Effectiveness of anthracycline against experimental prion disease in Syrian hamsters

Prion diseases are transmissible neurodegenerative conditions characterized by the accumulation of protease-resistant forms of the prion protein (PrP), termed PrPres, in the brain. Insoluble PrPres tends to aggregate into amyloid fibrils. The anthracycline 4'-iodo-4'-deoxy-doxorubicin (IDX) binds to amyloid fibrils and induces amyloid resorption in patients with systemic amyloidosis. To test IDX in an experimental model of prion disease, Syrian hamsters were inoculated intracerebrally either with scrapie-infected brain homogenate or with infected homogenate coincubated with IDX. In IDX-treated hamsters, clinical signs of disease were delayed and survival time was prolonged. Neuropathological examination showed a parallel delay in the appearance of brain changes and in the accumulation of PrPres and PrP amyloid.     

Case studies on the usability,acceptability and functionality of autonomous mobile delivery robots in real-world healthcare settings

Intelligent Service Robotics - Autonomous mobile delivery robots are used as a way to improve efficiency in hospitals and reduce staff workload amongst a growing workforce shortage in healthcare....     

Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of sugar-derived Ras inhibitors

The design and synthesis of novel Ras inhibitors with a bicyclic scaffold derived from the natural sugar D-arabinose are presented. Molecular modelling showed that these ligands can bind Ras by accommodating the aromatic moieties and the phenylhydroxylamino group in a cavity near the Switch II region of the protein. All the synthetic compounds were active in inhibiting nucleotide exchange on p21 human Ras in vitro, and two of them selectively inhibited Ras-dependent cell growth in vivo.     

Luminescence of the BΣ–XΣ band system of AlO during plasma electrolytic oxidation of aluminum

Two broad luminescence peaks with clearly pronounced structure, extending from roughly 18,200 to 18,800 cm⁻¹ and from 19,000 to 19,700 cm⁻¹ with the maxima at approximately 18,500 and 19,500 cm⁻¹, respectively, are obtained during plasma electrolytic oxidation of aluminum. They are assigned to the v′–v″ = −1 and −2 band sequences of the B²Σ⁺–X²Σ⁺ emission transition of AlO. The measured intensity distributions are employed to estimate the population of vibrational levels of the upper electronic state, and consequently the mean plasma temperature. The composition of plasma containing aluminum and oxygen under assumption of thermodynamic equilibrium is calculated in the temperature up to 11,000 K in order to explain the appearance of the observed spectral features.     

Variations in cross-link density with deposition pressure in ultrathin plasma polymerized benzene and octafluorocyclobutane films

Neutron reflectometry (NR) measurements of ultrathin films from octafluorocyclobutane (OFCB) and benzene (B) precursors deposited using Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition (PECVD) at two pressures (0.6 and 0.05 torr) reveal that under both deposition conditions there are a 7 nm-thick surface layer and an approximately 1 nm-thick transition layer next to the substrate which have structures different than those in the middle of the film. NR measurements of films swollen with solvent reveal that the density of cross-linking next to the substrate is lower than that in the middle of the film or the region adjacent to the surface of the film for both precursors. Variations in the cross-link density with processing pressure are much stronger for PP-B films than for PP-OFCB films.     

Removal of zinc, copper and lead by natural zeolite-a comparison of adsorption isotherms

An uptake of zinc (Zn), copper (Cu), and lead (Pb) from aqueous solutions by ion exchange on natural zeolitic tuff has been studied. The Croatian zeolite clinoptilolite from the Donje Jesenje deposit has been used as a natural ion exchanger. The efficiency of removal is higher for Pb and Cu than for Zn ions. Measured concentrations of Si in the liquid phase identify the detachment of the aluminosilicate structure during ion exchange in the presence of H(+) and OH(-) ions. The adsorption isotherm equations; Langmuir-Freundlich, Redlich-Petersen, Toth, Dubinin-Radushkevich, modified Dubinin-Radushkevich, and Lineweawer-Burk were derived from the basic empirical equations, and used for calculation of ion exchange parameters. The best fitting of experimental results to the proposed isotherms was observed in models that assume that ionic species bind first at energetically most favorable sites, with multi-layer adsorption taking place subsequently.     

Application of focusing method of index profiling to transition region of optical fibre preform

The letter shows how the focusing method of measuring the refractive-index profile of an optical fibre preform can be modified to be applicable to the transition region of the preform. This involves adding a slit between the collimated source and the preform and measuring the scattered power distribution along the projection of the slit in the measurement plane.     

Holographic measurement of refractive-index profile of optical fibre preform

A holographic method of measuring the refractive-index profile of an optical fibre preform is presented. It uses the principle of shearing interferometry. The method is simple and allows measurements to be repeated even after the preform has been withdrawn for fibre drawing.