348 research outputs found
Modeling The Nucleosynthesis Of Massive Stars
This overview discusses issues relevant to modeling nucleosynthesis in type
II supernovae and implications of detailed studies of the ejecta. After a brief
presentation of the most common approaches to stellar evolution and
parameterized explosions, the relevance of a number of nuclei to obtain
information on the evolution and explosion mechanisms is discussed. The paper
is concluded by an outlook on multi-dimensional simulations.Comment: Invited talk at the workshop "Astronomy with Radioactivities IV",
Seeon, Germany, June 2003; 6 pages, to appear in New Astronomy Review
On the origin of HE0107-5240, the most iron deficient star presently known
We show that the "puzzling" chemical composition observed in the extremely
metal poor star HE0107-5240 may be naturally explained by the concurrent
pollution of at least two supernovae. In the simplest possible model a
supernova of quite low mass (~15 Msun), underwent a "normal" explosion and
ejected ~0.06 Msun of 56Ni while a second one was massive enough (~35 Msun) to
experience a strong fall back that locked in a compact remnant all the
carbon-oxygen core. In a more general scenario, the pristine gas clouds were
polluted by one or more supernovae of relatively low mass (less than ~25 Msun).
The successive explosion of a quite massive star experiencing an extended fall
back would have largely raised the abundances of the light elements in its
close neighborhood.Comment: 10 pages; 3 figures; accepted for publication in the The
Astrophysical Journal Letter
Role of glutathionylation in infection and inflammation
Glutathionylation, that is, the formation of mixed disulfides between protein cysteines and
glutathione (GSH) cysteines, is a reversible post-translational modification catalyzed by dierent
cellular oxidoreductases, by which the redox state of the cell modulates protein function. So far, most
studies on the identification of glutathionylated proteins have focused on cellular proteins, including
proteins involved in host response to infection, but there is a growing number of reports showing
that microbial proteins also undergo glutathionylation, with modification of their characteristics and
functions. In the present review, we highlight the signaling role of GSH through glutathionylation,
particularly focusing on microbial (viral and bacterial) glutathionylated proteins (GSSPs) and host
GSSPs involved in the immune/inflammatory response to infection; moreover, we discuss the
biological role of the process in microbial infections and related host responses
The origin of HE0107-5240 and the production of O and Na in extremely metal-poor stars
We elaborate the binary scenario for the origin of HE0107-5240, the most
metal-poor star yet observed ([Fe/H] = -5.3), using current knowledge of the
evolution of extremely metal-poor stars. From the observed C/N value, we
estimate the binary separation and period. Nucleosynthesis in a helium
convective zone into which hydrogen has been injected allows us to discuss the
origin of surface O and Na as well as the abundance distribution of s-process
elements. We can explain the observed abundances of 12C, 13C, N, O, and Na and
predict future observations to validate the Pop III nature of HE0107-5240.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, proceedings of the conference, "Nuclei in the
Cosmos VIII", Nuclear Physics A in pres
Drug delivery applications of three-dimensional printed (3DP) mesoporous scaffolds
Mesoporous materials are structures characterized by a well-ordered large pore system with uniform porous dimensions ranging between 2 and 50 nm. Typical samples are zeolite, carbon molecular sieves, porous metal oxides, organic and inorganic porous hybrid and pillared materials, silica clathrate and clathrate hydrates compounds. Improvement in biochemistry and materials science led to the design and implementation of different types of porous materials ranging from rigid to soft two-dimensional (2D) and three-dimensional (3D) skeletons. The present review focuses on the use of three-dimensional printed (3DP) mesoporous scaffolds suitable for a wide range of drug delivery applications, due to their intrinsic high surface area and high pore volume. In the first part, the importance of the porosity of materials employed for drug delivery application was discussed focusing on mesoporous materials. At the end of the introduction, hard and soft templating synthesis for the realization of ordered 2D/3D mesostructured porous materials were described. In the second part, 3DP fabrication techniques, including fused deposition modelling, material jetting as inkjet printing, electron beam melting, selective laser sintering, stereolithography and digital light processing, electrospinning, and two-photon polymerization were described. In the last section, through recent bibliographic research, a wide number of 3D printed mesoporous materials, for in vitro and in vivo drug delivery applications, most of which relate to bone cells and tissues, were presented and summarized in a table in which all the technical and bibliographical details were reported. This review highlights, to a very cross-sectional audience, how the interdisciplinarity of certain branches of knowledge, as those of materials science and nano-microfabrication are, represent a growing valuable aid in the advanced forum for the science and technology of pharmaceutics and biopharmaceutics
The shielding effect of phospholipidic bilayers on zinc oxide nanocrystals for biomedical applications
Zinc oxide nanocrystals (ZnO NCs), thanks to their unique properties, are receiving much attention for their use in nanomedicine, in particular for therapy against cancer [1]. To be efficiently employed as diagnostic and therapeutic (yet theranostic) tools [2], highly dispersed, stable and non-toxic nanoparticles are required. In the case of ZnO NCs, there is still a lack of knowledge about cytotoxicity mechanisms and stability in the biological context, as well as immunological response and haemocompatible features.
