On the Upper Bound of Non-Thermal Fusion Reactivity with Fixed Total Energy

Fusion reactivity represents the integration of fusion cross-sections and the velocity distributions of two reactants. In this study, we investigate the upper bound of fusion reactivity for a non-thermal reactant coexisting with a thermal Maxwellian background reactant while maintaining a constant total energy. Our optimization approach involves fine-tuning the velocity distribution of the non-thermal reactant. We employ both Lagrange multiplier and Monte Carlo methods to analyze Deuterium-Tritium (D-T) and Proton-Boron11 (p-B11) fusion scenarios. Our findings demonstrate that, within the relevant range of fusion energy, the maximum fusion reactivity can often surpass that of the conventional Maxwellian-Maxwellian reactants case by a substantial margin, ranging from 50\% to 300\%. These enhancements are accompanied by distinctive distribution functions for the non-thermal reactant, characterized by one or multiple beams. These results not only establish an upper limit for fusion reactivity but also provide valuable insights into augmenting fusion reactivity through non-thermal fusion, which holds particular significance in the realm of fusion energy research.Comment: 10 pages, 9 figure

“Soft” Calcium Crosslinks Enable Highly Efficient Gene Transfection Using TAT Peptide

The original publication is available at www.springerlink.comPurpose Typically, low molecular weight cationic peptides or polymers exhibit poor transfection efficiency due to an inability to condense plasmid DNA into small nanoparticles. Here, efficient gene delivery was attained using TAT/pDNA complexes containing calcium crosslinks. Methods Electrostatic complexes of pDNA with TAT or PEI were studied with increasing calcium concentration. Gel electrophoresis was used to determine DNA condensation. The morphology of the complexes was probed by transmission electron microscopy. Transfection efficiency was assessed using a luciferase reporter plasmid. The accessibility of phosphate and amine groups within complexes was evaluated to determine the effect of calcium on structure. Results TAT/pDNA complexes were condensed into small, 50–100 nm particles by optimizing the concentration of calcium. Complexes optimized for small size also exhibited higher transfection efficiency than PEI polyplexes in A549 cells. TAT and TAT complexes displayed negligible cytotoxicity up to 5 mg/mL, while PEI exhibited high cytotoxicity, as expected. Probing the TAT-Ca/pDNA structure suggested that calcium interacted with both phosphate and amine groups to compact the complexes; however, these “soft” crosslinks could be competitively disrupted to facilitate DNA release. Conclusion Small and stable TAT-Ca/pDNA complexes were obtained via “soft” calcium crosslinks leading to sustained gene expression levels higher than observed for control PEI gene vectors. TAT-Ca/pDNA complexes were stable, maintaining particle size and transfection efficiency even in the presence of 10% of FBS. TAT-Ca complexes offer an effective vehicle offering potential for translatable gene delivery

Laboratory study on low-temperature coal spontaneous combustion in the air of reduced oxygen and low methane concentration

Provedena su laboratorijska ispitivanju u svrhu proučavanja spontanog izgaranja ugljena na niskoj temperaturi (30 ÷ 200 °C) u zraku s reduciranim kisikom (10 ÷ 21 %) i niskim koncentracijama metana (0 ÷ 3 %). Analiziralo se stvaranje ugljičnog monoksida kod spontanog izgaranja ugljena. Rezultati ispitivanja pokazuju da i koncentracije kisika i metana djeluju na spontano izgaranje ugljena. Pri datoj koncentraciji kisika koncentracija metana u zraku je imala pozitivan učinak na spontano izgaranje ugljena, a učinak se povećao s koncentracijom metana. Taj je učinak oslabio i smanjio se porastom temperature. Početna je temperature ugljičnog dioksida, kod koje se ugljični monoksid počeo javljati, porasla smanjenjem koncentracije kisika u zraku, a porast je donekle smanjen povećanjem koncentracije metana u zraku. Međutim, kako se koncentracija kisika smanjivala do određene vrijednosti, koncentracija metana je pokazivala malo ili nikakvog utjecaja na spontano izgaranje ugljena. Uzete su u obzir karakteristike ugljena kod niske temperature sorpcije kisika i metana kako bi se objasnili rezultati. Dobiveni rezultati su od posebne koristi u predviđanju i praćenju spontanog izgaranja ugljena u plinovitim ugljenokopima.Laboratory tests were conducted to study coal spontaneous combustion at low-temperature (30 ÷ 200 °C) in the air of reduced oxygen (10 ÷ 21 %) and low methane concentrations (0 ÷ 3 %). The production of carbon monoxide in coal spontaneous combustion was analysed. The test results show that both oxygen and methane concentrations affect coal spontaneous combustion. At given oxygen concentration the methane concentration in air had a positive impact on coal spontaneous combustion and the impact increased with methane concentration. This impact was weakened and diminished with the rise of temperature. The initial carbon dioxide temperate at which carbon monoxide started to appear increased with the reduction of oxygen concentration in the air and the increase was somewhat negated by the presence of increased methane concentration in air. However, as the oxygen concentration reduced to a certain value, methane concentration showed little or no influence on coal spontaneous combustion. The low temperature sorption characteristics of oxygen and methane by coal were applied to explain the results. The findings in this study are particularly useful in the prediction and control of coal spontaneous combustion in gassy coal mines

Bis(μ-4-nitro­phthalato)bis­[diaqua­(1,10-phenanthroline)manganese(II)]

