Regenerative Heart Treatment Through Stem Cells, Nanoparticles, and Ultrasound

Researchers at Stanford University have devised a technique that may allow the treatment of damaged heart tissues through mesenchymal stem cells guided by nanoparticles and ultrasound. Mesenchymal stem cells are a type of stem cells found in human fat that can differentiate into beating heart cells

A common problem with using stem cell therapy in treating medical conditions is guiding the stem cells to the right organ. Short of an invasive surgical procedure such as surgery to directly apply stem cells to the affected area,it is virtually impossible to guarantee that the stem cells will address the specific problem by just injecting the stem cells into the body using a syringe.

Stem cell technology has been in the forefront of medical science research in addressing medical conditions that affect the brain, heart, and other complex organs. Although the premise is simple (stem cells can regenerate into tissues) the application is complicated.

With the use of silicon nanoparticles and ultrasound, the Stanford researchers have devised a way to track the movement of the stem cells as it travels through the body.

Nanogel Based Therapy For Treatment of Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Nanogels are nano sized particles made up of very absorbent, gelatinous polymers (chemical compounds consisting of repeating structural units) called hydrogels. Nanogels are very small and has pores that can filled with molecules.

These properties make nanogels ideal for medical applications such as a drug delivery or drug containment system. These nanogels can be engineered to break open or rupture to certain environmental or chemical conditions. Controlling where, when, and how much of a drug is to be released results in a more effective and targeted drug delivery.

Recently, scientists are developing nanogels as a delivery system to treat patients suffering from Lupus, an autoimmune disorder that may affect the skin, joints, kidneys, brain, and other organs.

DNA Nanotechnology: Building Matter and Controlling Architecture of DNA Building Blocks

Chad A. Mirkin of Northwestern University has developed a process to build artificial nanostructures with customized properties in a highly programmable way from the bottom up, just like how nature does it.

Advances in nanotechnology have opened up the development and application of artificial nanostructures. Nanostructures give support, assist in a process, or brings out a particular property from a created device.

There are two types of nanostructures, structural and dynamic. Structural nanostructures are used as a foundation for building more complex structures. Dynamic structures are built to react and interact with a specific target in a chemical or structural way.

Just like Lego building blocks, nanostructures can be made up of smaller structures. Each component either contributes to the overall application or serves as the backbone of the structure itself.

These are very useful in many applications. In the medical field, nanostructures can be used as a container for drug delivery. These structures can be built to react to a certain protein and release the drug inside for treatment of diseases such as cancer or Alzheimer's Disease.

Nanostructures can also be applied to industrial purposes. Recently, MIT researchers have created a nanostructure surface that influence the way water droplets behave on condensers for more efficient performance.

Non-Chemotherapy Treatment of Lymphoma Through HDL Cholesterol Deprivation and Nanoparticles

Lymphatic System

Researchers have discovered a new treatment for lymphoma that does not include drugs or chemotherapy. Researchers at Northwestern Medicine® found that by depriving the lymphoma cell its source of food, which is HDL cholesterol, it will end up starving to death.

Lymphoma is a type of cancer that affects the lymphatic or lymph system.

The lymphatic system, a major part of the immune system, is a network of organs, lymph nodes, lymph ducts, and lymph vessels in the body. It moves lymph from tissues to the bloodstream. It filters the blood and help form immunity in children.

Lymph is a clear watery fluid that carries oxygen and other nutrients to cellular tissues in the body. It also contains white blood cells that attack harmful bacteria and fight infections.

Lymphoma is a type of cancer that affects lymphocytes (a type of white blood cells). Lymphocytes become abnormal start behaving erratically. These affected lymphocytes may start to multiply faster or live longer than usual (lymphocytes die after an infection has been eradicated).

Because the lymph system circulates around the whole body, lymphoma happens in multiple locations in the body unlike other cancers where it is isolated in one location or organ.

Typically, lymphoma presents as a solid tumor of lymphoid cells. Treatment might involve chemotherapy and in some cases radiotherapy and/or bone marrow transplantation, and can be curable depending on the histology, type, and stage of the disease

There are two major types of lymphoma; Hodgkin's and Non-Hodgkin's. These 2 types of lymphomas behave, spread, and respond to treatment differently.

Fungi Produces Nanoparticles That Can Help Fight Cancer Cells

Researchers have discovered that nanoparticles produced by the fungi, Arthrobotrys oligospora, can stimulate the body's immune system and kill cancer cells. This may lead to the development of bio-engineered nanostructures that can be used to treat cancer and other biomedical functions.

