We propose a novel cancer treatment which involves blocking newborn blood vessels around the diseased part. This treatment has minimal side effects and is less invasive. In the therapy, ferromagnetic ...particles administered into the body are accumulated in the newborn blood vessels. Next, the particles are aggregated to block the blood vessels to prevent cancer growth and metastasis. In this study, we modified the surface of magnetite particles with biocompatible polyacrylic acid to design particles that form irreversible aggregation on the application of a magnetic field. We succeeded in blocking only the flow path under a uniform magnetic field using the prepared particles, as is verified by the results of a model experiment. We assume that the blockage occurred due to the formation of chain aggregation under the magnetic field and the increase in pressure loss.
A novel cancer treatment with low side effect and less invasiveness by blocking newborn blood vessels around the diseased part was proposed. Ferromagnetic particles administered into the body are ...accumulated in the newborn blood vessels using a rotating magnetic field (RMF), and then are aggregated to block the blood vessels. We proposed a system consisting of four superconducting magnets and a cylindrical magnetic shielding material with a slit to apply the RMF to the human body. The purpose of this study was to accumulate particles locally within a spherical range of 10 mm in diameter. The results of fundamental experiments with neodymium magnets and particle trajectory calculations showed that the range of particle accumulation could be controlled by adjusting the frequency of the RMF.
3D-printing or Additive Manufacturing (AM) has been growing as a rapid manufacturing process for many different applications, with Poly (Lactic Acid) as one of the most used materials for ...3D-printing. PLA shows great promise for many applications to achieve the goals of the SDGs due to its biodegradability and biocompatibility but lacks when it comes to mechanical strength and thermal resistance. In this study, microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) fibers were introduced as a reinforcement to PLA. The biocomposite filaments were irradiated in a vacuum to enhance the crosslinking. Gamma-ray irradiation in a vacuum has successfully shown signs of crosslinking by increasing the tensile strength and thermal stability of the biocomposite, indicating an enhancement for PLA/MCC for various applications. On the other hand, changes in thermal properties also indicated that irradiation may reduce the processability of the composite, so it is necessary to study the conditions under which the mechanical properties and processability are compatible.
•PLA pellets were mixed with MCC at 3 wt% and extruded as 3D-printing filaments.•The filaments were γ-ray irradiated up to 50 kGy in vacuum.•Mechanical testing showed increase in strength by irradiation.•DSC showed improvements in thermal stability by irradiation.•FT/IR spectra showed no obvious change in chemical structure by irradiation.
When aqueous solutions of five oligosaccharides and one polyol compound were applied to the skin, tactile intensity and temporal changes, as defined by five Japanese onomatopoeic words, were ...observed. Moreover, the relationships between the sensations and the physical and chemical properties were investigated. No difference in the tactile characteristics was observed among the samples during application; however, there was a difference in the characteristics among samples in the sensations of “beta-beta (sticky)”, “gishi-gishi (squeaky)”, and “sarasara (smooth)” after application. In terms of temporal changes, the sensations of oligosaccharides were first described as “nuru-nuru (slimy)”, which then changed to “gishi-gishi (squeaky)” and later to “beta-beta (sticky)”, “shittori (moist)”, and “sara-sara (smooth)”. Among the samples, a difference was observed in the timing of feeling “beta-beta (sticky)”, “shittori (moist)”, and “sara-sara (smooth)”. The correlation between the “beta-beta (sticky)” feeling, which is a contextually undesirable quality of oligosaccharides, and the physical and chemical properties was determined. A high correlation was observed among adhesiveness, integral value of the application force for the final 20 s of application, and solubility. It was considered that the sticky oligosaccharides have these physical properties that were highly correlated described above.
The articles for daily use such as textiles, cosmetics, and home appliances are required to have pleasant tactile sensations. Sensory evaluation is used to evaluate the tactile sensation, but have ...problems such as individual differences among evaluators and low reproducibility. The purpose of this study is to develop new evaluation method to discriminate the tactile sensation by measuring the interaction between the finger and the object material. As a fundamental study, we measured the interaction between the probe and the material when touching four kinds of fabrics using an acceleration sensor, and investigated the possibility to discriminate the materials. The results of the frequency analysis of the acceleration of the touching motion by mechanical probe showed that the machine could discriminate the materials in the frequency range of 10 to 30 Hz.
SUMMARY
A large amount of radionuclides were spread by the accident of Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in 2011. The situation of surrounding area of nuclear power plant is momentarily changing. ...In order to consider for decontamination or volume reduction of radioactive wastes, it is necessary taking into account not only the technical needs but also feelings of inhabitants, reduction of environmental load, reduction of the radiation exposure on workers, and efficiency and cost of decontamination work. In this paper, the application possibility of superconducting magnetic separation system for decontamination and volume reduction was discussed compared with other technologies from above multidirectional viewpoint.
Recently, exploitation of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) circulation has become increasingly recognized as a feasible strategy to solve the challenges involved in drug delivery for treating brain tumors. ...Boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) also faces challenges associated with the development of an efficient delivery system for boron, especially to brain tumors. Our laboratory has been developing a system for boron delivery to brain cells using CSF, which we call the "boron CSF administration method". In our previous study, we found that boron was efficiently delivered to the brain cells of normal rats in the form of small amounts of L-p-boronophenylalanine (BPA) using the CSF administration method. In the study described here, we carried out experiments with brain tumor model rats to demonstrate the usefulness of the CSF administration method for BNCT. We first investigated the boron concentration of the brain cells every 60 min after BPA administration into the lateral ventricle of normal rats. Second, we measured and compared the boron concentration in the melanoma model rats after administering boron via either the CSF administration method or the intravenous (IV) administration method, with estimation of the T/N ratio. Our results revealed that boron injected by the CSF administration method was excreted quickly from normal cells, resulting in a high T/N ratio compared to that of IV administration. In addition, the CSF administration method resulted in high boron accumulation in tumor cells. In conclusion, we found that using our developed CSF administration method results in more selective delivery of boron to the brain tumor compared with the IV administration method.
The blood–brain barrier (BBB) is likely to be intact during the early stages of brain metastatic melanoma development, and thereby inhibits sufficient drug delivery into the metastatic lesions. Our ...laboratory has been developing a system for boron drug delivery to brain cells via cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) as a viable pathway to circumvent the BBB in boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT). BNCT is a cell-selective cancer treatment based on the use of boron-containing drugs and neutron irradiation. Selective tumor targeting by boron with minimal normal tissue toxicity is required for effective BNCT. Boronophenylalanine (BPA) is widely used as a boron drug for BNCT. In our previous study, we demonstrated that application of the CSF administration method results in high BPA accumulation in the brain tumor even with a low dose of BPA. In this study, we evaluate BPA biodistribution in the brain following application of the CSF method in brain-tumor-model rats (melanoma) utilizing matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) mass spectrometry imaging (MSI). We observed increased BPA penetration to the tumor tissue, where the color contrast on mass images indicates the border of BPA accumulation between tumor and normal cells. Our approach could be useful as drug delivery to different types of brain tumor, including brain metastases of melanoma.
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