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Abstract Background Shikonin, a phytochemical purified from Lithospermum erythrorhizon, has been shown to confer diverse pharmacological activities, including accelerating granuloma formation, wound healing, anti-inflammation and others, and is explored for immune-modifier activities for vaccination in this study. Transdermal gene-based vaccine is an attractive approach for delivery of DNA transgenes encoding specific tumor antigens to host skin tissues. Skin dendritic cells (DCs), a potent antigen-presenting cell type, is known to play a critical role in transmitting and orchestrating tumor antigen-specific immunities against cancers. The present study hence employs these various components for experimentation. Method The mRNA and protein expression of RANTES were detected by RT-PCR and ELISA, respectively. The regional expression of RANTES and tissue damage in test skin were evaluated via immunohistochemistry assay. Fluorescein isothiocyanate sensitization assay was performed to trace the trafficking of DCs from the skin vaccination site to draining lymph nodes. Adjuvantic effect of shikonin on gene gun-delivered human gp100 (hgp100) DNA cancer vaccine was studied in a human gp100-transfected B16 (B16/hgp100) tumor model. Results Among various phytochemicals tested, shikonin induced the highest level of expression of RANTES in normal skin tissues. In comparison, mouse RANTES cDNA gene transfection induced a higher level of mRANTES expression for a longer period, but caused more extensive skin damage. Topical application of shikonin onto the immunization site before gene gun-mediated vaccination augmented the population of skin DCs migrating into the draining lymph nodes. A hgp100 cDNA gene vaccination regimen with shikonin pretreatment as an adjuvant in a B16/hgp100 tumor model increased cytotoxic T lymphocyte activities in splenocytes and lymph node cells on target tumor cells. Conclusion Together, our findings suggest that shikonin can effectively enhance anti-tumor potency of a gene-based cancer vaccine via the induction of RANTES expression at the skin immunization site.

The broadcast scheduling problem (BSP) in packet radio networks is a well-known NP-complete combinatorial optimization problem. The broadcast scheduling avoids packet collisions by allowing only one node transmission in each collision domain of a time division multiple access (TDMA) network. It also improves the transmission utilization by assigning one transmission time slot to one or more nodes; thus, each node transmits at least once in each time frame. An optimum transmission schedule could minimize the length of a time frame while minimizing the number of idle nodes. In this paper, we propose a new iterated local search (ILS) algorithm that consists of two special perturbation and local search operators to solve the BSPs. Computational experiments are applied to benchmark data sets and randomly generated problem instances. The experimental results show that our ILS approach is effective in solving the problems with only a few runtimes, even for very large networks with 2,500 nodes.

Introduction : The simplicity of integration and co-type features of microstrip antennas make them intriguing for a broad variety of applications, particularly with the growing usage of mmWave bands in wireless communications and the constant rise in data transfer in communication situations. Method: This paper proposes a novel design of micrstrip patch antenna for mmWave B5G communication. The main idea is to realize four-mode antenna the operates in four different frequencies. The geometry is rectangular patch whose resonance frequency is adjusted by varying the walls and pins of the structure. Results: Simulation results show that the proposed antenna design has improved fractional bandwidth and performance as compared with existing antennas. Discussion: The observed curve indicates that, in agreement with the modeling findings, there are four resonance spots in the operational frequency region of 2.5–3.4 GHz: 2.68 GHz, 2.9 GHz, 3.05 GHz, and 3.3 GHz, which correspond to TM1/2,0, TM3/2,0, and TMRS, respectively, and TM1/2,2 four resonant modes, within the frequency range, the observed antenna gain peak is around 9 dBi, which is consistent with the measured results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A chiral supramolecular liquid crystal based on a pillararene mesogen was constructed. The regulation of liquid crystal behavior was achieved through the host–guest interactions between the pillararene-based mesogen and a tetraphenylethylene-containing guest. In addition, this supramolecular liquid crystal system, showing pH-responsive fluorescence emission character, was applied as an information encryption material capable of storing multiple levels of distinct information, thereby enriching the application of liquid crystal materials in the field of information security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmentally friendly, high adsorption efficiency, and recyclable adsorbents meet the actual needs of organic dye wastewater treatment. Driven by noncovalent interactions between chitosan (CS) and 5,10,15,20‐tetra(4‐hydroxyphenyl) porphyrin sodium (THPPNa) under acidic conditions, a supramolecular polymer network is constructed. The supramolecular polymer network is applied as an excellent adsorbent for the removal of organic dyes from water with high efficiency. In addition, the supramolecular adsorbent shows excellent selectivity for the removal of organic anionic dyes from the mixtures of organic anionic and cationic dyes in water. Furthermore, the removal efficiency of anionic dyes of the network adsorbent keeps over 95% even after five adsorption–desorption cycles, indicating its reusability. This supramolecular polymer network shows its great potential as a low‐cost, effective, and selective adsorbent for removing organic dyes from water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clusterization‐triggered emissive (CTE) materials have attracted great attention in recent years. The regulation of the emission property of materials with CTE property through supramolecular interactions is an excellent strategy for the construction of smart fluorescent materials. In this work, we have prepared a regulatable supramolecular polymer network with CTE properties through pillararene‐based host−guest interactions. The pillar[5]arene‐grafted poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) showed a classic CTE character. After adding Brooker's merocyanine‐grafted polymer to the solution of the pillar[5]arene‐containing PMMA, the supramolecular polymer network gel formed by the host−guest interactions between pillararene and Brooker's merocyanine guest. This supramolecular network showed brighter fluorescence than the pillar[5]arene‐grafted PMMA in the solid state. In addition, the fluorescence emission of the supramolecular network can be further regulated by pH conditions. After adding an acid, the Brooker's merocyanine‐containing guest polymer was protonated, and the supramolecular network changed to a protonated network through host−guest interactions between protonated Brooker's merocyanine guest and pillararene. Interestingly, the fluorescence was quenched when the supramolecular network turned into the protonated network. After adding a base, the protonated network can convert back to the original network, along with recovery of the fluorescence. Therefore, the regulation of the fluorescence of the supramolecular polymer materials with CTE was successfully realized by pillararene‐based host−guest interactions. Furthermore, this tailorable fluorescent supramolecular polymer network system was applied as an information encryption material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The traditional base station in C-RAN is divided into three parts: a pool of centralized baseband units (BBUs), a fronthaul network that links the BBUs and remote radio units (RRUs), and RRUs. This paper proposes a novel cooperative algorithm for resource optimization in a time-wavelength division multiplexed (TWDM) passive optical network (PON) incorporating a cloud radio access network (C-RAN). First, a joint collaborative strategy is deployed to optimize cooperative caching and transmission in the wireless and optical domains. Then, the quality of experience (QoE) is improved by bandwidth configuration and caching. Simulation results show that the average throughput of the proposed QoE-aware video cooperative caching and transmission mechanism (QACCTM) algorithm is approximately 30% higher than that of other algorithms. Compared with the relative average residual clutter power (RARCP) and quality-aware wireless edge caching (QAWEC) algorithms, the proposed QACCTM algorithm reduces the access delay by approximately 27.1% and 15.9%, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]