Aluminum Oxide Nanoparticle Films Deposited from a Nonthermal Plasma: Synthesis, Characterization, and Crystallization

Aluminum oxide, both in amorphous and crystalline forms, is a widely used inorganic ceramic material because of its chemical and structural properties. In this work, we synthesized amorphous aluminum oxide nanoparticles using a capacitively coupled nonthermal plasma utilizing trimethylaluminum and oxygen as precursors and studied their crystallization and phase transformation behavior through postsynthetic annealing. The use of two reactor geometries resulted in amorphous aluminum oxide nanoparticles with similar compositions but different sizes. Size tuning of these nanoparticles was achieved by varying the reactor pressure to produce amorphous aluminum oxide nanoparticles ranging from 6 to 22 nm. During postsynthetic annealing, powder samples of amorphous nanoparticles began to crystallize at 800 °C, forming crystalline θ and γ phase alumina. Their phase transformation behavior was found to be size-dependent in that powders of small 6 nm amorphous particles transformed to form phase-pure α-Al₂O₃ at 1100 °C, while powders of large 11 nm particles remained in the θ and γ phases. This phenomenon is attributed to the fast rate of densification and neck formation in small amorphous aluminum oxide particles

Aluminum Oxide Nanoparticle Films Deposited from a Nonthermal Plasma: Synthesis, Characterization, and Crystallization

Aluminum oxide, both in amorphous and crystalline forms, is a widely used inorganic ceramic material because of its chemical and structural properties. In this work, we synthesized amorphous aluminum oxide nanoparticles using a capacitively coupled nonthermal plasma utilizing trimethylaluminum and oxygen as precursors and studied their crystallization and phase transformation behavior through postsynthetic annealing. The use of two reactor geometries resulted in amorphous aluminum oxide nanoparticles with similar compositions but different sizes. Size tuning of these nanoparticles was achieved by varying the reactor pressure to produce amorphous aluminum oxide nanoparticles ranging from 6 to 22 nm. During postsynthetic annealing, powder samples of amorphous nanoparticles began to crystallize at 800 °C, forming crystalline θ and γ phase alumina. Their phase transformation behavior was found to be size-dependent in that powders of small 6 nm amorphous particles transformed to form phase-pure α-Al₂O₃ at 1100 °C, while powders of large 11 nm particles remained in the θ and γ phases. This phenomenon is attributed to the fast rate of densification and neck formation in small amorphous aluminum oxide particles

Complete biologic response to taxane based chemotherapy confirmed by [18F]FDG PET/CT and surgery in a cancer of unknown primary site

Cancers of an unknown primary site are heterogenous with respect to their clinical and pathologic features. They are generally very aggressive, but specific favorable subsets have a better prognosis. For these favorable subsets, taxane based chemotherapy is very effective for a subset of woman with papillary serous peritoneal adenocarcinoma. A 52 year-old woman underwent [18F]-FDG PET/CT for routine health screening. On PET/CT, multiple hypermetabolic lymph nodes were detected in the paraaortic spaces, and there were no other hypermetabolic abnormalities. The patient was diagnosed with an unknown primary cancer that probably originated from the ovary or peritoneum, according to clinical studies and biopsy results. This was not a typical case of a favorable subset of cancer of an unknown primary site, but the tumor showed complete biologic response to taxane based chemotherapy as revealed by PET/CT, and necrotic tumor cells were confirmed by surgery

Physiological properties of astroglial cell lines derived from mice with high (SAMP8) and low (SAMR1, ICR) levels of endogenous retrovirus

Previous studies have reported that various inbred SAM mouse strains differ markedly with regard to a variety of parameters, such as capacity for learning and memory, life spans and brain histopathology. A potential cause of differences seen in these strains may be based on the fact that some strains have a high concentration of infectious murine leukemia virus (MuLV) in the brain, whereas other strains have little or no virus. To elucidate the effect of a higher titer of endogenous retrovirus in astroglial cells of the brain, we established astroglial cell lines from SAMR1 and SAMP8 mice, which are, respectively, resistant and prone to deficit in learning and memory and shortened life span. MuLV-negative astroglial cell lines established from ICR mice served as controls. Comparison of these cell lines showed differences in: 1) levels of the capsid antigen CAgag in both cell lysates and culture media, 2) expression of genomic retroelements, 3) the number of virus particles, 4) titer of infectious virus, 5) morphology, 6) replication rate of cells in culture and final cell concentrations, 7) expression pattern of proinflammatory cytokine genes. The results show that the expression of MuLV is much higher in SAMP8 than SAMR1 astrocyte cultures and that there are physiological differences in astroglia from the 2 strains. These results raise the possibility that the distinct physiological differences between SAMP8 and SAMR1 are a function of activation of endogenous retrovirus

