Detection of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma by Ex Vivo Magnetic Levitation of Plasma Protein-Coated Nanoparticles

Pancreatic Ductal Adeno Carcinoma (PDAC) is one of the most lethal malignancies worldwide, and the development of sensitive and specific technologies for its early diagnosis is vital to reduce morbidity and mortality rates. In this proof-of-concept study, we demonstrate the diagnostic ability of magnetic levitation (MagLev) to detect PDAC by using levitation of graphene oxide (GO) nanoparticles (NPs) decorated by a biomolecular corona of human plasma proteins collected from PDAC and non-oncological patients (NOP). Levitation profiles of corona-coated GO NPs injected in a MagLev device filled with a paramagnetic solution of dysprosium(III) nitrate hydrate in water enables to distinguish PDAC patients from NOP with 80% specificity, 100% sensitivity, and global classification accuracy of 90%. Our findings indicate that Maglev could be a robust and instrumental tool for the early detection of PDAC and other cancers.

PHASE TRANSITION IN THE HALF-FILLED IONIC HUBBARD MODEL: MEAN-FIELD SLAVE BOSON STUDY

We study electronic phase transitions in the half-filled ionic Hubbard model with an on-site Coulomb repulsion U and an ionic energy Δ by using the Kotliar–Ruckenstein slave-boson theory. Assuming a paramagnetic solution, we show that for any non-zero values of Δ, with increasing U the system undergoes a transition from band-insulator to Mott-insulator. Our results have implied the absence of a metallic phase between the band and the Mott insulator phases.

SOME PROPERTIES OF THE POSITIVE-U AND NEGATIVE-U HUBBARD MODEL

In this article we review the properties of the 2D Hubbard model by considering at the same time the cases of repulsive and attractive interaction. The paramagnetic solution is studied by means of the composite operator method in the static approximation for the case of half-filling. Some properties of the two models, as the double occupancy and the spin magnetic susceptibility, are calculated for various values of interaction and temperature and compared. In particular, the different role played by thermal fluctuations is analyzed. Analytical and numerical calculations show that there is a critical value of the interaction, Uc, where the system exhibits a metal-insulator transition. At zero temperature it is found that Uc=−W for the negative-U model and Uc≈1.68W for the positive-U model, where W is the band width. At zero temperature, when the strength of the attractive interaction equals the band width, the system exhibits a phase transition to a pair state, where all the electrons are locally paired. The temperature Tp which controls the crossover to the pair state is calculated as a function of U. For strong attractive interaction χ0 is strongly depressed; increases by increasing T and tends to zero as T→TP.

Concentration profiles in the electrodeposition of copper ferrocyanide by laser interferometry

The electrodeposition of cupric ferrocyanide from a solution of potassium ferrocyanide with the convection-free parallel plane horizontal electrodes with the cathode over the anode was followed by multiple beam laser interferometry as well as the conventional electrochemical instrumentation. It is considered that the cupric ion generated immediately reacts with ferrocyanide ion to form a conducting adhering precipitate layer. The initial resistance of this layer is low. Its resistance is constant with thickness until about 5 × 10−8 C mm2 has been passed probably representing ~105 molecular layers when the resistance begins to rise. A magnetic field of 0.47 T caused a slight decrease in the resistance of the cell probably due to slow rotation of the inhomogeneous paramagnetic solution. This coating may be useful as an electrode.