Materials that exhibit ferromagnetism, interfacial stability, and tunability are highly desired for the realization of emerging magnetoelectronic phenomena in heterostructures. Here we present the ...GdAg2 monolayer alloy, which possesses all such qualities. By combining X-ray absorption, Kerr effect, and angle-resolved photoemission with ab initio calculations, we have investigated the ferromagnetic nature of this class of Gd-based alloys. The Curie temperature can increase from 19 K in GdAu2 to a remarkably high 85 K in GdAg2. We find that the exchange coupling between Gd atoms is barely affected by their full coordination with noble metal atoms, and instead, magnetic coupling is effectively mediated by noble metal–Gd hybrid s,p–d bands. The direct comparison between isostructural GdAu2 and GdAg2 monolayers explains how the higher degree of surface confinement and electron occupation of such hybrid s,p–d bands promote the high Curie temperature in the latter. Finally, the chemical composition and structural robustness of the GdAg2 alloy has been demonstrated by interfacing them with organic semiconductors or magnetic nanodots. These results encourage systematic investigations of rare-earth/noble metal surface alloys and interfaces, in order to exploit them in magnetoelectronic applications.
•Three levels of water stress and LME treatments were applied in petunia plants.•Deficit irrigation significantly decreased the growth parameters.•Deficit irrigation reduced RWC without differences ...linked LME application.•LME application increased GPX and SOD activities in plants grown under drought stress.•TPC showed significant differences in relation to the water deficit treatments.
The present paper aimed to evaluate the effects of LME (Moringa oleifera leaf extract) in modifying growth, ornamental value and several physiological and chemical parameters of petunia (Petunia hybrida E.Vilm.) ‘GO!Tunia® Neon Pink’. Three level of water deficit were considered: control (100% of WCC, Water Container Capacity = 100% CC), 60% and 40% of WCC; for each level treatments with LME were also considered. Water deficit reduced growth parameters compared with full irrigation and LME application promoted almost all the growth parameters in both control and stressed conditions. The behavior in growth parameters is correlated with a decrease in photosynthesis activity and plant water status. Deficit irrigation reduced the Relative Water Content (RWC) without differences linked to LME application. The chlorophyll content was unchanged for effect of water deficit and enhanced by LME treatment. The capacity to accumulate protective compounds (Proline, MDA) allowed plant to reduce the negative effects of water stress; LME treatment is not always able to increase these compounds in more stressed plants. LME application increased GPX and SOD activities in plants grown under drought stress, and this facilitated the ROS scavenging and maintenance of plant growth under stress. Total phenol compounds (TPC) showed significant differences in relation to the water deficit treatments, but not to biostimulants; the interaction effect was significant. Total soluble sugars in the leaf tissues were significantly affected only by deficit irrigation treatments. Drought stress also affected the production of endogenous level of hormones and amino acid. The highest content for almost all free amino acids was observed in the most stressed treatment (40% CC and 40% CC + LME). The response of petunia plants to water deficit was related to its ability to decrease aerial growth and to modify leaf gas exchange, increasing secondary osmolytes and enzyme activity to contrast the ROS activity.
Histone deacetylases (HDACs) have been identified as therapeutic targets due to their regulatory function in chromatin structure and organization. Here, we analyzed the therapeutic effect of LBH589, ...a class I-II HDAC inhibitor, in acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). In vitro, LBH589 induced dose-dependent antiproliferative and apoptotic effects, which were associated with increased H3 and H4 histone acetylation. Intravenous administration of LBH589 in immunodeficient BALB/c-RAG2(-/-)γc(-/-) mice in which human-derived T and B-ALL cell lines were injected induced a significant reduction in tumor growth. Using primary ALL cells, a xenograft model of human leukemia in BALB/c-RAG2(-/-)γc(-/-) mice was established, allowing continuous passages of transplanted cells to several mouse generations. Treatment of mice engrafted with T or B-ALL cells with LBH589 induced an in vivo increase in the acetylation of H3 and H4, which was accompanied with prolonged survival of LBH589-treated mice in comparison with those receiving vincristine and dexamethasone. Notably, the therapeutic efficacy of LBH589 was significantly enhanced in combination with vincristine and dexamethasone. Our results show the therapeutic activity of LBH589 in combination with standard chemotherapy in pre-clinical models of ALL and suggest that this combination may be of clinical value in the treatment of patients with ALL.
•Laurustinus had higher capacity to recover from salinity than euonymus.•Gas exchange recovery in WW laurustinus plants was related to their water status.•At the end of the assay, laurustinus biomass ...was less damaged than that of euonymus.
