Magneto-optical study of thermally annealed InAs-InGaAs-GaAs self-assembled quantum dots

We report a magneto-optical study of InAs-InGaAs-GaAs self-assembled quantum dots (QDs) subjected to post-growth thermal annealing at different temperatures. At low temperatures annealing strongly affects the bimodal distribution of QDs; at higher temperatures a strong blueshift of the emission occurs. Magnetophotoluminescence reveals that the annealing increases the QD size, with a larger effect occurring along the growth axis, and decreases the carrier effective masses. The main contribution to the blueshift is deduced to be an increase in the average Ga composition of the QDs. The inadvertent annealing which occurs during the growth of the upper AlGaAs cladding layer in laser structures is also studied

Lateral stress evolution in chromium sulfide cermets with varying excess chromium

The shock response of chromium sulfide-chromium, a cermet of potential interest as a matrix material for ballistic applications, has been investigated at two molar ratios. Using a combustion synthesis technique allowed for control of the molar ratio of the material, which was investigated under near-stoichiometric (cermet) and excess chromium (interpenetrating composite) conditions, representing chromium:sulfur molar ratios of 1.15:1 and 4:1, respectively. The compacts were investigated via the plate-impact technique, which allowed the material to be loaded under a onedimensional state of strain. Embedded manganin stress gauges were employed to monitor the temporal evolution of longitudinal and lateral components of stress in both materials. Comparison of these two components has allowed assessment of the variation of material shear strength both with impact pressure/strain-rate and time for the two molar ratio conditions. The two materials exhibited identical material strength despite variations in their excess chromium content

Impaired aortic distensibility measured by computed tomography is associated with the severity of coronary artery disease.

Impaired aortic distensibility index (ADI) is associated with cardiovascular risk factors. This study evaluates the relation of ADI measured by computed tomographic angiography (CTA) with the severity of coronary atherosclerosis in subjects with suspected coronary artery disease (CAD). Two hundred and twenty-nine subjects,age 63 ± 9 years, 42% female, underwent coronary artery calcium (CAC) scanning and CTA, and their ADI and Framingham risk score (FRS) were measured. End-systolic and end-diastolic (ED) cross-sectional-area(CSA) of ascending-aorta (AAo) was measured 15-mm above the left-main coronary ostium. ADI was defined as: [(Δlumen-CSA)/(lumen-CSA in ED × systemic-pulse-pressure) × 10(3)]. ADI measured by 2D-trans-thoracic echocardiography (TTE) was compared with CTA-measured ADI in 26 subjects without CAC. CAC was defined as 0, 1-100, 101-400 and 400+. CAD was defined as luminal stenosis 0, 1-49% and 50%+. There was an excellent correlation between CTA- and TTE-measured ADI (r(2)=0.94, P=0.0001). ADI decreased from CAC 0 to CAC 400+; similarly from FRS 1-9% to FRS 20% + (P<0.05). After adjustment for risk factors, the relative risk for each standard deviation decrease in ADI was 1.66 for CAC 1-100, 2.26 for CAC 101-400 and 2.32 for CAC 400+ as compared to CAC 0; similarly, 2.36 for non-obstructive CAD and 2.67 for obstructive CAD as compared to normal coronaries. The area under the ROC-curve to predict significant CAD was 0.68 for FRS, 0.75 for ADI, 0.81 for CAC and 0.86 for the combination (P<0.05). Impaired aortic distensibility strongly correlates with the severity of coronary atherosclerosis. Addition of ADI to CAC and traditional risk factors provides incremental value to predict at-risk individuals

Identification of an IL-4-Inducible Gene Expressed in Differentiating Lymphocytes and Male Germ Cells

Interleukin 4 (IL-4) is a cytokine that is involved in the differentiation of B and T lymphocytes. In this report, we describe the identification of a novel gene, N.52, which was cloned from the murine pre-B cell line R8205 grown in the presence of IL-4 for 48 hr. Although N.52 expression is detectable at low levels in unstimulated R8205 cells, the level of N.52 dramatically increases after only .4 hr exposure to IL-4 and remains at a high .level up to 48 hr. Although N.52 expression is low or absent in normal spleen B and T cells, its expression can be induced by the differentiation signals delivered by LPS in B cells and by Con A in T-cell hybrids. While N.52 mRNA is absent in all highly differentiated organs, it is detectable in stem cell harboring lymphoid tissues such as bone marrow, fetal liver, and thymus. Furthermore, N.52 mRNA is expressed at strikingly high levels in the testis, specifically in differentiating male germ cells. It is induced by differentiation signals triggered by the combination of cyclic AMP and retinoic acid in teratocarcinoma F9 cells. Taken together, these data suggest that N.52 is a developmentally regulated gene whose expression in cells of the immune and reproductive systems may be controlled by stimuli that induce differentiation

