Searching for unknown open clusters in the Tycho-2 catalog

We present 11 new open cluster candidates found in a systematic search for unknown star clusters using the astrometric and photometric data included in the Tycho2 catalog. The possible existence of these stellar aggregates is supported by the analysis of proper motions, color-magnitude diagrams, stellar density distributions, and by the visual inspection of the Digitized Sky Survey (DSS) plates. With these tools we were able to determine mean absolute proper motions as well as preliminary reddenings, distances and ages for the majority of the candidates. We found that most of them are possibly nearby (closer than about 600 pc) open clusters never studied before.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figures. Accepted by A&

Supercritical Antisolvent Precipitation of Quercetin Systems: Preliminary Experiments

Flavonoids have attracted a lot of attention due to their antioxidant, antitumor and antibacterial activities. Quercetin (3,5,7,3,4-pentahydroxyflavone) is a polyphenolic flavonoid that shows several biological effects including a strong inhibitory effect on the growth of several human and animal cancer cell lines and enhances the antiproliferative effect of cisplatin both in-vitro and in-vivo. In spite of a variety of its biological effects. Quercetin is very poorly soluble in water, which has limited its absorption upon oral administration. As known, the solubility of drug is often due to the increase of the surface/volume ratio which implies the increase of the number of surface atoms (or molecules) with respect to the number of bulk atoms (or molecules). With this aim, we investigated the use of supercritical antisolvent (SAS) technique for Quercetin microparticles generation finding the best operative conditions through the Peng Robinson’s Equation of State. The obtained simulation behaviors were confirmed by experimental precipitation: the physicochemical characterizations of the samples were also performe

Supercritical Antisolvent Precipitation of Quercetin Systems: Preliminary Experiments

Flavonoids have attracted a lot of attention due to their antioxidant, antitumor and antibacterial activities. Quercetin (3,5,7,3,4-pentahydroxyflavone) is a polyphenolic flavonoid that shows several biological effects including a strong inhibitory effect on the growth of several human and animal cancer cell lines and enhances the antiproliferative effect of cisplatin both in-vitro and in-vivo. In spite of a variety of its biological effects. Quercetin is very poorly soluble in water, which has limited its absorption upon oral administration. As known, the solubility of drug is often due to the increase of the surface/volume ratio which implies the increase of the number of surface atoms (or molecules) with respect to the number of bulk atoms (or molecules). With this aim, we investigated the use of supercritical antisolvent (SAS) technique for Quercetin microparticles generation finding the best operative conditions through the Peng Robinson’s Equation of State. The obtained simulation behaviors were confirmed by experimental precipitation: the physicochemical characterizations of the samples were also performe

v-P 2 O 5 micro-clustering in P-doped silica studied by a first-principles Raman investigation

Synthetic vitreous silica is currently the preferred material for the production of optical fibres because of the several excellent properties of this glass, e.g. high transmission in the visible and IR domains, high mechanical strength, chemical durability, and ease of doping with various materials. For instance, fiber lasers and amplifiers exploit the light amplification properties provided by rare-earth ions employed as dopants in the core of silica-based optical fibers. The structure and composition of the nearest neighbor shell surrounding rare-earth ions in silica-based optical fibers and amplifiers have been intensively debated in the last decade. To reduce aggregation effects between rare-earth ions, co-dopants such as phosphorus and aluminium are added as structural modifiers; phosphorus-doping, in particular, has proved to be very efficient in dissolving rare-earth ions. In this work, we provide further insights concerning the embedding of P atoms into the silica network, which may be relevant for explaining the ease of formation of a phosphorus pentoxide nearest-neighbor shell around a rare-earth dopant. In particular, by means of first-principles calculations, we discuss alternative models for an irradiation (UV, x\u2013, \u3b3-rays) induced paramagnetic center, i.e. the so called room-temperature phosphorus-oxygen-hole center, and its precursors. We report that the most likely precursor of a room-temperature phosphorus-oxygen-hole center comprises of a micro-cluster of a few (at least two) neighboring phosphate tetrahedra, and correspondingly that the occurrence of isolated [(O-) 2 P(=O) 2 ] 12 units is unlikely even at low P-doping concentrations. In fact, this work predicts that the symmetric stretching of P=O bonds in isolated [(O-) 2 P(=O) 2 ] 12 units appears as a Raman band at a frequency of ~1110 cm 121 , and only by including at least another corner-sharing phosphate tetrahedron, it is shown to shift to higher frequencies (up to ~40 cm 121 ) due to the shortening of P=O bonds, thereby leading to an improved agreement with the observed Raman band located at ~1145 cm 121

