Genistein in 1:1 Inclusion Complexes with Ramified Cyclodextrins: Theoretical,Physicochemical and Biological Evaluation

Genistein is one of the most studied phytocompound in the class of isoflavones, presenting a notable estrogenic activity and in vitro and/or in vivo benefits in different types of cancer such as those of the bladder, kidney, lung, pancreatic, skin and endometrial cancer. A big inconvenience for drug development is low water solubility, which can be solved by using hydrophilic cyclodextrins. The aim of this study is to theoretically analyze, based on the interaction energy, the possibility of a complex formation between genistein (Gen) and three different ramified cyclodextrins (CD), using a 1:1 molar ratio Gen:CD. Theoretical data were correlated with a screening of both in vitro and in vivo activity. Proliferation of different human cancer cell lines, antimicrobial activity and angiogenesis behavior was analyzed in order to see if complexation has a beneficial effect for any of the above mentioned activities and if so, which of the three CDs is the most suitable for the incorporation of genistein, and which may lead to future improved pharmaceutical formulations. Results showed antiproliferative activity with different IC₅₀ values for all tested cell lines, remarkable antimicrobial activity on Bacillus subtilis and antiangiogenic activity as revealed by CAM assay. Differences regarding the intensity of the activity for pure and the three Gen complexes were noticed as explained in the text. The data represent a proof that the three CDs can be used for furtherer research towards practical use in the pharmaceutical and medical field.     

用DSP实现简单的实时声纳

SONAR(SOund NAvigation and Ranging一声纳)像雷达,光电系统一样广泛用于机器人,导航和目标检测,其基本原理都基于目标和检测器之间的波传输.声纳与雷达和光电系统的不同之处在于声纳是靠声波传输能量.     

Objective and subjective evaluation of QOAS video streaming over broadband networks

This article presents objective and subjective testing results that assess the performance of the Quality-Oriented Adaptation Scheme (QOAS) when used for high quality multimedia streaming over local broadband IP networks. Results of objective tests using a QOAS simulation model show very efficient adaptation in terms of end-user perceived quality, loss rate, and bandwidth utilization, compared to existing adaptive streaming schemes such as LDA+, and TFRCP. Subjective tests confirm these results by showing high end-user perceived quality of the QOAS under various network conditions.     

Residence time distribution of the liquid in two-phase cocurrent downflow in packed beds: Air/newtonian and non-newtonian liquid systems

New data on the liquid residence time distribution for two-phase downflow of air-Newtonian and non-Newtonian liquids through packed beds of porous and non-porous particles are presented. The piston-dispersion-exchange model is used to describe the liquid flow. With porous particles the dynamic evolution of the tracer concentration in the particles is described in terms of diffusion phenomena. The axial dispersion is very important in the case of two-phase downflow of air-water (trickle flow regime) and air-CMC systems through fixed beds with porous particles, and is negligible in the case of non-porous particles. With the porous particles, a key value is the effective diffusion coefficient of the tracer in the pores of the particles.     

Exact Cover with Light

We suggest a new optical solution for solving the YES/NO version of the Exact Cover problem by using the massive parallelism of light. The idea is to build an optical device which can generate all possible solutions of the problem and then to pick the correct one. In our case the device has a graph-like representation and the light is traversing it by following the routes given by the connections between nodes. The nodes are connected by arcs in a special way which lets us to generate all possible covers (exact or not) of the given set. For selecting the correct solution we assign to each item, from the set to be covered, a special integer number. These numbers will actually represent delays induced to light when it passes through arcs. The solution is represented as a subray arriving at a certain moment in the destination node. This will tell us if an exact cover does exist or not.

Solving the subset-sum problem with a light-based device

We propose an optical computational device which uses light rays for solving the subset-sum problem. The device has a graph-like representation and the light is traversing it by following the routes given by the connections between nodes. The nodes are connected by arcs in a special way which lets us to generate all possible subsets of the given set. To each arc we assign either a number from the given set or a predefined constant. When the light is passing through an arc it is delayed by the amount of time indicated by the number placed in that arc. At the destination node we will check if there is a ray whose total delay is equal to the target value of the subset sum problem (plus some constants). The proposed optical solution solves a NP-complete problem in time proportional with the target sum, but requires an exponential amount of energy.     

