Crystal structure of aqua-bis-[4-(methyl-sulfan-yl)benzoato-κO](1,10-phenanthroline-κ(2) N,N')copper(II) monohydrate.

In the title compound, [Cu(C8H7O2S)2(C12H8N2)(H2O)]·H2O, the central Cu(II) atom is five-coordinated in a slightly distorted square-pyramidal environment by two N atoms from a 1,10-phenanthroline ligand, one O atom from the carboxylate group of one 4-(methyl-sulfan-yl)benzoate anion and one water O atom in the equatorial plane while the apical position is occupied by the O atom of a carboxylate group of the second anion. In the crystal, a three-dimensional supra-molecular network is formed through weak inter-molecular C-H⋯O and C-H⋯S inter-actions and π-stacking between the 1,10-phenanthroline ligand and the aromatic rings of symmetry-related 4-(methyl-sulfan-yl)benzoate ligands.

[Correlations between serum hypoxia inducible factor-1α, vascular endothelial growth factor and computed tomography perfusion imaging at pre-and post-TACE in patients with primary hepatic carcinoma].

OBJECTIVE: To explore the correlations between the serum levels of hypoxia inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and computed tomography (CT) perfusion parameters at pre- and post-transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) in patients with primary hepatic carcinoma (PHC). METHODS: A total of 22 PHC patients were recruited.Their serum levels of HIF-1α and VEGF were measured and CT perfusion imaging (CTPI) was performed at Day 1 pre- and Days 32-40 post-TACE to compare and analyze the relevance of the changes of serum levels of HIF-1α, VEGF, tumor's hepatic artery perfusion (HAP), portal vein perfusion (PVP) and hepatic artery perfusion index (HPI) at pre- and post-TACE. RESULTS: They were divided into stable and tumor residual/recurrent groups according to the efficacy of TACE. No significant differences existed between two groups with respects to serum levels of HIF-1α, VEGF, tumor's HAP, PVP and HPI pre-TACE. The serum levels of HIF-1α and VEGF decreased in stable group and there was significant difference in serum level of VEGF at Days 32-40 post-TACE (P < 0.05). There was no perfusion signal of HAP or PVP in tumor tissue.The serum levels of HIF-1α and VEGF were significantly higher while HAP and HPI were significantly lower than that pre-TACE in tumor residual/recurrent group and had statistical significance (P < 0.05), but PVP had no change.Positive correlations existed between serum levels of HIF-1α, VEGF and tumor's HAP, HPI at 32-40 days post-TACE. CONCLUSION: Serum levels of HIF-1α and VEGF may indirectly reflect the status of neovascularization and CTPI acts as the intuitive and quantitative responses of hemodynamic changes at post-TACE.Positive correlations exist between serum levels of HIF-1α, VEGF, HAP and HPI. In short, a combination of serum levels of HIF-1α, VEGF and CTPI contributes to the efficacy evaluation of TACE and has great reference significance of determining timing of a second therapy.

[Fabrication of two dimensional silver cavity array and its application in SERS detection].

The highly ordered two dimensional micro-/nano-sized silver cavity was fabricated by galvanostatic multistep method using ordered arrays of close-packed 700 nm diameter polystyrene spheres as templates. The morphology and the surface plasmon resonance of this silver cavity array were characterized by scanning electron microscope and reflectance UV-Vis spectra, and surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) spectra of p-aminothiophenol (PATP) and Rhodamine 6G (R6G) on as-prepared substrate were also studied. The results show that: the depth of cavities can be easily regulated through varying the parameters of the electrochemical deposition. As SERS substrates for the detection of PATP molecules, the two dimensional Ag cavity arrays exhibit excellent performance and the enhancement factors can be as high as the 10(7) order. In addition to the high-intensity enhancement, it is also found that the SERS spectra are highly reproducible on this Ag cavity arrays. The relative standard deviation of the peak intensity of PATP molecules at 1 077 cm(-1) was calculated to be 8.4%. The as-prepated substrate can be used for the quantitative detection of R6G, and the detection limit reaches as low as 0.1 ng x mL(-1).

Correlation of atherosclerotic renal artery stenosis with extracranial carotid and intracranial cerebral artery atherosclerosis in patients with ischemic stroke.

OBJECTIVE: This study was to evaluate the relationship of atherosclerotic renal artery stenosis (ARAS) with extracranial carotid arteries atherosclerosis (ECAS) and intracranial cerebral atherosclerosis (ICAS) in ischemic stroke (IS) patients. METHODS: This study was a prospective cohort analysis of consecutive patients with IS who had not a history of renal artery stenosis (RAS). Abdominal aortography was performed to screen for RAS after the cerebrovascular diagnostic procedure. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed to investigate the association of the clinical variables with significant ARAS (≥ 50%). RESULTS: ARAS was identified in 61 (23.1%) of all patients and 34 patients (12.9%) had significant ARAS (≥ 50%). ECAS (≥ 70%) and ICAS (≥ 50%) was found in 66 (25%) and 48 (18.2%) respectively. Patients with ECAS (≥ 70%) were more likely to have significant ARAS than patients without ECAS (28.8% vs 6.2%, p < 0.001). In multivariate analysis, only advanced age (≥ 60 years) (OR = 2.84, 95% CI 1.01-7.91) and ECAS (≥ 70%) (OR = 5.27, 95% CI 2.396-11.60) were independent risk factors for significant ARAS. CONCLUSION: Incidental ARAS is a relatively common finding among patients with IS, and there is a close relationship between ARAS and ECAS. Abdominal aortography should be performed to identify ARAS in elderly patients with IS, especially combined with severe ECAS.

