Electrochemically gated graphene field-effect transistor for extracellular cell signal recording

This work presents an experimental characterization of electrochemically gated graphene field-effect transistors (EGFETs) to measure extracellular cell signals. The performance of the EGFETs was evaluated using cardiomyocytes cells. Extracellular signals with a peak value of 0.4 pico-amperes (pA) embedded in a noise level of 0.1 pA were recorded. Signals in current mode were compared with signals recorded as a voltage. Signals below 28 μV of magnitude can be detected in a noise floor of 7 μV with a signal-to-noise ratio of 4

Proteomic analysis of calcium-enriched sol-gel biomaterials

[EN] Calcium is an element widely used in the development of biomaterials for bone tissue engineering as it plays important roles in bone metabolism and blood coagulation. The Ca ions can condition the microenvironment at the tissue-material interface, affecting the protein deposition process and cell responses. The aim of this study was to analyze the changes in the patterns of protein adsorption on the silica hybrid biomaterials supplemented with different amounts of CaCl2, which can function as release vehicles. This characterization was carried out by incubating the Ca-biomaterials with human serum. LC-MS/MS analysis was used to characterize the adsorbed protein layers and compile a list of proteins whose affinity for the surfaces might depend on the CaCl2 content. The attachment of pro- and anti-clotting proteins, such as THRB, ANT3, and PROC, increased significantly on the Ca-materials. Similarly, VTNC and APOE, proteins directly involved on osteogenic processes, attached preferentially to these surfaces. To assess correlations with the proteomic data, these formulations were tested in vitro regarding their osteogenic and inflammatory potential, employing MC3T3-E1 and RAW 264.7 cell lines, respectively. The results confirmed a Ca dose-dependent osteogenic and inflammatory behavior of the materials employed, in accordance with the protein attachment patterns.This work was supported by MINECO [MAT2017-86043-R]; Universitat Jaume I [Grant numbers Predoc/2014/25, UJI-B2017-37]; Basque Government [Grant numbers IT611-13, Predoc/2016/1/0141]; University of the Basque Country [Grant number UFI11/56]. CIC bioGUNE is supported by Basque Department of Industry, Tourism and Trade (Etortek and Elkartek programs), the Innovation Technology Department of the Bizkaia County; The ProteoRed-ISCIII (Grant PRB3 IPT17/0019); CIBERehd Network, and Severo Ochoa Grant (SEV-2016-0644). Authors would like to thank Antonio Coso and Jaime Franco (GMI-Ilerimplant) for their inestimable contribution to this study, and Raquel Oliver, Jose Ortega (UJI) and Iraide Escobes (CIC bioGUNE) for their valuable technical assistance.Romero-Gavilán, F.; Araújo-Gomes, N.; Cerqueira, A.; García-Arnáez, I.; Martínez-Ramos, C.; Azkargorta, M.; Iloro, I.... (2019). Proteomic analysis of calcium-enriched sol-gel biomaterials. JBIC Journal of Biological Inorganic Chemistry. 24(4):563-574. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00775-019-01662-5S563574244Berridge MJ, Bootman MD, Lipp P (1998) Calcium—a life and death signal. Nature 395:645–648. https://doi.org/10.1038/27094Hoppe A, Güldal NS, Boccaccini AR (2011) A review of the biological response to ionic dissolution products from bioactive glasses and glass-ceramics. Biomaterials 32:2757–2774. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biomaterials.2011.01.004Flynn A (2003) The role of dietary calcium in bone health. 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Biomaterials 26:485–493. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biomaterials.2004.02.056Romero-Gavilán F, Gomes NC, Ródenas J et al (2017) Proteome analysis of human serum proteins adsorbed onto different titanium surfaces used in dental implants. Biofouling 33:98–111. https://doi.org/10.1080/08927014.2016.1259414Hirsh SL, McKenzie DR, Nosworthy NJ et al (2013) The Vroman effect: competitive protein exchange with dynamic multilayer protein aggregates. Colloids Surfaces B Biointerfaces 103:395–404. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.colsurfb.2012.10.039Chen Z, Klein T, Murray RZ et al (2015) Osteoimmunomodulation for the development of advanced bone biomaterials. Mater Today 19:304–321. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mattod.2015.11.004Araújo-Gomes N, Romero-Gavilán F, García-Arnáez I et al (2018) Osseointegration mechanisms: a proteomic approach. J Biol Inorg Chem 23:459–470. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00775-018-1553-9Romero-Gavilán F, Sanchez-Pérez AM, Araújo-Gomes N et al (2017) Proteomic analysis of silica hybrid sol-gel coatings: a potential tool for predicting the biocompatibility of implants in vivo. Biofouling 33:676–689. https://doi.org/10.1080/08927014.2017.1356289Araújo-Gomes N, Romero-Gavilán F, Sanchez-Pérez AM et al (2018) Characterization of serum proteins attached to distinct sol-gel hybrid surfaces. J Biomed Mater Res Part B Appl Biomater 106:1477–1485. https://doi.org/10.1002/jbm.b.33954Romero-Gavilan F, Araújo-Gomes N, Sánchez-Pérez AM et al (2017) Bioactive potential of silica coatings and its effect on the adhesion of proteins to titanium implants. Colloids Surfaces B Biointerfaces 162:316–325. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.colsurfb.2017.11.072Shiu HT, Goss B, Lutton C et al (2014) Formation of blood clot on biomaterial implants influences bone healing. 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In vivo biodistribution of carboxymethylchitosan/poly(amidoamine) dendrimer nanoparticles in rats

