I-fibrinogen as an oncophilic radiodiagnostic agent: distribution kinetics in tumour-bearing mice.

Fibrinogen radioiodinated by the iodine monochloride method was tested as a tumour radiodiagnostic agent in mice. The I-fibrinogen cleared from the blood of tumour-bearing mice more rapidly than from that of normal mice, but it cleared from the whole body more slowly, suggesting it accumulated in a substantial tumour-related compartment in the abnormal mice. The tumour concentration steadily increased for 4 h after injection, at which time it reached a peak concentration of 11-4% of the injected dose/g. This concentration was higher than the peak concentration for Ga-citrate (not reached until 24 h) or any other oncophilic radiopharmaceutical tested in this tumour model. The early accumulation is consistent with the use of 123I as a tracer label for fibrinogen. A combination of the large tumour concentration of I-fibrinogen, an increased catabolic rate induced by chemical modification, and the exceptional nuclear properties of 123I for scintigraphic imaging, could lead to a very useful radiodiagnostic procedure for cancer

Students with Developmental Disabilities Go to College: Description of a Collaborative Transition Project on a Regular College Campus

This article describes a project that brought transitioning young adults with disabilities to a college campus for job-sampling. High school students with disabilities were mentored by college students on campus. Data collected indicated that this project had benefits for young adults with and without disabilities and supported the use of a community-based service-learning model

Development of a high-velocity free-flight launcher : the Ames light-gas gun

Recent interest in long-range missiles has stimulated a search for new experimental techniques which can reproduce in the laboratory the high temperatures and Mach numbers associated with the missiles' flight. One promising possibility lies in free-flight testing of laboratory models which are flown at the full velocity of the missile. In this type of test, temperatures are approximated and aerodynamic heating of the model is representative of that experienced by the missile in high-velocity flight. A prime requirement of the free-flight test technique is a device which had the capacity for launching models at the velocities desired. In response to thie need, a gun firing light models at velocities up to 15,000 feet per second has been developed at the Ames Aeronautical Laboratory. The design of this gun, the analysis of its performance, and the results of the initial firing trials are described in this paper. The firing trials showed that the measured velocities and pressures agreed well with the predicted values. Also, the erosion of the launch tube was very small for the eleven rounds fired. The performance of the gun suggests that it will prove to be a satisfactory launcher for high-velocity free-flight tests. However, it should be mentioned that only the gross performance has been evaluated so far, and, consequently, the operation of the gun must be investigated in further detail before its performance can be reliably predicted over its full operating range

Kinks Dynamics in One-Dimensional Coupled Map Lattices

We examine the problem of the dynamics of interfaces in a one-dimensional space-time discrete dynamical system. Two different regimes are studied : the non-propagating and the propagating one. In the first case, after proving the existence of such solutions, we show how they can be described using Taylor expansions. The second situation deals with the assumption of a travelling wave to follow the kink propagation. Then a comparison with the corresponding continuous model is proposed. We find that these methods are useful in simple dynamical situations but their application to complex dynamical behaviour is not yet understood.Comment: 17pages, LaTex,3 fig available on cpt.univ-mrs.fr directory pub/preprints/94/dynamical-systems/94-P.307

Precision delivery of RAS-inhibiting siRNA to KRAS driven cancer via peptide-based nanoparticles

Over 95% of pancreatic adenocarcinomas (PDACs), as well as a large fraction of other tumor types, such as colorectal adenocarcinoma, are driven by KRAS activation. However, no direct RAS inhibitors exist for cancer therapy. Furthermore, the delivery of therapeutic agents of any kind to PDAC in particular has been hindered by the extensive desmoplasia and resultant drug delivery challenges that accompanies these tumors. Small interfering RNA (siRNA) is a promising modality for anti-neoplastic therapy due to its precision and wide range of potential therapeutic targets. Unfortunately, siRNA therapy is limited by low serum half-life, vulnerability to intracellular digestion, and transient therapeutic effect. We assessed the ability of a peptide based, oligonucleotide condensing, endosomolytic nanoparticle (NP) system to deliver siRNA to KRAS-driven cancers. We show that this peptide-based NP is avidly taken up by cancer cell

SPLENIC VOLUME CHANGE AND THERAPUETIC RESPONSE IN PATIENTS TREATED WITH RADIOMMUNOCONJUGATES

Splenomegaly is frequently found in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) patients. This study evaluated the implications of splenic volume change in response to radioimmunotherapy (RIT). Twenty-nine NHL patients treated with radiolabeled-Lym-1 and 9 breast cancer patients (reference group) treated with radiolabeled-ChL6, BrE-3 or m170 were analyzed using CT splenic images obtained before and after RIT. Patient-specific radiation doses to spleen were determined using actual splenic volume determined by CT and body weight. In 13 of 29 NHL patients who had splenic volume {le} 310 ml, there was no or small change (-23 to 15 mL) in splenic volume, despite splenic doses as high as 14.4 Gy. Similarly, in a reference group of 9 breast cancer patients, there was no or small change (-5 to 13 mL), despite splenic doses as high as 11.4 Gy. In contrast, 13 of 29 NHL patients who had splenic volume 380-1400 mL, splenic volume decreased by 68 to 548 mL despite splenic doses as low as 1.40 Gy. Ten of 29 NHL patients with greater than a 15% decrease in splenic volume after RIT had nodal tumor regression (5 CR, 5 PR). In the remaining 19 NHL patients with less than a 15% decrease in splenic volume after RIT, there were 7 non-responders (5 CR and 7 PR). Splenic volume changes were found in NHL patients with splenomegaly. These splenic volume changes is likely due to therapeutic effect on malignant lymphocytes associated with splenomegaly. Nodal tumor response was more likely when splenomegaly decreased after RIT