CD20-targeting in B-cell malignancies: novel prospects for antibodies and combination therapies

Expression of CD20 antigen by the most of transformed B cells is believed to be the driving force for targeting this molecule by using anti-CD20 monoclonal antibodies. While it is true that most lymphoma/leukemia patients can be cured, these regimens are limited by the emergence of treatment resistance. Based on these observations, development of anti-CD20 monoclonal antibodies and combination therapies have been recently proposed, in particular with the aim to optimize the cytotoxic activity. Here we outline a range of new experimental agents concerning the CD20 positive B-cell tumors which provide high benefit from conventional therapy. © 2016, Springer Science+Business Media New York

Use of single-chain antibody derivatives for targeted drug delivery

Single-chain antibodies (scFvs), which contain only the variable domains of full-length antibodies, are relatively small molecules that can be used for selective drug delivery. In this review, we discuss how scFvs help improve the specificity and efficiency of drugs. Small interfering RNA (siRNA) delivery using scFv-drug fusion peptides, siRNA delivery using scFv-conjugated nanoparticles, targeted delivery using scFv-viral peptide-fusion proteins, use of scFv in fusion with cell-penetrating peptides for effective targeted drug delivery, scFv-mediated targeted delivery of inorganic nanoparticles, scFv-mediated increase of tumor killing activity of granulocytes, use of scFv for tumor imaging, site-directed conjugation of scFv molecules to drug carrier systems, use of scFv to relieve pain and use of scFv for increasing drug loading efficiency are among the topics that are discussed here. © 2016, University of Michigan. All rights reserved

THE EVALUATION OF GRAIN AND OIL PRODUCTION, SOME PHYSIOLOGICAL AND MORPHOLOGICAL TRAITS OF AMARANTH ‘CV. KONIZ’ AS INFLUENCED BY THE SALT STRESS IN HYDROPONIC CONDITIONS

The purpose of this study was investigation of salinity effect on some traits of Amaranth. A split plot designed with three replications with two factors: 5 salinity levels (control, 75, 150, 225, 300 mM NaCl) and applied time at 4 levels (plant establishment, branching, flowering, grain filling) in a greenhouse under hydroponic system. Application of 300 mM salinity after plant establishment led to death of amaranth. Salinity application after establishment decreased significantly plant height and number of branches as 44.9 and 31.8, respectively. Production of grain weight was not affected by 75 mM salinity, but at higher salinity showed significantly decrease. The highest decrease in grain weight obtained by applying 225 mM salt after the plant establishment and salinity at 300 mM after branching as 86.6 and 71.3 percent respectively, resulting in a decrease in both 1000 kernel weight and grain number, respectively. Salinity application increased H2O2, MDA and total phenolics contents, severely. Most of characteristics hadnot affect by 75 mM NaCl, but other concentrations had a negative effect on the growth and production of Amaranth and increasing salinity had more negative impact. In this study, the most sensitive to salinity was after plant establishment and grain filling stage was the most tolerant

Production and purification of polyclonal anti-hamster immunoglobulins in rabbits

Polyclonal antibodies are mixtures of monoclonal antibodies that were produced against different epitops. The goal of this project is to know the production, purification and horseradish peroxidase (HRP) conjugation of polyclonal antibodies against hamster immunoglobulins in rabbits. 300 ìg/300 ìl of ten hamster immunoglobulins was mixed with the same volume (300 ìl) of adjuvant and injected into three 6-month-old white New Zealand rabbits. Anti hamster rich rabbits serums were isolated from whole blood and precipitated with ammonium sulfate in the final concentration of 50%. The precipitate was dialysed against phosphate buffered saline (PBS) (pH: 7.4) and applied to ion exchange chromatography (IEC) on diethylaminoethyl (DEAE)-sepharose 6B with tris-phosphate (pH: 8.1), andtris-phosphate contain 50 mM NaCl buffer. The purity of produced antibody was confirmed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) under reduced condition. Then purifiedimmunoglobulin G (IgG) was conjugated with HRP. For exact measurement of conjugated IgG titer and evaluating of cross reaction, enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test was designed. Since IEC is a more simple and inexpensive method for the purification of IgG, we obtained a protein with approximate purity of 95%. Produced IgG showed high titer and high specificity in the designed ELISA. Purified antibody and its conjugation with HRP are used in research and diagnosis of hamster disease.Key words: Production, purification, hamster immunoglobulins

Relativistic three-body bound states and the reduction from four to three dimensions

Beginning with an effective field theory based upon meson exchange, the Bethe-Salpeter equation for the three-particle propagator (six-point function) is obtained. Using the one-boson-exchange form of the kernel, this equation is then analyzed using time-ordered perturbation theory, and a three-dimensional equation for the propagator is developed. The propagator consists of a pre-factor in which the relative energies are fixed by the initial state of the particles, an intermediate part in which only global propagation of the particles occurs, and a post-factor in which relative energies are fixed by the final state of the particles. The pre- and post-factors are necessary in order to account for the transition from states where particles are off their mass shell to states described by the global propagator with all of the particle energies on shell. The pole structure of the intermediate part of the propagator is used to determine the equation for the three-body bound state: a Schr{\"o}dinger-like relativistic equation with a single, global Green's function. The role of the pre- and post-factors in the relativistic dynamics is to incorporate the poles of the breakup channels in the initial and final states. The derivation of this equation by integrating over the relative times rather than via a constraint on relative momenta allows the inclusion of retardation and dynamical boost corrections without introducing unphysical singularities.Comment: REVTeX, 21 pages, 4 figures, epsf.st

