Monthly Archives: March 2015

Littleton to end red-light camera program this summer

Posted on by

(Joe Amon, Denver Post file photo)

City leaders on Tuesday voted to end Littleton's red-light camera program this summer, claiming the system has done little to reduce accidents in the city.

A study done by the city revealed that while injury accidents decreased slightly at three of the five intersections where the cameras are used, non-injury accidents have actually increased at four of those intersections.

Littleton's vote comes a week after a House committee in the state legislature approved banning radar and red-light cameras. Ban proponents call the cameras "cash cows" for the nine Colorado cities that use them.

Besides Littleton, the cities include Denver, Fort Collins, Aurora, Boulder, Pueblo, Commerce City, Greenwood Village and Sheridan.

Littleton reported that the red-light camera system generated "surplus net revenue" for the city over the 67,614 citations issued from 2009 to 2014. The system cost Littleton approximately $650,000 annually.

The police department concluded that the program had a "positive effect" on driving behavior due to the fact that violations at four of five intersections has continued to go down each year. But the city says the cameras are no longer necessary to reinforce the good driving behavior.

The city council voted 7-0 to allow Littleton's contract with American Traffic Solutions to expire on July 31.

John Aguilar: 303-954-1695, jaguilar@denverpost.com or twitter.com/abuvthefold

Read more:

Littleton to end red-light camera program this summer

NASA’s Dawn Spacecraft Makes History As It Reaches Dwarf Planet Ceres – Video

Posted on by


NASA #39;s Dawn Spacecraft Makes History As It Reaches Dwarf Planet Ceres
http://www.undergroundworldnews.com WASHINGTON, March 7 (UPI) -- After more than seven years traveling, NASA #39;s Dawn spacecraft has reached Ceres. "NASA #39;s Dawn spacecraft has become the ...

By: DAHBOO77

The rest is here:

NASA's Dawn Spacecraft Makes History As It Reaches Dwarf Planet Ceres - Video

NASA's Orion initial data yields few surprises, guides next mission

Posted on by

Lockheed Martin Orion team members remove the spacecraft's back shell panels and to perform post-flight assessments at Kennedy Space Center, following EFT-1. Lockheed Martin will provide a complete data analysis report to NASA by March 5. (Lockheed Martin Space Systems)

The high-profile NASA Orion Experimental Flight Test-1 in December went optimally, and a "huge amount" was learned from the data gathered from the flight, Lockheed Martin's Orion Program Manager Mike Hawes said Wednesday.

Lockheed Martin is NASA's prime contractor on the Orion mission.

Many of the specifics of Orion's EFT-1 performance won't be available until NASA receives an official report on March 5, Hawes said. However, he did offer several highlights: the heat shield worked optimally, the mission used less fuel than expected, and flight cameras built by Broomfield-based Ball Aerospace did precisely what they were designed to do.

Hawes also said Wednesday that a whopping 600 gigabytes of data were collected during the 4 hour, 24 minute test flight.

"When we talk about data and the importance of a flight test, so many of our tools are analytical tools that have been rooted in models," Hawes said. "Now, those models get rooted in data."

The success of EFT-1 brings NASA one step closer to the goal of crewed deep-space flight: The agency will next launch an uncrewed Orion mission in 2018, and a crewed mission in 2021.

However, there is work to be done before humans are placed on the next generation spacecraft and all the data now in NASA's hands will be used to guide the development of future Orion iterations.

"That continued analysis will bring the understanding and the modifications that might be applicable to the next mission," Hawes said.

Among initial findings released Wednesday:

Here is the original post:

NASA's Orion initial data yields few surprises, guides next mission

NASA probes catch solar shockwave in action for the first time

Posted on by

File photo.(REUTERS/NASA/SDO/Handout)

For the first time ever, NASAs Van Allen Probes caught the before and after effects of a solar shockwave as it was happening. The event, which occurred on October 8, 2013, was triggered by an explosion that erupted on the suns surface, sending a shockwave of solar wind careening through space. After passing the moon, the shockwave hurtled toward Earth before running head-on into the magnetic field surrounding our planet. This impact then set off a magnetized sound pulse, which reverberated around Earth.

