Carbohydrate‐Based Nanocarriers Exhibiting Specific Cell Targeting with Minimum Influence from the Protein Corona

Whenever nanoparticles encounter biological fluids like blood, proteins adsorb on their surface and form a so‐called protein corona. Although its importance is widely accepted, information on the influence of surface functionalization of nanocarriers on the protein corona is still sparse, especially concerning how the functionalization of PEGylated nanocarriers with targeting agents will affect protein corona formation and how the protein corona may in turn influence the targeting effect. Herein, hydroxyethyl starch nanocarriers (HES‐NCs) were prepared, PEGylated, and modified on the outer PEG layer with mannose to target dendritic cells (DCs). Their interaction with human plasma was then studied. Low overall protein adsorption with a distinct protein pattern and high specific affinity for DC binding were observed, thus indicating an efficient combination of “stealth” and targeting behavior.     

Semitopological groups,Bouziad spaces and topological groups

A semitopological group (topological group) is a group endowed with a topology for which multiplication is separately continuous (multiplication is jointly continuous and inversion is continuous). In this paper we use topological games to show that many semitopological groups are in fact topological groups.     

Redshifted and Near‐infrared Active Analog Pigments Based upon Archaerhodopsin‐3

Archaerhodopsin‐3 (AR3) is a member of the microbial rhodopsin family of hepta‐helical transmembrane proteins, containing a covalently bound molecule of all‐trans retinal as a chromophore. It displays an absorbance band in the visible region of the solar spectrum (λmax 556 nm) and functions as a light‐driven proton pump in the archaeon Halorubrum sodomense. AR3 and its mutants are widely used in neuroscience as optogenetic neural silencers and in particular as fluorescent indicators of transmembrane potential. In this study, we investigated the effect of analogs of the native ligand all‐trans retinal A1 on the spectral properties and proton‐pumping activity of AR3 and its single mutant AR3 (F229S). While, surprisingly, the 3‐methoxyretinal A2 analog did not redshift the absorbance maximum of AR3, the analogs retinal A2 and 3‐methylamino‐16‐nor‐1,2,3,4‐didehydroretinal (MMAR) did generate active redshifted AR3 pigments. The MMAR analog pigments could even be activated by near‐infrared light. Furthermore, the MMAR pigments showed strongly enhanced fluorescence with an emission band in the near‐infrared peaking around 815 nm. We anticipate that the AR3 pigments generated in this study have widespread potential for near‐infrared exploitation as fluorescent voltage‐gated sensors in optogenetics and artificial leafs and as proton pumps in bioenergy‐based applications.     

Exact fill rates for (<Emphasis Type="Italic">R,s, S</Emphasis>) inventory control with gamma distributed demand

For the familiar (R, s, S) inventory control system only approximate expressions exist for the fill rate, ie the fraction of demand that can be satisfied from stock. Best-known are the approximations derived from renewal theory, holding under specific conditions; in particular, S–s should be reasonably large. Here, an exact expression for the fill rate is derived, holding generally in the situation that demand has a gamma distribution with known integer-valued shape parameter, while lead time is constant. These exact results allow a check of the renewal theory based approximations. In addition, an extremely fast simulation program was written, obviously holding for general shape parameter values.     

Repetition patterns in Weddell seal (Leptonychotes weddellii) underwater multiple element calls

Many vocalizations produced by Weddell seals (Leptonychotes weddellii) are made up of repeated individual distinct sounds (elements). Patterning of multiple element calls was examined during the breeding season at Casey and Davis, Antarctica. Element and interval durations were measured from 405 calls all > 3 elements in length. The duration of the calls (22+/-16.6 s) did not seem to vary with an increasing number of elements (F4,404=1.83,p = 0.122) because element and interval durations decreased as the number of elements within a call increased. Underwater vocalizations showed seven distinct timing patterns of increasing, decreasing, or constant element and interval durations throughout the calls. One call type occurred with six rhythm patterns, although the majority exhibited only two rhythms. Some call types also displayed steady frequency changes as they progressed. Weddell seal multiple element calls are rhythmically repeated and thus the durations of the elements and intervals within a call occur in a regular manner. Rhythmical repetition used during vocal communication likely enhances the probability of a call being detected and has important implications for the extent to which the seals can successfully transmit information over long distances and during times of high level background noise.     

Generalized subdifferentials: a Baire categorical approach

We use Baire categorical arguments to construct pathological locally Lipschitz functions. The origins of this approach can be traced back to Banach and Mazurkiewicz (1931) who independently used similar categorical arguments to show that ``almost every continuous real-valued function defined on [0,1] is nowhere differentiable". As with the results of Banach and Mazurkiewicz, it appears that it is easier to show that almost every function possesses a certain property than to construct a single concrete example. Among the most striking results contained in this paper are: Almost every 1-Lipschitz function defined on a Banach space has a Clarke subdifferential mapping that is identically equal to the dual ball; if is a family of maximal cyclically monotone operators defined on a Banach space then there exists a real-valued locally Lipschitz function such that for each ; in a separable Banach space each non-empty weakcompact convex subset in the dual space is identically equal to the approximate subdifferential mapping of some Lipschitz function and for locally Lipschitz functions defined on separable spaces the notions of strong and weak integrability coincide.

     

Separate continuity, joint continuity, the Lindelöf property and p-spaces

In this paper we prove a theorem more general than the following. Suppose that X is ?ech-complete and Y is a closed subset of a product of a separable metric space with a compact Hausdorff space. Then for each separately continuous function there exists a residual set R in X such that f is jointly continuous at each point of R×Y. This confirms the suspicions of S. Mercourakis and S. Negrepontis from 1991.     

Mesomorphism of lanthanide-containing Schiff's base complexes with chloride counterions

Liquid crystalline complexes [Ln(LH)3Cl3] have been synthesized, where Ln is a trivalent lanthanide ion (Pr-Lu, except Pm) and where LH is the Schiff's base ligand N-octadecyl4-tetradecyloxysalicylaldimine. Although the ligand does not exhibit mesomorphism, the complexes do (SmA phase). The mesophase behaviour of these compounds has been investigated by polarizing optical microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry and high temperature X-ray diffraction. The lanthanide complexes have much higher melting and clearing points than comparable complexes with nitrate or dodecyl sulphate counterions. In addition, the transition temperatures are virtually independent of the type of lanthanide ion. This behaviour is opposite to that observed for similar complexes with nitrate counterions [Ln(LH)3(NO3)3]. The differences in temperature dependence can be related to structural differences. Whereas in the nitrate complexes the Schiff's base ligand binds in a zwitterionic form, two-dimensional 1H NMR correlation spectroscopy (COSY) of [Lu(LH)3Cl3] gives an indication that in the chloride complexes, besides coordination via the oxygen of molecules in the zwitterionic form, some of the Schiff's base ligands bind in a bidentate fashion (via the phenolic oxygen and the imine nitrogen).