Effect of super-optimal levels of fertilizers on soil enzymatic activities during growth stages of wheat crop on an Inceptisol

A field experiment was conducted during 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 to investigate the effect of optimal (100% NPK) to super-optimal doses (200% NPK) of mineral fertilizers on soil enzymes such as dehydrogenase (DHA), acid phosphatase (Ac-PA), alkaline phosphatase (Alk-PA), fluorescien diacetate hydrolysis (FDA), urease and nitrate reductase (NRA) at three physiological stages (CRI, anthesis and maturity) of wheat crop on an Inceptisol. Dehydrogenase activity was reduced by 28-37% when fertilizer application was at super-optimal dose (200% NPK), whereas, urease and NRA responded positively in the range of 43-44% and 213-231% respectively. Alk-PAwas 7.3-7.9% higher in treatments receiving 125% NPK as compared to control (100% NPK); whereas, Ac-PA declines in the plots receiving 175 and 200% of recommended dose of fertilizer (RDF) as compared to 150% NPK levels. Addition of 175% RDF increased the FDA to the tune of 46-53% as compared to 100% NPK. A significant (P?0.05) positive interaction between fertilizer treatments and physiological stages of wheat growth was observed on soil enzyme activities (except urease and NRA) being highest at the anthesis stage of wheat. Correlation matrix analysis showed that DHA was correlated with the studied enzyme activities except Ac-PA and FDA; whereas, strong correlation was observed between urease and NRA (r=0.981, P=0.01). This study provides theoretical and practical base for avoiding super optimal application of fertilisers which hinders the enzyme activities and vis-a-vis sustainable nutrient enrichment under rhizosphere

Targeted removal of blood cancer cells from mixed cell populations by cell recognition with matching particle imprints

We report a new approach for separation of blood cancer cells from healthy white blood cells based on cell recognition by surface functionalised particle imprints. We prepared polymeric particle imprints from a layer of suspension of monodisperse PMMA microbeads which closely match the size of in vitro cultured human leukaemia cells (HL60). The imprints were replicated on a large scale with UV curable polyurethane resin using nanoimprinting lithography and surface functionalized with a cationic polymer, a branched polyethylene imine (bPEI), and a Pluronic surfactant, Poloxamer 407, to engineer a weak attraction towards the cells. The latter is amplified several orders of magnitude when a cell of a closely matching size and shape fits into the imprint cavity which multiplies the contact area between the cell surface and the imprint. The particle imprints were optimised for their specificity toward blood cancer cells by treatment with oxygen plasma and then subsequent coatings with bPEI and Poloxamer 407 with various functionalisation concentrations. We tested the surface functionalised imprints for their specificity in retaining in vitro cultured human leukaemic cells (HL60) over healthy human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) in a flow through chamber. The effect of the flushing flow rate of the mixed cell suspension over the particle imprint and the imprint length were also investigated. At each step the selectivity towards HL60 was assessed. Selective isolation of an increased amount of HL60 tumour cells over PBMC was ultimately achieved as a function of the cell seeding ratio on the particle imprint. The effect is attributed to the substantial size difference between the HL60 cell and the PBMCs. The data presented show that relatively inexpensive PMMA microbeads imprints can be utilised as a cell separation technique which could ultimately lead to novel therapies for removal of neoplastic cells from the peripheral blood of acute myeloid leukaemia patients

Thermally responsive capillary suspensions

© 2017 American Chemical Society. We demonstrate that stimulus-responsive capillary-structured materials can be formed from hydrophobized calcium carbonate particles suspended in a non-polar phase (silicone oil) and bridged by very small amounts of a hydrogel as the secondary aqueous phase. Inclusion of thermally responsive polymers into the aqueous phase yielded a capillary-structured suspension whose rheology is controlled by a change in temperature and can increase its complex modulus by several orders of magnitude because of the gelation of the capillary bridges between the solid particles. We demonstrate that the rheology of the capillary suspension and its response upon temperature changes can be controlled by the gelling properties as little as 0.1 w/w % of the secondary aqueous phase containing 2 wt % of the gelling carbohydrate. Doping the secondary (aqueous) phase with methyl cellulose, which gels at elevated temperatures, gave capillary-structured materials whose viscosity and structural strength can increase by several orders of magnitude as the temperature is increased past the gelling temperature of the methyl cellulose solution. Increasing the methyl cellulose concentration from 0 to 2 w/w % in the secondary (aqueous) phase increases the complex modulus and the yield stress of the capillary suspension of 10 w/w % hydrophobized calcium carbonate in silicone oil by 2 orders of magnitude at a fixed temperature. By using an aqueous solution of a low melting point agarose as a secondary liquid phase, which melts as the temperature is raised, we produced capillary-structured materials whose viscosity and structural strength can decrease by several orders of magnitude as the temperature is increased past the melting temperature of the agarose solution. The development of thermally responsive capillary suspensions can find potential applications in structuring of smart home and personal care products as well as in temperature-triggered change in rheology and release of flavors in foods and actives in pharmaceutical formulations

