The association between accounting and market-based risk measures

The paper derives operating and financial measures of leverage and tests their association with market based measures of equity risk. It is the first such study to use purely accounting-based data to derive the leverage measures. In line with previous literature it conducts a new test on the relative importance of operating and financial leverage. The results suggest that operating costs have a greater impact

Interactions between Paramyxoviruses and Bacteria: Implications for Pathogenesis and Intervention

Globally, respiratory tract diseases caused by bacteria and viruses are an important burden of disease. Respiratory bacteria (Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae, Moraxella catarrhalis and Staphyl

Engineered Nanomedicine with Alendronic Acid Corona Improves Targeting to Osteosarcoma

Citation: Nguyen, T. D. T., Pitchaimani, A., & Aryal, S. (2016). Engineered Nanomedicine with Alendronic Acid Corona Improves Targeting to Osteosarcoma. Scientific Reports, 6, 36707.We engineered nanomedicine with the stealth corona made up of densely packed bone seeking ligand, alendronic acid. In a typical nanoconstruct, alendronic acid is conjugated with hydrophilic head moiety of phospholipid that has an ability to self-assemble with hydrophobic polymeric core through its hydrophobic long carbon-chain. Proposed nanomedicine has three distinct compartments namely; poly(l-lactic-co-glycolic acid) polymeric core acting as a drug reservoir and skeleton of the nanoconstruct, phospholipid monolayer covers the core acting as a diffusion barrier, and a densely packed alendronic acid corona acting as a stabilizer and targeting moiety. Thus engineered nanomedicine attain spherical entity with ~90 ± 6 nm having negative zeta potential, −37.7 ± 2 mV, and has an ability to load 7 ± 0.3 wt% of doxorubicin. In-vitro bone targeting efficiency of nanomedicine was studied using hydroxyapatite crystals as a bone model, and found significant accumulation of nanoparticle in the crystals. Moreover, cellular internalization studies with mouse osteosarcoma confirm the selectivity of nanomedicine when compared to its internalization in non-targeted mouse melanoma. This nanomedicine shows prolong stability in serum and deliver the drug into the cell exhibiting an IC50 of 3.7 μM. Given the strong interacting property of alendronic acid with bone, the proposed nanomedicine hold promises in delivering drug to bone microenvironment

Benchmark d'un modele pour sandwiches et multicouches, de type layer-wise en contrainte

International audienceDans cet article, le comportement des composites stratifiés est étudié en utilisant des développements d'ordres élevés ou de type layer-wise. Un modèle Layer-wise (et l'élément fini à huit noeuds qui lui est associé) a été développé en premier lieu pour l'analyse spécifique des contraintes entre les couches pour des problèmes de bords libres [8][9] ou bien pour l'étude des liaisons entre les couches. Ce modèle est au coeur des comparaisons de cet article. Il est fondé sur un modèle de type layer-wise qui considère le stratifié comme une superposition de plaques de Reisner couplées les unes aux autres par des efforts d'interfaces. Cet élément a 5n degrés de liberté par noeud (n étant le nombre de couches) et donne une prédiction des contraintes d'interface. Les articles précédents se concentraient sur la précision de l'estimation de ces contraintes d'interface. Le modèle permet aussi de calculer les déplacements et les déflexions ainsi que d'extraire les contraintes dans l'épaisseur avec ou sans post-traitement. Dans cet article, la précision et la validité du calcul des déplacements et des contraintes ont été établies à partir d'un nombre important de tests classiques de benchmark en flexion pour les composites et les plaques en sandwich. Le but de cette étude est aussi de mieux positionner et de promouvoir cette approche en contraintes issue des travaux de Pagano peu utilisés et mal référencés

Sulfur management strategies to improve partial sulfur balance with irrigated peanut production on deep sands

Sands have favourable physical properties for harvesting peanut, but improving S and water use efficiency on these soils remains a challenge. We studied partial S balance in irrigated peanut crops on sands of Central Vietnam to identify key factors of S fertiliser management affecting S inputs and outputs. Field trials were conducted in the spring seasons of 2015 and 2016 to determine the effects of S application rates (0, 15, 30, 45 kg ha−1) on peanut yield and partial S balance. Sulfur balances were negative (-28.3 to 5.6 kg S ha−1) at rates < 30 kg S ha−1, while at higher rates of S fertiliser application that produced maximum pod yield (30 - 45 kg S ha−1), three of four sites showed neutral to slightly positive S balance (1.5 - 5.6 kg S ha−1). The negative partial S balance decreased with increasing S rates but was mostly attributable to the large S removal in peanut shoots (9.7 - 22.3 kg S ha−1) which are used on farms for animal feed. The negative partial S balance results in depletion of soil S reserves and hence efficient recycling of S on farms is critical for sustainable crop production on sands of VN

