Silicon-based three-dimensional microstructures for radiation dosimetry in hadrontherapy

In this work, we propose a solid-state-detector for use in radiation microdosimetry. This device improves the performance of existing dosimeters using customized 3D-cylindrical microstructures etched inside silicon. The microdosimeter consists of an array of micro-sensors that have 3D-cylindrical electrodes of 15 μm diameter and a depth of 5 μm within a silicon membrane, resulting in a well-defined micrometric radiation sensitive volume. These microdetectors have been characterized using an 241Am source to assess their performance as radiation detectors in a high-LET environment. This letter demonstrates the capability of this microdetector to be used to measure dose and LET in hadrontherapy centers for treatment plan verification as part of their patient-specific quality control program

Update on Bone Grafting Materials Used in Dentistry in the Bone Healing Process: Our Experience from Translational Studies to Their Clinical Use

The use of bone grafts is important to preserve the alveolar bone ridge height and volume indispensable for dental implant placement. Despite the highly successful outcomes for the implant-supported overdentures, it seems that a majority of edentulous individuals have not pursued implant-based rehabilitation. Among the reasons cited for this, discrepancy between highly successful therapy and its acceptance is the cost of the treatment. Therefore, the development of biomaterials for bone grafting with comparable characteristics and biological effects than those renowned internationally is necessary. In addition, domestic manufacture would reduce the high costs in public health arising from the application of these biomaterials in the dental field. The aim of the following chapter is to offer an update on one bone grafting material frequently used in dentistry through an assessment of anorganic bovine bone graft in small and medium experimental models as well as its clinical use

Data Descriptor: High resolution, week-long, locomotion time series from Japanese quail in a home-box environment

Temporal and spatial patterns of locomotion reflect both resting periods and the movement from one place to another to satisfy physiological and behavioural needs. Locomotion is studied in diverse areas of biology such as chronobiology and physiology, as well as in biomathematics. Herein, the locomotion of 24 visually-isolated Japanese quails in their home-box environment was recorded continuously over a 6.5 days at a 0.5 s sampling rate. Three time series are presented for each bird: (1) locomotor activity, (2) distance ambulated, and (3) zone of the box where the bird is located. These high resolution, week-long, time series consisting of 1.07 × 10 6 data points represent, to our knowledge, a unique data set in animal behavior, and are publically available on FigShare. The data obtained can be used for analyzing dynamic changes of daily or several day locomotion patterns, or for comparison with existing or future data sets or mathematical models across different taxa.publishedVersionFil: Flesia, Ana Georgina. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Matemática, Astronomía y Física; Argentina.Fil: Flesia, Ana Georgina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas - Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Centro de Investigaciones y Estudios de Matemática; Argentina.Fil: Guzmán, Diego A. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales, Cátedra de Química Biológica; Argentina.Fil: Guzmán, Diego A. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas - Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas y Tecnológicas; Argentina.Fil: Guzmán, Diego A. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas - Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología de los Alimentos; Argentina.Fil: Pellegrini, Stefania. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales, Cátedra de Química Biológica; Argentina.Fil: Pellegrini, Stefania. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas - Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas y Tecnológicas; Argentina.Fil: Pellegrini, Stefania. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas - Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología de los Alimentos; Argentina.Fil: Aon, Miguel A. Johns Hopkins University. School of Medicine; Estados Unidos de AméricaFil: Marin, Raúl H. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales, Cátedra de Química Biológica; Argentina.Fil: Marin, Raúl H. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas - Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas y Tecnológicas; Argentina.Fil: Marin, Raúl H. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas - Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología de los Alimentos; Argentina.Fil: Kembro, Jackelyn M. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas, Físicas y Naturales, Cátedra de Química Biológica; Argentina.Fil: Kembro, Jackelyn M. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas - Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas y Tecnológicas; Argentina.Fil: Kembro, Jackelyn M. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas - Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología de los Alimentos; Argentina.Fil: Guzmán, Diego A. Aarhus University. Department of Animal Science; Dinamarca

Towards generalized data reduction on a time-of-flight neutron reflectometer

The calculation of neutron reflectivity from raw time-of-flight data including instrumental corrections and an improved resolution calculation is presented. The theoretical calculations are compared with experimental data measured on the vertical sample plane reflectometer D17 and the horizontal sample plane reflectometer FIGARO at the Institut Laue–Langevin (ILL), Grenoble, France. This article comprises the mathematical body of the time-of-flight reflectivity data-reduction software COSMOS which is used on D17 and FIGARO.</jats:p

The Impact of IFN-g; Receptor on SLPI Expression in Active Tuberculosis: Association with Disease Severity

Interferon (IFN)-g displays a critical role in tuberculosis (TB), modulating the innate and adaptive immune responses. Previously, we reported that secretory leukocyte protease inhibitor (SLPI) is a pattern recognition receptor with anti-mycobacterial activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb). Herein, we determined whether IFN-g modulated the levels of SLPI in TB patients. Plasma levels of SLPI and IFN-g were studied in healthy donors (HDs) and TB patients. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells from HDs and patients with TB or defective IFN-g receptor 1* were stimulated with Mtb antigen and SLPI, and IFN-gR expression levels were measured. Both SLPI and IFN-g were significantly enhanced in plasma from those with TB compared with HDs. A direct association between SLPI levels and the severity of TB was detected. In addition, Mtb antigen stimulation decreased the SLPI produced by peripheral blood mononuclear cells from HDs, but not from TB or IFN-gR patients. Neutralization of IFN-g reversed the inhibition of SLPI induced by Mtb antigen in HDs, but not in TB patients. Furthermore, recombinant IFN-g was unable to modify the expression of SLPI in TB patients. Finally, IFN-gR expression was lower in TB compared with HD peripheral blood mononuclear cells. These results show that Mtb-induced IFN-g down-modulated SLPI levels by signaling through the IFNgR in HDs. This inhibitory mechanism was not observed in TB, probably because of the low expression of IFN-gR detected in these individuals. (Am J Pathol 2014, 184: 1e6Fil: Tateosian, Nancy Liliana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Centro de Estudios Farmacológicos y Botánicos; Argentina; ArgentinaFil: Pasquinelli, Virginia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Hernández Del Pino, Rodrigo Emanuel. Universidad de Buenos Aires; ArgentinaFil: Ambrosi, Nella Gabriela. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Centro de Estudios Farmacológicos y Botánicos; Argentina; ArgentinaFil: Guerrieri, Diego. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Centro de Estudios Farmacológicos y Botánicos; Argentina; ArgentinaFil: Pedraza Sánchez, Sigifredo. Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán; MéxicoFil: Santucci, Natalia Estefanía. Universidad Nacional de Rosario; ArgentinaFil: D'attilio, Luciano David. Universidad Nacional de Rosario; ArgentinaFil: Pellegrini, Joaquín Miguel. Universidad de Buenos Aires; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Araujo Solis, María A.. Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social; MéxicoFil: Musella, Rosa M.. Hospital "F. J. Muñiz"; ArgentinaFil: Palmero, Domingo J.. Hospital "F. J. Muñiz"; ArgentinaFil: Hernandez Pando, Rogelio. Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Médicas y Nutrición Salvador Zubirán; MéxicoFil: Garcia, Veronica Edith. Universidad de Buenos Aires; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Chuluyan, Hector Eduardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Centro de Estudios Farmacológicos y Botánicos; Argentina; Argentin

