Emerging applications of nanoparticles for lung cancer diagnosis and therapy

Lung cancer is by far the leading cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide, most of them being active tobacco smokers. Non small cell lung cancer accounts for around 85% to 90% of deaths, whereas the rest is contributed by small cell lung cancer. The extreme lethality of lung cancer arises due to lack of suitable diagnostic procedures for early detection of lung cancer and ineffective conventional therapeutic strategies. In course with desperate attempts to address these issues independently, a multifunctional nanotherapeutic or diagnostic system is being sought as a favorable solution. The manifestation of physiochemical properties of such nanoscale systems is tuned favorably to come up with a versatile cancer cell targeted diagnostic and therapeutic system. Apart from this, the aspect of being at nanoscale by itself confers the system with an advantage of passive accumulation at the site of tumor. This review provides a broad perspective of three major subclasses of such nanoscale therapeutic and diagnostic systems which include polymeric nanoparticles-based approaches, metal nanoparticles-based approaches, and bio-nanoparticles-based approaches. This review work also serves the purpose of gaining an insight into the pros and cons of each of these approaches with a prospective improvement in lung cancer therapeutics and diagnostics

Dynamic pressure as a measure of gas turbine engine (GTE) performance

Utilizing in situ dynamic pressure measurement is a promising novel approach with applications for both control and condition monitoring of gas turbine-based propulsion systems. The dynamic pressure created by rotating components within the engine presents a unique opportunity for controlling the operation of the engine and for evaluating the condition of a specific component through interpretation of the dynamic pressure signal. Preliminary bench-top experiments are conducted with dc axial fans for measuring fan RPM, blade condition, surge and dynamic temperature variation. Also, a method, based on standing wave physics, is presented for measuring the dynamic temperature simultaneously with the dynamic pressure. These tests are implemented in order to demonstrate the versatility of dynamic pressure-based diagnostics for monitoring several different parameters, and two physical quantities, dynamic pressure and dynamic temperature, with a single sensor. In this work, the development of a dynamic pressure sensor based on micro-electro-mechanical system technology for in situ gas turbine engine condition monitoring is presented. The dynamic pressure sensor performance is evaluated on two different gas turbine engines, one having a fan and the other without

Study of surface chemical changes and erosion rates for CV-1144-O silicone under electron cyclotron resonance oxygen plasma exposure

CV-1144-O silicone thin films were irradiated in an electron cyclotron resonance oxygen plasma, which is a simulation of the low earth orbital environment. A crude equivalence between this plasma system and the low earth orbital environment was determined by measuring Kapton weight loss in the plasma and comparing to Kapton weight loss in space experiments. Changes in optical properties and erosion rates under ultraviolet light and atomic oxygen radiation were studied using in situ spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE). The erosion rate at the beginning of the plasma exposure was significantly faster than that at later stages. Approximately one third of the total silicone thickness was etched away within 1 h, which according to the equivalence experiment, corresponds to about two months in low earth orbit. The refractive index of silicone in the visible range increased during the exposure, indicating that the film was being densified. Optical constants (both before and after plasma exposure) were determined by ex situ spectroscopic ellipsometry in the ultraviolet– visible–near-infrared (0.7–8.5 eV) and IR (200–7000 cm-1) ranges. Also, SE was used to map thickness and uniformity before and after radiation. Regression fits using Lorentzian and Gaussian oscillators as parametric models for the optical constants were excellent, and the major absorption peaks in the IR region were identified. The before- and after-radiation spectra showed significant decreases in CH3-associated peaks and increases in SiOx-associated peaks