Nanotechnology advances towards development of targeted-treatment for obesity

Obesity through its association with type 2 diabetes (T2D), cancer and cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), poses a serious health threat, as these diseases contribute to high mortality rates. Pharmacotherapy alone or in combination with either lifestyle modifcation or surgery, is reliable in maintaining a healthy body weight, and preventing progression to obesity-induced diseases. However, the anti-obesity drugs are limited by non-specifcity and unsustainable weight loss efects. As such, novel and improved approaches for treatment of obesity are urgently needed. Nanotechnology-based therapies are investigated as an alternative strategy that can treat obesity and be able to overcome the drawbacks associated with conventional therapies. The review presents three nanotechnology-based anti-obesity strategies that target the white adipose tissues (WATs) and its vasculature for the reversal of obesity. These include inhibition of angiogenesis in the WATs, transformation of WATs to brown adipose tissues (BATs), and photothermal lipolysis of WATs. Compared to conventional therapy, the targeted-nanosystems have high tolerability, reduced side efects, and enhanced efcacy. These efects are reproducible using various nanocarriers (liposomes, polymeric and gold nanoparticles), thus providing a proof of concept that targeted nanotherapy can be a feasible strategy that can combat obesity and prevent its comorbiditie

Investigations Of Intrinsic Strain And Structural Ordering In A-si:h Using Synchrotron Radiation Diffraction

The residual strain in a-Si:H layers has been determined directly using synchrotron radiation diffraction, at LNLS in Brazil, by two different methodologies. Using a method previously presented using laboratory X-ray sources, the height and length of side of the Si-Si4 tetrahedron are determined from variations in the diffraction angle of the first two amorphous peaks. In a more extensive calculation, the spatially dependent pair correlation function is calculated, allowing the separation of strain resulting from changes in the bond length and the bond angle. Two different layers, deposited by HW-CVD on glass substrates at growth temperatures of 300 and 500 °C, have been studied to investigate the effect of growth temperature on residual stress. © 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.50101/02/157578Noyan, I.C., Cohen, J.B., (1987) Residual Stress Measurements by Diffraction and Interpretation, , Springer New YorkTsui, Y.C., Clyne, T.W., (1997) Thin Solid Films, 306, p. 23Peng, X.L., Tsui, Y.C., Clyne, T.W., (1997) Diamond Relat. Mater., 6, p. 1612Stannowski, B., Schropp, R.E.I., Wehrspohn, R.B., Powell, M.J., (2002) J. Non-Cryst. Solids, 299-302, p. 1340Stevens, K.S., Johnson, N.M., (1992) J. Appl. Phys., 71, p. 2628De Lima Jr., M.M., Lacerda, R.G., Vilcarromero, J., Marques, F.C., (1999) J. Appl. Phys., 86, p. 4936Spanakis, E., Stratakis, E., Tzanetakis, P., Fritsche, H., Guha, S., Yang, J., (2002) J. Non-Cryst. Solids, 299-302, p. 512Härting, M., Britton, D.T., Bucher, R., Minani, E., Hempel, A., Hempel, M., Ntsoane, T.P., Knoesen, D., (2002) J. Non-Cryst. Solids, 299-302, p. 103Mahan, A.H., Yang, J., Guha, S., Williamson, D.L., (2000) Phys. Rev., B, 61, p. 1677Mahan, A.H., Williamson, D.L., Furtak, T.E., (1997) MRS Symp. Proc., 467, p. 657Britton, D.T., Hempel, A., Härting, M., Kögel, G., Sperr, P., Triftshäuser, W., Arendse, C., Knoesen, D., (2001) Phys. Rev., B, 64, p. 075403Madan, A., Shaw, M.P., (1988) The Physics and Application of Amorphous Semiconductors, , Academic Press, Inc. LondonJames, R.W., (1948) Optical Principles of the Diffraction of X-rays, p. 477. , G. Bell & Sons LondonLaaziri, K., Kycia, S., Roorda, S., Chicione, M., Robertson, J.L., Wang, J., Moss, S.C., (1999) Phys. Rev., B, 60, p. 1352Krawitz, A.D., (2001) Introduction to Diffraction in Materials Science and Engineering, , John Wiley & Sons Inc New York(1989) International Tables for X-ray Crystallography, , Kluwer Academic Publishers DordrechtHärting, M., (1998) Acta Mater., 46, p. 1427Härting, M., Woodford, S., Knoesen, D., Bucher, R., Britton, D.T., (2003) Thin Solid Films, 430, p. 15

Contributions of complete fusion and break-up–fusion to intermediate mass fragment production in the low energy interaction of 12C and 27Al

The measured spectra of a large number of intermediate mass fragments produced at a CM energy of about 110 MeV in the 27Al(12C, x) reaction as well as in its inverse reaction, 12C(27Al, x), are presented. The analysis of these data suggests that, at this energy, the main reaction mechanisms which contribute to the intermediate mass fragment emission are two-nucleus complete fusion and break-up–fusion reactions

PISA – an experiment for fragment spectroscopy at the Internal Beam of COSY: application of an Axial Ionization Chamber

The Proton-Induced SpAllation (PISA) experiment performed at the internal beam facility of the COSY storage ring in Julich, Germany, which is aimed at the precise measurement of double differential cross-sections over a broad range of energies and angles for spallation reactions induced by protons of 200-2500 MeV energy in various targets, is presented. In this paper the emphasis is put on the design, principles of operation and performance of a Bragg Curve Detector (BCD) optimized for internal beam experiments at storage rings. Very clean and distinct product identification (with Z up to similar to 14) from reactions, in which a Ni target was bombarded with a 1.9 GeV circulating proton beam, is obtained. The individual elements are resolved for emission energies higher than 0.5 MeV/nucleon. Moreover, due to the detector readout achieved by coupling a specially designed current sensitive preamplifier directly to a sampling ADC, the shape analysis of the signals from the BCD allows the isotope identification of light particles with A up to similar to 11. It is also found that the BCD can be used efficiently as a thin DeltaE detector for the telescope consisting of the BCD and a series of silicon detectors. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved