In vivo terahertz imaging to evaluate scar treatment strategies : silicone gel sheeting

Silicone gel sheeting (SGS) is widely used for scar treatment; however, studies showing its interaction with skin and efficacy of scar treatment are still lacking. THz light is non-ionizing and highly sensitive to changes in water content and thus skin hydration. In this work, we use in-vivo THz imaging to monitor how SGS affects the THz response of human skin during occlusion, and the associated THz reflectivity and refractive index changes are presented. We find that SGS effectively hydrates the skin beneath it, with minimal lateral effects beyond the sheeting. Our work demonstrates that THz imaging is able to detect the subtle hydration changes on the surface of human skin caused by SGS, and it has the potential to be used to evaluate different scar treatment strategies

THz in vivo measurements : the effects of pressure on skin reflectivity

Terahertz (THz) light is non-ionizing and highly sensitive to subtle changes in water concentration which can be indicative of disease. The short THz penetration depth in bio-samples restricts in vivo measurements to be in a reflection geometry and the sample is often placed onto an imaging window. Upon contacting the imaging window, occlusion and compression of the skin affect the THz response. If not appropriately controlled, this could cause misleading results. In this work, we investigate and quantify how the applied pressure affects the THz response of skin and employ a stratified model to help understand the mechanisms at play. This work will enable future THz studies to have a more rigorous experimental protocol, which in turn will facilitate research in various potential biomedical applications under investigation

Renal screening in children after exposure to low dose melamine in Hong Kong: cross sectional study

Objective To investigate the renal outcomes of children after exposure to low dose melamine in Hong Kong

DCE-MRI for pre-treatment prediction and post-treatment assessment of treatment response in sites of squamous cell carcinoma in the head and neck

Background and Purpose It is important to identify patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) who fail to respond to chemoradiotherapy so that they can undergo post-treatment salvage surgery while the disease is still operable. This study aimed to determine the diagnostic performance of dynamic contrast enhanced (DCE)-MRI using a pharmacokinetic model for pre-treatment predictive imaging, as well as post-treatment diagnosis, of residual SCC at primary and nodal sites in the head and neck. Material and Methods Forty-nine patients with 83 SCC sites (primary and/or nodal) underwent pre-treatment DCEMRI, and 43 patients underwent post-treatment DCE-MRI, of which 33 SCC sites had a residual mass amenable to analysis. Pre-treatment, post-treatment and %change in the mean Ktrans, kep, ve and AUGC were obtained from SCC sites. Logistic regression was used to correlate DCE parameters at each SCC site with treatment response at the same site, based on clinical outcome at that site at a minimum of two years. Results None of the pre-treatment DCE-MRI parameters showed significant correlations with SCC site failure (SF) (29/83 sites) or site control (SC) (54/83 sites). Post-treatment residual masses with SF (14/33) had significantly higher kep (p = 0.05), higher AUGC (p = 0.02), and lower % reduction in AUGC (p = 0.02), than residual masses with SC (19/33), with the% change in AUGC remaining significant on multivariate analysis. Conclusion Pre-treatment DCE-MRI did not predict which SCC sites would fail treatment, but post-treatment DCE-MRI showed potential for identifying residual masses that had failed treatment

DCE-MRI for pre-treatment prediction and post-treatment assessment of treatment response in sites of squamous cell carcinoma in the head and neck

Background and Purpose It is important to identify patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) who fail to respond to chemoradiotherapy so that they can undergo post-treatment salvage surgery while the disease is still operable. This study aimed to determine the diagnostic performance of dynamic contrast enhanced (DCE)-MRI using a pharmacokinetic model for pre-treatment predictive imaging, as well as post-treatment diagnosis, of residual SCC at primary and nodal sites in the head and neck. Material and Methods Forty-nine patients with 83 SCC sites (primary and/or nodal) underwent pre-treatment DCEMRI, and 43 patients underwent post-treatment DCE-MRI, of which 33 SCC sites had a residual mass amenable to analysis. Pre-treatment, post-treatment and %change in the mean Ktrans, kep, ve and AUGC were obtained from SCC sites. Logistic regression was used to correlate DCE parameters at each SCC site with treatment response at the same site, based on clinical outcome at that site at a minimum of two years. Results None of the pre-treatment DCE-MRI parameters showed significant correlations with SCC site failure (SF) (29/83 sites) or site control (SC) (54/83 sites). Post-treatment residual masses with SF (14/33) had significantly higher kep (p = 0.05), higher AUGC (p = 0.02), and lower % reduction in AUGC (p = 0.02), than residual masses with SC (19/33), with the% change in AUGC remaining significant on multivariate analysis. Conclusion Pre-treatment DCE-MRI did not predict which SCC sites would fail treatment, but post-treatment DCE-MRI showed potential for identifying residual masses that had failed treatment

Adoption of BIM by architectural firms in India: technology–organization–environment perspective

Building information modelling (BIM) is being heralded as a remarkable innovation in the built environment sector with expectations of lofty sector-wide improvements. Some countries have shown remarkable levels of uptake of BIM, along the way documenting some evidence of benefits stemming from BIM. However, countries such as India and China are late entrants in the BIM adoption journey and are seeing a slower adoption rate. This study develops a model using the technology–organization–environment framework to study the factors influencing BIM adoption by architectural firms in India and reasons for this slow adoption. The proposed model of BIM adoption is tested using the partial least square method against responses collected from 184 industry professionals based in India. Findings reveal that the adoption of BIM by Indian architectural firms is at the ‘experimentation’ stage with variables such as expertise, trialability, and management support exhibiting a strong positive influence on BIM adoption. The study also explains the status of BIM adoption in India with the help of a multi-level social construct, which places the level of BIM adoption in India between the micro- and meso-levels of organizational scales. Similarities and dissimilarities with previous findings are discussed in the paper to highlight the findings of this study. © 2016 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Grou

CD8+ DC, but Not CD8−DC, Isolated from BCG-Infected Mice Reduces Pathological Reactions Induced by Mycobacterial Challenge Infection

Tuberculosis is a mycobacterial infection causing worldwide public health problems but the available vaccine is far from ideal. Type-1 T cell immunity has been shown to be critical for host defence against tuberculosis infection, but the role of dendritic cell (DC) subsets in pathogenesis of mycobacterial infection remains unclear.We examined the effectiveness of dendritic cell (DC) subsets in BCG-infected mice in generating immune responses beneficial for pathogen clearance and reduction of pathological reactions in the tissues following challenge infection. Our data showed that only the adoptive transfer of the subset of CD8alpha+ DC isolated from infected mice (iCD8+ DC) generated significant protection, demonstrated by less mycobacterial growth and pathological changes in the lung and liver tissues in iCD8+ DC recipients than sham-treated control mice. The adoptive transfer of the CD8alpha(-)DC from the infected mice (iCD8(-) DC) not only failed to reduce bacterial growth, but enhanced inflammation characterized by diffuse heavy cellular infiltration. Notably, iCD8(-) DC produced significantly higher levels of IL-10 than iCD8+ DC and promoted more Th2 cytokine responses in in vitro DC-T cell co-culture and in vivo adoptive transfer experiments.The data indicate that in vivo BCG-primed CD8+ DC is the dominant DC subset in inducing protective immunity especially for reducing pathological reactions in infected tissues. The finding has implications for the rational improvement of the prophylactic and therapeutic approaches for controlling tuberculosis infection and related diseases