General Relativistic MHD Simulations of the Gravitational Collapse of a Rotating Star with Magnetic Field as a Model of Gamma-Ray Bursts

We have performed 2.5-dimensional general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations of the gravitational collapse of a magnetized rotating massive star as a model of gamma ray bursts (GRBs). This simulation showed the formation of a disk-like structure and the generation of a jet-like outflow inside the shock wave launched at the core bounce. We have found the jet is accelerated by the magnetic pressure and the centrifugal force and is collimated by the pinching force of the toroidal magnetic field amplified by the rotation and the effect of geometry of the poloidal magnetic field. The maximum velocity of the jet is mildly relativistic ($\sim$ 0.3 c).Comment: 4 pages, 1 figure, aipTEX, contribution to the 2003 GRB Conference, held at Santa Fe, N

Essential gene pathways for glioblastoma stem cells: clinical implications for prevention of tumor recurrence.

Glioblastoma (World Health Organization/WHO grade IV) is the most common and most aggressive adult glial tumor. Patients with glioblastoma, despite being treated with gross total resection and post-operative radiation/chemotherapy, will almost always develop tumor recurrence. Glioblastoma stem cells (GSC), a minor subpopulation within the tumor mass, have been recently characterized as tumor-initiating cells and hypothesized to be responsible for post-treatment recurrence because of their enhanced radio-/chemo-resistant phenotype and ability to reconstitute tumors in mouse brains. Genome-wide expression profile analysis uncovered molecular properties of GSC distinct from their differentiated, proliferative progeny that comprise the majority of the tumor mass. In contrast to the hyperproliferative and hyperangiogenic phenotype of glioblastoma tumors, GSC possess neuroectodermal properties and express genes associated with neural stem cells, radial glial cells, and neural crest cells, as well as portray a migratory, quiescent, and undifferentiated phenotype. Thus, cell cycle-targeted radio-chemotherapy, which aims to kill fast-growing tumor cells, may not completely eliminate glioblastoma tumors. To prevent tumor recurrence, a strategy targeting essential gene pathways of GSC must be identified and incorporated into the standard treatment regimen. Identifying intrinsic and extrinsic cues by which GSC maintain stemness properties and sustain both tumorigenesis and anti-apoptotic features may provide new insights into potentially curative strategies for treating brain cancers

Extraskeletal Osteosarcoma of the Thigh: An Autopsy Case Report

We report a case of extraskeletal osteosarcoma (ESOS) and autopsy findings. A 35-year-old man presented with an ossified tumor in the right thigh and lung metastasis. The lung tumors continued to develop despite multiagent chemotherapy and caused death within 8 months. Autopsy revealed many secondary lesions in the lungs, especially in the left lung. Histopathologically, the primary tumor and one of the secondary tumors showed proliferation of spindle-shaped tumor cells focally forming lace-like osteoid material. Therefore, we made a definite diagnosis of ESOS

General Relativistic Magnetohydrodynamic Simulations of Collapsars

We have performed 2.5-dimensional general relativistic magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations of the gravitational collapse of a magnetized rotating massive star as a model of gamma ray bursts (GRBs). The current calculation focuses on general relativistic MHD with simplified microphysics (we ignore neutrino cooling, physical equation of state, and photodisintegration). Initially, we assume that the core collapse has failed in this star. A few $M_{\odot}$ black hole is inserted by hand into the calculation. The simulations presented in the paper follow the accretion of gas into a black hole that is assumed to have formed before the calculation begins.The simulation results show the formation of a disk-like structure and the generation of a jetlike outflow inside the shock wave launched at the core bounce. We have found that the jet is accelerated by the magnetic pressure and the centrifugal force and is collimated by the pinching force of the toroidal magnetic field amplified by the rotation and the effect of geometry of the poloidal magnetic field. The maximum velocity of the jet is mildly relativistic (0.3c). The velocity of the jet becomes larger as the initial rotational velocity of stellar matter gets faster. On the other hand, the dependence on the initial magnetic field strength is a bit more complicated: the velocity of the jet increases with the initial field strength in the weak field regime, then is saturated at some intermediate field strength, and decreases beyond the critical field strength. These results are related to the stored magnetic energy determined by the balance between the propagation time of the Alfven wave and the rotation time of the disk (or twisting time).Comment: 36 pages, 2 tables, 15 figures, ApJ May 2004, in pres

Phase segregated Cu₂₋ₓSe/Ni₃Se₄ bimetallic selenide nanocrystals formed through the cation exchange reaction for active water oxidation precatalysts

Control over the composition and nanostructure of solid electrocatalysts is quite important for drastic improvement of their performance. The cation exchange reaction of nanocrystals (NCs) has been reported as the way to provide metastable crystal structures and complicated functional nanostructures that are not accessible by conventional synthetic methods. Herein we demonstrate the cation exchange-derived formation of metastable spinel Ni₃Se₄NCs (sp-Ni₃Se₄) and phase segregated berzelianite Cu₂₋ₓSe (ber-Cu₂₋ₓSe)/sp-Ni₃Se₄ heterostructured NCs as active oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalysts. A rare sp-Ni₃Se₄ phase was formed by cation exchange of ber-Cu₂₋ₓSe NCs with Ni²⁺ ions, because both phases have the face-centered cubic (fcc) Se anion sublattice. Tuning the Ni : Cu molar ratio leads to the formation of Janus-type ber-Cu₂₋ₓSe/sp-Ni₃Se₄ heterostructured NCs. The NCs of sp-Ni₃Se₄ and ber-Cu₂₋ₓSe/sp-Ni₃Se₄ heterostructures exhibited high catalytic activities in the OER with small overpotentials of 250 and 230 mV at 10 mA cm⁻² in 0.1 M KOH, respectively. They were electrochemically oxidized during the OER to give hydroxides as the real active species. We anticipate that the cation exchange reaction could have enormous potential for the creation of novel heterostructured NCs showing superior catalytic performance

