Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPION) with appropriate surface chemistry have been widely used experimentally for numerous in vivo applications such as magnetic resonance imaging ...contrast enhancement, tissue repair, immunoassay, detoxification of biological fluids, hyperthermia, drug delivery and in cell separation, etc. All these biomedical and bioengineering applications require that these nanoparticles have high magnetization values and size smaller than 100
nm with overall narrow particle size distribution, so that the particles have uniform physical and chemical properties. In addition, these applications need special surface coating of the magnetic particles, which has to be not only non-toxic and biocompatible but also allow a targetable delivery with particle localization in a specific area. To this end, most work in this field has been done in improving the biocompatibility of the materials, but only a few scientific investigations and developments have been carried out in improving the quality of magnetic particles, their size distribution, their shape and surface in addition to characterizing them to get a protocol for the quality control of these particles. Nature of surface coatings and their subsequent geometric arrangement on the nanoparticles determine not only the overall size of the colloid but also play a significant role in biokinetics and biodistribution of nanoparticles in the body. The types of specific coating, or derivatization, for these nanoparticles depend on the end application and should be chosen by keeping a particular application in mind, whether it be aimed at inflammation response or anti-cancer agents. Magnetic nanoparticles can bind to drugs, proteins, enzymes, antibodies, or nucleotides and can be directed to an organ, tissue, or tumour using an external magnetic field or can be heated in alternating magnetic fields for use in hyperthermia. This review discusses the synthetic chemistry, fluid stabilization and surface modification of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles, as well as their use for above biomedical applications.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
Summary
The conclusions of pairwise meta‐analyses of interventions for actinic keratosis (AK) are limited due to the lack of direct comparison between some interventions. Consequently, we performed a ...network meta‐analysis for eight treatments 5‐aminolaevulinic acid (ALA)‐photodynamic therapy (PDT), cryotherapy, diclofenac 3% in 2·5% hyaluronic acid (DCF/HA), 5‐fluorouracil (5‐FU) 0·5% or 5·0%, imiquimod (IMI) 5%, ingenol mebutate (IMB) 0·015–0·05%, methyl aminolaevulinate (MAL)‐PDT and placebo/vehicle (including placebo‐PDT) to determine their relative efficacies. As part of a prior Cochrane systematic review, different databases and grey literature were searched for randomized controlled trials up to April 2012. The inclusion criteria were parallel‐group studies with nonimmunosuppressed participants: (i) reporting ‘participant complete clearance’ and (ii) comparing at least two of the interventions. Thirty‐two publications met the criteria and they included the following number of individual or pooled studies (n) and total number of participants (N) for the different interventions: 5‐FU 0·5% (n = 4, N = 169), 5‐FU 5·0% (n = 2, N = 44), ALA‐PDT (n = 6, N = 739), cryotherapy (n = 2, N = 174), DCF/HA (n = 5, N = 299), IMI (n = 14, N = 1411), IMB (n = 3, N = 560), MAL‐PDT (n = 7, N = 557) and placebo (n = 32, N = 2520). Network analyses using a random‐effects Bayesian model were carried out with the software ADDIS v1.16.1. The interventions were ranked as follows based on calculated probabilities and odd ratios: 5‐FU > ALA‐PDT ≈ IMI ≈ IMB ≈ MAL‐PDT > cryotherapy > DCF/HA > placebo. This efficacy ranking was obtained based on the current available data on ‘participant complete clearance’ from randomized controlled trials and the analysis model used. However, several other factors should also be considered when prescribing a treatment for AK.
What's already known about this topic?
Several interventions are effective for the treatment of actinic keratosis (AK).
Due to the lack of direct comparisons between these interventions, their relative efficacy is unknown.
What does this study add?
Using network meta‐analysis, the relative efficacy of eight main interventions for AK was determined based on the outcome ‘participant complete clearance’.
With the exception of ingenol mebutate, the relative efficacy of the interventions was independent of the anatomical location of the lesions.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
► Comprehensive review of meso-scale heat recirculating combustors. ► Design parameters and their influence in performance including catalysis. ► Overview of instability behavior and flame dynamics. ...► Review of meso-scale power generation schemes. ► Review of meso-propulsion schemes including future challenges and opportunities.
