This work presents an improvement of the VIPAR ('nd' stands for 'normoxic, double', or VIP) polymer gel dosimeter. The gel composition was altered by increasing the concentration of the monomeric components, N-vinylpyrrolidone (NVP) and N,N'-methylenebisacrylamide (MBA), in co-solvent solutions. The optimal composition (VIPAR, where 'CT' stands for computed tomography, or VIC) comprised: 17% NVP, 8% MBA, 12% t-BuOH, 7.5% gelatine, 0.007% ascorbic acid, 0.0008% CuSO × 5HO and 0.02% hydroquinone. The following characteristics of VIC were achieved: (i) linear dose range of 0.930 Gy, (ii) saturation for radiation doses of over 50 Gy, (iii) threshold dose of about 0.5 Gy, (iv) dose sensitivity of 0.171 Gy s, which is roughly 2.2 times higher than that of VIP (for nuclear magnetic resonance measurements). It was also found that VIC is dose- rate-independent, and its dose response does not alter if the radiation source is changed from electrons to photons for external beam radiotherapy. The gel responded similarly to irradiation with small changes in radiation energy but was sensitive to larger energy changes. The VIC gel retained temporal stability from 20 h until at least 10 d after irradiation, whereas spatial stability was retained from 20 h until at least 6 d after irradiation. The scheme adopted for VIC manufacturing yields repeatable gels in terms of radiation dose response. The VIC was also shown to perform better than VIP using x-ray computed tomography as a readout method; the dose sensitivity of VIC (0.397 HU Gy) was 1.5 times higher than that of VIP. Also, the dose resolution of VIC was better than that of VIP in the whole dose range examined.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1361-6560/aa5089 | DOI Listing |
Int J Biol Macromol
January 2025
Department of Chemistry, Sri Krishnadevaraya University, Ananthapur 515003, India. Electronic address:
Composite gels are a type of soft matter, which contains a continuous three-dimensional crosslinked network and has been embedded with non-gel materials. Compared to pure gels, composite gels show high flexibility and tunability in properties and hence have attracted extensive interest in applications ranging from cancer therapy to tissue engineering. In this study, we incorporated triethylenetetramine (TETA)-functionalized cobalt ferrite nanoparticles (ANPs) into a hydrogel consisting of sodium alginate (SA) and methyl cellulose (MC), and examined the resulting composite gels for controlled drug release.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDrug Deliv Transl Res
January 2025
Drug Research Program, Division of Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Technology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, FI-00014, Finland.
Functionalization of polymer nanoparticles (NPs) with targeting peptides is of interest for drug delivery applications to enhance tumor accumulation and penetration. Herein, we evaluated the feasibility of two different methods for the attachment of a tumor-penetrating peptide LinTT1 (AKRGARSTA) to poly(ethylene glycol)-block-poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL-PEG) NPs: (1) "post-conjugation" onto pre-formed nanoparticles, and (2) "pre-conjugation", the synthesis and purification of peptide-polymer conjugates and subsequent nanoprecipitation of the conjugates diluted with non-functionalized polymers. Conjugation of the labelled peptide via maleimide-thiol chemistry was verified by gel permeation chromatography (GPC) and fluorescence measurements.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSci Rep
January 2025
Research Institute for Microbial Diseases, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan.
Spermatogenesis is one of the most complex processes of cell differentiation and its failure is a major cause of male infertility. Therefore, a proper model that recapitulates spermatogenesis in vitro has been long sought out for basic and clinical research. Testis organ culture using the gas-liquid interphase method has been shown to support spermatogenesis in mice and rats.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSmall
January 2025
Department of Chemical Engineering, Toronto Metropolitan University, 350 Victoria Street, Toronto, ON, M5B 2K3, Canada.
Research into flexible solid-state supercapacitors for wearable electronics focuses on achieving high performance and safety. Gel polymer electrolytes (GPEs) are preferred over fully solid-state electrolytes due to their better ionic conductivity while addressing safety concerns associated with liquid electrolytes. This study aims to enhance high-performance gel polymer electrolytes (HP-GPEs) by improving the ion transfer rate of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) with sulfonated hexagonal boron nitride (known as white-graphene) and exploring how rheology influences ion-conduction within HP-GPEs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSci Rep
January 2025
Cellular and Molecular Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
We engineered a microfluidic platform to study the effects of bioactive glass nanoparticles (BGNs) on cell viability under static culture. We incorporated different concentrations of BGNs (1%, 2%, and 3% w/v) in collagen hydrogel (with a concentration of 3.0 mg/mL).
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