Thermoresponsive Colloidal Molecules

We fabricated thermoresponsive colloidal molecules of ca. 250 nm size. Electron- and scanning force microscopy reveal the dumbbell-shaped morphology. The temperature dependence of the size and aspect ratio (ca. 1.4 to 1.6) is analyzed by depolarized dynamic light scattering and found to be in good agreement with microscopic evidence

The Influence Of Service Atmosphere and Customer Relationship Management On Customer Satisfaction That Result In Repetitive Purchase In Huqqa Shisha and Lounge Surabaya

Café is one of business establishment existed in order to serve beverages. Café that serves shisha as their main product are becoming trends nowadays. However in Indonesia, café that served shisha as one of their products are demanding, especially in Surabaya. Customers are then faced with choices in which café to visit. Improving and maintaining quality of service within café is important as quality of service provided by café may affect the economic growth of a region or even a country. The purpose if this study is to prove that there are influence of service atmosphere and customer relationship management towards customer satisfaction, and customer satisfaction towards repetitive purchase in HUQQA Shisha and Lounge, Surabaya. Structured Equations Model (SEM) is used to measure the variables. Variables used in this research are service atmosphere, customer relationship management, customer satisfactions and repetitive purchase. Respondents chosen are those who have had visit and purchase in HUQQA Shisha and Lounge. Respondents also have to have visited at least two times between six months period. Minimum of high school education level is necessary to ensure that respondents are understood and knowledgeable to fill the questionnaires. One Hundred respondents were chosen to give perceptions of HUQQA Shisha and Lounge. The research result indicates that there are influence of customer relationship management to customer satisfactionand customer satisfaction towards repetitive purchase, while the service atmosphere did not influence the customer satisfaction in HUQQA Shisha and Lounge to deliver better service quality

Rauschgemeinschaften. Die dritte Welle der Psychedelic Music

Für diesen Beitrag ist leider kein Abstract verfügbar. ---------

Computational and experimental prediction of human C-type lectin receptor druggability

Mammalian C-type lectin receptors (CTLRS) are involved in many aspects of immune cell regulation such as pathogen recognition, clearance of apoptotic bodies, and lymphocyte homing. Despite a great interest in modulating CTLR recognition of carbohydrates, the number of specific molecular probes is limited. To this end, we predicted the druggability of a panel of 22 CTLRs using DoGSiteScorer. The computed druggability scores of most structures were low, characterizing this family as either challenging or even undruggable. To further explore these findings, we employed a fluorine-based nuclear magnetic resonance screening of fragment mixtures against DC-SIGN, a receptor of pharmacological interest. To our surprise, we found many fragment hits associated with the carbohydrate recognition site (hit rate = 13.5%). A surface plasmon resonance-based follow-up assay confirmed 18 of these fragments (47%) and equilibrium dissociation constants were determined. Encouraged by these findings we expanded our experimental druggability prediction to Langerin and MCL and found medium to high hit rates as well, being 15.7 and 10.0%, respectively. Our results highlight limitations of current in silico approaches to druggability assessment, in particular, with regard to carbohydrate-binding proteins. In sum, our data indicate that small molecule ligands for a larger panel of CTLRs can be developed

The distinct features of microbial 'dysbiosis' of Crohn's disease do not occur to the same extent in their unaffected, genetically linked kindred

Background/Aims: Studying the gut microbiota in unaffected relatives of people with Crohn’s disease (CD) may advance our understanding of the role of bacteria in disease aetiology. Methods: Faecal microbiota composition (16S rRNA gene sequencing), genetic functional capacity (shotgun metagenomics) and faecal short chain fatty acids (SCFA) were compared in unaffected adult relatives of CD children (CDR, n = 17) and adult healthy controls, unrelated to CD patients (HUC, n = 14). The microbiota characteristics of 19 CD children were used as a benchmark of CD ‘dysbiosis’. Results: The CDR microbiota was less diverse (p = 0.044) than that of the HUC group. Local contribution of β-diversity analysis showed no difference in community structure between the CDR and HUC groups. Twenty one of 1,243 (1.8%) operational taxonomic units discriminated CDR from HUC. The metagenomic functional capacity (p = 0.207) and SCFA concentration or pattern were similar between CDR and HUC (p>0.05 for all SCFA). None of the KEGG metabolic pathways were different between these two groups. Both of these groups (HUC and CDR) had a higher microbiota α-diversity (CDR, p = 0.026 and HUC, p<0.001) with a community structure (β-diversity) distinct from that of children with CD. Conclusions: While some alterations were observed, a distinct microbial ‘dysbiosis’, characteristic of CD patients, was not observed in their unaffected, genetically linked kindred

