The Neurofilament-Derived Peptide NFL-TBS.40-63 Targets Neural Stem Cells and Affects Their Properties

Targeting neural stem cells (NSCs) in the adult brain represents a promising approach for developing new regenerative strategies, because these cells can proliferate, self-renew, and differentiate into new neurons, astrocytes, and oligodendrocytes. Previous work showed that the NFL-TBS.40-63 peptide, corresponding to the sequence of a tubulin-binding site on neurofilaments, can target glioblastoma cells, where it disrupts their microtubules and inhibits their proliferation. We show that this peptide targets NSCs in vitro and in vivo when injected into the cerebrospinal fluid. Although neurosphere formation was not altered by the peptide, the NSC self-renewal capacity and proliferation were reduced and were associated with increased adhesion and differentiation. These results indicate that the NFL-TBS.40-63 peptide represents a new molecular tool to target NSCs to develop new strategies for regenerative medicine and the treatment of brain tumors. SIGNIFICANCE: In the present study, the NFL-TBS.40-63 peptide targeted neural stem cells in vitro when isolated from the subventricular zone and in vivo when injected into the cerebrospinal fluid present in the lateral ventricle. The in vitro formation of neurospheres was not altered by the peptide; however, at a high concentration of the peptide, the neural stem cell (NSC) self-renewal capacity and proliferation were reduced and associated with increased adhesion and differentiation. These results indicate that the NFL-TBS.40-63 peptide represents a new molecular tool to target NSCs to develop new strategies for regenerative medicine and the treatment of brain tumors

Review of Clinical Trials Using Neural Stem Cells

The use of stem cells in clinical trials started several years ago for regenerativebased therapies or for the treatment of tumours. After brain injuries or neurodegenerative diseases, neural stem cells represent a promising strategy to repair the affected tissue and to replace degenerative cells. Neural stem cells can migrate and differentiate into neurons, astrocytes and oligodendrocytes, and thus could serve as promising therapeutic solutions. However, these cells can represent a potential source of cancer stem cells in tumour brain where they are responsible of recurrence, invasiveness and resistance to current treatments. Thus, few clinical trials involving endogenous, genetically modifiedor derived-neural stem cells have been conducted in the world to treat brain disorders. According to the website www.clinicaltrials.gov only 37 clinical trials involving neural stem cells are listed. Most of them use derived-neural stem cells to treat brain disorders (neurodegenerative diseases, injuries or tumours). For the future, a better approach would be to target directly endogenous stem cells.

The influence of school and teaching quality on children’s progress in primary school

This report investigates the way school and classroom processes affect the cognitive progress and social/behavioural development of children between the ages of 6 (Year 1) and 10 (Year 5) in primary schools in England. The research is part of the larger longitudinal study of Effective Pre-School and Primary Education (EPPE 3-11) funded by the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) that is following children’s cognitive and social/behavioural development from ages 3 to 11 years. The EPPE 3-11 study investigates both pre-school and primary school influences on children’s attainment, progress and social/behavioural development. This report describes the results of quantitative analyses based on a subsample of 1160 EPPE children across Year 1 to 5 of primary education. The research builds on the earlier analyses of children’s Reading and Mathematics attainments and social/behavioural outcomes in Year 5 for the full EPPE 3-11 sample (see Sammons, 2007a; 2007b), by investigating relationships between children’s outcomes and measures of classroom processes, collected through direct observation of Year 5 classes in 125 focal schools chosen from the larger EPPE 3-11 data set. The analyses also explore patterns of association between children’s outcomes and broader measures of overall school characteristics derived from teacher questionnaires and Ofsted inspection reports for this sub-sample of schools

Tracking pupil mobility over the pre-school and primary school period: evidence from EPPE 3-11

This report describes the ‘tracking’ of the EPPE 3-11 sample and then goes on to examine the possible influence of mobility on EPPE 3-11 children’s cognitive progress and social/behavioural development over both the pre-school and primary school period. In the present research ‘mobility’ is defined as having changed pre-school or school centre at least once. The aims of the research are: • To determine possible means of reducing attrition in a longitudinal sample - tracking • To identify any likely predictors of mobility, that is, whether mobile individuals share any defining characteristics; • To investigate the effects of mobility when predicting children’s cognitive and social/behavioural outcomes, controlling for other background factors; • To investigate the effects of children’s mobility in terms of the academic effectiveness of the schools attended and to which children moved

Relationships between pupils’ self-perceptions, views of primary school and their development in Year 5

