Materials science aspects of FePt-based thin films’ formation

The goal of this review is consideration of basic physical and materials science approaches for providing predefined properties of nanosize thin FePtbased films. Achievement of such properties is required for the industrial application of these materials as magnetic ultrahighdensity recording media. Various approaches are considered to solve the problems such as the reduction of the ordering temperature, formation of the requisite crystallographic orientation of the orderedphase grains, increase of the coercivity, and providing of the possibility to control the change in the magnetization of these materials.Метою даного огляду є аналіза основних фізикоматеріялознавчих метод досягнення наперед заданих властивостей нанорозмірних плівкових матеріялів на основі FePt. Досягнення таких властивостей потрібне задля промислового використання даних матеріялів у якості середовища магнетного запису та зберігання інформації з надвисокою щільністю. Наведено результати досліджень, в яких розглядаються різноманітні підходи до вирішення таких завдань як зменшення температури впорядкування, формування потрібної кристалографічної орієнтації зерен впорядкованої фази, підвищення коерцитивної сили та забезпечення можливости контрольованої зміни намагнетованости даних матеріялів.Целью данного обзора является рассмотрение основных физикоматериало ведческих методов обеспечения наперёд заданных свойств наноразмерных плёночных материалов на основе FePt. Достижение таких свойств необходимо для промышленного использования данных материалов в качестве среды магнитной записи и хранения информации со сверхвысокой плотностью. Приведены результаты исследований, в которых рассмотрены различные подходы к решению таких задач как снижение температуры упорядочения, формирование необходимой кристаллографической ориентации зёрен упорядоченной фазы, повышение коэрцитивной силы и обеспечение возможности контролируемого изменения намагниченности данных материалов

Phylogenomic analyses of non-Dikarya fungi supports horizontal gene transfer driving diversification of secondary metabolism in the amphibian gastrointestinal symbiont, Basidiobolus

Research into secondary metabolism (SM) production by fungi has resulted in the discovery of diverse, biologically active compounds with significant medicinal applications. However, the fungi rich in SM production are taxonomically restricted to Dikarya, two phyla of Kingdom Fungi, Ascomycota and Basidiomycota. Here, we explore the potential for SM production in Mucoromycota and Zoopagomycota, two phyla of nonflagellated fungi that are not members of Dikarya, by predicting and identifying core genes and gene clusters involved in SM. The majority of non-Dikarya have few genes and gene clusters involved in SM production except for the amphibian gut symbionts in the genus Basidiobolus . Basidiobolus genomes exhibit an enrichment of SM genes involved in siderophore, surfactin-like, and terpene cyclase production, all these with evidence of constitutive gene expression. Gene expression and chemical assays confirm that Basidiobolus has significant siderophore activity. The expansion of SMs in Basidiobolus are partially due to horizontal gene transfer from bacteria, likely as a consequence of its ecology as an amphibian gut endosymbiont

Oncolytic Adenoviruses Armed with Thymidine Kinase Can Be Traced by PET Imaging and Show Potent Antitumoural Effects by Ganciclovir Dosing

Replication-competent adenoviruses armed with thymidine kinase (TK) combine the concepts of virotherapy and suicide gene therapy. Moreover TK-activity can be detected by noninvasive positron emission-computed tomography (PET) imaging, what could potentially facilitate virus monitoring in vivo. Here, we report the generation of a novel oncolytic adenovirus that incorporates the Tat8-TK gene under the control of the Major Late Promoter in a highly selective backbone thus providing selectivity by targeting the retinoblastoma pathway. The selective oncolytic TK virus, termed ICOVIR5-TK-L, showed reduced potency compared to a non-selective counterpart. However the combination of ICOVIR5-TK-L with ganciclovir (GCV) induced a potent antitumoural effect similar to that of wild type adenovirus in a preclinical model of pancreatic cancer. Although the treatment with GCV provoked a reduction in the viral yield, both in vitro and in vivo, a two-cycle treatment of virus and GCV resulted in an enhanced antitumoral response that correlated with high TK-activity, based on microPET measurements. Thus, TK-expressing oncolytic adenoviruses can be traced by PET imaging providing real time information on the activity of the virus and its antitumoral potency can be optimized by GCV dosing

