pinecone/core-2020-05-10-deduplication huggingface dataset:
“Click” Conjugation of Peptide on the Surface of Polymeric Nanoparticles for Targeting Tumor Angiogenesis

International audiencePurpose Angiogenesis plays a critical role in tumor growth. This phenomena is regulated by numerous mediators such as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). CBO-P11, a cyclo-peptide, has proven to specifically bind to receptors of VEGF and may be used as targeting ligand for tumor angiogenesis. We herein report the design of novel nanoparticles conjugated to CBO-P11 in order to specifically target tumor site. Methods The conjugation of CBO-P11 on the surface of poly (vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) nanoparticles was investigated using the copper(I)-catalyzed Huisgen 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition known as " click " reaction. CBO-P11 was modified with a near-infrared cyanine dye bearing an alkyne function, allowing both " click " coupling on azido-modified nanoparticles and fluores-cence labelling. Each step of this nanodevice construction was judiciously performed in aqueous solution and successfully characterized. The cytotoxicity of nanoparticles was evaluated in human brain endothelial cell line and their affinity for VEGF receptors was determined via fluorescence-based uptake assays on porcine aortic endothelial cell line. Results Nanoparticles were found to be spherical, dense, monodisperse and stable. No cytotoxicity was observed after four days of incubation, demonstrating the biocompatibility of nanoparticles. Fluorescence highlighted the specific interaction of these functionalized nanoparticles for VEGF receptors, suggesting that the targeting peptide bioactivity was retained. Conclusions These results demonstrate the potential of these functionalized nanoparticles for targeting tumor angiogenesis and their possible use as multifunctional plateform for cancer treament if coupled with therapeutic agents. KEY WORDS angiogenesis. " click " chemistry. cyclo-peptide. nanoparticles. PVDF. tumor targeting ABBREVIATIONS AA acrylic acid ACN acetonitrile DCM dichloromethane DIEA diisopropylethylamine DLS dynamic light scattering DMEM Dulbecco's modified eagle medium EDC ethyl-3(3dimethylaminopropyl)carbodiimide EDTA ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid EGM-2 endothelial growth medium ESI electrospray ionization FBS fetal bovine serum Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s11095-011-0398-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users
Efficient Algorithms for Program Equivalence for Confluent Concurrent Constraint Programming

International audienceConcurrent Constraint Programming (CCP) is a well-established declarative frame-work from concurrency theory. Its foundations and principles e.g., semantics, proof systems, axiomatizations, have been thoroughly studied for over the last two decades. In contrast, the development of algorithms and automatic verifica-tion procedures for CCP have hitherto been far too little considered. To the best of our knowledge there is only one existing verification algorithm for the standard notion of CCP program (observational) equivalence. In this paper we first show that this verification algorithm has an exponential-time complexity even for pro-grams from a representative sub-language of CCP; the summation-free fragment (CCP\+). We then significantly improve on the complexity of this algorithm by providing two alternative polynomial-time decision procedures for CCP\+ pro-gram equivalence. Each of these two procedures has an advantage over the other. One has a better time complexity. The other can be easily adapted for the ful
Strong pinning and vortex energy distributions in single-crystalline Ba(Fe1−xCox)2As2

International audienceThe interrelation between heterogeneity and flux pinning is studied in Ba(Fe1−xCox)2As2 single crystals with widely varying Co content x. Magnetic Bitter decoration of the superconducting vortex ensemble in crystals with x=0.075 and x=0.1 reveals highly disordered vortex structures. The width of the Meissner belt observed at the edges of the crystals, and above the surface steps formed by cleaving, as well as the width of the intervortex distance distribution, indicate that the observed vortex ensemble is established at a temperature just below the critical temperature Tc. The vortex interaction energy and pinning force distributions extracted from the images strongly suggest that the vortex lattice disorder is attributable to strong pinning due to spatial fluctuations of Tc and of the superfluid density. Correlating the results with the critical current density yields a typical length scale of the relevant disorder of 40-60 nm
Hybrid solar cells based on thin-film silicon and P3HT

