First description of the environmental niche of the epibenthic dinoflagellate species Coolia palmyrensis, C. malayensis, and C. tropicalis (Dinophyceae) from Eastern Australia

© 2019 Phycological Society of America Environmental variables such as temperature, salinity, and irradiance are significant drivers of microalgal growth and distribution. Therefore, understanding how these variables influence fitness of potentially toxic microalgal species is particularly important. In this study, strains of the potentially harmful epibenthic dinoflagellate species Coolia palmyrensis, C. malayensis, and C. tropicalis were isolated from coastal shallow water habitats on the east coast of Australia and identified using the D1-D3 region of the large subunit (LSU) ribosomal DNA (rDNA). To determine the environmental niche of each taxon, growth was measured across a gradient of temperature (15–30°C), salinity (20–38), and irradiance (10–200 μmol photons · m−2 · s−1). Specific growth rates of Coolia tropicalis were highest under warm temperatures (27°C), low salinities (ca. 23), and intermediate irradiance levels (150 μmol photons · m−2 · s−1), while C. malayensis showed the highest growth at moderate temperatures (24°C) and irradiance levels (150 μmol photons · m−2 · s−1) and growth rates were consistent across the range of salinity levels tested (20–38). Coolia palmyrensis had the highest growth rate of all species tested and favored moderate temperatures (24°C), oceanic salinity (35), and high irradiance (>200 μmol photons · m−2 · s−1). This is the first study to characterize the environmental niche of species from the benthic harmful algal bloom genus Coolia and provides important information to help define species distributions and inform risk management

Performance testing of two new one-step real time PCR assays for detection of human influenza and avian influenza viruses isolated in humans and Respiratory Syncytial Virus

Introduction and Methods. Two real time one-step RT-PCRassays were developed for simultaneous detection and typingof influenza A and B viruses and detection of Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV). As regard influenza, primers were designedto amplify specific sequences of gene M of A/H1N1, A/H3N2,A/H5N1, A/H7N7 and A/H9N2 viruses and of gene NP of typeB viruses belonging both Yamagata and Victoria lineage. Specificity, analytical and clinical sensitivity, dynamic range, linearity of the new assays were evaluated.Results. Dynamic ranges for Influenza A and B, and RSV,were at least five logs and linearity was conserved. In orderto evaluate the specificity, 80 nasopharyngeal swabs resulting Influenza and RSV negative by multiplex nested PCR andcell culture, were tested and 79 resulted negative. The detection limits for influenza A and B, calculated by 95% probit,was 0,008 and 0,09 PFU, respectively, resulting more sensible than nested PCR. A total of 75 specimens (10 A/H1N1,

A phase I clinical and pharmacological study evaluating vinflunine in combination with doxorubicin as first line treatment in metastatic breast cancer

Vinfunine (VFL) is a novel bifluorinated tubulin-targeted agent of the vinca alkaloids class active in advanced stage breast cancer. We conducted a phase I study combining VFL with doxorubicin (DXR) to define the recommended dose (RD), safety, pharmacokinetic (PK) interaction and efficacy. Two schedules (day 1 every 3weeks; days 1 and 8 every 3weeks) were investigated as first line chemotherapy in metastatic breast cancer patients. Thirty-two patients received a total of 162 cycles of the VFL-DXR combination (median 6). The RDs were VFL 250mg/m2/DXR 40mg/m2 every 3weeks for schedule 1 and VFL 120mg/m2/DXR 25mg/m2 days 1 and 8 every 3weeks for schedule 2. The main dose-limiting toxicity was neutropenia. The most frequent non-hematological adverse events were nausea, fatigue, constipation, vomiting, anorexia, stomatitis and dyspnea. Objective response rate was reached in 47.1% of the patients. No PK interaction was observed. VFL-DXR combination is feasible with manageable toxicity. The antitumor activity was promising and supports further evaluatio

Exploiting lipid and polymer nanocarriers to improve the anticancer sonodynamic activity of chlorophyll

Sonodynamic therapy is an emerging approach that uses low-intensity ultrasound to activate a sonosensitizer agent triggering its cytotoxicity for selective cancer cell killing. Several molecules have been proposed as sonosensitizer agents, but most of these, as chlorophyll, are strongly hydrophobic with a low selectivity towards cancer tissues. Nanocarriers can help to deliver more efficiently the sonosensitizer agents in the target tumor site, increasing at the same time their sonodynamic effect, since nanosystems act as cavitation nuclei. Herein, we propose the incorporation of unmodified plant-extracted chlorophyll into nanocarriers with different composition and structure (i.e., liposomes, solid lipid nanoparticles and poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) nanoparticles) to obtain aqueous formulations of this natural pigment. The nanocarriers have been deeply characterized and then incubated with human prostatic cancer cells (PC-3) and spheroids (DU-145) to assess the influence of the different formulations on the chlorophyll sonodynamic effect. The highest sonodynamic cytotoxicity was obtained with chlorophyll loaded into poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) nanoparticles, showing promising results for future clinical investigations on sonodynamic therapy

Simulation and first characterization of MAPS test structures with gain for timing applications

Thanks to their advantages in terms of easiness of manufacturing and reduced production costs, Monolithic Active Pixel Sensors (MAPS) represent an appealing solution for radiation imaging applications, which require to cover large areas with pixelated detectors. In the next upgrade of the ALICE detector, that will have to deal with the higher event rate resulting from the planned increase in the LHC luminosity, it is foreseen to include two additional sensor layers to perform Time of Flight (ToF) measurements. Trying to reach the challenging timing resolution required by the ALICE ToF layers, an internal gain layer has been included in the test structures of the third engineering run of the ARCADIA project to improve the timing performance of this MAPS technology. In the paper we will present an overview of the main results obtained from the electrical and the dynamic characterization of the fabricated devices, which have been compared with the behavior expected from the preliminary TCAD simulations carried out in the design phase. The experimental results confirmed the feasibility of embedding a gain layer in the ARCADIA 110 nm CMOS technology to develop monolithic LGADs