Acoustically Driven Microbubbles Enable Targeted Delivery of microRNA‐Loaded Nanoparticles to Spontaneous Hepatocellular Neoplasia in Canines

Spatially localized microbubble cavitation by ultrasound offers an effective means of altering permeability of natural barriers (i.e. blood vessel and cell membrane) in favor of nanomaterials accumulation in the target site. In this study, a clinically relevant, minimally invasive ultrasound guided therapeutic approach is investigated for targeted delivery of anticancer microRNA loaded PLGA-b-PEG nanoparticles to spontaneous hepatocellular neoplasia in a canine model. Quantitative assessment of the delivered microRNAs revealed prominent and consistent increase in miRNAs levels (1.5-to 2.3-fold increase (p<0.001)) in ultrasound treated tumor regions compared to untreated control regions. Immunohistology of ultrasound treated tumor tissue presented a clear evidence for higher amount of nanoparticles extravasation from the blood vessels. A distinct pattern of cytokine expression supporting CD8+ T cells mediated "cold-to-hot" tumor transition was evident in all patients. On the outset, proposed platform can enhance delivery of miRNA-loaded nanoparticles to deep seated tumors in large animals to enhance chemotherapy

Communications Protocol Design for 5G Vehicular Networks

The automotive industry is a challenging domain for the integration and evolution of heterogeneous Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). Indeed, in order to provide drivers with a more pleasant and safer driving experience, vehicles are gradually endowed with sensing, actuation, computing, user-interaction and communications capabilities. Boosted by marketing and commercial competition, vehicles are thus becoming intelligent nodes capable of interconnecting, cooperating and even autonomously adapting to the surrounding environment. Since drivers usually spend a non-negligible fraction of time in vehicles and their behaviour may have a strong impact at a collective scale (e.g. pollution and noise in a city), the adoption of advanced ICT approaches for achieving a more safe, green and effective mobility management is still an open research issue. Moreover, the familiarity with the social networking paradigm makes people used to share information on-line with (in)direct contacts and use it in their everyday life depending on the degree of trust. It is worth noticing that this vision inherently deals with multimedia information, as it aggregates, process and disseminates sensed data (originating both on board and on the road side) integrated with warning/alarms, navigation suggestions, and context details that come from a specific area or even the Internet