Readout electronics for LGAD sensors

In this paper, an ASIC fabricated in 180 nm CMOS technology from AMS with the very front-end electronics used to readout LGAD sensors is presented as well as its experimental results. The front-end has the typical architecture for Si-strip readout, i.e., preamplification stage with a Charge Sensitive Amplifier (CSA) followed by a CR-RC shaper. Both amplifiers are based on a folded cascode structure with a PMOS input transistor and the shaper only uses passive elements for the feedback stage. The CSA has programmable gain and a configurable input stage in order to adapt to the different input capacitance of the LGAD sensors (pixelated, short and long strips) and to the different input signal (depending on the gain of the LGAD). The fabricated prototype has an area of 0.865 mm × 0.965 mm and includes the biasing circuit for the CSA and the shaper, 4 analog channels (CSA+shaper) and programmable charge injection circuits included for testing purposes. Noise and power analysis performed during simulation fixed the size of the input transistor to W/L = 860 μm/0.2 μm. The shaping time is fixed by design at 1 us and, in this ASIC version, the feedback elements of the shaper are passive, which means that the area of the shaper can be reduced using active elements in future versions. Finally, the different gains of the CSA have been selected to maintain an ENC below 400 electrons for a detector capacitor of 20 pF, with a power consumption of 150 μ W per channel

The effect of an autologous cellular gel-matrix integrated implant system on wound healing

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>This manuscript reports the production and preclinical studies to examine the tolerance and efficacy of an autologous cellular gel-matrix integrated implant system (IIS) aimed to treat full-thickness skin lesions.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The best concentration of fibrinogen and thrombin was experimentally determined by employing 28 formula ratios of thrombin and fibrinogen and checking clot formation and apparent stability. IIS was formed by integrating skin cells by means of the <it>in situ </it>gelification of fibrin into a porous crosslinked scaffold composed of chitosan, gelatin and hyaluronic acid. The <it>in vitro </it>cell proliferation within the IIS was examined by the MTT assay and PCNA expression. An experimental rabbit model consisting of six circular lesions was utilized to test each of the components of the IIS. Then, the IIS was utilized in an animal model to cover a 35% body surface full thickness lesion.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The preclinical assays in rabbits demonstrated that the IIS was well tolerated and also that IIS-treated rabbit with lesions of 35% of their body surface, exhibited a better survival rate (p = 0,06).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>IIS should be further studied as a new wound dressing which shows promising properties, being the most remarkable its good biological tolerance and cell growth promotion properties.</p

Phosphofructo-1-Kinase Deficiency Leads to a Severe Cardiac and Hematological Disorder in Addition to Skeletal Muscle Glycogenosis

Mutations in the gene for muscle phosphofructo-1-kinase (PFKM), a key regulatory enzyme of glycolysis, cause Type VII glycogen storage disease (GSDVII). Clinical manifestations of the disease span from the severe infantile form, leading to death during childhood, to the classical form, which presents mainly with exercise intolerance. PFKM deficiency is considered as a skeletal muscle glycogenosis, but the relative contribution of altered glucose metabolism in other tissues to the pathogenesis of the disease is not fully understood. To elucidate this issue, we have generated mice deficient for PFKM (Pfkm−/−). Here, we show that Pfkm−/− mice had high lethality around weaning and reduced lifespan, because of the metabolic alterations. In skeletal muscle, including respiratory muscles, the lack of PFK activity blocked glycolysis and resulted in considerable glycogen storage and low ATP content. Although erythrocytes of Pfkm−/− mice preserved 50% of PFK activity, they showed strong reduction of 2,3-biphosphoglycerate concentrations and hemolysis, which was associated with compensatory reticulocytosis and splenomegaly. As a consequence of these haematological alterations, and of reduced PFK activity in the heart, Pfkm−/− mice developed cardiac hypertrophy with age. Taken together, these alterations resulted in muscle hypoxia and hypervascularization, impaired oxidative metabolism, fiber necrosis, and exercise intolerance. These results indicate that, in GSDVII, marked alterations in muscle bioenergetics and erythrocyte metabolism interact to produce a complex systemic disorder. Therefore, GSDVII is not simply a muscle glycogenosis, and Pfkm−/− mice constitute a unique model of GSDVII which may be useful for the design and assessment of new therapies