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Shayak Samaddar, Joshua Mazur, Devin Boehm, David H Thompson Department of Chemistry, Purdue University, Bindley Bioscience Center, West Lafayette, Indiana 47906, USACorrespondence: David H ThompsonDepartment of Chemistry, Purdue University, Bindley Bioscience Center, 1203 W. State St., West Lafayette, Indiana 47906, USATel +1 765-494-0386Email davethom@purdue.eduBackground: Bladder cancer is the fourth most common cancer in men and eleventh most common in women. Combination therapy using a gene and chemotherapeutic drug is a potentially useful strategy for treating bladder cancer in cases where a synergistic benefit can be achieved successfully. This approach relies on developing drug combinations using carrier systems that can load both hydrophilic genes and hydrophobic drugs. Ideally, the formulation for carrier system should be free of traditional high shear techniques such as sonication and extrusion to reduce shear-induced nucleic acid strand breakage. Moreover, the system should be able to protect the nucleic acid from enzymatic attack and deliver it specifically to the tumor site.Materials and methods: A dual payload carrier system that was formulated using a simple flow mixing technique to complex anionic plasmid (EGFP-NLS) using a cationic polymer (CD-PEI2.5kD) followed by coating of the polyplex using lipid membranes. The resulting lipid-coated polyplex (LCP) formulations are targeted to bladder cancer cells by employing a bacterial adhesive peptide sequence, RWFV, that targets the LCP to the tumor stroma for efficiently delivering reporter plasmid, EGFP-NLS and a model small molecule drug, pyrene, to the cancer cells.Results: Encapsulation efficiency of the peptide targeted carrier for the plasmid was 50% ± 0.4% and for pyrene it was 16% ± 0.4%. The ability of the targeted LCP to transfect murine bladder cancer cells was 4-fold higher than LCP bearing a scrambled peptide sequence. Fluorescence of cells due to pyrene delivery was highest after 4 hrs using targeted LCP. Finally, we loaded the peptide targeted LCP with anti-cancer agent, curcumin. The targeted formulation of curcumin resulted in only 45% viable cancer cells at a concentration of 5 μg/mL, whereas the empty and non-targeted formulations did not result any significant cell death.Conclusion: These results demonstrate the specificity of the targeting peptide sequence in engaging tumor cells and the utility of the developed carrier platform to deliver a dual payload to bladder tumor cells.Keywords: dual delivery, bladder cancer, gene therapy

AimsRecent foodborne disease outbreaks have caused farmers to re-evaluate their practices. In particular, concern that soil amendments could introduce foodborne pathogens onto farms and promote their survival in soils has led farmers to reduce or eliminate the application of animal-based composts. However, organic amendments (such as composts and cover crops) could bolster food safety by increasing soil microbial diversity and activity, which can act as competitors or antagonists and reduce pathogen survival.Methods and resultsLeveraging a study of a 27-year experiment comparing organic and conventional soil management, we evaluate the impacts of composted poultry litter and cover crops on soil chemistry, bacterial communities and survival of Salmonella enterica and Listeria monocytogenes. We found that bacterial community composition strongly affected pathogen survival in soils. Specifically, organic soils managed with cover crops and composts hosted more macronutrients and bacterial communities that were better able to suppress Salmonella and Listeria. For example, after incubating soils for 10 days at 20°C, soils without composts retained fourfold to fivefold more Salmonella compared to compost-amended soils. However, treatment effects dissipated as bacterial communities converged over the growing season.ConclusionsOur results suggest that composts and cover crops may be used to build healthy soils without increasing foodborne pathogen survival.Significance and impact of the studyOur work suggests that animal-based composts do not promote pathogen survival and may even promote bacterial communities that suppress pathogens. Critically, proper composting techniques are known to reduce pathogen populations in biological soil amendments of animal origin, which can reduce the risks of introducing pathogens to farm fields in soil amendments. Thus, animal-based composts and cover crops may be a safe alternative to conventional fertilizers, both because of the known benefits of composts for soil health and because it may be possible to apply amendments in such a way that food-safety risks are mitigated rather than exacerbated.

