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Boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) was first proposed as early as 1936, and research on BNCT has progressed relatively slowly but steadily. BNCT is a potentially useful tool for cancer treatment that selectively damages cancer cells while sparing normal tissue. BNCT is based on the nuclear reaction that occurs when 10B capture low-energy thermal neutrons to yield high-linear energy transfer (LET) α particles and recoiling 7Li nuclei. A large number of 10B atoms have to be localized within the tumor cells for BNCT to be effective, and an adequate number of thermal neutrons need to be absorbed by the 10B atoms to generate lethal 10B (n, α)7Li reactions. Effective boron neutron capture therapy cannot be achieved without appropriate boron carriers. Improvement in boron delivery and the development of the best dosing paradigms for both boronophenylalanine (BPA) and sodium borocaptate (BSH) are of major importance, yet these still have not been optimized. Here, we present a review of this treatment modality from the perspectives of radiation oncology, biology, and physics. This manuscript provides a brief introduction of the mechanism of cancer-cell-selective killing by BNCT, radiobiological factors, and progress in the development of boron carriers and neutron sources as well as the results of clinical study.

A novel and enantioselective synthesis of (S)-2-pipecolic acid (5) has been achieved from Oppolzer’s sultam (1) and ethyl N-(diphenylmethylene)glycinate (2) as readily available starting materials....

The demand of high-performance filter media for the face masks is urgent nowadays due to the severe air pollution. Herein, a highly breathable and thermal comfort membrane that combines the asymmetrically superwettable skin layer with the nanofibrous membrane has been fabricated via successive electrospinning and electrospraying technologies. Thanks to high porosity, interconnected pore structure, and across-thickness wettability gradient, the composite membrane with a low basis weight of 3.0 g m−2 exhibits a good air permeability of 278 mm s−1, a comparable water vapor permeability difference of 3.61 kg m−2 d−1, a high filtration efficiency of 99.3%, a low pressure drop of 64 Pa, and a favorable quality factor of 0.1089 Pa−1, which are better than those of the commercial polypropylene. Moreover, the multilayer-structured membrane displays a modest infrared transmittance of 92.1% that can keep the human face cool and comfort. This composite fibrous medium is expected to protect humans from PM2.5 and keep them comfortable even in a hygrothermal environment.

Rationale: Many external factors can induce the melanogenesis and inflammation of the skin. Salidroside (SAL) is the main active ingredient of Rhodiola, which is a perennial grass plant of the Family Crassulaceae. This study evaluated the effect and molecular mechanism of SAL on skin inflammation and melanin production. It then explored the molecular mechanism of melanin production under ultraviolet (UV) and inflammatory stimulation. Methods: VISIA skin analysis imaging system and DermaLab instruments were used to detect the melanin reduction and skin brightness improvement rate of the volunteers. UV-treated Kunming mice were used to detect the effect of SAL on skin inflammation and melanin production. Molecular docking and Biacore were used to verify the target of SAL. Immunofluorescence, luciferase reporter assay, CO-IP, pull-down, Western blot, proximity ligation assay (PLA), and qPCR were used to investigate the molecular mechanism by which SAL regulates skin inflammation and melanin production. Results: SAL can inhibit the inflammation and melanin production of the volunteers. SAL also exerted a protective effect on the UV-treated Kunming mice. SAL can inhibit the tyrosinase (TYR) activity and TYR mRNA expression in A375 cells. SAL can also regulate the ubiquitination degradation of interferon regulatory factor 1 (IRF1) by targeting prolyl 4-hydroxylase beta polypeptide (P4HB) to mediate inflammation and melanin production. This study also revealed that IRF1 and upstream stimulatory factor 1 (USF1) can form a transcription complex to regulate TYR mRNA expression. IRF1 also mediated inflammatory reaction and TYR expression under UV- and lipopolysaccharide-induced conditions. Moreover, SAL derivative SAL-plus (1-(3,5-dihydroxyphenyl) ethyl-β-d-glucoside) showed better effect on inflammation and melanin production than SAL. Conclusion: SAL can inhibit the inflammation and melanogenesis of the skin by targeting P4HB and regulating the formation of the IRF1/USF1 transcription complex. In addition, SAL-plus may be a new melanin production and inflammatory inhibitor.

Pancreatic cancer stem cells (CSCs) play an important role in the promotion of invasion and metastasis of pancreatic cancer. Protease activation receptor 1 (PAR1) is closely related to malignant progression of tumors, however, its effects on pancreatic cancer stem cell-like (CSC-like) properties formation have not been reported. In this work, the effects of PAR1 on pancreatic cancer stem cell-like (CSC-like) properties formation were studied. PAR1 overexpression can induce CSC-like properties in Aspc-1 cells, whereas interference of PAR1 in Panc-1 cells showed the contrary results. Data on patients with pancreatic cancer obtained from TCGA showed that high PAR1 expression and focal adhesion kinase (FAK) protein considerably affect the prognosis of patients. Further experiments showed that PAR1 could regulate FAK, PI3K, and AKT phosphorylation and the epithelial–mesenchymal transformation (EMT) in Aspc-1 and Panc-1 cells. Doxycycline, as a PAR1 inhibitor, could effectively inhibit the CSC-like properties of pancreatic cancer cells and the FAK/PI3K/AKT pathway activation. Doxycycline inhibits the growth of pancreatic cancer and enhances the treatment effect of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) in Panc-1 xenograft mouse model. In conclusion, PAR1 promotes the CSC-like properties and EMT of pancreatic cancer cells via the FAK/PI3K/AKT pathway. Doxycycline inhibits the pancreatic cancer through the PAR1/FAK/PI3K/AKT pathway and enhances the therapeutic effect of 5-FU.

