A comparison of protoporphyrin IX and protoporphyrin IX dimethyl ester as a photosensitizer in poorly differentiated human nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells

Protoporphyrin IX dimethyl ester (PME), a dimethyl esterification of protoporphyrin IX (PpIX), exhibits higher intracellular uptake into NPC/CNE2 cells, a poorly differentiated human nasopharyngeal carcinoma, than does PpIX. Phototoxicity studies reveal PME to be a more potent photosensitizer than is PpIX, at the early and late incubation time points. Correlating phototoxicity with subcellular localization indicates that PME is a more potent photosensitizer when its primary target of photodamage is mitochondria. Also, additional targeting of lysosome enhances phototoxicity.     

Preclinical radiotherapy at the Australian Synchrotron's Imaging and Medical Beamline: instrumentation,dosimetry and a small‐animal feasibility study

Therapeutic applications of synchrotron X‐rays such as microbeam (MRT) and minibeam (MBRT) radiation therapy promise significant advantages over conventional clinical techniques for some diseases if successfully transferred to clinical practice. Preclinical studies show clear evidence that a number of normal tissues in animal models display a tolerance to much higher doses from MRT compared with conventional radiotherapy. However, a wide spread in the parameters studied makes it difficult to make any conclusions about the associated tumour control or normal tissue complication probabilities. To facilitate more systematic and reproducible preclinical synchrotron radiotherapy studies, a dedicated preclinical station including small‐animal irradiation stage was designed and installed at the Imaging and Medical Beamline (IMBL) at the Australian Synchrotron. The stage was characterized in terms of the accuracy and reliability of the vertical scanning speed, as this is the key variable in dose delivery. The measured speed was found to be within 1% of the nominal speed for the range of speeds measured by an interferometer. Furthermore, dose measurements confirm the expected relationship between speed and dose and show that the measured dose is independent of the scan direction. Important dosimetric parameters such as peak dose, valley dose, the collimator output factor and peak‐to‐valley dose ratio are presented for 5 mm × 5 mm, 10 mm × 10 mm and 20 mm × 20 mm field sizes. Finally, a feasibility study on three glioma‐bearing rats was performed. MRT and MBRT doses were prescribed to achieve an average dose of 65 Gy in the target, and magnetic resonance imaging follow‐up was performed at various time points after irradiation to follow the tumour volume. Although it is impossible to draw conclusions on the different treatments with such a small number of animals, the feasibility of end‐to‐end preclinical synchrotron radiotherapy studies using the IMBL preclinical stage is demonstrated.     

Understanding agent-based models of financial markets: A bottom–up approach based on order parameters and phase diagrams

We describe a bottom–up framework, based on the identification of appropriate order parameters and determination of phase diagrams, for understanding progressively refined agent-based models and simulations of financial markets. We illustrate this framework by starting with a deterministic toy model, whereby N$N$ independent traders buy and sell M$M$ stocks through an order book that acts as a clearing house. The price of a stock increases whenever it is bought and decreases whenever it is sold. Price changes are updated by the order book before the next transaction takes place. In this deterministic model, all traders based their buy decisions on a call utility function, and all their sell decisions on a put utility function. We then make the agent-based model more realistic, by either having a fraction _fb$f_b$ of traders buy a random stock on offer, or a fraction _fs$f_s$ of traders sell a random stock in their portfolio. Based on our simulations, we find that it is possible to identify useful order parameters from the steady-state price distributions of all three models. Using these order parameters as a guide, we find three phases: (i) the dead market; (ii) the boom market; and (iii) the jammed market in the phase diagram of the deterministic model. Comparing the phase diagrams of the stochastic models against that of the deterministic model, we realize that the primary effect of stochasticity is to eliminate the dead market phase.     

Ultrasound treatment enhances cholesterol removal ability of lactobacilli

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of ultrasound treatment on the cholesterol removing ability of lactobacilli. Viability of lactobacilli cells was significantly increased (P < 0.05) immediately after treatment, but higher intensity of 100 W and longer duration of 3 min was detrimental on cellular viability (P < 0.05). This was attributed to the disruption of membrane lipid bilayer, cell lysis and membrane lipid peroxidation upon ultrasound treatment at higher intensity and duration. Nevertheless, the effect of ultrasound on membrane properties was reversible, as the viability of ultrasound-treated lactobacilli was increased (P < 0.05) after fermentation at 37 °C for 20 h. The removal of cholesterol by ultrasound-treated lactobacilli via assimilation and incorporation of cholesterol into the cellular membrane also increased significantly (P < 0.05) upon treatment, as observed from the increased ratio of membrane C:P. Results from fluorescence anisotropies showed that most of the incorporated cholesterol was saturated in the regions of phospholipids tails, upper phospholipids, and polar heads of the membrane bilayer.