Assessment of Betulinic Acid Cytotoxicity and Mitochondrial Metabolism Impairment in a Human Melanoma Cell Line

Melanoma represents one of the most aggressive and drug resistant skin cancers with poor prognosis in its advanced stages. Despite the increasing number of targeted therapies, novel approaches are needed to counteract both therapeutic resistance and the side effects of classic therapy. Betulinic acid (BA) is a bioactive phytocompound that has been reported to induce apoptosis in several types of cancers including melanomas; however, its effects on mitochondrial bioenergetics are less investigated. The present study performed in A375 human melanoma cells was aimed to characterize the effects of BA on mitochondrial bioenergetics and cellular behavior. BA demonstrated a dose-dependent inhibitory effect in both mitochondrial respiration and glycolysis in A375 melanoma cells and at sub-toxic concentrations (10 μM) induced mitochondrial dysfunction by eliciting a decrease in the mitochondrial membrane potential and changes in mitochondria morphology and localization. In addition, BA triggered a dose-dependent cytotoxic effect characterized by apoptotic features: morphological alterations (nuclear fragmentation, apoptotic bodies) and the upregulation of pro-apoptotic markers mRNA expression (Bax, Bad and Bak). BA represents a viable therapeutic option via a complex modulatory effect on mitochondrial metabolism that might be useful in advanced melanoma or as reliable strategy to counteract resistance to standard therapy.     

On the method of near equations

Initiated by H. Bateman, F. Tricomi, E. J. Nyström and L. V. Kantorovitch, the method of near equations is extended to linear and continuous operators acting in an arbitrary normed space. This method is applied to linear integral equations of second kind in the spaces C[a,b] and L²[a,b]. The main feature of this method appears in some examples, for which its continuous variant fails but the L²-variant works, and then a subsequent «regularization procedure» leads to a continuous solution satisfying pointwise both the given integral equation and the corresponding error estimation.     

Synthesis,characterization, and adsorption behavior of aminophosphinic grafted on poly(styrene‐Co‐divinylbenzene) for divalent metal ions in aqueous solutions

In the present work, two novel aminophosphinic acid ligands grafted on poly(styrene‐1%divinylbenzene) (St‐1%DVB) have been synthesized by reacting polymer precursors bearing primary amino groups with benzaldehyde (or propionaldehyde) and phenylphosphinic acid by the “one‐pot” Kabatachnik‐Fields reaction. The resins functionalized with aminophosphinic pendant groups were characterized by means of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermal analysis, energy dispersive X‐ray microanalysis (EDX), and Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) imaging. Its adsorption capacity for divalent metal ions such as Cu(II) and Ni(II) were investigated. The adsorption procedure of Cu(II) and Ni(II) ions on polymer‐grafted aminophosphinic acid ligands was carried out by batch experiments. The result also shows that the adsorption process was best described by a pseudo‐second‐order kinetic equation and by the Langmuir adsorption isotherm. The best maximum adsorption capacity was obtained for resin with aminobenzylphosphinic acid groups [1.46 mg Cu(II)/g and 1.36 mg Ni(II)/g]. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 2013. © 2012 Society of Plastics Engineers     

CASHeW: Cluster-based Adaptive Scheme for Multimedia Delivery in Heterogeneous Wireless Networks

Multimedia streaming over heterogeneous wireless networks has attracted significant interest in recent years from both telecom network operators and end users. However, the heterogeneity of the wireless network makes it very difficult to synchronize real-time multimedia streaming to different types of end-user devices across different wireless networks. In addition, with different delay and packet loss across different networks, multimedia delivery over the heterogeneous wireless networks cannot provide good quality streaming video. This paper proposes CASHeW—a novel cluster-based design with an in-built feedback-based adaptive mechanism that results in a higher video perceived quality in two-hop heterogeneous wireless network environments. CASHeW employs a proxy-client-server mechanism between the base station (BS) and the end-user; and importantly uses a quality-oriented adaptive scheme for efficient multimedia delivery. Simulation-based tests indicate that the performance of CASHeW not only outperforms transport layer adaptive delivery protocols like the TCP-Friendly Rate Control Protocol (TFRCP) and Loss Delay Adaptation (LDA+), but also is better than that of medium access control (MAC) layer protocols such as the Receiver Based Auto Rate (RBAR) and Enhanced Distributed Channel Access (EDCA) in terms of average perceived quality, average bit rate and loss rate.