Bottom-up strategies for the assembling of magnetic systems using nanoclusters

International audienceIn the frame of the 20th Anniversary of the Journal of Nanoparticle Research (JNR), our aim is to start from the historical context twenty, years ago and to give some recent results and perspectives concerning nanomagnets prepared from clusters preformed in the gas phase using the Low Energy Cluster Beam Deposition (LECBD) technique. In this paper, we focus our attention on the typical case of Co clusters embedded in various matrices to study interface magnetic anisotropy and magnetic interactions as a function of volume concentrations, and on still current and perspectives through two examples of binary metallic 3d-5d TM (namely CoPt and FeAu) clusters assemblies to illustrate size-related and nanoalloy phenomena on magnetic properties in well-defined mass-selected clusters. The structural and magnetic properties of these cluster assemblies were investigated using various experimental techniques that include High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy (HRTEM), Superconducting Quantum Interference Device (SQUID) magnetometry, as well as synchrotron techniques such as Extended X-Ray Absorption Fine Structure (EXAFS) and X-Ray Magnetic Circular Dichroism (XMCD). Depending on the chemical nature of both NPs and matrix, we observe different magnetic responses compared to their bulk counterparts. In particular, we show how finite size effects (size reduction) enhance their magnetic moment and how specific relaxation in nanoalloys can impact their magnetic anisotropy

II International Symposium of Medicinal Chemistry and Regenerative Medicine

The II International Symposium on Medicinal Chemistry and Regenerative Medicine, held from November 22nd to 24th at, this event was directed to undergraduate and graduate students, professionals from the medical, pharmaceutical, biotechnology innovation management and entrepreneurs, as well as researchers involved in the areas of Medicinal Chemistry, Regenerative Medicine and Biotechnology.The event aimed to promote the dissemination of new research and innovations that are at the frontier of knowledge in the area of Regenerative Medicine and Medicinal Chemistry and also to promote interaction with companies interested in these researches. Thus, as a result of the event, it is hoped to encourage discussion, sharing of knowledge, articulation of partnerships for new research projects and also generate a spark of ideas that can be led by future entrepreneurs.In this second edition, a scientific session was held with the presentation of posters. The abstracts submitted and approved by the scientific committee are below.Central themes? Biopolymers? Medicinal Chemistry? Regenerative Medicine? Innovation Management on Biotechnolog

Selective inhibitory effects of (S)-9-(3-hydroxy-2-phosphonyl-methoxypropyl)adenine and 1-(2'-deoxy-

From a selection of 25 antiviral compounds with specific anti-herpes activity or broad-spectrum antiviral properties, two compounds, namely (S)-9-(3-hydroxy-2-phosphonyl-methoxypropyl)adenine and 1-(2'-deoxy-2'-fluoro-beta-D-arabinofuranosyl)-5-iodouracil, appeared particularly effective in inhibiting the cytopathogenicity of seal herpesvirus (phocid herpesvirus 1)

The genome sequence and effector complement of the flax rust pathogen Melampsora lini

Rust fungi cause serious yield reductions on crops, including wheat, barley, soybean, coffee, and represent real threats to global food security. Of these fungi, the flax rust pathogen Melampsora lini has been developed most extensively over the past 80 years as a model to understand the molecular mechanisms that underpin pathogenesis. During infection, M. lini secretes virulence effectors to promote disease. The number of these effectors, their function and their degree of conservation across rust fungal species is unknown. To assess this, we sequenced and assembled de novo the genome of M. lini isolate CH5 into 21,130 scaffolds spanning 189 Mbp (scaffold N50 of 31 kbp). Global analysis of the DNA sequence revealed that repetitive elements, primarily retrotransposons, make up at least 45% of the genome. Using ab initio predictions, transcriptome data and homology searches, we identified 16,271 putative protein-coding genes. An analysis pipeline was then implemented to predict the effector complement of M. lini and compare it to that of the poplar rust, wheat stem rust and wheat stripe rust pathogens to identify conserved and species-specific effector candidates. Previous knowledge of four cloned M. lini avirulence effector proteins and two basidiomycete effectors was used to optimize parameters of the effector prediction pipeline. Markov clustering based on sequence similarity was performed to group effector candidates from all four rust pathogens. Clusters containing at least one member from M. lini were further analyzed and prioritized based on features including expression in isolated haustoria and infected leaf tissue and conservation across rust species. Herein, we describe 200 of 940 clusters that ranked highest on our priority list, representing 725 flax rust candidate effectors. Our findings on this important model rust species provide insight into how effectors of rust fungi are conserved across species and how they may act to promote infection on their hosts.This work was funded by a grant from the CSIRO Transformational Biology Capability Platform to Adnane Nemri. Claire Anderson was supported by an ARC Discovery Grant (DP120104044) awarded to David A. Jones and Peter N. Dodds