An overview of gene therapy in head and neck cancer.

Gene therapy is a new treatment modality in which new gene is introduced or existing gene is manipulated to cause cancer cell death or slow the growth of the tumor. In this review, we have discussed the different treatment approaches for cancer gene therapy; gene addition therapy, immunotherapy, gene therapy using oncolytic viruses, antisense ribonucleic acid (RNA) and RNA interference-based gene therapy. Clinical trials to date in head and neck cancer have shown evidence of gene transduction and expression, mediation of apoptosis and clinical response including pathological complete responses.

Vertical electric field stimulated neural cell functionality on porous amorphous carbon electrodes.

We demonstrate the efficacy of amorphous macroporous carbon substrates as electrodes to support neuronal cell proliferation and differentiation in electric field mediated culture conditions. The electric field was applied perpendicular to carbon substrate electrode, while growing mouse neuroblastoma (N2a) cells in vitro. The placement of the second electrode outside of the cell culture medium allows the investigation of cell response to electric field without the concurrent complexities of submerged electrodes such as potentially toxic electrode reactions, electro-kinetic flows and charge transfer (electrical current) in the cell medium.

Necrotizing fasciitis of the chest wall caused by infected dentigerous cyst: a case report.

Necrotizing fasciitis of the chest wall is a fairly uncommon condition. Early diagnosis and treatment is the two main factors responsible for the prognosis. Odontogenic cause of the necrotizing fasciitis of the chest wall is a rare phenomenon.

Development of bimetal-grown multi-scale carbon micro-nanofibers as an immobilizing matrix for enzymes in biosensor applications.

This study describes the development of a novel bimetal (Fe and Cu)-grown hierarchical web of carbon micro-nanofiber-based electrode for biosensor applications, in particular to detect glucose in liquids. Carbon nanofibers (CNFs) are grown on activated carbon microfibers (ACFs) by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) using Cu and Fe as the metal catalysts. The transition metal-fiber composite is used as the working electrode of a biosensor applied to detect glucose in liquids.

Large area IR microlens arrays of chalcogenide glass photoresists by grayscale maskless lithography.

The ability to use chalcogenide glass thin films as photoresists for one-step maskless grayscale lithographic patterning is demonstrated. It is shown that the chalcogenide photoresists can be used to fabricate grayscale patterns with smooth and continuous profiles such as arrays of cylindrical and spherical microlenses, which are useful as optical structures for IR applications. The etching and exposure parameters are optimized to obtain smooth reproducible lens arrays of 150 μm periodicity and up to ∼170 nm height on large areas (∼1 cm(2)).

Preparation of surfactant-mediated silver and copper nanoparticles dispersed in hierarchical carbon micro-nanofibers for antibacterial applications.

The antibacterial potential of copper (Cu) and silver (Ag) nanoparticles dispersed in a phenolic resin precursor-based multi-scale web of carbon microfibers (ACFs) and nanofibers (CNFs) was assessed in this study. The multi-scale web of ACF/CNF was prepared by growing the CNFs on the ACF substrate by chemical vapor deposition (CVD). The Ag or Cu nanoparticles were used as the catalyst, and acetylene (C2H2) gas was used as the carbon source.

Intracellular reactive oxidative stress, cell proliferation and apoptosis of Schwann cells on carbon nanofibrous substrates.

Despite considerable research to develop carbon based materials for biomedical applications, the toxicity of carbon remains a major concern. In order to address this issue as well as to investigate the cell fate processes of neural cells from the perspective of neural tissue engineering applications, the in vitro cytocompatibility of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) derived continuous carbon nanofibers and PAN derived carbon thin films were investigated both quantitatively and qualitatively using in vitro biochemical assays followed by extensive flow cytometry analysis. The experimental results of Schwann cell fate, i.

In vitro cytocompatibility assessment of amorphous carbon structures using neuroblastoma and Schwann cells.

The development of scaffolds for neural tissue engineering application requires an understanding of cell adhesion, proliferation, and migration of neuronal cells. Considering the potential application of carbon as scaffold materials and the lack of understanding of compatibility of amorphous carbon with neuronal cells, the carbon-based materials in the forms of carbon films and continuous electrospun carbon nanofibers having average diameter of ~200 nm are being investigated with or without ultraviolet (UV) and oxy-plasma (OP) treatments for cytocompatibility property using mouse Neuroblastoma (N2a) and rat Schwann cells (RT4-D6P2T). The use of Raman spectroscopy in combination with Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and X-ray diffraction establishes the amorphous nature and surface-bonding characteristics of the studied carbon materials.

