Objective: To develop and evaluate a drug delivery system (DDS) capable of targeting cancer cells while at the same time delivering two chemotherapeutic agents to overcome multidrug resistance (MDR). Methods: This study developed a DDS composed of heparin (HA)-coated meta-organic framework (MOF) nanoparticles (HM) designed to deliver doxorubicin (Dox) and quercetin (Que). A range of in vitro and in vivo studies were conducted to determine the characteristics of the HM/Dox/Que nanoparticles, their ability to produce cytotoxic effects in Dox-resistant A549/Dox cells and target and treat solid tumours in a mouse xenograft model of human lung carcinoma. Results: This study demonstrated that the HM/Dox/Que nanoparticles reduced cell viability, increased apoptosis, arrested cells in the G0/G1 phase of the cell cycle and reversed MDR in A549/Dox cells in vitro when compared with mono-drug delivery. In a mouse xenograft model of human lung carcinoma, the HM/Dox/Que nanoparticles targeted the tumours and reduced tumour growth as determined by tumour volume. Conclusion: The use of HM/Dox/Que nanoparticles might be a viable alternative to traditional chemotherapy of lung carcinoma.

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This study explores the conceptual boundaries among break, cut and open from an under-investigated diachronic perspective and addresses the diachronic conceptual variations of Chinese pò (‘break’), qiē (‘cut’) and kāi (‘open’). The Center for Chinese Linguistics corpus is employed for the extraction of historical data. Correspondence analyses are conducted for uncovering the conceptual boundary variations among pò qiē, and kāi. In doing so, this study, situated in Diachronic Prototype Semantics, has revealed that: (1) The conceptual ranges of pò, kāi and kāi greatly overlapped in ancient Chinese, but their division of labor becomes increasingly clear-cut in Mandarin. (2) By the stage of Modern Mandarin, these three lexical categories have formed their own prototypical structures and categorize separation events of state change in virtue of a lexical continuum “kāi-pò-qiē”. (3) Language selection, semantic specialization, as well as conceptual reorganization are proposed as contributing factors for these changes.

Objective To screen out potential biomarkers by analyzing fundamental nutrients in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) before confirming the lung cancer. Methods In this study, 44 patients were enrolled with clinical information. The concentrations of 23 amino acids and 35 carnitines in their BALF were detected with the high-performance liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (HPLC–MS). Combined with clinicopathological diagnosis, the patients were divided into the lung cancer group (grades I & II and III & IV) and the non-cancer group for standard statistical analysis. Results The partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA), the Shapiro–Wilk test, and the Bonferroni correction results showed that the serine concentration was higher and the butane-diacyl-carnitine (C4DC) concentration was lower in the lung cancer group, further showing the same changing trend continuously through the non-cancer stage, grades I & II stage and grades III & IV stage. Those two potential biomarkers have been identified. Conclusion The HPLC–MS target detection in clinic for nutrient concentration levels is a promising technique to find the changing concentration of serine and C4DC in BALF, which provides an economical and practical way for early warning of lung cancer.

The cognitive-constructionist approach to language has significantly gained prominence, with recent developments expanding its exploration into language change [...]