Exceptional Repositioning of Dog Dewormer: Fenbendazole Fever.

Fenbendazole (FZ) is a benzimidazole carbamate drug with broad-spectrum antiparasitic activity in humans and animals. The mechanism of action of FZ is associated with microtubular polymerization inhibition and glucose uptake blockade resulting in reduced glycogen stores and decreased ATP formation in the adult stages of susceptible parasites. A completely cured case of lung cancer became known globally and greatly influenced the cancer community in South Korea. Desperate Korean patients with cancer began self-administering FZ without their physician's knowledge, which interfered with the outcome of the cancer treatment planned by their oncologists. On the basis of presented evidence, this review provides valuable information from PubMed, Naver, Google Scholar, and Social Network Services (SNS) on the effects of FZ in a broad range of preclinical studies on cancer. In addition, we suggest investigating the self-administration of products, including supplements, herbs, or bioactive compounds, by patients to circumvent waiting for long and costly FZ clinical trials.

Effects of carrier solutions on the viability and efficacy of canine adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells.

BACKGROUND: Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have favorable characteristics that render them a potent therapeutic tool. We tested the characteristics of MSCs after temporal storage in various carrier solutions, such as 0.9% saline (saline), 5% dextrose solution (DS), heparin in saline, and Hartmann's solution, all of which are approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Phosphate-buffered saline, which does not have FDA approval, was also used as a carrier solution. We aimed to examine the effects of these solutions on the viability and characteristics of MSCs to evaluate their suitability and efficacy for the storage of canine adipose-derived MSCs (cADMSCs). RESULTS: We stored the cADMSCs in the test carrier solutions in a time-dependent manner (1, 6, and 12 h) at 4 °C, and analyzed cell confluency, viability, proliferation, self-renewability, and chondrogenic differentiation. Cell confluency was significantly higher in 5% DS and lower in phosphate-buffered saline at 12 h compared to other solutions. cADMSCs stored in saline for 12 h showed the highest viability rate. However, at 12 h, the proliferation rate of cADMSCs was significantly higher after storage in 5% DS and significantly lower after storage in saline, compared to the other solutions. cADMSCs stored in heparin in saline showed superior chondrogenic capacities at 12 h compared to other carrier solutions. The expression levels of the stemness markers, Nanog and Sox2, as well as those of the MSC surface markers, CD90 and CD105, were also affected over time. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that MSCs should be stored in saline, 5% DS, heparin in saline, or Hartmann's solution at 4 °C, all of which have FDA approval (preferable storage conditions: less than 6 h and no longer than 12 h), rather than storing them in phosphate-buffered saline to ensure high viability and efficacy.

Double Repositioning: Veterinary Antiparasitic to Human Anticancer.

Drug repositioning, the approach of discovering different uses for existing drugs, has gained enormous popularity in recent years in the anticancer drug discovery field due to the increasing demand for anticancer drugs. Additionally, the repurposing of veterinary antiparasitic drugs for the treatment of cancer is gaining traction, as supported by existing literature. A prominent example is the proposal to implement the use of veterinary antiparasitics such as benzimidazole carbamates and halogenated salicylanilides as novel anticancer drugs. These agents have revealed pronounced anti-tumor activities and gained special attention for "double repositioning", as they are repurposed for different species and diseases simultaneously, acting via different mechanisms depending on their target. As anticancer agents, these compounds employ several mechanisms, including the inhibition of oncogenic signal transduction pathways of mitochondrial respiration and the inhibition of cellular stress responses. In this review, we summarize and provide valuable information about the experimental, preclinical, and clinical trials of veterinary antiparasitic drugs available for the treatment of various cancers in humans. This review suggests the possibility of new treatment options that could improve the quality of life and outcomes for cancer patients in comparison to the currently used treatments.

Identification of a multi-stack structure of graphene electrodes doped layer-by-layer with benzimidazole and its implication for the design of optoelectronic devices.

