New insight on optical and magnetic Fe3O4 nanoclusters promising for near infrared theranostic applications.

Extensive efforts have been devoted to the development of a new biophotonic system using near infrared (NIR) nano-agents for non-invasive cancer diagnosis and therapy. Here, we developed a simple synthesis reaction of ligands, hydrazine, and iron(ii) chloride to fabricate Fe3O4 cluster-structured nanoparticles (CNPs) with interesting NIR photonics and high magnetization (Ms: 98.3 emu g(-1) and proton relaxivity r2: 234.

Enhanced Raman sensitivity and magnetic separation for urolithiasis detection using phosphonic acid-terminated FeO nanoclusters.

Surface-functionalized FeO nanoparticles are emerging as promising agents for the selective and magnetic separation of various biological molecules. In principle, by engineering the surface of FeO nanoparticles, they can be applied as tracers to seek and recognize metabolites and secretions of specific diseases. In this report, we developed FeO nanoclusters with high magnetization and an amino-functionalized surface via the reaction between FeCl, a hydrazine reductant, and a gelatin polymer to demonstrate magnetically separated prevalent urinary crystals.

Development of therapeutic Au-methylene blue nanoparticles for targeted photodynamic therapy of cervical cancer cells.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) involves the cellular uptake of a photosensitizer (PS) combined with oxygen molecules and light at a specific wavelength to be able to trigger cancer cell death via the apoptosis pathway, which is less harmful and has less inflammatory side effect than necrosis. However, the traditional PDT treatment has two main deficiencies: the dark toxicity of the PS and the poor selectivity of the cellular uptake of PS between the target cells and normal tissues. In this work, methylene blue (MB), a known effective PS, combined with Au nanoparticles (NPs) was prepared using an intermolecular interaction between a polystyrene-alt-maleic acid (PSMA) layer on the Au NPs and MB.

Parallel second stent placement for refractory ureteral stent malfunction in malignant ureteral obstruction.

Purpose: To review retrospectively the outcome of placement of a parallel second ureteral stent in patients with urinary obstruction secondary to a malignancy.

Materials And Methods: During the period 2005-2008, the medical records of patients with ureteral obstruction from an abdominal malignancy were reviewed. Patients who experienced malfunction of the first ureteral stent subsequently underwent either initial stent exchange (control group) or a parallel second ureteral stent placement.

Multidrug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii isolates in pediatric patients of a university hospital in Taiwan.

Background And Purpose: Acinetobacter baumannii is one of the common nosocomial pathogens, and the emergence of multidrug-resistant A. baumannii (MDRAB) is a therapeutic problem. We describe the clinical characteristics and outcomes of MDRAB colonization/infection in pediatric patients at the National Taiwan University Hospital.