Microcomputed tomography analysis of ferrofluids used as drug carriers for cancer treatment

Two new approaches, Magnetic Drug Targeting (MDT) and Magnetic Hyperthermia, are being investigated in order to reduce side effects generated by common ways of cancer treatment. MDT and MHT are based on the use of magnetic nanoparticles: for MDT the nanoparticles are used as drug carriers and for MHT the nanoparticles are used to induce local heat transfer within the tumour. The success of these therapeutic approaches depends among other things on the correct distribution of the magnetic nanoparticles within the tumour tissue. Computed tomography analysis has been performed on tumour tissue after MDT in order to examine this distribution. The measurements have been performed in two different laboratories, one based on a synchrotron radiation, and another one on a cone X–ray source. First results show that the drug carriers are contained in the vessel system of the tumour as well as concentrated in the surrounding area of the veins. (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Cross-calibration of X-ray µCT and MRX for tissue analysis

Ferrofluids are being considered as an aid for local cancer treatments, such as Magnetic Drug Targeting (MDT) and Magnetic Hyperthermia (MHT). Both methods make use of the strong influence of a magnetic field on the nanoparticles, with the aim of treating the cancer locally while reducing, or even eliminating, the side effects that usually occur during conventional cancer treatments. Microcomputed tomography analysis has been performed on tumour tissue after MDT and MHT in order to examine the distribution of the magnetic nanoparticles within the tissue. The majority of the measurements has been performed in a laboratory based on a polychromatic X-ray source. The strong energy dependence of the attenuation coefficient and the occurrence of the so called beam hardening artefacts make the quantitative evaluation of data acquired with polychromatic tomography equipment very difficult. In this paper we present a cross-calibration method for magnetorelaxometry and polychromatic X-ray tomography for biological tissue samples enriched with magnetic nanoparticles. (© 2009 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Inclusion of interactions in mathematical modelling of implant assisted magnetic drug targeting

Drug delivery technologies are an important area within biomedicine. Targeted drug delivery aims to reduce the undesired side effects of drug usage by directing or capturing the active agents near a desired site within the body. This is particularly beneficial in, for instance, cancer chemotherapy, where the side effects of general (systemic) drug administration can be severe.One approach to targeted drug delivery uses magnetic nanoparticles as the constituents of carriers for the desired active agent. Once injected into the body, the behaviour of these magnetic carriers can be influenced and controlled by magnetic fields. In implant assisted magnetic drug targeting systems a magnetic implant, typically a stent, wire or spherical seed can be used to target sites deep within the body as the implant acts as a focus for the resulting magnetic force. This can be easily understood as the force depends on the gradient of the magnetic field and the gradient near the implant is large.In designing such a system many factors need to be considered including physical factors such as the size and nature of the implants and carriers, and the fields required. Moreover, the range of applicability of these systems in terms of the regions of the vasculature system, from low blood velocity environments, such as capillary beds to higher velocity arteries, must be considered. Furthermore, assessment criteria for these systems are needed. Mathematical modelling and simulation has a valuable role to play in informing in vitro and in vivo experiments, leading to practical system design.Specifically, the implant assisted magnetic drug targeting systems of Avilés, Ebner and Ritter are considered within this review, and two dimensional mathematical modelling is performed using the open source C++ finite volume library OpenFOAM. In the first system treated, a large ferromagnetic particle is implanted into a capillary bed as a seed to aid collection of single domain nanoparticles (radius 20-100 nm). The Langevin function is used to calculate the magnetic moment of the particles, and the model is further adapted to treat the agglomeration of particles known to occur in these systems. This agglomeration can be attributed to interparticle interactions and here the magnetic dipole-dipole and hydrodynamic interactions for two mutually interacting nanoparticles are modelled, following Mikkelsen et al. who treated two particle interactions in microfluidic systems, with low magnetic field (0.05 T). The resulting predicted performance is found to both increase and decrease significantly depending on initial positions of the particles. Secondly, a ferromagnetic, coiled wire stent is implanted in a large arterial vessel. The magnetic dipole-dipole and hydrodynamic interactions for multiple particles are included. Different initial positions are considered and the system performance is assessed. Inclusion of these interactions yields predictions that are in closer agreement with the experimental results of Avilés et al. We conclude that the discrepancies between the non interacting theoretical predictions and the corresponding experimental results can (as suggested by Avilés et al.) be largely attributed to interparticle interactions and the consequent agglomeration.     