Behavior and the Response of Cancer Cells on Anticancer Drug Treatment Monitored with Microelectrode Array

AbstractA cell-based impedance biosensor using microelectrode array has been developed for monitoring cellular activities of MCF-7 breast cancer cells and evaluating drug-induced apoptosis. Using this device, different activities of cells such as cell attachment, adhesion, and spreading are monitored by measuring impedance spectra and interpreting the data using an electrical equivalent circuit. In order to demonstrate pharmaceutical relevance, the cells were treated with 25μM of anti-cancer drug Cisplatin. It was found that cell spreading caused a significant increase of impedance magnitude in the frequency range between 10kHz and 100kHz during 23h of incubation, which is reversed after 24h treatment with Cisplatin. This reversal is attributed to cell apoptosis, which is confirmed by microscopic observation of the cells

Complete genome sequence of Mesorhizobium sophorae ICMP 19535T, a highly specific, nitrogen-fixing symbiont of New Zealand endemic Sophora spp

We report here the complete genome sequence of Mesorhizobium sophorae ICMP 19535T. This strain was isolated from Sophora microphylla root nodules and can nodulate and fix nitrogen with this host and also with Sophora prostrata, Sophora longicarinata, and Clianthus puniceus. The genome consists of 8.05 Mb

Mobile Services Meet Distributed Cloud: Benefits, Applications, and Challenges

As the explosive growth of smart devices and enormous new applications, the variety of corresponding cloud services has been growing quickly. The conventional centralized cloud was faced with an overhead on backhaul links and high latency. Accordingly, a decentralized cloud paradigm including edge computing, mobile edge computing, cloudlet, and so on, was introduced to distribute cloud services to the edge network which located in proximity to mobile devices few years ago. However, this paradigm was not paid attention at that time since cloud technology and mobile network communication were immature to motivate mobile services. Recently, with the overwhelming growth of mobile communication technology and cloud technology, distributed cloud is emerging as a paradigm well equipped with technologies to support a broad range of mobile services. The 5G mobile communication technology provides high-speed data and low latency. Cloud services can be automatically deployed in the edge networks quickly and easily. Distributed cloud can prove itself to bring many benefits for mobile service such as reducing network latency, as well as computational and network overhead at the central cloud. Besides, we present some applications to emphasize the necessity of distributed cloud for mobile service and discuss further technical challenges in distributed cloud

Antilarval substituted phenols, distribution of tricyclic pyrones in mice, and synthesis of unnatural amino acids

Doctor of PhilosophyDepartment of ChemistryDuy H. HuaThree research projects were carried out and they are described below. The synthesis of substituted phenolic compounds including halogenated di- and trihydroxybenzenes, aminophenols, and substituted di-tert-butylphenols are described. Redox potentials of the synthesized molecules along with various known laccase substrates were measured, and an inverse relationship between the oxidation potential and the efficiency of oxidation by laccase of halogenated hydroxybenzenes and aminophenols is demonstrated. The synthesized substituted phenols were found to be substrates but not inhibitors of laccase. We discovered a new class of di-tert-butylphenols compounds that inhibits the growth of mosquito larvae at low concentrations. Compound 17, 2,4-di-tert-butyl-6-(3-methyl-2-butenyl) phenol caused greater than 98% mortality of third-instar larvae of Anopheles gambiae in the concentration of 0.18 µM. These compounds do not inhibit laccases. It appears that they affect a new target of the mosquito that is different from those of currently existing pesticides. Two anti-Alzheimer molecules, CP2 and TP70, discovered in our laboratory were studied for their pharmacokinetics and distribution. The distribution of CP2 and TP70 in mouse brain region and various tissues of mice were examined. HPLC analysis revealed that CP2 treatment in primary neurons accumulates in mitochondria fraction. Similarly, the amount of CP2 in the brain tissue from wild type and APP/PS1 mice treated with 25 mg/kg/daily for 2 months also have the highest concentration in the mitochondria fractions in the hippocampus. The results show that CP2 and TP70 can penetrate the blood brain barrier and accumulate in the tissue in significant amounts. Pharmacokinetics and bioavailability of compound TP70 were determined. Area under the curve and bioavailability value F were calculated, and data show that TP70 has a good PK profile and bioavailability. For the preparation of a novel tripeptidyl norovirus 3C-like protease (3CL[superscript]pro) inhibitor, the P3 unnatural amino acid, (S)-3-hydroxyphenylalanine was synthesized. The P3 is designed to increase the polarity with the addition of the alcohol group. After combining the P3 unnatural amino acid with the P1 and P2 to form the novel tripeptidyl compound, a study comparing the relations between the structure and its activity (SAR) will confirm whether prediction is correct in our pursuit for an antiviral therapeutic drug in the form of a protease inhibitor