MRI analysis of hydrogel-loaded apatinib for local therapy of hepatocellular carcinoma model in nude mice.

AIM: To investigate the effect of local treatment of gadolinium-polyethylene glycol (Gd-PEG) hydrogel containing apatinib injected into hepatocellular carcinoma model of HepG2 in nude mice, and to evaluate the MRI findings in vivo. METHODS: HepG2 cells were treated in vitro and OD 450 value were measured. The four groups (n = 6) were Apatinib-Gd-PEG hydrogel, Gd-PEG hydrogel, Apatinib, and Saline. T1WI and DWI scans were performed before and 1d, 3d, and 14d postoperatively. The samples were examined by histomorphology and immunohistochemistry for CD34 and VEGFR2. Microvessel density (MVD) was evaluated and the average optical density (AOD) of VEGFR2 was obtained by IPP6.0 image software. RESULTS: The OD450-time curves of Gd-PEG hydrogel and phosphate buffer saline (PBS) were similar and that of apatinib at all concentrations are located below; the higher the concentration, the lower the curve. On T1WI and DWI, the newly injected Gd-PEG hydrogel showed significant high signal and was immobilized in the tumor. Subsequently, the size and signal of Gd-PEG hydrogel gradually decreased with time. In Apatinib-Gd-PEG hydrogel group, compared with other three groups, MRI and histomorphology showed that the necrotic area of hepatocellular carcinoma model was larger, immunohistochemistry displayed minimal expression of CD34 and VEGFR2, the AOD of VEGFR2 and MVD differed markedly. CONCLUSION: Gd-PEG hydrogel can significantly enhance and prolong the inhibitory effect of apatinib. It can be visualized by MRI, which can be used to evaluate the local therapeutic effect.

Hormone-Diversity Fit: Collective Testosterone Moderates the Effect of Diversity on Group Performance.

Prior research has found inconsistent effects of diversity on group performance. The present research identifies hormonal factors as a critical moderator of the diversity-performance connection. Integrating the diversity, status, and hormone literatures, we predicted that groups collectively low in testosterone, which orients individuals less toward status competitions and more toward cooperation, would excel with greater group diversity. In contrast, groups collectively high in testosterone, which is associated with a heightened status drive, would be derailed by diversity. Analysis of 74 randomly assigned groups engaged in a group decision-making exercise provided support for these hypotheses. The findings suggest that diversity is beneficial for performance, but only if group-level testosterone is low; diversity has a negative effect on performance if group-level testosterone is high. Too much collective testosterone maximizes the pains and minimizes the gains from diversity.

Emotion Appraisals and Coping with Secrets.

Secrecy is both common and consequential. Recent work suggests that personal experiences with secrets (i.e., mind-wandering to them outside of concealment contexts), rather than concealment (within conversations), can explain the harms of secrecy. Recent work has also demonstrated that secrecy is associated with emotions that center on self-evaluation-shame and guilt. These emotions may help explain the harms of secrecy and provide a point of intervention to improve coping with secrecy. Four studies with 800 participants keeping over 10,500 secrets found that shame surrounding a secret is associated with lower perceived coping efficacy and reduced well-being. Moreover, shifting appraisals away from shame improved perceptions of efficacy in coping with secrets, which was linked with higher well-being. These studies suggest that emotions surrounding secrets can harm well-being and highlight avenues for intervention.

Secrecy: Unshared Realities.

Much of the social psychological literature considers how people engage with their social worlds. Shared reality theory proposes that people do so for one of two reasons: to connect with others, and to obtain others' perspectives and insights to understand the world around them. Although the literature on shared reality has focused on the ways in which people develop and maintain shared realities with those around them as well as the consequences of achieving such shared realities, we propose that a critical future avenue for this work is to explore what happens when people choose to not share realities. People do not always seek to share their experiences with close others, but sometimes keep secrets. We propose that while shared reality theory is founded upon why and how people connect with others, it can also make predictions for the mechanisms of secrecy and how it relates to well-being. Secrecy could thwart both relational motives and epistemic motives with harm to well-being by making people feel less connected to others, and by preventing people from obtaining others' insights and perspectives with respect to the secret. New theoretical insights would be gained from integrating research on shared reality with research on secrecy, and future work should investigate the intersection of the two.

Artesunate-Loaded and Near-Infrared Dye-Conjugated Albumin Nanoparticles as High-Efficiency Tumor-Targeted Photo-Chemo Theranostic Agent.

Herein, a tumor-targeted multifunctional theranostic agent was synthetized using a facile method, combining four clinically approved materials: artesunate (Arte), human serum albumin (HSA), folic acid (FA), and indocyanine green (ICG). The obtained nanocomposites (FA-IHA NPs) showed an excellent photo- and physiological stability. The ICG in the FA-IHA NPs was used not only for near infrared (NIR) fluorescence imaging, but also for photothermal and photodynamic (PTT-PDT) therapy under a single NIR irradiation. In addition, the NIR irradiation (808 nm, 1 W/cm2) could trigger Arte release that showed enhanced chemotherapeutic effect. Through fluorescence imaging, the cell uptake and tumor accumulation of FA-IHA NPs were observed in vitro and in vivo, analyzed by confocal microscopy and NIR fluorescence imaging in tumor xenograft mice. Based on the diagnostic results, FA-IHA NPs at 24 h post injection and combined with NIR irradiation (808 nm, 1 W/cm2) could efficiently suppress tumor growth through a photo-chemo combination therapy, with no tumor recurrence in vitro and in vivo. The obtained results suggested that FA-IHA NPs are promising photo-chemo theranostic agents for future clinical translation.