An automated vision system that inspects brake shoes for rolling stock is proposed. The system consists of two modules, namely, one for image acquisition and another for image analysis. The first ...module is placed under the railway tracks and automatically captures the images of brake shoes using digital cameras as trains pass the module. The captured images and train information are then transferred into a database. Three specifications, namely, the thickness, any unbalanced wear on the brake shoes, and the distances between the brake shoes and the wheels are measured by the second image analysis module. Shadow regions between the brake shoes and the wheels are defined for detecting brake shoes and wheels. They are also utilized to model both the boundaries of brake shoes and wheels as part of a constrained curve-fitting problem. The measurements were made in terms of the distance between the fitted curves rather than the number of pixels in the image. Experimental results show that our system can measure all specifications of the brake shoes with high accuracy values.
In vitro assays have generally been carried out for cytological diagnosis and for evaluation of the cytotoxic effect of chemotherapeutic agents as an alternative to animal experiments. In this study, ...a method for fabrication and application of a gold nanoflower array on an ITO substrate for evaluation of the effect of chemotherapeutic agents on cancer cell behavior by the surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) analysis, as well as the electrochemical detection was described. Due to the increased sensitivity provided by gold nanoflower substrates, the effect of chemotherapeutic agents at low concentration level was successfully detected based on SERS technique. This substrate was found to give enhanced Raman spectra with high surface plasmon field in the near infrared (NIR) spectral range, which minimize fluorescence interference and photo-toxicity. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) was further performed for confirmation of results obtained by SERS assay and showed increased intensity of current peaks for various concentrations at low levels. The developed Au nanoflowers modified ITO substrates developed in this study could be used as a simultaneous SERS and CV substrate to determine the effects of chemotherapeutic agents on cancer cells.
The dense extracellular matrix (ECM) in heterogeneous tumor tissues can prevent the deep tumor penetration of drug-loaded nanoparticles, resulting in a limited therapeutic efficacy in cancer ...treatment. Herein, we suggest that the deep tumor penetration of doxorubicin (DOX)-loaded glycol chitosan nanoparticles (CNPs) can be improved using high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) technology. Firstly, we prepared amphiphilic glycol chitosan-5β-cholanic acid conjugates that can self-assemble to form stable nanoparticles with an average of 283.7 ± 5.3 nm. Next, the anticancer drug DOX was simply loaded into the CNPs via a dialysis method. DOX-loaded CNPs (DOX-CNPs) had stable nanoparticle structures with an average size of 265.9 ± 35.5 nm in aqueous condition. In cultured cells, HIFU-treated DOX-CNPs showed rapid drug release and enhanced cellular uptake in A549 cells, resulting in increased cytotoxicity, compared to untreated DOX-CNPs. In ECM-rich A549 tumor-bearing mice, the tumor-targeting efficacy of intravenously injected DOX-CNPs with HIFU treatment was 1.84 times higher than that of untreated DOX-CNPs. Furthermore, the deep tumor penetration of HIFU-treated DOX-CNPs was clearly observed at targeted tumor tissues, due to the destruction of the ECM structure via HIFU treatment. Finally, HIFU-treated DOX-CNPs greatly increased the therapeutic efficacy at ECM-rich A549 tumor-bearing mice, compared to free DOX and untreated DOX-CNPs. This deep penetration of drug-loaded nanoparticles via HIFU treatment is a promising strategy to treat heterogeneous tumors with dense ECM structures.
Abstract
A clothing-type wearable display can be utilized in fashion, bio-healthcare, and safety industries as well as smart textiles for the internet of things (IoTs) and wearable devices. In ...response to this trend, we demonstrate a textile display that can endure the active movements of a human body. It can be applied to any kind of textile, and is durable against conditions such as rain, sweat, and washing. As a key technology for realizing the multi-directional wrinkle-able textile display, we fabricated a stress-lowering textile platform with an ultrathin planarization layer replicated from the flat surface of glass. An elastomeric strain buffer for reducing mechanical stress is also inserted into the textile platform. Here, organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) with red, green and blue color, thin film transistors (TFTs) fabricated at a low temperature below 150 °C, and a washable encapsulation layer blocking both gas and liquid were demonstrated on the textile platform.
In this study, Retina-RPE-Choroid-Sclera (RCS) and RPE-Choroid-Sclera (CS) were prepared by scraping them off neural retina, and using the Ussing chamber we measured the average time–concentration ...values in the acceptor chamber across five isolated rabbit tissues for each drug molecule. We determined the outward direction permeability of the RCS and CS and calculated the neural retina permeability. The permeability coefficients of RCS and CS were as follows: ganciclovir, 13.78 ± 5.82 and 23.22 ± 9.74; brimonidine, 15.34 ± 7.64 and 31.56 ± 12.46; bevacizumab, 0.0136 ± 0.0059 and 0.0612 ± 0.0264 (×10−6 cm/s). The calculated permeability coefficients of the neural retina were as follows: ganciclovir, 33.89 ± 12.64; brimonidine, 29.83 ± 11.58; bevacizumab, 0.0205 ± 0.0074 (×10−6 cm/s). Between brimonidine and ganciclovir, lipophilic brimonidine presented better RCS and CS permeability, whereas ganciclovir showed better calculated neural retinal permeability. The large molecular weight drug bevacizumab demonstrated a much lower permeability than brimonidine and ganciclovir. In conclusion, the ophthalmic drug permeability of RCS and CS is affected by the molecular weight and lipophilicity, and influences the intravitreal half-life.
