Micelle-encapsulated IR783 for enhanced photothermal therapy in mouse breast cancer.

Background: Photothermal therapy, an emerging cancer treatment, selectively eliminates lesions using photothermal compounds that convert light into heat. IR783, a near-infrared fluorescent heptamethine cyanine dye, has been used to achieve selective hyperthermic effects in target tissues via near-infrared irradiation. To implement IR783 as a photothermal agent, IR783 biodistribution must be calibrated to achieve a constant and uniform concentration in target cells.

Charge-spin interconversion in nitrogen sputtered Pt via extrinsic spin Hall effect.

We experimentally investigate the charge-spin interconversion by introducing a lighter impurity, namely nitrogen (N) into Pt by varying the nitrogen gas flow rate,from 0 to 20%, and studying the Onsager reciprocity of spin Hall effect (SHE) via complementary methods of spin-torque ferromagnetic resonance and spin-pumping inverse SHE measurements, respectively. We notice a reduction in the crystalline nature of Pt upon nitrogen incorporation. We observe the influence of extrinsic side-jump scattering induced SHE by measuring the spin Hall efficiency,θSHin a wide temperature range from 10 to 296 K.

RAFT Synthesis and Characterization of Poly(Butyl--2-(,-Dimethylamino)Ethyl Acrylates)--Poly(Polyethylene Glycol Monomethyl Ether Acrylate) as a Photosensitizer Carrier for Photodynamic Therapy.

Polymer micelles are promising drug delivery systems for highly hydrophobic photosensitizers in photodynamic therapy (PDT) applications. We previously developed pH-responsive polymer micelles consisting of poly(styrene--2-(,-dimethylamino)ethyl acrylate)--poly(polyethylene glycol monomethyl ether acrylate) (P(St--DMAEA)--PPEGA) for zinc phthalocyanine (ZnPc) delivery. In this study, poly(butyl--2-(,-dimethylamino)ethyl acrylates)--poly(polyethylene glycol monomethyl ether acrylate) (P(BA--DMAEA)--PPEGA) was synthesized via reversible addition and fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization to explore the role of neutral hydrophobic units in photosensitizer delivery.

Study on Reversible Solubilization by Adjusting Surfactant Properties.

Solubilization allows us to dissolve hydrophobic materials in water and to carry them to where they are needed. The purpose of this study is to control solubilization, especially the release of solubilized materials, via external stimulation. An amphoteric surfactant, dodecyldimethyl(3-sulfopropyl)ammonium hydroxide inner salt (SB-12), was employed, and a pH change was chosen as the external stimulus.

Effect of Equibiaxial Pre-Stress on Mechanical Properties Evaluated Using Depth-Sensing Indentation with a Point-Sharp Indenter.

This study examined the effect of an imposed equibiaxial pre-stress (EBPS) on the evaluation of mechanical properties, using the depth-sensing indentation method with a point-sharp indenter, through a numerical analysis of indentations simulated with the 3D finite element method. The predicted elastic modulus, E, and yield stress, Y, were used as elastic and plastic deformation resistances under the indentation, respectively. It was found that both increased nominally with the increase in compressive EBPS and decreased with the increase in tensile EBPS, even though the induced change in the piling-up or sinking-in around the indentations was not significant.

Production of Lacto--biose I Using Crude Extracts of Bifidobacterial Cells.

Lacto--biose I (LNB) is supposed to represent the bifidus factor in human milk oligosaccharides, and can be practically produced from sucrose and GlcNAc using four bifidobacterial enzymes, 1,3-β-galactosyl--acetylhexosamine phosphorylase, sucrose phosphorylase, UDP-glucose-hexose 1-phosphate uridylyltransferase, and UDP-glucose 4-epimerase, recombinantly produced by . Here the production of LNB by the same enzymatic method without using genetically modified enzymes to consider the use of LNB for a food ingredient was reported. All four enzymes were produced as the intracellular enzymes of strains.

Effect of tertiary amino groups in the hydrophobic segment of an amphiphilic block copolymer on zinc phthalocyanine encapsulation and photodynamic activity.

