The study was aimed to evaluate the performance of a newly developed non-invasive and non-contact bilirubin measurement device (AJO-Neo) as an alternative to the conventional invasive biochemical ...method of total serum bilirubin (TSB) estimation in preterm and term neonates suffering from hyperbilirubinemia associated with risk factors, and/or undergoing phototherapy. The safety and efficacy of the device were assessed in 1968 neonates with gestational ages ranging from 28 to 41 weeks and suffering from incidences of hyperbilirubinemia. Linear regression analysis showed a good correlation between AJO-Neo and the conventional method of TSB (Pearson's coefficient, r = 0.79). The small bias (0.27 mg/dL) and limits of agreements (- 3.44 to 3.99 mg/dL) were within the range of clinical acceptance. The device was also precise in the measurement of bilirubin levels in all subgroups of the study. The receiver operator curve (ROC), that takes account of both sensitivity and specificity of a device showed high efficacy of the device (area under the curve, AUC = 0.83) in the detection of bilirubin. While monitoring the bilirubin level during phototherapy, the device indicated promising results showing good agreement with TSB. Specificities and sensitivities of the device indicated a much higher accuracy in neonates with associated risk factors for hyperbilirubinemia. Hence, the newly developed device (AJO-Neo) is reliable in measuring bilirubin level in preterm, and term neonates irrespective of gestational or postnatal age, sex, risk factors, feeding behavior or skin color.
ZnO nanorod-based UV photosensing devices are synthesized using one-pot synthesis method, and their sensing properties are studied with the variation of nanorod growth area. With the variation of ...electrode position for the maximum growth area, the UV photosensing properties are thoroughly examined. Structural, morphological and optical properties are studied using XRD, FEG-SEM, FEG-TEM and UV–VIS spectroscopy. AC electrical conductivity, dielectric measurements and modulus spectroscopy at room temperature in a frequency range from5 Hz to 5 MHz are performed. During the electrical conduction processes in the sample, the physical parameters of ZnO nanostructures such as dielectric constant, relaxation frequency and electrical conductivity are examined at dark and UV-illuminated condition. The dependence of conductivity, dielectric constants and modulus with frequency and UV on–off conditions are discussed. The correlation between response and recovery time with growth surface area of ZnO nanostructure is established with the help of complex impedance spectroscopy. The imaginary part of electrical modulus versus angular frequency is drawn, and the value of stretch exponent (
β
) is calculated for maximum and minimum surface area under dark and UV-illuminated condition from where the type of relaxation process is studied.
The epidemic of diabetes, obesity and unhealthy lifestyles have highly contributed to increasing number of patients with heart problems. Wearable fitness trackers are not accurate enough in heart ...problem detection and the current software-based algorithms, when implemented in devices like smartwatches are not efficient in terms of hardware resource utilization and computational speed. To address these limitations, this paper proposes an automated heartbeat classifying hardware chip-design which can be placed in any kind of wearable device for real-time cardiac monitoring that would help to ensure early diagnosis of any kind of cardiac abnormality. The algorithm burnt on the hardware is a modification of the Pan-Tompkins beat-detection algorithm to which a novel classifier algorithm is added. It exhibits high computational speed with an accuracy of 99.65% in extremely noisy situations, when applied on the MIT/BIH arrhythmia database. The hardware utilization on the SPARTAN-6 FPGA for the presented design is just 32% allowing space for much more multi-tasking and upgrading to be done when implemented on a wearable device as an ASIC.
The study was aimed to evaluate the performance of a newly developed spectroscopy-based non-invasive and noncontact device (SAMIRA) for the simultaneous measurement of hemoglobin, bilirubin and ...oxygen saturation as an alternative to the invasive biochemical method of blood sampling. The accuracy of the device was assessed in 4318 neonates having incidences of either anemia, jaundice, or hypoxia. Transcutaneous bilirubin, hemoglobin and blood saturation values were obtained by the newly developed instrument which was corroborated with the biochemical blood tests by expert clinicians. The instrument is trained using Artificial Neural Network Analysis to increase the acceptability of the data. The artificial intelligence incorporated within the instrument determines the disease condition of the neonate. The Pearson's correlation coefficient, r was found to be 0.987 for hemoglobin estimation and 0.988 for bilirubin and blood gas saturation respectively. The bias and the limits of agreement for the measurement of all the three parameters were within the clinically acceptance limit.
Copper, the essential element required for the human body is well-known for its profound antibacterial properties, yet salts and oxides of copper metals in the copper mine tailings are reported to be ...a big burden in the modern era. Among other copper oxides, CuO, in particular, is known to have beneficial effects on humans, while its slight nanoengineering viz., surface functionalization of the nanometer-sized oxide is shown to make some paradigm shift using its inherent redox property. Here, we have synthesized nanometer-sized CuO nanoparticles and functionalized it with a citrate ligand for an enhanced redox property and better solubility in water. For structural analysis of the nanohybrid, standard analytical tools, such as electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering, and X-ray diffraction studies were conducted. Moreover, FTIR and UV-VIS spectroscopy studies were performed to confirm its functionalization. The antibacterial study results, against a model bacteria (S. hominis), show that CuO nanohybrids provide favorable outcomes on antibiotic-resistant organisms. The suitability of the nanohybrid for use in photodynamic therapy was also confirmed, as under light its activity increased substantially. The use of CuO nanoparticles as antibiotics was further supported by the use of computational biology, which reconfirmed the outcome of our experimental studies. We have also extracted CuO nanogranules (top-down technique) from copper mine tailings of two places, each with different geographical locations, and functionalized them with citrate ligands in order to characterize similar structural and functional properties obtained from synthesized CuO nanoparticles, using the bottom-up technique. We have observed that the extracted functionalized CuO from copper tailings offers similar properties compared to those of the synthesized CuO, which provides an avenue for the circular economy for the utilization of copper waste into nanomedicine, which is known to be best for mankind.