Most of these above-mentioned behaviours strongly depends on physico-chemical and surface properties of the nanoparticles. We thus propose a novel approach to stabilize the ZnO NCs in various biological media, focusing on NC aggregation and biodegradation as a function of the surface functionalization.
We synthesized bare ZnO NCs, amino-propyl functionalized ones, and lipid bilayer-shielded NCs, and we characterized their morphological, chemical and physical properties. The stability behavior of the three different samples was evaluated, comparing their biodegradation profiles in different media, i.e. organic solvents, water, and different simulated and biological fluids. The studies aim to investigate how the particle surface functionalizations, and thus chemistry and charge, could influence their hydrodynamic size, zeta potential and consequent aggregation and degradation in the different solvents. We demonstrated that bare and amino-functionalized ZnO NCs strongly and rapidly aggregate when suspended in both simulated and biological media. Long-term biodegradation analysis showed small dissolution into potentially cytotoxic Zn-cations, also slightly affecting their crystalline structure. In contrast, high colloidal stability and integrity was retained for lipid-shielded ZnO NCs in all media, rendering them the ideal candidates for further theranostic applications [3].
[1] P. Zhu, Z. Weng, X. Li, X. Liu, S. Wu Adv. Mater. Interfaces 3 (2016) 1500494.
[2] E. Lim, T. Kim, S. Paik, S. Haam, Y. Huh, and K. Lee, Chem. Rev. 115 (2015) 327â394.
[3] B. Dumontel, M. Canta, H. Engelke, A. Chiodoni, L. Racca, A. Ancona, T. Limongi, G. Canavese and V. Cauda, J. Mater. Chem. B, under review
The support from ERC Starting Grant â Project N. 678151 âTrojananohorseâ and Compagnia di Sanpaolo are gratefully acknowledged
Biodegradable and drug-eluting inorganic composites based on mesoporous zinc oxide for urinary stent applications
Conventional technologies for ureteral stent fabrication suffer from major inconveniences such as the development of encrustations and bacteria biofilm formation. These drawbacks typically lead to the failure of the device, significant patient discomfort and an additional surgery to remove and replace the stent in the worst cases. This work focuses on the preparation of a new nanocomposite material able to show drug elution properties, biodegradation and eventually potential antibacterial activity. Poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) or the crosslinked poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate)-co-poly(acrylic acid) hydrogels were prepared by the radical polymerization method and combined with a biodegradable and antibacterial filling agent, i.e., flower-like Zinc Oxide (ZnO) micropowders obtained via the hydrothermal route. The physico-chemical analyses revealed the correct incorporation of ZnO within the hydrogel matrix and its highly mesoporous structure and surface area, ideal for drug incorporation. Two different anti-inflammatory drugs (Ibuprofen and Diclofenac) were loaded within each composite and the release profile was monitored up to two weeks in artificial urine (AU) and even at different pH values in AU to simulate pathological conditions. The addition of mesoporous ZnO micropowders to the hydrogel did not negatively affect the drug loading properties of the hydrogel and it was successfully allowed to mitigate undesirable burst-release effects. Furthermore, the sustained release of the drugs over time was observed at neutral pH, with kinetic constants (k) as low as 0.05 h-1. By exploiting the pH-tunable swelling properties of the hydrogel, an even more sustained release was achieved in acidic and alkaline conditions especially at short release times, with a further reduction of burst effects (k â 0.01-0.02 h-1). The nanocomposite system herein proposed represents a new material formulation for preparing innovative drug eluting stents with intrinsic antibacterial properties
The Peculiar Type Ib Supernova 2006jc: A WCO Wolf-Rayet Star Explosion
We present a theoretical model for Type Ib supernova (SN) 2006jc. We
calculate the evolution of the progenitor star, hydrodynamics and
nucleosynthesis of the SN explosion, and the SN bolometric light curve (LC).
The synthetic bolometric LC is compared with the observed bolometric LC
constructed by integrating the UV, optical, near-infrared (NIR), and
mid-infrared (MIR) fluxes. The progenitor is assumed to be as massive as
on the zero-age main-sequence. The star undergoes extensive mass
loss to reduce its mass down to as small as , thus becoming a WCO
Wolf-Rayet star. The WCO star model has a thick carbon-rich layer, in which
amorphous carbon grains can be formed. This could explain the NIR brightening
and the dust feature seen in the MIR spectrum. We suggest that the progenitor
of SN 2006jc is a WCO Wolf-Rayet star having undergone strong mass loss and
such massive stars are the important sites of dust formation. We derive the
parameters of the explosion model in order to reproduce the bolometric LC of SN
2006jc by the radioactive decays: the ejecta mass , hypernova-like
explosion energy ergs, and ejected Ni mass . We
also calculate the circumstellar interaction and find that a CSM with a flat
density structure is required to reproduce the X-ray LC of SN 2006jc. This
suggests a drastic change of the mass-loss rate and/or the wind velocity that
is consistent with the past luminous blue variable (LBV)-like event.Comment: 12 pages, 11 figures. Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical
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