719 research outputs found
Surface engineered carboxymethylchitosan/poly(amidoamine) dendrimer nanoparticles for intracellular targeting
Novel highly branched biodegradable macromolecular systems have been developed by grafting carboxymethylchitosan
(CMCht) onto low generation poly(amidoamine) (PAMAM) dendrimers. Such structures organize into sphere-like nanoparticles
that are proposed to be used as carriers to deliver bioactive molecules aimed at controlling the behavior of stem cells,
namely their proliferation and differentiation. The nanoparticles did not exhibit significant cytotoxicity in the range of
concentrations below 1 mg mL"1, and fluorescent probe labeled nanoparticles were found to be internalized with highly
efficiency by both human osteoblast-like cells and rat bone marrow stromal cells, under fluorescence-activated cell sorting and
fluorescence microscopy analyses. Dexamethasone (Dex) has been incorporated into CMCht/PAMAM dendrimer nanoparticles
and release rates were determined by high performance liquid chromatography. Moreover, the biochemical data demonstrates
that the Dex-loaded CMCht/PAMAM dendrimer nanoparticles promote the osteogenic differentiation of rat bone marrow
stromal cells, in vitro. The nanoparticles exhibit interesting physicochemical and biological properties and have great potential to
be used in fundamental cell biology studies as well as in a variety of biomedical applications, including tissue engineering and
regenerative medicine
Precision Electron-Beam Polarimetry using Compton Scattering at 1 GeV
We report on the highest precision yet achieved in the measurement of the
polarization of a low energy, (1 GeV), electron beam, accomplished
using a new polarimeter based on electron-photon scattering, in Hall~C at
Jefferson Lab. A number of technical innovations were necessary, including a
novel method for precise control of the laser polarization in a cavity and a
novel diamond micro-strip detector which was able to capture most of the
spectrum of scattered electrons. The data analysis technique exploited track
finding, the high granularity of the detector and its large acceptance. The
polarization of the A, ~GeV electron beam was measured with a
statistical precision of ~1\% per hour and a systematic uncertainty of
0.59\%. This exceeds the level of precision required by the \qweak experiment,
a measurement of the vector weak charge of the proton. Proposed future
low-energy experiments require polarization uncertainty ~0.4\%, and this
result represents an important demonstration of that possibility. This
measurement is also the first use of diamond detectors for particle tracking in
an experiment.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures, published in PR
Strange Quark Contributions to Parity-Violating Asymmetries in the Backward Angle G0 Electron Scattering Experiment
We have measured parity-violating asymmetries in elastic electron-proton and
quasi-elastic electron-deuteron scattering at Q^2 = 0.22 and 0.63 GeV^2. They
are sensitive to strange quark contributions to currents in the nucleon, and to
the nucleon axial current. The results indicate strange quark contributions of
< 10% of the charge and magnetic nucleon form factors at these four-momentum
transfers. We also present the first measurement of anapole moment effects in
the axial current at these four-momentum transfers.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, changed references, typo, and conten
Article Real-Time Monitoring of Protein Complexes Reveals their Quaternary Organization and Dynamics
SUMMARY The dynamics of protein complexes are crucial for their function yet are challenging to study. Here, we present a nanoelectrospray (nESI) mass spectrometry (MS) approach capable of simultaneously providing structural and dynamical information for protein complexes. We investigate the properties of two small heat shock proteins (sHSPs) and find that these proteins exist as dodecamers composed of dimeric building blocks. Moreover, we show that these proteins exchange dimers on the timescale of minutes, with the rate of exchange being strongly temperature dependent. Because these proteins are expressed in the same cellular compartment, we anticipate that this dynamical behavior is crucial to their function in vivo. Furthermore, we propose that the approach used here is applicable to a range of nonequilibrium systems and is capable of providing both structural and dynamical information necessary for functional genomics
Transverse Beam Spin Asymmetries at Backward Angles in Elastic Electron-Proton and Quasi-elastic Electron-Deuteron Scattering
We have measured the beam-normal single-spin asymmetries in elastic
scattering of transversely polarized electrons from the proton, and performed
the first measurement in quasi-elastic scattering on the deuteron, at backward
angles (lab scattering angle of 108 degrees) for Q2 = 0.22 GeV^2/c^2 and 0.63
GeV^2/c^2 at beam energies of 362 MeV and 687 MeV, respectively. The asymmetry
arises due to the imaginary part of the interference of the two-photon exchange
amplitude with that of single photon exchange. Results for the proton are
consistent with a model calculation which includes inelastic intermediate
hadronic (piN) states. An estimate of the beam-normal single-spin asymmetry for
the scattering from the neutron is made using a quasi-static deuterium
approximation, and is also in agreement with theory
Processfolio: uniting Academic Literacies and Critical Emancipatory Action Research for practitioner-led inquiry into EAP writing assessment
This paper reports on the design and implementation of an alternative form of writing assessment on a UK English for Academic Purposes (EAP) presessional course. The assessment, termed processfolio, was a response to research inquiry into how writing assessment in a local context negated student agency and inculcated disempowering models of teaching and learning academic writing. The project merged an Academic Literacies approach to writing (Lea and Street, 1998) with a Critical Emancipatory Action Research (Carr and Kemmis, 1986) framework and a Critical Realist(Bhaskar, 1989) perspective. Data collected from the folios and interviews with students and teachers on their experiences of the processfolio found that a small scale intervention has potential for agency to be exercised within the highly constrained context of a UK EAP pre-sessional. New directions in research are proposed which can engage students and teachers to work for change in UK EAP assessment within their internal and external constraints
Production of highly-polarized positrons using polarized electrons at MeV energies
The Polarized Electrons for Polarized Positrons experiment at the injector of
the Continuous Electron Beam Accelerator Facility has demonstrated for the
first time the efficient transfer of polarization from electrons to positrons
produced by the polarized bremsstrahlung radiation induced by a polarized
electron beam in a high- target. Positron polarization up to 82\% have been
measured for an initial electron beam momentum of 8.19~MeV/, limited only by
the electron beam polarization. This technique extends polarized positron
capabilities from GeV to MeV electron beams, and opens access to polarized
positron beam physics to a wide community.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
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