Drug delivery systems (DDS) based on functionalized polymeric nanoparticles have attracted considerable attention. Although great advances have been reported in the past decades, the fabrication ...efficiency and reproducibility of polymeric nanoparticles are barely satisfactory due to the intrinsic limitations of the traditional self‐assembly method, which severely prevent further applications of the intelligent DDS. In the last decade, a new self‐assembly method, which is usually called polymerization‐induced self‐assembly (PISA), has become a powerful strategy for the fabrication of the polymeric nanoparticles with bespoke morphology. The PISA strategy efficiently simplifies the fabrication of polymeric nanoparticles (combination of the polymerization and self‐assembly in one pot) and allows the fabrication of polymeric nanoparticles at a relatively high concentration (up to 50 wt%), making it realistic for large‐scale production of polymeric nanoparticles. In this review, the developments of PISA‐based polymeric nanoparticles for drug delivery are discussed.
Drug delivery systems based on functionalized polymeric nanoparticles have attracted considerable attention. For fabrication of polymeric nanoparticles, polymerization‐induced self‐assembly (PISA) offers decisive advantages over conventional protocols in terms of efficiency and cost‐effectiveness. Recently, the nascent investigation of functional PISA‐generated nanocarriers with stimulus‐responsive drug release has already found applications in the biomedical area, which is discussed in this review.
Large-Momentum Effective Theory (or LaMET) advocated by the present authors provides a direct approach to simulate parton physics in Euclidean lattice QCD theory. Recently, there has been much ...interest in this theory in the literature, with some questioning its validity and effectiveness. Here we provide some discussions aiming at a further exposition of this approach. In particular, we explain why it does not have the usual power divergence problem in lattice QCD calculations for the moments of parton distributions. The only power divergence in the LaMET approach comes from the self-energy of the Wilson lines which can be properly factorized. We show that although the Ioffe-time distribution provides an alternative way to extract the parton distribution from the same lattice observables, it also requires the same large momentum (or short distance) limit as in LaMET to obtain a precision calculation. With a proper quantification of errors, both extraction methods shall be compared with the same lattice data.
The prognostic role of inflammation index like neutrophil‐to‐lymphocyte ratio (NLR) in colorectal cancer (CRC) remains controversial. We conduct a meta‐analysis to determine the predictable value of ...NLR in the clinical outcome of CRC patients. The analysis was carried out based on the data from 16 studies (19 cohorts) to evaluate the association between NLR and overall survival (OS) and progression‐free survival (PFS) in patients with CRC. In addition, the relationship between NLR and clinicopathological parameters was assessed. Hazard ratio (HR) or odds ratio (OR) with its 95% confidence interval (CI) was used as the effect size estimate. Our analysis results indicated that elevated pretreatment NLR predicted poorer OS (HR: 1.813, 95% CI: 1.499–2.193) and PFS (HR: 2.102, 95% CI: 1.554–2.843) in patients with CRC. Increased NLR is also significantly associated with the poorer differentiation of the tumor (OR: 1.574, 95% CI: 1.226–2.022) and higher carcino‐embryonie antigen (CEA) level (OR: 1.493, 95% CI: 1.308–1.705). By these results, we conclude that NLR gains a prognostic value for patients with CRC. NLR should be monitored in CRC patients for rational stratification of the patients and adjusting the treatment strategy.
What's new?
Although correlated with the severity of disease course, the impact of neutrophil‐to‐lymphocyte ratio (NLR) on survival and tumor characteristics in cancer patients remains unclear. In the meta‐analysis presented here, elevated pre‐treatment NLR was found to predict poor overall survival in patients with colorectal cancer. NLR was also associated with unfavorable biologic behavior in colorectal cancer. The findings suggest that NLR, as an inexpensive and widely available index, should be routinely monitored in colorectal cancer patients.
Stimulated by the renewed observation of Ds0⁎(2317) signal and its updated mass value 2318.3±1.2±1.2MeV/c2 in the process e+e−→Ds⁎+Ds0⁎(2317)−+c.c. by BESIII Collaboration, we devote to reinvestigate ...Ds0⁎(2317) as a 0+ tetraquark state from QCD sum rules. Technically, four different possible currents are adopted and high condensates up to dimension 12 are included in the operator product expansion (OPE) to ensure the quality of QCD sum rule analysis. In the end, we obtain the mass value 2.37−0.36+0.50GeV with the factorization parameter ρ=1 (or 2.23−0.24+0.78GeV with ρ=3) for the scalar–scalar current, which agrees well with the experimental data of Ds0⁎(2317) and could support its explanation as a 0+ scalar–scalar tetraquark state. The final result for the axial–axial configuration is calculated to be 2.51−0.43+0.61GeV with ρ=1 (or 2.52+0.76−0.52GeV with ρ=3), which is still consistent with the mass of Ds0⁎(2317) considering the uncertainty, and then the possibility of Ds0⁎(2317) as a axial–axial tetraquark state can not be excluded. For the pseudoscalar–pseudoscalar and the vector–vector cases, their unsatisfactory OPE convergence makes that it is of difficulty to find rational work windows to further acquire hadronic masses.