Reusable electrospun mesoporous ZnO nanofiber mats for photocatalytic degradation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon dyes in wastewater.

We demonstrate a new method for the fabrication of free-standing mats of mesoporous ZnO nanofibers by electrospinning a blend of zinc acetate with a carrier polymer, polyacrylonitrile (PAN) in N,N-dimethyl-formamide (DMF) solvent. Decomposition of PAN by calcination produces porous ZnO nanofibers with fiber diameters in the range of 50-150 nm depending on the electrospinning conditions such as the precursor solution concentration, electric field strength, and solution flow rate. The fibers are characterized for their morphology, phase composition, band gap, crystallinity, surface area, and porosity.

Electric-field-induced interfacial instabilities of a soft elastic membrane confined between viscous layers.

We explore the electric-field-induced interfacial instabilities of a trilayer composed of a thin elastic film confined between two viscous layers. A linear stability analysis (LSA) is performed to uncover the growth rate and length scale of the different unstable modes. Application of a normal external electric field on such a configuration can deform the two coupled elastic-viscous interfaces either by an in-phase bending or an antiphase squeezing mode.

Metabolism of 4-chloro-2-nitrophenol in a gram-positive bacterium, Exiguobacterium sp. PMA.

Background: Chloronitrophenols (CNPs) are widely used in the synthesis of dyes, drugs and pesticides, and constitute a major group of environmental pollutants. 4-Chloro-2-nitrophenol (4C2NP) is an isomer of CNPs that has been detected in various industrial effluents. A number of physicochemical methods have been used for treatment of wastewater containing 4C2NP.

Biomimetic wet adhesion of viscoelastic liquid films anchored on micropatterned elastic substrates.

Inspired by the natural adhesives in the toe pads of arthropods and some other animals, we explore the effectiveness and peel failure of a thin viscoelastic liquid film anchored on a micropatterned elastic surface. In particular, we focus on the role of the substrate pattern in adhesion energy of the liquid layer and in allowing its clean separation without cohesive failure. Peel tests on the microfabricated wet adhesives showed two distinct modes of adhesive (interfacial) and cohesive (liquid bulk) failures depending on the pattern dimensions.

DNA barcoding of the Mexican sedative and anxiolytic plant Galphimia glauca.

Ethnopharmacology Relevance: Galphimia glauca (Malpighiaceae) is a Mexican plant popularly used as a tranquilizer in the treatment of nervous system disorders, although it is also used to treat other common illnesses.

Aim Of The Study: The aim of this investigation is to find out if populations of Galphimia glauca collected in different regions and ecosystems in Mexico actually belong to the same species by using the contemporary technique of DNA barcodes. Our previous metabolic profiling study demonstrates that different collections of this plant obtained from various geographical areas exhibited diverse chemical profiles in terms of the active compounds named Galphimines.

First record of the carmine spider mite, Tetranychus urticae, infesting Withania somnifera in India.

During April-June 2010, red two-spotted carmine spider mites Tetranychus urticae Koch (Trombidiformes: Tetranychidae) were found on aerial apical parts of Ashwagandha Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal (Solanales: Solanaceae) plants in the Amritsar District of Punjab Province in the North Indian plains. The mites fed on the leaves, making them shiny white in color, which gradually dried off and were later shed.

Risk-benefit evaluation of on-line high-performance liquid chromatography analysis for pooling decisions in large-scale chromatography.

In the production of a human therapeutic protein from inclusion bodies, product related impurities of very similar size and charge to the product are created as byproducts of the refold process. Their removal is usually challenging even when using chromatography with high performance resins and elution by shallow linear gradients. Additionally, performing this type of separation for commercial production adds increased complexity.

A comparison on the metabolic profiling of the Mexican anxiolytic and sedative plant Galphimia glauca four years later.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Galphimia glauca has a long traditional use, and continues to be used in Mexico as a natural tranquilizer for the treatment of Central Nervous System disorders as well as for other illnesses.

Aim Of The Study: In 2005 the initial use of metabolic profiling to populations of Galphimia glauca resulted in two of the six collected populations being producers for galphimines, the markers for sedative and anxiolytic activities. The aim of this investigation was to confirm the previously established metabolic profile, as well as the previous in vivo results on mice.

