Anisotropic Dye Adsorption and Anhydrous Proton Conductivity in Smectic Liquid Crystal Networks: The Role of Cross-Link Density, Order, and Orientation.

In this work, the decisive role of rigidity, orientation, and order in the smectic liquid crystalline network on the anisotropic proton and adsorbent properties is reported. The rigidity in the hydrogen-bonded polymer network has been altered by changing the cross-link density, the order by using different mesophases (smectic, nematic, and isotropic phases), whereas the orientation of the mesogens was controlled by alignment layers. Adding more cross-linkers improved the integrity of the polymer films.

Enhanced nuclear delivery of anti-cancer drugs using micelles containing releasable membrane fusion peptide and nuclear-targeting retinoic acid.

Biodegradable cross-linked N-(2-hydroxypropyl) methacrylamide (HPMA) copolymer micelles can improve the accumulation of drug cargo in tumors by prolonging their circulation time. However, drug delivery can still be ineffective because of intracellular degradation in lysosomes and poor delivery to the nucleus. In this work, we prepared a novel micelle by grafting the hydrophobic HA2 membrane fusion peptide onto hydrophilic HPMA copolymers via a linker that would be cleaved in lysosomes, allowing the HA2 peptide to be released and disrupt lysosome membranes.

Necessity of preoperative activated partial thromboplastin time test as a predictor for surgical hemorrhage in obstetric and gynecological patients in China.

Background: On an international scale, the necessity of preoperative coagulation screen remains controversial, yet in China, coagulation screen is still a routine test before surgery required by the Ministry of Health of China.

Methods: A retrospective review of 26,807 patients >18y presenting with problems related to the areas of gynecology and obstetrics from March 2013 to July 2015 was performed, and the rate of major bleeding and the amount of blood lost during surgery were compared among groups of patients grouped according to the values of preoperative APTT, the departments the patients belonged to, or the measures for intervention.

Results: Groups with increased APTT had higher rates of major bleeding (9.

Primary cutaneous nocardiosis caused by Nocardia brasiliensis following a wasp sting.

We report a case of an 87-year-old woman who presented with painful erythema of her right forearm 10 days after she had been stung by a wasp on her right hand. The lesion had rapidly deteriorated during the week before presentation, and treatment with antibiotics and glucocorticoids did not improve the condition. After careful evaluation, we performed cultures from the lesion aspiration, and morphological and genetic analysis of bacteria cultures confirmed a bacterial infection with Nocardia brasiliensis.

Lipid nanovehicles with adjustable surface properties for overcoming multiple barriers simultaneously in oral administration.

Lipid nanoparticles (LNs) are widely investigated for oral drug delivery, and for achieving significant advantages in colloidal stability, biocompatibility and scaled-up possibility. However, researchers face challenge of developing methods to improve the ability of LNs in overcoming multiple barriers (i.e.

Dual Stimuli-Responsive Hybrid Polymeric Nanoparticles Self-Assembled from POSS-Based Starlike Copolymer-Drug Conjugates for Efficient Intracellular Delivery of Hydrophobic Drugs.

To further fine tune drug release and enhance therapeutic effects of polyhedral oligomericsilsesquioxane (POSS)-based nanomedicine, a starlike organic-inorganic conjugate was synthesized by grafting semitelechelic N-(2-hydroxypropyl) methacrylamide (HPMA) copolymers to a POSS rigid core through reductively degradable disulfide bonds. The hydrophobic docetaxel (DTX) was attached to the grafts by pH-sensitive hydrazone bonds and also encapsulated into the POSS core (SP-DTX). Thus, the final amphiphilic star-shaped conjugates could self-assemble into nanoparticles and exhibited conspicuous drug-loading capacity (20.

Dual-pH responsive micelle platform for co-delivery of axitinib and doxorubicin.

While the complicated pathogenesis of cancer results in limited therapeutic efficacy of current mono-drug treatment, combination therapy by multiple drugs is becoming increasingly attractive due to the decreased side effects and synergistic anti-cancer activities. The recently emerging modality is the co-delivery of traditional chemotherapeutics and anti-angiogenesis agents. Although nanocarriers are frequently utilized for the co-delivery of different drugs, there are still concerns regarding their implementations.

Antitumor and Antimetastasis Activities of Heparin-based Micelle Served As Both Carrier and Drug.

Effective treatments for tumors are not easy to achieve due to the existence of metastases, which are responsible for most tumor death. Hence, a new drug delivery system is a pressing need, which should be biocompatible, stimuli-responsive, and multifunctional, including antitumor, antimetastasis, and antiangiogenesis effects. However, it is challenging to achieve all of these properties in one drug delivery system.

Efficient mucus permeation and tight junction opening by dissociable "mucus-inert" agent coated trimethyl chitosan nanoparticles for oral insulin delivery.

Oral administration of protein drugs is greatly impeded by the lack of drug carriers that can efficiently overcome the absorption barriers of mucosa tissue, which consists of not only epithelium but also a blanket of mucus gel. We herein report a novel self-assembled nanoparticle (NP) platform for oral delivery of insulin by facilitating the efficient permeation through both of these two barriers. The NP possesses a core composed of insulin and trimethyl chitosan (TMC), and a dissociable "mucus-inert" hydrophilic coating of N-(2-hydroxypropyl) methacrylamide copolymer (pHPMA) derivative.