磁性靶向药物递送中铁磁流体的动力学建模

在所有人体内进行的药物递送技术中,磁性药物靶向递送治疗由于其非入侵性和高靶向性而成为主要的方法．磁性药物靶向递送是将药物装载到磁性纳米颗粒上,利用外部磁场使其移动并聚焦在靶部位的方法．该法能提高靶部位药物的浓度,降低药物对正常组织的毒副作用．尽管已经有不少磁性靶向药物递送的理论分析,但是很少有人研究磁流体在血管里的流体动力学模型．该文提出了一个数学模型来描述作为药物载体的铁磁流体在外磁场作用下,在血管里的流体动力学特性,并在模型中增加了磁场力以及由此产生的不对称应力,增加了磁性纳米颗粒在磁场作用下的角动量方程．由于运动方程的数学复杂性,通过保留数学模型里物理特性最显著项来获得工程近似．用计算流体力学（CFD）进行数值仿真,分析了铁磁流体在一个模拟动脉瘤血管的三维管道里的流动状况,来进一步理解铁磁流体的临床应用．仿真结果和动物实验相一致．分析结果对于磁性靶向药物递送的各种应用提供了可参考的数据．     

Thickness of a Simplex Whose Edge Lengths Fall Within a Prescribed Range

The existence of a simplex in hyperbolic, Euclidean, or spherical space whose edge lengths lie within a prescribed range has been studied in a few papers. The question considered there can be put this way. Let ? be a positive number (with a natural upper bound in the spherical case). What is the minimum number λ = λ _n (?) such that an n-simplex exists in the n-dimensional space whenever its edge lengths fall within [λ, ?]? The papers derive exact expressions for λ _n (?) in each of the three geometries. They do not tell, however, how 'thick' at least the simplex will be depending on ? and a lower bound µ ε [ λ, ?] of the edge lengths. Such a dependence clearly exists. One can easily guess for instance that, when µ is close to ?, the simplex cannot be too thin compared to the regular simplex for which µ =?. We define here a suitable thickness of a convex body and then estimate from below this thickness of a simplex in terms of n, ?, and µ for each of the three geometries.     

Mean field homogenization and experimental investigation of short and long fiber reinforced polymers

The effective elastic material properties of short fiber reinforced polypropylen are determined by means of the self-consistent (SC) method and the interaction direct derivative (IDD) method. In order to account for thermoelastic effective material properties, a Hashin-Shtrikman (HS) based two-step homogenization method with variable reference stiffness is used. The influence of the reference stiffness, dependent on a scalar parameter is investigated. Information on the microstructure are derived by computed tomography scans (µCT) and considered within the homogenization schemes. Thermomechanical properties of a long fiber reinforced polymer (LFRP) and a short fiber reinforced polymer (SFRP) are obtained by means of dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA). Simulation results for SFRP are compared to experimental results. (© 2016 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Equivalent boundedness of Marcinkiewicz integrals on non-homogeneous metric measure spaces

Let(X,d,μ)be a metric measure space satisfying the upper doubling condition and the geometrically doubling condition in the sense of Hyto¨nen.We prove that the L p(μ)-boundedness with p∈(1,∞)of the Marcinkiewicz integral is equivalent to either of its boundedness from L1(μ)into L1,∞(μ)or from the atomic Hardy space H1(μ)into L1(μ).Moreover,we show that,if the Marcinkiewicz integral is bounded from H1(μ)into L1(μ),then it is also bounded from L∞(μ)into the space RBLO(μ)(the regularized BLO),which is a proper subset of RBMO(μ)(the regularized BMO)and,conversely,if the Marcinkiewicz integral is bounded from L∞b(μ)(the set of all L∞(μ)functions with bounded support)into the space RBMO(μ),then it is also bounded from the finite atomic Hardy space H1,∞fin(μ)into L1(μ).These results essentially improve the known results even for non-doubling measures.     