Self-similar solutions for the dynamical condensation of a radiative gas layer

A new self-similar solution describing the dynamical condensation of a radiative gas is investigated under a plane-parallel geometry. The dynamical condensation is caused by thermal instability. The solution is applicable to generic flow with a net cooling rate per unit volume and time $\propto \rho^2 T^\alpha$, where $\rho$, $T$ and $\alpha$ are density, temperature and a free parameter, respectively. Given $\alpha$, a family of self-similar solutions with one parameter $\eta$ is found in which the central density and pressure evolve as follows: $\rho(x=0,t)\propto (t_\mathrm{c}-t)^{-\eta/(2-\alpha)}$ and $P(x=0,t)\propto (t_\mathrm{c}-t)^{(1-\eta)/(1-\alpha)}$, where $t_\mathrm{c}$ is an epoch when the central density becomes infinite. For $\eta\sim 0$, the solution describes the isochoric mode, whereas for $\eta\sim1$, the solution describes the isobaric mode. The self-similar solutions exist in the range between the two limits; that is, for $0<\eta<1$. No self-similar solution is found for $\alpha>1$. We compare the obtained self-similar solutions with the results of one-dimensional hydrodynamical simulations. In a converging flow, the results of the numerical simulations agree well with the self-similar solutions in the high-density limit. Our self-similar solutions are applicable to the formation of interstellar clouds (HI cloud and molecular cloud) by thermal instability.Comment: Accepted for Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: 9 pages, 7 figure

D-Glucosamine Conjugation Accelerates the Labeling Efficiency of Quantum Dots in Osteoblastic Cells

Quantum dots (QDs) are useful imaging tools in the medical and biological fields due to their optical properties, such as a high fluorescence intensity, remarkable resistance to photobleaching, broad absorption spectra, and narrow emission spectra. This is the first study to investigate the uptake of carboxylated QDs conjugated with D-glucosamine (core size: approximately 3 nm, final modified size: 20-30 nm) into cultured osteoblastic cells. The QDs attached to the cell surface and were transported into the cytoplasm within approximately three hours of culture, whose process was clearly demonstrated using specific fluorescent staining of the cell membrane. Although the intranuclear distribution was not observed, a dramatic decrease in the transfer of quantum dots into the cytoplasm was recognized after approximately seven days of culture. Other interesting phenomena include the escape of the quantum dots from lysosomes in the cytoplasm, as confirmed by the merging of both QD fluorescence and specific fluorescent staining of lysosomes in the cytoplasm. These findings suggest that D-glucosamine conjugation enhances proton absorption in acid organelles and promotes the lysosomal escape of QDs

Bone morphogenetic protein 7 sensitizes O6-methylguanine methyltransferase expressing-glioblastoma stem cells to clinically relevant dose of temozolomide.

BackgroundTemozolomide (TMZ) is an oral DNA-alkylating agent used for treating patients with glioblastoma. However, therapeutic benefits of TMZ can be compromised by the expression of O6-methylguanine methyltransferase (MGMT) in tumor tissue. Here we used MGMT-expressing glioblastoma stem cells (GSC) lines as a model for investigating the molecular mechanism underlying TMZ resistance, while aiming to explore a new treatment strategy designed to possibly overcome resistance to the clinically relevant dose of TMZ (35&nbsp;μM).MethodsMGMT-expressing GSC cultures are resistant to TMZ, and IC50 (half maximal inhibitory concentration) is estimated at around 500&nbsp;μM. Clonogenic GSC surviving 500&nbsp;μM TMZ (GSC-500&nbsp;μM TMZ), were isolated. Molecular signatures were identified via comparative analysis of expression microarray against parental GSC (GSC-parental). The recombinant protein of top downregulated signature was used as a single agent or in combination with TMZ, for evaluating therapeutic effects of treatment of GSC.ResultsThe molecular signatures characterized an activation of protective stress responses in GSC-500&nbsp;μM TMZ, mainly including biotransformation/detoxification of xenobiotics, blocked endoplasmic reticulum stress-mediated apoptosis, epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), and inhibited growth/differentiation. Bone morphogenetic protein 7 (BMP7) was identified as the top down-regulated gene in GSC-500&nbsp;μM TMZ. Although augmenting BMP7 signaling in GSC by exogenous BMP7 treatment did not effectively stop GSC growth, it markedly sensitized both GSC-500&nbsp;μM TMZ and GSC-parental to 35&nbsp;μM TMZ treatment, leading to loss of self-renewal and migration capacity. BMP7 treatment induced senescence of GSC cultures and suppressed mRNA expression of CD133, MGMT, and ATP-binding cassette drug efflux transporters (ABCB1, ABCG2), as well as reconfigured transcriptional profiles in GSC by downregulating genes associated with EMT/migration/invasion, stemness, inflammation/immune response, and cell proliferation/tumorigenesis. BMP7 treatment significantly prolonged survival time of animals intracranially inoculated with GSC when compared to those untreated or treated with TMZ alone (p = 0.0017), whereas combination of two agents further extended animal survival compared to BMP7 alone (p = 0.0489).ConclusionsThese data support the view that reduced endogenous BMP7 expression/signaling in GSC may contribute to maintained stemness, EMT, and chemoresistant phenotype, suggesting that BMP7 treatment may provide a novel strategy in combination with TMZ for an effective treatment of glioblastoma exhibiting unmethylated MGMT