Chelator free gallium-68 radiolabelling of silica coated iron oxide nanorods via surface interactions

The commercial availability of combined magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)/positron emission tomography (PET) scanners for clinical use has increased demand for easily prepared agents which offer signal or contrast in both modalities. Herein we describe a new class of silica coated iron–oxide nanorods (NRs) coated with polyethylene glycol (PEG) and/or a tetraazamacrocyclic chelator (DO3A). Studies of the coated NRs validate their composition and confirm their properties as in vivo T₂ MRI contrast agents. Radiolabelling studies with the positron emitting radioisotope gallium-68 (t1/2 = 68 min) demonstrate that, in the presence of the silica coating, the macrocyclic chelator was not required for preparation of highly stable radiometal-NR constructs. In vivo PET-CT and MR imaging studies show the expected high liver uptake of gallium-68 radiolabelled nanorods with no significant release of gallium-68 metal ions, validating our innovation to provide a novel simple method for labelling of iron oxide NRs with a radiometal in the absence of a chelating unit that can be used for high sensitivity liver imaging

Ultraviolet Fixed Points in Gauge and SUSY Field Theories in Extra Dimensions

We consider gauge field theories in $D>4$ following the Wilson RG approach and show that they possess the ultraviolet fixed points where the gauge coupling is dimensionless in any space-time dimension. At the fixed point the anomalous dimensions of the field and vertex operators are known exactly. These fixed points are nonperturbative and correspond to conformal invariant theories. The same phenomenon also happens in supersymmetric theories with the Yukawa type interactions.Comment: LaTeX, 10pp. v2: Comments and references adde

A study about the use of Musicomovigrams in musical education

Since the turn of the twenty-first century, information and communication technology (ICT) have definitely changed the way people express learning and interact with each other in the activities of science and arts, with a particular impact in musical education. In this article, the authors treat the concept of musicomovigrams, an interactive audiovisual resource, similar to video games that can work as software tools for the development of sound perception and musical structure. This concept is based on the previous concept of musicogram, created by the musical pedagogue Jos Wuytack along with his concept of Active Listening (Wuytack and Boal Palheiros, 2009). The authors consider an important element of learning the concepts of Musical Forms defined by the musical educator Keith Swanwick (Swanwick, 2003). This work presents the development of the musicomovigram concept, a videogame created through the free software eAdventure. We also intend to investigate how music teachers and students, who work and interact in musical education classrooms, are actually accepting and using ICT in their classes

Modeling of sodium nitrite and water transport in pork meat

Four models were used to simulate nitrite uptake and water loss during pork meat curing with sodium nitrite: three empirical ones (the Azuara, the Peleg and the Zugarramurdi and Lupin) and one theoretical (the diffusional). By means of the Azuara and the Peleg models, the equilibrium moisture content and the equilibrium nitrite content were properly identified. Zugarramurdi and Lupin's model did not provide information about process parameters. The effective diffusivities of water (Dwe) and nitrite (DNe) were calculated. The activation energy (ENa and Ewa) was evaluated from the parameters of both the Peleg and the diffusional models. The results were similar; the Peleg model having the advantage of simplicity of calculation. The effect of meat anisotropy was confirmed from the diffusional model; the perpendicular transport of nitrite is easier than the parallel. This study highlighted the importance of choosing the most appropriate model depending on the objective to be achieved.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Online Algorithms with Advice for the -search Problem

In the online search problem, a seller seeks to find the maximum price from a sequence of prices p1, p2,…, pn that is revealed in a piece-wise manner. The bound for all prices is well known in advance with m ≤ pί ≤ M. In the online k-search problem, the seller seeks to find the k maximum out of the n prices. In this paper, we present a tight bound of [Formula Presented] on the advice complexity of optimal online algorithms for online k-search. We also provide online algorithms with advice that use less than the required number of bits and compute the performance guarantee. Although it is natural to expect improvement due to the additional power of advice, we are interested to identify the relationship of additional information with respect to the improvement. We show that with 1 bit of advice, we can already surpass the quality of the best possible deterministic algorithm for online 2-search. We also provide a set of online algorithms, ALGί, that utilizes [Formula Presented] advice bits with a competitive ratio of (formula presented). We show that increasing the amount of advice improves the solution quality of the algorithm. Moreover, we compare the power of advice and randomization. We show that for some identified minimum number of advice bits, the lower bound on the competitive ratio of online algorithms with advice is better than any deterministic and randomized algorithm for online k-search