Carboxymethylchitosan/poly(amidoamine) dendrimer nanoparticles (CMCht/PAMAM) have recently been proposed for intracellular drug delivery purposes. These are constituted by a PAMAM dendrimer core grafted with chains of CMCht. Previous reports have shown that these nanoparticles disclosed an improved cytotoxic profile when compared to traditional dendrimers. Following on these results the present study aims to assess, for the first time, the short-term in vivo biodistribution of CMCht/PAMAM dendrimer nanoparticles upon intravenous injections in Wistar Han rats. The rats were injected in the tail vein with 1 and 10 µg/g, respectively, of fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) labeled CMCht/PAMAM dendrimer nanoparticles. Brain, liver, kidney and lung were collected at 24, 48 and 72 hours after injection and further stained with phalloidin-TRITC (red) and DAPI (blue) to trace the nanoparticles within the tissues. Liver, kidney and lung were also stained for haematoxylin and eosin in order to assess possible alterations in the morphology of these organs. CMCht/PAMAM dendrimer nanoparticles were observed within the vascular space and parenchyma of liver, kidney and lung, and in the choroid plexus, after 24, 48 and 72 hours upon intravenous injection of nanoparticles. No particles were observed in the brain parenchyma, nor any apparent deleterious histological changes, were observed within these organs. The present report revealed that CMCht/PAMAM dendrimer nanoparticles were stable in circulation for periods up to 72 hours, targeting the main organs/systems through internalization by the cells present in their parenchyma. These results provide positive indicators to their potential use in the future as intracellular drug delivery systems.Funds attributed by Fundação Calouste de Gulbenkian to A.J. Salgado under the scope of the The Gulbenkian Programme to Support Research in Life Sciences; Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (Science 2007 Program – A.J. Salgado, pre- and postdoctoral fellowships to J.M. Oliveira – SFRH/BPD/63175/2009, A.M. Frias – SFRH/BPD/45206/2008, F. Marques – SFRH/BPD/33379/2008, A.M. Falcão – SFRH/BD/44485/2008, S. Roque – SFRH/BD/24539/2005; S.R. Cerqueira – SFRH/BD/SFRH/BD/48406: 2008)

Short-chain di-ureasil ormolytes doped with potassium triflate: Phase diagram and conductivity behavior

Di-urea cross-linked poly(oxyethylene)/siloxane hybrids, synthesized by the sol-gel process and containing a wide concentration range of potassium triflate, KCF3SO3, have been analyzed by x-ray diffraction and differential scanning calorimetry. The pseudo-phase diagram proposed has been taken into account in the interpretation of the complex impedance measurements. The xerogels prepared are obtained as transparent, thin monoliths . At room temperature the highest conductivity found was 2 x 10-6Scm-1.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT

Portuguese recommendations for the use of methotrexate in rheumatic diseases – 2016 update

