Applications of Nanotechnology in Dermatology

What are nanoparticles and why are they important in dermatology? These questions are addressed by highlighting recent developments in the nanotechnology field that have increased the potential for intentional and unintentional nanoparticle skin exposure. The role of environmental factors in the interaction of nanoparticles with skin and the potential mechanisms by which nanoparticles may influence skin response to environmental factors are discussed. Trends emerging from recent literature suggest that the positive benefit of engineered nanoparticles for use in cosmetics and as tools for understanding skin biology and curing skin disease outweigh potential toxicity concerns. Discoveries reported in this journal are highlighted. This review begins with a general introduction to the field of nanotechnology and nanomedicine. This is followed by a discussion of the current state of understanding of nanoparticle skin penetration and their use in three therapeutic applications. Challenges that must be overcome to derive clinical benefit from the application of nanotechnology to skin are discussed last, providing perspective on the significant opportunity that exists for future studies in investigative dermatology

Urban High School Principals\u27 Leadership Practices and Academic Progress for At-Risk Students

Researchers have shown that principals are vital to improving student academic achievement. Urban principals often face significant challenges in their environments and have large populations of at-risk students. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore and describe the perceptions of urban high school principals regarding the type of leadership practices needed to support the academic progress of at-risk students. Elements from transformational leadership, transformative leadership, and effective leadership practices informed the conceptual framework. Research questions addressed how principals described and perceived the practices, processes, and procedures used to create environments that support students in urban high schools in a southcentral state in the United States. Data were collected by reviewing state accountability reports and school report cards and through semistructured individual interviews with 5 principals who led schools where consistent growth occurred over a 3-year period. A combination of in vivo and second cycle coding was used to support thematic analysis. Themes included understanding leadership styles and traits, identifying challenges and barriers, creating and implementing a vision, building relationships, and establishing a positive climate and culture. Participants indicated trusting relationships with faculty, staff, parents, students, and community stakeholders in addition to understanding the specific contexts within which their students live informed effective practices to improve student performance. Key recommendations include specific professional preparation and continued learning opportunities for urban high school principals; this will support positive social change by improving instruction and building principal and teacher capacity as they serve students in urban settings

Teacher-as-Researcher Paradigm for Sign Language Teachers: Toward Evidence-Based Pedagogies for Improved Learner Outcomes

In the teaching of sign languages as foreign languages (FLs), teachers instruct learners in vocabulary and conversational grammar. In doing so they frequently notice that some learners are able to learn and produce vocabulary and use correct grammar, whereas others struggle. For a better understanding of learners\u27 learning processes and their own pedagogical approaches, FL teachers turn to research studies on the teaching and learning of FLs. However, those studies are often largely inapplicable to their in-classroom practices. To resolve this problem, this article proposes and explicates teacher-as-researcher as a research paradigm for teachers\u27 pedagogical development to bring about improved learner outcomes

From Dose to Response: In Vivo Nanoparticle Processing and Potential Toxicity

Adverse human health impacts due to occupational and environmental exposures to manufactured nanoparticles are of concern and pose a potential threat to the continued industrial use and integration of nanomaterials into commercial products. This chapter addresses the inter-relationship between dose and response and will elucidate on how the dynamic chemical and physical transformation and breakdown of the nanoparticles at the cellular and subcellular levels can lead to the in vivo formation of new reaction products. The dose-response relationship is complicated by the continuous physicochemical transformations in the nanoparticles induced by the dynamics of the biological system, where dose, bio-processing, and response are related in a non-linear manner. Nanoscale alterations are monitored using high-resolution imaging combined with in situ elemental analysis and emphasis is placed on the importance of the precision of characterization. The result is an in-depth understanding of the starting particles, the particle transformation in a biological environment, and the physiological response

Photonic hydrogel sensors

Analyte-sensitive hydrogels that incorporate optical structures have emerged as sensing platforms for point-of-care diagnostics. The optical properties of the hydrogel sensors can be rationally designed and fabricated through self-assembly, microfabrication or laser writing. The advantages of photonic hydrogel sensors over conventional assay formats include label-free, quantitative, reusable, and continuous measurement capability that can be integrated with equipment-free text or image display. This Review explains the operation principles of photonic hydrogel sensors, presents syntheses of stimuli-responsive polymers, and provides an overview of qualitative and quantitative readout technologies. Applications in clinical samples are discussed, and potential future directions are identified

Biogenic porous silica and silicon sourced from Mexican Giant Horsetail (Equisetum myriochaetum) and their application as supports for enzyme immobilization

Porous silica-based materials are attractive for biomedical applications due to their biocompatibility and biodegradable character. In addition, inorganic supports such as porous silicon are being developed due to integrated circuit chip compatibility and tunable properties leading to a wide range of multidisciplinary applications. In this contribution, biosilica extracted from a rarely studied plant material (Equisetum Myriochaetum), its conversion to silicon and the potential for both materials to be used as supports for enzyme immobilization are investigated. E. myriochaetum was subject to conventional acid digestion to extract biogenic silica with a % yield remarkably higher (up to 3 times) than for other Equisetum sp. (i.e. E. Arvense). The surface area of the isolated silica was ∼400 m2/g, suitable for biotechnological applications. Biogenic silicon was obtained by magnesiothermic reduction. The materials were characterized by SEM-EDX, XRD, FT-IR, ICP-OES, TGA and BET analysis and did not contain significant levels of class 1 heavy elements (such as Pb, Cd, Hg and As). Two commercial peroxidases, horseradish peroxidase (HRP) and Coprinus cinereus peroxidase (CiP) were immobilized onto the biogenic materials using three different functionalization routes: (A) carbodiimide, (B) amine + glutaraldehyde and (C) amine + carbodiimide. Although both biogenic silica and porous silicon could be used as supports differences in behaviour were observed for the two enzymes. For HRP, loading onto biogenic silica via the glutaraldehyde immobilization technique (route B) was most effective. The loading of CiP showed a much higher peroxidase activity onto porous silicon than silica functionalized by the carbodiimide method (route A). From the properties of the extracted materials obtained from Equisetum Myriochaetum and the immobilization results observed, these materials appear to be promising for industrial and biomedical applications