Optical properties of benzimidazole (BI)-doped layer-by-layer graphene differ significantly from those of intrinsic graphene. Our study based on transmission electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy depth profiling reveals that such a difference stems from its peculiar stratified geometry formed in situ during the doping process. This work presents an effective thickness and optical constants that can treat these multi-stacked BI-doped graphene electrodes as a single equivalent medium. For verification, the efficiency and angular emission spectra of organic light-emitting diodes with the BI-doped graphene electrode are modeled with the proposed method, and we demonstrate that the calculation matches experimental results in a much narrower margin than that based on the optical properties of undoped graphene.

Ginseng Gintonin Contains Ligands for GPR40 and GPR55.

Gintonin, a novel ginseng-derived glycolipoprotein complex, has an exogenous ligand for lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) receptors. However, recent lipid analysis of gintonin has shown that gintonin also contains other bioactive lipids besides LPAs, including linoleic acid and lysophosphatidylinositol (LPI). Linoleic acid, a free fatty acid, and LPI are known as ligands for the G-protein coupled receptors (GPCR), GPR40, and GPR55, respectively. We, herein, investigated whether gintonin could serve as a ligand for GPR40 and GPR55, using the insulin-secreting beta cell-derived cell line INS-1 and the human prostate cancer cell line PC-3, respectively. Gintonin dose-dependently enhanced insulin secretion from INS-1 cells. Gintonin-stimulated insulin secretion was partially inhibited by a GPR40 receptor antagonist but not an LPA1/3 receptor antagonist and was down-regulated by small interfering RNA (siRNA) against GPR40. Gintonin dose-dependently induced [Ca2+]i transients and Ca2+-dependent cell migration in PC-3 cells. Gintonin actions in PC-3 cells were attenuated by pretreatment with a GPR55 antagonist and an LPA1/3 receptor antagonist or by down-regulating GPR55 with siRNA. Taken together, these results demonstrated that gintonin-mediated insulin secretion by INS-1 cells and PC-3 cell migration were regulated by the respective activation of GPR40 and GPR55 receptors. These findings indicated that gintonin could function as a ligand for both receptors. Finally, we demonstrated that gintonin contained two more GPCR ligands, in addition to that for LPA receptors. Gintonin, with its multiple GPCR ligands, might provide the molecular basis for the multiple pharmacological actions of ginseng.

Overcoming the efficiency limit of organic light-emitting diodes using ultra-thin and transparent graphene electrodes.

We propose an effective way to enhance the out-coupling efficiencies of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) using graphene as a transparent electrode. In this study, we investigated the detrimental adsorption and internal optics occurring in OLEDs with graphene anodes. The optical out-coupling efficiencies of previous OLEDs with transparent graphene electrodes barely exceeded those of OLEDs with conventional transparent electrodes because of the weak microcavity effect. To overcome this issue, we introduced an internal random scattering layer for light extraction and reduced the optical absorption of the graphene by reducing the number of layers in the multilayered graphene film. The efficiencies of the graphene-OLEDs increased significantly with decreasing the number of graphene layers, strongly indicating absorption reduction. The maximum light extraction efficiency was obtained by using a single-layer graphene electrode together with a scattering layer. As a result, a widened angular luminance distribution with a remarkable external quantum efficiency and a luminous efficacy enhancement of 52.8% and 48.5%, respectively, was achieved. Our approach provides a demonstration of graphene-OLED having a performance comparable to that of conventional OLEDs.

Stable angular emission spectra in white organic light-emitting diodes using graphene/PEDOT:PSS composite electrode.

In this work, we suggest a graphene/ poly (3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) composite as a transparent electrode for stabilizing white emission of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). Graphene/PEDOT:PSS composite electrodes have increased reflectance when compared to graphene itself, but their reflectance is still lower than that of ITO itself. Changes in the reflectance of the composite electrode have the advantage of suppressing the angular spectral distortion of white emission OLEDs and achieving an efficiency of 16.6% for white OLEDs, comparable to that achieved by graphene-only electrodes. By controlling the OLED structure to compensate for the two-beam interference effect, the CIE color coordinate change (Δxy) of OLEDs based on graphene/PEDOT:PSS composite electrodes is 0.018, less than that based on graphene-only electrode, i.e.,0.027.

