Potential Biomarkers of Dysmenorrhea Relief: A MEG Study of Hinoki Aromatherapy and Working Memory.

: This study explored the potential of Hinoki aromatherapy to induce biomarkers of dysmenorrhea relief through working memory. Structural magnetic resonance imaging and magnetoencephalography (MEG) were used to examine their effects on neurophysiological responses to a visual working memory (VWM) test. Behavioral performance was measured to understand its effects on the overall working memory.

Versatile and Accessible Magnetic Diagnosis Platform with Different Types of Magnetic Particles for Liquid and Solid Biopsies.

The diagnosis of liquid and solid biopsies by different instruments makes the clinic loading difficult in many aspects. Given the compositions of magnetic particles (MPs) with diverse characterizations and the innovative acoustic type of vibration sample magnetometer (VSM), the versatile, accessible magnetic diagnosis platform was proposed to meet clinical demands, such as low loading for multiple biopsies. In liquid biopsies of alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) standard solutions and subject serums, molecular concentration was analyzed from saturation magnetization by the soft type of FeO MPs with AFP bioprobe coating.

Hybrid Vibration and UV Fluorescence Technology for Rapid Imaging and Guidance for Manual Removal of Fish Bones from Fish Floss.

The objective of the proposed human-machine cooperation (HMC) workstation is to both rapidly detect calcium-based fish bones in masses of minced fish floss and visually guide operators in approaching and removing the detected fish bones by hand based on the detection of fingernails or plastic-based gloves. Because vibration is a separation mechanism that can prevent absorption or scattering in thick fish floss for UV fluorescence detection, the design of the HMC workstation included a vibration unit together with an optical box and display screens. The system was tested with commonly used fish (swordfish, salmon, tuna, and cod) representing various cooking conditions (raw meat, steam-cooked meat, and fish floss), their bones, and contaminating materials such as derived from gloves made of various types of plastic (polyvinylchloride, emulsion, and rubber) commonly used in the removal of fish bones.

Synthesised Conductive/Magnetic Composite Particles for Magnetic Ablations of Tumours.

Ablation is a clinical cancer treatment, but some demands are still unsatisfied, such as electromagnetic interferences amongst multiple ablation needles during large tumour treatments. This work proposes a physical synthesis for composite particles of biocompatible iron oxide particles and liquid metal gallium (Ga) with different alternative-current (AC)-magnetic-field-induced heat mechanisms of magnetic particle hyperthermia and superior resistance heat. By some imaging, X-ray diffraction, and vibrating sample magnetometer, utilised composite particles were clearly identified as the cluster of few iron oxides using the small weight ratio of high-viscosity liquid metal Ga as conjugation materials without surfactants for physical targeting of limited fluidity.

Highly efficient magnetic ablation and the contrast of various imaging using biocompatible liquid-metal gallium.

Background: Although the powerful clinical effects of radiofrequency and microwave ablation have been established, such ablation is associated with several limitations, including a small ablation size, a long ablation time, the few treatment positioning, and biosafety risks. To overcome these limitations, biosafe and efficient magnetic ablation was achieved in this study by using biocompatible liquid gallium as an ablation medium and a contrast medium for imaging.

Results: Magnetic fields with a frequency (f) lower than 200 kHz and an amplitude (H) × f value lower than 5.

An Optical Smartphone-Based Inspection Platform for Identification of Diseased Orchids.

Infections of orchids by the or cause orchid disfiguration and are a substantial source of economic loss for orchid farms. Although immunoassays can identify these infections, immunoassays are expensive, time consuming, and labor consuming and limited to sampling-based testing methods. This study proposes a noncontact inspection platform that uses a spectrometer and Android smartphone.

Composite Scores of Plasma Tau and β-Amyloids Correlate with Dementia in Down Syndrome.

Dementia frequently occurs in Down syndrome (DS) patients, and early intervention is important in its management. We have previously demonstrated a positive correlation of plasma β-amyloid Aβ42 levels and negative correlations of Aβ40 and tau levels with dementia in DS. In this study, we examined more cases and constructed composite scores with both tau and amyloids to correlate with dementia in DS.

Blood NfL: A biomarker for disease severity and progression in Parkinson disease.

Objective: To examine whether plasma neurofilament light chain (NfL) levels were associated with motor and cognitive progression in Parkinson disease (PD).

