Standardized patients' experiences of portraying characters in difficult communication scenarios: Narrative inquiry.

BACKGROUND: There are limited studies that explored the preparation and challenges faced by standardized patients (SPs) in portraying characters in difficult communication scenarios, and the strategies used to overcome these challenges. The purpose of this study was to understand the experience of SPs in interpreting difficult communication situations and the learning needs of performing similar scenarios. And it allows the researchers to explore the meaning, beliefs, values, and aspiration associated with their role as SPs. The findings could shade light on the significance of their experiences and provide valuable insights for the development of future SP training programs. METHODS: The design of this study is framed by a narrative inquiry, using semi-structured guidelines to conduct in-depth interviews with 11 SPs who have participated in the performances of difficult communication situations. Research data were analyzed by Polkinghorne narrative analysis, and Riessman's four criteria were used to establish rigor. RESULTS: Analysis revealed the following five themes: scenarios to real life connections, process of preparing for a performance, methods to detach from character, obtaining unexpected rewards, and needs for performance training. There are two to three subthemes that are subsumed under each theme. CONCLUSIONS: To strengthen training in difficult communication for healthcare professionals, the use of SPs to interpret challenging difficult communication scenarios will continue to increase. Educators need to ensure that SPs are fully prepared physically and emotionally before, during and after their performance. Offering of continuing education and training in feedback techniques are crucial to extend the tenure of SPs, reduce their frustration, prevent attrition, and ultimately, reduce training costs. In the future, SP training should also include detachment and feedback techniques to alleviate SPs' stress.

Carrier-Free Nano-PROTACs to Amplify Photodynamic Therapy Induced DNA Damage through BRD4 Degradation.

Therapy-induced DNA damage is the most common strategy to inhibit tumor cell proliferation, but the therapeutic efficacy is limited by DNA repair machinery. Carrier-free nanoproteolysis targeting chimeras (PROTACs), designed as SDNpros, have been developed to enhance photodynamic therapy (PDT) by blocking the DNA damage repair pathway through BRD4 degradation. Specifically, SDNpros are constructed through noncovalent interactions between the photosensitizer of chlorine e6 (Ce6) and PROTACs of BRD4 degrader (dBET57) via self-assembly. SDNpro has favorable dispersibility and a uniform nanosize distribution without drug excipients. Upon light irradiation, SDNpro produces abundant reactive oxygen species (ROS) to induce DNA oxidative damage. Meanwhile, the DNA repair pathway would be interrupted by the concurrent degradation of BRD4, which could intensify the oxidative DNA damage and elevate PDT efficiency. Beneficially, SDNpro suppresses tumor growth and avoids systemic side effects, providing a promising strategy to promote the clinical translation of PROTACs for tumor treatment.

Application of the Ohio Nurse Competency Model in a BSN Leadership/Management Course.

ABSTRACT: Strategically preparing students to meet practice expectations is a priority for nursing educators. The Ohio Nurse Competency Model (ONCM) was applied as the organizing framework for a senior baccalaureate leadership/management course. The purpose of this pretest/posttest descriptive study was to evaluate changes in students' confidence in understanding, applying, and valuing the ONCM. Paired t -tests found statistically significant increases in confidence levels for all ONCM competencies among 56 students with greatest increases in systems-based practice and informatics and technology. Nurse educators are encouraged to intentionally structure and organize course content and curricula according to state and national competency models/guidelines.

Nurse-led World Café approach in promoting interprofessional collaborative behaviors and learning engagement among healthcare professionals.

Effective interprofessional collaboration practice (IPCP) promotes healthcare outcomes but is often hindered by poor communication. Traditional teaching methods with limited interdisciplinary interactions may not effectively foster IPCP behaviors. This study evaluated the effectiveness of nurse-led World Cafe (NWC) approach in promoting IPCP behaviors and learning engagement. Seventy-six healthcare professionals (38 in each group) participated in this quasi-experimental study. Data were collected before, one-week, and four-week post-intervention, using Lee's (2016) Interprofessional Collaborative Practice Behavior Inventory (IPCPBI) and Ciou's (2020) Learning Engagement Scale. Five medical technologists in the control group were excluded from data analysis to ensure group equivalence. Before the intervention, there were no significant differences in IPCPBI between groups. One week post-intervention, the experimental group scored higher in IPCPBI, yet lacked statistical significance (p > .05). Four weeks post-intervention, the experimental group significantly improved in IPCPBI (p < .05). While no statistically significance was found in learning engagement between groups, the experimental group scored significantly higher in the active engagement sub-domain (p < .05). The NWC approach boosted IPCP behaviors and learning engagement, fostering a collaborative learning environment that improves outcomes through interdisciplinary interactions. Healthcare settings could benefit from adopting the NWC approach to enhance clinicians' IPCP competency.

