Protoberberine aus Reissert-Verbindungen, 2. Mitt.: Eine neue Synthese von 8-Methyldibenzo[a,g]chinolizidinen

Protoberberines from Reissert Compounds, II: A New Synthesis of 8-Methyldibenzo[a,g]quinolizidines The Reissert compounds 16 are benzylated by 2-bromomethylacetophenone dioxolane 14 to give the dihydroisoquinolines 5 . Treatment of 5 with KOH yields the 1-benzylisoquinolines 6 which spontaneously form the deoxygenated coralynes 4 in acidic solution. 4a and 18 are reduced by NaBH₄ to give the 8-methyl-trans-dibenzoquinolizidines 19 . The sequence 5 → 6 → 4 → 19 is a new efficient access to coralyne analogues and 8-substituted tetrahydroprotoberberines.- Bromination of 2-methylacetophenone does not lead to 2-bromomethylacetophenone but to the benzalbromide 9 or to the phenacylbromide 11 .     

Chronic juvenile arthritis--difficult early diagnosis--differentiation of arthropathies in the patient case load of a juvenile arthritis hospital

Among 2369 children who had been admitted and treated in the Rheumatic Children's Hospital Garmisch-Partenkirchen between 1952 and 1979 under the diagnosis "juvenile chronic arthritis (JCA)" or, "collagenosis", there were 244 patients (= 10.3%) for whom in the end a different diagnosis was set. The major part of these children suffered from arthritides where there was proof of a direct or an indirect connection with bacterial infections or where there existed a corresponding suspected diagnosis (altogether 162 out of these 244 children, = 66.4%). The remaining 82 cases differentiated into 26 further diagnoses with various frequencies. Our examinations show that six criteria are found relatively frequently in arthropathies not caused by juvenile chronic arthritis. These require special consideration in the differential diagnosis: oligoarthritic onset of the disease, high fever - especially septic intermittent fever, erythema nodosum, endomyocarditis, no (or only very slight) functional resp. morphological changes of the joints.     

Comparison between civilian burns and combat burns from Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom

OBJECTIVE: To assess outcome differences between locally burned civilians and military personnel burned in a distant combat zone treated in the same facility. SUMMARY BACKGROUND DATA: The United States Army Institute of Surgical Research (USAISR) Burn Center serves as a referral center for civilians and is the sole center for significant burns in military personnel. We made the hypothesis that outcomes for military personnel burned in the current conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan would be poorer because of delays to definitive treatment, other associated injury, and distance of evacuation. METHODS: We reviewed the civilian and military records of patients treated at the USAISR from the outset of hostilities in Iraq in April 2003 to May 2005. Demographics, injury data, mortality, and clinical outcomes were compared. RESULTS:: We cared for 751 patients during this time period, 273 of whom were military (36%). Military injuries occurred in a younger population (41 +/- 19 vs. 26 +/- 7 years for civilian and military respectively, P < 0.0001) with a longer time from injury to burn center arrival (1 +/- 5 days vs. 6 +/- 5, P < 0.0001), a higher Injury Severity Score (ISS 5 +/- 8 vs. 9 +/- 11, P < 0.0001), and a higher incidence of inhalation injury (8% vs. 13%, P = 0.024). Total burn size did not differ. Mortality was 7.1% in the civilian and 3.8% in the military group (P = 0.076). When civilians outside the age range of the military cohort were excluded, civilian mortality was 5.0%, which did not differ from the military group (P = 0.57). Total body surface area (TBSA) burned, age > or =40 years, presence of inhalation injury, and ventilator days were found to be important predictors of mortality by stepwise regression, and were used in a final predictive model with the area under receiver operator characteristic curve of 0.97 for both populations considered together. No significant effect of either group was identified during development. CONCLUSIONS: Mortality does not differ between civilians evacuated locally and military personnel injured in distant austere environments treated at the same center.     

Interpersonal skill practice as a component in effective parent training

This study emphasizes the importance of including parental practice of skills in an effective, interpersonal-skill parent-training program. In particular, it is stressed as being most effective to include parental practice with the child as a component within the actual training session. Using a training approach developed by R. R. Carkhuff and emphasizing this parent-child practice component, parents were trained in interpersonal skills. At the conclusion of 15 hours of training, the parents were significantly better able to attend to and respond to their children than before the training. Additionally, the parents saw themselves as much improved in these areas.     

Synthesis of 3,4'-biisoquinolines (author's transl)

Synthesis of 3,4′-Biisoquinolines Experiments on the synthesis of 3,4′-biisoquinolines are reported, which lead to the isoxazole derivatives 5 and 7 instead of the desired compounds.     

Fibroblast growth factor 19 increases metabolic rate and reverses dietary and leptin-deficient diabetes

Hormonal control of metabolic rate can be important in regulating the imbalance between energy intake and expenditure that underlies the development of obesity. In mice fed a high-fat diet, human fibroblast growth factor 19 (FGF19) increased metabolic rate [1.53 +/- 0.06 liters O(2)/h.kg(0.75) (vehicle) vs. 1.93 +/- 0.05 liters O(2)/h.kg(0.75) (FGF19); P < 0.001] and decreased respiratory quotient [0.82 +/- 0.01 (vehicle) vs. 0.80 +/- 0.01 (FGF19); P < 0.05]. In contrast to the vehicle-treated mice that gained weight (0.14 +/- 0.05 g/mouse.d), FGF19-treated mice lost weight (-0.13 +/- 0.03 g/mouse.d; P < 0.001) without a significant change in food intake. Furthermore, in addition to a reduction in weight gain, treatment with FGF19 prevented or reversed the diabetes that develops in mice made obese by genetic ablation of brown adipose tissue or genetic absence of leptin. To explore the mechanisms underlying the FGF19-mediated increase in metabolic rate, we profiled the FGF19-induced gene expression changes in the liver and brown fat. In brown adipose tissue, chronic exposure to FGF19 led to a gene expression profile that is consistent with activation of this tissue. We also found that FGF19 acutely increased liver expression of the leptin receptor (1.8-fold; P < 0.05) and decreased the expression of acetyl coenzyme A carboxylase 2 (0.6-fold; P < 0.05). The gene expression changes were consistent with the experimentally determined increase in fat oxidation and decrease in liver triglycerides. Thus, FGF19 is able to increase metabolic rate concurrently with an increase in fatty acid oxidation.     

Correlation Between Crystallinity and Solar‐Cell Efficiency of the Low‐Bandgap Polymer PDDTP

Polymer/fullerene bulk heterojunction solar cells consisting of PDDTP:PCBM blends have been investigated and optimized. The structural properties of the photoactive layers were studied by GID‐XRD, which revealed a pronounced response of photovoltaic parameters on the polymer crystallinity. In addition to P3HT, another donor polymer was found that develops crystalline domains upon annealing. We found a clear correlation between annealing time, power conversion efficiency, and polymer crystallinity. The PDDTP crystallization ability is a promising property. This is a first step toward the synthesis of low‐bandgap polymers, which likewise show the ability to form crystalline domains and may therefore lead to a substantial increase in efficiency.