Thermomagnetic convection under alternating magnetic fields

Thermomagnetic convection within a square cavity filled with a magnetic fluid was studied under alternating magnetic field. The aim was to explore the response of the magnetic fluid towards alternating magnetic fields. A set of frequencies for the sinusoidal variation of the magnetic field intensity was used to study the heat transfer characteristics across the problem geometry. The effect on heat transfer was quantified by an averaged Nusselt number. (© 2017 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

On the refined modeling of the force distribution in a bistable magnetoelastic energy harvesting system due to a magnetic field

Abstract: The problem of a bistable magnetoelastic beam under base excitation was discussed in [1] under the aspect of chaotic behaviour in mechanical systems. Three decades later the system was used in [2] to design an energy harvesting system which performs well under harmonic excitation for a broad range of excitation frequencies due to its bistability. The initial modeling was tailored to obtain a model with one degree of freedom based on the assumption that the magnetic force acts on the beam tip only. A more appropriate model can be found when considering a distributed force along the beam. The authors present the force distribution on a ferromagnetic beam due to the magnetic field of two permanent magnets. A semi-analytic method is used to compute the magnetic field. The force distribution can in future be used to derive a refined nonlinear dynamical model for the ferromagnetic elastic beam. (© 2016 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Homogenization of the stationary periodic Maxwell system in the case of constant permeability

The homogenization problem in the small period limit for the stationary periodic Maxwell system in ℝ³ is considered. It is assumed that the permittivity η^ε(x)=η(ε⁻x), ε > 0, is a rapidly oscillating positive matrix function and the permeability μ₀ is a constant positive matrix. For all four physical fields (the electric and magnetic field intensities, the electric displacement field, and the magnetic flux density), we obtain uniform approximations in the L ₂(ℝ³)-norm with order-sharp remainder estimates. __________ Translated from Funktsional’nyi Analiz i Ego Prilozheniya, Vol. 41, No. 2, pp. 3–23, 2007 Original Russian Text Copyright ? by M. Sh. Birman and T. A. Suslina Dedicated to the memory of the great mathematician Mark Grigor’evich Krein Supported by RFBR grants no. 05-01-01076-a, 05-01-02944-YaF-a.     

Cosserat continuum modelling of grain size effects in metal polycrystals

The global response of polycrystalline aggregates is investigated, in order to simulate grain size effects in IF ferritic steels. The mechanics of generalized continua is used to describe the studied phenomena. The polycrystal is regarded as a heterogeneous Cosserat medium, and the overall properties are estimated using a specific homogenization technique. To illustrate the capabilities of the model, some simple bidimensionnal computations are presented for different grain sizes. Afterwards tridimensionnal computations are shown in order to extract the global effect on the mechanical behaviour for grain sizes ranging from 5 µm to 120 µm. The finite element response is harder for the smallest grain size, but the model still underestimate the grain size effect on the tensile response. (© 2005 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Asphalt concrete: From µCT scans towards multiscale modelling of effective properties

This paper will give a short overview about the geometrical aspects in asphalt concrete and especially the creation of artificial microstructures on the basis of informations taken from µCT scans. Informations such as volume fraction or particle size distribution are the foundation for the artificial microstructures. The generation is executed on the basis of a Voronoi diagram with an option for weighting, shrinking and pseudo-rotation of the particles. The microstructures are generated in a periodic manner to ensure periodic boundary conditions for all later numerical analyses. (© 2014 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Bi-orthogonality and zeros of transformed polynomials

Let D and E be two real intervals. We consider transformations that map polynomials with zeros in D into polynomials with zeros in E. A general technique for the derivation of such transformations is presented. It is based on identifying the transformation with a parametrised distribution φ (x, µ), x ∈ E, µ ∈ D, and forming the bi-orthogonal polynomial system with respect to φ. Several examples of such transformations are given.     

Singular cardinals and strong extenders

We investigate the circumstances under which there exist a singular cardinal µ and a short (κ,µ)-extender E witnessing “κ is µ-strong”, such that µ is singular in Ult(V, E).     

Θ-type Calderón-Zygmund operators with non-doubling measures

Let µ be a Radon measure on ? ^d which may be non-doubling. The only condition that µ must satisfy is µ(B(x, r)) ≤ Cr ⁿ for all x∈? ^d , r > 0 and for some fixed 0 < n ≤ d. In this paper, under this assumption, we prove that θ-type Calderón-Zygmund operator which is bounded on L ²(µ) is also bounded from L ^∞(µ) into RBMO(µ) and from H _atb ^1,∞ (µ) into L ¹(µ). According to the interpolation theorem introduced by Tolsa, the L ^p (µ)-boundedness (1 < p < ∞) is established for θ-type Calderón-Zygmund operators. Via a sharp maximal operator, it is shown that commutators and multilinear commutators of θ-type Calderón-Zygmund operator with RBMO(µ) function are bounded on L ^p (µ) (1 < p < ∞).     

