4,267 research outputs found
Albumin-heparin microspheres as carriers for cytostatic agents
Much work has been done on adriamycin-loaded albumin microspheres (Alb-MS) for chemoembolization [1–4], the rationale being that site-specific drug delivery may increase the therapeutic efficacy of the drug. Alb-Ms are being investigated because of their biocompatibility and because the degradation products of these microspheres are non-toxic. However, these microspheres have some disadvantages (i.e. drug loading during the microsphere preparation, low payloads, large burst effects). These disadvantages can be overcome by the incorporation of heparin (a highly negatively charged mucopolysaccharide). Albumin-heparin microspheres were prepared (i) by crosslinking of soluble albumin and heparin first using 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide (EDC) and subsequently glutaraldehyde (Alb-Hep-MS) and (ii) by crosslinking a preformed soluble conjugate of heparin and albumin with glutaraldehyde (Alb-Hep-Conj-MS). Albumin-heparin microspheres could be loaded with adriamycin after microsphere preparation giving payloads of 15–30%. Preliminary in vitro adriamycin release experiments showed that Alb-Hep-Conj-MS exhibit sustained release properties. Furthermore ion-exchange properties could be observed both with Alb-Hep-MS and Alb-Hep-Conj-MS. In vitro and in vivo toxicity experiments with Alb-Hep-MS showed no adverse effects
Wormhole phase in the RST model
We show that the RST model describing the exactly soluble black hole model
can have a dynamical wormhole solution along with an appropriate boundary
condition. The necessary exotic matter which is usually negative energy density
is remarkably produced by the quantization of the infalling matter fields. Then
the asymptotic geometry in the past is two-dimensional anti-de Sitter(AdS),
which implies the exotic matter is negative. As time goes on, the wormhole
eventually evolves into the black hole and its Hawking radiation appears. The
throat of the static RST wormhole is lower-bounded but in the presence of
infalling matter it collapses to a black hole.Comment: v1. REVTeX3, 12 pages and 1 figure; v2. JHEP3, 10 pages and 1 figure,
version published in JHE
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The Beagle landing site in Isidis Planitia
The Mars probe Beagle 2 will land in Isidis Planitia. This region satisfies the engineering constraints and has evidence for particularly volatile-rich subsoil. Isidis provides a suitable place for the lander to search for H2O and organic matter
Observation of correlated-photon statistics using a single detector
We report experimental observations of correlated-photon statistics in the
single-photon detection rate. The usual quantum interference in a two-photon
polarization interferometer always accompanies a dip in the single detector
counting rate, regardless of whether a dip or peak is seen in the coincidence
rate. This effect is explained by taking into account all possible photon
number states that reach the detector, rather than considering just the state
post-selected by the coincidence measurement. We also report an
interferometeric scheme in which the interference peak or dip in coincidence
corresponds directly to a peak or dip in the single-photon detection rate.Comment: 4 pages, two-column (minor errors corrected.
Universality in two-dimensional Kardar-Parisi-Zhang growth
We analyze simulations results of a model proposed for etching of a
crystalline solid and results of other discrete models in the 2+1-dimensional
Kardar-Parisi-Zhang (KPZ) class. In the steady states, the moments W_n of
orders n=2,3,4 of the heights distribution are estimated. Results for the
etching model, the ballistic deposition (BD) model and the
temperature-dependent body-centered restricted solid-on-solid model (BCSOS)
suggest the universality of the absolute value of the skewness S = W_3 /
(W_2)^(3/2) and of the value of the kurtosis Q = W_4 / (W_2)^2 - 3. The sign of
the skewness is the same of the parameter \lambda of the KPZ equation which
represents the process in the continuum limit. The best numerical estimates,
obtained from the etching model, are |S| = 0.26 +- 0.01 and Q = 0.134 +- 0.015.
For this model, the roughness exponent \alpha = 0.383 +- 0.008 is obtained,
accounting for a constant correction term (intrinsic width) in the scaling of
the squared interface width. This value is slightly below previous estimates of
extensive simulations and rules out the proposal of the exact value \alpha=2/5.
The conclusion is supported by results for the ballistic deposition model.
Independent estimates of the dynamical exponent and of the growth exponent are
1.605 <= z <= 1.64 and \beta = 0.229 +- 0.005, respectively, which are
consistent with the relations \alpha + z = 2 and z = \alpha / \beta.Comment: 8 pages, 9 figures, to be published in Phys. Rev.
