Cow Milk and Intestinal Epithelial Cell-derived Extracellular Vesicles as Systems for Enhancing Oral Drug Delivery

Ingestion is the preferred way for drug administration. However, many drugs have poor oral bioavailability, warranting the use of injections. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) from cow milk have shown potential utility in improving oral drug bioavailability. However, EVs produced by intestinal epithelial cells have not been investigated for this application. We compared the capacity of cow milk EVs and intestinal epithelial cell-derived counterparts to enhance oral drug bioavailability. EVs were isolated, fluorescently labelled, and loaded with curcumin (CUR) as a model poorly absorbable drug. These were then characterised before testing in an intestinal model (Caco-2). Epithelial cell-derived EVs showed notably higher cell uptake compared to cow milk EVs. Cell uptake was significantly higher in differentiated compared to undifferentiated cells for both types of EVs. While both milk- and cell-derived EVs improved the cell uptake and intestinal permeability of CUR (confirming oral drug bioavailability enhancement potential), epithelial cell EVs demonstrated a superior effect

New Linear Systems for 2D Poincare Supergravities

A new linear system is constructed for Poincar\'e supergravities in two dimensions. In contrast to previous results, which were based on the conformal gauge, this linear system involves the topological world sheet degrees of freedom (the Beltrami and super-Beltrami differentials). The associated spectral parameter likewise depends on these and is itself subject to a pair of differential equations, whose integrability condition yields one of the equations of motion. These results suggest the existence of an extension of the Geroch group mixing propagating and topological degrees of freedom on the world sheet. We also develop a chiral tensor formalism for arbitrary Beltrami differentials, in which the factorization of $2d$ diffeomorphisms is always manifest.Comment: 26 pages, report DESY93-12

European Stroke Organisation expedited recommendation for the use of short-term dual antiplatelet therapy early after minor stroke and high-risk TIA

Prevention of early recurrent ischaemic stroke remains a priority in people with TIA or ischaemic stroke. A number of trials have recently been completed assessing the efficacy of short-term dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) versus single antiplatelet therapy early after minor or moderate stroke or high-risk TIA. We present an Expedited Recommendation for use of dual antiplatelet therapy early after ischaemic stroke and TIA on behalf of the ESO Guideline Board. We make a strong recommendation based on high quality of evidence for use of 21-days of dual antiplatelet therapy with aspirin and clopidogrel in people with a non-cardioembolic minor ischaemic stroke or high-risk TIA in the past 24 hours. We make a weak recommendation based on moderate quality evidence for 30-days of dual antiplatelet therapy with aspirin and ticagrelor in people with non-cardioembolic mild to moderate ischaemic stroke or high-risk TIA in the past 24 hours

Magnetism of Cr10 wheels on Au(111) and Cu(111) surfaces

Trabajo presentado al X Meeting de GEFES (División de Física de la Materia Condensada de la Real Sociedad Española de Física), celebrado en Valencia del 24 al 26 de enero de 2018We report on the magnetic properties of {Cr10} wheels (Cr10(OMe)20(O2CCMe)10) UHVsublimated on Cu(111) and Au(111) single-crystals investigated by means of by XAS & XMCD, SQUID magnetometry and STM. We discuss the magnetic anisotropy and magnetic moment field-dependence of the grafted {Cr10} molecules, as a function of the metallic substrate and layer thickness, and compare it with bulk material. Our results demonstrate that evaporated molecules show negligible anisotropy and weak dependence with the substrate. A combination of XMCD and SQUID magnetometry show that Mono- and Multilayer {Cr10} samples exhibit a magnetic behavior stemming from a S = 9 ground state, ruling out some previous results. Montecarlo simulations show that the magnetic evolution can be explained by {Cr10} molecules magneticaly consisting of two semi-crowns containing 4 Cr ions interacting ferromagnetically, separated by 2 Cr ions with antiferromagnetic interactions, giving rise to the ground S = 9 state, in agreement with previous EPR data in literature. Evaporation of {Cr10} onto a substrate producing subtle structural changes induce strong changes in the Cr-Cr interactions and distinct magnetic behavior from the bulk.Peer Reviewe

Surface modification of powder metallurgy titanium by colloidal techniques and diffusion processes for biomedical applications