International audienceHybrid concepts based on a nanoscale combination of organic and inorganic semiconductors are a promising way to enhance the cost efficiency of solar cells through a better use of the solar spectrum, a higher aspect ratio of the interface, and the good processability of polymers. A new type of solar cells has been investigated. It is based on a heterojunction between regio-regular poly(3-hexylthiophene) as an organic electron donor and silicon as an inorganic electron acceptor. In a first step towards nanostructured devices, cells made of flat thin films of these materials have been studied as a model case of the heterojunction. The materials were characterized through ellipsometry and absorption spectroscopy. The devices were studied by means of their spectral response and their I-V characteristics. By combining these results, the contribution of each layer and the mechanisms of photocurrent generation are explained. The best cells to-date show a power conversion efficiency of 1.6% under AM 1.5 illumination, with a Voc of 0.704 V and a Jsc of 4.22 mA/cm2
Adapting agriculture to climate change

The strong trends in climate change already evident, the likelihood of further changes occurring, and the increasing scale of potential climate impacts give urgency to addressing agricultural adaptation more coherently. There are many potential adaptation options available for marginal change of existing agricultural systems, often variations of existing climate risk management. We show that implementation of these options is likely to have substantial benefits under moderate climate change for some cropping systems. However, there are limits to their effectiveness under more severe climate changes. Hence, more systemic changes in resource allocation need to be considered, such as targeted diversification of production systems and livelihoods. We argue that achieving increased adaptation action will necessitate integration of climate change-related issues with other risk factors, such as climate variability and market risk, and with other policy domains, such as sustainable development. Dealing with the many barriers to effective adaptation will require a comprehensive and dynamic policy approach covering a range of scales and issues, for example, from the understanding by farmers of change in risk profiles to the establishment of efficient markets that facilitate response strategies. Science, too, has to adapt. Multidisciplinary problems require multidisciplinary solutions, i.e., a focus on integrated rather than disciplinary science and a strengthening of the interface with decision makers. A crucial component of this approach is the implementation of adaptation assessment frameworks that are relevant, robust, and easily operated by all stakeholders, practitioners, policymakers, and scientists
Source contributions of lead in residential floor dust and within-home variability of dust lead loading.

International audienceEvidence of the impact of exposure to low levels of lead on children's health is increasing. Residential floor dust is the assumed origin of lead exposure by young children. In this study, we estimate the contribution of different lead sources to household interior floor dust contamination. We also estimate the within-home variability of interior floor dust lead loadings. A multilevel model was developed based on data collected in a French survey in 2008-2009 (484 housing units, 1834 rooms). Missing data were handled by multiple imputation using chained equations. The intra-home correlation between interior floor Log dust lead loadings was approximately 0.6. Dust lead from the landing of an apartment, mostly originating outside the building, was the major contributor to interior floor dust lead. Secondary contributors included the lead-based paint on exterior railings, track-in of the exterior soil of the children's play area into the dwelling, smoking inside the home, demolition of nearby old buildings and sites of pollution in the vicinity. Interior lead-based paint contaminated interior floor dust only in old and non-renovated dwellings. To reduce interior floor dust lead levels in the general population of dwellings, common areas should be maintained, and track-in from the outside should be limited as much as possible
Response to metal stress of Nicotiana langsdorffii plants wild-type and transgenic for the rat glucocorticoid receptor gene

