Search

Prostate cancer (PC), particularly its metastatic castration-resistant form (mCRPC), is a leading cause of cancer-related deaths among men in the Western world. Traditional systemic treatments, including hormonal therapy and chemotherapy, offer limited effectiveness due to tumors’ inherent resistance to these therapies. Moreover, they often come with significant side effects. We have developed a delivery method using a tumor-cell-specific heptamethine carbocyanine dye (DZ) designed to transport therapeutic agents directly to tumor cells. This research evaluated simvastatin (SIM) as the antitumor payload because of its demonstrated chemopreventive effects on human cancers and its well-documented safety profile. We designed and synthesized a DZ-SIM conjugate for tumor cell targeting. PC cell lines and xenograft tumor models were used to assess tumor-cell targeting specificity and killing activity and to investigate the corresponding mechanisms. DZ-SIM treatment effectively killed PC cells regardless of their androgen receptor status or inherent therapeutic resistance. The conjugate targeted and suppressed xenograft tumor formation without harming normal cells of the host. In cancer cells, DZ-SIM was enriched in subcellular organelles, including mitochondria, where the conjugate formed adducts with multiple proteins and caused the loss of transmembrane potential, promoting cell death. The DZ-SIM specifically targets PC cells and their mitochondria, resulting in a loss of mitochondrial function and cell death. With a unique subcellular targeting strategy, the conjugate holds the potential to outperform existing chemotherapeutic drugs. It presents a novel strategy to circumvent therapeutic resistance, offering a more potent treatment for mCRPC.

Background Korean pine nuts (Semen Pinus koraiensis(P. koraiensis)) have been a valuable ingredient in Korean cuisine since ancient times, and the classical literature on traditional medicine states that pine nuts can moisturize skin.Aims To confirm the therapeutic efficacy of the ethanol extract of these pine nuts in an animal contact dermatitis (CD) model.Materials and Methods Korean pine nuts were extracted using 70% ethanol, and the crude extract obtained was condensed and lyophilized to produce EEPK (the 70% ethanol extract of P. koraiensis). A DNFB (1-fluoro-2,4-dinitrofluorobenzene)-induced BALB/c mouse model of CD was used to investigate the effects of EEPK on skin symptoms, histopathological abnormalities, and cytokine secretion in inflamed tissues.Results EEPK reduced skin color changes, lesion severities, and dorsal skin thickening and inhibited epidermis hyperplasia and immune cell infiltration into inflamed tissues. In addition, EEPK suppressed the productions of tumor necrosis factor-α, interferon-γ, interleukin-6, and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 but did not affect body weights or spleen/body weight ratios.Conclusion P. koraiensishas potential as a therapeutic agent for CD and as a treatment for inflammatory skin disease management products. Furthermore, the mechanism underlying its therapeutic effects differs from that of corticosteroids.

To investigate the application of virtual reality training in vesicourethral anastomosis during robot-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP).

The Dirac cone structure provides massless Fermions, ultrahigh carrier mobility, and many other novel features that are significant for massless and dissipationless quantum devices. The anisotropic Dirac cone has the advantage of anisotropic Fermi velocity and carrier mobility, which is different from the isotropic Dirac cone. Here we report two different configurations of B2Se monolayers with anisotropic Dirac cones. Fully optimized B2Se, as a rare two-dimensional pure planar pristine honeycomb structure, can maintain good structural integrity at higher temperatures up to 1000 K in ab initio molecular dynamics simulation, Young’s modulus and Poisson’s ratio show high anisotropy, the Fermi velocity of 106m/s is the same order of magnitude as graphene. Moreover, we analyze the rationality of the existence of Dirac cones in the structure through wave functions and symmetry. This work provides novel candidates for finding direction-dependent, massless, and dissipationless quantum devices.

Background:Skin moisture management is important for maintaining healthy skin and treating inflammatory skin diseases, and skin barrier function can be assessed by measuring trans-epidermal water loss (TEWL) and skin moisture content.Aim:This study was designed to investigate the effects of a topical cream containing 17% herbal extract (Cream17) on skin barrier function.Materials and methods:In this study, the ability of investigational product (IP) to improve skin barrier function was investigated in 33 subjects using a randomized and assessor-blinded four-week clinical trial. In our study, the effects of IP on TEWL, skin water content, and the degree of itching were investigated.Results:After four weeks of application, TEWL was significantly reduced by IP (p< .001), and skin water content was significantly increased (p< .001) compared to non-treated control. In addition, topical application of IP significantly lowered the visual analog scale at the second and fourth weeks after treatment commencement as compared with those in the untreated control group (visit 3 at the second week, p< .05; visit 4 at the fourth week, p< .001).Conclusion:These results indicate that Cream17 can improve the skin barrier function, which is important for managing dry skin conditions such as atopic dermatitis.

