Enhancement of Water Productivity and Energy Efficiency in Sorption-based Atmospheric Water Harvesting Systems: From Material, Component to System Level.

To address the increasingly serious water scarcity across the world, sorption-based atmospheric water harvesting (SAWH) continues to attract attention among various water production methods, due to it being less dependent on climatic and geographical conditions. Water productivity and energy efficiency are the two most important evaluation indicators. Therefore, this review aims to comprehensively and systematically summarize and discuss the water productivity and energy efficiency enhancement methods for SAWH systems based on three levels, from material to component to system.

Liposome formulation of co-encapsulated vincristine and quercetin enhanced antitumor activity in a trastuzumab-insensitive breast tumor xenograft model.

Unlabelled: Hormone- and trastuzumab-insensitive breast cancer has limited and ineffective clinical treatment options. This study sought to develop a liposome formulation containing a synergistic combination of vincristine and quercetin, with prolonged drug circulation times and coordinated drug release in vivo, to develop effective treatments against this subtype of breast cancer. The 2:1 molar ratio of vincristine/quercetin showed strong synergism in the hormone- and trastuzumab-insensitive JIMT-1 cells.

Liposomal M-V-05: formulation development and activity testing of a novel dihydrofolate reductase inhibitor for breast cancer therapy.

In the management of metastatic breast cancer, fewer recognized therapeutic standards are available as compared to the early stages of the disease. Thus, it is pertinent to search for new, effective therapy to improve survival, tolerability and quality of life of patients. In this study, a liposomal formulation was developed for a novel dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) inhibitor, M-V-05.

Syndecan-2 and decorin: proteoglycans with a difference--implications in keloid pathogenesis.

Background: Growth factors and cytokines involved in the wound healing process seem to be immobilized at the cell surface and extracellular matrix via binding with proteoglycans, making them important modulators of cell dynamics. Our aim was to investigate the expression of two proteoglycans, namely syndecan-2 and decorin, and to elucidate their role in the pathogenesis of an aberrant wound healing process leading to keloid scar.

Methods: Intrinsic expression of syndecan-2, fibroblast growth factor (FGF)-2, and decorin in keloid tissue was investigated using Western blotting and immunohistochemistry.

Lipid-based nanoparticulate systems for the delivery of anti-cancer drug cocktails: Implications on pharmacokinetics and drug toxicities.

The use of drug cocktails has become a widely adopted strategy in clinical cancer therapy. Cytotoxic drug cocktails are often administered based on maximum tolerated dose (MTD) of each agent, with the belief of achieving maximum cell kill through tolerable toxicity level. Yet, MTD administration may not have fully captured the therapeutic synergism that exists among the individual agents in the drug cocktail, as the response to a cocktail regimen, that is, whether the effect is synergistic or not, could be highly sensitive to the concentration ratios of the individual drugs at the site of action.

Simultaneous liposomal delivery of quercetin and vincristine for enhanced estrogen-receptor-negative breast cancer treatment.

Breast cancers are either estrogen receptor-positive (ER) or negative (ER). ER breast cancers are clinically more aggressive and have fewer effective treatment options. Quercetin and vincristine are both active against ER breast cancers and exhibit synergism in vitro.