In-bore MRI targeted biopsy

Clinical suspicion of Prostate Cancer (PCa) is largely based on increased prostate specific antigen (PSA) level and/or abnormal digital rectal examination (DRE) and/or positive imaging and, up today, biopsy is mandatory to confirm the diagnosis. The old model consisted of Standard Biopsy (SBx), that is random sampling of the prostate gland under ultrasound guidance (TRUS), in subjects with clinical suspicion of PCa. This involves the risk of not diagnosing a high percentage of tumors (up to 30%) and of an incorrect risk stratification. Multiparametric Magnetic Resonance Imaging (mpMRI) has transformed the diagnostic pathway of PCa, not only as an imaging method for detecting suspicious lesions, but also as an intraprocedural guidance for Target Biopsy (MRI-TBx), thus bridging the diagnostic gap. Several single and multicenter randomized trials, such as PROMIS, MRI first, PRECISION and that reported by Van der Leest et al. have confirmed the superiority of the "MRI pathway", consisting of mpMRI and MRI-TBx of suspicious lesions, over the "standard pathway" of SBx in all patients with elevated PSA and/or positive DRE. MRI-TBx appears to be advantageous in reducing the overall number of biopsies performed, as well as in reducing the diagnosis of clinically insignificant disease while maintaining or improving the diagnosis of clinically significant PCa (cs-PCa). Moreover, it shows a reduction in the diagnosis of ins-PCa, and therefore, of overdiagnosis, when using MRI-TBx without sacrificing performance in the diagnosis of cs-PCa

Thrombin promotes diet-induced obesity through fibrin-driven inflammation

Obesity promotes a chronic inflammatory and hypercoagulable state that drives cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, fatty liver disease, and several cancers. Elevated thrombin activity underlies obesity-linked thromboembolic events, but the mechanistic links between the thrombin/fibrin(ogen) axis and obesity-associated pathologies are incompletely understood. In this work, immunohistochemical studies identified extravascular fibrin deposits within white adipose tissue and liver as distinct features of mice fed a high-fat diet (HFD) as well as obese patients. Fibγ390–396A mice carrying a mutant form of fibrinogen incapable of binding leukocyte αMβ2-integrin were protected from HFD-induced weight gain and elevated adiposity. Fibγ390–396A mice had markedly diminished systemic, adipose, and hepatic inflammation with reduced macrophage counts within white adipose tissue, as well as near-complete protection from development of fatty liver disease and glucose dysmetabolism. Homozygous thrombomodulin-mutant ThbdPro mice, which have elevated thrombin procoagulant function, gained more weight and developed exacerbated fatty liver disease when fed a HFD compared with WT mice. In contrast, treatment with dabigatran, a direct thrombin inhibitor, limited HFD-induced obesity development and suppressed progression of sequelae in mice with established obesity. Collectively, these data provide proof of concept that targeting thrombin or fibrin(ogen) may limit pathologies in obese patients

Role of KLHL3 and dietary K⁺ in regulating KS-WNK1 expression

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from the American Physiological Society via the DOI in this recordThe physiological role of the shorter isoform of WNK1 that is exclusively expressed in the kidney (KS-WNK1), with particular abundance in the distal convoluted tubule, remains elusive. KS-WNK1 despite lacking the kinase domain, is nevertheless capable of stimulating the NaCl cotransporter (NCC), apparently through activation of WNK4. It has recently been shown that a less severe form of the Familial Hyperkalemic Hypertension featuring only hyperkalemia is caused by missense mutations in the WNK1 acidic domain that preferentially affect CUL3-KLHL3 E3-induced degradation of KS-WNK1, rather than that of the full-length WNK1 (L-WNK1). Here we show that L-WNK1 is indeed less impacted by the CUL3-KLHL3 E3 ligase complex compared to KS-WNK1. We demonstrate that the unique 30 amino acid amino N-terminal fragment of KS-WNK1 is essential for its activating effect on NCC and recognition by KLHL3. We identify specific amino acid residues in this region critical for the functional effect of KS-WNK1 and KLHL3 sensitivity. To further explore this, we generated KLHL3-R528H knock-in mice that mimic human mutations causing Familial Hyperkalemic Hypertension. These mice revealed that the KLHL3 mutation specifically increased expression of KS-WNK1 in the kidney. We also observed that in wild type mice, expression of KS-WNK1 is only detectable after exposure to low potassium diet. These findings provide new insights into the regulation and function of KS-WNK1 by the CUL3-KLHL3 complex in DCT and indicate that this pathway is regulated by dietary K+ levels.National Institutes of Health (NIH)Conacyt MexicoPAPIIT UNAML'OréalMedical Research Council (MRC

A RAVE investigation on Galactic open clusters I. Radial velocities and metallicities

Context. Galactic open clusters (OCs) mainly belong to the young stellar population in the Milky Way disk, but are there groups and complexes of OCs that possibly define an additional level in hierarchical star formation? Current compilations are too incomplete to address this question, especially regarding radial velocities (RVs) and metallicities ([M/H]). Aims. Here we provide and discuss newly obtained RV and [M/H] data, which will enable us to reinvestigate potential groupings of open clusters and associations. Methods. We extracted additional RVs and [M/H] from the RAdial Velocity Experiment (RAVE) via a cross-match with the Catalogue of Stars in Open Cluster Areas (CSOCA). For the identified OCs in RAVE we derived (RV) over bar and ([M/H]) over bar from a cleaned working sample and compared the results with previous findings. Results. Although our RAVE sample does not show the same accuracy as the entire survey, we were able to derive reliable (RV) over bar for 110 Galactic open clusters. For 37 OCs we publish (RV) over bar for the first time. Moreover, we determined ([M/H]) over bar for 81 open clusters, extending the number of OCs with ([M/H]) over bar by 69