Magnetic nanoparticles for enhancing the effectiveness of ultrasonic hyperthermia

Ultrasonic hyperthermia is a method of cancer treatment in which tumors are exposed to an elevated cytotoxic temperature using ultrasound (US). In conventional ultrasonic hyperthermia, the ultrasound-induced heating in the tumor is achieved through the absorption of wave energy. However, to obtain appropriate temperature in reasonable time, high US intensities, which can have a negative impact on healthy tissues, are required. The effectiveness of US for medical purposes can be significantly improved by using the so-called sonosensitizers, which can enhance the thermal effect of US on the tissue by increasing US absorption. One possible candidate for such sonosensitizers is magnetic nanoparticles with mean sizes of 10–300 nm, which can be efficiently heated because of additional attenuation and scattering of US. Additionally, magnetic nanoparticles are able to produce heat in the alternating magnetic field (magnetic hyperthermia). The synergetic application of ultrasonic and magnetic hyperthermia can lead to a promising treatment modality

Preliminary experiments for the fabrication of thermally actuated bimorph cantilever arrays on non-silicon wafers with vertical interconnects

This paper describes the first steps for the fabrication of low-cost cantilever arrays, developed at RAL, on non-silicon polymer substrates with vertical interconnects, produced at Profactor. The deflection and actuation of these cantilevers is based on the bimorph thermal actuation principle. The fabrication of the cantilever arrays requires many process steps which are presented in this article. The first step is the planarization between the via-holes interconnects with a uniform layer. This was achieved by spin coating of a thick (~58μm) SU-8 layer. In the subsequent step, two thin metal layers of Cr (500Å) and Au (1000Å) were thermally deposited and patterned, using UV lithography with a mask alignment process and wet etching. The following step was the coating of a 1μm structural Au layer, in which the deposited layer had a very poor adhesion. Alternative procedures were explored to overcome this problem in the future. Modifications of the photo masks design and the substrates will be carried out to make the RAL microcantilevers technology more compatible with Profactor substrates.Unión Europea MRTN-CT-2003- 50482

Consequences of temperature fluctuations in observables measured in high energy collisions

We review the consequences of intrinsic, nonstatistical temperature fluctuations as seen in observables measured in high energy collisions. We do this from the point of view of nonextensive statistics and Tsallis distributions. Particular attention is paid to multiplicity fluctuations as a first consequence of temperature fluctuations, to the equivalence of temperature and volume fluctuations, to the generalized thermodynamic fluctuations relations allowing us to compare fluctuations observed in different parts of phase space, and to the problem of the relation between Tsallis entropy and Tsallis distributions. We also discuss the possible influence of conservation laws on these distributions and provide some examples of how one can get them without considering temperature fluctuations.Comment: Revised version of the invited contribution to The European Physical Journal A (Hadrons and Nuclei) topical issue about 'Relativistic Hydro- and Thermodynamics in Nuclear Physics' guest eds. Tamas S. Biro, Gergely G. Barnafoldi and Peter Va

Nonextensive statistical effects in protoneutron stars

We investigate the bulk properties of protoneutron stars in the framework of a relativistic mean field theory based on nonextensive statistical mechanics, characterized by power-law quantum distributions. We study the relevance of nonextensive statistical effects on the beta-stable equation of state at fixed entropy per baryon, in presence and in absence of trapped neutrinos, for nucleonic and hyperonic matter. We show that nonextensive statistical effects could play a crucial role in the structure and in the evolution of the protoneutron stars also for small deviations from the standard Boltzmann-Gibbs statistics.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figure

Hyper-IgG4 disease: report and characterisation of a new disease

BACKGROUND: We highlight a chronic inflammatory disease we call 'hyper-IgG4 disease', which has many synonyms depending on the organ involved, the country of origin and the year of the report. It is characterized histologically by a lymphoplasmacytic inflammation with IgG4-positive cells and exuberant fibrosis, which leaves dense fibrosis on resolution. A typical example is idiopathic retroperitoneal fibrosis, but the initial report in 2001 was of sclerosing pancreatitis. METHODS: We report an index case with fever and severe systemic disease. We have also reviewed the histology of 11 further patients with idiopathic retroperitoneal fibrosis for evidence of IgG4-expressing plasma cells, and examined a wide range of other inflammatory conditions and fibrotic diseases as organ-specific controls. We have reviewed the published literature for disease associations with idiopathic, systemic fibrosing conditions and the synonyms: pseudotumour, myofibroblastic tumour, plasma cell granuloma, systemic fibrosis, xanthofibrogranulomatosis, and multifocal fibrosclerosis. RESULTS: Histology from all 12 patients showed, to varying degrees, fibrosis, intense inflammatory cell infiltration with lymphocytes, plasma cells, scattered neutrophils, and sometimes eosinophilic aggregates, with venulitis and obliterative arteritis. The majority of lymphocytes were T cells that expressed CD8 and CD4, with scattered B-cell-rich small lymphoid follicles. In all cases, there was a significant increase in IgG4-positive plasma cells compared with controls. In two cases, biopsies before and after steroid treatment were available, and only scattered plasma cells were seen after treatment, none of them expressing IgG4. Review of the literature shows that although pathology commonly appears confined to one organ, patients can have systemic symptoms and fever. In the active period, there is an acute phase response with a high serum concentration of IgG, and during this phase, there is a rapid clinical response to glucocorticoid steroid treatment. CONCLUSION: We believe that hyper-IgG4 disease is an important condition to recognise, as the diagnosis can be readily verified and the outcome with treatment is very good

Patchy colloidosomes – an emerging class of structures

A colloidosome, i.e., a selectively permeable capsule composed of colloidal particles forming a stable homogenous shell, is a tiny container that can be used for storage, transportation, and release of cargo species. There are many routes to preparing colloidosomes; dozens of examples of future applications of such colloidal capsules have been demonstrated. Their functionality can be further extended if the capsules are designed to have heterogeneous shells, i.e., one or more regions (patches) of a shell are composed of material with specific properties that differ from the rest of the shell. Such patchy colloidosomes, supplemented by functionalities similar to that offered by well-studied patchy particles, will surely possess advantageous properties when compared with their homogenous counterparts. For example, owing to specific interactions between patches, they either can self-assemble into complex structures; specifically adhere to a surface; release their cargo species in specific direction; or guided–align,–orient or –propel. Fabrication of patchy colloidal microcapsules has long been theorized by scientists able to design different models, but actual large-scale production remains a challenge. Until now, only a few methods for fabricating patchy colloidosomes have been demonstrated, and these include production by means of microfluidics and mechanical pipetting. The field of science related to fabrication and application of patchy colloidosomes is clearly unexplored, and we envision it blooming in the coming years