Cation distribution in CuFe₂O₄ nanoparticles: Effects of Ni doping on magnetic properties

he Cu₁_ₓNiₓFe₂O₄ nanoparticles (with x = 0, 0.3, 0.5, 0.7, and 1) were synthesized by using spray co-precipitation method at annealing temperature Tₐ = 900 °C in air for 5 h. The crystal structure, microstructure, oxidation state, and magnetic properties of the samples were characterized by using X-ray diffraction, synchrotron X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray absorption spectroscopy, and vibrating sample magnetometer. It was shown that all the samples have cubic structure. Lattice constant and grain size decrease, while the Curie temperature TC increases with increasing of Ni²⁺ content. A small amount of Fe²⁺ was found in all the samples. Cation distribution was determined by using a combination of magnetization measurements, extended X-ray absorption fine structure analysis, and Rietveld refinement from synchrotron X-ray diffraction data. It was indicated that Ni²⁺ ions occupy in octahedral site only, while Cu²⁺ ions distribute in both tetrahedral and octahedral sites. The variation of magnetic parameters is discussed based on Ni²⁺ concentration, grain size, the cation distribution, surface effect, and the presence of Fe²⁺ ion in the samples

Mechanical stretch and shear flow induced reorganization and recruitment of fibronectin in fibroblasts

It was our objective to study the role of mechanical stimulation on fibronectin (FN) reorganization and recruitment by exposing fibroblasts to shear fluid flow and equibiaxial stretch. Mechanical stimulation was also combined with a Rho inhibitor to probe their coupled effects on FN. Mechanically stimulated cells revealed a localization of FN around the cell periphery as well as an increase in FN fibril formation. Mechanical stimulation coupled with chemical stimulation also revealed an increase in FN fibrils around the cell periphery. Complimentary to this, fibroblasts exposed to fluid shear stress structurally rearranged pre-coated surface FN, but unstimulated and stretched cells did not. These results show that mechanical stimulation directly affected FN reorganization and recruitment, despite perturbation by chemical stimulation. Our findings will help elucidate the mechanisms of FN biosynthesis and organization by furthering the link of the role of mechanics with FN

Comparative Gene Expression Profiling of P. falciparum Malaria Parasites Exposed to Three Different Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors

Histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitors are being intensively pursued as potential new drugs for a range of diseases, including malaria. HDAC inhibitors are also important tools for the study of epigenetic mechanisms, transcriptional control, and other important cellular processes. In this study the effects of three structurally related antimalarial HDAC inhibitors on P. falciparum malaria parasite gene expression were compared. The three hydroxamate-based compounds, trichostatin A (TSA), suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid (SAHA; Vorinostat®) and a 2-aminosuberic acid derivative (2-ASA-9), all caused profound transcriptional effects, with ∼2–21% of genes having >2-fold altered expression following 2 h exposure to the compounds. Only two genes, alpha tubulin II and a hydrolase, were up-regulated by all three compounds after 2 h exposure in all biological replicates examined. The transcriptional changes observed after 2 h exposure to HDAC inhibitors were found to be largely transitory, with only 1–5% of genes being regulated after removing the compounds and culturing for a further 2 h. Despite some structural similarity, the three inhibitors caused quite diverse transcriptional effects, possibly reflecting subtle differences in mode of action or cellular distribution. This dataset represents an important contribution to our understanding of how HDAC inhibitors act on malaria parasites and identifies alpha tubulin II as a potential transcriptional marker of HDAC inhibition in malaria parasites that may be able to be exploited for future development of HDAC inhibitors as new antimalarial agents

Insulin resistance in Vietnamese subjects with essential arterial hypertension

International audienc

Splenic Artery Embolization in Conservative Management of Blunt Splenic Injury Graded by 2018 AAST-OIS: Results from a Hospital in Vietnam

Van Thang Nguyen,1,2,* Hong Duc Pham,2,3,* Van Phan Nguyen Thanh,4 Thanh Dung Le5,6 1Radiology Department, Hai Duong Medical Technical University, Hai Duong, Vietnam; 2Radiology Department, Hanoi Medical University, Hanoi, Vietnam; 3Radiology Department, Saint Paul Hospital, Hanoi, Vietnam; 4Department of Biochemistry, Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine, Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam; 5Radiology Department, Viet Duc University Hospital, Hanoi, Vietnam; 6Department of Radiology, VNU University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Hanoi, Vietnam*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Van Phan Nguyen Thanh, Department of biochemistry, Pham Ngoc Thach University of Medicine, 2 Duong Quang Trung Street, Ho Chi Minh city, 700000, Vietnam, Tel +84919691770, Email [email protected]: This study was conducted to evaluate the results of conservative management of blunt splenic trauma according to the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma-Organ Injury Scale (AAST-OIS) in 2018 by embolization.Methods: This observational study included 50 patients (42 men and 8 women) with splenic injury who underwent multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) and embolization.Results: According to the 2018 AAST-OIS, 27 cases had higher grades than they did according to the 1994 AAST-OIS. The grades of two cases of grade II increased to grade IV; those of 15 cases of grade III increased to grade IV; and four cases of grade IV increased to grade V. As a result, all patients underwent successful splenic embolization and were stable at discharge. No patients required re-embolization or conversion to splenectomy. The mean hospital stay was 11.8± 7 days (range, 6– 44 days), with no difference in length of hospital stay among grades of splenic injury (p > 0.05).Conclusion: Compared with the AAST-OIS 1994, the AAST-OIS 2018 classification is useful in making embolization decisions, regardless of the degree of blunt splenic injury with vascular lacerations visible on MDCT.Keywords: blunt splenic trauma, multidetector computed tomography, MDCT, splenic embolizatio

BudgetFix: budget limited crowdsourcing for interdependent task allocation with quality guarantees

Copyright © 2014, International Foundation for Autonomous Agents and Multiagent Systems (www.ifaamas.org). All rights reserved.Crowdsourcing is a multi-agent task allocation paradigm that involves up to millions of workers, of varying reliability and availability, performing large numbers of micro-tasks. A key challenge is to crowdsource, at minimal cost and with predictable accuracy, complex tasks that involve different types of interdependent micro-tasks structured into complex workflows. In this paper, we propose the first crowdsourcing algorithm that solves this problem. Our algorithm, called BudgetFix, determines the number of interdependent micro-tasks and the price to pay for each task given budget constraints. Moreover, BudgetFix provides quality guarantees on the accuracy of the output of each phase of a given workflow. BudgetFix is empirically evaluated on a well-known crowdsourcing-based text correction workflow using Amazon Mechanical Turk, and is shown that BudgetFix can provide similar accuracy, compared to the state-of-the-art algorithm for this workflow, but is on average 32% cheaper