The scarcity of water has frequently led to saline water being reused for the irrigation of ornamental shrubs. However, before the use of such waters can be expanded, the salt tolerance and other characteristics of the ornamentals involved, need to be considered along with their capacity to recover after salinity exposure. For this reason, Euonymus japonica (euonymus) and Viburnum tinus (laurustinus) plants were submitted for twenty weeks to three irrigation treatments applied at 100% water holding capacity: Control (EC<0.9dSm−1); NaCl solution, NaCl (EC: 4dSm−1); and wastewater, WW (EC: 4dSm−1). This was followed by a recovery period of eight weeks, when all the plants were watered in the control irrigation conditions. The results showed that biomass, leaf number and total leaf area of plants subjected to the saline treatments were lower than in the control at the end of both periods in both species. However, after recovery, only euonymus showed lower growth parameters than those observed in the saline period. The highest Na+ and Cl− concentrations were observed in saline plants at the end of saline period for both species, and were higher in shoots than in roots. The opposite was observed for the K+/Na+ and the Ca2+/Na+ ratios. In Laurustinus, the Ψstem did not diminish in the wastewater-irrigated plants with respect to the control, maintaining osmotic adjustment and a high Ψt, even after recovery, whereas in euonymus this did not occur at the end of recovery period. In both species the Pn and gs were similarly reduced during the saline exposure period. However, the recovery of gas exchange in laurustinus irrigated with wastewater might be closely related to the better water status of these plants. Although the aesthetic value and growth decreased in the plants of both species, the chemical properties of the waters applied had different effects in each case, especially as regards the capacity to recover from salinity. These results underline the importance to studying the physiological mechanisms involved in the recovery of plants.
We present an overview of the factors affecting soft magnetic properties and giant magnetoimpedance (GMI) effect as well as of post processing tools allowing optimization of magnetic softness and GMI ...effect of thin amorphous wires. Generally low coercivity and high GMI effect have been observed in as-prepared Co-rich microwires. The magnetoelastic anisotropy is one of the most important parameters that determine the magnetic softness and GMI effect of glass-coated microwires. Annealing at adequate conditions can be very effective for manipulation the magnetic properties of amorphous ferromagnetic glass-coated microwires. After annealing of Co-rich we can observe transformation of inclined hysteresis loops to rectangular and coexistence of fast magnetization switching and GMI effect in the same sample. Using stress-annealing, GMI effect of Co-rich microwires can be increased. We demonstrated that the switching field value of microwires can be tailored by annealing in the range from 4 to 200 A/m. Similarly stress-annealing allows induction of transverse magnetic anisotropy and improvement of magnetic softness and GMI effect in amorphous Fe-rich microwires. On the other hand in Fe-rich FeCuNbSiB microwires after appropriate annealing we observed considerable magnetic softening and GMI effect enhancement.
•Trends in optimization of GMI effect in amorphous and nanocrystalline microwires.•Engineering of magnetic properties and GMI effect in as-prepared amorphous microwires.•Magnetic softening of Fe-rich microwires after stress-annealing.•Improvement of GMI effect after stress-annealing of Fe- and Co-rich microwires.•Improvement of GMI effect after nanocrystallization of Fe- -rich microwires.
Background and purpose
Corticosteroids such as triamcinolone acetonide (TAA) are potent drugs administered intra‐articularly as an anti‐inflammatory therapy to relieve pain associated with ...osteoarthritis (OA). However, the ability of early TAA intervention to mitigate OA progression and modulate immune cell subsets remains unclear. Here, we sought to understand the effect of early intra‐articular injection of TAA on OA progression, local macrophages, and peripheral blood monocytes.
Experimental approach
Degenerative joint disease was induced by intra‐articular injection of collagenase into the knee joint of male C57BL/6 mice. After 1 week, TAA or saline was injected intra‐articularly. Blood was taken throughout the study to analyse monocyte subsets. Mice were killed at days 14 and 56 post‐induction of collagenase‐induced OA (CiOA) to examine synovial macrophages and structural OA features.
Key results
The percentage of macrophages relative to total live cells present within knee joints was increased in collagenase‐ compared with saline‐injected knees at day 14 and was not altered by TAA treatment. However, at day 56, post‐induction of CiOA, TAA‐treated knees had increased levels of macrophages compared with the knees of untreated CiOA‐mice. The distribution of monocyte subsets present in peripheral blood was not altered by TAA treatment during the development of CiOA. Osteophyte maturation was increased in TAA‐injected knees at day 56.
Conclusion and implications
Intra‐articular injection of TAA increases long‐term synovial macrophage numbers and osteophytosis. Our findings suggest that TAA accentuates the progression of osteoarthritis‐associated features when applied to an acutely inflamed knee.
It is an open question whether in multiple myeloma (MM) bone marrow stromal cells contain genomic alterations, which may contribute to the pathogenesis of the disease. We conducted an array-based ...comparative genomic hybridization (array-CGH) analysis to compare the extent of unbalanced genomic alterations in mesenchymal stem cells from 21 myeloma patients (MM-MSCs) and 12 normal donors (ND-MSCs) after in vitro culture expansion. Whereas ND-MSCs were devoid of genomic imbalances, several non-recurrent chromosomal gains and losses (>1 Mb size) were detected in MM-MSCs. Using real-time reverse transcription PCR, we found correlative deregulated expression for five genes encoded in regions for which genomic imbalances were detected using array-CGH. In addition, only MM-MSCs showed a specific pattern of 'hot-spot' regions with discrete (<1 Mb) genomic alterations, some of which were confirmed using fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). Within MM-MSC samples, unsupervised cluster analysis did not correlate with particular clinicobiological features of MM patients. We also explored whether cytogenetic abnormalities present in myelomatous plasma cells (PCs) were shared by matching MSCs from the same patients using FISH. All MM-MSCs were cytogenetically normal for the tested genomic alterations. Therefore we cannot support a common progenitor for myeloma PCs and MSCs.
