No abstract

Water scholars and practitioners generally agree that improving water governance is the key to addressing water insecurity in developing countries. We review the literature on water governance and argue for a second-generation research agenda, which pays more attention to the study of incentive structures, is multi and inter-disciplinary in orientation and with clear policy implications. We then illustrate how theories drawn from public economics, new institutional economics, political economy and public administration can help diagnose the challenges of integrated water resources management, improving efficiency of water utilities, privatization of utilities and public-private partnerships, water pricing reforms, virtual waters/water trading, among others. We conclude that these tools can help advance the second-generation research agenda on water governance.

No abstract

Glioblastoma is a kind of malignant gliomas that is almost impossible to cure due to the poor drug transportation across the blood–brain barrier and the existence of glioma stem cells. We prepared a new kind of targeted liposomes in order to improve the drug delivery system onto the glioma cells and induce the apoptosis of glioma stem cells afterward. In this experiment, curcumin was chosen to kill gliomas, while quinacrine was used to induce apoptosis of the glioma stem cells. Also, p -aminophenyl-α-D-mannopyranoside could facilitate the transport of liposomes across the blood–brain barrier and finally target the brain glioma cells. The cell experiments in vitro indicated that the targeted liposomes could significantly improve the anti-tumor effects of the drugs, while enhancing the uptake effects, apoptosis effects, and endocytic effects of C6 glioma cells and C6 glioma stem cells. Given the animal experiments in vivo, we discovered that the targeted liposomes could obviously increase the survival period of brain glioma-bearing mice and inhibit the growth of gliomas. In summary, curcumin and quinacrine liposomes modified with p -aminophenyl-α-D-mannopyranoside is a potential preparation to treat brain glioma cells and brain glioma stem cells.

No abstract

The widely existing transmembrane helices can serve as a novel type of binding site for recognizing corresponding membrane receptors. Through imprinting the transmembrane domain of certain receptors, here we report the construction of polymeric nanoparticles which can achieve enhanced cellular uptake and permeability in target tissues for tumor-targeted drug delivery.

No abstract

No abstract