Methods: This prospective follow-up study enrolled 178 participants, including 116 with PD, 22 with multiple system atrophy (MSA), and 40 healthy controls. We measured plasma NfL levels with electrochemiluminescence immunoassay.

Plasma Biomarkers Differentiate Parkinson's Disease From Atypical Parkinsonism Syndromes.

Parkinson's disease (PD) has significant clinical overlaps with atypical parkinsonism syndromes (APS), which have a poorer treatment response and a more aggressive course than PD. We aimed to identify plasma biomarkers to differentiate PD from APS. Plasma samples ( = 204) were obtained from healthy controls and from patients with PD, dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), multiple system atrophy, progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), corticobasal degeneration (CBD), or frontotemporal dementia (FTD) with parkinsonism (FTD-P) or without parkinsonism.

Eight-Channel AC Magnetosusceptometer of Magnetic Nanoparticles for High-Throughput and Ultra-High-Sensitivity Immunoassay.

An alternating-current magnetosusceptometer of antibody-functionalized magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) was developed for immunomagnetic reduction (IMR). A high-sensitivity, high-critical-temperature superconducting quantum interference device was used in the magnetosusceptometer. Minute levels of biomarkers of early-stage neurodegeneration diseases were detectable in serum, but measuring each biomarker required approximately 4 h.

Characterizations of Anti-Alpha-Fetoprotein-Conjugated Magnetic Nanoparticles Associated with Alpha-Fetoprotein for Biomedical Applications.

In this work, we report characterizations of biofunctionalized magnetic nanoparticles (BMNPs) associated with alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) for biomedical applications. The example BMNP in this study is anti-alpha-fetoprotein (anti-AFP) conjugated onto dextran-coated Fe₃O₄ labeled as Fe₃O₄-anti-AFP, and the target is AFP. We characterize magnetic properties, such as increments of magnetization ΔM and effective relaxation time Δτ in the reaction process.

Plasma α-synuclein predicts cognitive decline in Parkinson's disease.

Objective: α-Synuclein is critical to the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease (PD). Few studies examined the plasma levels of α-synuclein due to the exceptionally low level of α-synuclein in plasma compared with cerebrospinal fluid. We aimed to investigate plasma α-synuclein in patients with PD of different disease severity.

Ultrasound-Induced Magnetic Imaging of Tumors Targeted by Biofunctional Magnetic Nanoparticles.

Biofunctional magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) have been widely applied in biomedical engineering. MNPs are used as a contrast medium in magnetic imaging. Current methods of magnetic imaging, such as magnetic particle imaging and magnetic relaxometry, use small amounts of MNPs at target points far from the surface of the patient's body; these methods always consume considerable power to produce magnetic fields of high uniformity or gradient excitations.

Blood Beta-Amyloid and Tau in Down Syndrome: A Comparison with Alzheimer's Disease.

: Changes in β-amyloids (Aβ) and tau proteins have been noted in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and patients with both Down syndrome (DS) and AD. However, reports of changes in the early stage of regression, such as behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD), in DS are sparse. : Seventy-eight controls, 62 patients with AD, 35 with DS and 16 with DS with degeneration (DS_D), including 9 with BPSD and 7 with dementia, were enrolled.

Development of an ultra-high sensitive immunoassay with plasma biomarker for differentiating Parkinson disease dementia from Parkinson disease using antibody functionalized magnetic nanoparticles.

Background: It is difficult to discriminate healthy subjects and patients with Parkinson disease (PD) or Parkinson disease dementia (PDD) by assaying plasma α-synuclein because the concentrations of circulating α-synuclein in the blood are almost the same as the low-detection limit using current immunoassays, such as enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. In this work, an ultra-sensitive immunoassay utilizing immunomagnetic reduction (IMR) is developed. The reagent for IMR consists of magnetic nanoparticles functionalized with antibodies against α-synuclein and dispersed in pH-7.

Rapid and quantitative discrimination of tumour cells on tissue slices.

After a needle biopsy, immunohistochemistry is generally used to stain tissue slices for clinically confirming tumours. Currently, tissue slices are immersed in a bioprobe-linked fluorescent reagent for several minutes, washed to remove the unbound reagent, and then observed using a fluorescence microscope. However, the observation must be performed by experienced pathologists, and producing a qualitative analysis is time consuming.

Immunomagnetic Reduction Assay on Des-Gamma-Carboxy Prothrombin for Screening of Hepatocellular Carcinoma.

