Background and objective: There has been a dramatic increase in photothermal therapy as a minimally invasive treatment modality for cancer therapy due to the development of novel nano-materials as the light absorbing agents. PEG-functionalized Single-Walled carbon Nanotubes (PEG-SWNTs) with strong optical absorption in the broad visible and Near Infrared (NIR) waveband offer unique advantages for photothermal cancer therapy. The objective of this study is to investigate the rule of PEG-SWNTs in absorbing 785 nm NIR laser light and generating hyperthermia. Materials and methods: Eight concentrations of PEG-SWNTs solutions were prepared by 2-fold serial dilution at concentrations of 1.0, 0.5, 0.25, 0.125, 0.0625, 0.0312, 0.0156 and 0.0078 mg/ml. The solvent without PEG-SWNTs was used as control. The temperature changes of the PEG-SWNTs solution during laser irradiation were monitored with an infrared thermometer. Three levels of laser power densities were chosen for the treatment including 100, 200 and 500 mW/cm2. Results and conclusion: The temperature of PEG-SWNTs solution increases linearly with laser power density, but nonlinearly with irradiation time and concentration. The solution temperature increases much faster within the first 3 minutes of irradiation and then gradually levels off as the irradiation approaching 10 minutes. The maximum temperature change (∆Tmax) in each solution increases sharply with increasing PEG-SWNTs concentration up to 0.125 mg/ml and eventually levels off beyond 0.25 mg/ml. Based on this observation, optimized treatment parameters (laser power density and SWNT concentration) could be obtained to raise the temperature by 10-30˚C sufficiently for causing cell apoptosis and/or necrosis. For in vitro cellular and in vivo tissue studies, similar experiments could be carried out to find the optimal treatment parameters.

This study examined the effect of different levels (1%, 1.5% and 2%) of an aqueous nanosuspension of clay minerals offered at different intervals (once per week and once every two weeks) compared to tap water with or without antibiotics supplementation on the growth performance, carcass characteristics and internal organs measurements of broilers. In all 640 one–day-old unsexed Lohman broiler chicks were randomly allocated into 32 pens (1.15 m × 2.10 m) in an open-sided house (8 treatments × 4 replicates × 20 chicks). A statistical analysis of the results shows that the 2% aqueous nanosuspension of clay minerals offered once every two weeks significantly improved the growth performance, carcass characteristics and internal organs measurements of the broilers. We can conclude that nanotechnology is a promising new tool for improving broiler production; however, additional studies are needed in this field.