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Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) films with thickness 40$\mu$m are irradiated with 3keV argon ion beams with different fluence ranging from $0.5\times 10^{18}$ions.cm${}^{-2}$ to $2\times 10^{18}$ions.cm${}^{-2}$ using locally designed broad ion source. The changes in the PET structure are characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) techniques. The XRD patterns show that the peak intensity decreases with irradiation and the particle size decreases from 65.75 Å for the un-irradiated to 52.80 Å after irradiation. The FTIR indicates partial decrease and reduction in the intensity of the bands due to the degradation of the polymer after ion irradiation. The optical energy band gap decreases from 3.14eV to 3.05eV and the number of carbon cluster increases from 119 to 126 after ion irradiation. The results show a slight increase in the electrical conductivities and the dielectric constant ($\epsilon$). The results indicate the effectiveness of using PET films as capacitors and resistors in industrial applications.

Medical image classification is currently a challenging task that can be used to aid the diagnosis of different brain diseases. Thus, exploratory and discriminative analysis techniques aiming to obtain representative features from the images play a decisive role in the design of effective Computer Aided Diagnosis (CAD) systems, which is especially important in the early diagnosis of dementia. In this work, we present a technique that allows using specific time series analysis techniques with 3D images. This is achieved by sampling the image using a fractal-based method which preserves the spatial relationship among voxels. In addition, a method called Empirical functional PCA (EfPCA) is presented, which combines Empirical Mode Decomposition (EMD) with functional PCA to express an image in the space spanned by a basis of empirical functions, instead of using components computed by a predefined basis as in Fourier or Wavelet analysis. The devised technique has been used to classify images from the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) and the Parkinson Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI), achieving accuracies up to 93% and 92% differential diagnosis tasks (AD versus controls and PD versus Controls, respectively). The results obtained validate the method, proving that the information retrieved by our methodology is significantly linked to the diseases.

The purpose of this study was to examine whether pain-induced brain activation was suppressed by acupuncture analgesia. We investigated the suppression of the pain-induced neuronal activation in specific brain areas of three male rhesus monkeys (aged four years old) using positron emission tomography (PET), in which changes in the regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) were examined as an index of the neuronal activation. The brain areas such as the thalamus, insula and anterior cingulate cortex were activated by heating the tail of monkeys in 47°C water compared to the heating at 37°C. Those activations were suppressed by electroacupuncture (EA) with a 2 sec alteration of the frequency of 4 Hz/60 Hz at the right ST36 (the upper anterior tibial muscle) and the right LI4 (the back palm between the first and second metacarpal) acupoints. Meanwhile, this EA analgesic effect was confirmed by prolonging the tail withdrawal latencies from hot water in the temperature range from 45 to 50°C.These brain areas were corresponded to the pain-related areas as reported in previous studies. In conclusion, we were able to visualize the acupuncture analgesia in the CNS. We also detected the brain areas activated or inactivated by acupuncture. The areas that responded to acupuncture stimulation at 47°C water were different from the regions at 37°C. We consider that this difference in the response to acupuncture may support the variation of the clinical efficacy of acupuncture in patients bearing pain or other disorders.

Subjective cognitive decline (SCD), characterized by self-perceived subtle cognitive impairment ahead of the appearance of explicit and measurable cognitive deficits, is regarded as the preclinical manifestation of the pathological change continuum of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). We were committed to exploring the amyloid and glucose metabolic signatures related to imminent brain metabolic changes in SCD subjects. This study included 39 subjects (mean age = 71.9 years; 14 males and 25 females) diagnosed with SCD disease and 39 gender-matched healthy controls (HCs) (mean age = 75.2; 16 males and 23 females) with brain [18F] fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (PET) images and [18F] florbetapir PET images. The standardized uptake value ratios (SUVRs) of PET images within the regions of interest (ROIs) were calculated. Inter-group SUVR differences were assessed by two-sample $t$-testing and receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) analyses. A generalized linear model (GLM) was employed to evaluate the correlations between amyloid and FDG uptake. Compared with HCs, SCD subjects showed significantly increased amyloid SUVR, as well as significantly increased glucose SUVR in the olfactory, amygdala, thalamus, heschl gyrus, superior and middle temporal gyrus and temporal pole (all $P<0.05$). The amyloid SUVR of thalamus was found to have a better ROC result (area under the curve (AUC): 0.77, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.66–0.86) in the HC group, as was the case with the glucose SUVR of the middle temporal gyrus (AUC: 0.83, 95% CI: 0.73–0.91). There were significant positive correlations between amyloid and glucose SUVRs ($P<0.05$). The amyloid SUVR of the thalamus showed a significantly better main effect (odd ratio $=$ 2.91, 95% CI: 1.44–6.7, $P<0.001$), and the glucose SUVR of the heschl gyrus indicated an enhanced main effect (odd ratio $=$ 5.08, 95% CI: 1.86–18.15, $P<0.001$). SCD subjects demonstrated significant amyloid accumulation and glucose hypermetabolism in specific brain regions, and amyloid pathology overlapped with regions of glucose abnormality. These findings may advance the understanding of imminent pathological changes in the SCD stage and help to provide clinical guidelines for interventional management.

