Win probabilities and simple majorities in probabilistic voting situations

This paper considers an election between candidatesA andB in which (1) voters may be uncertain about which candidate they will vote for, and (2) the winner is to be determined by a lottery betweenA andB that is based on their vote totals. This lottery is required to treat voters equally, to treat candidates equally, and to respond nonnegatively to increased support for a candidate. The set _n of all such lottery rules based on a total ofn voters is the convex hull of aboutn/2 basic lottery rules which include the simple majority rule. For odd values ofn 3 let , and for even values ofn 4 let . With the average of then voters probabilities of voting forA, it is shown that within _n the simple majority rule maximizes candidateA's overall win probability whenever , and that(n) is the smallest number for which this is true. Similarly, the simple majority rule maximizesB's overall win probability whenever (the average of the voters probabilities of voting forB) is as large as(n). This research was supported by the National Science Foundation, Grant SOC 75-00941.     

Novel Iron Oxide Nanoparticles Induce Ferroptosis in a Panel of Cancer Cell Lines

The use of nanomaterials rationally engineered to treat cancer is a burgeoning field that has reported great medical achievements. Iron-based polymeric nano-formulations with precisely tuned physicochemical properties are an expanding and versatile therapeutic strategy for tumor treatment. Recently, a peculiar type of regulated necrosis named ferroptosis has gained increased attention as a target for cancer therapy. Here, we show for the first time that novel iron oxide nanoparticles coated with gallic acid and polyacrylic acid (IONP–GA/PAA) possess intrinsic cytotoxic activity on various cancer cell lines. Indeed, IONP–GA/PAA treatment efficiently induces ferroptosis in glioblastoma, neuroblastoma, and fibrosarcoma cells. IONP–GA/PAA-induced ferroptosis was blocked by the canonical ferroptosis inhibitors, including deferoxamine and ciclopirox olamine (iron chelators), and ferrostatin-1, the lipophilic radical trap. These ferroptosis inhibitors also prevented the lipid hydroperoxide generation promoted by the nanoparticles. Altogether, we report on novel ferroptosis-inducing iron encapsulated nanoparticles with potent anti-cancer properties, which has promising potential for further in vivo validation.     

纳米级ZnO/MgO固体的合成及其对CO的氧化活性

The ZnO/MgO solid samples containing the ZnO nanoparticles of controllable size were prepared using colloidal technique. The catalytic performance of the ZnO/MgO samples for the CO oxidation was measured. It was revealed that the rate of the CO oxidation reaction on the ZnO nanoparticles with variable average radius (2.01-2.29 nm) shows nonmonotonic dependence caused by the quantum-confinement effect.     

Separation of Dihydro-Isocoumarins and Dihydro-Stilbenoids from Hydrangea macrophylla ssp. serrata by Use of Counter-Current Chromatography

Previously, different Hydrangea macrophylla ssp. serrata cultivars were investigated by untargeted LC-MS analysis. From this, a list of tentatively identified and unknown compounds that differ significantly between these cultivars was obtained. Due to the lack of reference compounds, especially for dihydro-isocoumarins, we aimed to isolate and structurally characterise these compounds from the cultivar ‘Yae-no-amacha’ using NMR and LC-MS methods. For purification and isolation, counter-current chromatography was used in combination with reversed-phase preparative HPLC as an orthogonal and enhanced purification workflow. Thirteen dihydro-isocoumarins in combination with other metabolites could be isolated and structurally identified. Particularly interesting was the clarification of dihydrostilbenoid glycosides, which were described for the first time in H. macrophylla ssp. serrata. These results will help us in further studies on the biological interpretation of our data.     

Intra-and Intermolecular Rovibrational States of HCI-H2O and DCI-H2O Dimers from Full-Dimensional and Fully Coupled Quantum Calculations

We report full-dimensional and fully coupled quantum bound-state cal-culations of the J=1 intra-and intermolecular rovibrational states of two isotopologues of ...     