Recently our findings have shown that the integration of the gene coding for the rat gluco-corticoid receptor (GR receptor) in Nicotiana langsdorffii plants induced morphophysiological effects in transgenic plants through the modification of their hormonal pattern. Phytohormones play a key role in plant responses to many different biotic and abiotic stresses since a modified hormonal profile up-regulates the activation of secondary metabolites involved in the response to stress. In this work transgenic GR plants and isogenic wild type genotypes were exposed to metal stress by treating them with 30 ppm cadmium(II) or 50 ppm chromium(VI). Hormonal patterns along with changes in key response related metabolites were then monitored and compared. Heavy metal up-take was found to be lower in the GR plants. The transgenic plants exhibited higher values of S-abscisic acid (S-ABA) and 3-indole acetic acid (IAA), salicylic acid and total polyphenols, chlorogenic acid and antiradical activity, compared to the untransformed wild type plants. Both Cd and Cr treatments led to an increase in hormone concentrations and secondary metabolites only in wild type plants. Analysis of the results suggests that the stress responses due to changes in the plant's hormonal system may derive from the interaction between the GR receptor and phytosteroids, which are known to play a key role in plant physiology and development. (C) 2013 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved
Lithium isotopes in island arc geothermal systems: Guadeloupe, Martinique (French West Indies) and experimental approach

International audienceWe report lithium (Li) isotopic measurements in seawater-derived waters that were discharged from geothermal wells, thermal springs, and submarine springs located in volcanic island arc areas in Guadeloupe (the Bouillante geothermal field) and Martinique (Lamentin plain and the Diamant areas). While Li isotopic signatures of the geothermal fluids collected from deep reservoirs were found to be homogeneous for a given site, the δ7Li signatures for each of these reservoirs were significantly different. The first low temperature (25-250°C) experiments of Li isotope exchange during seawater/basalt interaction confirmed that Li isotopic exchange is strongly temperature dependent, as previously inferred from natural studies. Li isotopic fractionation ranged from +19.4‰ (Δ solution - solid) at 25°C to +6.7‰ at 250°C. These experiments demonstrated the importance of Li isotopic fractionation during the formation of Li-bearing secondary minerals and allowed us to determine the following empirical relationship between isotopic fractionation and temperature: Δ solution – solid = 7847 / T – 8.093. Application of experimental results and literature data to the Bouillante area suggested that geothermal water was in equilibrium at 250-260°C. It likely has a deep and large reservoir located in the upper sheeted dike complex of the oceanic crust, just below the transition zone between andesite volcanic flows and the basaltic dikes. The upper dike section, from which Li is extracted by hydrothermal fluids, was characterized by light Li isotopic values in the rocks, indicating retention of 6Li by the altered rocks. For the Lamentin and Diamant areas, the geothermal fluids appeared to be in equilibrium with reservoir volcano-sedimentary rocks at 90-120°C and 180°C, respectively. Further evidence for this argument is provided by the fact that only the Na/Li thermometric relationship determined for sedimentary basins yielded temperature values in agreement with those measured or estimated for the reservoir fluids. This suggests the importance of a sedimentary signature in these reservoir rocks. Altogether, this study highlights that the use of Li isotopic systematics is a powerful tool for characterizing the origin of geothermal waters as well as the nature of their reservoir rocks
Monte-Carlo Swarm Policy Search

International audienceFinding optimal controllers of stochastic systems is a particularly challenging problem tackled by the optimal control and reinforcement learning communities. A classic paradigm for handling such problems is provided by Markov Decision Processes. However, the resulting underlying optimization problem is difficult to solve. In this paper, we explore the possible use of Particle Swarm Optimization to learn optimal controllers and show through some non-trivial experiments that it is a particularly promising lead
Nd elastic scattering as a tool to probe properties of 3N forces

Faddeev equations for elastic Nd scattering have been solved using modern NN forces combined with the Tucson-Melbourne two-pion exchange three-nucleon force, with a modification thereof closer to chiral symmetry and the Urbana IX three-nucleon force. Theoretical predictions for the differential cross section and several spin observables using NN forces only and NN forces combined with three-nucleon force models are compared to each other and to the existing data. A wide range of energies from 3 to 200 MeV is covered. Especially at the higher energies striking three-nucleon force effects are found, some of which are supported by the still rare set of data, some of which are in conflict with data and thus very likely point to defects in those three-nucleon force models
Determination of the photoelectron reference plane in nanostructured surfaces

