Virus-like particles are good nanocarriers for liquid biopsy probes, imaging contrast agents, and anticancer medications

Recent advances in nanotechnology, chemistry, and material science have spurred the development and deployment of virus-mimetic particles. Virus-like particles have several competitive advantages. Virus-like particles are good nanocarriers for liquid biopsy probes, imaging contrast agents, and anticancer medications because of these advantages. Despite these encouraging improvements, virus-mimetic particles still have a number of shortcomings, particularly in vivo immune response and tumor targeting efficiency. The immunogenicity of virus-like particles is reduced to some extent by PEGylation of the viral capsid surface, allowing for passive tumor targeting. PEGylation, on the other hand, causes the ABC phenomenon, which results in the formation of new immune responses. Researchers are currently looking for novel materials with immune camouflage properties to negate the immunostimulatory potential of particles. Although it is projected that altering some types of virus-like particles will increase their targeted internalization, the plasma proteins adsorbed by the particles will diminish particle-target cell affinity. The corona-mediated delivery technique improves in vivo targeting effectiveness and may pave the way for clinical translation of virus-mimetic particles. With quick knowledge renewal of nanoparticle in vivo behaviors and ongoing invention of research methodologies and procedures, virusmimetic nanoparticles are projected to be completely endowed with the twin roles of immune camouflage and tumor targeting, displaying great therapeutic effectiveness.

A Workflow to Define, Map and Name A Carbonatite- or Alkaline Igneous-Associated REE-HFSE Mineral System: A Case Study from SW Germany

Security of supply of “hi-tech” raw materials (including the rare earth elements (REE) and some high-field-strength elements (HFSEs)) is a concern for the European Union. Exploration and research projects mostly focus on deposit- to outcrop-scale description of carbonatite- and alkaline igneous-associated REE-HFSE mineralization. The REE-HFSE mineral system concept and approach are at a nascent stage, so developed further here. However, before applying the mineral system approach to a chosen REE-HFSE metallogenic province its mineral system extent first needs defining and mapping. This shifts a mineral system project’s foundation from the mineral system concept to a province’s mineral system extent. The mapped extent is required to investigate systematically the pathways and potential trap locations along which the REE-HFSE mass may be distributed. A workflow is presented to standardize the 4-D definition of a REE-HFSE mineral system at province-scale: (a) Identify and hierarchically organize a mineral system’s genetically related sub-divisions and deposits, (b) map its known and possible maximum extents, (c) name it, (d) discern its size (known mineral endowment), and (e) assess the favorability of the critical components to prioritize further investigations. The workflow is designed to generate process-based perspective and improve predictive targeting effectiveness along under-evaluated plays of any mineral system, for the future risking, comparing and ranking of REE-HFSE provinces and plays.

Finding the Poor vs. Measuring Their Poverty: Exploring the Drivers of Targeting Effectiveness in Indonesia

Centralized targeting registries are increasingly used to allocate social assistance benefits in developing countries. There are two key design issues that matter for targeting accuracy: (i) which households to survey for inclusion in the registry; and (ii) how to rank surveyed households. We attempt to identify their relative importance by evaluating Indonesia's Unified Database for Social Protection Programs (UDB), among the largest targeting registries in the world, used to provide social assistance to over 25 million households. Linking administrative data with an independent household survey, we find that the UDB system is more progressive than previous, program-specific targeting approaches. However, simulating an alternative targeting system based on enumerating all households, we find a one-third reduction in undercoverage of the poor compared to focusing on households registered in the UDB. Overall, there are large gains in targeting performance from improving the initial registration stage relative to the ranking stage.

In vivo biodistribution and passive accumulation of upconversion nanoparticles in colorectal cancer models via intraperitoneal injection

Cit-UCNPs after IP injection exhibited significantly different biological processes from those after IV injection. The passive-tumour targeting effectiveness of cit-UCNPs via the IP route was higher than that via the IV route.