A Comprehensive Review of Various Therapeutic Strategies for the Management of Skin Cancer.

Skin cancer (SC) poses a global threat to the healthcare system and is expected to increase significantly over the next two decades if not diagnosed at an early stage. Early diagnosis is crucial for successful treatment, as the disease becomes more challenging to cure as it progresses. However, identifying new drugs, achieving clinical success, and overcoming drug resistance remain significant challenges. To overcome these obstacles and provide effective treatment, it is crucial to understand the causes of skin cancer, how cells grow and divide, factors that affect cell growth, and how drug resistance occurs. In this review, we have explained various therapeutic approaches for SC treatment via ligands, targeted photosensitizers, natural and synthetic drugs for the treatment of SC, an epigenetic approach for management of melanoma, photodynamic therapy, and targeted therapy for BRAF-mutated melanoma. This article also provides a detailed summary of the various natural drugs that are effective in managing melanoma and reducing the occurrence of skin cancer at early stages and focuses on the current status and future prospects of various therapies available for the management of skin cancer.

Therapeutic restoration of miR-126-3p as a multi-targeted strategy to modulate the liver tumor microenvironment.

BACKGROUND: Impaired natural killer (NK) cell-mediated antitumor responses contribute to the growth of liver tumors. Expression of a disintegrin and metalloprotease 9 (ADAM9) increases shedding of membrane-bound major histocompatibility complex class I chain-related protein A and results in evasion from NK cell-mediated cytolysis. ADAM9 is also involved in angiogenesis and tumor progression and is a target of miR-126-3p, a tumor suppressor that is downregulated and alters tumor cell behavior in the liver and other cancers. We evaluated the restoration of miR-126-3p and modulation of the miR-126-3p/ADAM9 axis as a therapeutic approach to simultaneously enhance NK cell-mediated cytolysis while targeting both tumor cells and their microenvironment. METHODS: Precursor miRNAs were loaded into milk-derived nanovesicles to generate therapeutic vesicles (therapeutic milk-derived nanovesicles) for the restoration of functional miR-126-3p in recipient cancer cells. RESULTS: Administration of therapeutic milk-derived nanovesicles increased miR-126-3p expression and reduced ADAM9 expression in target cells and was associated with an increase in membrane-bound major histocompatibility complex class I chain-related protein A. This enhanced NK cell cytolysis in adherent tumor cells and in multicellular tumor spheroids while also impairing angiogenesis and modulating macrophage chemotaxis. Moreover, IV administration of therapeutic milk-derived nanovesicles with adoptive transfer of NK cells reduced tumor burden in orthotopic hepatocellular cancer xenografts in mice. CONCLUSION: A directed RNA therapeutic approach can mitigate NK cell immune evasion, reduce angiogenesis, and alter the tumor cell phenotype through the restoration of miR-126-3p in liver tumor cells. The pleiotropic effects elicited by this multi-targeted approach to modulate the local tumor microenvironment support its use for the treatment of liver cancer.

Lung-on-chip microdevices to foster pulmonary drug discovery.

Respiratory diseases account for unprecedented mortality owing to a lack of personalized or insufficient therapeutic interventions. Fostering pulmonary research into managing pulmonary threat requires a potential alternative approach that can mimick the in vivo complexities of the human body. The in vitro miniaturized bionic simulation of the lung holds great potential in the quest for a successful therapeutic intervention. This review discusses the emerging roles of lung-on-chip microfluidic simulator devices in fostering translational pulmonary drug discovery and personalized medicine. This review also explicates how the lung-on-chip model emulates the breathing patterns, elasticity, and vascularization of lungs in creating a 3D pulmonary microenvironment.

A High-Order EMSIW MIMO Antenna for Space-Constrained 5G Smartphone.

This paper proposes a high-order MIMO antenna operating at 3.5 GHz for a 5G new radio. Using an eighth-mode substrate integrated waveguide (EMSIW) cavity and considering a typical smartphone scenario, a two-element MIMO antenna is developed and extended to a twelve-element MIMO. These MIMO elements are closely spaced, and by employing multiple diversity techniques, high isolation is achieved without using a decoupling network. The asymmetric EMSIW structures resulted in radiation pattern diversity, and their orthogonal placement provides polarization diversity. The radiation characteristics and diversity performance are parametrically optimized for a two-element MIMO antenna. The experimental results exhibited 6.0 dB and 10.0 dB bandwidths of 250 and 100 MHz, respectively. The measured and simulated radiation patterns are closely matched with a peak gain of 3.4 dBi and isolation ≥36 dB. Encouraged with these results, higher-order MIMO, namely, four- and twelve-element MIMO are investigated, and isolation ≥35 and ≥22 dB are achieved, respectively. The channel capacity is found equal to 56.37 bps/Hz for twelve-element MIMO, which is nearly 6.25 times higher than the two-element counterpart. The hand and head proximity analysis reveal that the proposed antenna performances are within the acceptable limit. A detailed comparison with the previous works demonstrates that the proposed antenna offers a simple, low-cost, and compact MIMO antenna design solution with a high diversity performance.