In angle-resolved photoemission (ARPES) from crystalline solids, wave-vector conservation applies to the two-dimensional (2D) surface, which may thus be defined as the reference plane in ARPES. We investigate whether such reference varies for photoemitted electrons in nanometer-sized systems that expose different crystal planes. To this aim, we exploit the structural tunability of the Ag/Cu(223) system which is capable of offering surfaces with periodic arrays of nanofacets of varying size and orientation. A thorough, photonenergy- dependent analysis of the surface states confined to such nanostructures is performed comparing different reference planes for photoemitted electrons. Assuming the premise that k|| must be a good quantum number for 2D states, we conclude that the (final state) photoelectron reference direction is not the average optical direction but the local facet that confines the (initial state) surface electrons. Moreover, in the general case of nanostructured systems with uneven surfaces, we show how the photoelectron reference plane can be empirically determined through such a photon-energy-dependent ARPES analysisJLC and AM acknowledge the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICINN) for financial support through the research program Ramón y Cajal. JEO acknowledges support from the Spanish MICINN (MAT2010-21156-C03-01), the Basque Government (IT-257-07) and the DIPC (sabbatical program). EGM acknowledges support from the Spanish MICINN (FIS2008-00399
Silicon nanocrystal-based photosensor on low-temperature polycrystalline-silicon panels

[[abstract]]A photodetector, comprising a layer of silicon nanocrystals that is sandwiched between two electrodes, is proposed and demonstrated in a photosensing application on low-temperature polysilicon panels. Laser annealing of silicon-rich oxide films can form nanocrystals that respond optimally to a certain absorption spectrum of a light source. These silicon nanocrystals are smaller than 10 nm in diameter, which size determines the effectiveness of their quantum confinement, and promote electron-hole pair generation in the photosensing region because of their direct band gap. Besides obtaining a photosensitivity that is comparable to that of a p-i-n diode, which is currently used in low-temperature polysilicon technology, the sensor maximizes the photosensing area of a pixel by its stacked structure.[[fileno]]2030158010087[[department]]電機工程學
Will remote sensing shape the next generation of species distribution models?

Two prominent limitations of species distribution models (SDMs) are spatial biases in existing occurrence data and a lack of spatially explicit predictor variables to fully capture habitat characteristics of species. Can existing and emerging remote sensing technologies meet these challenges and improve future SDMs? We believe so. Novel products derived from multispectral and hyperspectral sensors, as well as future Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) and RADAR missions, may play a key role in improving model performance. In this perspective piece, we demonstrate how modern sensors onboard satellites, planes and unmanned aerial vehicles are revolutionizing the way we can detect and monitor both plant and animal species in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems as well as allowing the emergence of novel predictor variables appropriate for species distribution modeling. We hope this interdisciplinary perspective will motivate ecologists, remote sensing experts and modelers to work together for developing a more refined SDM framework in the near future
Spin-polarized electric current in silicene nanoribbons induced by
  atomic adsorption

We investigate the nonequilibrium transport properties of a silicene armchair
nanoribbon with a random distribution of adsorbed atoms in apex positions. A
ferromagnetic insulator grown below the nanoribbon splits spin-up and spin-down
electron bands and gives rise to a spin polarization of the conductance. The
conductance vanishes when the Fermi energy matches the adatom levels due to the
coupling of adatom localized states with the continuum spectra of the
nanoribbon. This is the well-known Fano effect, resulting in a spin-dependent
antiresonance in the conductance. The different antiresonance energies of
spin-up and spin-down electrons give rise to a full spin polarization of the
conductance in a broad energy window. This spin-dependent Fano effect opens the
possibility to using it in spintronics as a tuneable source of polarized
electrons
Broadband Satellite Multimedia

