Phage displayed peptides/antibodies recognizing growth factors and their tyrosine kinase receptors as tools for anti-cancer therapeutics.

The basic idea of displaying peptides on a phage, introduced by George P. Smith in 1985, was greatly developed and improved by McCafferty and colleagues at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology and, later, by Barbas and colleagues at the Scripps Research Institute. Their approach was dedicated to building a system for the production of antibodies, similar to a naïve B cell repertoire, in order to by-pass the standard hybridoma technology that requires animal immunization. Both groups merged the phage display technology with an antibody library to obtain a huge number of phage variants, each of them carrying a specific antibody ready to bind its target molecule, allowing, later on, rare phage (one in a million) to be isolated by affinity chromatography. Here, we will briefly review the basis of the technology and the therapeutic application of phage-derived bioactive molecules when addressed against key players in tumor development and progression: growth factors and their tyrosine kinase receptors

Geographical area network-structural health monitoring utility computing model

In view of intensified disasters and fatalities caused by natural phenomena and geographical expansion, there is a pressing need for a more effective environment logging for a better management and urban planning. This paper proposes a novel utility computing model (UCM) for structural health monitoring (SHM) that would enable dynamic planning of monitoring systems in an efficient and cost-effective manner in form of a SHM geo-informatics system. The proposed UCM consists of networked SHM systems that send geometrical SHM variables to SHM-UCM gateways. Every gateway is routing the data to SHM-UCM servers running a geo-spatial patch health assessment and prediction algorithm. The inputs of the prediction algorithm are geometrical variables, environmental variables, and payloads. The proposed SHM-UCM is unique in terms of its capability to manage heterogeneous SHM resources. This has been tested in a case study on Qatar University (QU) in Doha Qatar, where it looked at where SHM nodes are distributed along with occupancy density in each building. This information was taken from QU routers and zone calculation models and were then compared to ideal SHM system data. Results show the effectiveness of the proposed model in logging and dynamically planning SHM.This publication was made possible by NPRP grant # 8-1781-2-725 from the Qatar National Research Fund (a member of Qatar Foundation). The publication of this article was funded by the Qatar National Library

Axion search with a quantum-limited ferromagnetic haloscope

A ferromagnetic axion haloscope searches for Dark Matter in the form of axions by exploiting their interaction with electronic spins. It is composed of an axion-to-electromagnetic field transducer coupled to a sensitive rf detector. The former is a photon-magnon hybrid system, and the latter is based on a quantum-limited Josephson parametric amplifier. The hybrid system consists of ten 2.1 mm diameter YIG spheres coupled to a single microwave cavity mode by means of a static magnetic field. Our setup is the most sensitive rf spin-magnetometer ever realized. The minimum detectable field is $5.5\times10^{-19}\,$T with 9 h integration time, corresponding to a limit on the axion-electron coupling constant $g_{aee}\le1.7\times10^{-11}$ at 95% CL. The scientific run of our haloscope resulted in the best limit on DM-axions to electron coupling constant in a frequency span of about 120 MHz, corresponding to the axion mass range $42.4$-$43.1\,\mu$eV. This is also the first apparatus to perform an axion mass scanning by changing the static magnetic field.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Dati VIIRS-Nightfire per il monitoraggio del gas flaring in Amazzonia: il caso Yasun\ued

L\u2019estrazione di combustibili fossili \ue8 un\u2019attivit\ue0 che ha ormai raggiunto aree remote ad alta diversit\ue0 biologica e culturale, tra le quali desta gran preoccupazione l\u2019espansione della frontiera petrolifera in Amazzonia occidentale, specialmente nella Riserva della Biosfera Yasun\uec (YBR), uno dei luoghi pi\uf9 biodiversi del pianeta e casa ancestrale degli indigeni Waorani. In prossimit\ue0 di questa zona, gli impatti socio-ambientali diretti e indiretti delle varie fasi dell\u2019estrazione petrolifera sono ampiamente documentati. Tra queste attivit\ue0, la distribuzione spaziale e gli impatti ambientali del gas flaring non sono stati ancora investigati a fondo, anche a causa della mancanza di un sistema di monitoraggio e documentazione delle posizioni dei flare e dei volumi di gas bruciato. Negli ultimi anni si sta assistendo per\uf2 a un\u2019inversione di tendenza, grazie allo sviluppo di vari metodi di monitoraggio da remoto, attraverso l\u2019analisi multispettrale da satellite. Lo scopo di questo studio \ue8 mappare l\u2019attivit\ue0 di gas flaring nell\u2019area dello YBR, analizzando diacronicamente e valutando gli impatti potenziali sia sulla biodiversit\ue0 che sulle comunit\ue0 locali. I dati giornalieri prodotti dalla NOAA da gennaio 2017 a marzo 2018, basate sull\u2019elaborazione di immagini dal sensore \u201cVisible Infrared Imaging Radiometric Suite\u201d del satellite Suomi-SNPP per il monitoraggio delle attivit\ue0 di gas flaring, sono stati analizzati e geoprocessati con dati sulle aree protette e comunit\ue0 indigene. Per il corretto posizionamento dei flare, quando possibile, \ue8 stato fatto riferimento ai dataset annuali della NOAA, per i nuovi flare \ue8 stato usato il centroide delle rilevazioni. I risultati preliminari mostrano la presenza di un nuovo sito di flare nel campo petrolifero Tiputini vicino all\u2019 \u201cArea Nucleo\u201d della YBR; tre flare sono stati rilevati nella zona buffer e 19 nella zona di transizione della YBR. spaziale ha inoltre identificato 6 comunit\ue0 indigene in un raggio di 6 Km dai flare. Questo studio rivela l\u2019enorme potenziale degli open data come Nightfire della NOAA per il monitoraggio di aree remote ad elevata importanza per la conservazione della biodiversit\ue0 e dei territori indigeni

