Academic literature on the topic 'David W. Patten'

AbstractThis article takes issue with the theory that those Biblical Hebrew poems, which show an extensive use of verbal forms belonging to the short prefix-conjugation (Northwest Semitic yaqtul) to signify complete situations in the past without the conjunction w-, were composed at an early date (c. 13th-10th centuries B.C.E.). The article takes as its starting point the fundamental discussion by David A. Robertson (1972) and argues that Robertson's neglect of the Masoretic spelling and vocalization, which often help to distinguish between the short and long prefix-conjugations in Biblical Hebrew, is unjustified. Then, it is shown that although in those biblical poems, which are commonly identified as early, short prefixed verbal forms are used to signify complete situations in the past more frequently without the conjunction w- than with it, the use of such forms with the conjunction w- (in the wayyiqtol construction) is also attested in those poems. And on the other hand, a similar pattern of use of short prefixed verbal forms to signify complete situations in the past—more frequently without the conjunction w- than with it—appears also in two poetic texts that are commonly dated to the 6th century B.C.E.: Isa. 41:1-5 and Ps. 44.

Carley, David W., Sinisa M. Trbovic, Alex Bozanich, and Miodrag Radulovacki. Cardiopulmonary control in sleeping Sprague-Dawley rats treated with hydralazine. J. Appl. Physiol. 83(6): 1954–1961, 1997.—To test the hypothesis that hydralazine can suppress spontaneous sleep-related central apnea, respiratory pattern, blood pressure, and heart period were monitored in Sprague-Dawley rats. In random order and on separate days, rats were recorded after intraperitoneal injection of 1) saline or 2) 2 mg/kg hydralazine. Normalized minute ventilation (NV˙i) declined significantly with transitions from wake to non-rapid-eye-movement (NREM) sleep (−5.1%; P = 0.01) and rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep (−4.2%; P = 0.022). Hydralazine stimulated respiration (NV˙iincreased by 21%; P < 0.03) and eliminated the effect of state on NV˙i. Blood pressure decreased by 17% after hydralazine, and the correlation between fluctuations in mean blood pressure and NV˙i changed from strongly positive during control recordings to weakly negative after hydralazine ( P < 0.0001 for each). Postsigh and spontaneous apneas were reduced during NREM and REM sleep after hydralazine ( P < 0.05 for each). This suppression was strongly correlated with the reduction in blood pressure and with the degree of respiratory stimulation. We conclude that mild hydralazine-induced hypotension leads to respiratory stimulation and apnea suppression.

History in Africa carried an article in 1992 entitled “The European Introduction of Crops into West Africa in Precolonial Times.” I wrote this to correct an impression left by several historians that only maize and cassava were worth mentioning. My reading of precolonial African history had made it very clear that a great many new crops were brought to the continent during the slave-trade period. My initial geographical focus was what used to be called Lower Guinea, roughly the coast from Cape Palmas to Mt. Cameroon, but inevitably my research took in all of western Africa from Senegal to Angola and up to the southern fringe of the Sahara. My findings were admittedly interim, a sort of database for future refinement. And yet I was able to identify 86 introduced crops.It was ingenuous of me to expect that one paper would suffice to over-turn what had become conventional wisdom. In 1995 John Iliffe, in 1997 Elizabeth Isichei, in 1998 John Reader repeated the maize-cassava mantra. In 2002 Christopher Ehret expanded the duo of exotic crops to include tobacco, peanuts, New World beans, Asian rice and sugar cane. David W. Phillipson reiterated in 2005 what he had said 20 years earlier, citing only maize, cassava and bananas. And in 2006 James L.A. Webb Jr. named just four: maize, cassava, peanuts and potatoes.This pattern of minimization may reflect what seems to be a general disinclination of historians to dig deeply into botany. An important recent book titled Writing African History devotes only 17 of 510 pages to the subject.