Arthrobotrys oligospora is a fungus that feeds on roundworms. A. oligospora uses rings that form on it long, branching filamentous structure called a hyphae. These rings on the hyphae trap the roundworm which then grows into the roundworm to digest it.

There are 71 species of the Arthrobotrys genus which are all predatory fungi.

These fungi are considered carnivorous and can be found in various surfaces or substrates such as compost, decomposing wood and animal droppings. The traps used of the A. oligospora are made up of adhesive networks, adhesive knobs, and constricting rings.

Thermodynamics Used To Grow Nanorods Into Superparticles With Precision

Nanorods are a particular shape of nanoparticles. They are elongated and are similar to a hotdog and can range in size from 1 nanometer (nm) to 100nm, where 1nm= 1x10^-9 meters (one-billionth of a meter). Nanoparticles can also form into spheres and flattened sheets.

Nanorods are produced through chemical synthesis. A metal or semiconducting material are combined with several chemicals to produce nanoparticles of that element. They are then subjected to another series of processes to produce the desired shape and filter out unwanted particles.

Because of their shape and size, nanorods interact with light, electricity and magnetic fields differently. They display highly coveted optical, electronic and other properties not found in macroscopic materials.

MIT News: Bending Light To Cloak Objects Lead To Better Electron Transfer For Thermoelectric Devices

A new approach that allows objects to become “invisible” has now been applied to an entirely different area: letting particles “hide” from passing electrons, which could lead to more efficient thermoelectric devices and new kinds of electronics.

Diagram shows the 'probability flux' of electrons, a representation of the paths of electrons as they pass through an 'invisible' nanoparticle. While the paths are bent as they enter the particle, they are subsequently bent back so that they re-emerge from the other side on the same trajectory they started with — just as if the particle wasn't there.
Image courtesy Bolin Liao et al.

The concept — developed by MIT graduate student Bolin Liao, former postdoc Mona Zebarjadi (now an assistant professor at Rutgers University), research scientist Keivan Esfarjani, and mechanical engineering professor Gang Chen — is described in a paper in the journal Physical Review Letters.

Next Generation Solar Cell Produced With Record Highest Efficiency Rating Using Colloidal Quantum Dots (CQD)

Colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals irradiated with ultraviolet light. Quantum confinement causes the band gap energy to vary with the nanocrystal's size. Each vial contains a monodisperse sample of nanocrystals dispersed in a liquid solvent.
Credit: Wikipedia/Walkman16

Quantum dots are parts of matter whose excitons are bound in all three spatial dimensions. An exciton is formed when a photon (light particle) is absorbed by a semiconductor.

To put it simply, a quantum dot is a nano-scale semiconductor that captures light and converts it into energy. Since they are very small, quantum dots can be applied to surfaces such as plastic by just spraying it to form a flexible layer of quantum dot nano-film semiconductor.

This allows the production and manufacture of solar cells that are more economical, durable, and efficient than standard silicon based ones. Some quantum dots are even just a few atoms thick, allowing for micro-sized devices to be produced.

Aside from solar cells, quantum dots are also used in transistors, LEDs, diode lasers, and even for quantum computers.

Breakthrough by U of T-led research team leads to record efficiency for next-generation solar cells

Researchers from the University of Toronto (U of T) and King Abdullah University of Science & Technology (KAUST) have made a breakthrough in the development of colloidal quantum dot (CQD) films, leading to the most efficient CQD solar cell ever. Their work is featured in a letter published in Nature Nanotechnology.

The researchers, led by U of T Engineering Professor Ted Sargent, created a solar cell out of inexpensive materials that was certified at a world-record 7.0% efficiency.

"Previously, quantum dot solar cells have been limited by the large internal surface areas of the nanoparticles in the film, which made extracting electricity difficult," said Dr. Susanna Thon, a lead co-author of the paper. "Our breakthrough was to use a combination of organic and inorganic chemistry to completely cover all of the exposed surfaces."

Quantum dots are semiconductors only a few nanometres in size and can be used to harvest electricity from the entire solar spectrum – including both visible and invisible wavelengths. Unlike current slow and expensive semiconductor growth techniques, CQD films can be created quickly and at low cost, similar to paint or ink. This research paves the way for solar cells that can be fabricated on flexible substrates in the same way newspapers are rapidly printed in mass quantities.

Spin Seebeck Effect Lead To Engines With No Moving Parts And Infinitely Reliable

Schematic illustration of the spin-Seebeck effects
Credit: Tohoku University

The Seebeck effect is a phenomenon in which a temperature difference between two dissimilar electrical conductors or semiconductors produces a voltage difference between the two substances. It is simply the conversion of the temperature differences directly into electricity.

This effect is named for German-Estonian physicist Thomas Johann Seebeck who discovered it in 1821.

