Optimizing glycerosome formulations via an orthogonal experimental design to enhance transdermal triptolide delivery

Triptolide exerts strong anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory effects; however, its oral administration might be associated with side effects. Transdermal administration can improve the safety of triptolide. In this study, glycerosomes were prepared as the transdermal vehicle to enhance the transdermal delivery of triptolide. With entrapment efficiency and drug loading as dependent variables, the glycerosome formulation was optimized using an orthogonal experimental design. Phospholipid-to-cholesterol and phospholipid-to-triptolide mass ratios of 30:1 and 5:1, respectively and a glycerol concentration of 20 % (v/v) were used in the optimization. The glycerosomes prepared with the optimized formulation showed good stability, with an average particle size of 153.10 ± 2.69 nm, a zeta potential of –45.73 ± 0.60 mV and an entrapment greater than 75 %. Glycerosomes significantly increased the transdermal delivery of triptolide compared to conventional liposomes. As efficient carriers for the transdermal delivery of drugs, glycerosomes can potentially be used as an alternative to oral triptolide administration

Observer-based fault-tolerant control for a class of networked control systems with transfer delays

Abstract not availableZehui Mao, Bin Jiang, Peng Sh

Adversarial Attacks and Defenses for Semantic Communication in Vehicular Metaverses

For vehicular metaverses, one of the ultimate user-centric goals is to optimize the immersive experience and Quality of Service (QoS) for users on board. Semantic Communication (SemCom) has been introduced as a revolutionary paradigm that significantly eases communication resource pressure for vehicular metaverse applications to achieve this goal. SemCom enables high-quality and ultra-efficient vehicular communication, even with explosively increasing data traffic among vehicles. In this article, we propose a hierarchical SemCom-enabled vehicular metaverses framework consisting of the global metaverse, local metaverses, SemCom module, and resource pool. The global and local metaverses are brand-new concepts from the metaverse's distribution standpoint. Considering the QoS of users, this article explores the potential security vulnerabilities of the proposed framework. To that purpose, this study highlights a specific security risk to the framework's SemCom module and offers a viable defense solution, so encouraging community researchers to focus more on vehicular metaverse security. Finally, we provide an overview of the open issues of secure SemCom in the vehicular metaverses, notably pointing out potential future research directions

Calculation of Sound Insulation for Hybrid CLT Fabricated with Lumber and LVL and comparison with experimental data.

The insulated predictions were carried out for LVL, CLT and HCLT in order to evaluate their sound properties, in which the theoretical value of sound insulation was predicted by regarding the substances in wood cell wall as equivalence to specific medium based on Biot model, and the wood anatomical characteristics, such as the length and diameter of tracheid, diameter of pit, and porosity, were taken into account for determining the equivalent density and bulk modulus of elasticity of wood cell wall. By comparing the tested and predicted values of sound insulation, the conclusion were drawn as follows: the predicted values of sound insulation were significantly correlated with the tested values for LVL, CLT and HCLT. As for Masson pine and Southern pine, the adjacent of earlywood and latewood was considered as sandwich structure for the calculation of sound insulation. Meanwhile, the bonding interface was creatively introduced to improve the accuracy of sound insulation prediction. The transfer function involved in sound insulation prediction provide an effective method to characterize the sound insulation volume of wood composite in construction and decoration areas

Comparison of Bonding Performance Between Plywood and Laminated Veneer Lumber Induced by High Voltage Electrostatic Field.

High voltage electrostatic field (HVEF) was applied in order to improve wood surface characteristics, bonding and mechanical properties of wood composites. Masson pine (Pinus massoniana Lamp.) plywood and laminated veneer lumber (LVL) were selected in this study. Surface characteristics were conducted by the electron spin resonance (ESR) and X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS). Bonding interphase and mechanical properties were investigated by fluorescence microscopy and vertical density profile (VDP), bonding strength, wood failure ratio, MOE and MOR. The results indicated that more increments were obtained in free radicals, O/C ratios and C2-C4 components. This is because electrons broke more wood chemical groups and new ions occurred among wood surface under HVEF. Significantly decreased PF adhesive penetration depth (PD) and increased density at bonding interphase was achieved in HVEF treated composites. More decrease of PD and increment of density were observed in plywood than that of LVL. This was attributed to cross linked wood fibers among bonding interphase in plywood. Mechanical properties of bonding strength, wood failure ratio, MOE and MOR were significantly increased under HVEF treatment both for two composites. Higher bonding strength, MOE and MOR were obtained in plywood and their increments were as 98.53%, 33.33%, 18.55% and 12.72%

Elexacaftor–tezacaftor–ivacaftor for cystic fibrosis with Phe508del mutation: Evidence from randomized controlled trials

Objective: This study aimed to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials to evaluate the effects of elexacaftor–tezacaftor–ivacaftor (ELX-TEZ-IVA) on patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). Methods: A systematic search was performed in PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library from inception to August 1, 2022. Meta-analysis was conducted using Review Manager 5.3 software. Results: Six studies comprising seven reports involving a total of 1125 CF patients were included. The meta-analyses indicated that ELX-TEZ-IVA significantly improved the percentage predicted forced expiratory volume in 1 s (ppFEV1) by 10.29% (95% confidence interval (CI) (6.44, 14.14), p  < 0.00001) and the CF questionnaire-revised respiratory domain (CFQ-R RD) by 14.59 points (95% CI (9.25, 19.94), p  < 0.00001) compared to placebo, ivacaftor (IVA), or tezacaftor–ivacaftor (TEZ-IVA). In addition, the ELX-TEZ-IVA group showed significantly lower sweat chloride concentrations by 40.30 mmol/L (95% CI (−49.85, −30.74), p  < 0.00001). However, the incidence of adverse events in the ELX-TEZ-IVA group was slightly higher than that in the placebo, IVA, or TEZ-IVA groups. Conclusion: ELX-TEZ-IVA demonstrated efficacy in improving ppFEV1, CFQ-R RD, and sweat chloride concentrations in patients with CF. However, caution should be exercised regarding the incidence of AEs, particularly mild and moderate ones

CD163 Antibodies Inhibit PRRSV Infection via Receptor Blocking and Transcription Suppression

CD163 has been identified as the essential receptor for Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRSV), a major etiologic agent of pigs. Scavenger receptor cysteine-rich domain 5&ndash;9 (SRCR5&ndash;9) in CD163 was shown to be responsible for the virus interaction. In this study, monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) 6E8 and 9A10 against SRCR5&ndash;9 were selected based on the significant activity to inhibit PRRSV infection in Porcine Alveolar Macrophage (PAMs) and Marc-145. Both mAbs are capable of blocking variable PRRSV strains in a dose-dependent manner. Meanwhile, as candidates for both prevention and therapeutics, the antibodies successfully inhibit PRRSV infection and the related NF-&kappa;B pathway either before or after virus attachment. Besides, the antibody treatment with either mAb leads to a remarkable decrease of CD163 transcription in PAMs and Marc-145. It is potentially caused by the excessive accumulation of membrane associated CD163 due to the failure in CD163 cleavage with the antibody binding. Further, conformational epitopes targeted by 6E8 and 9A10 are identified to be spanning residues 570SXDVGXV576 in SRCR5 and Q797 in SRCR7, respectively. CD163 with mutated epitopes expressed in 3D4 cells fails to support PRRSV infection while wild type CD163 recovers PRRSV infection, indicating the critical role of these residues in PRRSV invasion. These findings promote the understanding in the interaction between PRRSV and the receptor and provide novel broad antiviral strategies for PRRSV prevention and treatment via alternative mechanisms