Hyperthermia in cancer research: current status

There are critical maximum temperatures above which irreversible damage occurs in cells and tissues. Exposure to high temperature, referred to as hyperthermia (HT), can result in cell death, tissue damage or even death of the organism. Clinical application of HT as a primary treatment or as an adjuvant to radio-/chemo- therapy of cancer is based on its ability to cause localized tumor tissue damage. Experimental data provide HT with a strong biological rationale. Early clinical experience suggested that HT will become an important modality as an adjuvant to radiotherapy in the treatment of human malignancies, but its application is currently limited to mainly superficial tumors. Its full realization as a treatment modality for cancer therapy awaits further laboratory investigations as well as controlled clinical trials. A better understanding of the biological mechanisms of its action, interaction with chemotherapeutic drugs and radiation damage, role of tumor microenvironment such as oxygen status and pH of tumors, and kinetics of thermotolerance can lead to refinement in its clinical implementation. The present review attempts to analyse the published literature during the last one and half decades.     

Effect of delta ferrite content on the corrosion resistance of type 316 clad metals

Austenitic claddings of type 316 were obtained by SMAW (Shielded Metal Arc Welding) and SAW (Submerged Arc Welding) processes, using type 316 L electrodes on low carbon boiler steel (SA 515 Gr 60) with type 309 L as a barrier layer deposited by the SAW process. Welding heat input was changed in order to obtain different ferrite contents in the cladding. The clad samples were post-weld heat treated at 650°C for 50 and 200 h. The top layer of the cladding was removed and the specimens were then subjected to intergranular corrosion tests (ASTM A-262-75, practices A, B, C and E, viz. 10% oxalic acid electrolytic etch; ferric sulfate ?50% sulfuric acid; 65% nitric acid and copper-copper sulfate ?16% sulfuric acid tests) and controlled potential etching test. The study indicated that the ferrite content of the cladding decreases with increasing current. Ferrite transformed after PWHT (post weld heat treatment) was relatively more in claddings obtained with low heat input and containing high ferrite content in the as-clad condition. PWHT led to brittle fracture of high ferrite claddings (above 10 FN). The corrosion attack of ferrite was found to depend on environment. 65% nitric acid attacked ferrite preferentially, whereas in acid-ferric sulfate, ferrite was intact and austenite was attacked. No sample exhibited susceptibility to intergranular corrosion in the as-clad or PWHT conditions in the copper-copper sulfate ?16% acid test. However, PWHT specimens with low ferrite contents (3.55 FN) exhibited grain boundary precipitation at the interface of two adjacent layers. In general, ferrite was found to be beneficial in controlling corrosion rates of clad metals after PWHT. Heat input, within the range studied, did not affect the corrosion rates significantly.     

Efficient Transdermal Delivery of DNA Nanostructures Alleviates Atopic Dermatitis Symptoms in NC/Nga Mice

DNA nanostructures have been widely studied in biomedical research contributing to targeted treatment of chronic diseases. The immunostimulatory X_L‐DNA nanostructures of X‐shaped oligodeoxynucleotides complex are previously reported, activating toll‐like receptor9 in dendritic cells. This study examines whether the X_L‐DNA could be therapeutically applied to treat immune diseases such as atopic dermatitis. To optimize topical delivery, liposome‐encapsulated X_L‐DNA (Lipo‐X_L‐DNA) is generated using emulsion transfer method with lipid layers composed of 1,2‐dioleoyl‐sn‐glycero‐3‐phosphocholine, 1,2‐dioleoyl‐sn‐glycero‐3‐phospho‐(1′‐rac‐glycerol), and cholesterol. Size distribution of Lipo‐X_L‐DNA ranges around 90–160 nm with mean diameter of 115.44 ± 18.72 nm. The morphology is confirmed by transmission electron microscope. Zeta potential is ?28.59 mV. Confocal microscopy shows that Lipo‐X_L‐DNA is efficiently delivered into epidermis and dermis. Topical application of Lipo‐X_L‐DNA effectively alleviates atopic dermatitis symptoms in mice, as shown by dermatitis score, histological evaluation, and serum immunoglobulin E levels. RNA‐seq analysis confirms that Lipo‐X_L‐DNA reduces pro‐inflammatory products, but increases epidermal barrier homeostasis factors in atopic dermatitis lesions. Lipo‐X_L‐DNA orchestrates immune balance by downregulating Th2 immunity, but upregulating Th1 immunity. Collectively, liposome encapsulation enables efficient transdermal delivery of X_L‐DNA, for an effective treatment of atopic dermatitis in mice. The results provide a promising therapeutic strategy using X_L‐DNA nanostructures to treat immune‐compromised diseases.     