ABSTRACTMultiple single crystal diamonds (SCDs) were first synthesised on 24 high pressure high temperature (HPHT) synthetic type Ib (100) SCD seeds by direct current glow discharge plasma chemical vapour deposition (DC-GD-CVD) system with gas mixture of CH4–H2–Ar. Owing to the increase of the formed plasma density and temperature caused by the addition of 1.2 vol.-% Ar gas, a high growth rate of 22.2 µm h−1for diamonds deposition was achieved by the plasma with diameter of 2 inches at 900–950°C. After deposition for 50 h, diamond material with a thickness of about 1 mm was uniformly deposited on each seed. The average FWHM value, hardness and transmittance of as-obtained SCDs were 3.2 cm−1, 105 GPa and 69.4%, revealing the high quality of multiple SCDs fabricated by the DC-GD-CVD method.

Multiple single crystal diamonds (SCDs) were first synthesised on 24 high pressure high temperature (HPHT) synthetic type Ib (100) SCD seeds by direct current glow discharge plasma chemical vapour deposition (DC-GD-CVD) system with gas mixture of CH4–H2–Ar. Owing to the increase of the formed plasma density and temperature caused by the addition of 1.2 vol.-% Ar gas, a high growth rate of 22.2 µm h-1for diamonds deposition was achieved by the plasma with diameter of 2 inches at 900–950°C. After deposition for 50 h, diamond material with a thickness of about 1 mm was uniformly deposited on each seed. The average FWHM value, hardness and transmittance of as-obtained SCDs were 3.2 cm-1, 105 GPa and 69.4%, revealing the high quality of multiple SCDs fabricated by the DC-GD-CVD method.

Rashba spin–orbit coupling (SOC) in topological insulators (TIs) is a very interesting phenomenon and has received extensive attention in two-dimensional (2D) materials. However, the coexistence of Rashba SOC and band topology, especially for materials with a square lattice, is still lacking. Here, by using first-principles calculations, we propose for the first time a SeTe monolayer as a 2D candidate with these novel properties. We find that the square lattice exhibits anisotropic band dispersions near the Fermi level and a Rashba effect related to large SOC and inversion asymmetry, which leads to a Dirac semimetal state. Another prominent feature is that SeTe can achieve a topological state under a tensile strain of only 1%, characterized by the Z2invariant and helical edge states. Our findings demonstrate that SeTe is a promising material for novel electronic and spintronics applications.

A nanotwinned surface is formed on a titanium alloy under nanoindentations. Prior to nanoindentation, blocks of a ternary titanium alloy are machined by chemical mechanical polishing. The surface roughness Ra and peak-to-valley values are 1.135 nm and 8.82 nm, respectively. The hardness in the indented surface is greatly increased, indicated from the load-displacement curves compared to the polished surfaces. Nanotwins are confirmed using transmission electron microscopy. The nanotwinned surface is uniformly generated by nanoindentations at room temperature, which is different from previous findings, in which high temperature, high pressure, or chemical reagents are usually used. The nanotwinned surface is produced by pure mechanical stress, neither material removal nor addition.

In this study, nanotwinned surface is fabricated on a Nickel alloy by means of a developed diamond panel with tips array. The diamond panel has an area of 10×10 mm2, and is grown using microwave chemical vapor deposition. The diamond tips are submicron in radius and formed on a silicon substrate with an array full of uniformed inverted pyramid pits. The nanotwinned surface is produced under the pressure of 1 MPa exerted by the diamond panel with tips array. Nanotwins are confirmed using transmission electron microscopy. The nanotwinned surface is generated by indention of diamond panel at room temperature using mechanical force, neither material removal nor chemical reagents. This is different from previous reports, in which high temperature, high pressure, chemical reagents or vacuum conditions are employed usually.

This paper explored how to make use of extended Kalman filter (EKF) technique to estimate the state of charge (SOC) of battery. Based on the equivalent circuit model of battery, a mathematical model of EKF was established, and an EKF algorithm of SOC estimation was presented. By single chip microcomputer (MCU) of MC9S12DG128, a hardware platform for experimenting with this algorithm was built up. Then this algorithm was verified by two kinds of discharge tests on the hardware in the loop platform. The test results show that this algorithm is able to satisfy the requirement of SOC estimation. It has a high accuracy, and a low error accumulation.