This paper presents a new topology optimization approach based on the so-called Moving Morphable Components (MMC) solution framework. The proposed method improves several weaknesses of the previous ...approach (e.g., Guo et al. in J Appl Mech 81:081009,
2014a
) in the sense that it can not only allow for components with variable thicknesses but also enhance the numerical solution efficiency substantially. This is achieved by constructing the topological description functions of the components appropriately, and utilizing the ersatz material model through projecting the topological description functions of the components. Numerical examples demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach. In order to help readers understand the essential features of this approach, a 188 line Matlab implementation of this approach is also provided.
Purpose To use meta-analysis techniques to evaluate the efficacy and safety of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections for the treatment knee of osteoarthritis (OA). Methods We performed a systematic ...literature search in PubMed, Embase, Scopus, and the Cochrane database through April 2016 to identify Level I randomized controlled trials that evaluated the clinical efficacy of PRP versus control treatments for knee OA. The primary outcomes were Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) pain and function scores. The primary outcomes were compared with their minimum clinically important differences (MCID)—defined as the smallest difference perceived as important by the average patient. Results We included 10 randomized controlled trials with a total of 1069 patients. Our analysis showed that at 6 months postinjection, PRP and hyaluronic acid (HA) had similar effects with respect to pain relief (WOMAC pain score) and functional improvement (WOMAC function score, WOMAC total score, International Knee Documentation Committee score, Lequesne score). At 12 months postinjection, however, PRP was associated with significantly better pain relief (WOMAC pain score, mean difference −2.83, 95% confidence interval CI −4.26 to −1.39, P = .0001) and functional improvement (WOMAC function score, mean difference −12.53, 95% CI −14.58 to −10.47, P < .00001; WOMAC total score, International Knee Documentation Committee score, Lequesne score, standardized mean difference 1.05, 95% CI 0.21-1.89, P = .01) than HA, and the effect sizes of WOMAC pain and function scores at 12 months exceeded the MCID (−0.79 for WOMAC pain and −2.85 for WOMAC function score). Compared with saline, PRP was more effective for pain relief (WOMAC pain score) and functional improvement (WOMAC function score) at 6 months and 12 months postinjection, and the effect sizes of WOMAC pain and function scores at 6 months and 12 months exceeded the MCID. We also found that PRP did not increase the risk of adverse events compared with HA and saline. Conclusions Current evidence indicates that, compared with HA and saline, intra-articular PRP injection may have more benefit in pain relief and functional improvement in patients with symptomatic knee OA at 1 year postinjection. Level of Evidence Level I, meta-analysis of Level I studies.
We propose a new greedy Kaczmarz algorithm for the solution of very large systems of linear equations. In our proposed algorithm, control sequence is determined by a greedy rule, and relaxation ...parameters are determined adaptively. Convergence of our proposed algorithm is proved. Numerical results show that the proposed algorithm is feasible and has faster convergence rate than the greedy randomized Kaczmarz algorithm.
Recent fruitful studies on rechargeable zinc-air battery have led to emergence of various bifunctional oxygen electrocatalysts, especially metal-based materials. However, their electrocatalytic ...configuration and evolution pathway during battery operation are rarely spotlighted. Herein, to depict the underlying behaviors, a concept named dynamic electrocatalyst is proposed. By selecting a bimetal nitride as representation, a current-driven "shell-bulk" configuration is visualized via time-resolved X-ray and electron spectroscopy analyses. A dynamic picture sketching the generation and maturation of nanoscale oxyhydroxide shell is presented, and periodic valence swings of performance-dominant element are observed. Upon maturation, zinc-air battery experiences a near two-fold enlargement in power density to 234 mW cm
, a gradual narrowing of voltage gap to 0.85 V at 30 mA cm
, followed by stable cycling for hundreds of hours. The revealed configuration can serve as the basis to construct future blueprints for metal-based electrocatalysts, and push zinc-air battery toward practical application.
SUMMARY
Uniaxial compression tests with combined acousto-optical monitoring techniques are conducted on flawed granite specimens, with the aim of investigating the fracture-related acoustic emission ...(AE) event rate characteristics at the unstable cracking phase in flawed rocks. The interevent time (IET) function F(τ) is adopted to interpret the AE time-series from damage stress (σcd) to ultimate failure, and photographic data are used to evaluate unstable cracking behaviours in flawed granite. The results show that a high AE event rate is always registered but intermittently interrupted by macrofracturing at the unstable cracking phase. The reversed U-shaped curve relation between the AE event rate and the loading time is documented in unstable flawed granite for the first time. The acoustic quiescence has a mechanismic linkage and quantitative correlation with stress drop, and this synchronous acousto-mechanical behaviour is a typical result of the initiation, growth and coalescence of macrocracks initiated from the flaw tips. Moreover, the reactivation and intensification of fracture process zones (FPZs) by increasing loads are the dominant mechanism triggering unstable crack growth in flawed granite.
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