Background: Modern day otolaryngology has expanded beyond the ear, nose and throat to include head and neck surgery and aesthetic facial procedures. Photographic documentation is important within this expanded horizon. The spectrum of clinical photography includes photomicrographs, endoscopic photographs, peri-operative photography and medical social photography. Method: This article aimed to review the standard guidelines essential to obtain, store and disseminate photographs and looked at setting up a small clinic with minimal gadgets to suit clinical photography requirements. Elaboration of basic photography techniques in otolaryngology was reviewed, with examples of photographs taken in a clinic by a clinician. Advances and innovation in clinical photography, in the form of smartphone photography, artificial intelligence, device editing and newer hardware and software in otorhinolaryngology was reviewed. Conclusion: Having a professional photographer to aid a clinician is a luxury. Simple knowledge and regular practice of basic photography guidelines by a clinician is imperative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

State-selective total and projectile angular-differential cross sections for single-electron transfer to the ground state from atoms in collisions with hydrogen-like projectiles are calculated by means of the four-body distorted wave approximation in the energy range from 25 to 2500 keV amu−1. In the initial channel, the effect of the dynamic electron–electron correlation is explicitly taken into account through the complete perturbation potentials. Distortion in the initial channel due to the Coulomb continuum states of the target and the active electron in the field of the residual projectile ion is included. The quantum-mechanical prior and post transition amplitudes for single-electron capture for symmetric and asymmetric collisions are then derived in terms of three-dimensional real integrals. The role of dynamic inter-electron correlation on the cross sections as a function of the impact energy is examined. Only for He+–He collisions, the projectile angular-differential cross sections for ground state capture are calculated at different impact energies. We investigate the effect of the total cross section as well as the projectile angular-differential cross sections to the choice of different ground state wavefunction of the projectile in the final state. It is observed that although the shape of the differential cross section does not change significantly for these functions, there is a significant change of the differential cross sections due to the choice of the target description. The differential cross section reveals pronounced minima and maxima in the projectile scattering angles as the projectile energy decreases. The observed structure demonstrates the analogy of atomic de Broglie's matter-wave scattering and Fraunhofer-type diffraction. Finally the validity of our results is assessed by comparison with available experimental data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A four-body formalism of the modified target continuum distorted wave (MTCDW-4B) with incorrect boundary conditions and boundary corrected continuum intermediate state (BCCIS-4B) approximation have been employed to calculate the differential cross sections (DCS) and total cross sections (TCS) for double-electron capture (DC) in collision of fast bare ions with helium atoms in their ground states. In both these formalisms, the intermediate continuum state of each of the active electrons with the target has been taken into account. The influence of the static-electron-correlations on cross sections has also been taken into account by choosing the proper wave functions of the initial states of the bound electrons. Moreover, we have computed the cross sections using the asymptotic Coulomb logarithmic phase for the relative motion of two colliding nuclei in BCCIS-4B theory. The present computed results are compared with the available experimental and other existing theoretical results. TCS are found to be in good agreement with the measurements. In addition, we have also analyzed DCS for DC in the collision of α -particles with helium atoms at intermediate and high projectile energies. We have investigated the significance of the contributions to TCS and DCS from excited states (both single and double) of He and 𝐿𝑖 + especially in comparison between theories and measurements. For symmetric collision, the ground state capture dominates over the excited states whereas for asymmetric collision, the excited states including singly and doubly excited states dominate over the ground state capture. It is also clear that the ground state contribution dominates at very high impact energies for asymmetric collision. The obtained results for DCS into the ground state and excited states are compared with the experimental data and overall satisfactory agreements have been found at different impact energies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents a study that investigated the behavior of the energy density in the Fresnel region of a conducting circular disk excited by single-cycle sinusoids. General formulation; Details of the behavior of field and energy density in the Fresnel region; Numerical results.

Motivated by the interrelationships found between the various symmetry energy elements of the energy density functionals (EDF) based on the Skyrme forces, possible correlations among them are explored. A total of 237 Skyrme EDFs are used for this purpose. As some of these EDFs yield values of a few nuclear observables far off from the present acceptable range, studies are done also with a subset of 162 EDFs that comply with a conservative set of constraints on the values of nuclear matter incompressibility coefficient, effective mass of the nucleon and the isovector splitting of effective nucleon masses to see the enhancement of the correlation strength, if any. The curvature parameter K sym 0 and the skewness parameter Q sym 0 of the symmetry energy are found to be very well correlated with the linear combination of the symmetry energy coefficient and its density derivative L 0 . The isovector splitting of the effective nucleon mass, however, displays a somewhat meaningful correlation with a linear combination of the symmetry energy, its slope and its curvature parameter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bupirimate 25% Emulsifiable concentrate (EC) was evaluated for efficacy on Sphaerotheca pannosa, the causal agent of rose powdery mildew in vivo. In this experiment Bupirimate 25% EC 6 ml/L and 4 ml/L effectively reduced the powdery mildew infection over rest of the treatments and improved the flower yield. Moreover, application