Additive Benefits of Radium-223 Dichloride and Bortezomib Combination in a Systemic Multiple Myeloma Mouse Model

Osteolytic bone disease is a hallmark of multiple myeloma (MM) mediated by MM cell proliferation, increased osteoclast activity, and suppressed osteoblast function. The proteasome inhibitor bortezomib targets MM cells and improves bone health in MM patients. Radium-223 dichloride (radium-223), the first targeted alpha therapy approved, specifically targets bone metastases, where it disrupts the activity of both tumor cells and tumor-supporting bone cells in mouse models of breast and prostate cancer bone metastasis. We hypothesized that radium-223 and bortezomib combination treatment would have additive effects on MM. In vitro experiments revealed that the combination treatment inhibited MM cell proliferation and demonstrated additive efficacy. In the systemic, syngeneic 5TGM1 mouse MM model, both bortezomib and radium-223 decreased the osteolytic lesion area, and their combination was more effective than either monotherapy alone. Bortezomib decreased the number of osteoclasts at the tumor–bone interface, and the combination therapy resulted in almost complete eradication of osteoclasts. Furthermore, the combination therapy improved the incorporation of radium-223 into MM-bearing bone. Importantly, the combination therapy decreased tumor burden and restored body weights in MM mice. These results suggest that the combination of radium-223 with bortezomib could constitute a novel, effective therapy for MM and, in particular, myeloma bone disease.     

Preparation and characterization of organosilicon thin films for selective adhesion of Yarrowia lipolytica yeast cells

The adhesion of Yarrowia lipolytica and Saccharomyces cerevisiae on organosilicon thin films deposited on polycarbonate substrates was investigated through a series of adhesion tests in order to obtain a selective substrate for Y. lipolytica cell adhesion. Organosilicon thin films were prepared using atmospheric pressure surface barrier discharge. The surface was characterized by its total surface energy with its components calculated using the acid‐base theory. Assessment of adhesion via cell surface coverage was obtained by standard tests and also through image analysis of yeast cells on the organosilicon layers. The results show that it is possible to create organosilicon thin films for a selective adhesion of Y. lipolytica face to S. cerevisiae behaviour, for potential use in fixed bed biofilm reactors for industrial purposes involving enzyme‐based biotransformations. Copyright © 2007 Society of Chemical Industry     

Expected dependency pair match: predicting translation quality with expected syntactic structure

Recent efforts to develop new machine translation evaluation methods have tried to account for allowable wording differences either in terms of syntactic structure or synonyms/paraphrases. This paper primarily considers syntactic structure, combining scores from partial syntactic dependency matches with standard local n-gram matches using a statistical parser, and taking advantage of N-best parse probabilities. The new scoring metric, expected dependency pair match (EDPM), is shown to outperform BLEU and TER in terms of correlation to human judgments and as a predictor of HTER. Further, we combine the syntactic features of EDPM with the alternative wording features of TERp, showing a benefit to accounting for syntactic structure on top of semantic equivalency features.     

Rheological approach to the capillary penetration of coating into wood

The penetration of water- and solventborne binders into the capillaries of wood was studied as a function of the viscosity, surface tension, and capillary pressure according to the Washburn equation. During the penetration, water is selectively removed from the coating, which causes a strong increase in viscosity that limits the penetration. Waterborne dispersions and emulsions showed a rapid increase in viscosity with increasing solid matter content. Surface tension of the binder and the adsorption of surfactants to the wood have an additional influence on the maximum penetration. P.O. Box 497, NL-6700 AL Wageningen, The Netherlands     

Characterization of capacitive humidity sensors based on doped poly(propargyl-alcohol)

Films of poly(propargyl alcohol) (POHP), doped with both sulphuric acid and iron trichloride, were deposited on interdigitated gold electrodes. Their electrical properties were examined as a function of percentage relative humidity. The devices showed low-frequency capacitance linearly dependent on RH% with good response time, and are proposed as possible capacitive humidity sensors.     

简易夹具静态测试可编程增益放大器

具有数字增益开关的仪表放大器具有显著优势，例如节约电路板空间、由于减少焊点而提高可靠性以及降低总成本等。这些重要特性的根源在于增益调整网络是单片IC的必要组成部分。该特点使得这些IC放大器对杂散电磁场的敏感性要低得多，这是因为内部电阻器区域在先前使用的离散式增益调整电阻器中可忽略不计。此外，塑料封装和芯片的相对电容率值应该高于空气的相对电容率值。因此．进入芯片的任何杂散场中的电子元件磁场强度都应比周围的磁场强度低。     

Effect of heat treatment on structure and magnetic properties of Fe65.5Cr4Mo4Ga4P12C5B5.5 bulk amorphous alloy