In the title compound, [Mn2(C8H3NO6)2(C12H8N2)2(H2O)4], the MnII atom in the centrosymmetric binuclear unit has a distorted octa­hedral geometry and is coordinated by a chelating 1,10-phenanthroline ligand, two monodentate carboxyl­ate anions from two 4-nitro­phthalates and two coordinated water mol­ecules. The two MnII ions in the mol­ecule are bridged by two 4-nitro­phthalate anions, both in a bis-monodentate mode, which finally leads to the formation of the binuclear unit. Intra­molecular O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds between the coordinated and uncoordinated O atoms of one monodentate carboxyl­ate group and the corresponding coordinated water mol­ecules result in an eight-membered and two six-membered rings. In the crystal structure, inter­molecular O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds link the dinuclear mol­ecules into supra­molecular chains propagating parallel to [100]

ICAM-1 Targeting of Doxorubicin-Loaded PLGA Nanoparticles to Lung Epithelial Cells

Interaction of leukocyte function associated antigen-1 (LFA-1) on T-lymphoctytes and intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1) on epithelial cells controls leukocyte adhesion, spreading, and extravasation. This process plays an important role in leukocyte recruitment to a specific site of inflammation and has been indentified as a biomarker for certain types of carcinomas. Cyclo-(1,12)-PenITDGEATDSGC (cLABL) has been shown to inhibit LFA-1 and ICAM-1 interaction via binding to ICAM-1. In addition, cLABL has been shown to internalize after binding ICAM-1. The possibility of using cLABL conjugated nanoparticles (cLABL-NP) as a targeted and controlled release drug delivery system has been investigated in this study. The cLABL peptide was conjugated to a modified Pluronic® surfactant on poly (DL-lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) nanoparticles. The cLABL-NP showed more rapid cellular uptake by A549 lung epithelial cells compared to nanoparticles without peptide. The specificity of ICAM-1 mediated internalization was confirmed by blocking the uptake of cLABL-NP to ICAM-1 using free cLABL peptide to block the binding of cLABL-NP to ICAM-1 on the cell surface. Cell studies suggested that cLABL-NPs targeted encapsulated doxorubicin to ICAM-1 expressing cells. Cytotoxicity assay confirmed the activity of the drug incorporated in nanoparticles. Sustained release of doxorubicin afforded by PLGA nanoparticles may enable cLABL-NP as a targeted, controlled release drug delivery system

Identification and target prediction of miRNAs specifically expressed in rat neural tissue

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a large group of RNAs that play important roles in regulating gene expression and protein translation. Several studies have indicated that some miRNAs are specifically expressed in human, mouse and zebrafish tissues. For example, miR-1 and miR-133 are specifically expressed in muscles. Tissue-specific miRNAs may have particular functions. Although previous studies have reported the presence of human, mouse and zebrafish tissue-specific miRNAs, there have been no detailed reports of rat tissue-specific miRNAs. In this study, Home-made rat miRNA microarrays which established in our previous study were used to investigate rat neural tissue-specific miRNAs, and mapped their target genes in rat tissues. This study will provide information for the functional analysis of these miRNAs.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In order to obtain as complete a picture of specific miRNA expression in rat neural tissues as possible, customized miRNA microarrays with 152 selected miRNAs from miRBase were used to detect miRNA expression in 14 rat tissues. After a general clustering analysis, 14 rat tissues could be clearly classified into neural and non-neural tissues based on the obtained expression profiles with p values < 0.05. The results indicated that the miRNA profiles were different in neural and non-neural tissues. In total, we found 30 miRNAs that were specifically expressed in neural tissues. For example, miR-199a was specifically expressed in neural tissues. Of these, the expression patterns of four miRNAs were comparable with those of Landgraf et al., Bak et al., and Kapsimani et al. Thirty neural tissue-specific miRNAs were chosen to predict target genes. A total of 1,475 target mRNA were predicted based on the intersection of three public databases, and target mRNA's pathway, function, and regulatory network analysis were performed. We focused on target enrichments of the dorsal root ganglion (DRG) and olfactory bulb. There were four Gene Ontology (GO) functions and five KEGG pathways significantly enriched in DRG. Only one GO function was significantly enriched in the olfactory bulb. These targets are all predictions and have not been experimentally validated.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our work provides a global view of rat neural tissue-specific miRNA profiles and a target map of miRNAs, which is expected to contribute to future investigations of miRNA regulatory mechanisms in neural systems.</p

Reconfigurable Dual Peptide Tethered Polymer System Offers a Synergistic Solution for Next Generation Dental Adhesives

Resin-based composite materials have been widely used in restorative dental materials due to their aesthetic, mechanical, and physical properties. However, they still encounter clinical shortcomings mainly due to recurrent decay that develops at the composite-tooth interface. The low-viscosity adhesive that bonds the composite to the tooth is intended to seal this interface, but the adhesive seal is inherently defective and readily damaged by acids, enzymes, and oral fluids. Bacteria infiltrate the resulting gaps at the composite-tooth interface and bacterial by-products demineralize the tooth and erode the adhesive. These activities lead to wider and deeper gaps that provide an ideal environment for bacteria to proliferate. This complex degradation process mediated by several biological and environmental factors damages the tooth, destroys the adhesive seal, and ultimately, leads to failure of the composite restoration. This paper describes a co-tethered dual peptide-polymer system to address composite-tooth interface vulnerability. The adhesive system incorporates an antimicrobial peptide to inhibit bacterial attack and a hydroxyapatite-binding peptide to promote remineralization of damaged tooth structure. A designer spacer sequence was incorporated into each peptide sequence to not only provide a conjugation site for methacrylate (MA) monomer but also to retain active peptide conformations and enhance the display of the peptides in the material. The resulting MA-antimicrobial peptides and MA-remineralization peptides were copolymerized into dental adhesives formulations. The results on the adhesive system composed of co-tethered peptides demonstrated both strong metabolic inhibition of S. mutans and localized calcium phosphate remineralization. Overall, the result offers a reconfigurable and tunable peptide-polymer hybrid system as next-generation adhesives to address composite-tooth interface vulnerability