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This research addresses the development and in vitro evaluation of a microparticulate system intended for intestine-targeted delivery of curcumin (CRM), a natural polyphenol with ...anti-inflammatory properties. Microspheres (Ms) based on zein (ZN) and Gantrez® AN119 (PVMMA) were prepared by spray-drying and coated with a pH-sensitive polymer (Eudragit® FS30D). An experimental design was performed to optimize the microparticulate formulation. A detailed characterization of systems was carried out by SEM, DSC, FTIR, particle size, ζ potential measurements and in vitro CRM release. The optimized formulation was evaluated in LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 macrophages to investigate its anti-inflammatory activity. FTIR and DSC studies suggest a predominant presence of α-helix structure for ZN when formulated and also, a strong interaction between components. The stabilization of α-helix by PVMMA or CRM would take place by hydrogen bonds. Although the encapsulation efficiency was high (89%) for ZN/PVMMA Ms, the coating process with Eudragit® led to an EE decrease of 62%. Coating of Ms was found to retain a 20% of drug within 6h of release, although a strong initial burst release was observed. Cells viability and apoptosis were not affected when cells were co-incubated with coated Ms with CRM. The exposure of unstimulated cells to Ms did not show any effect on NO and PGE2 production. However, a reduction in NO and PGE2 production was obtained when CRM-loaded Ms were co-incubated with stimulated macrophages. Further, this inhibition was significantly higher compared to the decrease obtained when Ms with pure CRM were used in culture, which suggested a synergistic effect of CRM and Ms. Finally, CRM-loaded Ms caused a significant inhibition of analysed pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNFα, IL-1β, NOS2, COX-2) in macrophages stimulated with LPS.
All these results confirm the advantageous features of ZN/PVMMA microspheres as a serious alternative for delivering CRM to reduce the inflammatory activity at intestinal regions affected by inflammatory bowel diseases.
Residual viraemia is a major obstacle to HIV-1 eradication in subjects receiving HAART. The intensification with raltegravir could impact latent reservoirs and might lead to a reduction of plasma ...HIV-1 viraemia (viral load VL), complementary DNA intermediates and immune activation.
This was a prospective, open-label, randomized study comprising 69 individuals on suppressive HAART randomly assigned 2:1 to add raltegravir during 48 weeks.
Total and integrated HIV-1 DNA, and ultrasensitive VL remained stable despite intensification. There was a significant increase in episomal HIV DNA at weeks 2-4 in the raltegravir group returning to baseline levels at week 48. Median CD4(+) T-cell counts increased 124 and 80 cells/µl in the intensified and control groups after 48 weeks (P=0.005 and P=0.027, respectively), without significant differences between groups. No major changes were observed in activation of CD4(+) T-cells. Conversely, raltegravir intensification significantly reduced activation of CD8(+) T-cells at week 48 (HLA-DR(+)CD38(+), P=0.005), especially in the memory compartment (CD38(+) of CD8(+)CD45RO(+), P<0.0001). Linear mix models also depicted a larger decrease in CD8(+) T-cell activation in the intensification group (P=0.036 and P=0.010, respectively). Raltegravir intensification was not associated to any particular adverse event.
Intensification of HAART with raltegravir during 48 weeks was safe and associated with a significant decrease in CD8(+) T-cell activation, and a transient increase of episomal HIV-1 DNA. However, raltegravir did not significantly contribute to changes in CD4(+) T-cell counts, ultrasensitive VL, and total and integrated HIV-1 DNA. These findings suggest that raltegravir impacts residual HIV-1 replication and support new strategies to impair HIV-1 persistence. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00554398.
We present an overview of the factors as well as post processing tools allowing optimization of magnetic softness and GMI effect of rapidly quenched materials: microwires and ribbons. Generally, low ...coercivity and high GMI effect have been observed in as-prepared Co-rich compositions. Annealing at adequate conditions can be very effective for manipulation of the magnetic properties and GMI effect of amorphous and nanocrystalline rapidly quenched materials. After annealing of Co-rich compositions, we can observe transformation of inclined hysteresis loops to rectangular. However, at certain annealing conditions GMI effect can be improved. Using stress-annealing, GMI effect of both Fe-rich and Co-rich microwires as well as of amorphous ribbons can be improved. On the other hand, in Fe-rich FeCuNbSiB microwires after appropriate annealing we observed considerable magnetic softening and GMI effect enhancement. The other promising post-processing allowing GMI effect optimization is Joule heating.
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•Trends in optimization of GMI effect in amorphous and nanocrystalline materials.•Magnetic softening of Fe-rich microwires after stress-annealing or nanocrystallization.•Improvement of GMI effect after Joule heating of Co-rich microwires.•Optimization of GMI effect after post-processing of Co-rich amorphous ribbons.•Improvement of GMI effect after annealing and stress-annealing of Co-rich microwires.
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