Ab initio calculations for industrial materials engineering: successes and challenges.

Computational materials science based on ab initio calculations has become an important partner to experiment. This is demonstrated here for the effect of impurities and alloying elements on the strength of a Zr twist grain boundary, the dissociative adsorption and diffusion of iodine on a zirconium surface, the diffusion of oxygen atoms in a Ni twist grain boundary and in bulk Ni, and the dependence of the work function of a TiN-HfO(2) junction on the replacement of N by O atoms. In all of these cases, computations provide atomic-scale understanding as well as quantitative materials property data of value to industrial research and development.

Quantitative imaging test approval and biomarker qualification: interrelated but distinct activities.

Unlabelled: Quantitative imaging biomarkers could speed the development of new treatments for unmet medical needs and improve routine clinical care. However, it is not clear how the various regulatory and nonregulatory (eg, reimbursement) processes (often referred to as pathways) relate, nor is it clear which data need to be collected to support these different pathways most efficiently, given the time- and cost-intensive nature of doing so. The purpose of this article is to describe current thinking regarding these pathways emerging from diverse stakeholders interested and active in the definition, validation, and qualification of quantitative imaging biomarkers and to propose processes to facilitate the development and use of quantitative imaging biomarkers.

Translating clinical trials into meaningful outcomes.

Efforts to unravel the complex biology that is necessary to develop new therapies best suited for an individual with cancer are at a crossroads with a strained health care system and an insufficient clinical trial apparatus. The resulting failures have been described as the "valley of death." Progress into the future will require new considerations and the engagement of a broad band of stakeholders.

Enhancing drug development and drug monitoring: academia, industry and government chart common goals.

A workshop was hosted by the Biomedical Imaging Science Initiative of the University of Southern California in January 2007, entitled "Imaging-based Tools: Role in Drug Development and Drug Monitoring". This workshop brought together leaders from the pharmaceutical and the imaging industries, from academia and from government, who worked together to identify technical, educational, financial and procedural roadblocks that have delayed progress in the pharmacokinetic imaging field. The outcome has been a report that identifies future actions, including the formation of a Multidisciplinary Advisory Council on Noninvasive Imaging Studies.

Crystal chemistry and electronic structure of the metallic lithium ion conductor, LiNiN.

The layered ternary nitride LiNiN shows an interesting combination of fast Li+ ion diffusion and metallic behavior, properties which suggest potential applications as an electrode material in lithium ion batteries. A detailed investigation of the structure and properties of LiNiN using powder neutron diffraction, ab initio calculations, SQUID magnetometry, and solid-state NMR is described. Variable-temperature neutron diffraction demonstrates that LiNiN forms a variant of the parent Li3N structure in which Li+ ion vacancies are ordered within the [LiN] planes and with Ni exclusively occupying interlayer positions (at 280 K: hexagonal space group Pm2, a = 3.

New food technologies and processes and their impact on nutrition.

An evaluation of new technologies already applied or still under investigation has shown that those procedures allow a mild treatment mostly of liquid food materials. If also Osmotic Processing, Ionising Irradiation, Carbon-Dioxide High-Pressure-Gas treatment, Ultra-Sound treatment and Gas-Plasma treatment are considered a large array of new processes is available for processing of food with minimum impact on compounds of nutritional relevance. Those processes must however be operated under very special conditions in order to comply with hygienic standards.

Value of intravascular ultrasound for endovascular stent-graft placement in aortic dissection and aneurysm.

Background: Endovascular stent-graft placement is a new concept for the treatment of aortic dissection and aneurysm. Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) with established diagnostic features may be instrumental in guiding endovascular procedures.

Methods: We performed IVUS and digital angiography before, during, and after implantation of 47 stent grafts in 40 patients with Stanford type B dissection (26 patients, 28 stent grafts), thoracic aneurysm (9 patients, 11 stent grafts), and abdominal aneurysm (5 patients, 8 stent grafts).

Noninvasive methods to study drug distribution.

Positron emission tomography (PET) and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) are two techniques that allow the noninvasive monitoring of drug distribution in living systems (humans, animals), and dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI) provides noninvasive physiological information relevant for drug distribution. PET yields series of cross-sectional images that can be used to monitor the absolute radioactivity concentrations in tissues pixel-by-pixel, but does not allow direct identification of each of the products present. MRS produces spectra showing changes in the concentration of both the parent drug and of the metabolites separately for a sensitive volume, but does not provide a simple means for measuring absolute concentrations.

Does leucovorin alter the intratumoral pharmacokinetics of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU)? A Southwest Oncology Group study.

Purpose And Design: We previously documented that there was an association between the intra-tumoral pharmacokinetics (TPK) of 5-FU and response to therapy with 5-FU and leucovorin (p < .0001). Since we have shown that other modulators of 5-FU, such as methotrexate, interferon and neutrexin alter its TPK, it was of interest to determine if the modulating effect of leucovorin would also alter the tumoral PK of 5-FU.

Biochemical characterization of amandin, the major storage protein in almond (Prunus dulcis L.).

The almond major storage protein, amandin, was prepared by column chromatography (amandin-1), cryoprecipitation (amandin-2), and isoelectric precipitation (amandin-3) methods. Amandin is a legumin type protein characterized by a sedimentation value of 14S. Amandin is composed of two major types of polypeptides with estimated molecular weights of 42-46 and 20-22 kDa linked via disulfide bonds.