Development of liposomal formulations: From concept to clinical investigations

Liposome is one of the most successful drug delivery systems applying nanotechnology topotentiate the therapeutic efficacy and reduce toxicities of conventional medicines. Sincethe first doxorubicin-loaded liposome reached the market, numerous researches have beencarried out to develop new liposomal formulations over the past decade and have givenbirth to a series of commercial products. Therapeutic agents, most of which are anti-cancerdrugs, are encapsulated in the aqueous core or lipid bilayers of liposomes to improve theirdelivery to the targeted tissue. There are several liposomal formulations, such as EndoTAG-1 (paclitaxel-loaded cationic liposomes), Lipoplatin (cisplatin-loaded long circulating liposomes) and Stimuvax (a cancer vaccine), showing promising therapeutic value in clinicalstudies. Besides, new designs including environmentally sensitive liposomes, liposomaldrug combinations and liposomal vaccines are now tested in clinical trials.

Role of the spin anisotropy of the interchain interaction in weakly coupled antiferromagnetic Heisenberg chains

In quasi-one-dimensional(q1D) quantum antiferromagnets, the complicated interplay of intrachain and interchain exchange couplings may give rise to rich phenomena. Motivated by recent progress on field-induced phase transitions in the q1D antiferromagnetic(AFM) compound YbAlO3, we study the phase diagram of spin-1/2 Heisenberg chains with Ising anisotropic interchain couplings under a longitudinal magnetic field via large-scale quantum Monte Carlo simulations,and investigate the role of the spin anisotropy of the interchain coupling on the ground state of the system. We find that the Ising anisotropy of the interchain coupling can significantly enhance the longitudinal spin correlations and drive the system to an incommensurate AFM phase at intermediate magnetic fields, which is understood as a longitudinal spin density wave(LSDW). With increasing field, the ground state changes to a canted AFM order with transverse spin correlations. We further provide a global phase diagram showing how the competition between the LSDW and the canted AFM states is tuned by the Ising anisotropy of the interchain coupling.

Impact of chlorites on the wettability of tight oil sandstone reservoirs in the Upper Triassic Yanchang Formation,Ordos Basin,China

Wettability is an essential property of reservoirs that is of great importance for enhancing oil recovery(EOR)and oil migration.The wettability of reservoirs is generally believed to be strongly affected by mineral compositions but it is not always the case.An integrated study of petrography and wettability was carried out to determine the impact of chlorite minerals on the wettability of the sandstone reservoirs in the Upper Triassic Yanchang Formation.Chlorites are found to be commonly present in the reservoir sandstones as detrital grains,rim-shaped cements,and biotite-chloritized forms with the pore peripheries being largely coated by chlorite,which is the main mineral in direct contact with pores.At pore scale,the wetting state of chlorites can either be oil-wet or water-wet in the tight sandstone reservoirs depending on wettability alteration by oil charge.Chlorites in contact with pores occupy a large of proportions of oil-wet pore walls and are crucial for the formation of oil-wetting state of reservoir sandstones.At core scale,the contents of chlorites in direct contact with pores do not correlate well with the AmottHarvey index due to other factors such as heterogeneity,oil-bearing degrees of samples.

Current Advances of Innate and Adaptive Immunity in Acute-on-Chronic Hepatitis B Liver Failure

Acute-on-chronic hepatitis B liver failure(ACHBLF)is a term used to define the acute deterioration of liver function that occurs in patients with chronic hepatitis B virus infection or hepatitis B virus-related liver cirrhosis.The specific pathogenesis of ACHBLF is still not completely understood.Current research has shown that an intense systemic inflammation is involved in the development of acute-on-chronic liver failure(ACLF).Meanwhile,a subsequent immune paresis over the course of ACLF favors the development of infection and sepsis.Deregulation in both the innate and adaptive immunity is the notable feature of ACLF.The dysregulated immune responses play a crucial role in disease progression and potentially drive organ failure and mortality in ACHBLF.In this review,we highlight the current knowledge of innate and adaptive immune cells in ACHBLF.