Polymer micelles are promising nanocarriers for hydrophobic photosensitizers of photodynamic therapy (PDT). Poly(styrene--(2-(,-dimethylamino)ethyl acrylate))--poly(polyethylene glycol monomethyl ether acrylate) (P(St--DMAEA)--PPEGA; 1) was prepared reversible addition and fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization as a carrier for a zinc phthalocyanine (ZnPc) photosensitizer to be used in PDT. The DMAEA-unit composition in the P(St--DMAEA) segment was adjusted to 0.

Image Correction Methods for Regions of Interest in Liver Cirrhosis Classification on CNNs.

The average error rate in liver cirrhosis classification on B-mode ultrasound images using the traditional pattern recognition approach is still too high. In order to improve the liver cirrhosis classification performance, image correction methods and a convolution neural network (CNN) approach are focused on. The impact of image correction methods on region of interest (ROI) images that are input into the CNN for the purpose of classifying liver cirrhosis based on data from B-mode ultrasound images is investigated.

Solid-State-Activated Sintering of ZnAlO Ceramics Containing CuNbO with Superior Dielectric and Thermal Properties.

Low-temperature co-fired ceramics (LTCCs) are dielectric materials that can be co-fired with Ag or Cu; however, conventional LTCC materials are mostly poorly thermally conductive, which is problematic and requires improvement. We focused on ZnAlO (gahnite) as a base material. With its high thermal conductivity (~59 W·m·K reported for 0.

Characteristics of organic removal for supermarket wastewater treatment with an anaerobic baffled reactor and efficacy evaluation of changing HRT.

An anaerobic baffled reactor (ABR) is one of the useful wastewater treatment technologies, but the knowledge about its treatment performance for actual wastewater with load fluctuation is limited. The organic removal performance of an ABR for treating supermarket wastewater was evaluated. The ABR, which consisted of eight columns, was examined under four hydraulic retention time (HRT) conditions of 19.

Reversible Oligomerization and Reverse Hydrophobic Effect Induced by Isoleucine Tags Attached at the C-Terminus of a Simplified BPTI Variant.

Protein amorphous aggregation has become the focus of great attention, as it can impair the ability of cells to function properly. Here, we evaluated the effects of three peptide tags, consisting of one, three, and five consecutive isoleucines attached at the C-terminus end of a simplified bovine pancreatic trypsin inhibitor (BPTI) variant, BPTI-19A, on the thermal stability and oligomerization by circular dichroism spectrometry and differential scanning calorimetry in detail. All of the BPTI-19A variants exhibited a reversible and apparently two-state thermal transition like BPTI-19A at pH 4.

Tree of motility - A proposed history of motility systems in the tree of life.

Motility often plays a decisive role in the survival of species. Five systems of motility have been studied in depth: those propelled by bacterial flagella, eukaryotic actin polymerization and the eukaryotic motor proteins myosin, kinesin and dynein. However, many organisms exhibit surprisingly diverse motilities, and advances in genomics, molecular biology and imaging have showed that those motilities have inherently independent mechanisms.

Effect of Hydrophobic Chains on Solubilization of Hydrocarbon and Fluorocarbon Surfactant Mixtures in Aqueous Solution.

We investigated the solubilization behavior of the hydrocarbon surfactant lithium dodecyl sulfate (LiDS) and the fluorocarbon surfactant lithium 1,1,2,2,3,3,4,4,5,5,6,6,7,7,8,8,8-heptadecafluoro-1-octanesulfonate (LiFOS) in an aqueous solution to determine the controlled release mechanism of solubilizate. The LiDS system solubilized Sudan III, a hydrocarbon compound, whereas the LiFOS system did not, because of the immiscibility of the hydrocarbon and fluorocarbon compounds. The solubilization ability of the LiDS and LiFOS mixtures gradually decreased with increasing LiFOS bulk composition because the micelles mainly composed of LiDS transformed into micelles mainly composed of LiFOS.

Protocols of IATC, DSC, and PPC: The Multistate Structural Transition of Cytochrome c.

The recent development of high-precision calorimeters allows us to monitor the structural transition of biomolecules by calorimetry and thereby characterize the thermodynamic property changes accompanying three-dimensional structure changes. We developed isothermal acid-titration calorimetry (IATC) to evaluate the pH dependence of protein enthalpy. Using the double deconvolution method with precise differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), we revealed that the MG state is an equilibrium intermediate state of the reversible thermal three-state transition of the protein, and we successfully determined its volumetric properties by pressure perturbation calorimetry (PPC).

