Highly Sensitive Surface Plasmon Resonance Biosensors Utilizing Prism-Waveguide Configuration for Detection of Alzheimer Disease Biomarker

Plasmonics - Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a disease in cognitive regions in the human brain. Also the detection of AD in the early stage is too important. In this regard, a surface plasmon...     

The Mechanical Characteristics of Human Endothelial Cells in Response to Single Ionizing Radiation Doses By Using Micropipette Aspiration Technique

The mechanical properties of living cells are known to be promising biomarkers when investigating the health and functions of the human body. Ionizing irradiation results in vascular injury due to endothelial damage. Thus, the current study objective was to evaluate the influence of continuous radiation doses on the mechanical properties of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs), and to identify Young’s modulus (E) and viscoelastic behavior. Single-dose (0, 2, 4, 6, and 8 Gy) radiation was applied to HUVECs using a Cobalt-60 treatment machine in the current vitro irradiation study. Thereafter, a micropipette-aspiration technique was used to measure the elastic modulus of the HUVECs in control and radiation-induced samples. Confocal imaging was then performed for following of the cytoskeletal reorganization of the HUVECs in response to the different radiation doses. Significant enhanced adhesion of the elastic modulus of the HUVECs was observed. The dose value was seen to increase from 0 Gy to 8 Gy. A linear relationship was observed between the 0 Gy and 8 Gy doses following an examination of the dose-response curve for elastic modulus after irradiation. The correlation coefficient was found to be 0.955 and the sensitivity of the dose-elastic modulus to be 7.69 Pa..Gy-1 following analysis of the linear portion of the response curve. Also, a significant increment in stiffness accompanied with the considerable drop in creep compliance curve was detected in radiation-induced groups. Biomechanics-based analysis can provide a platform from which to assess the response of the endothelium to radiation when studying vascular system behavior during the cancer therapy process.     

Investigation on the surface properties of chemically modified natural fibers using inverse gas chromatography

This paper presents the application of inverse gas chromatography (IGC) technique for characterization and comparison of the surface properties of the natural fibers as reinforcement fillers in wood plastic composites. The effects of chemical modification using 1% NaOH were also studied. The fibers used for this work were Iranian cultivated eucalyptus, spruce, bagasse, and wheat straw. Chemical composition of fibers was found to be modified after treatment as characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The crystallinity of fibers and the specific interaction was improved by the alkaline treatment, with more relevance to the agro-fibers. The IGC shows also a general increase in the wettability of the modified fiber when compared with the raw (unmodified) samples. Alkaline treatment achieves the best overall improvement in the properties evaluated of the agro-fibers when compared to the wood fibers.     

A radiobiological comparison of hypo-fractionation versus conventional fractionation for breast cancer 3D-conformal radiation therapy

BackgroundThe present research was aimed to compare the toxicity and effectiveness of conventional fractionated radiotherapy versus hypo-fractionated radiotherapy in breast cancer utilizing a radiobiological model.Materials and methodsThirty-five left-sided breast cancer patients without involvement of the supraclavicular and axillary lymph nodes (with the nodal stage of N0) that had been treated with conventional or hypo-fractionated were incorporated in this study. A radiobiological model was performed to foretell normal tissue complication probability (NTCP) and tumor control probability (TCP).ResultsThe data represented that TCP values for conventional and hypo-fractionated regimens were 99.16 ± 0.09 and 95.96 ± 0.48, respectively (p = 0.00). Moreover, the NTCP values of the lung for conventional and hypo-fractionated treatment were 0.024 versus 0.13 (p = 0.035), respectively. Also, NTCP values of the heart were equal to zero for both regimens.ConclusionIn summary, hypo-fractionated regimens had comparable efficacy to conventional fraction radiation therapy in the case of dosimetry parameters for patients who had left breast cancer. But, utilizing the radiobiological model, conventional fractionated regimens presented better results compared to hypo-fractionated regimens.     

Tetrahydrobenzothiophene carboxamides: Beyond the kinase domain and into the fatty acid realm

A series of tetrahydrobenzothiophene carboxamides, inspired by structural features present in kinase and SCD1 inhibitors, are presented here. Prototype compound 8 (MMDD13) modulates fatty acid elongase and desaturase indexes, lipid accumulation, while preserving kinase inhibitory activity. This chemotype represents a stepping stone towards chemical probes to study the consequences of lipid metabolism modulation through non-redundant pathways.