Comparison of soft tissue chin thickness at different levels of chin in subjects with various growth patterns.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the association between mandibular growth pattern and soft tissue chin (STC) thickness measured at different chin levels and the gender differences in STC thickness at these different chin levels. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Pretreatment lateral cephalograms of 161 subjects aged 18-45 years were selected, and subjects were divided into 4 groups depending on mandibular growth pattern defined by the mandibular plane to cranial base angle. The STC thicknesses were measured at pogonion (Pog), gnathion (Gn), and menton (Me). Group difference was evaluated using analysis of variance. RESULTS: STC thickness was greater (p < .05) in the low-angle group, and it gradually decreased across the groups, the least being in the high-angle group. No sexual dimorphism was observed among the groups (p > .05). CONCLUSION: This study suggests that STC thickness measurements were smaller in high-angle group compared to low-angle group.

The effect of pre-etching with 37% orthophosphoric acid on the shear bond strength of orthodontic brackets bonded using self-etching primer-adhesive system.

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to compare the effect of pre-etching with 37% orthophosphoric acid on the shear bond strength (SBS) of orthodontic brackets bonded using self-etching primer (SEP). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two hundred freshly extracted human premolars were divided randomly into two groups based on pre-etching with 37% orthophosphoric acid: Group 1 (control, n = 50) without pre-etching and Group 2 (experimental, n = 150) with pre-etching. Group 2 was further divided into three sub groups 2a, 2b, and 2c with 50 teeth each and was first pre-etched with 37% orthophosphoric acid for 10, 30, and 60 s, respectively. Brackets were bonded on the teeth in both the groups using SEP and light cure adhesive. The SBS were determined using universal testing machine. The comparison of SBS was done using one-way analysis of variance and Tukey's honest significant difference test. RESULTS: The SBS of experimental Group 2 was significantly higher than the control Group 1 (p < 0.0001). Further, the SBS of Group 2a was highest, followed by Group 2b and 2c (p < 0.0001). CONCLUSION: It was found that pre-etching for 10 s prior to application of SEP-adhesive system increases the SBS of orthodontic brackets.

Availability and distribution of safe abortion services in rural areas: a facility assessment study in Madhya Pradesh, India.

BACKGROUND: Unsafe abortion contributes to a significant portion of maternal mortality in India. Access to safe abortion care is known to reduce maternal mortality. Availability and distribution of abortion care facilities can influence women's access to these services, especially in rural areas. OBJECTIVES: To assess the availability and distribution of abortion care at facilities providing childbirth care in three districts of Madhya Pradesh (MP) province of India. DESIGN: Three socio demographically heterogeneous districts of MP were selected for this study. Facilities conducting at least 10 deliveries a month were surveyed to assess availability and provision of abortion services using UN signal functions for emergency obstetric care. Geographical Information System was used for visualisation of the distribution of facilities. RESULTS: The three districts had 99 facilities that conducted >10 deliveries a month: 74 in public and 25 in private sector. Overall, 48% of facilities reported an ability to provide safe surgical abortion service. Of public centres, 32% reported the ability compared to 100% among private centres while 18% of public centres and 77% of private centres had performed an abortion in the last 3 months. The availability of abortion services was higher at higher facility levels with better equipped and skilled personnel availability, in urban areas and in private sector facilities. CONCLUSIONS: Findings showed that availability of safe abortion care is limited especially in rural areas. More emphasis on providing safe abortion services, particularly at primary care level, is important to more significantly dent maternal mortality in India.

Anomalous origin of the hepatic artery from the hepatomesenteric trunk.

During the routine dissection of the abdominal cavity of a 75 years old, embalmed, male cadaver in the Department of Anatomy, an anomalous origin of the common hepatic artery from the hepatomesenteric trunk was observed. The Hepatomesenteric trunk originated from the ventral surface of the aorta at the L1 level. After coursing anteriorly, the trunk divided into the common hepatic artery and the superior mesenteric artery. The common hepatic artery is normally a branch of the coeliac trunk, but in the present case, the coeliac trunk gave two branches i.e. the left gastric and the splenic arteries. The length and the external diameter of the variant arteries were measured by using a Vernier calliper. The type V of Adachi's classification resembled closely with the variation which was observed. A knowledge on such a variation is important to avoid upheavals during surgical procedures. It is also helpful for the radiologists in interventional processes such as embolization of the hepatic artery and chemotherapy.