Nanosized drug delivery systems typically enter the cell via endocytosis. However, a significant amount of the endocytosed cargo cannot effectively escape from the endosome, resulting in drug ...degradation. Therefore, there are several ongoing efforts to develop transmembrane delivery systems that could circumvent endocytosis. In this study, phospholipid nanotube nanodrills (LDs) were formed onto the surface of a human serum albumin nanoparticle via self-assembling phospholipids. The nanodrill technology enhanced the intracellular uptake efficiency of nanoparticles via energy-independent direct cell membrane permeation. The length of the nanodrills according to the DSPE-PEG to DSPC ratio was investigated both experimentally and theoretically. Our findings demonstrated that longer nanodrills were formed on the surface of the nanoparticles as the ratio of DSPC (i.e., a strongly hydrophobic lipid) in the two phospholipids increases. Moreover, the intracellular uptake efficiency increased as the length of phospholipid nanodrills increased. In addition to enhancing intracellular delivery, the phospholipid nanodrills could penetrate the extracellular matrix and enable the introduction of nanoparticles, thus highlighting the promising tissue penetration capacity of phospholipid nanodrill technology. The improved cell permeability of LD technology was demonstrated by effectively inhibiting specific genes via siRNA-based therapeutic delivery. Moreover, this approach enhanced the efficacy of chemotherapeutics against chemo-resistant cancer cells. Therefore, LD technology could be used to deliver genetic materials and chemical-based therapeutics both in vitro and in vivo.
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•LD-NPs were developed via self-assembly to penetrate the cell membrane directly and enhance intracellular uptake efficiency.•The length of the LD can be controlled by the ratio of two phospholipids, with longer LDs resulting in better permeability.•The fabricated LD-NPs exhibited superior tissue permeability and intracellular nanoparticle delivery efficiency.
Lipid-coated microbubbles are widely used as an ultrasound contrast agent, as well as drug delivery carriers. However, the two main limitations in ultrasound diagnosis and drug delivery using ...microbubbles are the short half-life in the blood system, and the difficulty of surface modification of microbubbles for active targeting. The exosome, a type of extracellular vesicle, has a preferentially targeting ability for its original cell. In this study, exosome-fused microbubbles (Exo-MBs) were developed by embedding the exosome membrane proteins into microbubbles. As a result, the stability of Exo-MBs is improved over the conventional microbubbles. On the same principle that under the exposure of ultrasound, microbubbles are cavitated and self-assembled into nano-sized particles, and Exo-MBs are self-assembled into exosome membrane proteins-embedded nanoparticles (Exo-NPs). The Exo-NPs showed favorable targeting properties to their original cells. A photosensitizer, chlorin e6, was loaded into Exo-MBs to evaluate therapeutic efficacy as a drug carrier. Much higher therapeutic efficacy of photodynamic therapy was confirmed, followed by cancer immunotherapy from immunogenic cell death. We have therefore developed a novel ultrasound image-guided drug delivery platform that overcomes the shortcomings of the conventional ultrasound contrast agent and is capable of simultaneous photodynamic therapy and cancer immunotherapy.
Large areas must be rapidly screened to monitor radiation in marine environments. For this purpose, this study developed a mobile real-time gamma-ray measurement system for shipboard use and ...evaluated its performance. The system was developed to measure engine or generator cooling water by installing a canister inside the ship. The minimum detectable activity of the system is about 0.8 Bq/L for a 60 s measurement period, and real-time data transmission and remote control are possible. The system was tested in the field and is currently being installed and operated on ships in service. Such a ship-based real-time gamma-radiation measurement system is suitable for a wide range of marine radiation surveillance applications and is expected to be rapidly deployed.
Continuous monitoring of radioactive substances over a prolonged duration can yield crucial insights into the levels of radiation exposure through inhalation, both in the vicinity of nuclear ...facilities and/or general environments. In this study, we evaluated long-term measurements (2012–2022) of gross alpha-beta activities in the air in the vicinity of nuclear facilities and reference site, distribution characteristics of temporal trends and spatial fluctuations, and factors affecting radioactivity levels. The average airborne gross-α (in mBq m−3) for on-site and off-site were 0.124 and 0.117, respectively, and the average airborne gross-β (in mBq m−3) measurements were 1.10 and 1.04, respectively. The activity ratio (AR) of gross-α and gross-β were calculated as a ratio of 0.12. The distribution characteristics of gross-α and gross-β activities in this study area are likely influenced by the meteorological factors and variations in airborne PM concentrations rather than the operation of the nuclear facility.
To compare the pharmacokinetics (PKs) of intravitreally injected bevacizumab in vitrectomized versus nonvitrectomized control rabbit eyes.
Twenty-five-gauge pars plana vitrectomy without lensectomy ...was performed in 17 right rabbit eyes (V) and 18 nonvitrectomized right rabbit eyes served as controls (C). After 1.25 mg/0.05 mL intravitreal bevacizumab (IVB) injections, eyes were enucleated at 1 h, 1, 2, 5, 14, and 30 days after the injection and immediately frozen at -80°C. Bevacizumab concentrations were determined after separation of frozen vitreous and aqueous humor (AH) compartments using indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Bevacizumab concentration-time data were analyzed to obtain PK data.
Vitreous clearance of IVB consisted of 2 phases, the first fast distribution and second slow elimination phase. Clearance of IVB was accelerated in V eyes only during the first phase and not in the second phase. The vitreous concentration percent ratios between V and C eyes were 94.7% (1 h), 70.5% (1 day), 89.2% (2 days), 94.2% (5 days), 99.2% (14 days), and 79.1% (30 days). Overall vitreous half-lives were 6.99 and 7.06 days for V and C eyes, respectively (1.6-h difference).
Overall IVB PKs in rabbit eyes after vitrectomy without lensectomy are not substantially different from nonvitrectomized control eyes.
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