Surgical management of medulla oblongata hemangioblastomas in one institution: an analysis of 62 cases.

Object: Hemangioblastomas of the central nervous system are highly vascularized benign tumors. When the tumors are located in the medulla oblongata, intraoperative bleeding can make the surgical procedure very difficult. Preoperative embolism has been performed in cases of hemangioblastoma in recent decades.

Clinical and pathological characteristics of adrenal lymphangioma treated by laparoscopy via a retroperitoneal approach: experience and analysis of 7 cases.

To describe the clinical and pathological characteristics of adrenal lymphangioma (AL) and share our experiences of the treatment of AL with retroperitoneal laparoscopic surgery. All patients pathologically diagnosed with AL were examined. The clinical and pathological characteristics, process of diagnosis, and preparation and treatment of all patients, especially patients treated with laparoscopic surgery, were summarized and retrospectively analyzed.

Effects of PDTC on NF-κB expression and apoptosis in rats with severe acute pancreatitis-associated lung injury.

We investigated the effects of pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (PDTC) on intrapulmonary expression of nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB), and apoptosis in rats with severe acute pancreatitis (SAP). We induced SAP, then used immunohistochemistry, TUNEL staining, quantitative PCR assays and western blotting to examine PDTC effects. Treatment with PDTC resulted in interstitial edema and widening of the basement membrane, with swollen mitochondria and aggregation of nuclear chromatin.

A therapeutic strategy for spinal cord defect: human dental follicle cells combined with aligned PCL/PLGA electrospun material.

Stem cell implantation has been utilized for the repair of spinal cord injury; however, it shows unsatisfactory performance in repairing large scale lesion of an organ. We hypothesized that dental follicle cells (DFCs), which possess multipotential capability, could reconstruct spinal cord defect (SCD) in combination with biomaterials. In the present study, mesenchymal and neurogenic lineage characteristics of human DFCs (hDFCs) were identified.

High-sensitivity to heparin associates with cell salvage transfusion in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis patient undergoing posterior spinal fusion.

A 16-year-old male with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis was scheduled for the posterior spinal fusion (PSF) under general anesthesia. The cell saver was routinely prepared preoperatively and 400 ml of salvaged red blood cells were transfused during the surgery. After the cell salvage transfusion, the oozing of blood in surgical wounds occurred and the activated coagulation time (ACT) of the arterial blood was 999 s, considering the possibility of the residual heparin in the cell salvage, 30 mg of protamine was injected intravenously, 5 min later the ACT dropped to 125 s.

Endolymphatic sac tumor with von Hippel-Lindau disease: report of a case with atypical pathology of endolymphatic sac tumor.

The authors described a case of a patient with co-existing endolymphatic sac tumor (ELST) and hemangioblastoma in the posterior cranial fossa, which belonged to a subtype of Von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) disease confirmed by the test of VHL-gene. The signs in this 42-year-old female included intermittent headache and dizziness. Imaging revealed a giant mass in the right cerebellopontine angle (CPA) region and another lesion in the left cerebellar hemisphere.

Increased tumor targeted delivery using a multistage liposome system functionalized with RGD, TAT and cleavable PEG.

Though PEGylation has been widely used to enhance the accumulation of liposomes in tumor tissues through enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effects, it still inhibits cellular uptake and affects intracellular trafficking of carriers. Active targeting molecules displayed better cell selectivity but were shadowed by the poor tumor penetration effect. Cell penetrating peptides could increase the uptake of the carriers but were limited by their non-specificity.

Formulation and evaluation of novel coated floating tablets of bergenin and cetirizine dihydrochloride for gastric delivery.

A novel coated gastric floating drug-delivery system (GFDDS) of bergenin (BN) and cetirizine dihydrochloride (CET) was developed. First, the pharmacodynamic studies were performed and the results revealed that the new compounds of bergenin/cetirizine dihydrochloride had comparative efficacy as commercial products (bergenin/chlorphenamine maleate) but with fewer side effects on central nervous system (CNS). Subsequently, bergenin was formulated as an extended-release core tablet while cetirizine dihydrochloride was incorporated into the gastric coating film for immediate release.

Biomarkers in tongue cancer: understanding the molecular basis and their clinical implications.

Tongue cancer, one of the most common malignant cancers of the oral cavity, still affects human health worldwide due to its disappointing survival rates, despite significant developments in its multimodality treatment. The predominant cause of death in patients with tongue cancer is the high occurrence of invasion to surrounding tissues, lymph and distant metastasis, and recurrence. Due to the limited value of conventional predictive and prognostic factors and the uniformity of treatment strategies, several patients are still over- or under-treated, with significantly personal and socioeconomic impact.

Molecular designer self-assembling peptides.

Chemistry has generally been associated with inorganic and organic syntheses, metal-organic composites, coordinate metal chemistry, catalyses, block copolymer, coating, thin film, industrial surfactants and small-molecule drug development. That is about to change. Chemistry will also expand to the discovery and fabrication of biological and molecular materials with diverse structures, functionalities and utilities.