The broadband satellite multimedia (BSM) architecture standardised by ETSI defines a satellite independent service access point (SI-SAP) interface layer that separates the satellite independent features of the upper layers from the satellite dependant features of the lower layers, and provides a mechanism to carry IP-based protocols over these satellite dependent lower layers. This enables interoperability at the IP layer between satellite systems of different physical and link layers technologies that fully comply with the SI-SAP concept. This study reviews past and current standardisation activities including the BSM quality of service (QoS) architecture, security architecture, network management that have been carried out by the ETSI Technical Committee-Satellite Earth Stations and Systems (TC-SES)/BSM working group and looking into the future to extend current SI-SAP functions that can enhance existing QoS provision and security management capabilities as well as proposing a mobility management architecture that complies with the IEEE 802.21 media independent handover framework to support BSM mobility and to allow integration of satellite networks with fixed and mobile network infrastructures. A service-based network management architecture is also proposed to allow management flexibility and integration of business and operation support functions, paving the way for satellite integration into the Internet of the future
Reduction of Spectroscopic Strength: Weakly-Bound and Strongly-Bound Single-Particle States Studied Using One-Nucleon Knockout Reactions

<p>Both one-proton and one-neutron knockout reactions were performed with fast beams of two asymmetric, neutron-deficient rare isotopes produced by projectile fragmentation. The reactions are used to probe the nucleon spectroscopic strengths at both the weakly and strongly bound nucleon Fermi surfaces. The one-proton knockout reactions Be-9(S-28, P-27)X and Be-9(Si-24, Al-23)X probe the weakly bound valence proton states and the one-neutron knockout reactions and Be-9(S-28, S-27)X and Be-9(Si-24, Si-23)X the strongly bound neutron states in the two systems. The spectroscopic strengths are extracted from the measured cross sections by comparisons with an eikonal reaction theory. The reduction of the experimentally deduced spectroscopic strengths, relative to the predictions of shell-model calculations, is of order 0.8-0.9 in the removal of weakly bound protons and 0.3-0.4 in the knockout of the strongly bound neutrons. These results support previous studies at the extremes of nuclear binding and provide further evidence that in asymmetric nuclear systems the nucleons of the deficient species, at the more-bound Fermi surface are more strongly correlated than those of the more weakly bound excess species.</p
Observation of nano-indent induced strain fields and dislocation generation in silicon wafers using micro-raman spectroscopy and white beam x-ray topography

In the semiconductor manufacturing industry, wafer handling introduces micro-cracks at the wafer edge. During heat treatment these can produce larger, long-range cracks in the wafer which can cause wafer breakage during manufacture. Two complimentary techniques, micro-Raman spectroscopy (μRS) and White Beam Synchrotron X-ray Topography (WBSXRT) were employed to study both the micro-cracks and the associated strain fields produced by nano-indentations in Si wafers, which were used as a means of introducing controlled strain in the wafers. It is shown that both the spatial lateral and depth distribution of these long range strain fields are relatively isotropic in nature. The Raman spectra suggest the presence of a region under tensile strain beneath the indents, which can indicate a crack beneath the indent and the data strongly suggests that there exists a minimum critical applied load below which cracking will not initiate
Computing Efficient Financial Strategies: An Extended Compromise Programming Approach

This paper proposes a mathematical model to plan the financial strategy of a large company. The model links the philosophy of new behavioural economics with the multiple criteria decision making paradigm. Within this theoretical approach, the proposed model is supported by more realistic behavioral hypotheses. After formulating the initial multi-objective programming model, it has, due to its underlying computational difficulties, to be transformed into an easily computable extended compromise programming model. The functional and empirical potential of the model is illustrated with the help of a case study concerning a “stock market quoted” Spanish company operating in the energy sector. This paper shows how such an approach can open up new prospects for research linking economic problems with applied mathematic