Kew, John J. M., Peter W. Halligan, John C. Marshall, Richard E. Passingham, John C. Rothwell, Michael C. Ridding, C. David Marsden, and David J. Brooks. Abnormal access of axial vibrotactile input to deafferented somatosensory cortex in human upper limb amputees. J. Neurophysiol. 77: 2753–2764, 1997. We studied two human subjects with total deafferentation of one upper limb secondary to traumatic multiple cervical root avulsions. Both subjects developed a phantom limb and underwent elective amputation of the paralyzed, deafferentated limb. Psychophysical study revealed in each subject an area of skin in the pectoral region ipsilateral to the amputation where vibrotactile stimulation (VS) elicited referred sensations (RS) in the phantom limb. Positron emission tomography was then used to measure regional cerebral blood flow changes during VS of the pectoral region ipsilateral to the amputation with RS and during VS of a homologous part of the pectoral region adjacent to the intact arm without RS. A voxel-based correlation analysis was subsequently used to study functional connectivity. VS of the pectoral region adjacent to the intact arm was associated with activation of the dorsal part of the contralateral primary somatosensory cortex (S1) in a position consistent with the S1 trunk area. In contrast, VS of the pectoral region ipsilateral to the amputation with RS was associated with activation of the contralateral S1 that extended from the level of the trunk representation ventrally over distances of 20 and 12 mm, respectively, in the two subjects. The area of S1 activated during VS of the digits in a normal control subject was coextensive with the ventral S1 region abnormally activated during VS of the ectopic phantom representation in the two amputees, suggesting that the deafferented digit or hand/arm area had been activated by sensory input from the pectoral region. Correlation analysis showed an abnormal pattern of intrinsic connectivity within the deafferented S1 hand/arm area of both amputees. In one subject, the deafferented S1 was functionally connected with 3 times as many S1 voxels as the normally afferented S1. This abnormal functional connectivity extended in both the rostrocaudal and ventrodorsal dimensions. The results demonstrate that sensory input delivered to the axial body surface may gain access to the S1 hand/arm area in some humans who have suffered extensive deafferentation of this area. The findings are consistent with the hypothesis that deafferentation of an area of S1 may result in activation of previously dormant inputs from body surfaces represented in immediately adjacent parts of S1. The results also provide evidence that changes in functional connectivity between these adjacent areas of the cortex play a role in the somatotopic reorganization.

Background:Uveitis is an extra articular manifestation of psoriatic arthritis (PsA). Biological therapy, especially monoclonal TNF inhibitors, are useful to prevent and to treat refractory non-infectious uveitis. However, other biologics had been related to paradoxical uveitisObjectives:Our aim was to assessa) the epidemiological and clinical features of uveitis associated to PsA andb) its relationship with biological treatment used in PsA.Methods:Observational study of unselected consecutive patients studied in a single reference University Hospital with: a) diagnosis of PsA by CASPAR criteria andb) diagnosis of uveitis by ophthalmologist exploration. Demographics features, clinical findings, complementary tests and treatment were recorded.Results:We studied 320 (182 women/138 men) patients with PsA; mean age at PsA diagnosis of 41.7±15.79 years and with a delay of diagnosis from the onset of symptoms of 2.6±2.01 years.Ten patients (4 men/6 women) out of 320 patients (prevalence 3.13%) with a mean age of 42.2 ± 16.8 years were diagnosed of uveitis after a mean follow-up of 10±7.9 years. In all cases, the uveitis had an anterior pattern. Only 1 (10%) of them had a bilateral affection, acute onset in 10 patients (100%), and 4 of them (40%) had a recurrent pattern. The diagnosis of uveitis preceded the one of PsA in 5 (50%) patients in 1.6±0.87 years. In those with a previous diagnosis of PsA, it was done 13.3±10.4 years before the uveitis onset. Only 1 patient (10%) with recurrent unilateral uveitis presented vitritis. In 10 patients the mean number of anterior chamber cells was 2±0.4. Comparison of baseline characteristics and clinical features between patients who developed uveitis and those who did not is shown intable.Only 2 patients (20%) with uveitis received biological therapy. The first one developed its first episode of uveitis after 29 months with etanercept. After the episode, a switch to adalimumab was done, without any other episode of uveitis after 22 months of treatment. The second one was a patient with multiple episodes of recurrent uveitis, who developed new flares with adalimumab, certolizumab and golimumab.Conclusion:Most of the uveitis had an anterior and unilateral pattern. The onset of uveitis in patients with PsA can either precede or go after the diagnosis of the PsA. HLA B27+ was more frequent in patients with uveitis. Biological therapy did not achieve good answer in patients with recurrent uveitis.Table.Uveitis (n=10)Non uveitis (n= 310)pBaseline general featuresAge, years (mean±SD)42.2 ± 16.846.4 ± 11.90.38Sex, n (m/w) (%)4/6 (40/60)134/176 (43.2/56.8)0.90HLAB27, positive %6011.8<0.01Disease CharacteristicsAxial arthritis, %40.037.00.88Peripheral arthritis, %80.072.90.89Hip affection, %30.020.00.71Enthesitis, %60.040.50.55Dactylitis, %20.029.50.77ScoresBASDAI (mean ± SD)3.3 ± 2.082.4 ± 1.90.26BASFI (mean ± SD)2.7 ± 1.91.6 ± 10.31Disclosure of Interests:Iñigo González-Mazón: None declared, Lara Sanchez-Bilbao Grant/research support from: Pfizer, Natalia Palmou-Fontana: None declared, David Martinez-Lopez: None declared, Susana Armesto: None declared, Miguel A González-Gay Grant/research support from: Pfizer, Abbvie, MSD, Speakers bureau: Pfizer, Abbvie, MSD, Ricardo Blanco Grant/research support from: AbbVie, MSD, and Roche, Speakers bureau: AbbVie, Pfizer, Roche, Bristol-Myers, Janssen, and MSD

