Deconvoluting hepatic processing of carbon nanotubes

Single-wall carbon nanotubes present unique opportunities for drug delivery, but have not advanced into the clinic. Differential nanotube accretion and clearance from critical organs have been observed, but the mechanism not fully elucidated. The liver has a complex cellular composition that regulates a range of metabolic functions and coincidently accumulates most particulate drugs. Here we provide the unexpected details of hepatic processing of covalently functionalized nanotubes including receptor-mediated endocytosis, cellular trafficking and biliary elimination. Ammonium-functionalized fibrillar nanocarbon is found to preferentially localize in the fenestrated sinusoidal endothelium of the liver but not resident macrophages. Stabilin receptors mediate the endocytic clearance of nanotubes. Biocompatibility is evidenced by the absence of cell death and no immune cell infiltration. Towards clinical application of this platform, nanotubes were evaluated for the first time in non-human primates. The pharmacologic profile in cynomolgus monkeys is equivalent to what was reported in mice and suggests that nanotubes should behave similarly in humans

Drone classification using mmWave micro-Doppler radar measurements

As the number of drones, or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), rapidly rises, their detection becomes a very important task in outdoor surveillance, to prevent accidents or inappropriate use. With this goal it is also important to collect as much information as possible about the drone and this can be obtained with radar systems, exploiting the micro-Doppler signature of the drone: preliminary information can be obtained by using machine learning (ML) classification techniques but also by measuring the rotational speed of the propellers. The proposed approach described in this work can provide a better understanding of the detected UAVs which can be used to improve the safety of outdoor spaces

Interactions between lipoproteins and platelet membranes in obesity

The aim was to investigate low-density lipoprotein (LDL) composition and Na(+)/K(+) adenosine triphosphatase (ATPase) and Ca(2+) ATPase activities and membrane fluidity measured by 1-(4-trimethylaminophenyl)-6-phenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene (TMA-DPH) in platelets from obese patients and controls in order to identify, if any, platelet membrane's chemical-physical and/or functional modifications associated with compositional modification of circulating lipoproteins. Moreover, we studied the in vitro effect on both platelet transmembrane cationic transport and fluidity, by incubating LDL from 30 obese subjects with platelets from 30 control subjects. The analysis of the chemical composition of LDL from obese patients showed a significant increase in the percent content of total cholesterol (TC) and triglycerides (TGs) and in the mean levels of lipid hydroperoxides compared to controls' LDL. Platelet Na(+)/K(+) ATPase and Ca(2+) ATPase activities showed, respectively, a significant decrease and increase in patients compared to controls; minor significant, respectively, decreases and increases are shown also in control platelets incubated with LDL from obese patients. Anisotropy tested with TMA-DPH probe was significantly increased both in platelets from obese patients and in control platelets incubated with LDL from obese patients compared to control platelets. This study highlights that obesity induces remarkable modifications both in lipoproteins and platelets. Both platelet hyperfunction and quantitative/qualitative alterations in plasma lipoproteins, as well as an altered interaction between circulating lipoproteins and platelets, might play a relevant role in the increased prevalence of the early atherosclerotic lesions development in obese subjects. The present data point out that obesity might represent a major potentially modifiable risk factor for the onset of numerous complications, in particular cardiovascular ones