Using ELP Repeats as a Scaffold for De Novo Construction of Gadolinium-Binding Domains within Multifunctional Recombinant Proteins for Targeted Delivery of Gadolinium to Tumour Cells

Three artificial proteins that bind the gadolinium ion (Gd³⁺) with tumour-specific ligands were de novo engineered and tested as candidate drugs for binary radiotherapy (BRT) and contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Gd³⁺-binding modules were derived from calmodulin. They were joined with elastin-like polypeptide (ELP) repeats from human elastin to form the four-centre Gd³⁺-binding domain (4MBS-domain) that further was combined with F3 peptide (a ligand of nucleolin, a tumour marker) to form the F3-W4 block. The F3-W4 block was taken alone (E2-13W4 protein), as two repeats (E1-W8) and as three repeats (E1-W12). Each protein was supplemented with three copies of the RGD motif (a ligand of integrin αvβ3) and green fluorescent protein (GFP). In contrast to Magnevist (a Gd-containing contrast agent), the proteins exhibited three to four times higher accumulation in U87MG glioma and A375 melanoma cell lines than in normal fibroblasts. The proteins remained for >24 h in tumours induced by Ca755 adenocarcinoma in C57BL/6 mice. They exhibited stability towards blood proteases and only accumulated in the liver and kidney. The technological advantages of using the engineered proteins as a basis for developing efficient and non-toxic agents for early diagnosis of tumours by MRI as well as part of BRT were demonstrated.     

Operating experience with lubricating oils in diesel locomotive engine

Translated from Khimiya i Tekhnologiya Topliv i Masel, No. 10, pp. 21–22, October, 1988.     

Temperature stresses in a plate and choice of optimum heating regime

Results are given of an investigation of the thermal stresses in an infinite plate for a problem of the third kind, when the temperature of the medium varies exponentially with time.     

Alfvén oscillations in ohmic discharges with runaway electrons in the TUMAN-3M tokamak

Studying the mechanism of Alfvén wave generation in plasma is important, since the interaction of these waves with energetic particles in tokamak-type reactors can increase the losses of energy and particles with the corresponding decrease in the efficiency of plasma heating and, under certain conditions, lead to the damage of structural elements of the system. Despite the previous detailed investigations of the excitation of Alfvén waves by superthermal particles in regimes with additional heating, the physics of Alfvén mode generation in discharges with ohmic heating of plasma is still not sufficiently studied. We have established that a significant factor inf luencing the development of Alfvén oscillations in ohmic discharge is the presence of runaway electrons. A physical mechanism explaining this relationship is proposed.     

Computer simulation of microcomposite ceramics with high transcrystalline mobility

Computer simulation is used to consider the possibility of creation of microcomposite technical ceramics with a high transcrystalline mobility and to show that allowance for the exchange interactions of atoms through nonequilibrium electrostatic fields causes formation of self-organized mesoscopic (SM) blocks, which provide microplasticity and relaxation of strain at lower temperatures. The simulation results agree with the yield stria observed in mechanical compression tests of A1₂,O₃ specimens obtained from sol-gel solutions. It is shown that the yield stria are directly connected with the sizes of the SM blocks. The high mobility of SM blocks also promotes a decrease in the temperature of the gel → A1₂O₃ transformation.     

Investigation of the spread of the two-dimensional front of a crown forest fire initiated by a center of finite size

Tomsk. Kemerovo. Translated from Fizika Goreniya i Vzryva, Vol. 26, No. 4, pp. 9–14, July–August, 1990.     

Using Ceramic Tubes in a Horizontal Tubular Oven up to 1600°C

Ceramic tubes from various sources have been tested in a high-temperature horizontal tubular furnace developed at this company, which is used for checking thermocouples of TPR (V) type. The tubes should not deform at 1600°C. It is found that ceramic tubes can be used in a horizontal furnace up to 1600°C if they are of satisfactory quality. Translated from Novye Ogneupory, No. 5, pp. 48–50, May, 2008.