Optical Thin-Film Sensors for the Determination of Aqueous Halide Ions

Fourteen thin-film optical sensors in which halide-sensitive fluorophores are immobilized in a thin copolymer film (50 m, dry) have been developed and characterized. The sensor films use rhodamine, 6-methoxyquinoline, and harmane dyes which have been functionalized and bound to a hydrophilic copolymer. The sensor films are reversibly capable of determining aqueous bromide and iodide with 4 and 2% accuracy, respectively, at concentrations of around 10^–3 mol dm^–3, and are more sensitive than previous plastic sensor fabrications. The 90% response time to molar iodide is 30–60 s. A combination of sensor films allows the simultaneous determination of both I^– and Br^– in a mixed-halide solution. The interference of several ions, including pseudo-halides, on the sensor films has been studied.     

Diffusion changes precede size reduction in neoadjuvant treatment of breast cancer

Traditionally, tumor response has been assessed via tumor size measurements during the course of a treatment. However, changes in these morphologically based measures occur relatively late in the course of a treatment. Alternative biomarkers are currently being evaluated to enable an earlier assessment of treatment to facilitate early cessation and cost savings. Diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI) has been identified by preclinical studies to be a likely alternative to tumor size measurements. In this study, 10 patients were examined prior to and after the first and second chemotherapy cycle time points. Longest diameter tumor measurements and apparent diffusion coefficients (ADCs) were recorded at each exam. An increase in the mean (normalized) ADC was noted as early as the first cycle time point. However, a reduction in the mean (normalized) longest diameter was only noted at the second cycle time point. Significant alterations from the baseline value were noted for ADC at the first (P=.005) and second cycle time points (P=.004). Longest diameter measurements only achieved a borderline significance at the second time point (P=.057). These results indicate that DWI may provide a suitable biomarker capable of providing an indication of response to treatment prior to tumor size measurements.     

Derivative temporal clustering analysis: detecting prolonged neuronal activity

Temporal clustering analysis (TCA) and independent component analysis (ICA) are promising data-driven techniques in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) experiments to obtain brain activation maps in conditions with unknown temporal information regarding the neuronal activity. Although comparable to ICA in detecting transient neuronal activities, TCA fails to detect prolonged plateau brain activations. To eliminate this pitfall, a novel derivative TCA (DTCA) method was introduced and its algorithms with different subtraction intervals were tested on simulated data with a pattern of prolonged plateau brain activation. It was found that the best performance of DTCA method in generating functional maps could be obtained if the subtraction interval is equal to or larger than the length of the rising time of the fMRI response. The DTCA method and its theoretical predication were further investigated and validated using in vivo fMRI data sets. By removing the limitations in the previous TCA, DTCA has shown its powerful capability in detecting prolonged plateau neuronal activities.     

Albatrellus confluens (Alb. & Schwein.) Kotl. & Pouz.: Natural Fungal Compounds and Synthetic Derivatives with In Vitro Anthelmintic Activities and Antiproliferative Effects against Two Human Cancer Cell Lines

Neglected tropical diseases affect the world’s poorest populations with soil-transmitted helminthiasis and schistosomiasis being among the most prevalent ones. Mass drug administration is currently the most important control measure, but the use of the few available drugs is giving rise to increased resistance of the parasites to the drugs. Different approaches are needed to come up with new therapeutic agents against these helminths. Fungi are a source of secondary metabolites, but most fungi remain largely uninvestigated as anthelmintics. In this report, the anthelmintic activity of Albatrellus confluens against Caenorhabditis elegans was investigated using bio-assay guided isolation. Grifolin (1) and neogrifolin (2) were identified as responsible for the anthelmintic activity. Derivatives 4–6 were synthesized to investigate the effect of varying the prenyl chain length on anthelmintic activity. The isolated compounds 1 and 2 and synthetic derivatives 4–6, as well as their educts 7–10, were tested against Schistosoma mansoni (adult and newly transformed schistosomula), Strongyloides ratti, Heligmosomoides polygyrus, Necator americanus, and Ancylostoma ceylanicum. Prenyl-2-orcinol (4) and geranylgeranyl-2-orcinol (6) showed promising activity against newly transformed schistosomula. The compounds 1, 2, 4, 5, and 6 were also screened for antiproliferative or cytotoxic activity against two human cancer lines, viz. prostate adenocarcinoma cells (PC-3) and colorectal adenocarcinoma cells (HT-29). Compound 6 was determined to be the most effective against both cell lines with IC₅₀ values of 16.1 µM in PC-3 prostate cells and 33.7 µM in HT-29 colorectal cells.