Targeted drug delivery for the treatment of blood cancers

Blood cancers are a type of liquid tumor which means cancer is present in the body fluid. Multiple myeloma, leukemia, and lymphoma are the three common types of blood cancers. Chemotherapy is the major therapy of blood cancers by systemic administration of anticancer agents into the blood. However, a high incidence of relapse often happens, due to the low efficiency of the anticancer agents that accumulate in the tumor site, and therefore lead to a low survival rate of patients. This indicates an urgent need for a targeted drug delivery system to improve the safety and efficacy of therapeutics for blood cancers. In this review, we describe the current targeting strategies for blood cancers and recently investigated and approved drug delivery system formulations for blood cancers. In addition, we also discuss current challenges in the application of drug delivery systems for treating blood cancers

CdS Nanotubes and Y-Branched Nanochannels in AAM Fabricated by a Double Diffusion Route

Polycrystalline CdS nanotubes and a novel partition nanostructure were prepared in an anodic alumina membrane (AAM) template using a double diffusion method at room temperature. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), selected area electron diffraction (SAED) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) investigations indicate that the nanotubes consisting of CdS grains have been synthesized in the AAM nanoholes. The influence of the reagent concentration on the morphology of the nanotubes has been systemically studied using a field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM). It is confirmed that the Y-branched nanochannels can only formed under certain concentrations of the reactants (CdCl2 and Na2S solutions). This novel Y-branched nanostructure may have potential applications for preparation of complicated nanostructure materials

Self-healing characteristics of fracture in sealing materials based on self-healing effect

Cement-based materials are the most commonly used grouting and sealing materials in underground coal mines, but due to the effects of stress perturbation as well as water loss and shrinkage of cementitious materials, the traditional cementitious materials are prone to regeneration cracks, which leads to the reduction of gas extraction rate in the boreholes. In order to reduce the influence of regenerated fissures on the gas extraction effect, a self-repairing cement sealing material is developed, which can realize the self-healing of fissures when the fissures are generated again at the grouting location. Firstly, the self-healing performance of self-healing cement under air conditions was studied through the fissure self-healing experiment, and a high-magnification measuring microscope was used to record the change rule of the fissure width over time. It was found that the self-healing cement was able to repair the fissure with the maximum width of 0.46 mm in 4 d under the natural air conditions. A large amount of white minerals were generated at the fissure, and the volume of repaired material still increased significantly in 14 d. After scraping off the repair products, white minerals were still generated. In order to further study the generation mechanism of the self-repair products, the microscopic morphology and microelement distribution of the two kinds of cements hydrated for 7 and 21 d were comparatively analyzed by SEM-EDS, and the physical phase information of the two kinds of cements was comparatively analyzed by XRD and Raman spectroscopy. The SEM-EDS results showed that, for the traditional cement, the needle-like and flocculent materials were cross-linked with each other and the overall structure was dense, whereas a large number of porous materials were distributed in the self-healing cement and the structure was relatively loose. Compared with the traditional cement, the mass fractions of four elements, C, Na, Al and Si, in the hydration products of the self-repairing cement were significantly higher. A large number of tightly arranged long strips are distributed on the surface of the fissure repair products, and the main elemental compositions are C, O, Na, and Ca. The XRD results showed that more diffraction peaks of unhydrated tricalcium silicate appeared in the self-healing cement compared with the traditional cement, and the hydration products of the traditional cement were mainly calcium hydroxide and calcium alumina for the same hydration time, while aluminosilicate minerals such as sodium feldspar and zeolite appeared in the self-healing cement. The fracture restorations consisted of various silicate minerals such as zeolite, calcium chalcocite and wollastonite as well as calcium carbonate, of which calcium carbonate had the highest number of diffraction peaks. The Raman spectral results showed that compared with the traditional cement, the self-healing cement had obvious Raman spectral peaks at 2860−2960 cm−1. At 7 d of hydration, the traditional cement Raman peaks were generally sharp, while the self-healing cement Raman peaks were significantly broader. More Raman peaks of high-intensity calcium hydroxide appeared in the traditional cement, while more Raman peaks of C—O vibration in \begin{document}${\rm{CO}}^{2-}_{3}$\end{document} appeared in the self-healing cement with larger peak area, which shows that the self-healing cement is more likely to react with CO2 in air to carbonize. At 21 d of hydration, the Raman peaks of both cements were sharp, and the main phases were hydrated calcium silicate and calcium hydroxide, while the self-healing cement also included a large amount of unhydrated tricalcium silicate. Finally, the effects of secondary hydration and carbonation on fracture self-healing were analyzed, and the equations for the generation of fracture repair products were deduced combining the experimental results

Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor Attenuates Septic Myocardial Dysfunction via eNOS/NO Pathway in Rats

Sepsis-induced myocardial dysfunction increases mortality in sepsis, yet the underlying mechanism is unclear. Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) has been found to enhance cardiomyocyte function, but whether BDNF has a beneficial effect against septic myocardial dysfunction is unknown. Septic shock was induced by cecal ligation and puncture (CLP). BDNF was expressed in primary cardiomyocytes, and its expression was significantly reduced after sepsis. In rats with sepsis, a sharp decline in survival was observed after CLP, with significantly reduced cardiac BDNF expression, enhanced myocardial fibrosis, elevated oxidative stress, increased myocardial apoptosis, and decreased endothelial nitric oxide (NO) synthase (eNOS) and NO. Supplementation with recombined BDNF protein (rhBDNF) enhanced myocardial BDNF and increased survival rate with improved cardiac function, reduced oxidative stress, and myocardial apoptosis, which were associated with increased eNOS expression, NO production, and Trk-B, a BDNF receptor. Pretreatment with NOS inhibitor, N (omega)-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester, abolished the abovementioned BDNF cardioprotective effects without affecting BDNF and Trk-B. It is concluded that BDNF protects the heart against septic cardiac dysfunction by reducing oxidative stress and apoptosis via Trk-B, and it does so through activation of eNOS/NO pathway. These findings provide a new treatment strategy for sepsis-induced myocardial dysfunction

An Outbreak of a Novel Recombinant Coxsackievirus A4 in a Kindergarten, Shandong Province, China, 2021

In 2021, twenty children exhibiting influenza-like illnesses were reported from a kindergarten in Shandong Province, China. Eleven genomes of Coxsackievirus A4 (CV-A4) were obtained from the pediatric cases, sharing \u3c93% genome sequence identities with known CV-A4 strains. Further analyses suggested potential genetic recombination in the P3 region of the novel strains

Selection of temperature and time conditions in migration tests of disposable hot drink cups

ObjectiveTo study test time and temperature of specific migration tests for hot drink cup through a questionnaire and a laboratory real temperature measurement method.MethodsThe consumption habits of consumers were investigated by means of questionnaires， the estimated time of contact with food during the general actual use of the hot drink cup was obtained， and the migration time required for the specific migration quantity test of the hot drink cup was obtained. Using real food to reproduce the actual use of the hot drink cup in a simulated consumption environment， and using an automatic temperature recorder to record the temperature changes during the test， the migration temperature required for the specific migration test of the hot drink cup was obtained.ResultsAccording to the survey results of consumers’ consumption habits in a restaurant， most consumers， in the process of eating in the restaurant， had an actual contact time with a hot drink cup of 1 h. According to the temperature measurement results during the actual use of the hot drink cup， its average temperature in different conditions within 1 h was 60 ℃-66 ℃.ConclusionAccording to a questionnaire and measured temperatures， it is recommended that a specific migration test condition of 70 ℃ for 1 h is selected. This study on specified migration conditions， including duration and temperature， was conducted through investigation and measurements and can be used as a reference to relevant testing institutions and laboratories when testing dine-in hot drink cups

Re-emergence of H5N8 highly pathogenic avian influenza virus in wild birds, China

Re-emergence of H5N8 highly pathogenic avian influenza virus in wild birds, Chin