Cerebral lipiodol embolism after transarterial chemoembolization for hepatic carcinoma: a case report.

We report a case of cerebral lipiodol embolism (CLE) after transarterial chemoembolization (TACE) for unresectable hepatic carcinoma (HCC). A 54-year-old man with unresectable HCC underwent TACE via the right hepatic artery and right inferior phrenic artery using a mixture of 40 mg pirarubicin and 30 mL lipiodol. His level of consciousness deteriorated after TACE, and non-contrast computed tomography revealed a CLE. The cerebral conditions improved after supportive therapy. The complication might have been due to hepatic arterio-pulmonary vein shunt caused by direct invasion of the tumor. Even though CLE is an uncommon complication of TACE, we should be aware of these rare complications in patients with high risk factors.

Penta-carbonyl-1κC,2κC-(4-iodo-phenyl isocyanide-1κC)(µ-propane-1,3-dithiol-ato-1:2κS,S':S,S')iron(I)(Fe-Fe).

In the title compound, [Fe(2)(C(7)H(4)IN)(C(3)H(6)S(2))(CO)(5)], the Fe-Fe distance of 2.5156 (11) Šcompares well with that in related model structures. The phenyl isocyanide ligand is in the basal position and trans to the S atoms of the propane-dithiol-ate ligand due to steric hindrance. The crystal structure features C-H⋯O inter-actions.

Serum HIF-1alpha and VEGF levels pre- and post-TACE in patients with primary liver cancer.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the expression levels of serum hypoxia inducible factor 1 alpha (HIF-1alpha) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) pre- and post-transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) in patients with primary liver cancer (PLC), and correlations between prognosis factors and serum HIF-1alpha as well asVEGF levels. METHODS: Forty consecutive patients fulfilling diagnostic criteria for PLC undergoing TACE from March 2008 to May 2009 were enrolled into the study. The serum HIF-1alpha and VEGF levels of PLC patients pre- and 1 day, 1 week, 1 month post-TACE were analyzed using ELISA, and compared with that of 20 healthy volunteers. Patients were divided into complete response (CR) and partial response (PR), stable disease (SD), progressive disease (PD) groups according to the therapeutic efficacy. Pearson correlation was used to analyze the correlation between different clinical variables and serum HIF- 1alpha and VEGF levels before TACE, and correlation between serum HIF-1alpha and VEGF levels was also evaluated. RESULTS: The expression levels of serum HIF-1alpha and VEGF in PLC patients were 154.94 +/- 83.29 and 264.00 +/- 148.10 pg/mL pre-TACE, and both of them were significantly higher than those in control group (23.84 +/- 8.15 and 69.78 +/- 21.42 pg/mL, all P<0.01). One day after TACE, both serum HIF-1alpha (570.64 +/- 230.87 pg/mL) and VEGF levels (362.07 +/- 102.25 pg/mL) reached the peak values (all P<0.01). One week post-TACE, expression levels of them were decreased (198.62 +/- 92.11 and 283.52 +/- 145.46 pg/mL respectively), but still significantly higher than those before TACE (all P<0.01). The levels of both HIF-1alpha (133.96 +/- 57.02 vs. 255.74 +/- 123.44 pg/mL) and VEGF (150.96 +/- 84.89 vs. 368.95 +/- 161.90 pg/mL) in CR group 1 month post-TACE were significantly lower than those in PR+SD+PD group (all P<0.01). The level of serum HIF-1alpha was positively correlated with serum VEGF level (r=0.42, P<0.001). Both serum HIF-1alpha and VEGF levels were observed to be correlated with portal vein tumor thrombi (P<0.05) and metastasis (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: The HIF- 1alpha and VEGF might play an important role in relapse of PLC. They might be considered as predictors of the efficacy ofTACE and metastasis of PLC.

[Blood supply of pulmonary metastases and its clinical significance].

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: Interventional treatment has been widely applied to primary lung carcinoma, but seldom applied to pulmonary metastases because the blood supply of pulmonary metastases has rarely been investigated, and the present understanding is controversial. This study was to explore the correlation of the clinical value of bronchial arterial chemotherapeutic infusion (BAI) combined bronchial arterial embolization (BAE) to the blood supply of pulmonary metastases. METHODS: Bronchial artery angiography was performed on 33 patients with pulmonary metastases to assess the blood supply and the distribution of pulmonary metastases. BAI was performed on hypovascular nodules, and BAE was performed on hypervascular nodules. RESULTS: Of the 89 metastatic nodules in the lungs of 33 patients, 63 (70.8%) were located in the mid-medial zone, and 26 (29.3%) in the lateral region of the lung; 56 had abundant blood supply, and 33 had poor blood supply. The blood supply of pulmonary metastases was correlated to the location of metastatic nodules. Most nodules in the mid-medial region had abundant blood supply, while most nodules in the lateral region had poor or had no blood supply (P<0.01). The blood supply of bronchial artery had no correlation to the volume of metastatic nodule (P>0.05). The curative efficacy of BAI and BAE was correlated to the blood supply of bronchial artery. The response rate was significantly higher in the hypervascular nodules treated with BAE than in the hypovascular nodules treated with BAI (71.4% vs. 42.4%, P<0.01). Most pulmonary metastases of hepatic cancer were hypervascular and the lipiodol deposited well in the nodules; during the follow-up, the nodules shrunk significantly and kept stable. CONCLUSIONS: Bronchial artery is the major feeding artery of pulmonary metastases. BAI and BAE are effective in treating pulmonary metastases with abundant blood supply.