[Excelling in the AI Era: Cultivating AI Literacy].

In light of the rapid advancements in artificial intelligence (AI), the future of the nursing profession is expected to be closely intertwined with AI applications. In response to this challenge, nursing educators must cultivate AI literacy in students to ensure their ability to communicate and collaborate effectively with their interdisciplinary peers. Nursing educators should comprehend the essence of AI literacy, integrate AI literacy into their curriculum designs, and regularly assess the effectiveness of AI literacy cultivation efforts among their students to ensure nursing graduates are able to effectively fulfill their roles in nursing and healthcare. The purpose of this paper is to explain the essence of AI literacy, approaches for cultivating AI literacy in students, and methods for assessing AI literacy with the aim of educating nursing students to become competent nurses for tomorrow.

Cascade Immune Activation of Self-Delivery Biomedicine for Photodynamic Immunotherapy Against Metastatic Tumor.

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) can generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) to cause cell apoptosis and induce immunogenic cell death (ICD) to activate immune response, becoming a promising antitumor modality. However, the overexpressions of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) and programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) on tumor cells would reduce cytotoxic T cells infiltration and inhibit the immune activation. In this paper, a simple but effective nanosystem is developed to solve these issues for enhanced photodynamic immunotherapy. Specifically, it has been constructed a self-delivery biomedicine (CeNB) based on photosensitizer chlorine e6 (Ce6), IDO inhibitor (NLG919), and PD1/PDL1 blocker (BMS-1) without the need for extra excipients. Of note, CeNB possesses fairly high drug content (nearly 100%), favorable stability, and uniform morphology. More importantly, CeNB-mediated IDO inhibition and PD1/PDL1 blockade greatly improve the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironments to promote immune activation. The PDT of CeNB not only inhibits tumor proliferation but also induces ICD response to activate immunological cascade. Ultimately, self-delivery CeNB tremendously suppresses the tumor growth and metastasis while leads to a minimized side effect. Such simple and effective antitumor strategy overcomes the therapeutic resistance against PDT-initiated immunotherapy, suggesting a potential for metastatic tumor treatment in clinic.

Chimeric Peptide-Engineered Self-Delivery Nanomedicine for Photodynamic-Triggered Breast Cancer Immunotherapy by Macrophage Polarization.

A systemic treatment strategy is urgently demanded to suppress the rapid growth and easy metastasis characteristics of breast cancer. In this work, a chimeric peptide-engineered self-delivery nanomedicine (designated as ChiP-CeR) for photodynamic-triggered breast cancer immunotherapy by macrophage polarization. Among these, ChiP-CeR is composed of the photosensitizer of chlorine e6 (Ce6) and the TLR7/8 agonist of lmiquimod (R837), which is further modified with tumor matrix targeting peptide (Fmoc-K(Fmoc)-PEG8 -CREKA. ChiP-CeR is preferred to actively accumulate at the tumor site via specific recognition of fibronectin, which can eradicate primary tumor growth through photodynamic therapy (PDT). Meanwhile, the destruction of primary tumors would trigger immunogenic cell death (ICD) effects to release high-mobility group box-1(HMGB1) and expose calreticulin (CRT). Moreover, ChiP-CeR can also polarize M2-type tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) into M1-type TAMs, which can activate T cell antitumor immunity in combination with ICD. Overall, ChiP-CeR possesses superior antitumor effects against primary and lung metastatic tumors, which provide an applicable nanomedicine and a feasible strategy for the systemic management of metastatic breast cancer.

[Development and Validation of the Outpatient Nurses Communication Behavior Inventory].

