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scottobearOk, even Rotten Tomatoes gives The Matrix 3 a foul review, overall. It's currently at 35%, and generally a 60% is a sign of a decent flick. A cursory scan of the positive reviews on the page are almost apologetic, too. How could the series have fallen so far? Ah well, the first one holds its own well enough. (See: Highlander & Co. for the words worst trilogy fall from a good movie to bad)
Oh, man. Apparently This weekend was the Garlic Festival, too. *tummy rumble* I think some roasted Garlic would set me right.
Stryper was playing up the street. Hover over the name... I'm a little embarrassed that I know what the name of the band means. 80's Christian Metalheads, still on tour. Suddenly, I'm glad that I'm staying at home tonight.
Random Scotto Factoid: I am hard to impress, but easy to please.
Random Ol'-west / talking dog joke -
Pure Excitement Comics: Long lost golden age comics scanned in, and put online. Gosh, they're corny. Issue one features Yank & Doodle, Magno, and Kid Tyrant!
So bad, that I had to make this icon from issue #2. I'm not sure what I'll ever use it for, but it cracked me up too much to ignore. Oh, the times were so different back in the 40s.
In related news, Avengers / JLA... a good comic book Fan's Wallpaper. I can name a good chunk of these guys.
Flannery O'Connor wrote your book. Not much escapes
your notice.
Which Author's Fiction are You?
brought to you by Quizilla
Apparently, researchers at Rice University in Houston have invented a "gold bullet" only 100 nanometers across that targets and kills cancer cells that can't be operated on or are too small to find.
Gold "nano-bullets" could seek and destroy inoperable human cancers, suggest new studies by US scientists.
The tiny silica particles are plated with gold and heat up when near infrared light (NIR) is shone on them. This kills the cancer cells. Tests on human breast cancers, both in the test tube and in tumors in mice, were highly successful, the researchers report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
"The nanoshells are designed to absorb near infrared light and convert that light to heat," explains Jennifer West, who led the study at Rice University, Houston, Texas. This is possible because the body's normal tissues are "essentially transparent" to NIR.
West says the potential benefits of the treatment should be that, unlike other cancer treatments such as surgery, it would be non-invasive. Both NIR and the nanoshells are completely harmless by themselves, she says.
"We believe that we should also be able to treat very small metastases, not detected yet," West told New Scientist. More recent, unpublished work by the group, has shown that the gold bullets can be injected into the blood stream and find their way to cancer cells in mice.
"These results are promising, particularly for tumors that cannot be treated by surgery," says Emma Knight, at Cancer Research UK. "However, the studies are at a very early stage."
On/off switch
The Rice University team created nanoparticles from a non-conducting core of silica with a diameter of 110 nanometres and a 10 nm thick metal shell. Gold was used because it is biologically inert.
When the nanoshells were added to human breast cancer cells in the test tube, and then exposed to both NIR, 100 per cent were killed, says West. "And we saw no changes in cell viability with just nanoshells or just the laser - it's a true on/off situation."
The team also injected the nanoshells directly into the tumors of living mice and applied NIR. The tumors were destroyed within days.
Warming the tumor cells to only about 55°C is enough to kill them, because it changes the permeability of the cell membrane. "Leakiness is what causes the cell to die," West explains. "Cells normally have to have a very tightly controlled barrier between the inside of the cells and the fluid surrounding them. If you disrupt that, you create huge pores which lets everything across, significantly changing the composition of the fluid inside - it ends up very toxic."
Right on target
The team has now engineered the nanoshells to specifically target tumor cells. In a recent study, submitted to Cancer Letters, they injected mice with nanoshells attached to an antibody that only binds to cancer cells. She says the tumors were "completely destroyed" and 150 days later the mice were alive and well with no tumor growth.
This unpublished study was done in collaboration with Nanospectra Biosciences in Houston, which is now in talks with the US Food and Drugs Administration about moving to human clinical trials within the next 12 to 18 months. These trials are planned in patients with a severe, highly lethal form of lung cancer called mesothilioma.
West says that in the longer term, they hope the nanoshells could even be used as a precautionary measure, killing cancers while they are too small to be detected. "For example, if you had genes predisposing you to breast cancer, you could have this done on a periodic basis," she says.
Nanoshells have not been used to treat cancer before, but the concept of targeting tumor cells and then delivering a killer blow not unique. For example, a team at Nottingham University in the UK is developing a way of delivering a "prodrug" using tumor-loving bacteria. When the drug is activated by an injected molecule, only the tumor cells are killed.
Going to sign up for outpatient physical therapy today at the place across the street, again. Scheduled for four weeks at 3x a week. I'm looking forward to the electro-stim again. Until later, dear journal.
Oh, man. Apparently This weekend was the Garlic Festival, too. *tummy rumble* I think some roasted Garlic would set me right.
