Design and Application of Near-Infrared Nanomaterial-Liposome Hybrid Nanocarriers for Cancer Photothermal Therapy

Liposomes are attractive carriers for targeted and controlled drug delivery receiving increasing attention in cancer photothermal therapy. However, the field of creating near-infrared nanomaterial-liposome hybrid nanocarriers (NIRN-Lips) is relatively little understood. The hybrid nanocarriers combine the dual superiority of nanomaterials and liposomes, with more stable particles, enhanced photoluminescence, higher tumor permeability, better tumor-targeted drug delivery, stimulus-responsive drug release, and thus exhibiting better anti-tumor efficacy. Herein, this review covers the liposomes supported various types of near-infrared nanomaterials, including gold-based nanomaterials, carbon-based nanomaterials, and semiconductor quantum dots. Specifically, the NIRN-Lips are described in terms of their feature, synthesis, and drug-release mechanism. The design considerations of NIRN-Lips are highlighted. Further, we briefly introduced the photothermal conversion mechanism of NIRNs and the cell death mechanism induced by photothermal therapy. Subsequently, we provided a brief conclusion of NIRNs-Lips applied in cancer photothermal therapy. Finally, we discussed a synopsis of associated challenges and future perspectives for the applications of NIRN-Lips in cancer photothermal therapy.

On factorizable S-matrices, generalized TTbar, and the Hagedorn transition

We study solutions of the Thermodynamic Bethe Ansatz equations for relativistic theories defined by the factorizable S-matrix of an integrable QFT deformed by CDD factors. Such S-matrices appear under generalized TTbar deformations of integrable QFT by special irrelevant operators. The TBA equations, of course, determine the ground state energy E(R) of the finite-size system, with the spatial coordinate compactified on a circle of circumference R. We limit attention to theories involving just one kind of stable particles, and consider deformations of the trivial (free fermion or boson) S-matrix by CDD factors with two elementary poles and regular high energy asymptotics — the “2CDD model”. We find that for all values of the parameters (positions of the CDD poles) the TBA equations exhibit two real solutions at R greater than a certain parameter-dependent value R*, which we refer to as the primary and secondary branches. The primary branch is identified with the standard iterative solution, while the secondary one is unstable against iterations and needs to be accessed through an alternative numerical method known as pseudo-arc-length continuation. The two branches merge at the “turning point” R* (a square-root branching point). The singularity signals a Hagedorn behavior of the density of high energy states of the deformed theories, a feature incompatible with the Wilsonian notion of a local QFT originating from a UV fixed point, but typical for string theories. This behavior of E(R) is qualitatively the same as the one for standard TTbar deformations of local QFT.

An Absolutely Conserved Tryptophan in the Stem of the Envelope Protein E of Flaviviruses Is Essential for the Formation of Stable Particles

The major envelope protein E of flaviviruses contains an ectodomain that is connected to the transmembrane domain by the so-called “stem” region. In mature flavivirus particles, the stem is composed of two or three mostly amphipathic α-helices and a conserved sequence element (CS) with an undefined role in the viral life cycle. A tryptophan is the only residue within this region which is not only conserved in all vector-borne flaviviruses, but also in the group with no known vector. We investigated the importance of this residue in different stages of the viral life cycle by a mutagenesis-based approach using tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV). Replacing W421 by alanine or histidine strongly reduced the release of infectious virions and their thermostability, whereas fusion-related entry functions and virus maturation were still intact. Serial passaging of the mutants led to the emergence of a same-site compensatory mutation to leucine that largely restored these properties of the wildtype. The conserved tryptophan in CS (or another big hydrophobic amino acid at the same position) is thus essential for the assembly and infectivity of flaviviruses by being part of a network required for conferring stability to infectious particles.

Cooling after shearing: three possible fates for dense granular materials

We perform discrete element simulations of freely cooling, dense granular materials, previously sheared at a constant rate. Particles are identical, frictional spheres interacting via linear springs and dashpots and the solid volume fraction is constant and equal to 60% during both shearing and cooling. We measure the average and the distributions of contacts per particle and the anisotropy of the contact network. We observe that the granular material, at the beginning of cooling, can be shear-jammed, fragile or unjammed. The initial state determines the subsequent evolution of the dense assembly into either an anisotropic solid, an isotropic or an anisotropic fluid, respectively. While anisotropic solids and isotropic fluids rapidly reach an apparent final steady configuration, the microstructure continues to evolve for anisotropic fluids. We explain this with the presence of vortices in the flow field that counteract the randomizing and structure-annihilating effect of collisions. We notice, in accordance with previous findings, that the initial fraction of mechanically stable particles permits to distinguish between shear-jammed, fragile or unjammed states and, therefore, determine beforehand the fate of the freely evolving granular materials. We also find that the fraction of mechanically stable particles is in a one-to-one relation with the average number of contacts per particle. The latter is, therefore, a variable that must be incorporated in continuum models of granular materials, even in the case of unjammed states, where it was widely accepted that the solid volume fraction was sufficient to describe the geometry of the system.

