Joint fitting reveals hidden interactions in tumor growth

Tumor growth is often the result of the simultaneous development of two or more cancer cell populations. Their interaction between them characterizes the system evolution. To obtain information about these interactions we apply the recently developed vector universality (VUN) formalism to various instances of competition between tumor populations. The formalism allows us: (a) to quantify the growth mechanisms of a HeLa cell colony, describing the phenotype switching responsible for its fast expansion, (b) to reliably reconstruct the evolution of the necrotic and viable fractions in both in vitro and in vivo tumors using data for the time dependences of the total masses, and (c) to show how the shedding of cells leading to subspheroid formation is beneficial to both the spheroid and subspheroid populations, suggesting that shedding is a strong positive influence on cancer dissemination

Joint fitting reveals hidden interactions in tumor growth

Tumor growth is often the result of the simultaneous development of two or more cancer cell populations. Crucial to the system evolution are the interactions between these populations. To obtain information about these interactions we apply the recently developed vector universality (VUN) formalism to various instances of competition between tumor populations. The formalism allows us (a) to quantify the growth mechanisms of a HeLa cell colony, describing the phenotype switching responsible for its fast expansion, (b) to reliably reconstruct the evolution of the necrotic and viable fractions in both in vitro and in vivo tumors using data for the time dependences of the total masses alone, and (c) to show how the shedding of cells leading to sub-spheroid formation is beneficial to both the spheroid and sub-spheroid populations, suggesting that shedding is a strong positive influence on cancer dissemination.Instituto de Física de Líquidos y Sistemas Biológico

Special Issue: Biopolymers in Drug Delivery and Regenerative Medicine

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Green Processing of Nanoporous Biodegradable Carriers of Bioactive Agents for Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Applications

Pharmaceutical and biomedical industries demand simple, safe and reproducible processing methods thus urging the development of novel straightforward manufacturing approaches. The product manufacturing by the green processing of admixtures and end-product would avoid long and costly purification (downstream) steps. In this work, the green supercritical fluid technology is used for the processing of nanoporous carriers (aerogels) for bioactive agents [1,2]. Aerogels in the form of one micron-sized particles were processed and loaded with a model bioactive compound (ketoprofen). Results show that the carrier has excellent textural properties (specific surface area of 200 m2/g) and a high loading capacity (7 wt.%) of the bioactive compound in the amorphous form. Release profile tests show the capacity of the carrier to modulate the drug release to the medium (PBS pH 7.4). The resulting material can be incorporated in the formulation of several pharmaceutical and biomedical products

Private governance in royalty collection: Effectiveness and limitations in tracing GM soybean in Brazil

Ce papier analyse l'émergence d'une innovation institutionnelle en accompagnement de la diffusion du soja génétiquement modifié au Brésil. Il en découle une gouvernance plutôt efficace par la création d'une situation gagnant-gagnant pour les acteurs impliqués, au moins à court terme, tant que la coexistence avec les variétés conventionnelles peut demeurer. Cette coexistence est menacée surtout du fait d'une absence de prime de marché pour le soja conventionnel.OGM; soja; Brésil; innovation institutionnelle; redevance d'emploi; coexistence

La producción de conocimientos en la formación universitaria de grado como problema propedéutico y apuesta pedagógica

A mediados de 2005, la Universidad Nacional de Tres de Febrero implementó una reforma curricular para todas sus carreras de grado que incluyó la creación de la materia Taller de Introducción a la Problemática del Mundo Contemporáneo dentro del Ciclo Inicial Común. El espacio se creó con la finalidad de estimular y facilitar en los estudiantes una actitud creativa para el análisis reflexivo de la complejidad de la sociedad actual y del lugar que ocupan dentro de ella. Dicha actitud debía fomentarse a partir de un ejercicio crítico de apertura de campos problemáticos, por oposición a perspectivas que, ya sea desde la comodidad o desde la imposición, proponen una clausura dogmática y estereotipada del pensamiento a partir de la repetición de lugares comunes. El presente escrito busca recuperar los lineamientos que fundamentaron y fundamentan esta experiencia

Bioaerogels: Promising Nanostructured Materials in Fluid Management, Healing and Regeneration of Wounds

Wounds affect one’s quality of life and should be managed on a patient-specific approach, based on the particular healing phase and wound condition. During wound healing, exudate is produced as a natural response towards healing. However, excessive production can be detrimental, representing a challenge for wound management. The design and development of new healing devices and therapeutics with improved performance is a constant demand from the healthcare services. Aerogels can combine high porosity and low density with the adequate fluid interaction and drug loading capacity, to establish hemostasis and promote the healing and regeneration of exudative and chronic wounds. Bio-based aerogels, i.e., those produced from natural polymers, are particularly attractive since they encompass their intrinsic chemical properties and the physical features of their nanostructure. In this work, the emerging research on aerogels for wound treatment is reviewed for the first time. The current scenario and the opportunities provided by aerogels in the form of films, membranes and particles are identified to face current unmet demands in fluid managing and wound healing and regenerationThis work was carried out in the frame of COST Action CA18125 “Advanced Engineering and Research of aeroGels for Environment and Life Sciences (AERoGELS)”, funded by the European Commission. This work was supported by National Funds from Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT), through project UIDB/50016/2020, and by Xunta de Galicia [ED431C 2020/17], MCIUN [RTI2018-094131-A-I00], Agencia Estatal de Investigación [AEI] and FEDER fundsS

