Repeatable and adjustable on-demand sciatic nerve block with phototriggerable liposomes

Pain management would be greatly enhanced by a formulation that would provide local anesthesia at the time desired by patients and with the desired intensity and duration. To this end, we have developed near-infrared (NIR) light-triggered liposomes to provide on-demand adjustable local anesthesia. The liposomes contained tetrodotoxin (TTX), which has ultrapotent local anesthetic properties. They were made photo-labile by encapsulation of a NIR-triggerable photosensitizer; irradiation at 730 nm led to peroxidation of liposomal lipids, allowing drug release. In vitro, 5.6% of TTX was released upon NIR irradiation, which could be repeated a second time. The formulations were not cytotoxic in cell culture. In vivo, injection of liposomes containing TTX and the photosensitizer caused an initial nerve block lasting 13.5 ± 3.1 h. Additional periods of nerve block could be induced by irradiation at 730 nm. The timing, intensity, and duration of nerve blockade could be controlled by adjusting the timing, irradiance, and duration of irradiation. Tissue reaction to this formulation and the associated irradiation was benign.National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (GM073626

Synthesis and Characterization of Two-Dimensional Conjugated Polymers Incorporating Electron-Deficient Moieties for Application in Organic Photovoltaics

A series of novel p-type conjugated copolymers, PTTVBDT, PTTVBDT-TPD, and PTTVBDT-DPP, cooperating benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b′]dithiophene (BDT) and terthiophene-vinylene (TTV) units with/without thieno[3,4-c]pyrrole-4,6-dione (TPD) or pyrrolo[3,4-c]pyrrole-1,4-dione (DPP) via Stille polymerization were synthesized and characterized. Copolymer PTTVBDT shows a low-lying HOMO energy level and ordered molecular-packing behavior. Furthermore, two terpolymers, PTTVBDT-TPD and PTTVBDT-DPP, display stronger absorption ability, alower-lying HOMO energy level, and preferred molecular orientation, due to the replacement TTV-monomer units with electron-deficient groups. Furthermore, bulk-heterojunction organic solar cells were fabricated using blends of the PTTVBDT-TPD, and PC_(61)BM gave the best power conversion efficiency of 5.01% under the illumination of AM 1.5G, 100 mW·cm^(−2); the short circuit current (J_(sc)) was 11.65 mA·cm^(−2) which displayed a 43.8% improvement in comparison with the PTTVBDT/PC_(61)BM device. These results demonstrate a valid strategy combining the two-dimensional molecular structure with random copolymerization strikes promising conjugated polymers to achieve highly efficient organic photovoltaics

The effect of feeding skim milk or skim milk yogurt on serum cholesterol and liver lipids in rats

Call number: LD2668 .T4 FN 1988 S98Master of ScienceHuman Nutritio

Social brain dysfunctions in patients with Parkinson’s disease: a review of theory of mind studies

Human social interaction is essential in daily life and crucial for a promising life, especially in people who suffer from disease. Theory of Mind (ToM) is fundamental in social interaction and is described as the ability to impute the mental states of others in social situations. Studies have proposed that a complex neuroanatomical network that includes the frontal cortex mediates ToM. The primary neuropathology of Parkinson’s disease (PD) involves the frontal-striatal system; therefore, patients with PD are expected to exhibit deficits in ToM. In this review, we summarize the current research with a particular focus on the patterns of impaired ToM, potential mediators of ToM, and the impact of ToM deficits on clinical disability in PD. Further studies to investigate the progression of ToM and its relationship with dementia in subjects in PD are needed

A Waterborne, Flexible, and Highly Conductive Silver Ink for Ultra-Rapid Fabrication of Epidermal Electronics.

Epidermal electronics provide a promising solution to key challenges in wearable electronics, such as motion artifacts and low signal-to-noise ratios caused by an imperfect sensor-skin interface. To achieve the optimal performance, skin-worn electronics require high conductivity, flexibility, stability, and biocompatibility. Herein, we present a nontoxic, waterborne conductive ink made of silver and child-safe slime for the fabrication of skin-compatible electronics. The ink formulation includes polyvinyl acetate (PVAc), known as school glue, as a matrix, glyceryl triacetate (GTA) as a plasticizer, sodium tetraborate (Borax) as a crosslinker, and silver (Ag) flakes as the conducting material. Substituting citric acid (CA) for GTA enhances the deformability by more than 100%. With exceptional conductivity (up to 1.17 × 104 S/cm), we demonstrate the inks potential in applications such as an epidermal near-field communication (NFC) antenna patch and a wireless ECG system for motion monitoring

The Study of Magnetorheology of Iron Oxide Nanowires

In this work, circular Fe3O4particles with a diameter of 24 nm and quasicircular Fe3O4particles with a diameter of 10 nm were synthesized using peptization and coprecipitation methods, respectively. The coprecipitated particles were further formed into Fe3O4nanowires at high temperature and high pressure in a strongly alkaline environment. The optimal environment for forming nanowire was 15 m (molality) NaOH at 120°C for three days; the resulting proportional relationship between its width and its height, the aspect ratio, was 50.5/1. In the second part of this study, the nanoparticles and nanowire were dispersed in silicon oil and formed into magnetorheological (MR) fluids of different concentrations, before undergoing various MR tests—a shear test, a compression test, and a creep recovery test. The results revealed that the MR performance of nanowire fluid was better than that of circular particle fluid, in terms of yield stress (35 Pa versus 60 Pa), compression displacement (Δd) (0.19 mm versus 0.44 mm), and creep recovery ratio (82% versus 48%). The experimental results conclude that the nanowire network is more robust than the nanoparticle network. The test of the storage shelf time revealed that 12 wt% nanowire fluid retained more than 80% of its original yield stress after three months, indicating slight precipitation in the nanowire fluid. In summary, the nanowire MR fluid had a stronger MR effect than traditional MR fluid that was prepared with spherical MR particles.</jats:p