Bioimprint aided cell recognition and depletion of human leukemic HL60 cells from peripheral blood

We report a large scale preparation of bioimprints of layers of cultured human leukemic HL60 cells which can perform cell shape and size recognition from a mixture with peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs). We demonstrate that the bioimprint-cell attraction combined with surface modification and flow rate control allows depletion of the HL60 cells from peripheral blood which can be used for development of alternative therapies of acute myeloid leukaemia (AML).AML is a clonal malignant proliferation of transformed, bone-marrow derived myeloid precursors. The disease is characterised by the rapid proliferation of the neoplastic cells (myeloblasts) resulting in failure of normal haematopoiesis with consequential bone marrow failure rapidly resulting in death if untreated.1–3 In the UK, overall survival is 16% 5 years from diagnosis. The prognosis is significantly worse in the elderly which is especially relevant as the majority of patients present over the age of 60 years.1,4–7 Therapy relies on 2–3 cycles of myeloablative chemotherapy followed by allogeneic stem cell transplants for a relatively small number of fit patients with poor prognostic features.8,9 This is accompanied by significant discomfort, and long therapy for AML is also associated with prolonged inpatient stays, considerable morbidity related to anaemia, sepsis and bleeding with an attributable mortality of 5–10%. The majority of patients relapse following induction of chemotherapy for AML and subsequent therapy is associated with a low probability of cure. Outcomes for AML patients have improved marginally over the past few decades, largely due to improvements in supportive care rather than dramatic improvements in the chemotherapeutic regimen's efficacy.10Bioimprinting is a promising area of materials chemistry aimed at mimicking and exploiting the lock-and-key interactions seen ubiquitously in nature.11–14 Cell recognition systems are relatively cheap and simple to produce with few stipulations on storage and shelf life when compared with biological interventions. The scope for possible targets is also much greater, being able to target polysaccharides, enzymes, aptamers, DNA sequences, antibodies and whole cells.12,15,16,21–24 Bioimprints of whole cells were first reported by Dickert et al.17 who imprinted yeast into a sol–gel matrix. When incubated with several strains of yeast, the substrates showed a high affinity to the template yeast strain. This effect was attributed to the large contact surface areas between the cells and the imprinted cavities. Other cell bioimprinting studies have progressed to cover a range of micro-organisms and human cells. Hayden et al.18 functionalised polyurethane with erythrocyte imprints, capable of discriminating between ABO blood groups. Though all cell targets possessed the same geometrical shape and size, imprints were able to discriminate on account of varied surface antigen expression. Subsequent studies were further able to discriminate cells with identical antibodies in different quantities to separate blood groups A1 and A2.19 Recent cell bioimprint studies largely focus on biosensor applications20,26 and are hindered by the small overall size of imprinted areas that can be produced which limits their applications for large scale extraction of targeted cells from cell mixtures. This research area is undergoing a rapid expansion towards using molecularly imprinted polymers as receptor mimics for selective cell recognition and sensing, and a recent review of size and shape targeting of cancer found no evidence so far of the use of cancer cell bioimprints in a therapeutic setting.11Here we utilised for the first time AML cell bioimprints on a large scale as a vehicle to selectively target myeloblasts due to the inherent size and morphological discrepancies compared to normal peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) (see Fig. S1, ESI†). We explore AML cells bioimprinting to develop a new method for depletion of myeloblasts from peripheral blood cells by introducing selectivity via bespoke cell size and shape discrimination aided by myeloblast-bioimprint interactions. Our idea is based on incorporating AML cells-imprinted substrates into a flow-through type of device which offers an alternative method for removal of the leukemic burden directly from patient blood. Successful leukophoresis can potentially be used more frequently in the extraction of myeloblasts from peripheral blood which is critical in stabilizing AML patients with leukostasis associated with hyperleuocytosis. By reducing the number of circulating tumour cells, the likelihood of early relapse is also diminished.25HL60 is an immortalized human cell line derived from peripheral blood lymphocytes of a patient suffering from acute promyleocytic leukaemia. HL60 was used as a very good proxy for primary (patient derived) myeloblast cells throughout our study due to their availability and ease of culture. Here we show how the desired HL60 cell bioimprints were produced from HL60 cell layers. We also discuss the integration of the produced myeloblast imprint in a PDMS-based flow-through cell, in which its selectivity towards HL60 cells over PBMCs is investigated (Fig. 1). We fabricated bioimprints by impressing a layer of cultured HL60 cells with a curable polymer, which captures information on the cell shape, size and morphology. These were further casted with another polymer to create a “positive imprint” whose surface matches the original cell layer. Using roll-to-roll printing from the positive replica we produced a very large area of HL60 cell imprints. We engineered the surface of the bioimprint to have a weak attraction with the cells, which is strongly amplified when there is a shape and size match between the individual cells and the imprinted surface. Due to inherent size and morphology differences between myeloblasts and normal blood cells, this resulted in much higher retention of the former on the bioimprint. This allows their selective trapping from peripheral blood based on cell shape and size recognition, much cheaper than using surface functionalisation with a combination of specific antibodies for myeloblasts. We tested the bioimprints selectivity in a device for depleting cultured HL60 cells from healthy white blood cells. This cell recognition technology can potentially deplete myeloblasts from the blood of AML patients and provide an alternative route for inducing minimal residual disease, which is associated with reduced relapses and improved patient outcomes

