Search for the gamma-ray fluxes with energies above 10915) eV from various objects

Considerable interest has developed in the search for local sources of superhigh-energy gamma-rays. The experimental data obtained with the extensive air showers (EAS) array of the Moscow State University are analyzed with a view to searching for the superhigh-energy gamma-rays from various objects and regions of the Galaxy

Conjugates of a Photoactivated Rhodamine with Biopolymers for Cell Staining

Conjugates of the photoactivated rhodamine dyes with biopolymers (proteins, polysaccharides, and nucleic acids) are important tools for microscopic investigation of biological tissue. In this study, a precursor of the photoactivated fluorescent dye (PFD) has been successfully used for staining of numerous mammalian cells lines and for conjugate formation with chitosan (“Chitosan-PFD”) and histone H1 (“Histone H1.3-PFD”). The intensive fluorescence has been observed after photoactivation of these conjugates inside cells (A431, HaCaT, HEK239, HBL-100, and MDCK). Developed procedures and obtained data are important for further application of novel precursors of fluorescent dyes (“caged” dyes) for microscopic probing of biological objects. Thus, the synthesized “Chitosan-PFD” and “Histone H1-PFD” have been successfully applied in this study for intracellular transport visualization by fluorescent microscopy

Conjugates of a photoactivated rhodamine with biopolymers for cell staining

© 2014 Sergei Yu. Zaitsev et al. Conjugates of the photoactivated rhodamine dyes with biopolymers (proteins, polysaccharides, and nucleic acids) are important tools for microscopic investigation of biological tissue. In this study, a precursor of the photoactivated fluorescent dye (PFD) has been successfully used for staining of numerous mammalian cells lines and for conjugate formation with chitosan ("Chitosan-PFD") and histone H1 ("Histone H1.3-PFD"). The intensive fluorescence has been observed after photoactivation of these conjugates inside cells (A431, HaCaT, HEK239, HBL-100, and MDCK). Developed procedures and obtained data are important for further application of novel precursors of fluorescent dyes ("caged" dyes) for microscopic probing of biological objects. Thus, the synthesized "Chitosan-PFD" and "Histone H1-PFD" have been successfully applied in this study for intracellular transport visualization by fluorescent microscopy

Cell Culture Based in vitro Test Systems for Anticancer Drug Screening

The development of new high-tech systems for screening anticancer drugs is one of the main problems of preclinical screening. Poor correlation between preclinical in vitro and in vivo data with clinical trials remains a major concern. The choice of the correct tumor model at the stage of in vitro testing provides reduction in both financial and time costs during later stages due to the timely screening of ineffective agents. In view of the growing incidence of oncology, increasing the pace of the creation, development and testing of new antitumor agents, the improvement and expansion of new high-tech systems for preclinical in vitro screening is becoming very important. The pharmaceutical industry presently relies on several widely used in vitro models, including two-dimensional models, three-dimensional models, microfluidic systems, Boyden’s chamber and models created using 3D bioprinting. This review outlines and describes these tumor models including their use in research, in addition to their characteristics. This review therefore gives an insight into in vitro based testing which is of interest to researchers and clinicians from differing fields including pharmacy, preclinical studies and cell biology

Technology for Creation and Detailed Analysis of Polymer Composites with Uniform Distribution of Quantum Dots and Liquid Crystals

One of the most actual tasks in biotechnology is the creation of a new generation of nanobiosensors with improved brightness, photo stability, and sensitivity. Compositions of polymers and colloidal quantum dots (QDs) are the most promising base to develop such sensors. This work presents the technology for creation and detailed analysis of nanostructured composite films based on polypropylene matrices with uniformly distributed CdSe/ZnS quantum dots and liquid crystals. Methods of optical microscopy, scanning probe microscopy and confocal fluorescen tmicrospectroscopy were used. The presence of liquid crystals in the composite allows additional control of QDs fluorescence. The methodology proposed is applicable not only to polypropylene, but also to other porous polymers. The results of this work indicate the possibility of creating high-quality polymer/QDs composite materials and open the way to the development of nanomaterials (nanosensors) with optical properties sensitive to various environmental parameters (electric field, photo irradiation, mechanical action, etc.). Keywords: quantum dot-polymer composites, nanoporous polypropylene, fluorescenc

Functional-Semantic Features of Complex Sentences of Purpose in British and American Variants of English

The functional-semantic features of purpose clauses introduced by conjunctions so that, lest, in order that, for fear that, in the hope that, and to the end that are examined in this study. These conjunctions differ in their frequency and expressiveness. The material for the study was taken from the Corpus of Contemporary American English and the British National Corpus. The novelty of the research lies in specifying the list of differential features of the categorical grammatical value of complex sentences of purpose. It is demonstrated that complex sentences with purpose conjunctions are used in literary, journalistic, scientific, and conversational texts, but their frequency differs not only depending on the type of discourse but also on the language variant. Based on statistical data, it is confirmed that Present Subjunctive forms are the most commonly used in purpose clauses regardless of the language variant. Types of purpose clauses are analyzed: proper-purpose, argumentative-purpose, syncretic, and anti-purpose clauses. It is established that the first ones, which are not complicated by additional shades of meaning, are most frequent in American texts, while the third ones, containing indications of circumstances for achieving the goal, are most commonly used in British texts

Molecular Aspects and Future Perspectives of Cytokine-Based Anti-cancer Immunotherapy

Cytokine-based immunotherapy is a promising field in the cancer treatment, since cytokines, as proteins of the immune system, are able to modulate the host immune response toward cancer cell, as well as directly induce tumor cell death. Since a low dose monotherapy with some cytokines has no significant therapeutic results and a high dose treatment leads to a number of side effects caused by the pleiotropic effect of cytokines, the problem of understanding the influence of cytokines on the immune cells involved in the pro- and anti-tumor immune response remains a pressing one. Immune system cells carry CD makers on their surface which can be used to identify various populations of cells of the immune system that play different roles in pro- and anti-tumor immune responses. This review discusses the functions and specific CD markers of various immune cell populations which are reported to participate in the regulation of the immune response against the tumor. The results of research studies and clinical trials investigating the effect of cytokine therapy on the regulation of immune cell populations and their surface markers are also discussed. Current trends in the development of cancer immunotherapy, as well as the role of cytokines in combination with other therapeutic agents, are also discussed