Lettuce (Lactuca sativa) as annual or biennial crop is an important vegetable in China. The lettuce variety Feiqiao, which is extensively cultivated in autumn and winter, is grown for its stem and is a characteristic species bred in Yong'an City. Since October 2005, a new disease of lettuce has been observed sporadically in the fields. Initially, chlorotic symptoms, or a faded red color, were observed on the inner leaves of the infected lettuce plants. Then, the inner leaves bleached and appeared pale, while the top leaves became straight and elongated, and stopped growing. Gummosis was observed at the base of young leaves, and the whole plant became stunted and died. The disease was named lettuce chlorotic leaf rot disease. In 2008, there was a disease outbreak in Yong'an City with an incidence of approximately 30%. In 2012, total DNA was extracted from 0.1 g of leaf tissue collected from 20 symptomatic and five asymptomatic lettuce plants using the CTAB method. A PCR analysis was performed using the phytoplasma-specific primer set R16mF2/R16mR1 (1). An approximately 1.4-kb amplicon was obtained from all 20 symptomatic plants, but no corresponding DNA fragment was amplified from the five asymptomatic plants. PCR products were cloned in Escherichia coli DH5α, using the pMD18-T vector (TaKaRa, Japan), and two isolates were sequenced. The two 1,431-bp sequences were identical (GenBank Accession No. KJ668578). A BLAST analysis revealed a 99% identity between lettuce chlorotic leaf rot phytoplasma and mulberry dwarf phytoplasma, a group 16SrI phytoplasma described by Win et al. in 2012 (3). After analyzing with iPhyclassifier, the virtual RFLP pattern derived from the 16S rDNA F2n/R2 fragment was most similar to the reference pattern of the 16Sr group I, subgroup B (NC_005303), with a pattern similarity coefficient of 0.99 (2). Additionally, the leaf veins and roots with symptoms were processed for ultrastructural examinations using transmission electron microscopy. Many typical phytoplasma-like bodies were observed in the sieve elements in the leaf veins and roots, and they were spherical to oval or dumbbell shaped and 200 to 800 nm in diameter. In agreement with these findings, seven strains of phytoplasma from 16SrI-A and 16SrI-B subgroups were reported in association with lettuce plants exhibiting various types of symptoms which were not completely consistent with those observed in China (4). To our knowledge, this is the first report of a phytoplasma associated with lettuce in China. References: (1) R. E. Davis et al. Microbiol. Res. 158:229, 2003. (2) W. Wei et al. Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol. 57:1855, 2006. (3) N. K. K. Win et al. J. Gen. Plant Pathol. 78:264, 2012. (4) J. Zhang et al. Phytopathology 94:842, 2004.

