There is, I think, something ethereal about i —the square root of minus one. I remember first hearing about it at school. It seemed an odd beast at that time—an intruder hovering on the edge of reality.

Usually familiarity dulls this sense of the bizarre, but in the case of i it was the reverse: over the years the sense of its surreal nature intensified. It seemed that it was impossible to write mathematics that described the real world in …

I and i

다중혈관 관상동맥 환자에서 y-문합을 이용하여 양쪽 내흉동맥만을 사용한 우회술의 조기 성적

[신간의 별자리x] 우리/미술, 그리고 ‘슬픔의 박물관’

The nonradiative conversion of light energy into heat (photothermal therapy, PTT) or sound energy (photoacoustic imaging, PAI) has been intensively investigated for the treatment and diagnosis of cancer, respectively. By taking advantage of nanocarriers, both imaging and therapeutic functions together with enhanced tumour accumulation have been thoroughly studied to improve the pre-clinical efficiency of PAI and PTT. In this review, we first summarize the development of inorganic and organic nano photothermal transduction agents (PTAs) and strategies for improving the PTT outcomes, including applying appropriate laser dosage, guiding the treatment via imaging techniques, developing PTAs with absorption in the second NIR window, increasing photothermal conversion efficiency (PCE), and also increasing the accumulation of PTAs in tumours. Second, we introduce the advantages of combining PTT with other therapies in cancer treatment. Third, the emerging applications of PAI in cancer-related research are exemplified. Finally, the perspectives and challenges of PTT and PAI for combating cancer, especially regarding their clinical translation, are discussed. We believe that PTT and PAI having noteworthy features would become promising next-generation non-invasive cancer theranostic techniques and improve our ability to combat cancers.

/pdf/photothermal-therapy-and-photoacoustic-imaging-via-5cxqag870v.pdf

Photothermal therapy and photoacoustic imaging via nanotheranostics in fighting cancer

In this review we intend to provide a relatively comprehensive summary of the work of supramolecular hydrogelators after 2004 and to put emphasis particularly on the applications of supramolecular hydrogels/hydrogelators as molecular biomaterials. After a brief introduction of methods for generating supramolecular hydrogels, we discuss supramolecular hydrogelators on the basis of their categories, such as small organic molecules, coordination complexes, peptides, nucleobases, and saccharides. Following molecular design, we focus on various potential applications of supramolecular hydrogels as molecular biomaterials, classified by their applications in cell cultures, tissue engineering, cell behavior, imaging, and unique applications of hydrogelators. Particularly, we discuss the applications of supramolecular hydrogelators after they form supramolecular assemblies but prior to reaching the critical gelation concentration because this subject is less explored but may hold equally great promise for helping ...

Supramolecular Hydrogelators and Hydrogels: From Soft Matter to Molecular Biomaterials

https://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:353184/UQ353184_OA.pdf

Hierarchical layered double hydroxide nanocomposites: structure, synthesis and applications

Magnesium-aluminum-chloride-layered double hydroxides (MgAl-Cl-LDHs) intercalated with low molecular weight heparin (LMWH) were prepared for the first time by the coprecipitation method and then characterized by XRD, elemental analysis, FTIR, SEM, and TEM. MgAl-LDH was studied as the drug carrier for LMWH, a widely used anticoagulant, in order to overcome some of its pharmaceutical limitations, such as its short half-life. In vitro release tests of LMWH-LDH in pH 7.4 PBS at 37 °C show a biphasic and sustained profile of LMWH anion release with ∼20% in the first 12 h and another ∼20% in the following 108 h. After release, the residue was characterized and dissolution−diffusion kinetic models fitted. The mechanism of MgAl-LMWH-LDH release is probably due to surface diffusion and bulk diffusion via anionic exchange of LMWH anions on or in the LDH with anions in the PBS solution.

In Vitro Sustained Release of LMWH from MgAl-layered Double Hydroxide Nanohybrids

Nanocatalysts-augmented Fenton chemical reaction for nanocatalytic tumor therapy

Recently, Mn(II)-containing nanoparticles have been explored widely as an attractive alternative to Gd(III)-based T1 -weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agents (CAs) for cancer diagnosis. However, as far as it is known, no Mn-based MRI CAs have been reported to sensitively respond to a very weakly acidic environment (pH 6.5-7.0, i.e., the pH range in a tumor microenvironment) with satisfactory imaging performance. Here, recently devised pH-ultrasensitive Mn-based layered double hydroxide (Mn-LDH) nanoparticles with superb longitudinal relaxivity (9.48 mm-1 s-1 at pH 5.0 and 6.82 mm-1 s-1 at pH 7.0 vs 1.16 mm-1 s-1 at pH 7.4) are reported, which may result from the unique microstructure of Mn ions in Mn-LDH, as demonstrated by extended X-ray absorption fine structure. Further in vivo imaging reveals that Mn-LDH nanoparticles show clear MR imaging for tumor tissues in mice for 2 d post intravenous injection. Thus, this novel Mn-doped LDH nanomaterial, together with already demonstrated capacity for drug and gene delivery, is a very potential theranostic agent for cancer diagnosis and treatment.

Manganese-Based Layered Double Hydroxide Nanoparticles as a T1 -MRI Contrast Agent with Ultrasensitive pH Response and High Relaxivity.

The fast progress of theranostic nanomedicine has catalyzed the generation of diverse inorganic nanosystems with intrinsic multifunctionalities for versatile biomedical applications. However, these inorganic biomaterials suffer from the critical issue of low biodegradation rates and subsequently long-term accumulation-induced biosafety risk. Furthermore, the components of some inorganic nanosystems are not the necessary elements/components of the body, unavoidably causing immune response and inducing the toxic potential. The emergence of ultrathin two-dimensional black phosphorus (B.P.) nanosheets as a robust platform promises the clinical translation and biomedical applications of inorganic nanosystems based on their intriguing nature of easy biodegradation and single phosphorus composition, as necessarily required in vivo. This review summarizes and discusses the very recent developments and paradigms of ultrathin B.P. nanosheets in versatile biomedical applications, ranging from design/fabrication strategies, theranostic nanomedicine (PDT/PTT/chemotherapy, synergistic therapy and fluorescence/photoacoustic-based bio-imaging) to biosensing applications. The unique biological behavior and toxicity issue of these B.P. nanosheets are also discussed to guarantee their safe clinical translation. It is highly expected that the elaborately designed/engineered B.P. nanosheets will emerge as one of the most representative biodegradable inorganic nanosystems for versatile and immense biomedical applications to benefit the health of human beings.

Zi Gu

Papers

Hierarchical layered double hydroxide nanocomposites: structure, synthesis and applications

In Vitro Sustained Release of LMWH from MgAl-layered Double Hydroxide Nanohybrids

Nanocatalysts-augmented Fenton chemical reaction for nanocatalytic tumor therapy

Manganese-Based Layered Double Hydroxide Nanoparticles as a T1 -MRI Contrast Agent with Ultrasensitive pH Response and High Relaxivity.

Two-dimensional black phosphorus nanosheets for theranostic nanomedicine