Correction: Assessing the impact of deviations in optimized multistep flow synthesis on the scale-up

Correction for ‘Assessing the impact of deviations in optimized multistep flow synthesis on the scale-up’ by M. K. Sharma et al., React. Chem. Eng., 2020, 5, 838–848, DOI: https://doi.org/10.1039/D0RE00025F.

Assessing the impact of deviations in optimized multistep flow synthesis on the scale-up

This manuscript highlights the unavoidable connection between manual and self-optimized flow synthesis protocols for multistep flow synthesis and its scale-up.

Magnetic resonance imaging and the severity of dementia in older adults

Periventricular white-matter lesions were visualized in the brains of elderly patients being assessed for possible Alzheimer's disease. The magnitude of these lesions, expressed as lesion-brain ratios, correlated closely with the severity of dementia indicated by scores on the Blessed Dementia Scale and the Folstein Mini-Mental State Examination. Impairment in several domains of cognitive functioning tested by the Mini-Mental State Examination was also correlated with the relative quantity of periventricular lesions. Correlations were significant with systolic blood pressure, approached significance with age, and were not significant with duration of dementia or the magnitude of the lateral ventricles. These findings indicate the potential utility of structure-function correlations that are possible with magnetic resonance imaging in identifying mechanisms underlying dementia. They suggest that magnetic resonance imaging may be more useful than computed tomography in following the course of dementia.

Lanthanum potentiation of the vascular response to a protein kinase C activator in genetically hypertensive rats

The effects of lanthanum on the contraction induced by the protein kinase C activator, 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) were studied in femoral artery rings from stroke-prone, spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRSP) and normotensive Wistar-Kyoto rats (WKY). When exposed to a calcium-free buffer containing 1 mmol/l EGTA, the femoral artery rings from SHRSP and WKY, pre-contracted with TPA (10(-6) mol/l), relaxed by 52 and 24%, respectively. Treatment of the rings in this calcium-free buffer with 2.6 mmol/l lanthanum significantly potentiated the TPA-induced contractions in vascular rings from WKY (49%) and SHRSP (136%). Potentiation by lanthanum of the TPA-induced contraction in the absence of extracellular calcium suggests that this cation is acting intracellularly to increase protein kinase C activity. The increased vascular responsiveness of SHRSP to lanthanum may reflect an abnormality in protein kinase C activation in vascular smooth muscle of genetically hypertensive rats.

Blepharospasm associated with olivopontocerebellar atrophy

We report two cases of cranial dystonia (blepharospasm) associated with olivopontocerebellar atrophy (OPCA). The pathophysiology of blepharospasm appears to involve an increased excitability of the interneurons of the blink and corneal reflexes. It is hypothesized that blepharospasm associated with OPCA might be due to rostral brainstem lesions disrupting central dopaminergic and cholinergic pathways, resulting in disinhibition of brainstem reflexes or denervation supersensitivity of the facial nuclear complex.

Quantitative magnetic resonance imaging and the severity of dementia in Alzheimer's disease

The T2 component of the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) signal was measured in 11 brain loci in six elderly patients diagnosed as having probable Alzheimer's disease. T2 values and relative amount of periventricular high-intensity foci were significantly correlated with dementia severity, indicated by the Blessed-Roth Dementia Scale score. Although the mean T2 value for left hemispheric structures was more closely correlated with the dementia score, T2 values did not differ significantly in the right and left hemispheres or in gray and white matter. These findings suggest that more severe dementia in Alzheimer's disease is associated with more water in the brain.