High-intensity Focused Ultrasound Ablation of Soft-tissue Tumors and Assessment of Treatment Response with Multiparametric Magnetic Resonance Imaging: Preliminary Study Using Rabbit VX2 Tumor Model

BackgroundHigh-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) is an emerging technique for noninvasive ablative treatment. However, HIFU has rarely been performed for the treatment of soft-tissue tumors. Thus, we aimed to assess the feasibility and safety of performing extracorporeal HIFU for the treatment of soft-tissue tumor. The treatment response was assessed using functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques.Materials and methodsIn the rabbit VX2 intramuscular tumor model, HIFU was performed using an extracorporeal HIFU device (YDME FEP-BY02) by varying the electric power from 50 to 400 W, with the other parameters being fixed. The HIFU beam was insonated to one layer of focal spots having a depth of 8 mm. The degree of ablation was evaluated by histological examination and functional MRI techniques including dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI) and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) map. The presence of skin burn was also evaluated.ResultsApplying HIFU with an electric power of 200 W discretely produced the ablation zone without skin burn as planned before treatment (maximal depth: 8–9 mm), which shows the suitability of using HIFU (with 200 W electric power) for the treatment of soft-tissue tumors. By contrast, HIFU with an electric power of 100 W produced an ill-marginated ablation zone with internal residual tumor foci, and HIFU with 300–400 W produced ablation zones with a maximum depth of 13–24 mm, which far exceeded the planned depth and caused skin burn. Perfusion maps of DCE-MRI demonstrated the devascularized ablation zone more conspicuously than conventional contrast-enhanced T1-weighted images, and ADC map demonstrated the surrounding edema or granulation tissue better than conventional T2-weighted images.ConclusionExtracorporeal HIFU treatment for soft-tissue tumor may be a feasible approach with adjustment of input energy level. For post-treatment assessment, functional MRI techniques including DCE-MRI and ADC map may be useful and complementary to conventional MRI

Assessment of the APCC Coupled MME Suite in Predicting the Distinctive Climate Impacts of Two Flavors of ENSO during Boreal Winter

Forecast skill of the APEC Climate Center (APCC) Multi-Model Ensemble (MME) seasonal forecast system in predicting two main types of El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), namely canonical (or cold tongue) and Modoki ENSO, and their regional climate impacts is assessed for boreal winter. The APCC MME is constructed by simple composite of ensemble forecasts from five independent coupled ocean-atmosphere climate models. Based on a hindcast set targeting boreal winter prediction for the period 19822004, we show that the MME can predict and discern the important differences in the patterns of tropical Pacific sea surface temperature anomaly between the canonical and Modoki ENSO one and four month ahead. Importantly, the four month lead MME beats the persistent forecast. The MME reasonably predicts the distinct impacts of the canonical ENSO, including the strong winter monsoon rainfall over East Asia, the below normal rainfall and above normal temperature over Australia, the anomalously wet conditions across the south and cold conditions over the whole area of USA, and the anomalously dry conditions over South America. However, there are some limitations in capturing its regional impacts, especially, over Australasia and tropical South America at a lead time of one and four months. Nonetheless, forecast skills for rainfall and temperature over East Asia and North America during ENSO Modoki are comparable to or slightly higher than those during canonical ENSO events

Polysaccharides from Agaricus bisporus and Agaricus brasiliensis show similarities in their structures and their immunomodulatory effects on human monocytic THP-1 cells

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Mushroom polysaccharides have traditionally been used for the prevention and treatment of a multitude of disorders like infectious illnesses, cancers and various autoimmune diseases. Crude mushroom extracts have been tested without detailed chemical analyses of its polysaccharide content. For the present study we decided to chemically determine the carbohydrate composition of semi-purified extracts from 2 closely related and well known basidiomycete species, i.e. <it>Agaricus bisporus </it>and <it>A. brasiliensis </it>and to study their effects on the innate immune system, in particular on the <it>in vitro </it>induction of pro-inflammatory cytokines, using THP-1 cells.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Mushroom polysaccharide extracts were prepared by hot water extraction and precipitation with ethanol. Their composition was analyzed by GC-MS and NMR spectroscopy. PMA activated THP-1 cells were treated with the extracts under different conditions and the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines was evaluated by qPCR.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Semi-purified polysaccharide extracts of <it>A. bisporus </it>and <it>A. brasiliensis </it>(= <it>blazei</it>) were found to contain (1→6),(1→4)-linked α-glucan, (1→6)-linked β-glucan, and mannogalactan. Their proportions were determined by integration of ¹H-NMR signs, and were considerably different for the two species. <it>A. brasiliensis </it>showed a higher content of β-glucan, while <it>A. bisporus </it>presented mannogalactan as its main polysaccharide. The extracts induced a comparable increase of transcription of the pro-inflammatory cytokine genes IL-1β and TNF-α as well as of COX-2 in PMA differentiated THP-1 cells. Pro-inflammatory effects of bacterial LPS in this assay could be reduced significantly by the simultaneous addition of <it>A. brasiliensis </it>extract.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The polysaccharide preparations from the closely related species <it>A. bisporus </it>and <it>A. brasiliensis </it>show major differences in composition: <it>A. bisporus </it>shows high mannogalactan content whereas <it>A. brasiliensis </it>has mostly β-glucan. Semi-purified polysaccharide extracts from both <it>Agaricus </it>species stimulated the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines and enzymes, while the polysaccharide extract of <it>A. brasiliensis </it>reduced synthesis of these cytokines induced by LPS, suggesting programmable immunomodulation.</p