Investigating the time properties of an improved 3" Hamamatsu photomultiplier for the KM3NeT Neutrino Telescope

The Hamamatsu R14374-02 3-inch photomultiplier tube is an improved version of the previous R12199-02 model. It will be used for the completion of the KM3NeT neutrino telescope. Five hundred photomultipliers have been characterized for dark count rate, timing spread, and spurious pulses with a dedicated dark box apparatus.The results are compared with the model R12199 used in the first phase of construction of KM3NeT

An Artificial Intelligence Approach to Detect Visual Field Progression in Glaucoma Based on Spatial Pattern Analysis.

Purpose: To detect visual field (VF) progression by analyzing spatial pattern changes. Methods: We selected 12,217 eyes from 7360 patients with at least five reliable 24-2 VFs and 5 years of follow-up with an interval of at least 6 months. VFs were decomposed into 16 archetype patterns previously derived by artificial intelligence techniques. Linear regressions were applied to the 16 archetype weights of VF series over time. We defined progression as the decrease rate of the normal archetype or any increase rate of the 15 VF defect archetypes to be outside normal limits. The archetype method was compared with mean deviation (MD) slope, Advanced Glaucoma Intervention Study (AGIS) scoring, Collaborative Initial Glaucoma Treatment Study (CIGTS) scoring, and the permutation of pointwise linear regression (PoPLR), and was validated by a subset of VFs assessed by three glaucoma specialists. Results: In the method development cohort of 11,817 eyes, the archetype method agreed more with MD slope (kappa: 0.37) and PoPLR (0.33) than AGIS (0.12) and CIGTS (0.22). The most frequently progressed patterns included decreased normal pattern (63.7%), and increased nasal steps (16.4%), altitudinal loss (15.9%), superior-peripheral defect (12.1%), paracentral/central defects (10.5%), and near total loss (10.4%). In the clinical validation cohort of 397 eyes with 27.5% of confirmed progression, the agreement (kappa) and accuracy (mean of hit rate and correct rejection rate) of the archetype method (0.51 and 0.77) significantly (P \u3c 0.001 for all) outperformed AGIS (0.06 and 0.52), CIGTS (0.24 and 0.59), MD slope (0.21 and 0.59), and PoPLR (0.26 and 0.60). Conclusions: The archetype method can inform clinicians of VF progression patterns

Potenciales plaguicidas amigables: sintesis de bajo impacto ambiental de heterociclos con subestructura de cromona

El uso de plaguicidas sintéticos ha generado una serie de efectos adversos tanto sobre el ambiente como la salud humana. Por ello resulta necesario considerar diferentes tácticas de control de plagas, incluyendo el uso de compuestos selectivos y compatibles con el ambiente. En dicho ámbito, los plaguicidas de origen vegetal adquieren importancia ya que serepresentan como una alternativa sustentable. Nuestro grupo de investigación ha encontrado que compuestos heterocíclicos naturales correspondientes a las familias de flavonas (esqueleto de cromona como subestructura), presentan baja toxicidad y buena capacidad para actuar como insecticidas.En el presente trabajo hemos desarrollado un procedimiento de síntesis de bajo impacto ambiental de derivados de 1,4-dihidropiridinas y 3,4-dihidropirimidinonas, empleando reacciones multicomponentes tipo Biginelli y Hanzsch. Particularmente se utilizó como uno de los sustratos de partida aldehídos con subestructura de cromona.Fil: Bernio, Flavia. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias y Forestales. Departamento de Ciencias Exactas. Catedra de Quimica Organica; ArgentinaFil: Ruiz, Diego Manuel. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias y Forestales. Departamento de Ciencias Exactas. Catedra de Quimica Organica; ArgentinaFil: Pasquale, Gustavo A.. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias y Forestales. Departamento de Ciencias Exactas. Catedra de Quimica Organica; ArgentinaFil: Sanchez, Laura Mabel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico la Plata. Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo En Ciencias Aplicadas; ArgentinaFil: Sathicq, Angel Gabriel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico la Plata. Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo En Ciencias Aplicadas; ArgentinaFil: Autino, Juan Carlos. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias y Forestales. Departamento de Ciencias Exactas. Catedra de Quimica Organica; ArgentinaFil: Romanelli, Gustavo Pablo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico la Plata. Centro de Investigación y Desarrollo En Ciencias Aplicadas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias y Forestales. Departamento de Ciencias Exactas. Catedra de Quimica Organica; Argentin