Diversity of ancient woody species in urban forests

Mostly parks and forest are the most important ‘green islands’ in urban ecological network. Urban forests are belong to green areas and collected many plant species. The main aim of the article was characteristic of ancient plant species in urban forests in Tarnów. The field studies were carried out in years 2011–2012. It covered 80 phytosociological records on the area 500 m2 in herb layer of urban forests and in forest nature on oak-hornbeam. The results showed that many ancient plant species were growing in urban forest but less than in nature reserves

Gold Nanorods as Theranostic Nanoparticles for Cancer Therapy

Inadequate therapies and clinical methods for overcoming multidrug-resistant cancer constitute the major barrier for cancer treatment. Also, early detection of this disease is fundamental and new nanotechnologies emerge with clear relevance. Considering their distinctive chemical and physical properties, plasmonic nanoparticles have been proposed and are regarded as promising carriers for cancer treatment. Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) are the most studied plasmonic nanoparticles because of their special optical and electronic properties. Depending on size and shape, AuNPs are able to perform, simultaneously, several therapeutic functions, including photothermal therapy (PTT), photodynamic therapy (PDT), and imaging. The synergistic effect between PTT/PDT and chemotherapeutic drugs, to cooperatively suppress cancer cells, has also been studied, wherein rod-shaped AuNPs has been pointed out as suitable theranostic NP. This demonstrates their ability to integrate multiple functions in a single system. However, their performance is highly dependent on several experimental parameters including size, aspect ratio, surface modification, and morphology. All these parameters strongly affect both the physical and biological processes involved. This review focuses on AuNRs properties, their multiple applications, and the trends for the integration of theranostic applications. Also described are the difficulties imposed to an effective in vivo biodistribution and pharmacokinetic behavior. Current research and preclinical and clinical investigation will be addressed