Association of narcolepsy-cataplexy with HLA-DRB1 and DQB1 in Mexican patients: A relationship between HLA and gender is suggested

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Narcolepsy-cataplexy is characterized by excessive daytime sleepiness with recurrent episodes of irresistible sleep, cataplexy, hallucinations and sleep paralysis. Its aetiology is unknown, but it is positively associated with the human leukocyte antigens (HLA) in all studied populations. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the association of HLA class II <it>DRB1</it>/<it>DQB1 </it>alleles with narcolepsy-cataplexy in Mexican Mestizo patients.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>This is a case-control study of consecutive patients and ethnically matched controls. We included 32 patients diagnosed with typical narcolepsy-cataplexy, of the National Institute of Neurology, of the Institute of Psychiatry and at the Center of Narcolepsy at Stanford University. As healthy controls, 203 Mexican Mestizos were included. <it>DRB1 </it>alleles were identified using sequence based typing. A PCR-SSOP reverse dot blot was used for <it>DQB1 </it>typing. Allele frequency was calculated by direct counting and the significance of the differences was assessed using the Yates Chi square. Odds ratio and confidence intervals were evaluated.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>HLA-<it>DRB1</it>*1501 (OR = 8.2; pc < 0.0001) and <it>DQB1</it>*0602 (OR = 8.4; pc < 0.0001) were found positively associated with narcolepsy. When deleting <it>DQB1</it>*0602+ patients from the analysis, <it>DQB1</it>*0301 was also found increased (OR = 2.7; p = 0.035; pc = NS). <it>DQB1</it>*0602/<it>DQB1</it>*0301 genotype was present in 15.6% of the cases (OR = 11.5; p = 0.00035), conferring a high risk. <it>DRB1</it>*0407 (OR = 0.2; p = 0.016 pc = NS) and <it>DQB1</it>*0302(OR = 0.4; p = 0.017, pc = NS) were found decreased in the patients. The gender stratification analysis showed a higher risk in females carrying <it>DRB1</it>*1501 (OR = 15.8, pc < 0.0001) and <it>DQB1</it>*0602 (OR = 19.8, pc < 0.0001) than in males (OR = 5.0 for both alleles; p = 0.012, pc = NS for <it>DRB1 </it>& p = 0.0012, pc = 0.017 for <it>DQB1</it>). The susceptibility alleles found in Mexicans with narcolepsy are also present in Japanese and Caucasians; <it>DRB1</it>*04 linked protection has also been shown in Koreans. A stronger HLA association is suggested in females, in accordance with the sexual dimorphism claimed previously.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This knowledge may contribute to a better understanding of the disease pathogenesis in different populations. The evaluation of the risk to develop narcolepsy-cataplexy in carriers of the described alleles/genotypes may also be possible. A larger sample should be analysed in Mexican and in other Hispanic patients to confirm these results.</p

SPHEREx: NASA's near-infrared spectrophotometric all-sky survey

SPHEREx, the Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization, and ices Explorer, is a NASA MIDEX mission planned for launch in 2024. SPHEREx will carry out the first all-sky spectral survey at wavelengths between 0.75µm and 5µm with spectral resolving power ~40 between 0.75 and 3.8µm and ~120 between 3.8 and 5µm At the end of its two-year mission, SPHEREx will provide 0.75-to-5µm spectra of each 6.”2 x 6.”2 pixel on the sky - 14 billion spectra in all. This paper updates an earlier description of SPHEREx presenting changes made during the mission's Preliminary Design Phase, including a discussion of instrument integration and test ow and a summary of the data processing, analysis, and distribution plans