This paper was on the determination of cadmium in water using co-precipitation and neutron activation analysis whilst

Background and Objective: Diabetic problems are more common in the lower extremity and linked with high mortality rate which affects public health system. The present study focused on monitoring the changes in tissue oxygenation concentrations using Near infrared spectroscopy system along with temperature and hardness of the foot tissues. Methods: Control subjects (without diabetes) and diabetic patients without neuropathy were selected for this study and three standard foot risk areas were considered. Standard induced ischemic stimulus was given to assess the response of the designed system and to analyze the changes in oxyhemoglobin and deoxyhemoglobin levels during venous occlusion. Results: Results showed significant differences in the tissue oxygenation index value in all three standard areas where oxygenation value at the foot areas were significantly low ( p < 0.05) in diabetic group as compared to control group. Also, significant difference were found in tissue hardness value when comparing between groups, where the diabetic group had significantly high ( p < 0.05) tissue hardness at area 5 and area 8 as compared to control groups. Conclusion: Therefore, the present study concludes that high tissue hardness had significant effect on tissue oxygenation index that affects vascular circulation and this condition could be assessable using NIRS technique in order to find risky areas at the foot sole.

In many scientific fields there is a high interest to study molecular adsorption processes on surfaces. The adsorbed molecule can have significant impact on the properties of the material under study, for example protein adsorption to inorganic material can enhance its biocompatibility. Attenuated total reflection Fourier-transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy is a suitable method to monitor such adsorption processes close to a surface. In this study, ZnO films were synthesized on silicon ATR substrates via a mild hydrothermal reaction. The films were then characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and FTIR microscopy. Chemical imaging with FTIR microscopy allowed to analyze the composition of the heterogeneous film samples. ATR-FTIR spectroscopy was then applied to investigate the adsorption properties of the ZnO films. Protein solutions of bovine serum albumine (BSA) were circulated in a closed cycle over the ZnO film and IR spectra were recorded during the adsorption process. A stronger protein adsorption was observed for silicon substrates coated with ZnO than for plain silicon. Furthermore, subsequent flushing with pure water and desorption measurements indicated a stronger protein binding to ZnO than to plain silicon.

The use of steady state thermal patterns in breast cancer screening have shown low specificities, it is believed that by thermally exciting the body with a cold stimulus the temperature contrast will increase as well as the specificity of the technique. In this work computer thermal simulations of breasts subjected to a cold stress and at steady state were performed on a real scanned human female model in order to evaluate the advantages of using active dynamic thermography over steady state thermography. Results show that there is an increase in contrast when performing active dynamic thermography compared to steady state thermography but only in the case of tumors that are close to the surface of the skin. It was also found that the morphology of the torso and breasts appears to play a role in the sensitivity of thermal measurements needed for tumor detection.

In hyperacute ischaemic stroke, T2 of cerebral water increases with time. Quantifying this change may be informative of the extent of tissue damage and onset time. Our objective was to develop a user-unbiased method to measure the effect of cerebral ischaemia on T2 to study stroke onset time-dependency in human acute stroke lesions. Six rats were subjected to permanent middle cerebral occlusion to induce focal ischaemia, and a consecutive cohort of acute stroke patients (n = 38) were recruited within 9 hours from symptom onset. T1-weighted structural, T2 relaxometry, and diffusion MRI for apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) were acquired. Ischaemic lesions were defined as regions of lowered ADC. The median T2 difference (ΔT2) between lesion and contralateral non-ischaemic control region was determined by the newly-developed spherical reference method, and data compared to that obtained by the mirror reference method. Linear regressions and receiver operating characteristics (ROC) were compared between the two methods. ΔT2 increases linearly in rat brain ischaemia by 1.9 ± 0.8 ms/h during the first 6 hours, as determined by the spherical reference method. In patients, ΔT2 linearly increases by 1.6 ± 1.4 and 1.9 ± 0.9 ms/h in the lesion, as determined by the mirror reference and spherical reference method, respectively. ROC analyses produced areas under the curve of 0.83 and 0.71 for the spherical and mirror reference methods, respectively. Data from the spherical reference method showed that the median T2 increase in the ischaemic lesion is correlated with stroke onset time in a rat as well as in a human patient cohort, opening the possibility of using the approach as a timing tool in clinics.