Though the shockwave occurred two years ago, the twin spacecrafts data was only recently analyzed by MITs Haystack Observatory and the University Of Colorado, among others.

Interplanetary shocks, traveling toward Earth from the Sun, have been observed and studied before, John Foster, associate director of the Haystack Observatory, told Fox News. What is of major interest in the event reported are the direct observations of the effects of the shock on Earths Van Allen radiation belts with sufficient detail to reveal the processes taking place. Although the main strength of the solar shock is deflected by the magnetic shield that surrounds our planet, a brief pulse of energy penetrates closer to Earth where it accelerates radiation belt electrons to ultra-relativistic energies in less than a minute.

These radiation belt electrons are no joke. Dubbed killer electrons, these ultra-relativistic lightweight particles are capable of going right through a satellite. According to NASA, killer electrons cause a lot of irreparable spacecraft damage, so understanding them is a top priority. They fly around at light speed and can easily break through thick shielding before burrowing into the insulation surrounding sensitive satellite equipment. The electricity from the accumulating electrons then builds up, causing a strong internal electrical discharge. One could equate it to a bolt of lighting striking your satellite dish, potentially causing a major hiccup right in the middle of Shark Week.

NASAs Van Allen Probes twin-satellite mission was conceived and launched to provide the comprehensive observations needed to identify and understand the processes responsible energizing these high-energy particles that circle Earth, Foster added. The processes observed during this shock event indicate that Earths magnetosphere can act as a highly efficient particle accelerator capable of creating the highest (ultra-relativistic) energies in regions close to Earth in a matter of seconds.

By better understanding these havoc-wreaking particles, NASA should be able to construct killer electron-resistant spacecrafts.

The probes maintain the same orbit within the Van Allen radiation belts, with one moving forth and the other following about an hour behind as they circle the Earth. On October 8, 2013, the lead probe was in the right place at the right time to record the events that occurred before the shockwave blast. The following probe was then able to document what happened afterwards.

The constant activity on the surface of the Sun is punctuated by violent outbursts powered the Suns strong magnetic field. Solar flares emit bursts of X-rays that travel outward at the speed of light, Foster said. Coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are giant eruptions of hot gasses from the Suns outer atmosphere. As this blast wave of solar material (plasma) streams towards the planets at 1000 km/sec, it sweeps up the magnetic field in its path, creating a magnetized shockwave of the type that struck Earths magnetic field on October 8, 2013.

After striking the magnetic field, the shockwave then bounced away, creating a magnetosonic pulse which flew in the opposite direction. In only a few minutes, this magnetized sound wave then propagated to the other side of the planet. As it traveled, the magnetosonic pulse collected lower-energy particles that grew in energy to 3 to 4 million electronvolts. The number of killer electrons also grew, multiplying to ten times the amount that had existed prior to the shockwaves journey.

Excerpt from:

NASA probes catch solar shockwave in action for the first time

NASA covers Tropical Cyclone Lam's landfall in northern territory

Posted on by

IMAGE:The GPM core observatory found rainfall at 55 mm/2.2 inches per hour in Tropical Cyclone Lam on February 17, 2015 at 1256 UTC northwest of the center. Some cloud tops... view more

As Tropical Cyclone Lam made landfall in Australia's Northern Territory on Feb. 19 (EST), NASA satellites and instruments gathered data on the storm's structure and behavior. Two instruments aboard NASA's Aqua satellite, NASA-JAXA's GPM core satellite, the RapidScat instrument aboard the International Space Station provided information to forecasters before and after Lam came ashore.

