Improvement of current immunotherapies with engineered oncolytic viruses that target cancer stem cells.

The heterogeneity of the solid tumor microenvironment (TME) impairs the therapeutic efficacy of standard therapies and also reduces the infiltration of antitumor immune cells, all of which lead to tumor progression and invasion. In addition, self-renewing cancer stem cells (CSCs) support tumor dormancy, drug resistance, and recurrence, all of which might pose challenges to the eradication of malignant tumor masses with current therapies. Natural forms of oncolytic viruses (OVs) or engineered OVs are known for their potential to directly target and kill tumor cells or indirectly eradicate tumor cells by involving antitumor immune responses, including enhancement of infiltrating antitumor immune cells, induction of immunogenic cell death, and reprogramming of cold TME to an immune-sensitive hot state. More importantly, OVs can target stemness factors that promote tumor progression, which subsequently enhances the efficacy of immunotherapies targeting solid tumors, particularly the CSC subpopulation. Herein, we describe the role of CSCs in tumor heterogeneity and resistance and then highlight the potential and remaining challenges of immunotherapies targeting CSCs. We then review the potential of OVs to improve tumor immunogenicity and target CSCs and finally summarize the challenges within the therapeutic application of OVs in preclinical and clinical trials.

Jewelry rock discrimination as interpretable data using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy and a convolutional LSTM deep learning algorithm.

In this study, the deep learning algorithm of Convolutional Neural Network long short-term memory (CNN-LSTM) is used to classify various jewelry rocks such as agate, turquoise, calcites, and azure from various historical periods and styles related to Shahr-e Sokhteh. Here, the CNN-LSTM architecture includes utilizing CNN layers for the extraction of features from input data mixed with LSTMs for supporting sequence forecasting. It should be mentioned that interpretable deep learning-assisted laser induced breakdown spectroscopy helped achieve excellent performance. For the first time, this paper interprets the Convolutional LSTM effectiveness layer by layer in self-adaptively obtaining LIBS features and the quantitative data of major chemical elements in jewelry rocks. Moreover, Lasso method is applied on data as a factor for investigation of interoperability. The results demonstrated that LIBS can be essentially combined with a deep learning algorithm for the classification of different jewelry songs. The proposed methodology yielded high accuracy, confirming the effectiveness and suitability of the approach in the discrimination process.

Combination MEG3 lncRNA and Ciprofloxacin dramatically decreases cell migration and viability as well as induces apoptosis in GC cells in vitro.

Gastric cancer (GC) is a prominent cause of cancer-related mortality worldwide. Long noncoding RNA (lncRNA) maternal expression gene3 (MEG3) participates in numerous signaling pathways by targeting the miRNA-mRNA axis. Studies on human tumors have demonstrated that the antibiotic Ciprofloxacin induces cell cycle changes, programmed cell death, and growth suppression. In this study, we transfected MEG3 lncRNA and Ciprofloxacin into the MKN-45 GC cell line. qRT-PCR was employed to evaluate the effects on the specific microRNA and mRNA. The wound healing test, MTT assay, and flow cytometry were used to assess the impact of their administration on cell migration, viability, and apoptosis, respectively. Research showed that miR-147 expression fell even more after MEG3 lncRNA transfection, leading to an increase in B-cell lymphoma 2 (BCL-2) levels. Ciprofloxacin transfection did not significantly affect the axis, except for MEG3, which led to its slight upregulation. MEG3 lncRNA inhibited the migration of MKN-45 cells compared to the control group. When MEG3 lncRNA was coupled with Ciprofloxacin, there was a significant reduction in cell migration compared to untreated groups and controls. MTT assay and flow cytometry demonstrated that MEG3 lncRNA decreased cell viability and triggered apoptosis. Simultaneous administration of MEG3 lncRNA and Ciprofloxacin revealed a significant reduction in cell viability caused by increased apoptosis obtained from MTT or flow cytometry assays. Modulating the miR-147-BCL-2 axis decreases cell migration and survival while promoting cell death. In conclusion, combining MEG3 lncRNA with Ciprofloxacin may be an effective therapeutic approach for GC treatment by influencing the miR-14-BCl-2 axis, resulting in reduced cell viability, migration, and increased apoptosis.

Flux profile at focal area of concentrating solar dishes.

We analytically, experimentally and computationally explore the solar radiation flux distribution in the interior region of a spherical mirror and compare it to that of a paraboloidal one with the same aperture area. Our investigation has been performed in the framework of geometrical optics. It is shown that despite one can assign a quasi focus, at half the radius, to a spherical mirror, the light concentration occurs as well on an extended line region which starts at half-radius on the optical axis. In contrast to a paraboloidal concentrator, a spherical mirror can concentrate the radiation parallel to its optical axis both in a point-focus and in a line-focus manner. The envelope of the reflected rays is also obtained. It is shown that the flux distribution has an axial symmetry. The radial dependence of the flux on a flat circular receiver is obtained. The flux longitudinal dependence is shown to exhibit three distinctive regions in the interval [0, R] (R is mirror radius). We obtain the radiational (optical) concentration ratio characteristics and find the optimal location of the flat receiver of a given size at which the concentration ratio is maximised. In contrast to a parabolic mirror, it is shown that this location depends on the receiver size. Our findings offers that in spherical mirrors one can alternatively use a line receiver and gains a considerable thermal energy harvest. Our results are supported by Monte Carlo ray tracing performed by Zemax optical software. Experimental validation has been performed in lab with a silver-coated lens as the spherical mirror.