Terahertz Magnon-Polaritons in TmFeO3

Magnon-polaritons are shown to play a dominant role in the propagation of terahertz (THz) waves through TmFeO3 orthoferrite, if the frequencies of the waves are in the vicinity of the quasi-antiferromagnetic spin resonance mode. Both time-domain THz transmission and emission spectroscopies reveal clear beatings between two modes with frequencies slightly above and slightly below this resonance, respectively. Rigorous modeling of the interaction between the spins of TmFeO3 and the THz light shows that the frequencies correspond to the upper and lower magnon-polariton branches. Our findings reveal the previously ignored importance of propagation effects and polaritons in such heavily debated areas as THz magnonics and THz spectroscopy of electromagnons. It also shows that future progress in these areas calls for an interdisciplinary approach at the interface between magnetism and photonics

Applications of Nanomaterials for Theranostics of Melanoma

Melanoma is an aggressive form of skin cancer with a very high mortality rate. Early diagnosis of the disease, the utilization of more potent pharmacological agents, and more effective drug delivery systems are essential to achieve an optimal treatment plan. The applications of nanotechnology to improve therapeutic efficacy and early diagnosis for melanoma treatment have received great interest among researchers and clinicians. In this review, we summarize the recent progress of utilizing various nanomaterials for theranostics of melanoma. The key importance of using nanomaterials for theranostics of melanoma is to improve efficacy and reduce side effects, ensuring safe implementation in clinical use. As opposed to conventional in vitro diagnostic methods, in vivo medical imaging technologies have the advantages of being a type of non-invasive, real-time monitoring. Several common nanoparticles, including ultrasmall superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles, silica nanoparticles, and carbon-based nanoparticles, have been applied to deliver chemotherapeutic agents for the theranostics of melanoma. The application of nanomaterials for theranostics in molecular imaging (MRI, PET, US, OI, etc.) plays an important role in targeting drug delivery of melanoma, by monitoring the distribution site of the molecular imaging probe and the therapeutic drug in the body in real-time. Hence, it is worthwhile to anticipate the approval of these nanomaterials for theranostics in molecular imaging by the US Food and Drug Administration in clinical trials

Diagnostic value of a CT-based radiomics nomogram for discrimination of benign and early stage malignant ovarian tumors

Abstract Background This study aimed to identify the diagnostic value of models constructed using computed tomography-based radiomics features for discrimination of benign and early stage malignant ovarian tumors. Methods The imaging and clinicopathological data of 197 cases of benign and early stage malignant ovarian tumors (FIGO stage I/II), were retrospectively analyzed. The patients were randomly assigned into training data set and validation data set. Radiomics features were extracted from images of plain computed tomography scan and contrast-enhanced computed tomography scan, were then screened in the training data set, and a radiomics model was constructed. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to construct a radiomic nomogram, containing the traditional diagnostic model and the radiomics model. Moreover, the decision curve analysis was used to assess the clinical application value of the radiomics nomogram. Results Six textural features with the greatest diagnostic efficiency were finally screened. The value of the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve showed that the radiomics nomogram was superior to the traditional diagnostic model and the radiomics model (P  0.05). The calibration curve and the Hosmer–Lemeshow test revealed that the three models all had a great degree of fit (All P > 0.05). The results of decision curve analysis indicated that utilization of the radiomics nomogram to distinguish benign and early stage malignant ovarian tumors had a greater clinical application value when the risk threshold was 0.4–1.0. Conclusions The computed tomography-based radiomics nomogram could be a non-invasive and reliable imaging method to discriminate benign and early stage malignant ovarian tumors

Polyethylene glycol-coated ultrasmall superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles-coupled sialyl Lewis X nanotheranostic platform for nasopharyngeal carcinoma imaging and photothermal therapy

Abstract Background Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a type of head and neck malignant tumor with a high incidence in specific regional distribution, and its traditional therapies face some challenges. It has become an urgent need to seek new therapeutic strategies without or with low toxicity and side effects. At present, more and more researchers has been attracting attention by nanotheranostic platform. Therefore, our team synthesized the polyethylene glycol-coated ultrasmall superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles-coupled sialyl Lewis X (USPIO-PEG-sLex) nanotheranostic platform with high temperature pyrolysis. Results The USPIO-PEG-sLex nanoparticles had excellent photothermal conversion property, and the temperature of USPIO-PEG-sLex nanoparticles solution increased with its concentration and power density of near-infrared (NIR) on 808 nm wavelengths. Five USPIO-PEG-sLex nanoparticles with different concentrations of 0 mg/ml, 0.025 mg/ml, 0.05 mg/ml, 0.1 mg/ml and 0.2 mg/ml were prepared. The biological toxicity results showed that the viability of NPC 5-8F cells is related to the concentration of USPIO-PEG-sLex nanoparticles and the culture time (P < 0.001). The results of photothermal therapy (PTT) in vitro indicated that the viability of 5-8F cells decreased significantly with the concentration of USPIO-PEG-sLex nanoparticles increases (P < 0.001), and the viability of NPC 5-8F cells were 91.04% ± 5.20%, 77.83% ± 3.01%, 73.48% ± 5.55%, 59.50% ± 10.98%, 17.11% ± 3.14%, respectively. The USPIO-PEG-sLex nanoparticles could target the tumor area, and reduce the T2* value of tumor tissue. The T2* values of tumor pre- and post-injection were 30.870 ± 5.604 and 18.335 ± 4.351, respectively (P < 0.001). In addition, USPIO-PEG-sLex nanoparticles as a photothermal agent for PTT could effectively inhibit tumor progression. The ratio of volume change between tail vein injection group, control group, nanoparticles without laser irradiation group and blank group after 5 treatments were 3.04 ± 0.57, 5.80 ± 1.06, 8.09 ± 1.96, 7.89 ± 2.20, respectively (P < 0.001). Conclusions Our synthesized USPIO-PEG-sLex nanotheranostic platform, and it may be become a new strategy for the treatment of NPC. Graphic Abstrac