The Effective Pre-school and Primary Education Project 3-11 (EPPE 3-11) is a largescale longitudinal study of the impact of pre-school and primary school on children’s developmental outcomes, both cognitive and social/behavioural. The study has been following children from the start of pre-school (at age 3 years plus) through to the end of primary school. Previous reports have focused on the educational and social/behavioural outcomes of the EPPE 3-11 sample at the end of Year 5 (age 10) and progress from the end of Year 1 (age 6) to the end of Year 5 (age 10) in primary school (Sammons et al., 2007a; 2007b). The research also explored the predictive power of a wide variety of child, parent, and family characteristics on attainment and development, including the Early years home learning environment (HLE) during the years of preschool and aspects of the later HLE during Key stage 1 of primary school (Sammons et al., 2002; 2003; Sylva et al., 2004). This research builds on earlier reports (Sammons et al., 2007a; 2007b) by investigating relationships between children’s outcomes in Year 5 and aspects of pupils’ selfperceptions and their views of primary school, measured in Year 5 (age 10) and in Year 2 (age 7) of primary school, controlling for background characteristics. These measures have been derived from a self-report instrument completed by EPPE 3-11 children. The analyses explored associations between children’s progress and development over time and their self-perceptions and views of primary school

Pupils' self-perceptions and views of primary school in year 5

The Effective Pre-School and Primary Education 3-11 (EPPE 3-11) project investigates the impact of preschool, primary school and family on a range of outcomes for a national sample of approximately 2,800 children in England between the ages of 3 and 11 years. This Research Brief presents findings on pupils’ Self-perceptions (‘Enjoyment of school’, ‘Anxiety and Isolation’, ‘Academic self-image’ and ‘Behavioural self-image’) and their views of different features of primary school (‘Teachers’ support for pupils’ learning’, ‘Headteacher qualities’ and ‘Positive social environment’) in Year 5. The analyses involved two steps: first, differences in pupils’ Self-perceptions and Views of primary school measured at Year 5 were explored, in relation to child, family and Home Learning Environment (HLE) characteristics. Second, the relationships between pupils’ Self-perceptions and their Views of primary school and educational outcomes and progress, both cognitive (Reading and Mathematics) and social/behavioural (‘Self-regulation’, ‘Hyperactivity’, ‘Pro-social’ and ‘Anti-social’ behaviour) were investigated. The analyses also explored pupils’ Self-perceptions measured at a younger age (Year 2) and how they relate to children’s later cognitive and social/behavioural outcomes in Year 5 and progress from Year 1 to Year 5

Evolution of the Band Structure of β-In2 S3−3x O3x Buffer Layer With Its Oxygen Content

The evolution of the band structure of β-In2 S3−3x O3x (BISO) thin films grown by physical vapor deposition, with composition x, is investigated using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. It is shown that the energy difference between the valence-band level and the Fermi level remains nearly constant as the optical band gap of the films increases. As a consequence, the difference between the conduction band level and the Fermi level increases as much as the optical band gap of the films. The calculation of the electronic affinity [ ] of the BISO thin films shows that it decreases linearly from 4.65 to 3.85 eV when x varies from 0 to 0.14. This will facilitate fabrication of efficient Cu(InGa)Se2-based solar cells having different absorber layer band gap

Nuclear model effects in Charged Current neutrino--nucleus quasielastic scattering

The quasielastic scattering of muon neutrinos on oxygen 16 is studied for neutrino energies between 200 MeV and 1 GeV using a relativistic shell model. Final state interactions are included within the distorted wave impulse approximation, by means of a relativistic optical potential, with and without imaginary part, and of a relativistic mean field potential. For comparison with experimental data the inclusive charged--current quasielastic cross section for $\nu_\mu$--$^{12}C$ scattering in the kinematical conditions of the LSND experiment at Los Alamos is also presented and briefly discussed.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, two-column format. Accepted as brief report in Phys. Rev.

Optical Properties of Wide Band Gap Indium Sulphide Thin Films Obtained by Physical Vapor Deposition

Thin films of indium sulphide containing oxygen have been synthesized following a dry physical process. The constituents are deposited by thermal evaporation on glass substrates and then annealed under argon flow. Polycrystalline β-In2S3 containing oxygen thin films are obtained as soon as the temperature of annealing is between 623 and 723 K. In this paper, these β-In2S3 thin films have optically been studied. The optical band gap is direct. Its value is not dependent on the temperature of annealing. It is about 2.8 eV, which is higher than that of β-In2S3 single crystal. This high value is related to the presence of oxygen in the films. The extinction coefficient k and the refractive index n of the films have also been found independent of the annealing temperature. These optical properties make the films studied good candidates to be substituted to CdS in Cu(In,Ga)Se2 based solar cells