On Feb. 17 when Lam was strengthening in the Arafura Sea, NASA and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Global Precipitation Measurement or GPM core observatory satellite passed over Tropical Cyclone Lam at 1256 UTC and captured data on the rainfall rates within the storm. At that time, sustained winds were estimated to be increasing above 55 knots (63 mph). GPM's Microwave Imager (GMI) measured rain falling at a rate of almost 55 mm (2.2 inches) per hour in powerful storms to the northwest of Lam's center. A 3-D view of cyclone Lam's vertical structure was made possible by using GPM's radar (Ku band) data that showed some thunderstorm tops above 7.8 miles (12.6 km).

Another instrument took a look at the winds of the storm from its perch in space. The International Space Station's RapidScat instrument captured a look at Tropical Cyclone Lam's winds as it was moving toward landfall. From Feb. 18 at 1:40 UTC to 3:13 UTC RapidScat saw sustained winds to 56 mph/90 kph/25 mps.

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer instrument aboard NASA's Aqua satellite captured a stunning picture of the storm as the center was making landfall on Feb. 19 at 04:40 UTC. The center was an eye-like feature obscured by clouds as it exited the Arafura Sea and came ashore near Elcho and Howard Islands in the northeastern part of the Northern Territory.

Another instrument aboard NASA's Aqua satellite provided infrared data on the thunderstorms that make up the tropical cyclone. A tropical cyclone is made up of hundreds of thunderstorms. The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder or AIRS instrument aboard Aqua gathers infrared data to provide temperature data. The higher the thunderstorm in the troposphere, the colder the cloud tops. AIRS saw cloud tops around the center of circulation as cold as -63F/-52C. NASA research has shown that thunderstorm cloud tops that cold have the potential to drop heavy rainfall, which mirrors and confirms the GPM core satellites observations even two days before.

On Feb. 19 (EST)/Feb. 20 1 a.m. local time, Brisbane, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (ABM) noted "The very destructive core of Cyclone Lam is impacting the mainland coast between Milingimbi and Elcho Island." Warning zone: Goulburn Island to Port Roper, including Nhulunbuy, Groote Eylandt and adjacent inland areas to Bulman. For the updated ABM warnings and watches, visit: http://www.bom.gov.au/products/IDD65011.shtml

At 0900 UTC (4 a.m. EST) on Feb. 19, Tropical Cyclone Lam was centered near 11.7 south latitude and 135.7 east longitude, about 286 nautical miles (329.1 miles/529.7 km) east-northeast of Darwin, Australia and moving to the southwest at 4 knots(4.6 mph/7.4 kph). Maximum sustained winds 90 knots (103.6 mph/166.7 kph). By 10:30 a.m. EST (Feb. 20 at 1:30 a.m. local Darwin time) the ABM noted that Lam's sustained winds were near 99.9 knots/115 mph/185 mph.

There are many warnings and watches in effect. A Cyclone Warning is in effect from Goulburn Island to Cape Shield, including Nhulunbuy and Groote Eylandt. A Cyclone Watch: Numbulwar to Port Roper.

According to the latest report from the Australian Bureau of Meterology, on Feb. 19 at 15:30 UTC (10:30 a.m. EST/Feb. 20 at 1:30 a.m. local Darwin time) Lam's center was near 12.2 degrees south and 135.0 degrees east. That puts the center of Lam about 37 miles (60 kilometers) west-southwest of Galiwinku and 9 miles (15 kilometers) east southeast of Milingimbi. Lam is moving to the southwest at 4.9 mph (8 kph).

View original post here:

NASA covers Tropical Cyclone Lam's landfall in northern territory

NASAs Dawn spacecraft achieves Ceres orbit, makes history

Posted on by

NASAs Dawn spacecraft successfully entered Ceres' orbit early on Friday, making history as the first mission to achieve orbit around a dwarf planet.

Dawn was approximately 38,000 miles from Ceres when it was captured by the dwarf planets gravity at approximately 7:39 a.m. ET.

Ceres, which lies between Mars and Jupiter, is 310 million miles from Earth.

