Penetration Depth in Nanoparticles Incorporated Radiofrequency Hyperthermia into the Tissue: Comprehensive Study with Histology and Pathology Observations

In present study, the effective penetration of radiofrequency (RF) induced gold decorated iron oxide nanoparticles (GS@IONPs) hyperthermia was investigated. The effective penetration depth of RF also the damage potency of hyperthermia was evaluated during histopathology observations which were done on the chicken breast tissue and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) models. The thermal damages are well‐ documented in our previous cellular study which was engaged with potency of RF hyperthermia in Epithelial adenocarcinoma (MCF‐7) and fibroblast (L‐929) cells deaths [1]. In recent work, PEGylated iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) were used as base platform for gold magnetic nanoparticles (GS@IONPs) formation. The 144.00015 MHz, 180W RF generator was applied for stimulating the nanoparticles. The chicken breast tissue and the hepatocellular tumor model was considered in the experimental section. In histology studies, the structural changes also the effective penetration depth of RF induced nanoparticles was observed through microscopic monitoring of the tissue slices in histology observations (Gazi medical school). The highest damage level was seen in 8.0 µm tissue slices where lower damages were seen in depth of 1.0 cm and more inside tissue. The histology observations clarified the effective penetration depth of RF waves and irreversible damages in the 2.0 cm inside the tissue.Inspec keywords: nanomedicine, tumours, biomedical materials, cellular biophysics, nanoparticles, gold, cancer, hyperthermia, magnetic particles, iron compounds, radiation therapyOther keywords: Au‐Fe₃ O₄ , depth 1.0 cm, depth 8.0 mum, power 180.0 W, size 2.0 cm, frequency 144.00015 MHz, microscopic monitoring, structural changes, hepatocellular tumour model, standing wave ratio, propylene glycol, thermal damages, hepatocellular carcinoma models, radiofrequency hyperthermia, nanoparticle dispersion, tissue alterations, modified tissues, gold shell magnetic nanoparticles, chicken breast tissue, gold‐coated iron oxide nanoparticles, pathology observations, effective penetration depth, histology observations, tissue slices     

Uncertain Method for Optimal Control Problems With Uncertainties Using Chebyshev Inclusion Functions

In this paper, a new uncertain analysis method is developed for optimal control problems, including interval variables (uncertainties) based on truncated Chebyshev polynomials. The interval arithmetic in this research is employed for analyzing the uncertainties in optimal control problems comprising uncertain‐but‐bounded parameters with only lower and upper bounds of uncertain parameters. In this research, the Chebyshev method is utilized because it generates sharper bounds for meaningful solutions of interval functions, rather than the Taylor inclusion function, which is efficient in handling the overestimation derived from the wrapping effect due to interval computations. For utilizing the proposed interval method on the optimal control problems with uncertainties, the Lagrange multiplier method is first applied to achieve the necessary conditions and then, by using some algebraic manipulations, they are converted into the ordinary differential equation. Afterwards, the Chebyshev inclusion method is employed to achieve the solution of the system. The final results of the Chebyshev inclusion method are compared with the interval Taylor method. The results show that the proposed Chebyshev inclusion function based method better handle the wrapping effect than the interval Taylor method.     

Stabilized finite elements for time-harmonic waves in incompressible and nearly incompressible elastic solids

The propagation of waves in elastic solids at or near the incompressible limit is of interest in many current and emerging applications. Standard low-order Galerkin finite element discretization struggles with both incompressibility and wave dispersion. Galerkin least squares stabilization is known to improve computational performance of each of these ingredients separately. A novel approach of combined pressure-curl stabilization is presented, facilitating the use of continuous, equal-order interpolation of displacements and pressure. The pressure stabilization parameter is determined by stability considerations, while the curl stabilization parameter is determined by dispersion considerations. The proposed pressure-curl–stabilized scheme provides stable and accurate results on a variety of numerical tests for incompressible and nearly incompressible elastic waves computed with linear elements.     

Preparation and characterization of self nano-emulsifying drug delivery system (SNEDDS) for oral delivery of heparin using hydrophobic complexation by cationic polymer of β-cyclodextrin

Objective: The aim of this study was the preparation of a self nano-emulsifying drug delivery system (SNEDDS) for oral delivery of heparin.

Significance: Preparation of hydrophobic complexes between heparin as the hydrophilic macromolecule and cationic polymer of β-cyclodextrin (CPβCD) was considered for preparation of orally administered SNEDDS in which the drug incorporated in internal oil phase of O/W nano-droplets.

Methods: Hydrophobic complexes of heparin-CPβCD were prepared by electrostatic interaction. The lipophilic feature of complexes was characterized by determining their partition co-efficients. SNEDDS prototypes were prepared by mixing liquid paraffin, Tween 80, propylene glycol and ethanol, diluted 1:100 in an aqueous medium. Central composite response surface methodology was applied for statistical optimization. Independent variables were the amount of liquid paraffin and the amount of Tween 80, while responses were size and poly dispersity index (PdI). Optimized SNEDDS were studied morphologically using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). In vitro release of heparin was studied in the simulated gastric and simulated intestinal media.

