calcitrans (Diptera: Muscidae).

Fine structure of both muscle and epithelial cells in the oviduct of Stomoxys calcitrans (L.) was characterized. Each tubular section of the oviduct consisted of an inner epithelial sheath enveloped by an outer network of muscle fibers that showed noticeable variation in cross-sectional thickness.

Interactions of carbaryl with susceptible and multiresistant house flies (Diptera: Muscidae).

The in vivo and in vitro fate of [14C]carbaryl was compared in adult male and female house flies from an insecticide-susceptible (S) strain and a resistant (R) strain with multiple resistance to different classes of insecticides. Cuticular penetration of topically applied carbaryl (0.01 microgram/insect) was very rapid and rates were essentially the same among males and females of both strains.

In vitro metabolism of a linear furanocoumarin (8-methoxypsoralen, xanthotoxin) by mixed-function oxidases of larvae of black swallowtail butterfly and fall armyworm.

Studies were made of the comparative in vitro metabolism of [(14)C]xanthotoxin and [(14)C]aldrin by homogenate preparations of midguts and bodies (carcass minus digestive tract and head) of last-stage larvae of the black swallowtail butterfly (Papilio polyxenes Fabr.) and the fall armyworm [Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E.

Comparative metabolism of [(3)H]psoralen and [ (3)H]isopsoralen by black swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes Fabr.) caterpillars.

The comparative fate of tritiated preparations of a linear furanocoumarin (psoralen) and an angular furanocoumarin (isopsoralen) was determined in last-instar caterpillars of the black swallowtail butterfly (Papilio polyxenes Fabr.). Oral administration of either furanocoumarin at 5 μg/g is followed by rapid metabolism, primarily through oxidative cleavage of the furan ring, and the metabolites are rapidly excreted.

Fate of photosensitizing furanocoumarins in tolerant and sensitive insects.

The fate of [(14)C]xanthotoxin (8-methoxypsoralen) was studied in larvae of insect species that are tolerant (Papilio polyxenes Stoll) or sensitive (Spodoptera frugiperda J.E. Smith) to the phototoxic effects of photosensitizing psoralens.