Relativistic three-particle scattering equations

We derive a set of relativistic three-particle scattering equations in the three-particle c.m. frame employing a relativistic three-particle propagator suggested long ago by Ahmadzadeh and Tjon in the c.m. frame of a two-particle subsystem. We make the coordinate transformation of this propagator from the c.m. frame of the two-particle subsystem to the three-particle c.m. frame. We also point out that some numerical applications of the Ahmadzadeh and Tjon propagator to the three-nucleon problem use unnecessary nonrelativistic approximations which do not simplify the computational task, but violate constraints of relativistic unitarity and/or covariance.Comment: 5pages, text and one ps figure (in revtex) include

Effect of nitrogen foliar application in different growth stage on canopy light receiving on 3 polygerm sugar beet yield

An experiment was conducted on three sugar beet cultivars(IC, PP22 and 7233) and different application method of Nitrogen in a RCBD base factorial in three replication in 2005. Results showed that there was significant difference between light receiving in bottom and head of canopy among cultivars. N affected this attribute also. In IC the highest light receiving to bottom and head of canopy and yield in foliar N application at 6-8 leaf stage were 627 PPF, 1198PPF respectively. In soil application and 14-16 leaf stage foliar application of N led to 248 PPF in bottom and 988 PPF in head of canopy, recpectively.In IC the least root yield obtained in foliar application at 14-16 stage as 75/2 ton/ha. In PP22 light receiving to bottom and head of canopy was 472 PPF, 1134 PPF for soil and foliar application at 14-16 leaf stage and yield at that stage was 100 ton/ha. There was a %58 and %21 decreasing in light receiving to bottom and head in 6-8 leaf stage in compare with 14-16 leaf stage, foliar application at 14-16 leaf stage led to root yield increasing as %38 and %42 than soil and 6-8 leaf stage application, respectively. In 7233 cultivar highest light received to bottom was 491 PPF in 14-16 leaf stage which was %17 higher than soil application. The highest light received to head of canopy was 1190 PPF in 6-8 leaf stage foliar application. There wasn’t difference between root yield in different method N application in this cultivar. In spite of N fertilizer application led to increase leaf area and light absorption by plant canopy, there is limited information on the higher rates of N application between cultivars

Energy efficient campus landscaping for mitigation of climate change effects

An experiment was conducted within the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) campus with 5 selected arboriculture tree species, namely, Ficus religiosa, Ficus infectoria, Azadirachta indica, Alestonia scholaris and Morus alba to compare their modifying capacity of thermal environment below the canopy with open space during peak summer months (May- June) and winter months (December-January) of 2010-11. Tree species and open space were treated as treatments (6) and 4 replications were taken for each treatment. During summer afternoon of 2010, the open space recorded an average temperature of 41.0ºC. Temperature below the canopy was reduced by each species. Maximum reduction (7.31%) was observed below the canopy of Ficus infectoria (38.0 oC), followed by Morus alba (38.4 oC), minimum reduction to 38.7 oC was observed below the canopy of Alestonia scholaris. During winter afternoon of 2010-11, the open space recorded an average temperature of 24.0oC. Maximum reduction to 19.5 oC was observed below the canopy of Ficus infectoria, followed by Ficus religiosa (19.6 oC), Azadirachta indica (19.7 oC), Alestonia scholaris (20.1 oC) and Morus alba (20.8 oC). An average temperature of 7.7oC was observed in the winter morning throughout the season in the open space and an increase in below canopy temperature was observed under each tree species. However, Morus alba recorded the highest increase to 8.5oC, followed by Ficus religiosa, Azadirachta indica, Alestonia scholaris (8.3oC each). The lowest increase was observed under Ficus infectoria (7.9oC). The maximum increase in the morning temperature and minimum reduction in that at afternoon was desired in the winter at Delhi for comfort

Customizable and scalable automated assessment of C/C++ programming assignments

The correction of exercises in programming courses is a laborious task that has traditionally been performed in a manual way. This situation, in turn, delays the access by students to feedback that can contribute significantly to their training as future professionals. Over the years, several approaches have been proposed to automate the assessment of students' programs. Static analysis is a known technique that can partially simulate the process of manual code review performed by lecturers. As such, it is a plausible option to assess whether students' solutions meet the requirements imposed on the assignments. However, implementing a personalized analysis beyond the rules included in existing tools may be a complex task for the lecturer without a mechanism that guides the work. In this paper, we present a method to provide automated and specific feedback to immediately inform students about their mistakes in programming courses. To that end, we developed the CAC++ library, which enables constructing tailored static analysis programs for C/C++ practices. The library allows for great flexibility and personalization of verifications to adjust them to each particular task, overcoming the limitations of most of the existing assessment tools. Our approach to providing specific feedback has been evaluated for a period of three academic years in a course related to object-oriented programming. The library allowed lecturers to reduce the size of the static analysis programs developed for this course. During this period, the academic results improved and undergraduates positively valued the aid offered when undertaking the implementation of assignments.Universidad de Cádiz, Grant/Award Numbers: sol-201500054192-tra, sol-201600064680-tra; Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades, Grant/Award Number: RTI2018-093608-B-C33; European Regional Development Fun

What Are the Predictors of Work Impairment in Iranian Patients with Depressive Disorders?

Abstract The purpose of this study is to estimate the predictors of working ability in depressed patients. Two hundred and twenty-six patients with depression consecutively admitted on outpatient basis fro