BACKGROUND: Outpatient clinics in medical centers are the most common location where people seek medical treatment. Because they must provide patients with treatment information in a timely manner, good communication skills are a key competency for outpatient nurses. However, the tools available for communication behavior assessment are general and rarely tailored for outpatient settings. PURPOSE: The purpose was to develop a communication behavior inventory for outpatient nurses and to examine its reliability and validity. METHODS: During phase one, the authors conducted a literature search and synthesis, using the findings to develop the Outpatient Nurses Communication Behavior Inventory. During phase two, two expert validation rounds were conducted to confirm content validity. During phase three, 220 licensed outpatient nurses were recruited from a medical center in northern Taiwan to complete the instrument (December 2018 - January 2019.) The construct validity and internal consistency of the inventory were evaluated. RESULTS: The literature search and synthesis identified six domains of communication, including connect, introduce, communicate, ask, respond, and exit. A total of 25 items were generated. Following the two expert panel validation rounds, the six domains remained but the inventory items were reduced to 21. Both item-content validity index and scale-level content validity index were 1.0. In phase three, the results of the confirmatory factor analysis retained six factors with a total of 16 items. Model three showed that the inventory demonstrated goodness of fit (Χ ² = 155.75, p < .001, RMSEA = .06, GFI = .92, AGFI = .87, NNFI = .97, NFI = .95, Model AIC = 253.75). Internal consistency was demonstrated with a Cronbach's α of .89. CONCLUSIONS / IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: The Outpatient Nurses Communication Behavior Inventory exhibits good reliability and validity and may be used to assess outpatient nurses' communication behaviors and as a basis for education. The six CICARE (connect, introduce, communicate, ask, respond and exit) domains may be utilized to remind outpatient nurses to demonstrate effective communication consistently, promote outpatient nurses' communication with patients, and improve quality of care.

Empowering the public during the COVID pandemic through interactive social media platform.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare professionals and academic facilities are called to provide leadership in disseminating accurate and timely information through approaches that meet the needs of the public. Graduate students from a university in Taiwan collaborated with experts to provide interactive live broadcasting sessions on the COVID-related topics to the public through the Facebook platform. The broadcasting sessions also trained the students to communicate COVID-related information through succinct and interactive presentations. Twelve broadcasting sessions were conducted twice a week for three weeks in May 2020. Upon completion of the broadcasting sessions, students demonstrated growth in professional confidence, assessment of the public's knowledge gaps and needs, and preparation and delivery of professional live broadcasts. We recommend creating a live broadcast training application through an artificial intelligence (AI) expert system. Multidisciplinary academic-practice collaboration in preparing for the broadcasting and engaging in dialogues with the public is recommended.

[A Reflection on Nursing Education: Assuring the Readiness of the Nursing Profession for the Age of Artificial Intelligence].

With the rapid advancement of information technology, artificial intelligence (AI) is being progressively utilized in various fields. The application of AI in healthcare practice is more advanced than in healthcare education. The advancement of AI is unstoppable. Nursing educators need to have a good understanding of AI to equip nursing students with the requisite knowledge to meet the needs of the AI age. The purpose of this article is to briefly describe the history of AI in education, relevant AI concepts, current applications of AI in healthcare education, dilemmas, and recommendations for the future. AI is not invincible, and it is critical to prudently evaluate and consider the related data biases and ethical issues. Nursing educators should reflect on whether we are preparing students for yesterday`s job or for the future workforce. Nursing educators need to engage in curriculum reform and gain an understanding of critical AI concepts and applications to equip nursing students with the requisite information-technology capacities to meet the needs of the AI age.

Integrated EC-SERS Chip with Uniform Nanostructured EC-SERS Active Working Electrode for Rapid Detection of Uric Acid.