This study deals with the Fe65.5Cr4Mo4Ga4P12C5B5.5 ferromagnetic bulk amorphous alloy. XRD analysis showed an amorphous structure of the as-cast sample. The same method revealed that, after annealing at 973 K for τ=10 min, the sample displayed a crystalline structure with crystalline phases formed. The crystallization process of the alloy was examined by DTA analysis. It was shown that crystallization took place in the temperature range between 810 K and 860 K with the exo-maximum peak temperature at 846 K with a heating rate of 20 K·min-1. The method also showed that, at temperatures ranging from 753 K to 810 K, the alloy exhibited the properties of supercooled liquids. A correlation between heat-induced structural changes and magnetic properties of the alloy was determined by thermomagnetic measurements. Maximum magnetization M=3.7 Am2·kg-1 of the alloy was reached after its annealing at 733 K for τ=10 min. Upon annealing, the alloy exhibited a relaxed amorphous structure. Annealing the alloy above the crystallization temperature led to a decrease in bulk magnetization. After annealing at 973 K for τ=10 min, the bulk magnetization of the alloy was M'=0.45 Am2·kg-1. Accordingly, after crystallization and formation of new compounds, the magnetization of the alloy was decreased by a factor of about 7.7. The strength of the magnetic field applied during the measurements was H=10 k A·m-1. The samples were tested for changes in the microstructure and hardness of both the amorphous phase and the resulting crystalline phase.     

Natives’ opinions on ethnic residential segregation and neighbourhood diversity in Helsinki,Oslo and Stockholm

Nordic countries rank high on measures indicating tolerant views on immigrants. Yet, ethnic residential segregation is stated as being a major social problem in these countries. Neighbourhood flight and avoidance behaviour among the native born could be a sign of less tolerant views on minorities, but could of course be restricted to native-born residents in areas of high-ethnic concentration. So far, no research in these countries has explicitly focused on the majority population’s view on segregation, and we know little about how native-born residents in different neighbourhood contexts view ethnic segregation or how own residential experience shapes decisions on staying or leaving; this paper aims to help fill this research lacuna. In a survey targeting 9000 native-born residents in three Nordic capital cities—stratified into neighbourhood movers and stayers and into neighbourhoods having different proportions of non-Nordic-born residents—we answer three questions: do native-born respondents prefer a neighbourhood ethnic mix? Do they see ethnic segregation as a problem? Do they prefer lower, current or higher shares of ethnic minorities in their own neighbourhoods?     

Effects of potassium sorbate on postharvest brown rot of stone fruit

The effect of potassium sorbate (K-sorb), a low-toxicity chemical, to control Monilinia spp. was investigated. Preliminary in vitro studies found the MIC of K-sorb for conidial germination and mycelial growth was, respectively, 260 and 1,250 mg/ liter. Immersion of naturally infected peach and nectarine fruit in a solution (15 g/liter) of K-sorb for 120 s reduced brown rot by over 80% in four of five trials. Although treated fruits showed a significant reduction in firmness with respect to the control, they did not reach the overripe stage and retained acceptable quality parameters. In an attempt to elucidate the mechanism of action for K-sorb, the inhibition of enzymatic activity by K-sorb was also tested. In a radial diffusion assay, the addition of K-sorb to agarose reduced polygalacturonase (PG) activity across the concentrations considered. The greatest reduction (54.3%, with respect to the control) was obtained at a sorbate concentration of 15 g/liter. PG kinetic activity of Monilinia laxa observed by a spectrophotometric assay peaked after 40 min in all samples tested. PG activity was significantly higher in the control than in the samples with increased K-sorb concentrations. In conclusion, based on these findings, K-sorb can be recommended as a low-toxicity antifungal compound against Monilinia spp. in peaches and nectarines with its mode of action probably depending in part on the inhibition of PG activity in M. laxa.     

Effects of powdered activated carbon pore size distribution on the competitive adsorption of aqueous atrazine and natural organic matter

The pore size distribution (PSD) of adsorbents has been found to be an important factor that affects adsorption capacity for organic compounds; consequently, it should influence competitive adsorption in multisolute systems. This research was conducted to show howthe PSD of activated carbon affects the competition between natural organic matter (NOM) and the trace organic contaminant atrazine, with a primary emphasis on quantifying the pore blocking mechanism of NOM competition. Isotherm tests were performed for both atrazine and NOM from a groundwater on five powdered activated carbons (PACs) with widely different PSDs. The capacity for NOM correlated best with the surface area of pores in the diameter range of 15-50 A, although some NOM also adsorbed in the smaller pores as evidenced by a reduction in capacity for atrazine when NOM was present. Kinetic tests for atrazine on PACs with various levels of preadsorbed NOM showed that the magnitude of the pore blockage effect by NOM was lower for PACs with higher surface area of pores with diameter in the range of 15-50 A. Therefore increasing pores in the size range where NOM adsorb can reduce the extent of the pore blockage competitive effect on the target compound atrazine. The effect of PSD was further studied with a flow-through PAC-membrane hybrid watertreatment system, in which experimental results successfully verified model simulations by the COMPSORB model.