Background:The efficacy of ixekizumab (IXE) in biologic-naïve patients with radiographic axial spondyloarthritis (r-axSpA) has been previously presented using traditional axSpA outcome measures, such as BASDAI and ASAS.Objectives:In patients with active r-axSpA, to assess the analgesic efficacy of IXE as it relates to patient-reported and objective measures of inflammation.Methods:The Phase III COAST-V (NCT02696785) multi-center, randomized, double-blind, placebo (PBO)-controlled and active reference arm with adalimumab (ADA) trial investigated the efficacy of IXE in 341 patients (pts) with active r-axSpA for 52 weeks (W). Pts were initially randomized to IXEQ4W, IXEQ2W, PBO, and ADAQ2W. At W16, pts assigned to PBO and ADA were re-randomized to IXEQ2W or Q4W. Changes in spinal pain at night (SP-N) and spinal pain were measured at each study visit and analysed while controlling for CRP levels or mean of BASDAI questions 5 & 6 (Q5: Duration and Q6: Intensity of morning stiffness). Observed data analyses are presented for each group stratified by treatment arm and compared to PBO. In the initial analysis, pts were categorized into 2 sub-groups defined as “Sustained” and “Fluctuating” depending on: CRP <5 mg/L W4-16 vs. CRP ≥5 mg/L at any point beyond W4 between weeks 4-16 respectively. In a second analysis, pts were categorized based on BASDAI Q5/6 improvement: “Sustained” if ≥2-pt improvement W12-16 vs. “Fluctuating” if <2-pt improvement at any point beyond W12 between W12-16.Results:Between W0 and W16, pts treated (tx) with IXEQ4W experienced greater reduction in SP-N than pts tx with ADA, in both CRP sustained and fluctuating groups (Fig 1a). Pts in the IXEQ4W and ADA arms showed different trajectories of pain improvement in the CRP fluctuating groups. For the pts with a fluctuating CRP ≥5 mg/L, pts in IXEQ4W arm demonstrated a greater reduction in SP-N compared to pts in PBO arm (p < .001) at W16, whereas pts in ADA arm did not experience a reduction in SP-N compared to PBO (p = .416). For the pts with a sustained CRP <5mg/L, IXEQ4W and ADA treatments both significantly demonstrated reduction in SP-N compared to PBO at W16 (IXEQ4W: p = .002; ADA: p = .02), with IXEQ4W treatment showing a greater level of reduction (Fig 1a). The pts randomized to ADA and re-randomized to IXEQ2W or Q4W (ADA/IXE) experienced further improvement in SP-N. This effect was sustained over the 52-wk period (Fig 1b). The same pattern of improvement in SP-N was observed when controlling for the BASDAI Q5/6; the SP-N improvement was greater in pts with a sustained BASDAI Q5/6 compared to pts with a fluctuating BASDAI Q5/6, regardless of treatment (Table 1). In the fluctuating BASDAI Q5/6, for pts in ADA/IXE arm, further reduction of both spinal pain and SP-N were observed (Table 1).Table 1.Change in Pain Outcome at baseline, week 16 and week 52 by Inflammation Status as assessed by BASDAI or CRP levels for patients receiving placebo (PBO), adalimumab (ADA), and ixekizumab every 4 weeks (IXE Q4W)Change from baselinePBOADAIXEQ4WbaselineWeek 16(as observed)Week 52PBO/IXE(as observed)baselineWeek 16(as observed)Week 52ADA/IXE(as observed)baselineWeek 16(as observed)Week 52(as observed)Spinal painBASDAI Q5/6 sustained7.54-3.33-4.657.21-4.07-4.57.4-4.52-4.94BASDAI Q5/6 fluctuating7.37-1.32-2.826.76-1.2-2.246.97-1.3-2.52CRP sustained7-1.53-1.936.83-2.9-3.67.23-3.57-4.21CRP fluctuating7.51-1.96-3.637.28-2-2.897.24-2.91-3.93Spinal pain at nightBASDAI Q5/6 sustained7.12-3.21-4.617.26-4.63-4.927.12-4.73-4.91BASDAI Q5/6 fluctuating7.05-1.15-2.886.6-1.2-2.497.03-2.17-2.92CRP sustained7.2-1.87-2.276.76-3.2-3.856.89-3.8-4.12CRP fluctuating7.04-1.69-3.67.24-2.21-3.397.35-3.68-4.38Conclusion:IXE reduced SP-N and spinal pain irrespective of CRP or morning stiffness. Additionally, pts treated with ADA re-randomized to IXE experienced a further reduction in SP-N and spinal pain. Collectively, these results support the additive benefits of IXE in reducing pain above measurable effects on inflammation.Acknowledgements:The authors would like to thank Eglantine Julle-Daniere for writing and editorial contributionsDisclosure of Interests:Kurt de Vlam Speakers bureau: Eli Lilly, Novartis, Pfizer, Paid instructor for: Celgene, Amgen, Consultant of: Elil Lillyn Novartis, UCB, Galapagos, Sandoz, Pfizer, Grant/research support from: Celgene, Gaia Gallo Shareholder of: Eli Lilly, Employee of: Eli Lilly, Philip J Mease Speakers bureau: AbbVie, Amgen, Eli Lilly, Janssen, Novartis, Pfizer, UCB, Consultant of: AbbVie, Amgen, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly, Galapagos, Gilead, GlaxoSmithKline, Janssen, Novartis, Pfizer, Sun, UCB, Grant/research support from: AbbVie, Amgen, Bristol Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly, Galapagos, Janssen, Novartis, Pfizer, Sun, UCB, Proton Rahman Speakers bureau: AbbVie, Amgen, BMS, Celgene, Eli Lilly, Janssen, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer, UCB, Consultant of: AbbVie, Amgen, BMS, Celgene, Eli Lilly, Janssen, Merck, Novartis, Pfizer, UCB, Grant/research support from: Janssen, Novartis, Venkatesh Krishnan Shareholder of: Eli Lilly, Employee of: Eli Lilly, David Sandoval Shareholder of: Eli Lilly, Employee of: Eli Lilly, Chen-Yen Lin Shareholder of: Eli Lilly, Employee of: Eli Lilly, Rebecca Bolce Shareholder of: Eli Lilly, Employee of: Eli Lilly, Philip G Conaghan Consultant of: personal fees from: AbbVie, AstraZeneca, BMS, Eli Lilly, EMD Serono, Flexion Therapeutics, Galapagos, Gilead, Novartis, Pfizer

