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Over the past three decades, various photosensitive nanoparticles have been developed as potential therapies in human health, ranging from photodynamic therapy technologies that have already reached clinical use, to drug delivery systems that are still in the preclinical stages. Many of these systems are designed to achieve a high spatial and temporal on-demand drug release via phototriggerable mechanisms. This review examines the current clinical and experimental applications in cancer treatment of photosensitive drug release systems, including nanocarriers such as liposomes, micelles, polymeric nanoparticles, and hydrogels. We will focus on the three main physicochemical mechanisms of imparting photosensitivity to a delivery system: i) photochemical reactions (oxidation, cleavage, and polymerization), ii) photoisomerization, iii) and photothermal reactions. Photosensitive nanoparticles have a multitude of different applications including controlled drug release, resulting from physical/conformational changes in the delivery systems in response to light of specific wavelengths. Most of the recent research in these delivery systems has primarily focused on improving the efficacy and safety of cancer treatments such as photodynamic and photothermal therapy. Combinations of multiple treatment modalities using photosensitive nanoparticulate delivery systems have also garnered great interest in combating multi-drug resistant cancers due to their synergistic effects. Finally, the challenges and future potential of photosensitive drug delivery systems in biomedical applications is outlined.

The giant magnetoimpedance (GMI) and giant stress impedance (GSI) behaviors of amorphous ribbons composed of three commercially available materials (Co66Si15B14Fe4Ni1, Fe81B13Si3.5C2, and Ni40Fe40Si + B19Mo1−2) with differing saturation magnetostriction constants [Formula: see text] and Young's moduli ( E) were studied under longitudinal stress/strain. The linearity of the ribbons' GSI responses and gauge factors was measured to create a figure of merit and compare their stress/strain sensing performance for strains up to ɛ = 10 × 10−3. We observed that the Ni40Fe40Si + B19Mo1−2 ribbon displayed the best performance for low strains ( ɛ −3), whereas the Co66Si15B14Fe4Ni1 ribbon displayed the best performance for higher strains ( ɛ −3). We conclude that the suitability of a material for sensing strains in any given strain regime has a complex dependence on both [Formula: see text] and E, the former of which dictates both the absolute magnitude of the impedance variation materials exhibit (i.e., the dynamic range), while both [Formula: see text] and E control how their impedances vary with applied strain.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are a heterogeneous population of lipid bilayer membrane-enclosed vesicles and act like ‘messages in a bottle’ in cell-cell communication by transporting their cargoes to recipient cells. Small EVs (sEVs, < 200 nm) are highly researched recently and have been harnessed as novel delivery systems for the treatment of various diseases, including neurodegenerative disorders, cardiovascular diseases, and most importantly cancer primarily because of their non-immunogenicity, tissue penetration and cell-tropism. This review will first provide a comprehensive overview of sEVs regarding the current understanding on their properties, biogenesis, new classification by the ISEV, composition, as well as their roles in cancer development (thereby called “oncosomes”). The primary focus will be given to the current state of sEVs as natural nanocarriers for cancer drug delivery, the technologies and challenges involved in sEV isolation and characterization, therapeutic cargo loading, and surface modification to enhance tumor-targeting. We will also provide examples of sEV products under clinical trials. Furthermore, the current challenges as well as the advance in “sEV mimetics” to address some of the sEVs limitations is briefly discussed. We seek to advance our understanding of sEVs to unlock their full potential as superior drug delivery vehicles in cancer therapy.

We study the influence of ribbon geometry on the giant magnetoimpedance (GMI) behavior of both low- and high-aspect ratio [length (l)/width (w) = 2–150] ribbons made from commercially available amorphous magnetic materials. Our results indicate that the variation of the ribbons’ GMI with geometry is due to the combination of edge effects (due to damage created by the ribbon cutting process) and global shape anisotropy. In high-aspect ratio ribbons [length (l)/width (w)≥ 20], we find that the GMI decreases with width, which we suggest is due to the cutting process creating induced stresses that suppress the transverse susceptibility at the edge of the material. In lower aspect ratio ribbons [length (l)/width (w) ≤ 20], shape anisotropy results in a relatively rapid increase in GMI with increasing length. We conclude that, with suitable optimization, high-aspect ratio ribbons prepared from commercially available materials are suitable for use as macro-scale sensors that detect small magnetic fields/strains over a large sensing area.

BACKGROUND: Falls are common internationally among the elderly. This study examined domiciliary environmental risk factors attributable to accidental falls among community-living older persons living in high-rise buildings in Hong Kong. METHODS: Over the preceding 6 months, 592 older persons were recruited from a housing resource center for baseline assessments. Among them, 456 participants completed monthly telephone follow-ups for 12 months. A home visit for environmental inspection was conducted within 3 days for those who reported falls in an indoor environment. The environments of participants with or without falls were compared for analysis. FINDINGS: Seventy-seven participants reported falls (indoor: outdoor = 1:2) over the preceding 12 months. The fall rate was 24.8%, and the one-year prevalence of falls (persons with at least one fall) was 16.7%; for two or more falls it was 3.9%. Self-reported previous falls in the preceding 12 months (OR 2.88, CI 1.67-7.17), female gender (OR 8.91, CI 0.27-0.47), and self-reported diabetes mellitus (OR 3.55, CI 1.10-3.55) were significant predictors for fallers with at least one fall. Significant differences were found between the homes of fallers and non-fallers in the sites of hazards with respect to seating (p =.011), toilets (p =.018), and kitchens (p =.026), particularly with steps or stair railings (p =.009). CONCLUSIONS: This study supports the existence of a difference in environmental risk factors between fallers and non-fallers in high-rise buildings, and the results can be generalized to other domiciliary environments for community-living older persons in most urban cities. Language: en