Helicobacter pylori-derived extracellular vesicles increased in the gastric juices of gastric adenocarcinoma patients and induced inflammation mainly via specific targeting of gastric epithelial cells
Evidence indicates that Helicobacter pylori is the causative agent of chronic gastritis and perhaps gastric malignancy. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) play an important role in the evolutional process of malignancy due to their genetic material cargo. We aimed to evaluate the clinical significance and biological mechanism of H. pylori EVs on the pathogenesis of gastric malignancy. We performed 16S rDNA-based metagenomic analysis of gastric juices either from endoscopic or surgical patients. From each sample of gastric juices, the bacteria and EVs were isolated. We evaluated the role of H. pylori EVs on the development of gastric inflammation in vitro and in vivo. IVIS spectrum and confocal microscopy were used to examine the distribution of EVs. The metagenomic analyses of the bacteria and EVs showed that Helicobacter and Streptococcus are the two major bacterial genera, and they were significantly increased in abundance in gastric cancer (GC) patients. H. pylori EVs are spherical and contain CagA and VacA. They can induce the production of tumor necrosis factor-��, interleukin (IL)-6 and IL-1�� by macrophages, and IL-8 by gastric epithelial cells. Also, EVs induce the expression of interferon gamma, IL-17 and EV-specific immunoglobulin Gs in vivo in mice. EVs were shown to infiltrate and remain in the mouse stomach for an extended time. H. pylori EVs, which are abundant in the gastric juices of GC patients, can induce inflammation and possibly cancer in the stomach, mainly via the production of inflammatory mediators from gastric epithelial cells after selective uptake by the cells. ? 2017 KSBMB. All rights reserved.115Ysciescopuskc
Strings on type IIB pp-wave backgrounds with interacting massive theories on the worldsheet
We consider superstring theories on pp-wave backgrounds which result in an
integrable supersymmetric Landau-Ginzburg theory on the
worldsheet. We obtain exact eigenvalues of the light-cone gauge superstring
hamiltonian in the massive and interacting world-sheet theory with
superpotential . We find the modes of the supergravity part of the
string spectrum, and their space-time interpretation. Because the system is
effectively at strong coupling on the worldsheet, these modes are not in
one-to-one correspondence with the usual type IIB supergravity modes in the
limit. However, the above correspondence holds in the limit.Comment: 20 pages, 1 figure; minor changes, comments adde
The point prevalence and associated factors of nasal methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus colonisation in eight geriatric hospitals in Korea
ABSTRACTThe prevalence and associated factors of nasal methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) colonisation were investigated among patients in geriatric hospitals in Korea. S. aureus was isolated from 317 (50.2%) of 632 patients. The nasal MRSA colonisation prevalence was 36.1%. In bivariate analysis, stay in an intensive care unit, decreased functional status, recent use of antibiotics, use of urinary catheters and the existence of skin breaks were associated with nasal MRSA colonisation (p < 0.05). Of these factors, only decreased functional status and recent use of systemic antibiotics were associated independently with nasal MRSA colonisation following logistic regression analysis
Perturbation-minimized triangular bunch for high-transformer ratio using a double dogleg emittance exchange beam line
The longitudinal shape, i.e., the current profile, of an electron bunch determines the transformer ratio in a collinear wakefield accelerator and thus methods are sought to control the longitudinal bunch shape. The emittance exchange (EEX) appears to be promising for creating a precisely controlled longitudinal bunch shapes. The longitudinal shape is perturbed by two sources: higher-order terms in the beam line optics and collective effects and these perturbations can lead to a significant drop of the transformer ratio. In this paper, we analytically and numerically investigate the perturbation to an ideal triangular longitudinal bunch shape and propose methods to minimize it.1153Ysciescopu
On Type II strings in exact superconformal non-constant RR backgrounds
An explicitly exact superconformal description is provided to some classes of
Type II string theories in non constant RR backgrounds. This is done by
applying the manifest (2,2) approach of Berkovits and Maldacena to Type II
strings and by studying the condition of exact conformal invariance of certain
supersymmetric backgrounds. We find a new set of exact type IIA strings with
non constant RR 2-form and 4-form curvatures and for type IIB with non constant
3-form curvature.Comment: 15 pages; typos and a reference adde
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