Metal complexes have been used as medicinal compounds. Metals have advantageous features over organic compounds. Significant applications of metal complexes are in the field of nuclear medicine. Radiopharmaceuticals are drugs containing radioisotopes used for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes.

The generalized targeting strategy for molecular imaging probe consists of three essential parts: (i) reporter unit or payload, (ii) carrier, and (iii) targeting system. Medicinal radiopharmaceutical chemistry pays special consideration to radioisotopes, as a reporter unit for diagnostic application or as a payload for therapeutic application. Targeting is achieved by a few approaches but the most common is the bifunctional chelator approach. While designing a radiopharmaceutical, a range of issues needs to be considered including properties of metal radioisotopes, bifunctional chelators, linkers, and targeting molecules. Designing radiopharmaceuticals requires consideration of two key words: "compounds of biological interest" and "fit for intended use." The ultimate goal is the development of new diagnostic methods and treatment.

Diagnostic metal radiopharmaceuticals are used for SPECT and PET applications. Technetium chemistry constitutes a major portion of SPECT and gallium chemistry constitutes a major portion of PET. Therapeutic radiopharmaceuticals can be constructed by using alpha-, beta minus-, or Auger electron-emitting radiometals. Special uses of medicinal radiopharmaceuticals include internal radiation therapy, brachytherapy, immunoPET, radioimmunotherapy, and peptide receptor radionuclide imaging and therapy.

The control of ionic transportation inside the multi asymmetric conical nanopores in polyethylene terephthalate (PET) membrane was investigated. The conical nanopores were prepared by chemical etching in irradiated PET foil using etchant (9 M NaOH) and stopping solution (1 M NaCl $+$ 1 M HCOOH). The behavior of ionic current was recorded under stepping voltage $-$2V to $+$2V at different molar concentrations of potassium halides (KCl, KBr and KI) under symmetric bathing condition in electrochemical cell. It is found that the presence of multiple ionic species and the occurrence of counterion condensation of charge regulated polyelectrolyte play an effective role in ionic current rectification (ICR). The electrical conductance of conical nanopores may be estimated by measuring the ionic current rectification properties of track-etched nanopores. The charge transport properties vary with molar concentration and pH of electrolyte. Moreover, ICR may be used as a voltage gating phenomena with wide technological applications.

The development of cell therapies in animal models and patients requires robust in vivo imaging techniques to track the administration, migration, integration, division and fate of administered stem cells and to monitor any morphological and physiological effects on the damaged tissue after therapy. This chapter outlines the well-established imaging modalities such as CT (computed tomography), MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), PET (positron emission tomography), SPECT (single photon emission computed tomography), and EBUS (endobronchial ultrasound) and discusses recent advances in biophotonic technologies including OCT (optical coherence tomography), DOI (diffuse optical imaging), and CLSM (confocal laser scanning microscopy) and their integration with endoscopy for in situ, in vivo cellular level imaging. Comparisons are made of sensitivity and spatial resolution for detecting stem cells in vivo, as well as imaging the lung in small animal models and patients. We also outline the challenges of labelling stem cells in vivo and the role of responsive agents to visualise the local physiological conditions.