Synthesis and Characterization of Gadolinium Oxide Nanocrystallites

Lanthanide oxide nanocrystallites have gained a lot of attention due to their diverse use for potential applications and for this reason it is very important to find a suitable preparation method that would be economically inexpensive and easy to implement. The chapter describes the preparation of gadolinium oxide nanocrystallites (nano Gd2O3) through thermal decomposition of a complex formed by Gd(NO3)3·6 H2O and glycine. Decomposition of the complex occurs at temperatures about (250 ± 10)°C. An ultrafine white powder of the gadolinium oxide nanocrystallites was obtained. The resulting nanocrystallites were characterized by X‐ray powder diffraction analysis, which revealed the size of the gadolinium oxide nanocrystallites equal to 10 nm. The morphology of the gadolinium oxide nanocrystallites was examined by scanning electron microscopy. The elemental composition of the product was confirmed by EDS analysis

Yb(III), Sm(III) and La(III) complexes of a tetradentate pyridoxal Schiff base ligand: their DNA-binding activity and bio-imaging applications

Yb(III), Sm(III) and La(III) complexes of a tetradentate Schiff base ligand, bis(pyridoxylidene)ethyelenediamine, are reported. Single crystal X-ray crystal structures of the complexes reveal that in all of them the Ln(III) ions are in a distorted dodecahedral geometry with N4O4-coordination environment provided by two coordinated ligands. Fluorescence spectroscopy shows that in the Yb(III) and Sm(III) complexes energy transfer from ligand centered excited state leads to population of emissive f-f excited states. The reported complexes bind to ct-DNA, with high binding constant (Kb) comparable to those which bind by intercalative mode. Cytotoxicity study shows that the complexes have quite low cytotoxicity towards HeLa cell. Further, they exhibited fast response, bright fluorescence and stability at physiological pH, making them suitable for use in fluorescence bio-imaging

Report of a Working Group on Fibre Crops (Flax and Hemp)

Members of the newly established ECPGR Working Group on Fibre Crops (Flax and Hemp), in the framework of Sugar, Starch and Fibre Crops Network, met for the first time at Wageningen, the Netherlands on 14–16 June 2006. Fifteen participants from the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and Romania took part in the meeting to discuss flax and hemp national collection status reports as well as flax and hemp international databases development

Report of a Working Group on Fibre Crops (Flax and Hemp): First meeting, 14-16 June 2006, Wageningen, The Netherlands

Members of the newly established ECPGR Working Group on Fibre Crops (Flax and Hemp), in the framework of Sugar, Starch and Fibre Crops Network, met for the first time at Wageningen, the Netherlands on 14–16 June 2006. Fifteen participants from the Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and Romania took part in the meeting to discuss flax and hemp national collection status reports as well as flax and hemp international databases development

Supplementary Material for: Interferon beta-1a vs. glatiramer acetate: changes of innate immunity in a group of women with multiple sclerosis

Introduction: Multiple sclerosis is a chronic inflammatory autoimmune demyelinating disease that secondarily leads to the axonal loss and associated brain atrophy. Disease-modifying drugs (DMDs) have previously been studied for their ability to affect specific immunity. This study investigates the effect of interferon beta-1a (INF) and glatiramer acetate (GA) administration on changes in innate immunity cell populations. Methods: Sixty Caucasian female patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis undergo blood sample testing for 15 blood parameters at baseline, 1M, 3M and 6M after treatment by GA or IFN (started as their first line DMD). Results: A statistically significant difference in the change after 6 months was found in the parameter monocytes (relative count) in the group of patients treated with IFN. The median increase was 27.8%. Changes in many of the other 15 parameters studied were 10-20%. Conclusion: Innate immunity has long been neglected in MS immunopathology. The findings of this study show that innate immunity cells, especially monocytes may contribute significantly to MS immunopathology