Searching for galactic axions through magnetized media: QUAX status report

The current status of the QUAX R\&D program is presented. QUAX is a feasibility study for a detection of axion as dark matter based on the coupling to the electrons. The relevant signal is a magnetization change of a magnetic material placed inside a resonant microwave cavity and polarized with a static magnetic field.Comment: Contributed to the 13th Patras Workshop on Axions, WIMPs and WISPs, Thessaloniki, May 15 to 19, 201

No difference in surgical outcomes between Open and Closed exposure of palatally displaced maxillary canines

Purpose: To investigate differences in the surgical outcomes between Open and Closed exposure for palatally displaced maxillary cuspids (PDC). Methods: A multicenter, RCT involving two parallel groups. The settings were one dental teaching hospital in, and two hospital units near Sheffield, UK. Participants were aged <20 years with a unilateral PDC, who provided informed consent. They were randomly allocated to either receive the Open (O) or the Closed (C) surgical procedure. The outcomes were time spent in the operating room and 10-day post-operative patient questionnaire. Statistical differences between the two techniques were tested using independent t tests for continuous variables and chi-squared tests for frequencies. Results: The final study sample was composed of 71 participants (64% females). There were no differences in the gender ratios (O: F=27, M=13; C: F=25, M=16) or mean ages of the two groups (O: 14.3 yrs SD 1.3; C: 14.1 yrs SD 1.6) at the start. The mean operating times for the Open and Closed techniques were 34.3 mins (SD 11.2) and 34.3 mins (SD 11.9) respectively (p=.986). There were no statistically significant differences between the two treatment groups for any of the patient-assessed outcomes (p>.05). Conclusions: There were no differences in the surgical outcomes investigated in this study between Open and Closed exposure for PDC

Comparative analysis of mesenchymal stromal cells biological properties

The stromal progenitors of mesodermal cells, mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs), are a heterogeneous population of plastic adherent fibroblast-like cells with extensive proliferative capacity and differentiation potential. Human MSCs have now been isolated from various tissues including bone marrow, muscle, skin, and adipose tissue, the latter being one of the most suitable cell sources for cell therapy, because of its easy accessibility, minimal morbidity, and abundance of cells. Bone marrow and subcutaneous or visceral adipose tissue samples were collected, digested with collagenase if needed, and seeded in Iscove's medium containing 5% human platelet lysate. Nonadherent cells were removed after 2-3 days and the medium was replaced twice a week. Confluent adherent cells were detached, expanded, and analyzed for several biological properties such as morphology, immunophenotype, growth rate, senescence, clonogenicity, differentiation capacity, immunosuppression, and secretion of angiogenic factors. The results show significant differences between lines derived from subcutaneous fat compared to those derived from visceral fat, such as the higher proliferation rate of the first and the strong induction of angiogenesis of the latter. We are convinced that the identification of the peculiarities of MSCs isolated from different tissues will lead to their more accurate use in cell therapy

Out-of-equilibrium phonons in gated superconducting switches

Recent experiments have suggested that superconductivity in metallic nanowires can be suppressed by the application of modest gate voltages. The source of this gate action has been debated and either attributed to an electric-field effect or to small leakage currents. Here we show that the suppression of superconductivity in titanium nitride nanowires on silicon substrates does not depend on the presence or absence of an electric field at the nanowire, but requires a current of high-energy electrons. The suppression is most efficient when electrons are injected into the nanowire, but similar results are obtained when electrons are passed between two remote electrodes. This is explained by the decay of high-energy electrons into phonons, which propagate through the substrate and affect superconductivity in the nanowire by generating quasiparticles. By studying the switching probability distribution of the nanowire, we also show that high-energy electron emission leads to a much broader phonon energy distribution compared with the case where superconductivity is suppressed by Joule heating near the nanowire