Toxemia of pregnancy is a very dangerous disease for pregnant women. The mortality rate of toxemia of pregnancy is close to 10% to 15%. Early detection of pregnancy toxemia is to monitoring uric acid concentration in urine. The current mainstream method for detecting uric acid requires an enzyme (urate oxidase), which needs to be stored in a low-temperature environment, and the method requires complex chemical steps, which takes a longer time and more samples. In this study, we propose an integrated miniature three-electrode electrochemical surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy chip (EC-SERS chip) suitable for rapid EC-SERS detection applications. The integrated microfluidic reservoir on the chip makes it easy to use, which is very suitable for rapid detection applications. The SERS active working electrode for the proposed integrated EC-SERS chip is a nanocone array polycarbonate (PC) substrate decorated with an evenly distributed and tightly packed array of gold nanospheres. It showed good uniformity and can be easily reproduced. The integrated EC-SERS chip is very small compared to the traditional electrochemical cell, which reduces the sample volume required for the testing. In addition, the chip is for one-time use only. It eliminates the need to clean electrochemical cells for reuse, thereby reducing the possibility of contamination and inaccurate detection. Various low-concentration Rhodamine 6G (R6G) solutions were tested to verify the performance of the developed EC-SERS chip. Experimental results showed that the proposed EC-SERS chip has a strong enhancement factor of up to 8.5 × 106 and a very good EC-SERS uniformity (the relative standard deviation of EC-SERS intensity is as low as 1.41%). The EC-SERS chip developed has been further tested for the detection of uric acid in synthetic urine. The results showed that the EC-SERS signal intensity has a highly linear relationship with the logarithm of the uric acid concentration in synthetic urine, which indicates that the developed EC-SERS chip is suitable for the quantitative detection of uric acid in synthetic urine. Therefore, the developed EC-SERS chip is very promising to be used in routine and early diagnosis of pregnancy toxemia and may be used in many other medical tests, food safety, and biotechnology applications.

Development of an 18-item abbreviated Chinese version of Berger's HIV Stigma Scale.

AIM: Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) stigma in people living with HIV is associated with depression and poor treatment adherence. The current literature lacks a Chinese instrument to measure HIV stigma in Taiwan. Thus, the purpose of this study was to develop an abbreviated Chinese translation version of Berger's HIV Stigma Scale. METHODS: The instrument development process was guided by Brislin's Translation Model of establishment of construct validity and convergent validity and verification of reliability. RESULTS: This study recruited 540 HIV-infected adults (January-November 2015). Data analysis using confirmatory factor analysis resulted in an 18-item abbreviated Chinese version of Berger's HIV Stigma Scale, consisting with four factors: personalized stigma (seven items), disclosure concerns (three items), negative self-image (four items), and concerns with public attitudes toward people with HIV (four items). The final model demonstrated a good fit. A positive correlation between HIV stigma and depression was found. The Cronbach α for internal consistency was 0.92. CONCLUSION: The 18-item abbreviated Chinese version of Berger's HIV Stigma Scale demonstrated adequate reliability and validity to assess HIV stigma among Chinese people living with HIV. It is a feasible tool that allows for rapid assessment of HIV-related stigma.

Experiences of Indonesian mother managing preschool children's acute abdominal pain in Taiwan.

The aim of this study was to understand the Indonesian mothers' experiences of managing preschool children's acute abdominal pain. The descriptive qualitative research design comprises semi-structured interviews with 11 Indonesian mothers. The qualitative content analysis revealed three themes, including (1) insight of abdominal pain, (2) "inheritance of the strategies for assessment of management for abdominal pain from the family of origin", (3) "obstacles and insights related to cultural differences". The results presented that pain management was affected by family, environment, cultural background and religious beliefs. Healthcare providers should provide culturally competent pain management care for the patients of difference nationalities.

Using "board games" to improve the effectiveness of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation care for nurses in intensive care unit.

AIM: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of ECMO care board games facilitated teaching approach (ECMO care board games) in enhancing ECMO care knowledge, clinical reasoning and learning engagement among intensive care unit (ICU) nurses. BACKGROUND: ECMO is a highly complex, relatively low-incidence, high-risk clinical life support device system used in the intensive care unit (ICU). Its usage has increased nearly tenfold over the past 30 years. Traditionally, ECMO education has been delivered through classroom teaching, which has demonstrated limited effectiveness in promoting nurses' learning engagement, clinical reasoning competency and confidence. The literature suggests that well-designed board games can enhance learning engagement, stimulate higher-level thinking and improve the effectiveness and confidence of nurses' learning. DESIGN: A quasi-experimental study two-group repeated measure design. METHODS: A purposive sample of 73 ICU nurses from two campuses of one medical center was recruited (37 in the experimental group and 36 in the control group). The experimental group received ECMO care training through ECMO care board games facilitated teaching approach, whereas the control group completed the training through a traditional teaching approach. Instruments used for data collection include a demographic information sheet, ECMO Care Knowledge Scale, Clinical Reasoning Scale (Huang et al., 2023) and Learning Engagement Scale (Ciou , 2020). Both groups completed a pre-test before the training, a post-test one week after the training and a second post-test three weeks after the training. RESULTS: Prior to the intervention, there were no significant differences between the two groups in ECMO care knowledge and learning engagement. However, there was a significant difference in clinical reasoning. One week after the intervention, the experimental group demonstrated significantly higher scores in ECMO care knowledge, clinical reasoning and learning engagement than the control group (p <0.01). Three weeks after the intervention, the experimental group showed significantly higher scores in ECMO care knowledge, clinical reasoning and learning engagement (p <0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The content for ECMO care is complex and difficult. Board games can enhance ECMO care knowledge, clinical reasoning and learning engagement. This teaching strategy may be applied to learning challenging subjects in the future to improve learning effectiveness. The clinical reasoning framework is conducive to guiding nurses' learning. In future continuing education, board games designed based on the clinical reasoning framework and tailored to the focus of in-service education can effectively enhance nurses' learning effectiveness.