Here, a kind of novel Ti3C2Tx MXene/ZnO nanorod hybrids was reported for optoelectronic NO2 sensors with high response, high sensing rate, sub-ppb detecting limit and superior reproducibility and reversibility. A facile anchored growth method was developed to obtain mesostructured Ti3C2Tx MXene/ZnO nanorod hybrids with a surface area of 146.8 m2/g. The sensor based on MXene/ZnO nanorod hybrids demonstrated greatly enhanced optoelectronic and gas-sensing performance to ppb-leveled NO2 upon UV illumination, in comparison with pure ZnO nanorods. The sensing responses to 5-200 ppb NO2 ranged from 21% to 346% at ambient temperatures, and the response time was 17 s and the recovery time was 24 s (to 50 ppb NO2). Moreover, the mesoporous hybrids exhibited the features of superior reversibility, sub-ppb detection limit (down to 0.2 ppb) and high selectivity to NO2. The extraordinary UV-activated NO2-sensing property was ascribed to the hierarchical mesostructure in addition to the effective photocarrier separation rendered by the highly photoconductive Ti3C2Tx MXene. This work demonstrates that rationally designed MXene-metal oxide hybrid sensitive materials are promising candidates for high-performance UV-activated NO2 sensor operated at ambient temperature.

Creating a lotus-leaf-structured membrane surface with nano/microstructures plays a key role in the development of functional membranes for oil/water separation; however, fabrication of such membranes with uniform and compact nano/microstructures via an efficient and facile method have demonstrated to be challenging. Herein, a superwetting nanofibrous membrane with strong corrosive resistance was prepared via co-electrospinning of polyacrylonitrile/sulfonated polyethersulfone nanofibrous membrane (PAN/SPES NFM), amination of PAN and subsequent electrostatic assembly of lotus-leaf-structure by binding the negatively charged silica nanoparticles (SiO2 NPs). Benefiting from the changes in pore size distribution and surface structure of nanofibrous membrane, the optimal membrane is endowed with an intriguing superhydrophilicity of 0°, an underwater superoleophobicity of 161°, and an outstanding oil proof pressure of 95.5 kPa. These fantastic features inspired the membrane to effectively separate the surfactant-stabilized oil-in-water microemulsion with a high water flux of 1852 ± 158 L m−2 h−1 and a high separation efficiency of 99.6% when a vacuum driven pressure of 10 kPa was applied. The layer-by-layer assembly method utilized in the construction of membrane roughness is expected to be applicable to a wide range of other selective wetting separation fields.

Context Sulfur mustard (SM), a bifunctional alkylating agent, can react with a variety of biochemical molecules (DNA, RNA, proteins and other cell components) to cause a series of serious health issues or even death. Although a plethora of research has been done, the pathogenesis of SM poisoning has yet to be fully understood due to its high complexity. As a consequence, a specific antidote has not yet been developed and the treatment of SM poisoning remains a medical challenge. In recent years, various biological products and cell transplantation in the treatment of SM poisoning offered a significant clinical treatment progress. By highlighting these and other research studies, we hereby summarize the progress in this field in an effort to provide useful information on the clinical treatment of SM poisoning. Objective This review summarizes the major advances of SM poisoning therapy by means of biological products (peptide and protein drugs, polysaccharides drugs, nucleic acid drugs, etc.), and cell transplantation (e.g., bone marrow, limbal stem cells, mesenchymal stem cells), as well as other relevant biotherapeutic approaches. Method We searched the database PubMed for published domestic and international articles using web based resources for information on histological, immunochemical, ultrastructural, and treatment features of SM-induced manifestations in both animal models and human tissues. To this end, we applied keywords containing mustard gas, chemical warfare, SM, eye, lung and skin. Results and conclusion Our review provides a comprehensive understanding of the advances of available biotherapies in SM poisoning, and its potential for the treatment of SM-induced injuries. Potentially, our review will provide new insights for future research studies in this field.