Multivalent display of minimal Clostridium difficile glycan epitopes mimics antigenic properties of larger glycans

Synthetic cell-surface glycans are promising vaccine candidates against Clostridium difficile. The complexity of large, highly antigenic and immunogenic glycans is a synthetic challenge. Less complex antigens providing similar immune responses are desirable for vaccine development. Based on molecular-level glycan-antibody interaction analyses, we here demonstrate that the C. difficile surface polysaccharide-I (PS-I) can be resembled by multivalent display of minimal disaccharide epitopes on a synthetic scaffold that does not participate in binding. We show that antibody avidity as a measure of antigenicity increases by about five orders of magnitude when disaccharides are compared with constructs containing five disaccharides. The synthetic, pentavalent vaccine candidate containing a peptide T-cell epitope elicits weak but highly specific antibody responses to larger PS-I glycans in mice. This study highlights the potential of multivalently displaying small oligosaccharides to achieve antigenicity characteristic of larger glycans. The approach may result in more cost-efficient carbohydrate vaccines with reduced synthetic effort

Multivalent display of minimal Clostridium difficile glycan epitopes mimics antigenic properties of larger glycans

Synthetic cell-surface glycans are promising vaccine candidates against Clostridium difficile. The complexity of large, highly antigenic and immunogenic glycans is a synthetic challenge. Less complex antigens providing similar immune responses are desirable for vaccine development. Based on molecular-level glycan–antibody interaction analyses, we here demonstrate that the C. difficile surface polysaccharide-I (PS-I) can be resembled by multivalent display of minimal disaccharide epitopes on a synthetic scaffold that does not participate in binding. We show that antibody avidity as a measure of antigenicity increases by about five orders of magnitude when disaccharides are compared with constructs containing five disaccharides. The synthetic, pentavalent vaccine candidate containing a peptide T-cell epitope elicits weak but highly specific antibody responses to larger PS-I glycans in mice. This study highlights the potential of multivalently displaying small oligosaccharides to achieve antigenicity characteristic of larger glycans. The approach may result in more cost-efficient carbohydrate vaccines with reduced synthetic effort

Targeted Chemo‐Photothermal Therapy: A Nanomedicine Approximation to Selective Melanoma Treatment

RESEARCHER ID L-2250-2014 (Gonzalo Villaverde Cantizano) ORCID 0000-0003-2065-0417 (Gonzalo Villaverde Cantizano) RESEARCHER ID G-7562-2016 (Sergio Gómez Graña) ORCID 0000-0002-7736-051X (Sergio Gómez Graña) RESEARCHER ID E-8300-2012 (Eduardo Guisasola Cal) ORCID 0000-0002-2549-1745 (Eduardo Guisasola Cal) RESEARCHER ID K-8193-2014 (Alejandro Baeza) ORCID 0000-0002-2026-6266 (Alejandro Baeza) RESEARCHER ID M-3378-2014 (María Vallet Regí) ORCID 0000-0002-6104-4889 (María Vallet Regí)Melanoma is one of the most severe public health issues worldwide, not onlybecause of the high number of cases but also for its poor prognosis in late stages. Therefore, early diagnosis and efficient treatment are key toward a future solution. However, melanoma is highly resistant to cytotoxicity in its metastatic form. In this context, we propose a therapeutic strategy based on a targeted chemo-photothermal nanotransporter for cytotoxic compounds. This approach comprises the use of core-multishell gold nanorods, coated with mesoporous silica and further covered with a thermosensitive polymer, which is vectorized for selective internalization in melanoma cells. The proposed nanoformulation is capable of releasing the transported cytotoxic compounds on demand, in response to near-IR irradiation, with high selectivity and efficacy against malignant cells, even at low concentrations, thereby providing a new tool against melanoma disease.Depto. de Química en Ciencias FarmacéuticasFac. de FarmaciaTRUEUnión Europea. H2020Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (MINECO)pu

Translational and rotational mode coupling in disordered ferroelectric KTa(1-x)Nb(x)O(3) studied by Raman spectroscopy

The coupling of translational modes to the reorientational motion is an essential property of systems with internal orientational degrees of freedom. Due to their high complexity most of those systems (molecular crystals, glasses...) present a major puzzle for scientists. In this paper we analyze the Raman scattering of a relatively simple ferroelectric system, KTa(1-x)Nb(x)O(3), which may serve as a model for more complicated cases. We are showing that there is a strong coupling between translational and reorientational motion in the crystal. Our data suggest that this coupling is the main reason for the depolarized component of the second order Raman spectra and that it is also responsible for lowering of the frequency (softening) of the transverse acoustic mode down to the third of three transitions, below which reorientational motion is no longer allowed.Comment: elsart, 20 pages, 5 figure