Ectopic overexpression of Nanog induces tumorigenesis in non-tumorous fibroblasts.

Key regulatory genes in pluripotent stem cells are of interest not only as reprogramming factors but also as regulators driving tumorigenesis. Nanog is a transcription factor involved in the maintenance of embryonic stem cells and is one of the reprogramming factors along with Oct4, Sox2, and Lin28. Nanog expression has been detected in different types of tumors, and its expression is a poor prognosis for cancer patients. However, there is no clear evidence that Nanog is functionally involved in tumorigenesis. In this study, we induced overexpression of Nanog in mouse embryonic fibroblast cells and subsequently assessed their morphological changes, proliferation rate, and tumor formation ability. We found that Nanog overexpression induced immortalization of mouse embryonic fibroblast cells (MEFs) and increased their proliferation rate in vitro. We also found that formation of tumors after subcutaneous injection of retroviral-Nanog infected MEFs (N-MEFs) into athymic mouse. Cancer-related genes such as Bmi1 were expressed at high levels in N-MEFs. Hence, our results demonstrate that Nanog is able to transform normal somatic cells into tumor cells.

Design and fabrication of two-stack tandem-type all-phosphorescent white organic light-emitting diode for achieving high color rendering index and luminous efficacy.

White organic light-emitting diodes (WOLEDs) are regarded as the general lighting source. Although color rendering index (CRI) and luminous efficacy are usually in trade-off relation, we will discuss about the optimization of both characteristics, particularly focusing on the spectrum of a blue emitter. The emission at a shorter wavelength is substantially important for achieving very high CRI (> 90). The luminous efficacy of a phosphorescent blue emitter is low as its color falls in the deeper blue range; however, that does not show any significant influence on the WOLEDs. WOLEDs with different blue dopants are compared to confirm the calculation of the CRI and luminous efficacy, and the optimized WOLEDs exhibit luminous efficacy of 38.3 lm/W and CRI of 90.9.

Area-selective external light extraction for metal bus equipped large area transparent organic light-emitting diodes.

Area-selective external light extraction films based on wrinkle structured films were applied to large transparent organic light-emitting diodes (TOLEDs) with auxiliary metal buses. To be specific, on the external surface of the glass, we selectively formed a wrinkle structured film, which was aligned to the auxiliary metal electrodes. The wrinkle-structured film was patterned using a photo-mask and UV curing, which has the same shape of the auxiliary metal electrodes. With this area-selective film, it was possible to enhance the external quantum efficiencies of the bottom and top emissions TOLEDs by 15.7% and 15.1%, respectively, without significant loss in transmittance. Widened angular luminance distributions were also achieved in both emissions directions.

Simultaneously enhanced device efficiency, stabilized chromaticity of organic light emitting diodes with lambertian emission characteristic by random convex lenses.

An optical functional film applicable to various lighting devices is demonstrated in this study. The phase separation of two immiscible polymers in a common solvent was used to fabricate the film. In this paper, a self-organized lens-like structure is realized in this manner with optical OLED functional film. For an OLED, there are a few optical drawbacks, including light confinement or viewing angle distortion. By applying the optical film to an OLED, the angular spectra distortion resulting from the designed organic stack which produced the highest efficiency was successfully stabilized, simultaneously enhancing the efficiency of the OLED. We prove the effect of the film on the efficiency of OLEDs through an optical simulation. With the capability to overcome the main drawbacks of OLEDs, we contend that the proposed film can be applied to various lighting devices.

Highly Conductive PEDOT:PSS Films with 1,3-Dimethyl-2-Imidazolidinone as Transparent Electrodes for Organic Light-Emitting Diodes.