of Bupirimate 25% EC at the doses of 2, 4 and 6 ml/L and even at higher dose 8 ml/L did not show any phytotoxic symptoms on rose plant. Thus, Bupirimate 25% EC may be considered as compared to other fungicides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the framework of an equation of state (EoS) constructed from a momentum and density-dependent finite-range two-body effective interaction, the quantitative magnitudes of the different symmetry elements of infinite nuclear matter are explored. The parameters of this interaction are determined from well-accepted characteristic constants associated with homogeneous nuclear matter. The symmetry energy coefficient , its density slope , the symmetry incompressibility as well as the density-dependent incompressibility evaluated with this EoS are seen to be in good harmony with those obtained from other diverse perspectives. The higher order symmetry energy coefficients , etc., are seen to be not very significant in the domain of densities relevant to finite nuclei, but gradually build up at supra-normal densities. The analysis carried out with a Skyrme-inspired energy density functional (EDF) obtained with the same input values for the empirical bulk data associated with nuclear matter yields nearly the same results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Membrane-active agents represent a promising alternative to overcome antibiotic resistance. Here, we report cationic-amphiphilic polymers with variations in the side chain architecture such as cyclization, isomerization and unsaturation that resulted in potent antibacterial activity and low mammalian cell toxicity with a membrane-active mode of action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Experimental giant monopole resonance energies are now known to constrain nuclear incompressibility of symmetric nuclear matter K and its density slope M at a particular value of subsaturation density, the crossing density ρc. Consistent with these constraints, we propose a reasonable way to construct a plausible equation of state of symmetric nuclear matter in a broad density region around the saturation density ρ0. Help of two additional empirical inputs, the value of ρ0 and that of the energy per nucleon e(ρ0) are needed. The value of K(ρ0) comes out to be 211.9±24.5 MeV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report the coexistence of charge puddles and topographic ripples in graphene decoupled from the Ir( 111) substrate it was grown on. We show the topographic and the charge disorder to be locally correlated as a result of the intercalation of molecular species. From the analysis of quasiparticle scattering interferences, we find a linear dispersion relation, demonstrating that graphene on a metal can recover its intrinsic electronic properties. The measured Fermi velocity VF = 0.9 ± 0.04×106 m/s is lower than in graphene on dielectric substrates, pointing to a strong screening of electron-electron interactions in graphene by the nearby metallic substrate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report a novel method for the fabrication of superconducting nano-devices based on niobium. The well-known difficulties of lithographic patterning of high-quality niobium are overcome by replacing the usual organic resist mask by a metallic one. The quality of the fabrication procedure is demonstrated by the realization and characterization of long and narrow superconducting lines and niobium-gold-niobium proximity SQUIDs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In multifragmentation of hot nuclear matter, properties of fragments embedded in a soup of nucleonic gas and other fragments should be modified as compared with isolated nuclei. Such modifications are studied within a simple model where only nucleons and one kind of heavy nuclei are considered. The interaction between different species is described with a momentum-dependent two-body potential whose parameters are fitted to reproduce properties of cold isolated nuclei. The internal energy of heavy fragments is parametrized according to a liquid-drop model with density- and temperature-dependent parameters. Calculations are carried out for several subnuclear densities and moderate temperatures, for isospin-symmetric and asymmetric systems. We find that the fragments get stretched due to interactions with the medium and their binding energies decrease with increasing temperature and density of nuclear matter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The temperature dependence of the symmetry energy and the symmetry free energy coefficients of atomic nuclei is investigated in a finite temperature Thomas-Fermi framework employing the subtraction procedure. A substantial decrement in the symmetry energy coefficient is obtained for finite systems, contrary to those seen for infinite nuclear matter at normal and somewhat subnormal densities. The effect of the coupling of the surface phonons to the nucleonic motion is also considered; this is found to decrease the symmetry energies somewhat at low temperatures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The properties of warm dilute α-nucleon matter are studied in a variational approach in the Thomas-Fermi approximation starting from an effective two-body nucleon-nucleon interaction. The equation of state, symmetry energy, incompressibility of the said matter, and α fraction are in consonance with those evaluated from the virial approach, which sets the benchmark for such calculations at low densities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Il Nuovo Cimento della Societa Italiana di Fisica: B is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Il Nuovo Cimento della Societa Italiana di Fisica: B is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The scattering of plane waves with two types of polarization by a circular homogeneous anisotropic cylinder at oblique incidence is investigated. The anisotropy of the medium is characterized by suitable dyadic forms of ε and μ, which may represent a uniform plasma column or a uniform ferrite column in the presence of a uniform static magnetic field in the axial direction. In the general problem, expressions for fields inside and outside the cylinder are obtained and the total scattering cross section is evaluated. From the general problem various special cases are obtained by the limiting process and checked with known results. Total scattering cross sections for various parameters have been calculated numerically on a digital computer for normal indidence only. A study of these numerical results show the feasibility of an anisotropic plasma column as an electronic scanning antenna. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]