Facilitation of bilateral selective antegrade cerebral perfusion with axillary cannulation and retrograde coronary sinus catheter

Over the past several decades, techniques for surgery of the aortic arch have undergone significant evolution. In addition, there have been refinements in the mechanism of cerebral protection utilized intraoperatively. However, significant practice variations in the strategy of antegrade selective cerebral perfusion continue to persist. Here, we describe a simple and easily reproducible technique for selective antegrade cerebral perfusion, utilizing axillary cannulation and retrograde coronary sinus balloon catheters.

Species identification and quantification in meat and meat products using droplet digital PCR (ddPCR)

Species fraud and product mislabelling in processed food, albeit not being a direct health issue, often results in consumer distrust. Therefore methods for quantification of undeclared species are needed. Targeting mitochondrial DNA, e.g. CYTB gene, for species quantification is unsuitable, due to a fivefold inter-tissue variation in mtDNA content per cell resulting in either an under- (-70%) or overestimation (+160%) of species DNA contents. Here, we describe a reliable two-step droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) assay targeting the nuclear F2 gene for precise quantification of cattle, horse, and pig in processed meat products. The ddPCR assay is advantageous over qPCR showing a limit of quantification (LOQ) and detection (LOD) in different meat products of 0.01% and 0.001%, respectively. The specificity was verified in 14 different species. Hence, determining F2 in food by ddPCR can be recommended for quality assurance and control in production systems.

New measurements of W-values for protons and alpha particles

The increasing importance of ion beams in cancer therapy and the lack of experimental data for W-values for protons and heavy ions in air require new measurements. A new experimental set-up was developed at PTB and consistent measurements of W-values in argon, nitrogen and air for protons and alpha particles with energies from 0.7 to 3.5 MeV u(-1) at PTB, and for carbon ions between 3.6 and 7.0 MeV u(-1) at GSI were carried out. This publication concentrates on the measurements with protons and alpha particles at PTB. The experimental methods and the determination of corrections for recombination effects, beam-induced background radiation and additional effects are presented.

Is it safe to leave an ECMO circuit primed?

Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) is a means of life support for failing patients who require extreme life-saving measures due to failure of their heart, lungs or both organs. In a patient suffering cardiac arrest, the faster circulation via cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) can be instituted the better the outcome is. If an ECMO circuit needs to be built and primed it may add significant minutes to the response time. The purpose of this study is to test for any growth in primed ECMO circuits at given time intervals to prove the safety of leaving an ECMO circuit primed. This, in turn, may lead to decreased response time, with an arrest and the placement of the arresting patient on ECMO. Five ECMO circuits were set up, primed and sampled for bacterial growth at 0, 24, 48 and 72 hours and then at one-week intervals, with an end point of four weeks. No bacterial growth was found at any point during the sampling process.

Optically Detected Magnetic Resonance of Porphyrin Complexes in the Bacterium Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides

By ODMR in zero-field the porphyrins of the BChl-biosynthesis in whole cells of Rhodopseudomonas sphaeroides R-26 are investigated. In the optical emission spectrum 11 pigments could be identified using ODM R in combination with emission and excitation spectroscopy. The properties of these pigments were analyzed in respect to their interactions with the surrounding molecules. An energy transfer from the triplet state of Zn-protoporphyrin to the antenna pigm ent singlet system was proved by DE-ODMR. The wavelength dependence of the zfs param eters within the individual emission band is explained by a model of selective spin-orbit-coupling. In the case of the precursors chlorophyllide a and pheophorbide a, for example, we could show that the pigments are bound to proteins via a hydrogen bond to the ketocarbonylgroup of ring V and that porphyrins with a central Mg-atom have an additional bond via a Fifth ligand of the Mg

Synthese und Kristallstruktur von 7-Azaindolato-Silber, einem dimeren Ag(I)-Komplex mit kurzem Ag-Ag-Abstand

[Ag(C7H5N2)]2 is obtained by the slow addition of a tetrahydrofuran (thf) solution of AgClO4 to a solution of Na(C7H5N2) in thf. The slightly yellow compound crystallizes in the monoclinic space group P21/n with the lattice constants a = 554.5(1) pm, b = 954.6(2) pm, c = 1196.5(3) pm, β = 99.67(2)°. The structure consists of centrosymmetric, planar, dimeric complexes with ligand disorder in the crystal. The N atoms coordinate the Ag+ ions nearly linearly (N-Ag-N = 168°, Ag-N = 213 pm). The Ag+ ions in the dimeric unit have a short distance of 284 pm. The complexes are linked by weak intermolecular η2-Ag-C interactions to chains.

Octachalcogen Cations Te8 2+, Se8 2+, and Mixed (Te8-xSex)8 2+ Stabilized by Chlorometallates of Bi, Zr, and Hf: Synthesis and Crystal Structures of Se8[Bi4Cl14] and E8[MCl6] (E = Se, Te; M = Zr, Hf)

The title compounds were obtained by the reaction of elemental chalcogens E (E = Se, Te) with the respective tetrachlorides ECl4 and the Lewis acidic metal halides ZrCl4, HfCl4, and BiCl3. An alternative way, particularly for the preparation of mixed Se/Te-species, is the enlargement of smaller cationic rings in E4MCl6] (M = Zr, Hf) by adding the respective complementary chalcogen. All reactions were carried out in sealed, evacuated glass ampoules at temperatures between 120 °C and 220 °C, and yielded black crystals of Se8[Bi4Cl14], (Te5.0Se3.0)[HfCl6], (Te5.3 Se2.7)[ZrCl6], (Te6.5Se1.5)[ZrCl6] and Te8[HfCl6], which have been identified by crystal structure analyses. All five compounds contain eight-membered chalcogen rings in an endo-exo-conformation which are isostructural to the known octachalcogen dications E8 2+ (E = S, Se, Te). While in (Te5 .0Se3.0)[HfCl6], (Te5.3Se2 .7 )[ZrCl6], (Te6 .5Se1.5 )[ZrCl6] and Te8[HfCl6] the molecular polycations are surrounded by discrete, octahedral [MCl6]2- counterions, Se4[Bi4Cl14] contains a two-dimensional polymeric anion ([Bi4Cl14]2-)n built of a variety of vertex and edge-sharing BiClx-polyhedra (x = 6, 7). The Bi-Cl bond lengths are spread over a wide range between 250 and 350 pm.