Adelson, David W., Jen Yu Wei, Mahrokh Yashar, T. J. O-Lee, and Yvette Taché. Central autonomic activation by intracisternal TRH analogue excites gastric splanchnic afferent neurons. J. Neurophysiol. 81: 682–691, 1999. Intracisternal (ic) injection of thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) or its stable analogue RX 77368 influences gastric function via stimulation of vagal muscarinic pathways. In rats, the increase in gastric mucosal blood flow evoked by a low ic dose of RX 77368 occurs via release of calcitonin gene-related peptide from capsaicin-sensitive afferent neurons, most probably of spinal origin. In this study, the effect of low ic doses of RX 77368 on afferent impulse activity in splanchnic single fibers was investigated. The cisterna magna of overnight-fasted, urethan-anesthetized Sprague-Dawley rats was acutely cannulated, and fine splanchnic nerve twigs containing at least one fiber responsive to mechanical probing of the stomach were isolated at a site immediately distal to the left suprarenal ganglion. Unit mechanoreceptive fields were encountered in all portions of the stomach, both superficially and in deeper layers. Splanchnic afferent unit impulse activity was recorded continuously during basal conditions and in response to consecutive ic injections of saline and RX 77368 (15–30 min later; 1.5 or 3 ng). Basal discharge rates ranged from 0 to 154 impulses/min (median = 10.2 impulses/min). A majority of splanchnic single units with ongoing activity increased their mean discharge rate by ≥20% after ic injection of RX 77368 at either 1.5 ng (6/10 units; median increase 63%) or 3 ng (19/24 units; median increase 175%). Five units lacking impulse activity in the 5-min before ic RX 77368 (3 ng) were also excited, with the onset of discharge occurring within 1.0–5.0 min postinjection. In units excited by ic RX 77368, peak discharge occurred 15.6 ± 1.3 min after injection and was followed by a decline to stable activity levels ≤20–40 min thereafter. In a few cases (4/24), ic RX 77368 (3 ng) inhibited the impulse activity of initially active units, with a time course comparable to that seen in units excited by the same treatment. The pattern of discharge in most units was not suggestive of mechanical modulation of activity by rhythmic gastric contractions. The data demonstrate that low ic doses of TRH analogue induce sustained increases in afferent discharge in a substantial proportion of splanchnic neurons innervating the rat stomach. These findings support the notion that splanchnic afferent excitation occurs concomitantly with vasodilatory peptide release from gastric splanchnic afferent nerve terminals after ic TRH-induced autonomic activation.

