234 research outputs found
Towards the grain boundary phonon scattering problem: an evidence for a low-temperature crossover
The problem of phonon scattering by grain boundaries is studied within the
wedge disclination dipole (WDD) model. It is shown that a specific q-dependence
of the phonon mean free path for biaxial WDD results in a low-temperature
crossover of the thermal conductivity, . The obtained results allow to
explain the experimentally observed deviation of from a
dependence below in and .Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, submitted to J.Phys.:Condens.Matte
Inhibitory activity against carbonic anhydrase IX and XII as a candidate selection criterion in the development of new anticancer agents
Analysis of the literature data reveals that while inhibition of cancer-related carbonic anhydrase IX and XII isoforms continues to be an important enrichment factor for designing anticancer agent development libraries, exclusive reliance on the in vitro inhibition of these two recombinant isozymes in nominating candidate compounds for evaluation of their effects on cancer cells may lead not only to identifying numerous compounds devoid of the desired cellular efficacy but also to overlooking many promising candidates which may not display the best potency in biochemical inhibition assay. However, SLC-0111, now in phase Ib/II clinical trials, was developed based on the excellent agreement between the in vitro, in vivo and more recently, in-patient data
Integrated plasmonic circuitry on a vertical-cavity surface-emitting semiconductor laser platform
Integrated plasmonic sources and detectors are imperative in the practical development of plasmonic circuitry for bio- and chemical sensing, nanoscale optical information processing, as well as transducers for high-density optical data storage. Here we show that vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) can be employed as an on-chip, electrically pumped source or detector of plasmonic signals, when operated in forward or reverse bias, respectively. To this end, we experimentally demonstrate surface plasmon polariton excitation, waveguiding, frequency conversion and detection on a VCSEL-based plasmonic platform. The coupling efficiency of the VCSEL emission to waveguided surface plasmon polariton modes has been optimized using asymmetric plasmonic nanostructures. The plasmonic VCSEL platform validated here is a viable solution for practical realizations of plasmonic functionalities for various applications, such as those requiring sub-wavelength field confinement, refractive index sensitivity or optical near-field transduction with electrically driven sources, thus enabling the realization of on-chip optical communication and lab-on-a-chip devices
Low-temperature thermal conductivity in polycrystalline graphene
The low-temperature thermal conductivity in polycrystalline graphene is
theoretically studied. The contributions from three branches of acoustic
phonons are calculated by taking into account scattering on sample borders,
point defects and grain boundaries. Phonon scattering due to sample borders and
grain boundaries is shown to result in a -behaviour in the thermal
conductivity where varies between 1 and 2. This behaviour is found to
be more pronounced for nanosized grain boundaries.
PACS: 65.80.Ck, 81.05.ue, 73.43.C
Sulfocoumarins as dual inhibitors of human carbonic anhydrase isoforms IX/XII and of human thioredoxin reductase
The hypothesis that sulfocoumarin acting as inhibitors of human carbonic anhydrase (CA, EC 4.2.1.1) cancer-associated isoforms hCA IX and – hCA XII is being able to also inhibit thioredoxin reductase was verified and confirmed. The dual targeting of two cancer cell defence mechanisms, i.e. hypoxia and oxidative stress, may both contribute to the observed antiproliferative profile of these compounds against many cancer cell lines. This unprecedented dual anticancer mechanism may lead to a new approach for designing innovative therapeutic agents
7-Acylamino-3H-1,2-benzoxathiepine 2,2-dioxides as new isoform-selective carbonic anhydrase IX and XII inhibitors
A series of 3H-1,2-benzoxathiepine 2,2-dioxides incorporating 7-acylamino moieties were obtained by an original procedure starting from 5-nitrosalicylaldehyde, which was treated with propenylsulfonyl chloride followed by Wittig reaction of the bis-olefin intermediate. The new derivatives, belonging to the homosulfocoumarin chemotype, were assayed as inhibitors of the zinc metalloenzyme carbonic anhydrase (CA, EC 4.2.1.1). Four pharmacologically relevant human (h) isoforms were investigated, the cytosolic hCA I and II and the transmembrane, tumour-associated hCA IX and XII. No relevant inhibition of hCA I and II was observed, whereas some of the new derivatives were effective, low nanomolar hCA IX/XII inhibitors, making them of interest for investigations in situations in which the activity of these isoforms is overexpressed, such as hypoxic tumours, arthritis or cerebral ischaemia
Aryl derivatives of 3H-1,2-benzoxathiepine 2,2-dioxide as carbonic anhydrase inhibitors
A new series of homosulfocoumarins (3H-1,2-benzoxathiepine 2,2-dioxides) possessing various substitution patterns and moieties in the 7, 8 or 9 position of the heterocylic ring were prepared by original procedures and investigated for the inhibition of four physiologically relevant carbonic anhydrase (CA, EC 4.2.1.1) isoforms, the human (h) hCA I, II, IX and XII. The 8-substituted homosulfocoumarins were the most effective hCA IX/XII inhibitors followed by the 7-substituted derivatives, whereas the substitution pattern in position 9 led to less effective binders for the transmembrane, tumour-associated isoforms IX/XII. The cytosolic isoforms hCA I and II were not inhibited by these compounds, similar to the sulfocoumarins/coumarins investigated earlier. As hCA IX and XII are validated anti-tumour targets, with one sulphonamide (SLC-0111) in Phase Ib/II clinical trials, finding derivatives with better selectivity for inhibiting the tumour-associated isoforms over the cytosolic ones, as the homosulfocoumarins reported here, is of crucial importance
Discovery and SAR exploration of N-aryl-N-(3-aryl-1,2,4-oxadiazol-5-yl)amines as potential therapeutic agents for prostate cancer
A new chemical series of antiproliferative compounds was identified via high-throughput screening on DU-145 human prostate carcinoma cell line (hit compound potency - 5.7 ÎĽM). Exploration of the two peripheral diversity vectors of the hit molecule in a hit-targeted library and testing of the resulting compounds led to SAR generalizations and identification of the 'best' pharmacophoric moieties. The latter were merged in a single compound that exhibited a 200-fold better potency than the original hit compound. Specific cancer cell cytotoxicity was confirmed for the most potent compounds
Purcell effect in Hyperbolic Metamaterial Resonators
The radiation dynamics of optical emitters can be manipulated by properly
designed material structures providing high local density of photonic states, a
phenomenon often referred to as the Purcell effect. Plasmonic nanorod
metamaterials with hyperbolic dispersion of electromagnetic modes are believed
to deliver a significant Purcell enhancement with both broadband and
non-resonant nature. Here, we have investigated finite-size cavities formed by
nanorod metamaterials and shown that the main mechanism of the Purcell effect
in these hyperbolic resonators originates from the cavity hyperbolic modes,
which in a microscopic description stem from the interacting cylindrical
surface plasmon modes of the finite number of nanorods forming the cavity. It
is found that emitters polarized perpendicular to the nanorods exhibit strong
decay rate enhancement, which is predominantly influenced by the rod length. We
demonstrate that this enhancement originates from Fabry-Perot modes of the
metamaterial cavity. The Purcell factors, delivered by those cavity modes,
reach several hundred, which is 4-5 times larger than those emerging at the
epsilon near zero transition frequencies. The effect of enhancement is less
pronounced for dipoles, polarized along the rods. Furthermore, it was shown
that the Purcell factor delivered by Fabry-Perot modes follows the dimension
parameters of the array, while the decay rate in the epsilon near-zero regime
is almost insensitive to geometry. The presented analysis shows a possibility
to engineer emitter properties in the structured metamaterials, addressing
their microscopic structure
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