This contribution focuses on modifying the composition and surface characteristics of powder metallurgy titanium substrates to improve their wear resistance and to reduce the surface Young's modulus, while maintaining the corrosion resistance and biocompatibility. The modification consists of Mo and TiN coatings produced by colloidal techniques which are deposited by electrophoretic deposition (EPD) or spraying onto green or sintered titanium substrates. The final surface structures are formed during a heat treatment, during which diffusion and consolidation of the layers take place. The surfaces are characterised by XRD, SEM, and micro-indentation; showing diffusion areas of between 40 and 85 microns with clear microstructural changes as well as higher hardness values.Funds provided by Spanish Government (program MINECO, ref. MAT2012-38650-C02-01) and Regional Government of Madrid (program MULTIMAT-CHALLENGE, ref. S2013/MIT-2862)

Estudios sobre dramaturgias de Provincias. El trabajo del grupo Documenta Dramáticas en Tandil

Este artículo revisa el trabajo realizado por el grupo de investigación Documenta Dramáticas a lo largo de casi veinte años en el campo de las dramaturgias de provincias argentinas. Especializado en análisis dramatúrgico, el grupo amplió su trabajo en dos direcciones, a fin de poder abordar la creación dramatúrgica argentina de posdictadura. En este sentido, discute, entre otros conceptos, el de “nueva dramaturgia”, y expone el carácter político de las dramaturgias de algunas provincias. Por último, adelanta proyectos en curso

Results From the Austrian Stroke Unit Registry

Evaluation of: Gattringer T, Ferrari J, Knoflach M et al. Sex-related differences of acute stroke unit care results from an Austrian stroke unit registry. Stroke 45, 1632–1638 (2014). The authors analyzed data from 47,209 patients diagnosed with ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack from January 2005 to December 2012. In this study, epidemiological data, stroke type, diagnostics and clinical scores were analyzed for age-adjusted preclinical and clinical characteristics as well as quality of acute stroke care. Moreover, outcome at 3 months was included in a multivariate model corrected for demographic and clinical confounders. While there were no reported sex differences in stroke care and thrombolysis rates, males more often received magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) brain scans. From follow-up data, a worse functional outcome was observed for females in univariate and multivariate analysis. In fact, females were less likely to be prescribed statins and more likely to receive antiplatelet therapy. A..

Colliding Wave Solutions, Duality, and Diagonal Embedding of General Relativity in Two-Dimensional Heterotic String Theory

The non-linear sigma model of the dimensionally reduced Einstein (-Maxwell) theory is diagonally embedded into that of the two-dimensional heterotic string theory. Consequently, the embedded string backgrounds satisfy the (electro-magnetic) Ernst equation. In the pure Einstein theory, the Matzner-Misner SL(2,{\bf R}) transformation can be viewed as a change of conformal structure of the compactified flat two-torus, and in particular its integral subgroup SL(2,{\bf Z}) acts as the modular transformation. The Ehlers SL(2,{\bf R}) and SL(2,{\bf Z}) similarly act on another torus whose conformal structure is induced through the Kramer-Neugebauer involution. Either of the Matzner-Misner and the Ehlers SL(2,{\bf Z}) can be embedded to a special T-duality, and if the former is chosen, then the Ehlers SL(2,{\bf Z}) is shown to act as the S-duality on the four-dimensional sector. As an application we obtain some new colliding string wave solutions by using this embedding as well as the inverse scattering method.Comment: 32 pages, revte

Differential gene expression according to race and host plant in the pea aphid

Host-race formation in phytophagous insects is thought to provide the opportunity for local adaptation and subsequent ecological speciation. Studying gene expression differences among host-races may help to identify phenotypes under (or resulting from) divergent selection and their genetic, molecular and physiological bases. The pea aphid (Acyrthosiphon pisum) comprises host-races specialising on numerous plants in the Fabaceae, and provides a unique system for examining the early stages of diversification along a gradient of genetic and associated adaptive divergence. In this study, we examine transcriptome-wide gene expression both in response to environment and across pea aphid races selected to cover the range of genetic divergence reported in this species complex. We identify changes in expression in response to host-plant, indicating the importance of gene expression in aphid-plant interactions. Races can be distinguished on the basis of gene expression, and higher numbers of differentially expressed genes are apparent between more divergent races; these expression differences between host-races may result from genetic drift and reproductive isolation, and possibly divergent selection. Expression differences related to plant adaptation include a sub-set of chemosensory and salivary genes. Genes showing expression changes in response to host plant do not make up a large portion of between-race expression differences, providing confirmation of previous studies’ findings that genes involved in expression differences between diverging populations or species are not necessarily those showing initial plasticity in the face of environmental change