Targeting reactive oxygen species (ROS) while maintaining cellular redox signaling is crucial in the development of redox medicine as the origin of several prevailing diseases including chronic ...kidney disease (CKD) is linked to ROS imbalance and associated mitochondrial dysfunction. Here, we have shown that a potential nanomedicine comprising of Mn
O
nanoparticles duly functionalized with biocompatible ligand citrate (C-Mn
O
NPs) can maintain cellular redox balance in an animal model of oxidative injury. We developed a cisplatin-induced CKD model in C57BL/6j mice with severe mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative distress leading to the pathogenesis. Four weeks of treatment with C-Mn
O
NPs restored renal function, preserved normal kidney architecture, ameliorated overexpression of pro-inflammatory cytokines, and arrested glomerulosclerosis and interstitial fibrosis. A detailed study involving human embryonic kidney (HEK 293) cells and isolated mitochondria from experimental animals revealed that the molecular mechanism behind the pharmacological action of the nanomedicine involves protection of structural and functional integrity of mitochondria from oxidative damage, subsequent reduction in intracellular ROS, and maintenance of cellular redox homeostasis. To the best of our knowledge, such studies that efficiently treated a multifaceted disease like CKD using a biocompatible redox nanomedicine are sparse in the literature. Successful clinical translation of this nanomedicine may open a new avenue in redox-mediated therapeutics of several other diseases (e.g., diabetic nephropathy, neurodegeneration, and cardiovascular disease) where oxidative distress plays a central role in pathogenesis.
Anti-microbial resistant infection is predicted to be alarming in upcoming years. In the present study, we proposed co-localization of two model drugs viz., rifampicin and benzothiazole used in ...anti-tuberculosis and anti-fungal agents respectively in a nanoscopic cationic micelle (cetyl triethyl ammonium bromide) with hydrodynamic diameter of 2.69 nm. Sterilization effect of the co-localized micellar formulation against a model multi-drug resistant bacterial strain viz., Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus was also investigated. 99.88% decrease of bacterial growth in terms of colony forming unit was observed using the developed formulation. While Dynamic Light Scattering and Forsters Resonance Energy Transfer between benzothiazole and rifampicin show co-localization of the drugs in the nanoscopic micellar environment, analysis of time-resolved fluorescence decays by Infelta-Tachiya model and the probability distribution of the donor-acceptor distance fluctuations for 5 μM,10 μM and 15 μM acceptor concentrations confirm efficacy of the co-localization. Energy transfer efficiency and the donor acceptor distance are found to be 46% and 20.9 Å respectively. We have also used a detailed computational biology framework to rationalize the sterilization effect of our indigenous formulation. It has to be noted that the drugs used in our studies are not being used for their conventional indication. Rather the co-localization of the drugs in the micellar environment shows a completely different indication of their use in the remediation of multi-drug resistant bacteria revealing the re-purposing of the drugs for potential use in hospital-born multi-drug resistant bacterial infection.
Abstract
The recent prediction of diabetes to be a global pandemic invites a detection strategy preferably non-invasive, and bloodless to manage the disease and the associated complications. Here, we ...have synthesized chitosan polymer functionalized, organic–inorganic bio-compatible nano-hybrids of Mn
3
O
4
nanoparticles, and characterized it by utilizing several optical methodologies for the structural characterization which shows the Michaelis Menten (MM) kinetics for glucose and alpha-amylase protein (well-known diabetes biomarkers). We have also studied the potentiality for the detection of alpha-amylase in human salivary secretion which is reported to be strongly correlated with uncontrolled hyperglycemia. Finally, we have developed a prototype for the measurement of glucose (LOD of 0.38 mg/dL, LOQ of 1.15 mg/dL) and HbA1c (LOD of 0.15% and LOQ of 0.45%) utilizing the basic knowledge in the study for the detection of uncontrolled hyperglycemia at the point-of-care. With the limited number of clinical trials, we have explored the potential of our work in combating the diabetic pandemic across the globe in near future.
This paper represents the synthesis, characterization and validation of a cobalt chloride functionalised nano-porous cellulose membrane, a unique sensor for non-contact measurement of water potential ...in various biomedical and environmentally important matrices. The developed nano sensor, along with associated electronic components, is assembled as a prototype device called "MEGH" (Measuring Essential Good Hydration) to measure essential hydration of matrices of both environmental and biomedical importance, including soil and human skin. The relative humidity above the soil surface in equilibrium with the soil moisture has been studied for both hydrophobic and hydrophilic soil types. Our studies confirm that the percentage of water available to plants is greater in hydrophobic soil rather than in hydrophilic soil, which has also been corroborated using simulation studies. Furthermore, the requirement of hydration in human skin has also been evaluated by measuring the water potential of both dry and moist skin.
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