Mission controllers at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., which is managing the mission, received a signal from Dawn at 8:36 a.m ET, showing that the spacecraft was healthy and thrusting with its ion engine. The engine thrust was a key indicator that Dawn had entered Ceres orbit as planned.

"We feel exhilarated," said Chris Russell, principal investigator of the Dawn mission at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), in a statement. "We have much to do over the next year and a half, but we are now on station with ample reserves, and a robust plan to obtain our science objectives."

Launched in September 2007, Dawn has travelled 3.1 billion miles to reach Ceres. The spacecraft explored the giant asteroid Vesta for 14 months in 2011 and 2012, and began its final approach to Ceres in December. The Dawn mission is scheduled to end in June 2016, at which time the spacecraft will remain in Ceres orbit.

Scientists hope that NASAs investigation of Ceres will boost our understanding of how the solar system formed.

Images of Ceres have already revealed craters and unusual bright spots that scientists believe tell how Ceres formed and whether its surface is changing. NASA says that as Dawn spirals into closer and closer orbits around the planet, researchers will be looking for signs that these features are changing, which would suggest current geological activity.

Since Jan. 25, Dawn has been delivering the highest-resolution images of Ceres ever captured, and they will continue to improve in quality as the spacecraft approaches, according to NASA.

The most recent images received from Dawn were taken on March 1 and show Ceres as a crescent, largely in shadow because the spacecraft's trajectory put it on a side of Ceres that faces away from the sun until mid-April, according to NASA. When Dawn emerges from Ceres' dark side, NASA expects the spacecraft to deliver ever-sharper images as it spirals to lower orbits around the planet

See the rest here:

NASAs Dawn spacecraft achieves Ceres orbit, makes history

FDA Adopts Three Nanotechnology Standards

Posted on by

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently adopted three nanotechnology standards as part of a major update to the administrations List of Recognized Standards. The documents comprise a Technical Specification (TS) developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Technical Committee (TC) 229 on Nanotechnologies, and two standards developed by ASTM International (ASTM), a member of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and ANSI-accredited Standards Developer.

ISO/TS 14101, Surface characterization of gold nanoparticles for nanomaterial specific toxicity screening: FT-IR method, adopted by the FDA in January 2015, was developed by ISO TC 229, WG 3, Health, safety, and environment, under U.S. leadership. At the time of the documents publication, Dr. Laurie Locascio of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) served as the WG 3 Convenor, and Dr. Nam Woong Song of Korea served as the project leader. The U.S.s Dr. Vladimir Murashov of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) currently serves as WG 3 Convenor.

ISO/TC 229 Nanotechnologies defines nanotechnology as application of scientific knowledge to manipulate and control matter predominantly in the nanoscale (approximately 1 nm to 100 nm) to make use of size- and structure-dependent properties and phenomena distinct from those associated with individual atoms or molecules, or extrapolation from larger sizes of the same material. Encompassing nanoscale science, engineering and technology, nanotechnology involves imaging, measuring, modeling and manipulating matter at this length scale.

One of ISOs most active committees, ISO/TC 229 focuses on the development of nanotechnology standards, including those for terminology and nomenclature; metrology, and instrumentation, test methodologies; modeling and simulations; and science-based health, safety, and environmental practices. To ensure the U.S. is strongly represented throughout TC 229s areas of activity, the ANSI-accredited U.S. Technical Advisory Group (TAG) to ISO TC 229, administered by ANSI , formulates and delivers U.S. positions and proposals to ISO in all areas of nanotechnology. Mirroring ISO TC 229s four-WG structure, the U.S. TAG is made up of U.S. private- and public-sector experts in nanotechnology who serve as delegates for ISO TC 229 meetings, with Steve Brown of Intel Global Environmental Health and Safety serving as overall TAG Chair.