Chemotherapy-Enabled Colorectal Cancer Immunotherapy of Self-Delivery Nano-PROTACs by Inhibiting Tumor Glycolysis and Avoiding Adaptive Immune Resistance.

The chemo-regulation abilities of chemotherapeutic medications are appealing to address the low immunogenicity, immunosuppressive lactate microenvironment, and adaptive immune resistance of colorectal cancer. In this work, the proteolysis targeting chimera (PROTAC) of BRD4 (dBET57) is found to downregulate colorectal cancer glycolysis through the transcription inhibition of c-Myc, which also inhibits the expression of programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) to reverse immune evasion and avoid adaptive immune resistance. Based on this, self-delivery nano-PROTACs (designated as DdLD NPs) are further fabricated by the self-assembly of doxorubicin (DOX) and dBET57 with the assistance of DSPE-PEG2000. DdLD NPs can improve the stability, intracellular delivery, and tumor targeting accumulation of DOX and dBET57. Meanwhile, the chemotherapeutic effect of DdLD NPs can efficiently destroy colorectal cancer cells to trigger a robust immunogenic cell death (ICD). More importantly, the chemo-regulation effects of DdLD NPs can inhibit colorectal cancer glycolysis to reduce the lactate production, and downregulate the PD-L1 expression through BRD4 degradation. Taking advantages of the chemotherapy and chemo-regulation ability, DdLD NPs systemically activated the antitumor immunity to suppress the primary and metastatic colorectal cancer progression without inducing any systemic side effects. Such self-delivery nano-PROTACs may provide a new insight for chemotherapy-enabled tumor immunotherapy.

Chlorin e6 and BLZ945 Based Self-Assembly for Photodynamic Immunotherapy Through Immunogenic Tumor Induction and Tumor-Associated Macrophage Depletion.

Immunotherapeutic effect is restricted by the nonimmunogenic tumor phenotype and immunosuppression behaviors of tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs). In this work, a drug self-assembly (designated as CeBLZ) is fabricated based on chlorin e6 (Ce6) and BLZ945 to activate photodynamic immunotherapy through tumor immunogenic induction and tumor-associated macrophage depletion. It is found that Ce6 tends to assemble with BLZ945 without any drug excipients, which can enhance the cellular uptake, tumor penetration, and blood circulation behaviors. The robust photodynamic therapy effect of CeBLZ efficiently suppresses the primary tumor growth and also triggers immunogenic cell death to reverse the nonimmunogenic tumor phenotype. Moreover, CeBLZ can deplete TAMs in tumor tissues to reverse the immunosuppression microenvironment, activating abscopal effect for distant tumor inhibition. In vitro and in vivo results confirm the superior antitumor effect of CeBLZ with negligible side effect, which might promote the development of sophisticated drug combinations for systematic tumor management.

Development and Psychometric Testing of the Clinical Reasoning Scale Among Nursing Students Enrolled in Three Types of Programs in Taiwan.

BACKGROUND: There is no instrument currently available to assess the essential nursing competency of clinical reasoning (CR). PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to develop and test the psychometric properties of CR assessment instrument appropriate for use with nursing students across different types of programs. METHODS: H. M. Huang et al.'s (2018) Framework of Competencies of Clinical Reasoning for Nursing Students was used to guide this study. Two rounds of Delphi study and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were conducted to test content and construct validity. Internal consistency was tested for reliability. RESULTS: The four-domain, 16-item Likert-scale Clinical Reasoning Scale (CRS) was developed. One thousand five hundred four nursing students currently enrolled in three different types of nursing programs completed the CRS. The content validity index was .85-1.0, the CFA indicated goodness of fit, and the Cronbach's α score range was .78-.89. CONCLUSION: The CRS is a valid and reliable tool for assessing CR in nursing students in different types of nursing program.

