Emergence of spatio-temporal variations in chemotherapeutic drug efficacy: in-vitro and in-Silico 3D tumour spheroid studies

Background: The mechanisms of action and efficacy of cisplatin and paclitaxel at cell population level are well studied and documented, however the localized spatio-temporal effects of the drugs are less well understood. We explore the emergence of spatially preferential drug efficacy resulting from variations in mechanisms of cell-drug interactions. Methods: 3D spheroids of HeLa-C3 cells were treated with drugs, cisplatin and paclitaxel. This was followed by sectioning and staining of the spheroids to track the spatio-temporal apoptotic effects of the drugs. A mechanistic drug-cell interaction model was developed and simulated to analyse the localized efficacy of these drugs. Results: The outcomes of drug actions on a local cell population was dependant on the interactions between cell repair probability, intracellular drug concentration and cell’s mitosis phase. In spheroids treated with cisplatin, drug induced apoptosis is found to be scattered throughout the volume of the spheroids. In contrast, effect of paclitaxel is found to be preferentially localized along the periphery of the spheroids. Combinatorial treatments of cisplatin and paclitaxel result in varying levels of cell apoptosis based on the scheduling strategy. Conclusions: The preferential action of paclitaxel can be attributed to the cell characteristics of the peripheral population. The model simulations and experimental data show that treatments initiated with paclitaxel are more efficacious due to the cascading of spatial effects of the drugs.Published versio

NLO QCD calculations with HELAC-NLO

Achieving a precise description of multi-parton final states is crucial for many analyses at LHC. In this contribution we review the main features of the HELAC-NLO system for NLO QCD calculations. As a case study, NLO QCD corrections for tt + 2 jet production at LHC are illustrated and discussed.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures. Presented at 10th DESY Workshop on Elementary Particle Theory: Loops and Legs in Quantum Field Theory, Worlitz, Germany, April 25-30, 201

From graphene oxide towards aminated graphene facile synthesis, its structure and electronic properties

In this paper we present a facile method for the synthesis of aminated graphene derivative through simultaneous reduction and amination of graphene oxide via two-step liquid phase treatment with hydrobromic acid and ammonia solution in mild conditions. The amination degree of the obtained aminated reduced graphene oxide is of about 4 at.%, whereas C/O ratio is up to 8.8 as determined by means of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The chemical reactivity of the introduced amine groups is further verified by successful test covalent bonding of the obtained aminated graphene with 3-Chlorobenzoyl chloride. The morphological features and electronic properties, namely conductivity, valence band structure and work function are studied as well, illustrating the influence of amine groups on graphene structure and physical properties. Particularly, the increase of the electrical conductivity, reduction of the work function value and tendency to form wrinkled and corrugated graphene layers are observed in the aminated graphene derivative compared to the pristine reduced graphene oxide. As obtained aminated graphene could be used for photovoltaic, biosensing and catalysis application as well as a starting material for further chemical modifications

Heavy ion beam probing – a tool to study geodesic acoustic modes and alfven eigenmodes in the T-10 tokamak and TJ-II stellarator