DNA Transformations for Diagnosis and Therapy

Due to its unique physical and chemical characteristics, DNA, which is known only as genetic information, has been identified and utilized as a new material at an astonishing rate. The role of DNA has increased dramatically with the advent of various DNA derivatives such as DNA–RNA, DNA–metal hybrids, and PNA, which can be organized into 2D or 3D structures by exploiting their complementary recognition. Due to its intrinsic biocompatibility, self-assembly, tunable immunogenicity, structural programmability, long stability, and electron-rich nature, DNA has generated major interest in electronic and catalytic applications. Based on its advantages, DNA and its derivatives are utilized in several fields where the traditional methodologies are ineffective. Here, the present challenges and opportunities of DNA transformations are demonstrated, especially in biomedical applications that include diagnosis and therapy. Natural DNAs previously utilized and transformed into patterns are not found in nature due to lack of multiplexing, resulting in low sensitivity and high error frequency in multi-targeted therapeutics. More recently, new platforms have advanced the diagnostic ability and therapeutic efficacy of DNA in biomedicine. There is confidence that DNA will play a strong role in next-generation clinical technology and can be used in multifaceted applications.     

Fabrication of chitosan microparticles loaded in chitosan and poly(vinyl alcohol) scaffolds for tissue engineering application

In recent decades, the use of microparticle-mediated drug delivery is widely applied in the field of biomedical application. Here, we report the new dressing material with ciprofloxacin-loaded chitosan microparticle (CMP) impregnated in chitosan (CH) and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) scaffold for effective delivery of drug in a sustained manner to the wound site. Moreover, the peculiar physiochemical and structural properties of the CH–CMP scaffold has proved better tensile strength and excellent swelling to achieve 82% of drug release. In vitro biocompatibility was done for both scaffold using NIH 3T3 fibroblasts and human keratinocytes (HaCaT) cell lines. In vitro fluorescent activity showed distinct biocompatibility with good cell adhesion and proliferation. However, the CH–CMP scaffold showed best result to act as promising biomaterial in effective drug delivery in tissue engineering.     

Conformal Printing of Graphene for Single‐ and Multilayered Devices onto Arbitrarily Shaped 3D Surfaces

Printing has drawn a lot of attention as a means of low per‐unit cost and high throughput patterning of graphene inks for scaled‐up thin‐form factor device manufacturing. However, traditional printing processes require a flat surface and are incapable of achieving patterning onto 3D objects. Here, a conformal printing method is presented to achieve functional graphene‐based patterns onto arbitrarily shaped surfaces. Using experimental design, a water‐insoluble graphene ink with optimum conductivity is formulated. Then single‐ and multilayered electrically functional structures are printed onto a sacrificial layer using conventional screen printing. The print is then floated on water, allowing the dissolution of the sacrificial layer, while retaining the functional patterns. The single‐ and multilayer patterns can then be directly transferred onto arbitrarily shaped 3D objects without requiring any postdeposition processing. Using this technique, conformal printing of single‐ and multilayer functional devices that include joule heaters, resistive deformation sensors, and proximity sensors on hard, flexible, and soft substrates, such as glass, latex, thermoplastics, textiles, and even candies and marshmallows, is demonstrated. This simple strategy promises to add new device and sensing functionalities to previously inert 3D surfaces.     

Repetitive node categorization technique based reliable clustering and energy efficient communication in P2P wireless sensor network

Peer-to-Peer Networking and Applications - Peer to Peer (P2P) Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) acts as a critical purpose in today’s real-world applications. It contains spatially disseminated...     

Multiparty gaze preservation through perspective switching for interactive elearning environments

Multimedia Tools and Applications - Existing live tele-teaching systems enable eye-contact between interacting participants, however, they are often incomplete as they neglect finer levels of...     

HPWO-LS-based deep learning approach with S-ROA-optimized optic cup segmentation for fundus image classification

Neural Computing and Applications - Recently, automated retinal image processing has been considered a competitive field of research due to the low-accuracy results, complexity, and unacceptable...     

Advanced Hybrid Particle‐Grid Method with Sub‐Grid Particle Correction

This paper proposes a novel hybrid particle‐grid approach to liquid simulation, which uses the fluid‐implicit‐particle (FLIP) method to resolve the liquid motion and a grid‐based particle correction method to complement FLIP. The correction process addresses the high‐frequency errors in FLIP ensuring that the particles are properly distributed. The proposed approach enables the corrective procedure to avoid directly processing the particle relationships and supports flexible corrective forces. The proposed technique effectively and efficiently improves the distribution of the particles and therefore enhances the overall simulation quality. The experimental results confirm that the technique is able to conserve the liquid volume and to produce dynamic surface motions, thin liquid sheets, and smooth surfaces without disturbing artifacts such as bumpy noise.