Soft tissue sarcomas in adults

Soft tissue sarcomas are relatively rare in adults, accounting for less than one percent of newly diagnosed cancers in the United States each year. However, increased physician awareness of these tumors may lead to earlier diagnosis and improved results. The five-year survival rate has been increasing, and treatment using a combination of modalities has significantly reduced the number of amputations performed. This article reviews the clinical presentation, diagnosis, pathology, and treatment of soft tissue sarcomas in adults.     

Early male initiation (time frame shift): a possible contributor to their shortened lifespan

Diosgenyl alpha-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1--2)-[beta-glucopyranosyl-(1--3)]- beta-D-glucopyranoside (gracillin), a monodesmosidic saponin isolated from paris, dioscorea, and costacea species with promising cardiovascular and antitumor activities, was synthesized by stepwise glycosylation.     

Comparative kinetic studies of polypyrrole electrogeneration from acetonitrile solutions

The formation and growth of polypyrrole films on platinum electrodes from acetonitrile media has been followed by microgravimetricex situ determination of the polymer grafted on the electrode. Kinetic parameters were also obtained from the charge consumed during polymerization. The electrogenerated polymer films were checked in the background electrolyte by voltammetry and chronoamperometry. Assuming a constant oxidation or reduction charge per unit of polymer weight, these charges were used to obtain the reaction order during the polymerization processes. The kinetics were found to be dependent on [pyrrole]^0.5 [LiClO₄]^0.5 from gravimetric determination; [pyrrole]^0.4 [LiClO₄]^0.5 from the polymerization charge; [pyrrole]^0.4 [LiClO₄]^0.5 from the anodic charge of the control voltammograms and [pyrrole]^0.4 [LiClO₄]^0.4 from the anodic and cathodic charge of the control chronoamperograms. Good agreement was found between the different methods. The good agreement between order dependence was due to the low water content.     

BACTERIAL MUTAGENICITY OF DICYCLOPENTA-FUSED PYRENE CONGENERS IN FVT-PYROLYSATES: PARTIAL COMBUSTION EXHAUST MIMICS

The mutagenicity response of well-characterized flash vacuum thermolysis (FVT) pyrolysates that contain cyclopenta[cd]pyrene (1) and 1-ethynylpyrene (1b) (pyrolysate I), the dicyclopentapyrene congeners dicyclopenta[cd,mn]- (2), dicyclopenta[cd,fg]- (3), or dicyclopenta[cd,jk]pyrene (4) and their related bis-ethynyl- (2b–4b) and monocyclopenta-ethynylpyrene (2a–4a) analogues (pyrolysates II–IV, respectively), or cyclopenta[cd]- (1) and the three dicyclopentapyrenes (2–4) (pyrolysate V), respectively, was assessed using the standard protocol outlined by Ames et al. (Salmonella typhimurium strain TA98 ± S9-mix 4% (v/v)). It is shown that the mutagenic activity of the pyrolysates deviates from the weighed sum of the activity of the individual pyrolysate constituents. Hence, FVT-pyrolysates are proposed as model mixtures, that is, as partial combustion exhaust mimics, to establish and evaluate interactions (additive, synergistic, or antagonistic effects) that may occur among the constituents and affect the global mutagenicity response.     

Synthesis,characterization and compared reactivity of asymmetrical ansa-metallocenes

Rac and meso ansa-zirconocenes [Zr{1-Me₂Si(3-R-(η⁵-C₉H₅))(3-R′-(η⁵-C₉H₅))}Cl₂] (R = Et, R′ = H; R = Pr, R′ = H; and R = Et, R′ = Pr) 4–9 have been prepared by the reaction of ZrCl₄ with the corresponding dilithiated derivatives from the ligands {1-Me₂Si(3-R-(η⁵-C₉H₅))(3-R′-(η⁵-C₉H₅))} (R = Et, R′ = H 1; R = Pr, R′ = H 2; and R = Et, R′ = Pr 3) in diethyl ether/toluene at ?78 °C. The molecular structure of rac [Zr{1-Me₂Si(3-Et-(η⁵-C₉H₅))(3-Pr-(η⁵-C₉H₅))}Cl₂] 8 has been determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction studies, which show a pseudotetrahedral environment formed by the two chlorine ligands and two η⁵-coordinated indenyl ligands. The activity in homogeneous and heterogeneous polymerization is compared and discussed.     

Post-synthesis modifications of SBA-15 carbon replicas: Improving hydrogen storage by increasing microporous volume

SBA-15 carbon replicas were synthesized with a sucrose solution as carbon source, carrying out carbonization at two different temperatures (800 and 1000 °C). Carbon pyrolised at 800 °C showed higher BET surface area and was chosen for further post-synthesis activation treatments (physical via CO₂ or chemical via KOH), with the aim of improving hydrogen adsorption capacity. For comparison, an amorphous carbon was also synthesized, by direct carbonization of the carbon source, without any inorganic template: on this material a chemical activation was also performed. H₂ adsorption isotherms at the temperature of liquid nitrogen and sub-atmospheric pressure were measured. A linear correlation was found between hydrogen uptake and microporous volume of the different carbons, rather than with BET specific surface area. Surprisingly, the sample prepared in the absence of inorganic template resulted the most effective one.     

Comparison of Oxidation Stability and Quenchant Cooling Curve Performance of Soybean Oil and Palm Oil

The potential use of vegetable oil-derived industrial oils continues to be of great interest because vegetable oils are relatively non-toxic, biodegradable, and they are a renewable basestock alternative to petroleum oil. However, the fatty ester components containing conjugated double bonds of the triglyceride structure of vegetable oils typically produce considerably poorer thermal-oxidative stability than that achievable with petroleum basestocks under typical use conditions. Typically, these conditions involve furnace loads of hot steel (850 °C), which are rapidly immersed and cooled to bath temperatures of approximately 50-60 °C. This is especially true when a vegetable oil is held in an open tank with agitation and exposed to air at elevated temperatures for extended periods of time (months or years). This paper will describe the thermal-oxidative stability and quenching performance of soybean oil and palm oil and the resulting impact on the heat transfer coefficient. These results are compared to typical fully formulated, commercially available accelerated (fast) and an unaccelerated (slow) petroleum oil-based quenchants.     

Variable‐temperature IR spectroscopic studies of CO adsorbed on Na‐ZSM‐5 and Na‐Y zeolites

CO interacts with extraframework alkali metal cations (M⁺=) of zeolites to form both M⁺CO and M⁺OC species. By using variabletemperature FTIR spectroscopy, these Cbonded and Obonded species were found to be in a temperaturedependent equilibrium. For the same cation, the difference in interaction energy depends upon the zeolite framework. Thus, for the equilibrium process ZNa⁺=CO ZNa⁺OC, where Z represents the zeolite framework, H ⁰ was found to take the values 3.8 and 2.4 kJ mol^– for CO/NaZSM5 and CO/NaY, respectively. The Cbonded species show always the highest cation–CO interaction energy.