Stryper was playing up the street. Hover over the name... I'm a little embarrassed that I know what the name of the band means. 80's Christian Metalheads, still on tour. Suddenly, I'm glad that I'm staying at home tonight.
Random Scotto Factoid: I am hard to impress, but easy to please.
Random Ol'-west / talking dog joke -
A Three-legged dog walks into a saloon and says "I'm looking for the man that shot my paw."Nyuk nyuk.
So bad, that I had to make this icon from issue #2. I'm not sure what I'll ever use it for, but it cracked me up too much to ignore. Oh, the times were so different back in the 40s.
In related news, Avengers / JLA... a good comic book Fan's Wallpaper. I can name a good chunk of these guys.
Flannery O'Connor wrote your book. Not much escapes
your notice.
Which Author's Fiction are You?
brought to you by Quizilla
Apparently, researchers at Rice University in Houston have invented a "gold bullet" only 100 nanometers across that targets and kills cancer cells that can't be operated on or are too small to find.
Gold "nano-bullets" could seek and destroy inoperable human cancers, suggest new studies by US scientists.
The tiny silica particles are plated with gold and heat up when near infrared light (NIR) is shone on them. This kills the cancer cells. Tests on human breast cancers, both in the test tube and in tumors in mice, were highly successful, the researchers report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
"The nanoshells are designed to absorb near infrared light and convert that light to heat," explains Jennifer West, who led the study at Rice University, Houston, Texas. This is possible because the body's normal tissues are "essentially transparent" to NIR.
West says the potential benefits of the treatment should be that, unlike other cancer treatments such as surgery, it would be non-invasive. Both NIR and the nanoshells are completely harmless by themselves, she says.
"We believe that we should also be able to treat very small metastases, not detected yet," West told New Scientist. More recent, unpublished work by the group, has shown that the gold bullets can be injected into the blood stream and find their way to cancer cells in mice.
"These results are promising, particularly for tumors that cannot be treated by surgery," says Emma Knight, at Cancer Research UK. "However, the studies are at a very early stage."
On/off switch
The Rice University team created nanoparticles from a non-conducting core of silica with a diameter of 110 nanometres and a 10 nm thick metal shell. Gold was used because it is biologically inert.
When the nanoshells were added to human breast cancer cells in the test tube, and then exposed to both NIR, 100 per cent were killed, says West. "And we saw no changes in cell viability with just nanoshells or just the laser - it's a true on/off situation."
The team also injected the nanoshells directly into the tumors of living mice and applied NIR. The tumors were destroyed within days.
Warming the tumor cells to only about 55°C is enough to kill them, because it changes the permeability of the cell membrane. "Leakiness is what causes the cell to die," West explains. "Cells normally have to have a very tightly controlled barrier between the inside of the cells and the fluid surrounding them. If you disrupt that, you create huge pores which lets everything across, significantly changing the composition of the fluid inside - it ends up very toxic."
Right on target
The team has now engineered the nanoshells to specifically target tumor cells. In a recent study, submitted to Cancer Letters, they injected mice with nanoshells attached to an antibody that only binds to cancer cells. She says the tumors were "completely destroyed" and 150 days later the mice were alive and well with no tumor growth.
This unpublished study was done in collaboration with Nanospectra Biosciences in Houston, which is now in talks with the US Food and Drugs Administration about moving to human clinical trials within the next 12 to 18 months. These trials are planned in patients with a severe, highly lethal form of lung cancer called mesothilioma.
West says that in the longer term, they hope the nanoshells could even be used as a precautionary measure, killing cancers while they are too small to be detected. "For example, if you had genes predisposing you to breast cancer, you could have this done on a periodic basis," she says.
Nanoshells have not been used to treat cancer before, but the concept of targeting tumor cells and then delivering a killer blow not unique. For example, a team at Nottingham University in the UK is developing a way of delivering a "prodrug" using tumor-loving bacteria. When the drug is activated by an injected molecule, only the tumor cells are killed.
Going to sign up for outpatient physical therapy today at the place across the street, again. Scheduled for four weeks at 3x a week. I'm looking forward to the electro-stim again. Until later, dear journal.
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no subject
Date: 2003-11-10 07:22 am (UTC)i have been waiting for this to get approval for quite some time.
there are not any/many trials that are available to me, with my history. so good thoughts that the bullets will fly!
hahahhaha i need them, NOW!
no subject
Date: 2003-11-10 08:03 am (UTC)*good thoughts and health to you!*
no subject
Date: 2003-11-10 12:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-11-10 07:31 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-11-10 07:40 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-11-10 07:59 am (UTC)You can download a freebie trial version at -
http://www.jasc.com/download_4.asp?
no subject
Date: 2003-11-10 08:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-11-10 08:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-11-10 08:00 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-11-10 08:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-11-10 08:40 am (UTC)