Heavy ion beam probing (HIBP) is a unique diagnostic for core plasma potential. It operates in the T-10 tokamak and TJ-II flexible heliac. Multi-slits energy analyzers provide simultaneously the data on plasma potential φ (by beam extra energy), plasma density (by beam current) and Bpol (by beam toroidal shift) in 5 poloidally shifted sample volumes. Thus, the poloidal electric field and the electrostatic turbulent particle flux are derived. The fine focused (<1 cm) and intense (100 μA) beams provide the measurements in the wide density interval ne=(0.3...5)×10¹⁹ m⁻³, while the advanced control system for primary and secondary beams provides the measurements in the wide range of the plasma currents in T-10 and magnetic configurations in TJ-II, including Ohmic, ECR and NBI heated plasmas. Low-noise high-gain (10⁷ V/A) preamplifiers with 300 kHz bandwidth and 2 MHz sampling allow us to study quasi-coherent modes like Geodesic Acoustic Modes (GAMs) and Alfvén Eigenmodes (AEs). The spatial location, poloidal rotation velocity and mode numbers for GAMs and AEs were studied in the core plasmas.Зондирование пучком тяжёлых ионов (ЗПТИ) является уникальной диагностикой для исследования потенциала горячей плазмы, она работает на токамаке T-10 и стеллараторе TJ-II. Многощелевые анализаторы позволяют одновременно определять потенциал, плотность и полоидальное магнитное поле в пяти точках измерения в плазме, что позволяет найти полоидальное электрическое поле и турбулентный поток частиц. Хорошо сфокусированные (< 1 см) интенсивные (100 мкА) пучки позволяют вести измерения в широком интервале плотностей n‾e=(0.3...5)×10¹⁹ m⁻³, а система управления первичным и вторичным пучками обеспечивает измерения в пределах изменения параметров T-10 и TJ-II, включая режимы омического, электронно-циклотронного и инжекционного нагревов плазмы. Исследованы геодезические акустические моды и альфвеновские собственные моды частотой до 300 кГц.Зондування пучком важких іонів (ЗПВІ) є унікальна система діагностики для дослідження потенціалу в гарячій плазмі на токамаці Т-10 та стелараторі TJ-II. Аналізатори з багатою кількістю апертур дозволяють одночасно вимірювати потенціал, густину та полоїдальне магнітне поле у п’яти об’ємах плазми, що дозволяє знайти полоїдальне електричне поле та турбулентний потік часток. Гарно сфокусовані (< 1 см) інтенсивні (100 мкА) пучки дозволяють провести вимірювання в широкому інтервалі n‾e=(0.3...5)×10¹⁹ m⁻³ густини, а система керування первинним та вторинним пучками забезпечує вимірювання у межах діапазону зміни параметрів T-10 та TJ-II, які включають у себе режими омічного, електронно-циклотронного та інжекційного нагрівів плазми. Досліджено геодезичні акустичні моди і альфвенівські коливання особистої моди частотою до 300 кГц

Six pelagic seabird species of the North Atlantic engage in a fly-and-forage strategy during their migratory movements

Bird migration is commonly defined as a seasonal movement between breeding and non-breeding grounds. It generally involves relatively straight and directed large-scale movements, with a latitudinal change, and specific daily activity patterns comprising less or no foraging and more traveling time. Our main objective was to describe how this general definition applies to seabirds. We investigated migration characteristics of 6 pelagic seabird species (little auk Alle alle, Atlantic puffin Fratercula arctica, common guillemot Uria aalge, Brünnich’s guillemot U. lomvia, black-legged kittiwake Rissa tridactyla and northern fulmars Fulmarus glacialis). We analysed an extensive geolocator positional and saltwater immersion dataset from 29 colonies in the North-East Atlantic and across several years (2008-2019). We used a novel method to identify active migration periods based on segmentation of time series of track characteristics (latitude, longitude, net-squared displacement). Additionally, we used the saltwater immersion data of geolocators to infer bird activity. We found that the 6 species had, on average, 3 to 4 migration periods and 2 to 3 distinct stationary areas during the non-breeding season. On average, seabirds spent the winter at lower latitudes than their breeding colonies and followed specific migration routes rather than non-directionally dispersing from their colonies. Differences in daily activity patterns were small between migratory and stationary periods, suggesting that all species continued to forage and rest while migrating, engaging in a ‘fly-and-forage’ migratory strategy. We thereby demonstrate the importance of habitats visited during seabird migrations as those that are not just flown over, but which may be important for re-fuelling.publishedVersio

Search for direct production of charginos and neutralinos in events with three leptons and missing transverse momentum in √s = 7 TeV pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

A search for the direct production of charginos and neutralinos in final states with three electrons or muons and missing transverse momentum is presented. The analysis is based on 4.7 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data delivered by the Large Hadron Collider and recorded with the ATLAS detector. Observations are consistent with Standard Model expectations in three signal regions that are either depleted or enriched in Z-boson decays. Upper limits at 95% confidence level are set in R-parity conserving phenomenological minimal supersymmetric models and in simplified models, significantly extending previous results

Search for dark matter produced in association with a hadronically decaying vector boson in pp collisions at sqrt (s) = 13 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search is presented for dark matter produced in association with a hadronically decaying W or Z boson using 3.2 fb−1 of pp collisions at View the MathML sources=13 TeV recorded by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. Events with a hadronic jet compatible with a W or Z boson and with large missing transverse momentum are analysed. The data are consistent with the Standard Model predictions and are interpreted in terms of both an effective field theory and a simplified model containing dark matter

Search for supersymmetry in events with a photon, a lepton, and missing transverse momentum in pp collisions at root s=8 TeV

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