Dibutyl phthalate (DBP) is a ubiquitous environmental contaminant that at certain levels can be harmful to human health. Although DBP has been widely linked to immunotoxicity, any association between DBP exposure and splenic injury remains unknown. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether DBP exposure can induce splenic injury and the antagonistic effects of two antioxidants, vitamin E (VitE) and curcumin (Cur), on DBP-induced splenic injury. The levels of ROS, GSH, T-AOC, IL-1β, TNF-α, cytochrome C, caspase-8, caspase-9 and caspase-3 in the spleen homogenate of mice were measured. Any histopathological changes in the spleen were observed using H&E and toluidine blue staining. And the morphology of mitochondria was observed using Janus Green B staining. The results indicate that exposure to 50 mg/kg DBP could cause histopathological changes of the spleen and result in inflammation and apoptosis associated with oxidative stress, which may lead to splenic injury in mice. Moreover, both VitE and Cur could antagonize the oxidative stress induced by DBP to reduce splenic injury. These findings help to expand our understanding of DBP-mediated immunotoxicity, and to show that VitE and Cur can alleviate DBP-induced splenic injury and the possible DBP-associated decline in immune function.

Composite hydrogels were prepared in the mixtures of graphene oxide (GO) and polyacrylamide (PAM) in water. The gelation behavior of the hydrogels was studied in detail. The formation of GO/PAM composite hydrogels were induced by various kinds of noncovalent interactions between GO sheets and PAM, including hydrogen bonding, electrostatic interaction, hydrophobic interaction, van der Waals force, the π-π stacking of GO sheets, and etc. Microstructures determined by TEM and SEM demonstrated that GO/PAM hydrogels displayed three-dimensional network structures, and the network of the gels gradually changed regular with the increasing concentration of GO at a fixed concentration of PAM ( c PAM ), conversely, with the increase in PAM concentration at a fixed concentration of GO ( c GO ), the hole-structures of gels become irregular. Similarly, at the fixed molar ratio of GO to PAM of 1:1, with the increasing total concentration, the hole-structures of gels also become irregular. The cationic dye molecules, i.e., Methylene Blue (MB) and Rhodamine 6G were efficiently entrapped to the xerogels within 20 and 60 min with the maximum adsorption value of 292.84 and 288 mg g −1 , respectively. The xerogels exhibited excellent adsorption efficiency and capability for the cationic dyes and were promising to act as toxic materials adsorbents. The adsorption kinetics of dye followed the pseudo-second order model and the dye adsorption isotherm follows both Langmuir and Freundlich adsorption isotherms model.

Pickering emulsion enriched with cinnamon essential oil (EO) was applied to partially replace butter in pound cakes and to inhibit mold growth. Pickering emulsions stabilized by zein nanoparticles were dominated by elasticity (G' > Gʺ), indicating the formation of gel-like network microstructure. The aldehyde groups of cinnamaldehyde may interact with amino groups on zein nanoparticles at oil-water interface to enhance the viscoelastic properties of Pickering emulsions, which explained the increased storage modulus as the amount of EO increased. Pickering emulsion of 20 g zein nanoparticle solution (ZNS) +20 g sunflower oil significantly increased the hardness of pound cakes, while Pickering emulsion with 5 g EO addition maintained the texture and colour compared with control group. EO also exerted antimicrobial effect to pound cakes, as the yeasts and molds of 5 g and 10 g EO emulsion added cakes were 1.55 and 1.42 log CFU/g after 12-day room-temperature storage compared with 2.96 log CFU/g of control group. To conclude, Pickering emulsion of 20 g ZNS+15 g oil+5 g EO showed the best effect to replace 20% butter in pound cakes to lower the calorie intake and extend the shelf-life without altering the texture and colour.

VFL and VvTFL1 genes expression patterns and the effects of sucrose on the expression of VFL and VvTFL1 genes in different organs of the “Xiangfei” grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) were investigated. VvTFL1 gene expression was detected in the meristem of the apical bud and lateral bud, but was not detected during inflorescence differentiation and flower organ development. After sucrose treatment, VvTFL1 gene expression increased in the apical bud, but decreased in the lateral bud. These results suggested that the VvTFL1 gene might be mainly involved in the apical growth process of shoots, and exogenous sucrose had an effect on the VvTFL1 gene by increasing shoot apical meristem initiation of apical buds. The VFL gene was expressed primarily during inflorescence differentiation and early flower organ development, but it gradually reduced in later flower development. After sucrose treatment, VFL gene expression increased in the inflorescence and small or middle flower, but a little change was seen in the large flower. These results suggested that the VFL gene plays important roles in the initiation of inflorescence meristems and the morphological formation of flower organs. Exogenous sucrose had an effect on VFL gene expression at the early stage of flower development.

Tens of miRNAs were previously established as being arsenic (As) stress responsive in rice. However, their functional role in As tolerance remains unclear. This study demonstrates that transgenic plants overexpressing miR528 (Ubi::MIR528) were more sensitive to arsenite [As(III)] compared with wild-type (WT) rice. Under normal and stress conditions, miR528-5p and -3p were highly up-regulated in both the roots and leaves of transgenic plants, which exhibited a negative correlation with the expression of seven target genes. Compared with WT plants, Ubi::MIR528 plants showed excessive oxidative stress generation and remarkable amino acid content changes in the roots and leaves upon As(III) exposure. Notably, the expression profiles of diverse functional genes were clearly different between WT and transgenic plants. Thus, the observed As(III) sensitivity of Ubi::MIR528 plants was likely due to the strong alteration of antioxidant enzyme activity and amino acid profiles and the impairment of the As(III) uptake, translocation, and tolerance systems of rice.