Physicists in 2008, discovered what they are calling the spin Seebeck effect. The spin Seebeck effect is seen when heat is applied to a magnetized metal. As a result, electrons rearrange themselves according to their spin. Unlike ordinary electron movement, this rearrangement does not create heat as a waste product.

This development can lead to the manufacturing of faster, more efficient microchips and open up a new class of devices called spintonics devices.

Researchers 1 step closer to new kind of thermoelectric 'heat engine'

Researchers who are studying a new magnetic effect that converts heat to electricity have discovered how to amplify it a thousand times over - a first step in making the technology more practical.

In the so-called spin Seebeck effect, the spin of electrons creates a current in magnetic materials, which is detected as a voltage in an adjacent metal. Ohio State University researchers have figured out how to create a similar effect in a non-magnetic semiconductor while producing more electrical power.

They've named the amplified effect the "giant spin-Seebeck" effect, and the university will license patent-pending variations of the technology.

The resulting voltages are admittedly tiny, but in this week's issue of the journal Nature, the researchers report boosting the amount of voltage produced per degree of temperature change inside the semiconductor from a few microvolts to a few millivolts - a 1,000-fold increase in voltage, producing a 1-million-fold increase in power.

Coconut Oil (Lauric Acid) Treatment of Acne With Bio Nanotechnology

Scientists and researchers have been busy finding the best treatment for acne.

Acne is a skin condition that causes pimples or "zits." These are spots that results from excess oil getting trapped in the skin pores which results in blockages, infection and build up of bacteria.

Recent studies have shown thyme as an effective treatment as well as a combined therapy of Epiduo Gel and Doxycycline. Another promising drug that is both natural and inexpensive is lauric acid found in coconut milk.

Lauric Acid

Lauric acid is a saturated fatty acid, specifically a medium chain fatty acid because of its 12 carbon atom chain. It is mainly found in coconut oil, laurel oil, and in palm kernel oil, comprising more than 50% of the fatty acid content in these oils.

Lauric acid is a white, powdery solid with a faint odor of bay oil or soap. It can also be found in human breast milk, cow's milk, and goat's milk. It has antiviral, antimicrobial, antiprotozoal and antifungal properties when present in the hyman body.

Because of these properties, lauric acid is being studied as a possible new acne treatment. Common acne (acne vulgaris) afflicts around than 85 percent of teenagers and over 40 million people in the United States, including adults.

Treating Acne with Coconut Oil

Current acne treatments have unwanted side effcts that include redness and burning. Because of the inherent properties of lauric acid, these could be avoided. University of California San Diego are researching coconut oil treatments for acne.

Graduate student Dissaya "Nu" Pornpattananangkul, who performs this research in the Nanomaterials and Nanomedicine Laboratory of UC San Diego NanoEngineering professor Liangfang Zhang from the Jacobs School of Engineering, says "It's a good feeling to know that I have a chance to develop a drug that could help people with acne,"

MIT News: Nanoparticle Containing Antibiotics Designed To Specifically Target Bacteria In Human Body Developed

Nanoparticles, in green, targeting bacteria, shown in red.
Image: Aleks Radovic-Moreno

A microscopic particle with at least one dimension less than 100 nanometers is called a nanoparticle.

A nanometer is 1×10⁻⁹ m or 1/50000 the width of a human hair. An object that has one dimension is akin to a dot or period on a page.

Nanoparticle research focuses mainly on biomedical, optical and the electronic sectors as these fields would benefit a lot from applications derived from nanoparticle research. Nanoparticles are of great scientific interest as they are effectively a bridge between bulk materials that have constant physical properties and atomic or molecular structures which have properties that change according to its size.

There are two forms of nanomedicine applications that are awaiting human trials. These are using gold nanoshells to help diagnose and treat cancer, and the other is using liposomes as vaccine adjuvants and as vehicles for drug transport. Drug detoxification is also another application for nanomedicine which has also shown promising results.

A benefit of using nanoscale for medical technologies is that smaller devices are less invasive and can possibly be implanted inside the body, plus biochemical reaction times are much shorter. These devices are faster and more sensitive than typical drug delivery.

Target: Drug-resistant bacteria

Over the past several decades, scientists have faced challenges in developing new antibiotics even as bacteria have become increasingly resistant to existing drugs. One strategy that might combat such resistance would be to overwhelm bacterial defenses by using highly targeted nanoparticles to deliver large doses of existing antibiotics.

In a step toward that goal, researchers at MIT and Brigham and Women’s Hospital have developed a nanoparticle designed to evade the immune system and home in on infection sites, then unleash a focused antibiotic attack.