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Single hadron response measurement and calorimeter jet energy scale uncertainty with the ATLAS detector at the LHC

The uncertainty on the calorimeter energy response to jets of particles is derived for the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). First, the calorimeter response to single isolated charged hadrons is measured and compared to the Monte Carlo simulation using proton-proton collisions at centre-of-mass energies of sqrt(s) = 900 GeV and 7 TeV collected during 2009 and 2010. Then, using the decay of K_s and Lambda particles, the calorimeter response to specific types of particles (positively and negatively charged pions, protons, and anti-protons) is measured and compared to the Monte Carlo predictions. Finally, the jet energy scale uncertainty is determined by propagating the response uncertainty for single charged and neutral particles to jets. The response uncertainty is 2-5% for central isolated hadrons and 1-3% for the final calorimeter jet energy scale.Comment: 24 pages plus author list (36 pages total), 23 figures, 1 table, submitted to European Physical Journal

Measurement of the cross-section and charge asymmetry of WW bosons produced in proton-proton collisions at s=8\sqrt{s}=8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

This paper presents measurements of the $W^+ \rightarrow \mu^+\nu$ and $W^- \rightarrow \mu^-\nu$ cross-sections and the associated charge asymmetry as a function of the absolute pseudorapidity of the decay muon. The data were collected in proton--proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV with the ATLAS experiment at the LHC and correspond to a total integrated luminosity of 20.2~\mbox{fb^{-1}}. The precision of the cross-section measurements varies between 0.8% to 1.5% as a function of the pseudorapidity, excluding the 1.9% uncertainty on the integrated luminosity. The charge asymmetry is measured with an uncertainty between 0.002 and 0.003. The results are compared with predictions based on next-to-next-to-leading-order calculations with various parton distribution functions and have the sensitivity to discriminate between them.Comment: 38 pages in total, author list starting page 22, 5 figures, 4 tables, submitted to EPJC. All figures including auxiliary figures are available at https://atlas.web.cern.ch/Atlas/GROUPS/PHYSICS/PAPERS/STDM-2017-13

Search for chargino-neutralino production with mass splittings near the electroweak scale in three-lepton final states in √s=13 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for supersymmetry through the pair production of electroweakinos with mass splittings near the electroweak scale and decaying via on-shell W and Z bosons is presented for a three-lepton final state. The analyzed proton-proton collision data taken at a center-of-mass energy of √s=13  TeV were collected between 2015 and 2018 by the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 139  fb−1. A search, emulating the recursive jigsaw reconstruction technique with easily reproducible laboratory-frame variables, is performed. The two excesses observed in the 2015–2016 data recursive jigsaw analysis in the low-mass three-lepton phase space are reproduced. Results with the full data set are in agreement with the Standard Model expectations. They are interpreted to set exclusion limits at the 95% confidence level on simplified models of chargino-neutralino pair production for masses up to 345 GeV

Standalone vertex finding in the ATLAS muon spectrometer

A dedicated reconstruction algorithm to find decay vertices in the ATLAS muon spectrometer is presented. The algorithm searches the region just upstream of or inside the muon spectrometer volume for multi-particle vertices that originate from the decay of particles with long decay paths. The performance of the algorithm is evaluated using both a sample of simulated Higgs boson events, in which the Higgs boson decays to long-lived neutral particles that in turn decay to bbar b final states, and pp collision data at √s = 7 TeV collected with the ATLAS detector at the LHC during 2011

Measurements of Higgs boson production and couplings in diboson final states with the ATLAS detector at the LHC

Measurements are presented of production properties and couplings of the recently discovered Higgs boson using the decays into boson pairs, H →γ γ, H → Z Z∗ →4l and H →W W∗ →lνlν. The results are based on the complete pp collision data sample recorded by the ATLAS experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider at centre-of-mass energies of √s = 7 TeV and √s = 8 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of about 25 fb−1. Evidence for Higgs boson production through vector-boson fusion is reported. Results of combined fits probing Higgs boson couplings to fermions and bosons, as well as anomalous contributions to loop-induced production and decay modes, are presented. All measurements are consistent with expectations for the Standard Model Higgs boson