ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Continuous long-term electrocardiography monitoring has been increasingly recognized for early diagnosis and management of different types of cardiovascular diseases. To find an alternative to Ag/AgCl gel electrodes that are improper for this application scenario, many efforts have been undertaken to develop novel flexible dry textile electrodes integrated into the everyday garments. With significant progresses made to address the potential issues (e.g., low signal-to-noise ratio, high skin-electrode impedance, motion artifact, and low durability), the lack of standard evaluation procedure hinders the further development of dry electrodes (mainly the design and optimization). RESULTS: A standard testing procedure and framework for skin-electrode impedance measurement is demonstrated for the development of novel dry textile electrodes. Different representative electrode materials have been screen-printed on textile substrates. To verify the performance of dry textile electrodes, impedance measurements are conducted on an agar skin model using a universal setup with consistent frequency and pressure. In addition, they are demonstrated for ECG signals acquisition, in comparison to those obtained using conventional gel electrodes. CONCLUSIONS: Dry textile electrodes demonstrated similar impedance when in raised or flat structures. The tested pressure variations had an insignificant impact on electrode impedance. Looking at the effect of impedance on ECG signals, a noticeable effect on ECG signal performance metrics was not observed. Therefore, it is suggested that impedance alone is possibly not the primary indicator of signal quality. As well, the developed methods can also serve as useful guidelines for future textile dry-electrode design and testing for practical ECG monitoring applications.
Subject(s)
Electrocardiography , Textiles , Artifacts , Electric Impedance , ElectrodesABSTRACT
We introduce Digital microfluidic Isolation of Single Cells for -Omics (DISCO), a platform that allows users to select particular cells of interest from a limited initial sample size and connects single-cell sequencing data to their immunofluorescence-based phenotypes. Specifically, DISCO combines digital microfluidics, laser cell lysis, and artificial intelligence-driven image processing to collect the contents of single cells from heterogeneous populations, followed by analysis of single-cell genomes and transcriptomes by next-generation sequencing, and proteomes by nanoflow liquid chromatography and tandem mass spectrometry. The results described herein confirm the utility of DISCO for sequencing at levels that are equivalent to or enhanced relative to the state of the art, capable of identifying features at the level of single nucleotide variations. The unique levels of selectivity, context, and accountability of DISCO suggest potential utility for deep analysis of any rare cell population with contextual dependencies.
Subject(s)
Cell Separation/instrumentation , Single-Cell Analysis/instrumentation , Single-Cell Analysis/methods , Animals , CD47 Antigen/genetics , Cell Line, Tumor , Cell Separation/methods , Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats , Gene Expression Profiling/instrumentation , Gene Expression Profiling/methods , Glioblastoma/genetics , Glioblastoma/metabolism , Glioblastoma/pathology , Humans , Lab-On-A-Chip Devices , Melanoma/genetics , Melanoma/metabolism , Melanoma/pathology , Mice , Microfluidic Analytical Techniques/instrumentation , Microfluidic Analytical Techniques/methods , Neural Networks, Computer , Proteomics/methodsABSTRACT
This study is to develop a novel itraconazole-loaded nanoparticle (ITZ-NP) platform for effective antifungal therapy. First, the monomethoxypoly(ethylene glycol)-b-poly(lactic acid) (mPEG-b-PLA) copolymer was prepared as a drug carrier material. Then the nanoparticles were formulated via a simple film hydration method. The copolymer and nanoparticles were characterized by standard methods, including 1H NMR, 13C NMR, FT-NIR, DSC, XRPD, and particle size, zeta potential, morphology and physical examination. Furthermore, in vitro itraconazole release and antifungal activity were intensively evaluated. The results showed that the formed nanoparticles significantly enhanced sustained drug release and inhibited fungal infection. In addition, ITZ-NPs caused very mild hemolysis and slight venous irritation, indicating much better biocompatibility than marketed cyclodextrin formulations of ITZ. An Iin vivo biodistribution study via intravenous injection showed that ITZ-NPs could be effectively retained in blood circulation and selectively distributed in RES-rich organs compared with commercial cyclodextrin injection, with the verification of Re, Te, RTe and Ce. In summary, the developed ITZ-NPs could reduce systemic toxicity, improve antifungal activity and act as a potential intravenous formulation of ITZ.
ABSTRACT
Aryl- and N-substituted isatins were converted to isatin-3-hydrazones and subjected to a dichlorination reaction with PhICl2. Lewis base-catalysis was key to the reaction occurring rapidly and chemoselectively, providing 3,3-dichloroindolin-2-ones in 49-99% yield, and offering a new approach to the deoxygenative dihalogenation reaction.