Assessing the environmental impacts of microfluidic devices for glucose detection

Healthcare must balance safety, efficiency, and effectiveness with affordability and accessibility. Microfluidic devices offer low-cost, portable solutions for point-of-care testing, miniaturizing lab functions on chips through microchannels for quick diagnostics, retaining resolution and sensitivity with minimal reagent use. However, their environmental sustainability is uncertain, with concerns about production scale-up, risks from disposability, and the impact of alternative raw materials or manufacturing techniques compared to traditional soft lithography based on polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS). We conducted a cradle-to-grave life-cycle assessment (LCA) of three glucose-detection devices, a PDMS device via soft lithography, a paper device via wax stamping, and a polylactic acid (PLA) device via 3D printing, for both laboratory-scale and commercial-scale production. For lab-scale production, the paper device had the lowest environmental impact across most impact categories, while the PLA device had the highest. However, for commercial-scale production, by transitioning from 3D printing to injection molding, the PLA device performed best overall, while PDMS performed the worst. For both scales, material and energy use were key contributors, with minimal impact from the use phase. This study highlights the importance of considering environmental impacts at multiple scales and shows the added value of using LCA to guide design and production for early-stage technologies.Industrial Ecolog

Binary Star Evolution in Different Environments: Filamentary, Fractal, Halo and Tidal-tail Clusters

Using membership of 85 open clusters from previous studies (Pang et al. 2021a,b, 2022b; Li et al. 2021) based on Gaia DR3 data, we identify binary candidates in the color-magnitude diagram, for systems with mass ratio q > 0.4. The binary fraction is corrected for incompleteness at different distances due to the Gaia angular resolution limit. We find a decreasing binary fraction with increasing cluster age, with substantial scatter. For clusters with a total mass > 200$M_\odot$, the binary fraction is independent of cluster mass. The binary fraction depends strongly on stellar density. Among four types of cluster environments, the lowest-density filamentary and fractal stellar groups have the highest mean binary fraction: 23.6% and 23.2%, respectively. The mean binary fraction in tidal-tail clusters is 20.8%, and is lowest in the densest halo-type clusters: 14.8%. We find clear evidence of early disruptions of binary stars in the cluster sample. The radial binary fraction depends strongly on the cluster-centric distance across all four types of environments, with the smallest binary fraction within the half-mass radius $r_h$, and increasing towards a few $r_h$. Only hints of mass segregation is found in the target clusters. The observed amount of mass segregation is not significant to generate a global effect inside the target clusters. We evaluate the bias of unresolved binary systems (assuming a primary mass of 1$M_\odot$) in 1D tangential velocity, which is 0.1-1$\,\rm km\,s^{-1}$. Further studies are required to characterize the internal star cluster kinematics using Gaia proper motions

Inhibition of colon cancer cell growth by nanoemulsion carrying gold nanoparticles and&amp;nbsp;lycopene

Lycopene (LP), an important functional compound in tomatoes, and gold nanoparticles (AN), have received considerable attention as potential candidates for cancer therapy. However, the extreme instability and poor bioavailability of LP limits its in vivo application. This study intends to develop a nanoemulsion system incorporating both LP and AN, and to study the possible synergistic effects on the inhibition of the HT-29 colon cancer cell line. LP–nanogold nanoemulsion containing Tween 80 as an emulsifier was prepared, followed by characterization using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), dynamic light scattering (DLS) analysis, ultraviolet spectroscopy, and zeta potential analysis. The particle size as determined by TEM and DLS was 21.3±3.7 nm and 25.0±4.2 nm for nanoemulsion and 4.7±1.1 nm and 3.3±0.6 nm for AN, while the zeta potential of nanoemulsion and AN was −32.2±1.8 mV and −48.5±2.7 mV, respectively. Compared with the control treatment, both the combo (AN 10 ppm plus LP 12 μM) and nanoemulsion (AN 0.16 ppm plus LP 0.4 μM) treatments resulted in a five- and 15-fold rise in early apoptotic cells of HT-29, respectively. Also, the nanoemulsion significantly reduced the expressions of procaspases 8, 3, and 9, as well as PARP-1 and Bcl-2, while Bax expression was enhanced. A fivefold decline in the migration capability of HT-29 cells was observed for this nanoemulsion when compared to control, with the invasion-associated markers being significantly reversed through the upregulation of the epithelial marker E-cadherin and downregulation of Akt, nuclear factor kappa B, pro-matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2, and active MMP-9 expressions. The TEM images revealed that numerous nanoemulsion-filled vacuoles invaded cytosol and converged into the mitochondria, resulting in an abnormally elongated morphology with reduced cristae and matrix contents, demonstrating a possible passive targeting effect. The nanoemulsion containing vacuoles were engulfed and internalized by the nuclear membrane envelop for subsequent invasion into the nucleoli. Taken together, LP–nanogold nanoemulsion could provide synergistic effects at AN and LP doses 250 and 120 times lower than that in the combo treatment, respectively, demonstrating the potential of nanoemulsion developed in this study for a possible application in colon cancer therapy