Machine learning to determine optimal conditions for controlling the size of elastin-based particles

This paper evaluates the aggregation behavior of a potential drug and gene delivery system that combines branched polyethyleneimine (PEI), a positively-charged polyelectrolyte, and elastin-like polypeptide (ELP), a recombinant polymer that exhibits lower critical solution temperature (LCST). The LCST behavior of ELP has been extensively studied, but there are no quantitative ways to control the size of aggregates formed after the phase transition. The aggregate size cannot be maintained when the temperature is lowered below the LCST, unless the system exhibits hysteresis and forms irreversible aggregates. This study shows that conjugation of ELP with PEI preserves the aggregation behavior that occurs above the LCST and achieves precise aggregate radii when the solution conditions of pH (3, 7, 10), polymer concentration (0.1, 0.15, 0.3 mg/mL), and salt concentration (none, 0.2, 1 M) are carefully controlled. K-means cluster analyses showed that salt concentration was the most critical factor controlling the hydrodynamic radius and LCST. Conjugating ELP to PEI allowed crosslinking the aggregates and achieved stable particles that maintained their size below LCST, even after removal of the harsh (high salt or pH) conditions used to create them. Taken together, the ability to control aggregate sizes and use of crosslinking to maintain stability holds excellent potential for use in biological delivery systems.

Superheavy dark matter in R2-cosmology

The conventional Friedmann cosmology is known to be in tension with the existence of stable particles having interaction strength typical for supersymmetry and heavier than several TeV. A possible way to save life of such particles may be a modification of the standard cosmological expansion law in such a way that the density of these heavy relics would be significantly reduced. We study particle creation in the Starobinsky inflationary model for different decay channels of the scalaron. It is shown that the process of thermalization superheavy stable particles with the coupling strength typical for the GUT SUSY could be created with the density equal to the observed density of dark matter.

Near-Infrared Fluorescence Imaging and Photodynamic Therapy for Liver Tumors

Surgery with fluorescence equipment has improved to treat the malignant viscera, including hepatobiliary and pancreatic neoplasms. In both open and minimally invasive surgeries, optical imaging using near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence is used to assess anatomy and function in real time. Here, we review a variety of publications related to clinical applications of NIR fluorescence imaging in liver surgery. We have developed a novel nanoparticle (indocyanine green lactosome) that is biocompatible and can be used for imaging cancer tissues and also as a drug delivery system. To date, stable particles are formed in blood and have an ~10–20 h half-life. Particles labeled with a NIR fluorescent agent have been applied to cancer tissues by the enhanced permeability and retention effect in animals. Furthermore, this article reviews recent developments in photodynamic therapy with NIR fluorescence imaging, which may contribute and accelerate the innovative treatments for liver tumors.

INFLUENCE OF SYNTHESIS CONDITIONS ON AGGREGATIVE STABILITY OF Ag ALCOSOLS

Впервые в работе представлены результаты исследования влияния типа спиртовой среды на свойства высококонцентрированных золей наночастиц серебра. С помощью спектрофотометрии установлено наличие селективной полосы поглощения, обусловленной поверхностным плазмонным резонансом наночастиц серебра. Измерение дзета-потенциала показало, что вне зависимости от типа среды поверхность наночастиц серебра заряжена отрицательно. Обнаружено, что наиболее агрегативно устойчивые частицы, сохраняющие стабильность в концентрированных растворах хлорида натрия, получены в среде изопропилового спирта и характеризуются дзета-потенциалом, равным -99,8 мВ. For the first time, the paper presents the results of investigation the effect of the type of alcoholic medium on the properties of highly concentrated sols of silver nanoparticles. Spectrophotometry revealed the presence of a selective absorption band corresponding to the surface plasmon resonance of silver nanoparticles. Measurement of the zetta potential showed that, regardless of the type of medium, the surface of silver nanoparticles is negatively charged. It was found that the most aggregatively stable particles that retain stability even in concentrated sodium chloride solutions were obtained in isopropyl alcohol and are characterized by the zetta potential equal to -99,8 mV. Keywords: silver nanoparticles, optical properties, electroacoustic spectroscopy, zeta potential, nanoparticle stability.

Dual S-matrix bootstrap. Part I. 2D theory

Using duality in optimization theory we formulate a dual approach to the S-matrix bootstrap that provides rigorous bounds to 2D QFT observables as a consequence of unitarity, crossing symmetry and analyticity of the scattering matrix. We then explain how to optimize such bounds numerically, and prove that they provide the same bounds obtained from the usual primal formulation of the S-matrix Bootstrap, at least once convergence is attained from both perspectives. These techniques are then applied to the study of a gapped system with two stable particles of different masses, which serves as a toy model for bootstrapping popular physical systems.

On the hydrodynamics of unstable excitations

The generalized hydrodynamic (GHD) approach has been extremely successful in describing the out-of-equilibrium properties of a great variety of integrable many-body quantum systems. It naturally extracts the large-scale dynamical degrees of freedom of the system, and is thus a particularly good probe for emergent phenomena. One such phenomenon is the presence of unstable particles, traditionally seen via special analytic structures of the scattering matrix. Because of their finite lifetime and energy threshold, these are especially hard to study. In this paper we apply the GHD approach to a model possessing both unstable excitations and quantum integrability. The largest family of relativistic integrable quantum field theories known to have these features are the homogeneous sine-Gordon models. We consider the simplest non-trivial example of such theories and investigate the effect of an unstable excitation on various physical quantities, both at equilibrium and in the non-equilibrium state arising from the partitioning protocol. The hydrodynamic approach sheds new light onto the physics of the unstable particle, going much beyond its definition via the analytic structure of the scattering matrix, and clarifies its effects both on the equilibrium and out-of-equilibrium properties of the theory. Crucially, within this dynamical perspective, we identify unstable particles as finitely-lived bound states of co-propagating stable particles of different types, and observe how stable populations of unstable particles emerge in large-temperature thermal baths.