Physical Fitness Training in Patients with Subacute Stroke (PHYS-STROKE): multicentre, randomised controlled, endpoint blinded trial

OBJECTIVE: To determine the safety and efficacy of aerobic exercise on activities of daily living in the subacute phase after stroke. DESIGN: Multicentre, randomised controlled, endpoint blinded trial. SETTING: Seven inpatient rehabilitation sites in Germany (2013-17). PARTICIPANTS: 200 adults with subacute stroke (days 5-45 after stroke) with a median National Institutes of Health stroke scale (NIHSS, range 0-42 points, higher values indicating more severe strokes) score of 8 (interquartile range 5-12) were randomly assigned (1:1) to aerobic physical fitness training (n=105) or relaxation sessions (n=95, control group) in addition to standard care. INTERVENTION: Participants received either aerobic, bodyweight supported, treadmill based physical fitness training or relaxation sessions, each for 25 minutes, five times weekly for four weeks, in addition to standard rehabilitation therapy. Investigators and endpoint assessors were masked to treatment assignment. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcomes were change in maximal walking speed (m/s) in the 10 m walking test and change in Barthel index scores (range 0-100 points, higher scores indicating less disability) three months after stroke compared with baseline. Safety outcomes were recurrent cardiovascular events, including stroke, hospital readmissions, and death within three months after stroke. Efficacy was tested with analysis of covariance for each primary outcome in the full analysis set. Multiple imputation was used to account for missing values. RESULTS: Compared with relaxation, aerobic physical fitness training did not result in a significantly higher mean change in maximal walking speed (adjusted treatment effect 0.1 m/s (95% confidence interval 0.0 to 0.2 m/s), P=0.23) or mean change in Barthel index score (0 (-5 to 5), P=0.99) at three months after stroke. A higher rate of serious adverse events was observed in the aerobic group compared with relaxation group (incidence rate ratio 1.81, 95% confidence interval 0.97 to 3.36). CONCLUSIONS: Among moderately to severely affected adults with subacute stroke, aerobic bodyweight supported, treadmill based physical fitness training was not superior to relaxation sessions for maximal walking speed and Barthel index score but did suggest higher rates of adverse events. These results do not appear to support the use of aerobic bodyweight supported fitness training in people with subacute stroke to improve activities of daily living or maximal walking speed and should be considered in future guidelines. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01953549

Brain Shift Correction Based on a Boundary Element Biomechanical Model with Different Material Properties

Neuronavigation systems are usually subject to inaccuracy due to intraoperative changes like brain shift or tumor resection. In order to correct for these deformations a biomechanical model of the brain is proposed. Not only elastic tissues, but also fluids are modeled, since an important volume of the head contains cerebrospinal fluid, which does not behave like soft tissues. Unlike other approaches, we propose to solve the differential equations of the model by means of the boundary element method, which has the advantage of only considering the boundaries of the different biomechanically homogeneous regions. The size of the matrix to invert is therefore drastically reduced. Finally, our method is assessed with sequences of intraoperative MR images, showing better performances for the elastic/fluid model than for the purely elastic one

New Visions on Natural Products and Cancer Therapy: Autophagy and Related Regulatory Pathways

Macroautophagy (autophagy) has been a highly conserved process throughout evolution and allows cells to degrade aggregated/misfolded proteins, dysfunctional or superfluous organelles and damaged macromolecules, in order to recycle them for biosynthetic and/or energetic purposes to preserve cellular homeostasis and health. Changes in autophagy are indeed correlated with several pathological disorders such as neurodegenerative and cardiovascular diseases, infections, cancer and inflammatory diseases. Conversely, autophagy controls both apoptosis and the unfolded protein response (UPR) in the cells. Therefore, any changes in the autophagy pathway will affect both the UPR and apoptosis. Recent evidence has shown that several natural products can modulate (induce or inhibit) the autophagy pathway. Natural products may target different regulatory components of the autophagy pathway, including specific kinases or phosphatases. In this review, we evaluated ~100 natural compounds and plant species and their impact on different types of cancers via the autophagy pathway. We also discuss the impact of these compounds on the UPR and apoptosis via the autophagy pathway. A multitude of preclinical findings have shown the function of botanicals in regulating cell autophagy and its potential impact on cancer therapy; however, the number of related clinical trials to date remains low. In this regard, further pre-clinical and clinical studies are warranted to better clarify the utility of natural compounds and their modulatory effects on autophagy, as fine-tuning of autophagy could be translated into therapeutic applications for several cancers