The accredited biomarker alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) offers limited sensitivity and specificity in the early detection of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). To improve the screening performance, des-gamma-carboxy prothrombin (DCP) has been identified as another promising biomarker of HCC, combined with AFP biomarkers. The results of the commercial optical enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit easily have the interference problem due to the optical methodology.

Assaying Carcinoembryonic Antigens by Normalized Saturation Magnetization.

Biofunctionalized magnetic nanoparticles (BMNs) that provide unique advantages have been extensively used to develop immunoassay methods. However, these developed magnetic methods have been used only for specific immunoassays and not in studies of magnetic characteristics of materials. In this study, a common vibration sample magnetometer (VSM) was used for the measurement of the hysteresis loop for different carcinoembryonic antigens (CEA) concentrations (Φ CEA) based on the synthesized BMNs with anti-CEA coating.

Dual-imaging model of SQUID biosusceptometry for locating tumors targeted using magnetic nanoparticles.

Background: For intraoperative imaging in operating theaters or preoperative imaging in clinics, compact and economic integration rather than large and expensive equipment is required to coregister structural and functional imaging. However, current technologies, such as those integrating optical and gamma cameras or infrared and fluorescence imaging, involve certain drawbacks, including the radioactive biorisks of nuclear medicine indicators and the inconvenience of conducting measurements in dark environments.

Methods: To specifically and magnetically label liver tumors, an anti-alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) reagent was synthesized from biosafe iron oxide magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) coated with anti-AFP antibody and solved in a phosphate buffered saline solution.

Using bio-functionalized magnetic nanoparticles and dynamic nuclear magnetic resonance to characterize the time-dependent spin-spin relaxation time for sensitive bio-detection.

In this work, we report the use of bio-functionalized magnetic nanoparticles (BMNs) and dynamic magnetic resonance (DMR) to characterize the time-dependent spin-spin relaxation time for sensitive bio-detection. The biomarkers are the human C-reactive protein (CRP) while the BMNs are the anti-CRP bound onto dextran-coated Fe3O4 particles labeled as Fe3O4-antiCRP. It was found the time-dependent spin-spin relaxation time, T2, of protons decreases as time evolves.

Plasma tau as a window to the brain-negative associations with brain volume and memory function in mild cognitive impairment and early Alzheimer's disease.

Neurofibrillary tangles are associated with cognitive dysfunction, and hippocampal atrophy with increased CSF tau markers. However, the plasma tau levels of Alzheimer's disease (AD) have not been well studied. We investigated plasma tau by using an immunomagnetic reduction assay in 20 patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) due to AD, 10 early AD dementia, and 30 healthy elders (HE).

Anti-CEA-functionalized superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles for examining colorectal tumors in vivo.

Although the biomarker carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) is expressed in colorectal tumors, the utility of an anti-CEA-functionalized image medium is powerful for in vivo positioning of colorectal tumors. With a risk of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONPs) that is lower for animals than other material carriers, anti-CEA-functionalized SPIONPs were synthesized in this study for labeling colorectal tumors by conducting different preoperatively and intraoperatively in vivo examinations. In magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the image variation of colorectal tumors reached the maximum at approximately 24 h.

A noninvasive method to determine the fate of Fe(3)O(4) nanoparticles following intravenous injection using scanning SQUID biosusceptometry.

Magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) of Fe(3)O(4) have been widely applied in many medical fields, but few studies have clearly shown the outcome of particles following intravenous injection. We performed a magnetic examination using scanning SQUID biosusceptometry (SSB). Based on the results of SSB analysis and those of established in vitro nonmagnetic bioassays, this study proposes a model of MNP metabolism consisting of an acute metabolic phase with an 8 h duration that is followed by a chronic metabolic phase that continues for 28 d following MNP injection.

Discriminating hepatocellular carcinoma in rats using a high-Tc SQUID detected nuclear resonance spectrometer in a magnetic shielding box.

In this study, we report the spin-lattice relaxation rate of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and normal liver tissue in rats using a high-T(c) superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) based nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrometer. The resonance spectrometer used for discriminating liver tumors in rats via the difference in longitudinal relaxation time in low magnetic fields was set up in a compact and portable magnetic shielding box. The frequency-domain NMR signals of HCC tissues and normal liver tissues were analyzed to study their respective longitudinal relaxation rate T(1) (-1).