Paraptosis Inducer to Effectively Trigger Immunogenic Cell Death for Metastatic Tumor Immunotherapy with IDO Inhibition.

Paraptosis is characterized by the extensive vacuolization of endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and mitochondria, which will cause the release of damage-associated molecular patterns to promote immunogenic cell death (ICD). However, the tumor can develop an immunosuppressive microenvironment to affect the ICD activation for the purpose of immune escape. Herein, a paraptosis inducer (CMN) is constructed to amplify the ICD effect for efficient immunotherapy by inhibiting the activity of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO). Initially, CMN is prepared by the assembly of copper ions (Cu2+), morusin (MR), and IDO inhibitor (NLG919) through noncovalent interactions. Without the need for extra drug carriers, CMN possesses very high drug contents and exhibits a favorable GSH responsiveness for disassembly. Subsequently, the released MR can trigger paraptosis to cause extensive vacuolization of ER and mitochondria, contributing to activating ICD for immunotherapy. Moreover, NLG919 would inhibit IDO to remodel the tumor microenvironment and promote the activation of cytotoxic T cells, leading to an intensive antitumor immunity. Abundant in vivo studies indicate that CMN is superior in suppressing the proliferations of not only primary tumor but also metastatic and rechallenged tumors. Such a GSH-responsive paraptosis inducer might provide a promising strategy to trigger ICD and enhance tumor immunotherapy.

Self-delivery biomedicine for enhanced photodynamic therapy by feedback promotion of tumor autophagy.

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated during photodynamic therapy (PDT) can induce autophagy to protect tumor cell from PDT-induced apoptosis. In this work, a self-delivery autophagy regulator (designated as CeCe) is developed for autophagy promotion sensitized PDT against tumor. Briefly, CeCe is prepared by the assembly of a photosensitizer of chlorin e6 (Ce6) and autophagy promoter of celastrol. By virtue of intermolecular interactions, Ce6 and celastrol are able to self-assemble into nanomedicine with great photodynamic performance and autophagy regulation capacity. Under light irradiation, CeCe would produce ROS in tumor cells to amplify the oxidative stress and promote cell autophagy. As a result, CeCe exhibits an enhanced photo toxicity by inducing autophagic cell death. In vivo experiments indicate that CeCe can predominantly accumulate in tumor tissue for a robust PDT. Moreover, CeCe has a superior therapeutic efficiency compared to monotherapy and combined treatment of Ce6 and celastrol, suggesting a synergistic antitumor effect of PDT and autophagy promotion. This self-delivery nanomedicine may advance the development of the co-delivery nanoplatform to improve the antitumor efficacy of PDT by promoting autophagy. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: Autophagy is a "double-edged sword" in cellular homeostasis and metabolism, which can promote tumor progression but also induce an unknown impact on tumor inhibition. In this work, a self-delivery autophagy regulator (designated as CeCe) was developed for autophagy promotion sensitized photodynamic therapy (PDT). By virtue of intermolecular interactions, Ce6 and celastrol were found to self-assemble into stable CeCe without drug excipients, which exhibited great photodynamic performance and autophagy regulation capacity. In vitro and in vivo findings demonstrated a superior tumor suppression ability of CeCe over the monotherapy as well as the combined treatment of Ce6 and celastrol, suggesting a synergistic antitumor efficacy by PDT and autophagy promotion.

Birefringent prism based Fourier transform spectrometer.

This paper presents the design of a rugged and compact Fourier transform spectrometer (FTS) utilizing a birefringent prism, a pair of polarizers and a linear CCD array. This design improves on existing FTS by eliminating moving parts and spreading the optical path difference (OPD) spatially (rather than temporal scanning), making the system smaller, more reliable, and dramatically reducing measurement times. Both the theoretical models for the design and experimental results of the prototype are presented. The optical performance is tested using LEDs of known wavelengths, with the fringe counting technique employed during interferogram acquisition to ensure accurate sampling of the interferogram at constant OPD intervals. Reconstructing the spectra showed that the detected wavelengths deviated from the actual wavelengths by less than 1 nm.