Versatile hollow fluorescent metal-silica nanohybrids through a modified microemulsion synthesis route

Silica-metal nanohybrids are common materials for applications in biomedicine, catalysis or sensing. Also, hollow structures are of interest as they provide additional useful features. However, in these materials the control of the size and accessibility to the inner regions of the structure usually requires complex synthesis procedures. Here we report a simple colloidal procedure for synthesizing hollow silica-metal nanohybrids, driven by the diffusion of metal precursors through the porous silica shell and subsequent reduction in aqueous solutions. The formation of hollow nanoparticles is controlled by the colloidal conditions during synthesis, which affect the ripening of hollow nanoparticles in presence of organosilanes. The modification of the conditions during synthesis affected the growth of silica precursors in presence of fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC). The limited access to water molecules during the hydrolysis of silica precursors is attributed to the hydrophobicity of organic fluorescent molecules linked to the condensing silica clusters at the initial stages of nanoparticle formation and to the limitation of water content in the microemulsion method used. Finally, the growth of metal nanoseeds at the core of hollow nanoparticles can be easily achieved though a simple method in aqueous environment. The pH and thermal conditions during the reduction process affect the formation of metal-silica nanohybrids and their structural features

Caracterización de carbón activado sintetizado a baja temperatura a partir de cáscara de cacao (Theobroma cacao) para la adsorción de amoxicilina

(Eng) The objective of the present investigation was to synthesize and characterize activated carbon obtained at low temperature from cocoa shell (Theobroma cacao), which was modified with zinc chloride (ZnCl2) for its use in the removal of amoxicillin. Biomass was characterized by elemental analysis and activated carbon by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and surface area analysis (BET) in order to determine the chemical composition, morphological and structural characteristics. In the molecular adsorption tests of amoxicillin, an aqueous solution with a concentration of 20ppm of the contaminant at pH 6 and 9 was used, to which 5g of the adsorbent material impregnated with zinc chloride was added at 1: 3 and 1: 4 ratios. . For the 1: 3 and 1: 4 activated carbons, surface areas of 287.5 m2 / g and 205.4 m2 / g were reached respectively, with average pore sizes of 3 to 4 nm. The percentage of removal of amoxicillin was influenced by the pH of the solution to be treated, reaching the highest percentages at acidic pH, the removal values ​​reached for activated carbon 1: 3 were 75.4% and 67.2%, while for activated carbon 1: 4 they were 65.2% and 56.7% for solutions pH 6 and 9, respectively. It is concluded that the activated carbon obtained at low temperature is a good material to remove amoxicillin in solution.(Spa) El objetivo de la presente investigación fue sintetizar y caracterizar carbón activado obtenido a baja temperatura a partir de la cascara de cacao (Theobroma cacao), la cual se modificó con cloruro de zinc (ZnCl2) para su uso en la remoción de amoxi­cilina. La biomasa fue caracterizada mediante análisis elemental y el carbón activado mediante microscopia electrónica de barrido (SEM), difracción de rayos X (DRX) y análisis de área superficial (BET) con el fin de determinar la composición química, las características morfológicas y estructurales. En los ensayos de adsorción molecular de amoxicilina se utilizó una solución acuosa con una concentración de 20ppm del contaminante a pH 6 y 9, a la cual se le agregó 5g del material adsor­bente impregnado con Cloruro de zinc a relaciones 1:3 y 1:4. Para los carbones activados 1:3 y 1:4 se alcanzaron áreas super­ficiales de 287,5 m2/g y 205,4 m2/g respectivamente, con tamaños de poro promedio de 3 a 4 nm. El porcentaje de remoción de amoxicilina se vio influenciado por el pH de la solución a tratar, alcanzándose los mayores porcentajes a pH ácidos, los valores de remoción alcanzado para el carbón activado 1:3 fueron de 75,4% y 67,2%, mientras que para el carbón activado 1:4 fueron 65,2% y 56,7% para las soluciones pH 6 y 9, respectivamente. Se concluye que el carbón activado obtenido a baja temperatura es un buen material para remover amoxicilina en solución