NIR-II emissive donor-acceptor-donor fluorophores for dual fluorescence bioimaging and photothermal therapy applications.

Fluorescence bioimaging with near-infrared II (NIR-II) emissive organic fluorophores has proven to be a viable noninvasive diagnostic technique. However, there is still the need for the development of fluorophores that possess increased stability as well as functionalities that impart stimuli responsiveness. Through strategic design, we can synthesize fluorophores that possess not only NIR-II optical profiles but also pH-sensitivity and the ability to generate heat upon irradiation. In this work, we employ a donor-acceptor-donor (D-A-D) design to synthesize a series of NIR-II fluorophores. Here we use thienothiadiazole (TTD) as the acceptor, 3-hexylthiophene (HexT) as the π-spacer and vary the alkyl amine donor units: N,N-dimethylaniline (DMA), phenylpiperidine (Pip), and phenylmorpholine (Morp). Spectroscopic analysis shows that all three derivatives exhibit emission in the NIR-II region with λemimax ranging from 1030 to 1075 nm. Upon irradiation, the fluorophores exhibited noticeable heat generation through non-radiative processes. The ability to generate heat indicates that these fluorophores will act as theranostic (combination therapeutic and diagnostic) agents in which simultaneous visualization and treatment can be performed. Additionally, biosensing capabilities were supported by changes in the absorbance properties while under acidic conditions as a result of protonation of the alkyl amine donor units. The fluorophores also show minimal toxicity in a human mammary cell line and with murine red blood cells. Overall, initial results indicate viable NIR-II materials for multiple biomedical applications.

Early exposure of rotating magnetic fields promotes central nervous regeneration in planarian Girardia sinensis.

Magnetic field exposure is an accepted safe and effective modality for nerve injury. However, it is clinically used only as a supplement or salvage therapy at the later stage of treatment. Here, we used a planarian Girardia sinensis decapitated model to investigate beneficial effects of early rotary non-uniform magnetic fields (RMFs) exposure on central nervous regeneration. Our results clearly indicated that magnetic stimulation induced from early RMFs exposure significantly promoted neural regeneration of planarians. This stimulating effect is frequency and intensity dependent. Optimum effects were obtained when decapitated planarians were cultured at 20 °C, starved for 3 days before head-cutting, and treated with 6 Hz 0.02 T RMFs. At early regeneration stage, RMFs exposure eliminated edema around the wound and facilitated subsequent formation of blastema. It also accelerated cell proliferation and recovery of neuron functionality. Early RMFs exposure up-regulated expression of neural regeneration related proteins, EGR4 and Netrin 2, and mature nerve cell marker proteins, NSE and NPY. These results suggest that RMFs therapy produced early and significant benefit in central nervous regeneration, and should be clinically used at the early stage of neural regeneration, with appropriate optimal frequency and intensity.

A comparison of laser ultrasound measurements and finite-element simulations for the dispersion behavior of antisymmetric flexural modes propagating along wedge tips with coatings.

Antisymmetric flexural (ASF) modes are antisymmetric types of guided waves propagating along the tip of wedge-shaped waveguides. Acoustic sensors frequently rely on the detection of small mass changes that result from binding a coated layer coupled to the active sensor surface. While a layer is coated on one of the wedge's surfaces, another type of sensor can be potentially developed based on detecting the change of ASF velocity. This paper describes a study on the effects of ASF dispersion behavior for a wedge with a layer of coating using a combined numerical and experimental investigation. In this study, the frequency range is from 0.5 MHz to 10 MHz, and the effective wave propagation length along the wedge tip ranges from 3 mm to 13 mm. Brass wedge tips coated with aluminum layer are studied for the case of slow matrix with fast coating, while aluminum wedge tips with copper coatings are studied for the case of fast matrix/slow coating combination. Like surface acoustic waves propagating along a flat surface with a layer of coating, loaded and stiffened phenomena are observed for the ASF modes traveling along coated wedges. Moreover, the wedge tip geometry is found to have an effect in enhancing the loaded and stiffened phenomena. The numerical results show good agreement with experimental results.