The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is an administrative and ecclesiastical quorum. The Church, first organized in 1830, did not organize the Quorum of Twelve Apostles until 1835. When it was organized, Joseph Smith outlined the quorum's responsibilities through revelation. The Twelve were assigned two unique and specific responsibilities: to take the gospel to the nations of the earth and to form a traveling high council for the regulating of the Church outside of its stakes. The first opportunity for the Twelve to fulfill their responsibilities was in May 1835 when they were assigned to travel to the eastern United States and southern Canada. There they both preached the gospel and regulated the branches of the Church. This mission represents not only the first time the Apostles fulfilled their assigned responsibilities but the only time that they filled their responsibilities as an entire quorum. It is surprising that more secondary literature on this mission is not available. This thesis seeks to commence an academic conversation regarding this mission and its impact both on the quorum's development and on the Church in its outlying areas. Chapter 1 details the preparation of the individual members of the Twelve to fulfill this mission. It discusses the preparation of the Twelve prior to their call to the apostleship. It also discusses the training that took place between their call and the commencement of this mission. As an administrative body for the membership of the Church, the Twelve spent the majority of their time on this mission with the members of the Church. Chapter 2 identifies the unique purpose of the Twelve on this mission and how that purpose was fulfilled. Joseph Smith originally laid out the geographic framework for this mission, which sent the Twelve into Canada and throughout much of the northeastern United States. Chapter 3 identifies the locations of the Twelve based on available records and seeks to provide an answer to how the Twelve decided which areas to preach in. Many individuals were baptized during this five-month mission. Chapter 4 identifies what the Twelve taught and the sources that they used. It also discusses the reaction of the people they taught. The concluding chapter summarizes the thesis and identifies areas for further research.

In 1973, Donald Davie attributed the famous difficulty of Prynne’s poetry to its etymological ‘logic’. More recently, Prynne himself proposed that we read poetry with ‘mental ears’, listening for latent etymological connections. This chapter considers how etymology can be used to read Prynne’s poems, focusing specifically on morphological patterns such as the splitting of words across line endings and the repetition of roots or affixes. Such patterns are consistent across Prynne’s large and varied oeuvre; detailed readings are given here of The White Stones (1969), Unanswering Rational Shore (2001), and Kazoo Dreamboats (2011). These readings find that Prynne’s poetic language communicates on the boundary between meaningfulness and meaninglessness, where every word disrupts and is disrupted by its history.

Matthias Beller of the Universität Rostock developed (Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2014, 53, 6477) a Rh catalyst for the acceptorless dehydrogenation of an alkane 1 to the alkene 2. Bhisma K. Patel of the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati effected (Org. Lett. 2014, 16, 3086) oxidation of cyclohexane 3 and 4 to form the allylic benzoate 5. Justin Du Bois of Stanford University devised (Chem. Sci. 2014, 5, 656) an organocatalyst that mediated the hydroxylation of 6 to 7. Vladimir Gevorgyan of the University of Illinois, Chicago hydrosilylated (Nature Chem. 2014, 6, 122) 8 to give an intermediate that, after Ir-catalyzed intramolecular C–H functionalization followed by oxidation, was converted to the diacetate 9. Sukbok Chang of KAIST used (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2014, 136, 4141) the methoxime of 10 to direct selective amination of the adjacent methyl group, leading to 11. John F. Hartwig of the University of California, Berkeley effected (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2014, 136, 2555) diastereoselective Cu-catalyzed amination of 12 with 13 to make 14. David W. C. MacMillan of Princeton University accomplished (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2014, 136, 6858) β-alkylation of the aldehyde 15 with acrylonitrile 16 to give 17. Yunyang Wei of the Nanjing University of Science and Technology alkenylated (Chem. Sci. 2014, 5, 2379) cyclohexane 3 with the styrene 18, leading to 19. Bin Wu of the Kunming Institute of Botany described (Org. Lett. 2014, 16, 480) the Pd-mediated cyclization of 20 to 21. Similar results using Cu catalysis were reported (Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2014, 53, 3496, 3706) by Yoichiro Kuninobu and Motomu Kanai of the University of Tokyo and by Haibo Ge of IUPUI. Jin-Quan Yu of Scripps La Jolla constructed (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2014, 136, 5267) the lactam 24 by γ-alkenyl­ation of the amide 22 with 23, followed by cyclization. Philippe Dauban of CNRS Gif-sur-Yvette prepared (Eur. J. Org. Chem. 2014, 66) the useful crystalline chiron 27 by asymmetric amination of the enol triflate 26 with 25. Matthew J. Gaunt of the University of Cambridge showed (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2014, 136, 8851) that the phenylative cyclization of 28 with 29 to 30 proceeded with near-perfect retention of absolute configuration.