Sensing of substratum rigidity and directional migration by fast-crawling cells.

Living cells sense the mechanical properties of their surrounding environment and respond accordingly. Crawling cells detect the rigidity of their substratum and migrate in certain directions. They can be classified into two categories: slow-moving and fast-moving cell types.

Photosensitized Protein-Damaging Activity, Cytotoxicity, and Antitumor Effects of P(V)porphyrins Using Long-Wavelength Visible Light through Electron Transfer.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a less-invasive treatment for cancer through the administration of less-toxic porphyrins and visible-light irradiation. Photosensitized damage of biomacromolecules through singlet oxygen (O) generation induces cancer cell death. However, a large quantity of porphyrin photosensitizer is required, and the treatment effect is restricted under a hypoxic cellular condition.

Defining microbial community composition and seasonal variation in a sewage treatment plant in India using a down-flow hanging sponge reactor.

The characteristics of the microbial community in a practical-scale down-flow hanging sponge (DHS) reactor, high in organic matter and sulfate ion concentration, and the seasonal variation of the microbial community composition were investigated. Microorganisms related to sulfur oxidation and reduction (2-27%), as well as Leucobacter (7.50%), were abundant in the reactor.

Synthesis, photophysical properties, and photodynamic activity of positional isomers of TFPP-glucose conjugates.

The synthesis and characterization of a 'complete set' of positional isomers of tetrakis(perfluorophenyl)porphyrins (TFPP)-glucose conjugates (1OH, 2OH, 3OH, 4OH, and 6OH) are reported herein. The cellular uptake and photocytotoxicity of these conjugates were examined in order to investigate the influence of location of the TFPP moiety on the d-glucose molecule on the biological activity of the conjugates. An In vitro biological evaluation revealed that the certain of these isomers have a greater effect on cellular uptake and cytotoxicity than others.

Demonstration of correlative atomic force and transmission electron microscopy using actin cytoskeleton.

In this study, we present a new technique called correlative atomic force and transmission electron microscopy (correlative AFM/TEM) in which a targeted region of a sample can be observed under AFM and TEM. The ultimate goal of developing this new technique is to provide a technical platform to expand the fields of AFM application to complex biological systems such as cell extracts. Recent advances in the time resolution of AFM have enabled detailed observation of the dynamic nature of biomolecules.

Identification of aqueous access residues of the sodium half channel in transmembrane helix 5 of the F- subunit of ATP synthase.

The F- subunit of the Na-transporting FF ATP synthase from plays a key role in Na transport. It forms half channels that allow Na to enter and leave the buried carboxyl group on F- subunits. The essential Arg residue R226, which faces the carboxyl group of F- subunits in the middle of transmembrane helix 5 of the F- subunit, separates the cytoplasmic side and periplasmic half-channels.

Development of 2-D horn-antenna millimeter-wave imaging device (HMID) for the plasma diagnostics.

The two-dimensional (2-D) Horn-antenna Millimeter-wave Imaging Device (HMID) has been developed for the O-mode Microwave Imaging Reflectometry (O-MIR) in the Large Helical Device (LHD). The detectable frequency range of the HMID is 23-33 GHz, which corresponds to the cutoff electron density of 0.8-1.

Thermodynamics of the Thermal Denaturation of Acid Molten Globule State of Cytochrome c Indicate a Reversible High-Temperature Oligomerization Process.

In this study, we performed differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and pressure perturbation calorimetry (PPC) analysis of the thermal transition of cytochrome c from an acidic molten globule (MG) state with the protein concentrations of 0.5-18.2 mg/mL.

A 60-GHz interferometer with a local oscillator integrated antenna array for divertor simulation experiments on GAMMA 10/PDX.

In conventional multichannel/imaging microwave diagnostics of interferometry, reflectometry, and electron cyclotron emission measurements, a local oscillator (LO) signal is commonly supplied to a receiver array via irradiation using LO optics. In this work, we present a 60-GHz interferometer with a new eight-channel receiver array, called a local oscillator integrated antenna array (LIA). An outstanding feature of LIA is that it incorporates a frequency quadrupler integrated circuit for LO supply to each channel.