The FDA advises referring to the relevant documents for points to consider when assessing whether an FDA-regulated product involves the application of nanotechnology. Among the various properties of gold nanoparticles (Au NPs), surface ligand characteristics are found to play an important role in determining the behavior of Au NPs, including the aggregation/agglomeration properties of Au NPs in solution, protein binding of these particles to surfaces in cell culture media, and toxicity of Au NPs to living cells.

The FDAs other adopted standards, ASTM E2490, Standard Guide for Measurement of Particle Size Distribution of Nanomaterials in Suspension by Photon Correlation Spectroscopy (PCS), and ASTM E2535, Standard Guide for Handling Unbound Engineered Nanoscale Particles in Occupational Settings, were developed by ASTMs Committee E56 on Nanotechnology.

More detailed information on all three documents referenced can be found in the ANSI-NSP Nanotechnology Standards Database at Nanostandards.ansi.org. For more information regarding either the ANSI-NSP or ANSI-Accredited U.S. TAG to ISO/TC 229, contact Ms. Heather Benko (senior manager, nanotechnology standardization activities, hbenko@ansi.org).

***

The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) is a private non-profit organization whose mission is to enhance U.S. global competitiveness and the American quality of life by promoting, facilitating, and safeguarding the integrity of the voluntary standardization and conformity assessment system. Its membership is made up of businesses, professional societies and trade associations, standards developers, government agencies, and consumer and labor organizations. The Institute represents the diverse interests of more than 125,000 companies and organizations and 3.5 million professionals worldwide.

The Institute is the official U.S. representative to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and, via the U.S. National Committee, the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), and is a U.S. representative to the International Accreditation Forum (IAF).

Read this article:

FDA Adopts Three Nanotechnology Standards

Together, nanotechnology and genetic interference may tackle 'untreatable' brain tumors

Posted on by

Tel Aviv University researchers' groundbreaking strategy stops brain tumor cell proliferation with targeted nanoparticles

There are no effective available treatments for sufferers of Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), the most aggressive and devastating form of brain tumor. The disease, always fatal, has a survival rate of only 6-18 months.

Now a new Tel Aviv University study may offer hope to the tens of thousands diagnosed with gliomas every year. A pioneer of cancer-busting nanoscale therapeutics, Prof. Dan Peer of TAU's Department of Department of Cell Research and Immunology and Scientific Director of TAU's Center for NanoMedicine has adapted an earlier treatment modality -- one engineered to tackle ovarian cancer tumors -- to target gliomas, with promising results.

Published recently in ACS Nano, the research was initiated by Prof. Zvi R. Cohen, Director of the Neurosurgical Oncology Unit and Vice Chair at the Neurosurgical Department at Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer. The Israeli Cancer Association provided support for this research.

Trying a new approach to gliomas

"I was approached by a neurosurgeon insistent on finding a solution, any solution, to a desperate situation," said Prof. Peer. "Their patients were dying on them, fast, and they had virtually no weapons in their arsenal. Prof. Zvi Cohen heard about my earlier nanoscale research and suggested using it as a basis for a novel mechanism with which to treat gliomas."

Dr. Cohen had acted as the primary investigator in several glioma clinical trials over the last decade, in which new treatments were delivered surgically into gliomas or into the surrounding tissues following tumor removal. "Unfortunately, gene therapy, bacterial toxin therapy, and high-intensity focused ultrasound therapy had all failed as approaches to treat malignant brain tumors," said Dr. Cohen. "I realized that we must think differently. When I heard about Dan's work in the field of nanomedicine and cancer, I knew I found an innovative approach combining nanotechnology and molecular biology to tackle brain cancer."

Dr. Peer's new research is based on a nanoparticle platform, which transports drugs to target sites while minimizing adverse effects on the rest of the body. Prof. Peer devised a localized strategy to deliver RNA genetic interference (RNAi) directly to the tumor site using lipid-based nanoparticles coated with the polysugar hyaluronan (HA) that binds to a receptor expressed specifically on glioma cells. Prof. Peer and his team of researchers tested the therapy in mouse models affected with gliomas and control groups treated with standard forms of chemotherapy. The results were, according to the researchers, astonishing.