Attenuated total reflection Fourier-transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy is a surface-sensitive and label-free technique, which is applied to obtain dynamic structural information of biomolecules. The study of proteins by ATR-FTIR spectroscopy can be impeded by their tendency to adsorb to solid surfaces. Furthermore, the adsorption process of proteins is often accompanied with conformational changes, which can interfere with the intended structural analysis. We efficiently modified a silicon ATR crystal surface with polyethylene glycol and thereby create a protein-repellent surface. To achieve a high sensitivity, which enables the study of small conformational changes of biomolecules, we combine surface passivation with specific immobilization. This is accomplished via the biotin-streptavidin interaction, which is one of the strongest known non-covalent protein-ligand interactions. As a proof of concept we present the specific immobilization of DNA. The modified surface is stable against elevated temperatures and 8 M urea and can therefore be used to study a wide range of biochemical systems and reactions. The surface chemistry is simple and performed under mild conditions, which leads to a high applicability of the presented approach.

Background:Hydrogel-based cell cultures are excellent tools for studying physiological events occurring in the growth and proliferation of cells, including cancer cells. Diffusion magnetic resonance is a physical technique that has been widely used for the characterisation of biological systems as well as hydrogels. In this work, we applied diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to hydrogel-based cultures of human ovarian cancer cells. Methods:Diffusion-weighted spin-echo MRI measurements were used to obtain spatially-resolved maps of apparent diffusivities for hydrogel samples with different compositions, cell loads and drug (Taxol) treatment regimes. The samples were then characterised using their diffusivity histograms, mean diffusivities and the respective standard deviations, and pairwise Mann–Whitney tests. The elastic moduli of the samples were determined using mechanical compression testing. Results:The mean apparent diffusivity of the hydrogels was sensitive to the polymer content, cell load and Taxol treatment. For a given sample composition, the mean apparent diffusivity and the elastic modulus of the hydrogels exhibited a negative correlation. Conclusions:Diffusivity of hydrogel-based cancer cell culture constructs is sensitive to both cell proliferation and Taxol treatment. This suggests that diffusion-weighted imaging is a promising technique for non-invasive monitoring of cancer cell growth in hydrogel-based, cellularly-sparse 3D cell cultures. The negative correlation between mean apparent diffusivity and elastic modulus suggests that the diffusion coefficient is indicative of the average density of the physical microenvironment within the hydrogel construct.

The nicotinic acid derivatives such as nicotinamide in cosmetic and pharmaceutical products were screened by fast and nondestructively method, attenuated total reflectance-infrared (ATR-IR) spectroscopy. The effects of sixteen essential oils creams (clove, cassia bark, geraniom, eucalyptus, thyme, nutmeg, coriander seed, damask, petitgrain, melissa, melaleuca alternifolia (tea tree), grape fruit, verbena wild, cinnamon, sandal wood, ginger) on the skin permeation of nicotinic acid were studied using human skin by ATR-IR infrared spectroscopy. We selected essential oils creams based on the characteristic region (1493, 1260, 1050 and 824 cm−1) for nicotinic acid which were not interfered by essential oils. Although all essential oils creams enhanced the permeation of nicotinic acid, their effects were less than that of ethanol. Eucalyptus was found to be the most active, causing peak area decrease of C–H absorbances higher than the others. The effect of eucalyptus essential oil carriers on the release and percutaneous absorption of the nicotinic acid was studied in vitro using a permeation membrane model.

Structural properties of paeonol-encapsulated liposomes containing cholesterol or stigmasterol at 37C have been investigated by synchrotron small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and wide-angle X-ray scattering (WAXS) techniques. We compared the structural properties of pure dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC) liposomes, sterol-DPPC liposomes, and those of paeonol-sterol-DPPC liposomes at different molar ratios. Three conclusions can be drawn: First, phase separation occurs in both sterol-DPPC and paeonol-sterol-DPPC liposomes. Second, the incorporation of paeonol molecules into sterol-DPPC liposomes weakens the membrane order. Third, cholesterol has a stronger tendency to interact with DPPC as compared to its counterpart in plant, stigmasterol.

Voiding dysfunction occurs due to the interplay of anatomic, physiologic and functional elements. Hence, integration of new imaging and spectroscopy modalities offers the potential for improving patient assessment by enabling the causal structural defects, formal staging of pelvic floor dysfunction and underlying physiologic mechanisms to be better defined. The purpose of this review is to outline the limitations of current imaging, and highlight the advantages of newer technologies in the evaluation of patients with voiding dysfunction due to loss of structural integrity of the pelvic floor.