Within the past decade there has been a fair amount of interest in utilizing the high energy densities of hydrocarbon fuels at the small scale. The motivation for this is primarily twofold. The first application involves the generation of electricity via the heat released by combustion, in the second application chemical micro-thrusters would provide milli-Newton and micro-Newton levels of thrust for Divert and Attitude Control on the next generation of micro-satellites and micro-aerial vehicles. With this in mind many schemes addressing the fundamental thermal challenges associated with small-scale combustion have been proposed, analyzed, and tested. This review will focus on experimental work that has been conducted on heat-recirculating “Swiss-Roll” combustors and the impact of geometry, materials, catalysts, and scale on the thermal performance, extinction criteria/extinction regimes, and flame dynamics. Additionally, an overview of meso-scale power systems is provided covering both propulsion and electric power generation.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
Abstract
We present experimental results of the trace argon impurity puffing in the ohmic plasmas of Aditya-U tokamak performed to study the argon transport behaviour. Argon line emissions in visible ...and Vacuum Ultra Violet (VUV) spectral ranges arising from the plasma edge and core respectively are measured simultaneously. During the experiments, space resolved brightness profile of Ar
1+
line emissions at 472.69 nm (3p
4
4s
2
P
3/2
–3p
4
4p
2
D
3/2
), 473.59 nm (3p
4
4s
4
P
5/2
–3p
4
4p
4
P
3/2
), 476.49 nm (3p
4
4s
2
P
1/2
–3p
4
4p
2
P
3/2
), 480.60 nm (3p
4
4s
4
P
5/2
–3p
4
4p
4
P
5/2
) are recorded using a high resolution visible spectrometer. Also, a VUV spectrometer has been used to simultaneously observe Ar
13+
line emission at 18.79 nm (2s
2
2p
2
P
3/2
–2s2p
2
2
P
3/2
) and Ar
14+
line emission at 22.11 nm (2s
2
1
S
0
–2s2p
1
P
1
). The diffusivity and convective velocity of Ar are obtained by comparing the measured radial emissivity profile of Ar
1+
emission and the line intensity ratio of Ar
13+
and Ar
14+
ions, with those simulated using the impurity transport code, STRAHL. Argon diffusivities ~ 12 m
2
/s and ~ 0.3 m
2
/s have been observed in the edge (ρ > 0.85) and core region of the Aditya-U, respectively. The diffusivity values both in the edge and core region are found to be higher than the neo-classical values suggesting that the argon impurity transport is mainly anomalous in the Aditya-U tokamak. Also, an inward pinch of ~ 10 m/s mainly driven by Ware pinch is required to match the measured and simulated data. The measured peaked profile of Ar density suggests impurity accumulation in these discharges.
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IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
Recurrent mutations in core splicing factors have been reported in several clonal disorders, including cancers. Mutations in SF3B1, a component of the U2 splicing complex, are the most common. SF3B1 ...mutations are associated with aberrant pre-mRNA splicing using cryptic 3' splice sites (3'SSs), but the mechanism of their selection is not clear. To understand how cryptic 3'SSs are selected, we performed comprehensive analysis of transcriptome-wide changes to splicing and gene expression associated with SF3B1 mutations in patient samples as well as an experimental model of inducible expression. Hundreds of cryptic 3'SS were detectable across the genome in cells expressing mutant SF3B1. These 3'SS are typically sequestered within RNA secondary structures and poorly accessible compared with their corresponding canonical 3'SS. We hypothesized that these cryptic 3'SS are inaccessible during normal splicing catalysis and that this constraint is overcome in spliceosomes containing mutant SF3B1. This model of secondary structure-dependent selection of cryptic 3'SS was found across multiple clonal processes associated with SF3B1 mutations (myelodysplastic syndrome and chronic lymphocytic leukemia). We validated our model predictions in mini-gene splicing assays. Additionally, we found deregulated expression of proteins with relevant functions in splicing factor-related diseases both in association with aberrant splicing and without corresponding splicing changes. Our results show that SF3B1 mutations are associated with a distinct splicing program shared across multiple clonal processes and define a biochemical mechanism for altered 3'SS choice.