Highly conductive poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) ( PEDOT: PSS) films as transparent electrodes for organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) are doped with a new solvent 1,3-dimethyl-2-imidazolidinone (DMI) and are optimized using solvent post-treatment. The DMI doped PEDOT: PSS films show significantly enhanced conductivities up to 812.1 S cm(-1) . The sheet resistance of the PEDOT: PSS films doped with DMI is further reduced by various solvent post-treatment. The effect of solvent post-treatment on DMI doped PEDOT: PSS films is investigated and is shown to reduce insulating PSS in the conductive films. The solvent posttreated PEDOT: PSS films are successfully employed as transparent electrodes in white OLEDs. It is shown that the efficiency of OLEDs with the optimized DMI doped PEDOT: PSS films is higher than that of reference OLEDs doped with a conventional solvent (ethylene glycol). The results present that the optimized PEDOT: PSS films with the new solvent of DMI can be a promising transparent electrode for low-cost, efficient ITO-free white OLEDs.

SIGN-R1 and complement factors are involved in the systemic clearance of radiation-induced apoptotic cells in whole-body irradiated mice.

Although SIGN-R1-mediated complement activation pathway has been shown to enhance the systemic clearance of apoptotic cells, the role of SIGN-R1 in the clearance of radiation-induced apoptotic cells has not been characterized and was investigated in this study. Our data indicated that whole-body γ-irradiation of mice increased caspase-3(+) apoptotic lymphocyte numbers in secondary lymphoid organs. Following γ-irradiation, SIGN-R1 and complements (C4 and C3) were simultaneously increased only in the mice spleen tissue among the assessed tissues. In particular, C3 was exclusively activated in the spleen. The delayed clearance of apoptotic cells was markedly prevalent in the spleen and liver of SIGN-R1 KO mice, followed by a significant increase of CD11b(+) cells. These results indicate that SIGN-R1 and complement factors play an important role in the systemic clearance of radiation-induced apoptotic innate immune cells to maintain tissue homeostasis after γ-irradiation.

Towards highly efficient and highly transparent OLEDs: advanced considerations for emission zone coupled with capping layer design.

Strategies to achieve efficient transparent organic light-emitting diodes (TrOLEDs) are presented. The emission zone position is carefully adjusted by monitoring the optical phase change upon reflection from the top electrode, which is significant when the thickness of the capping layer changes. With the proposed design strategy, external quantum efficiency and transmittance values as high as 15% and 80% are demonstrated simultaneously. The effect of surface plasmon polariton (SPP) loss from thin metal electrodes is also taken into account to correctly describe the full scaling behavior of the efficiency of TrOLEDs over key optical design parameters.

Finely Formed, Kinetically Modulated Wrinkle Structures in UV-Crosslinkable Liquid Prepolymers.

Special characteristics of wrinkles such as a scattering source and a high surface area are finding use in high-tech applications. UV-crosslinkable prepolymers are occasionally used for fabricating wrinkled films. Wavelength of the wrinkles formed from the prepolymers is several tens and hundreds of micrometers. Here, a UV-crosslinkable liquid prepolymer is synthesized to spontaneously form wrinkle structures in the order of several micrometers. Double layers with a very thin hard skin and a soft and contractible foundation are formed at the same time, by ensuring that all the absorbance wavelengths of the photoinitiator are shorter than the minimum wavelength at which the prepolymer is transparent. The rate of photo-crosslinking reaction, R(p), is also found to affect the thickness of the skin and foundation layers at the early UV-curing stage. The first-order apparent rate constant, k(app), is between ≈0.20 and ≈0.69 s(-1) for the wrinkle formation. This wrinkle structures can be simply modulated by changing R(p).

New Blue Emitting Material with Asymmetric Limb Structure.