"We used a human glioma implanted in mice as our preclinical model," said Prof. Peer. "Then we injected our designed particle with fluorescent dye to monitor its success entering the tumor cells. We were pleased and astonished to find that, a mere three hours later, the particles were situated within the tumor cells."

A safer, more promising approach

Read more here:

Together, nanotechnology and genetic interference may tackle 'untreatable' brain tumors

Precision nano 'drones' deliver healing drug to subdue atherosclerosis

Posted on by

VIDEO:Animation: Precision Nano "Drones " Deliver Healing Drug to Subdue Atherosclerosis. view more

NEW YORK, NY (February 18, 2015) - Nanometer-sized "drones" that deliver a special type of healing molecule to fat deposits in arteries could become a new way to prevent heart attacks caused by atherosclerosis, if a recent study in mice by scientists at Columbia and Harvard universities is a guide. Full findings appear in the February 18 online issue of Science Translational Medicine.

In the study, biodegradable nanoparticles--loaded with a molecule that promotes healing --were injected into mice with advanced atherosclerosis. The nanoparticles were designed to home in on the hot spots of atherosclerosis in the arteries.

About 70 percent of the nanoparticles implanted themselves into atherosclerotic plaques and slowly released the drug. In these mice, the damage to the arteries was repaired, leading to a plaque that, in humans, would be less likely to cause heart attacks.

Atherosclerosis is driven by inflammation that is uncoupled from the body's normal repair response. In essence, the fat-containing particles (called low-density lipoproteins, or LDL) that stick to our arteries act like splinters in our skin. But whereas skin is repaired once splinters are removed, LDL deposits can last indefinitely and healing never starts.

These inflamed and damaged hot spots are the reason why atherosclerosis causes heart attacks. The spots are prone to rupture, and when they do, blood clots form around the break and obstruct blood flow to the heart.

Many researchers are trying to develop drugs that prevent heart attacks by tamping down inflammation, but that approach has some downsides, says Columbia atherosclerosis researcher Ira Tabas, MD, Richard J. Stock Professor of Medicine (Immunology) and professor of pathology & cell biology, one of the study's two senior leaders.

"One is that atherosclerosis is a chronic disease, so drugs are taken for years, even decades. An anti-inflammatory drug that is distributed throughout the entire body will also impair the immune system's ability to fight infection," he says. That might be acceptable for conditions that severely affect quality of life, like rheumatoid arthritis, but "using this approach to prevent a heart attack that may never happen may not be worth the risk." [Tabas & Glass, Science 2013]

In addition, it's not enough to deliver an anti-inflammatory drug to the plaques, says Columbia associate research scientist Gabrielle Fredman, PhD, one of the study's lead co-authors. "Atherosclerosis is not only inflammation; there's also damage to the arterial wall," she says. "If the damage isn't repaired, you may not prevent heart attacks."

Nature's way of starting repairs is with a suite of "resolving" molecules that extinguish inflammation and then initiate healing. Instead of packing the nanoparticles with anti-inflammatory drugs, Dr. Tabas's and Dr. Farokzhad's team packed them with pieces of a resolving protein called annexin A1.

See the original post here:

Precision nano 'drones' deliver healing drug to subdue atherosclerosis

SMALL CAP SHARE IDEAS: Midatech Pharma has ambitions to be a billion pound firm

Posted on by

By Ian Lyall, Proactive Investors, For Thisismoney.co.uk

Published: 07:38 EST, 9 March 2015 | Updated: 08:48 EST, 9 March 2015

Midatech Pharma chief executive, Jim Phillips has big ambitions for the life sciences company which listed on AIM late last year.

He wants it to be one of the few success stories of the life sciences industry, which has had more than its fair share of failures over the past three decades.

