Machine learning algorithm for early detection of end-stage renal disease.

Background: End stage renal disease (ESRD) describes the most severe stage of chronic kidney disease (CKD), when patients need dialysis or renal transplant. There is often a delay in recognizing, diagnosing, and treating the various etiologies of CKD. The objective of the present study was to employ machine learning algorithms to develop a prediction model for progression to ESRD based on a large-scale multidimensional database.

Development of a machine learning algorithm for early detection of opioid use disorder.

Background: Opioid use disorder (OUD) affects an estimated 16 million people worldwide. The diagnosis of OUD is commonly delayed or missed altogether. We aimed to test the utility of machine learning in creating a prediction model and algorithm for early diagnosis of OUD.

FRET energy transfer via Pdots improves the efficiency of photodynamic therapy and leads to rapid cell death.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is well established as a clinical treatment modality for various diseases, including cancer and especially for the treatment of superficial tumors. However, one of the disadvantages of the photoactivatable molecules is their low absorbance in the optical window for photosensitizer excitation. The use of nanoparticles in photodynamic therapy can address this deficiency and improve treatment efficiency.

PEG-Phospholipids Coated Quantum Rods as Amplifiers of the Photosensitization Process by FRET.

Singlet oxygen ((1)O2) generated upon photostimulation of photosensitizer molecules is a highly reactive specie which is utilized in photodynamic therapy. Recent studies have shown that semiconductor nanoparticles can be used as donors in fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) process to excite attached photosensitizer molecules. In these studies, their unique properties, such as low nanoscale size, long-term photostability, wide broad absorbance band, large absorption cross section, and narrow and tunable emission bands were used to provide advantages over the traditional methods to produce singlet oxygen.

Pdots, a new type of nanoparticle, bind to mTHPC via their lipid modified surface and exhibit very high FRET efficiency between the core and the sensitizer.

Pdots are a new type of nanoparticle which exhibit strong potential for future applications in biophysics and cell biology. They are composed of organic chromophoric polymers, whose surfaces can be modified with different amphiphilic polymers, such as PEGylated lipids to make them very stable as colloids in water. We demonstrate in this manuscript that the lipid nano-coating around the Pdot can bind very efficiently to amphiphilic molecules, such as photosensitizers e.