Equation of state and phonon frequency calculations of diamond at high pressures

The pressure-volume relationship and the zone-center optical phonon frequency of cubic diamond at pressures up to 600 GPa have been calculated based on Density Functional Theory within the Local Density Approximation and the Generalized Gradient Approximation. Three different approaches, viz. a pseudopotential method applied in the basis of plane waves, an all-electron method relying on Augmented Plane Waves plus Local Orbitals, and an intermediate approach implemented in the basis of Projector Augmented Waves have been used. All these methods and approximations yield consistent results for the pressure derivative of the bulk modulus and the volume dependence of the mode Grueneisen parameter of diamond. The results are at variance with recent precise measurements up to 140 GPa. Possible implications for the experimental pressure determination based on the ruby luminescence method are discussed.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figure

Institutional shared resources and translational cancer research

The development and maintenance of adequate shared infrastructures is considered a major goal for academic centers promoting translational research programs. Among infrastructures favoring translational research, centralized facilities characterized by shared, multidisciplinary use of expensive laboratory instrumentation, or by complex computer hardware and software and/or by high professional skills are necessary to maintain or improve institutional scientific competitiveness. The success or failure of a shared resource program also depends on the choice of appropriate institutional policies and requires an effective institutional governance regarding decisions on staffing, existence and composition of advisory committees, policies and of defined mechanisms of reporting, budgeting and financial support of each resource. Shared Resources represent a widely diffused model to sustain cancer research; in fact, web sites from an impressive number of research Institutes and Universities in the U.S. contain pages dedicated to the SR that have been established in each Center, making a complete view of the situation impossible. However, a nation-wide overview of how Cancer Centers develop SR programs is available on the web site for NCI-designated Cancer Centers in the U.S., while in Europe, information is available for individual Cancer centers. This article will briefly summarize the institutional policies, the organizational needs, the characteristics, scientific aims, and future developments of SRs necessary to develop effective translational research programs in oncology

Neural In Vitro Models for Studying Substances Acting on the Central Nervous System

Animal models have been greatly contributing to our understanding of physiology, mechanisms of diseases, and toxicity. Yet, their limitations due to, e.g., interspecies variation are reflected in the high number of drug attrition rates, especially in central nervous system (CNS) diseases. Therefore, human-based neural in vitro models for studying safety and efficacy of substances acting on the CNS are needed. Human iPSC-derived cells offer such a platform with the unique advantage of reproducing the "human context" in vitro by preserving the genetic and molecular phenotype of their donors. Guiding the differentiation of hiPSC into cells of the nervous system and combining them in a 2D or 3D format allows to obtain complex models suitable for investigating neurotoxicity or brain-related diseases with patient-derived cells. This chapter will give an overview over stem cell-based human 2D neuronal and mixed neuronal/astrocyte models, in vitro cultures of microglia, as well as CNS disease models and considers new developments in the field, more specifically the use of brain organoids and 3D bioprinted in vitro models for safety and efficacy evaluation