Results: The data revealed that in molar ratio 1:3 (heparin:CPβCD), the n-octanol recovery was maximized and reached 67.6?±?11.86%. Size, PdI, zeta potential, EE% in gastric medium and EE% in intestinal medium for optimized nano-droplets were reported as 307?±?30.51?nm, 0.236?±?0.02,?+2.1?±?0.66?mV, 90.2?±?0.04 and 96.1?±?0.73%, respectively. Microscopic images revealed spherical nano-droplets. The obtained data revealed no burst release of heparin from nano-droplets.

Conclusions: The obtained results indicate that SNEDDS could be regarded as a good candidate for oral delivery of heparin as the hydrophilic macromolecule.     

A Secure Communication Protocol for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

Mavlink is a lightweight and most widely used open-source communication protocol used for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. Multiple UAVs and autopilot systems support it, and it provides bi-directional communication between the UAV and Ground Control Station. The communications contain critical information about the UAV status and basic control commands sent from GCS to UAV and UAV to GCS. In order to increase the transfer speed and efficiency, the Mavlink does not encrypt the messages. As a result, the protocol is vulnerable to various security attacks such as Eavesdropping, GPS Spoofing, and DDoS. In this study, we tackle the problem and secure the Mavlink communication protocol. By leveraging the Mavlink packet’s vulnerabilities, this research work introduces an experiment in which, first, the Mavlink packets are compromised in terms of security requirements based on our threat model. The results show that the protocol is insecure and the attacks carried out are successful. To overcome Mavlink security, an additional security layer is added to encrypt and secure the protocol. An encryption technique is proposed that makes the communication between the UAV and GCS secure. The results show that the Mavlink packets are encrypted using our technique without affecting the performance and efficiency. The results are validated in terms of transfer speed, performance, and efficiency compared to the literature solutions such as MAVSec and benchmarked with the original Mavlink protocol. Our achieved results have significant improvement over the literature and Mavlink in terms of security.     

Investigating the flow structures in semi-cylindrical bubbling fluidized bed using pressure fluctuation signals

Hydrodynamic characteristics of a gas-solid semi-cylindrical fluidized bed was experimentally investigated and compared with that of a cylindrical bed by analysis of pressure fluctuations. Pressure fluctuations were analyzed in time and frequency domains using standard deviation, power spectral density function and discrete wavelet transform methods. Experiments were carried out in two semi-cylindrical and cylindrical fluidized beds of 14?cm in diameter each, operating in the bubbling fluidization regime at ambient pressure and temperature. Both beds were filled with glass beads of various sizes (120, 290 and 450?µm). The superficial gas velocity was varied in the range of 0.2–0.8?m/s. Results showed that although the minimum fluidization velocity is influenced by the particle size, it is not affected by the geometry of the bed. It was shown that the hydrodynamics of both beds are very similar and the difference is negligible. Number of large bubbles is slightly larger in the semi-cylindrical bed as compared with the cylindrical bed. Also, increase in the particle size and superficial gas velocity result in a greater difference between the number of large bubbles in both beds and the number of large bubbles in the semi-cylindrical bed increases slightly faster than in the cylindrical bed.     

Robust adaptive backstepping tracking control of stochastic nonlinear systems with unknown input saturation: A command filter approach

This paper studies the problem of adaptive observer‐based radial basis function neural network tracking control for a class of strict‐feedback stochastic nonlinear systems comprising an unknown input saturation, uncertainties, and unknown disturbances. To handle the issue of a non‐smooth saturation input signal, a smooth function is chosen to approximate the saturation function and the state observer is used to estimate unmeasured states. By the so‐called command filter method in the controller design procedure, the implementation complexity is reduced in the proposed backstepping method. Moreover, a radial basis function neural network is deployed to reconstruct the unknown nonlinear functions. In addition, the gains of all radial basis function neural networks are updated through one updating law leading to a minimal learning parameter which is independent of the number of neural nodes and the order of the system. Comparing with the existing results, the proposed approach can stabilize a constrained stochastic system more effectively and with less computational burden. Finally, a practical example shows the performance of the proposed controller design.     

Synthesis and characterization of poly(ether-<Emphasis Type="Italic">block</Emphasis>-amide) copolymers/multi-walled carbon nanotube nanocomposite membranes for CO<Subscript>2</Subscript>/CH<Subscript>4</Subscript> separation

One of the effective techniques for improving separation properties of polymeric membranes is incorporation of suitable nanoparticles into their matrices. This study presents the preparation of three types of nanocomposite membranes comprising three grades of poly (ether-block-amide) (Pebax 1074, Pebax 1657 and Pebax 2533) and modified multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) with different loadings (1, 1.5, 2 and 2.5 wt%). The prepared membranes were characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), attenuated total reflection-Fourier transfer infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Permeation of CO₂ and CH₄ gases through the prepared membranes was measured at the pressure range of 2-8 bars and 25 °C. The results showed that the incorporation of MWCNTs into the polymers matrices improves CO₂/CH₄ selectivity. Further, Pebax 1074/MWCNT nanocomposite membrane exhibits better performance for CO₂/CH₄ separation compared to the neat Pebax and the two other nanocomposite membranes.