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EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
Summary
Canine distemper (CD) is one of the highly contagious and invariably fatal viral diseases of dogs and other carnivores. Despite the widespread use of modified live vaccines to control CD, the ...prevalence of disease has increased at an alarming rate in recent years. Although a number of factors may be ascribed for vaccine failure, antigenic differences among the vaccine and wild‐type strains have gained the interest of researchers. Considering the high genetic variability of haemagglutinin gene (H gene) and its role in eliciting the immune response to canine distemper virus (CDV), we have generated nine full‐length CDV H gene sequences from infected dogs including three vaccinated cases. Bayesian analysis was performed using 102 full‐length H gene nucleotide sequences over a time frame of 76 years (1940–2016) from 18 countries. The time to the most recent common ancestor (tMRCA) of CDV was estimated to be 1696 AD. Phylogenetic reconstruction clustered Indian wild‐type viruses into a distinct monophyletic group clearly separated from the previously established CDV lineages. This signifies the presence of a novel genetic variant (proposed as “Lineage India‐1/Asia‐5”) circulating among dog population in India. To investigate the importance of substitutions at amino acid residues 530 and 549 of CDV H protein in determining the host switches from canid to non‐canid hosts, we analysed 125 H gene sequences including nine sequences generated in this study. Selection pressure analysis and analysis of amino acid sequences revealed a trend towards adaptation of 549H variants in non‐canid hosts although no role of G/E530R/D/N substitution could be identified. This is the first comprehensive study about the nature and ecology of CDV circulating among dog population in India. Outbreaks in vaccinated animals as observed in this study have raised a concern towards the effectiveness of current vaccine strains warranting detailed investigation.
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BFBNIB, DOBA, FZAB, GIS, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
The two chromium chelates of Schiff bases,
N-(acetoacetanilide)-1,2-diaminoethane (
L
1) and
N,
N′-bis(acetoacetanilide)-triethylenetetraammine (
L
2), have been synthesized and explored as neutral ...ionophores for preparing poly(vinylchloride) (PVC) based membrane sensors selective to Cr(III). The addition of lipophilic anion excluder (NaTPB) and various plasticizers viz.
o-Nitrophenyloctyl ether (
o-NPOE), dioctylpthalate (DOP), dibutylphthalate (DBP), tris(2-ethylhexyl)phosphate (TEHP), and benzyl acetate (BA) have found to improve the performance of the sensors. The best performance was obtained for the membrane sensor having a composition of
L
1:PVC:DBP:NaTPB in the ratio 5:150:250:3 (w/w). The sensor exhibits Nernstian response in the concentration range 8.9
×
10
−8 to 1.0
×
10
−1
M Cr
3+ with limit of detection 5.6
×
10
−8
M. The proposed sensor manifest advantages of relatively fast response (10
s) and good selectivity over some alkali, alkaline earth, transition and heavy metal ions. The selectivity behavior of the proposed electrode revealed a considerable improvement as compared to the best previously PVC-membrane electrode for chromium(III) ion. The potentiometric response of the proposed sensor was independent of pH of the test solution in the range of 2.0–7.0. The sensor has found to work satisfactorily in partially non-aqueous media up to 20% (v/v) content of methanol, ethanol and acetonitrile and could be used for a period of 3 months. The proposed electrode was used as an indicator electrode in potentiometric titration of chromium ion with EDTA and in direct determination in different water and food samples.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
Sustainability indicators and composite index are gaining lot of importance and increasingly recognized as a powerful tool for policy making and public communication in providing information on ...countries and corporate performance in fields such as environment, economic, social, or technological improvement. By conceptualizing phenomena and highlighting trends, sustainability indicators simplify, quantify, analyze and communicate the complex and complicated information.
There are number of initiatives exist on indicators and frameworks for sustainable development. This article provides an overview various sustainability indices applied in sustainability domain. The paper also compiles the information related to sustainability indices formulation strategy, scaling, normalization, weighting and aggregation methodology.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
► Optimization of color removal and COD removal done by response surface approach. ► The experiments were designed using Box–Behnken spherical design. ► Two quadratic polynomial models were developed ...for the responses. ► Single point numerical optimization was done considering three constraints. ► Validation by performing the experiment under optimized conditions.
Photocatalytic degradation of methyl blue (MYB) was studied using Ag+ doped TiO2 under UV irradiation in a batch reactor. Catalytic dose, initial concentration of dye and pH of the reaction mixture were found to influence the degradation process most. The degradation was found to be effective in the range catalytic dose (0.5–1.5g/L), initial dye concentration (25–100ppm) and pH of reaction mixture (5–9). Using the three factors three levels Box–Behnken design of experiment technique 15 sets of experiments were designed considering the effective ranges of the influential parameters. The results of the experiments were fitted to two quadratic polynomial models developed using response surface methodology (RSM), representing functional relationship between the decolorization and mineralization of MYB and the experimental parameters. Design Expert software version 8.0.6.1 was used to optimize the effects of the experimental parameters on the responses. The optimum values of the parameters were dose of Ag+ doped TiO2 0.99g/L, initial concentration of MYB 57.68ppm and pH of reaction mixture 7.76. Under the optimal condition the predicted decolorization and mineralization rate of MYB were 95.97% and 80.33%, respectively. Regression analysis with R2 values >0.99 showed goodness of fit of the experimental results with predicted values.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
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