Finding mixed strategies with small supports in extensive form games

The complexity of algorithms that compute strategies or operate on them typically depends on the representation length of the strategies involved. One measure for thesize of a mixed strategy is the number of strategies in itssupport — the set of pure strategies to which it gives positive probability. This paper investigates the existence of “small” mixed strategies in extensive form games, and how such strategies can be used to create more efficient algorithms. The basic idea is that, in an extensive form game, a mixed strategy induces a small set ofrealization weights that completely describe its observable behavior. This fact can be used to show that for any mixed strategy μ, there exists a realization-equivalent mixed strategy µ′ whose size is at most the size of the game tree. For a player with imperfect recall, the problem of finding such a strategy µ′ (given the realization weights) is NP-hard. On the other hand, if μ is a behavior strategy, µ′ can be constructed from μ in time polynomial in the size of the game tree. In either case, we can use the fact that mixed strategies need never be too large for constructing efficient algorithms that search for equilibria. In particular, we construct the first exponential-time algorithm for finding all equilibria of an arbitrary two-person game in extensive form.     

Problem of magnetoelasticity for a solid with the spherical cavity

The solution of a static problem of magnetoelastisity for a soft ferromagnetic elastic solid with the spherical cavity is obtained on the base of the linear theory of Brown, Pao and Yeh. It is assumed that the solid has a multi-domain structure, so the hysteresis loss and remanent magnetization are neglected. The solid is affected by a magnetic field which is uniform at infinity and determined by the magnetic induction vector. The cavity causes some distortion of the field distribution near the interface. So the field induces magnetic moments and produces stresses and deformations in the body. The problem is solved for an unperturbed strain state. An approach is discussed to find the perturbed values on the base of the solution obtained. The Fourier variable separation method is used. The stresses are presented via harmonic functions. As a result magnetoelastic stresses are obtained in the closed form. Their distribution in the body is studied and some results of numerical calculations are shown. (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

On a method for computing waveguide scattering matrices in the presence of point spectrum

A waveguide occupies a domain G in ? ⁿ⁺¹, n ? 1, having several cylindrical outlets to infinity. The waveguide is described by a general elliptic boundary value problem that is self-adjoint with respect to the Green formula and contains a spectral parameter µ. As an approximation to a row of the scattering matrix S(µ) we suggest a minimizer of a quadratic functional J ^R (·, µ). To construct such a functional, we solve an auxiliary boundary value problem in the bounded domain obtained by cutting off, at a distance R, the waveguide outlets to infinity. It is proved that, if a finite interval [µ₁, µ₂] of the continuous spectrum contains no thresholds, then, as R → ∞, the minimizer tends to the row of the scattering matrix at an exponential rate uniformly with respect to µ ∈ [µ₁, µ₂]. The interval may contain some waveguide eigenvalues whose eigenfunctions exponentially decay at infinity.     

Spaces of measurable functions

For a metrizable space X and a finite measure space (Ω, $\mathfrak{M}$ , µ), the space M _µ(X) of all equivalence classes (under the relation of equality almost everywhere mod µ) of $\mathfrak{M}$ -measurable functions from Ω to X, whose images are separable, equipped with the topology of convergence in measure, and some of its subspaces are studied. In particular, it is shown that M _µ(X) is homeomorphic to a Hilbert space provided µ is (nonzero) nonatomic and X is completely metrizable and has more than one point.     

Mathematical modelling of tongue deformation during swallow in patients with head and neck cancer

ABSTRACT

Cancer localized to the tongue is often characterized by increased stiffness in the affected region. This stiffness affects swallow in a manner that is difficult to quantify in patients. A biomechanical model was developed to simulate the spatio-temporal deformation of the tongue during the pharyngeal phase of swallow in patients with cancer of the tongue base. The model involves finite element analysis (FEA) of a three-dimensional (3D) model of the tongue reconstructed from magnetic resonance images (MRI). The tongue tissue is assumed to be hyper-elastic. In order to examine the effects of tissue change (increased stiffness) due to the presence of cancer localized to the tongue base, various sections of the 3D geometry are modified to exhibit different elastic properties. Three cases are considered, representing the normal tongue, a tongue with early-stage cancer, and tongue with late-stage cancer. Early- and late-stage cancers are differentiated by the degree of stiffness within the base of tongue tissue. Analysis of the model suggests that healthy tongue has a maximum deformation of 9.38 mm, whereas tongues having mild cancer and severe cancer have a maximum deformation of 8.65 and 6.17 mm, respectively. Biomechanical modelling is a useful tool to explain and estimate swallowing abnormalities associated with tongue cancer and post-treatment characteristics.