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Browsing by Issue Date, starting with "2022-05-08"

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  • Heptamethine Cyanine-Loaded Nanomaterials for Cancer Immuno-Photothermal/Photodynamic Therapy: A Review
    Publication . Alves, Cátia; Sousa, Ana Rita Lima; Melo, Bruna L.; Moreira, André F.; Correia, I.J.; Diogo, Duarte de Melo
    The development of strategies capable of eliminating metastasized cancer cells and preventing tumor recurrence is an exciting and extremely important area of research. In this regard, therapeutic approaches that explore the synergies between nanomaterial-mediated phototherapies and immunostimulants/immune checkpoint inhibitors have been yielding remarkable results in pre-clinical cancer models. These nanomaterials can accumulate in tumors and trigger, after irradiation of the primary tumor with near infrared light, a localized temperature increase and/or reactive oxygen species. These effects caused damage in cancer cells at the primary site and can also (i) relieve tumor hypoxia, (ii) release tumor-associated antigens and danger-associated molecular patterns, and (iii) induced a pro-inflammatory response. Such events will then synergize with the activity of immunostimulants and immune checkpoint inhibitors, paving the way for strong T cell responses against metastasized cancer cells and the creation of immune memory. Among the different nanomaterials aimed for cancer immuno-phototherapy, those incorporating near infrared-absorbing heptamethine cyanines (Indocyanine Green, IR775, IR780, IR797, IR820) have been showing promising results due to their multifunctionality, safety, and straightforward formulation. In this review, combined approaches based on phototherapies mediated by heptamethine cyanine-loaded nanomaterials and immunostimulants/immune checkpoint inhibitor actions are analyzed, focusing on their ability to modulate the action of the different immune system cells, eliminate metastasized cancer cells, and prevent tumor recurrence.
    2022-05-08Journal article Open access Show more
  • COVID-19 Vaccine Acceptance among Social Media Users: A Content Analysis, Multi-Continent Study
    Publication . Shaaban, Ramy; Ghazy, Ramy; Elsherif, Fawzia; Ali, Nancy; Yakoub, Youssef; Aly, Maged; ElMakhzangy, Rony; Abdou, Ahmed Shawky; McKinna, Bonny; Elzorkany, Amira Mohamed; Abdullah, Fatimah; Alnagar, Amr; Eltaweel, Nashwa; Alharthi, Majed; Mohsin, Ali; Ordoñez Cruickshank, Ana; Toniolo, Bianca; Grafolin, Tâmela; Aye, Thit Thit; Goh, Yong Zhin; Deghidy, Ehsan Akram; Bahri, Siti; Sappayabanphot, Jarntrah; Elhadi, Yasir Ahmed Mohammed; Mohammed, Salma; El-Deen, Ahmed Nour; Ismail, Ismail; Abd ElHafeez, Samar; Elbarazi, Iffat; Saddik, Basema; El-Khatib, Ziad; Mohsin, Hiba; Kamal, Ahmed
    Vaccine hesitancy is defined as a delayed in acceptance or refusal of vaccines despite availability of vaccination services. This multinational study examined user interaction with social media about COVID-19 vaccination. The study analyzed social media comments in 24 countries from five continents. In total, 5856 responses were analyzed; 83.5% of comments were from Facebook, while 16.5% were from Twitter. In Facebook, the overall vaccine acceptance was 40.3%; the lowest acceptance rates were evident in Jordan (8.5%), Oman (15.0%), Senegal (20.0%) and Morocco (20.7%) and the continental acceptance rate was the lowest in North America 22.6%. In Twitter, the overall acceptance rate was (41.5%); the lowest acceptance rate was found in Oman (14.3%), followed by USA (20.5%), and UK (23.3%) and the continental acceptance rate was the lowest in North America (20.5%), and Europe (29.7%). The differences in vaccine acceptance across countries and continents in Facebook and Twitter were statistically significant. Regarding the tone of the comments, in Facebook, countries that had the highest number of serious tone comments were Sweden (90.9%), United States (61.3%), and Thailand (58.8%). At continent level, serious comments were the highest in Asia (58.4%), followed by Africa (46.2%) and South America (46.2%). In twitter, the highest serious tone was reported in Egypt (72.2%) while at continental level, the highest proportion of serious comments was observed in Asia (59.7%), followed by Europe (46.5%). The differences in tone across countries and continents in Facebook and Twitter and were statistically significant. There was a significant association between the tone and the position of comments. We concluded that the overall vaccine acceptance in social media is relatively low and varied across the studied countries and continents consequently, more in-depth studies are required to address causes of such VH and combat infodemics.
    2022-05-08Journal article Open access Show more