The new assymmetric limb-structured blue light emitting material, composed of anthracene main core, naphthalene units at 9, 10-position of anthracene and xylene units at 2,3-positon of anthracene, was designed and synthesized. The three-dimensional structure from theoretical calculation was characterized to elucidate non-copolar structure with inhibited intermolecular interaction. The limb-structured blue material was thermally stable up to 373 degrees C with T(g) of 143 degrees C. ITO/TAPC/CBP (3% BMPNA)/Bphen/LiF/Al device exhibits the maximum quantum efficiency of 3.42% and maximum current efficiency of 3.07 cd/A with deep blue emission of (0.141, 0.115) CIE coordinates.

Flexible and transparent gas molecule sensor integrated with sensing and heating graphene layers.

Graphene leading to high surface-to-volume ratio and outstanding conductivity is applied for gas molecule sensing with fully utilizing its unique transparent and flexible functionalities which cannot be expected from solid-state gas sensors. In order to attain a fast response and rapid recovering time, the flexible sensors also require integrated flexible and transparent heaters. Here, large-scale flexible and transparent gas molecule sensor devices, integrated with a graphene sensing channel and a graphene transparent heater for fast recovering operation, are demonstrated. This combined all-graphene device structure enables an overall device optical transmittance that exceeds 90% and reliable sensing performance with a bending strain of less than 1.4%. In particular, it is possible to classify the fast (≈14 s) and slow (≈95 s) response due to sp(2) -carbon bonding and disorders on graphene and the self-integrated graphene heater leads to the rapid recovery (≈11 s) of a 2 cm × 2 cm sized sensor with reproducible sensing cycles, including full recovery steps without significant signal degradation under exposure to NO2 gas.

Light diffusing effects of nano and micro-structures on OLED with microcavity.

We examined the light diffusing effects of nano and micro-structures on microcavity designed OLEDs. The results of FDTD simulations and experiments showed that the pillar shaped nano-structure was more effective than the concave micro-structure for light diffusing of microcavity OLEDs. The sharp luminance distribution of the microcavity OLED was changed to near Lambertian luminance distribution by the nano-structure, and light diffusing effects increased with the height of the nano-structure. Furthermore, the nano-structure has advantages including light extraction of the substrate mode, reproducibility of manufacturing process, and minimizing pixel blur problems in an OLED display panel. The nano-structure is a promising candidate for a light diffuser, resolving the viewing angle problems in microcavity OLEDs.

FDTD analysis of the light extraction efficiency of OLEDs with a random scattering layer.

The light extraction efficiency of OLEDs with a nano-sized random scattering layer (RSL-OLEDs) was analyzed using the Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) method. In contrast to periodic diffraction patterns, the presence of an RSL suppresses the spectral shift with respect to the viewing angle. For FDTD simulation of RSL-OLEDs, a planar light source with a certain spatial and temporal coherence was incorporated, and the light extraction efficiency with respect to the fill factor of the RSL and the absorption coefficient of the material was investigated. The design results were compared to the experimental results of the RSL-OLEDs in order to confirm the usefulness of FDTD in predicting experimental results. According to our FDTD simulations, the light confined within the ITO-organic waveguide was quickly absorbed, and the absorption coefficients of ITO and RSL materials should be reduced in order to obtain significant improvement in the external quantum efficiency (EQE). When the extinction coefficient of ITO was 0.01, the EQE in the RSL-OLED was simulated to be enhanced by a factor of 1.8.

Random nanostructure scattering layer for suppression of microcavity effect and light extraction in OLEDs.

In this study, we investigated the effect of a random nanostructure scattering layer (RSL) on the microcavity and light extraction in organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs). In the case of the conventional OLED, the optical properties change with the thickness of the hole transporting layer (HTL) because of the presence of a microcavity. However, OLEDs equipped with the an RSL showed similar values of external quantum efficiency and luminous efficacy regardless of the HTL thickness. These phenomena can be understood by the scattering effect because of the RSL, which suppresses the microcavity effect and extracts the light confined in the device. Moreover, OLEDs with the RSL led to reduced spectrum and color changes with the viewing angle.