Contact instabilities of anisotropic and inhomogeneous soft elastic films.

Anisotropy plays important roles in various biological phenomena such as adhesion of geckos and grasshoppers enabled by the attachment pods having hierarchical structures like thin longitudinal setae connected with threads mimicked by anisotropic films. We study the contact instability of a transversely isotropic thin elastic film when it comes in contact proximity of another surface. In the present study we investigate the contact stability of a thin incompressible transversely isotropic film by performing linear stability analysis.

Diblock copolymer lamellae on sinusoidal and fractal surfaces.

A scaling analysis of equilibrium orientation of diblock copolymer molecules on fractal surfaces and a brief comparison with a particular experiment is presented in this paper. This work is motivated by a recent experimental finding that a diblock copolymer film of polystyrene-PMMA, when deposited on a rough substrate, can orient its lamellae from a parallel to a perpendicular configuration depending on the topographical characteristics of the substrate surface. It was found that the RMS height itself is not enough to effect the equilibrium configuration, but the fractal dimension of the surface is also important.

Increased graphitization in electrospun single suspended carbon nanowires integrated with carbon-MEMS and carbon-NEMS platforms.

Single suspended carbon nanowires (CNWs) integrated on carbon-MEMS (CMEMS) structures are fabricated by electrospinning of SU-8 photoresist followed by pyrolysis. These monolithic CNW-CMEMS structures enable fabrication of very high aspect ratio CNWs of predefined length. The CNWs thus fabricated display core-shell structures having a graphitic shell with a glassy carbon core.

Reusable antifouling viscoelastic adhesive with an elastic skin.

Although the viscoelasticity or tackiness of a pressure-sensitive adhesive gives it strength owing to energy dissipation during peeling, it also renders it nonreusable because of structural changes such as the formation of fibrils, cohesive failure, and fouling. However, an elastic layer has good structural integrity and cohesive strength but low adhesive energy. We demonstrate an effective composite adhesive in which a soft viscoelastic bulk layer is imbedded in a largely elastic thin skin layer.

Creating self-organized submicrometer contact instability patterns in soft elastic bilayers with a topographically patterned stamp.

The surface of a thin elastic bilayer becomes spontaneously unstable when it is brought in proximity to another rigid contactor. The instability patterns, which are random and isotropic, exhibit a dominant lateral length scale of instability λ, which linearly scales with the bilayer thickness (h) as: λ = R(F)h. It is known that for an elastic bilayer, R(F) exhibits a nonlinear dependence on the ratios of individual film thicknesses (H) and shear moduli (M) of the two constituent layers, and can have values as low as 0.

Instabilities of soft elastic microtubes filled with viscous fluids: pearls, wrinkles, and sausage strings.

A linear stability analysis is presented to study the self-organized instabilities of a highly compliant elastic cylindrical shell filled with a viscous liquid and submerged in another viscous medium. The prototype closely mimics many components of micro- or nanofluidic devices and biological processes such as the budding of a string of pearls inside cells and sausage-string formation of blood vessels. The cylindrical shell is considered to be a soft linear elastic solid with small storage modulus.

Surface instability of a thin electrolyte film undergoing coupled electroosmotic and electrophoretic flows in a microfluidic channel.

We consider the stability of a thin liquid film with a free charged surface resting on a solid charged substrate by performing a general Orr-Sommerfeld (O-S) analysis complemented by a long-wave (LW) analysis. An externally applied field generates an electroosmotic flow (EOF) near the solid substrate and an electrophoretic flow (EPF) at the free surface. The EPF retards the EOF when both the surfaces have the same sign of the potential and can even lead to the flow reversal in a part of the film.

Electrokinetic motion of a deformable particle: dielectrophoretic effect.

Electrokinetics-induced motion and deformation of a hyperelastic particle confined in a slit microchannel has been numerically investigated for the first time with a full consideration of the fluid-particle-electric field interactions and the dielectrophoretic (DEP) effect. When the initial orientation of a cylindrical particle with respect to the applied electric field, θ(p0), is 90°, the particle tends to curl up as a "C" shape when moving from left to right. The electrokinetics-induced particle deformation is due to the joint effects of the shear force arising from the non-uniform Smoluchowski slip velocity on the particle surface and the asymmetric DEP force with respect to the center of the deformed particle arising from the spatially non-uniform electric field surrounding the particle.