Azimuthal anisotropy and correlations in p+p, d+Au and Au+Au collisions at 200 GeV

We present the first measurement of directed flow ($v_1$) at RHIC. $v_1$ is found to be consistent with zero at pseudorapidities $\eta$ from -1.2 to 1.2, then rises to the level of a couple of percent over the range $2.4 < |\eta| < 4$. The latter observation is similar to data from NA49 if the SPS rapidities are shifted by the difference in beam rapidity between RHIC and SPS. Back-to-back jets emitted out-of-plane are found to be suppressed more if compared to those emitted in-plane, which is consistent with {\it jet quenching}. Using the scalar product method, we systematically compared azimuthal correlations from p+p, d+Au and Au+Au collisions. Flow and non-flow from these three different collision systems are discussed.Comment: Quark Matter 2004 proceeding, 4 pages, 3 figure

Azimuthal anisotropy: the higher harmonics

We report the first observations of the fourth harmonic (v_4) in the azimuthal distribution of particles at RHIC. The measurement was done taking advantage of the large elliptic flow generated at RHIC. The integrated v_4 is about a factor of 10 smaller than v_2. For the sixth (v_6) and eighth (v_8) harmonics upper limits on the magnitudes are reported.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figures, contribution to the Quark Matter 2004 proceeding

Strange Resonance Production in p+p and Au+Au Collisions at RHIC Energies

Resonance yields and spectra from elementary p+p and Au+Au collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} =$ 200 GeV from the STAR experiment at RHIC are presented and discussed in terms of chemical and thermal freeze-out conditions. Thermal models do not adequately describe the yields of the resonance production in central Au+Au collisions. The approach to include elastic hadronic interactions between chemical freeze-out and thermal freeze-out suggests a time of $\Delta \tau>$5 fm/c.Comment: 4 pages, 7 figures, proceedings of the Quark Matter 2004, in Oakland, California, to be published in Journal of Physics G: Nuclear and Particle Physic

Identified particles at large transverse momenta in STAR in Au+Au collisions @ sqrt(s_NN) = 200 GeV

We report measurements of the ratios of identified hadrons (pi,K,p,Lambda) in Au+Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 200 GeV as a function of both collision centrality and transverse momentum (p_T). Ratios of anti-baryon to baryon yields are independent of p_T within 2<p_T <6 GeV/c indicating that, for such a range, our measurements are inconsistent with theoretical pQCD calculations predicting a decrease due to a stronger contribution from valence quark scattering. For both strange and non-strange species, a strong baryon enhancement relative to meson yields is observed as a function of collision centrality in this intermediate p_T region, leading to p/pi and Lambda/K ratios greater than unity. The nuclear modification factor, R_cp (central relative to peripheral collisions), is used to illustrate the interplay between jet quenching and hadron production. The physics implications of these measurements are discussed with reference to different theoretical models.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures. Proceedings of Quark Matter 2004 Conference, Jan 2004, Oakland, USA. Submitted to Journal of Physics

High-pTp_{T} electron distributions in d+Au and p+p collisions at RHIC

We present preliminary measurements of electron and positron spectra in d+Au and p+p collisions at $\sqrt{s_{NN}}=200$ GeV for $1.5 < p_{T} < 7.0$ GeV/c. These measurements were carried out using the STAR Time Projection Chamber (TPC) and the Barrel Electromagnetic calorimeter (EMC). Overall hadron rejection factors in the range of $10^{5}$ have been achieved. In this work we describe the measurement technique used to discriminate electrons from hadrons and compare the results for single electron spectra with Pythia based pQCD calculations for electrons from heavy-quark semi-leptonic decays.Comment: Quark Matter 2004 conference proceeding

Plasma Wakefield Acceleration with a Modulated Proton Bunch

The plasma wakefield amplitudes which could be achieved via the modulation of a long proton bunch are investigated. We find that in the limit of long bunches compared to the plasma wavelength, the strength of the accelerating fields is directly proportional to the number of particles in the drive bunch and inversely proportional to the square of the transverse bunch size. The scaling laws were tested and verified in detailed simulations using parameters of existing proton accelerators, and large electric fields were achieved, reaching 1 GV/m for LHC bunches. Energy gains for test electrons beyond 6 TeV were found in this case.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figure