The US has created some monsters of new wave medicines the grande dames Amgen and Genzyme and more recently Biogen Idec, Gilead and Celgene.

Big ambitions: Midatechis at the forefront of nano-medicine

While not strictly a biotechnology firm - as we'll see later, it is at the forefront of nano-medicine - Midatech still wants to emulate the American model.

Phillips is not shy in revealing this means building a business valued at billions of pounds rather than hundreds of millions or tens of millions as it is today.

To help it do this it recruited an institutional shareholder base that understands and backs the Midatech model.

At the IPO last December, which raised 32milllion of new money, it brought in the influential Neil Woodford, who used to run one of Britain's largest funds for Invesco but is now going it alone.

Read more here:

SMALL CAP SHARE IDEAS: Midatech Pharma has ambitions to be a billion pound firm

Keeping atherosclerosis in-check with novel targeted inflammation-resolving nanomedicines

Posted on by

Nanometer-sized "drones" that deliver a special type of healing molecule to fat deposits in arteries could become a new way to prevent heart attacks caused by atherosclerosis, according to a study in pre-clinical models by scientists at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) and Columbia University Medical Center. These findings are published in the February 18th online issue of Science Translational Medicine.

Although current treatments have reduced the number of deaths from atherosclerosis-related disease, atherosclerosis remains a dangerous health problem: Atherosclerosis of the coronary arteries is the #1 killer of women and men in the U.S., resulting in one out of every four deaths. In the study, targeted biodegradable nano 'drones' that delivered a special type of drug that promotes healing ('resolution') successfully restructured atherosclerotic plaques in mice to make them more stable. This remodeling of the plaque environment would be predicted in humans to block plaque rupture and thrombosis and thereby prevent heart attacks and strokes.

"This is the first example of a targeted nanoparticle technology that reduces atherosclerosis in an animal model," said co-senior author Omid Farokhzad, MD, associate professor and director of the Laboratory of Nanomedicine and Biomaterials at BWH and Harvard Medical School (HMS). "Years of research and collaboration have culminated in our ability to use nanotechnology to resolve inflammation, remodel and stabilize plaques in a model of advanced atherosclerosis."

In this study, targeted nanomedicines made from polymeric building blocks that are utilized in numerous FDA approved products to date, were nanoengineered to carry an anti-inflammatory drug payload in the form of a biomimetic peptide. Furthermore, this peptide was derived from one of the body's own natural inflammatory-resolving proteins called Annexin A1. The way the nanomedicines were designed enabled this biological therapeutic to be released at the target site, the atherosclerotic plaque, in a controlled manner.

In mouse models with advanced atherosclerosis, researchers administered nanomedicines and relevant controls. Following five weeks of treatment with the nanomedicines, damage to the arteries was significantly repaired and plaque was stabilized.

Specifically, researchers observed a reduction of reactive oxygen species; increase in collagen, which strengthens the fibrous cap; and reduction of the plaque necrotic core, and these changes were not observed in comparison with the free peptide or empty nanoparticles.

"Many researchers are trying to develop drugs that prevent heart attacks by tamping down inflammation, but that approach has some downsides," said co-senior author Ira Tabas, MD, Richard J. Stock professor of Medicine (Immunology) and professor of Pathology & Cell Biology at Columbia. "One is that atherosclerosis is a chronic disease, so drugs are taken for years, even decades. An anti-inflammatory drug that is distributed throughout the entire body will also impair the immune system's ability to fight infection." That might be acceptable for conditions that severely affect quality of life, like rheumatoid arthritis, but "using this approach to prevent a heart attack that may never happen may not be worth the risk."

In addition, it's not enough to deliver an anti-inflammatory drug to the plaques, said Columbia associate research scientist Gabrielle Fredman, PhD, one of the study's lead co-authors. "Atherosclerosis is not only inflammation; there's also damage to the arterial wall. If the damage isn't repaired, you may not prevent heart attacks."

