Giant platinum clusters: 2-nm covalent metal cluster labels.

A new class of covalently linkable platinum cluster reagents with core diameters close to 2 nm has been prepared. The new label offers the performance advantages and versatility of the 1.4-nm Nanogold in a larger label which is more clearly visualized against electron-dense regions of a specimen. Large platinum clusters were prepared by the reduction of platinum(II) acetate in the presence of 1,10-phenanthroline ligands which had been synthetically modified to include solubilizing and reactive cross-linkable functional groups. These were then conjugated site-specifically to antibody IgG molecules and to Fab' fragments and visualized by scanning transmission electron microscopy. The resulting conjugates may be autometallographically enhanced and show sensitivity similar to that of Nanogold conjugates in immunoblotting experiments. In preliminary experiments, they have also exhibited labeling of tissue antigens and penetrate to access nuclear targets.

Ternary complexes of palladium (II) with levamisole and L-amino acids.

The complexes of general formula [(LMS)2Pd(amino acid)]Cl with LMS = levamisole, and amino acid = L-alanine, L-phenylglycine, L-phenylalanine, L-valine, L-methionine, and L-proline, were synthesized by the interaction of [(LMS)2PdCl2] with the sodium salts of L-amino acids. The newly synthesized complexes are characterized by elemental analysis, conductivity, magnetic susceptibility, optical rotation measurements, and UV-Vis, IR and 13C NMR spectral data. Levamisole is coordinated to palladium via the N-7 nitrogen and the amino acids through the amino nitrogen and carboxylate oxygen, except for L-methionine which binds the metal via nitrogen and sulfur atoms. Optically active [(LMS)2Pd(amino acid)]Cl complexes are obtained when L-amino acids or D,L-amino acids are used for the synthesis of these complexes. L-Methionine and L-proline complexes induce new cell forms in Baker's yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) cells.

Semen-conservation doctrine from ancient Ayurvedic to modern sexological theory.

The ancient doctrine of semen conservation has a long philosophical history in Europe and Asia. In Sanskrit, semen is equated with sukra, the life force. As early as 600 B.C., the Caraka Samhita taught the importance of sukra, and gave prescriptions to augment it. In the 18th century, semen conservation theory reentered Western medicine through Tissot's Treatise on the Diseases Produced by Onanism. It became the basis of the degeneracy theory of all disease, and of the masturbation hysteria of the 19th and 20th centuries.