The targeted nanomedicines used in this current study were engineered by researchers at BWH. Following preliminary proof-of-principle studies at Columbia University in models of inflammation, they were further tested in a clinically relevant disease model in mice and were shown to be capable of maneuvering through the blood circulation, and traversing leaky regions through to the inside of the plaques, as was demonstrated by fluorescence microscopy imaging of the plaque lesions.

Researchers note that in addition to their specific 'sticky' surfaces, their small sub-100 nanometer size is also a key property that facilitates the retention and accumulation of these nanoparticles within the plaques. These nanoparticles are 1000 times smaller than the tip of a single human-hair strand.

See the article here:

Keeping atherosclerosis in-check with novel targeted inflammation-resolving nanomedicines

Heating targeted cancer drugs increases uptake in tumor cells

Posted on by

Manchester scientists have found that gentle heating of targeted nano-sized drug parcels more effectively in deliver them to tumour cells - resulting in an improvement in survival rates.

One of the clinically-established methods for the delivery of cancer chemotherapy drugs has been to package the drug inside nano-sized containers, known as liposomes. This allows the drug to more effectively localise into cancer tissue and reduces side-effects by limiting drug-infused liposome uptake in healthy cells.

The effectiveness of these liposomes has been further improved by engineering them to contain molecules (monoclonal antibodies) on their surface that allow them to better target cancer cells in combination to making them temperature-sensitive so that they release their therapeutic drug content upon mild heating.

Researchers from the Nanomedicine Laboratory at The University of Manchester - part of the Manchester Cancer Research Centre - looked at the benefits of combining both active targeting and temperature-triggered release.

Professor Kostas Kostarelos, who led the research, said: "We have previously seen promising results from this combination approach on a petri dish, but no study had yet investigated its potential in living tissue."

The team compared liposomes with and without the ability to actively target cancer cells. They found that in combination with mild heating, the actively targeted liposomes showed greater uptake in tumour tissue in mice than those without targeting ability.

This resulted in a moderate improvement in the animals' survival.

"We have successfully developed heat-activated and antibody-targeted liposomes to show that they are chemically and structurally stable. This approach may help us develop novel mechanistic strategies to improve targeted drug delivery and release within tumour tissue, while better sparing normal cells," added Professor Kostarelos.

###

Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.

More here:

Heating targeted cancer drugs increases uptake in tumor cells

England v Bangladesh, Cricket World Cup 2015: as it happened

Posted on by

Two of the things that are lacking from this England team are 1) individual match-winners and 2) inspiring, energetic leadership at all levels. At the moment that probably goes for the Test side too. I hope they can find both before the Ashes series or it will be another debacle.

13.51 Andrew Barnes looks to the future

If the ECB are to make changes then surely nothing is going to happen until Graves and Harrison take charge in May anyway. The current hierarchy are really lame ducks now, certainly not in a position to make the big calls. Theyre just filing the paperwork and checking the sponsorship money is paid on time. Possibly not Downton, but how tenable is his position given this outcome and the water thats gone under his bridge over the past twelve months?

If Moores goes, Downton has to go too. It was his call as was effectively sacking Kevin Pietersen. He can't be credible having wasted so much time and money on a false start.

13.47 One of England's best ODI batsmen has his say on Moores' assertion that England are missing a certain batsman. No, not that one ...

13.43 Here's Mike Buckley's verdict

This cricket team are more embarrassing than our footballers. Something I never thought would type.

They were for much of my life, Mike. It's the failure to be bold that is most objectionable. Anyone can fail but they do it so meekly. Every time in this format.

Joe Roberts wonders

What have England got against picking spinners? They're obsessed with stats yet they won't pick Tredwell when he's been the most consistent bowler in ODI's for the last few years. Surely the selectors know he averages 27 with the ball at a good economy rate of 4. Spinners are crucial in the middle overs to slow run rate, create pressure and pick up wickets.

Read more from the original source:

England v Bangladesh, Cricket World Cup 2015: as it happened