We discuss the application of atomic physics to two diverse topics: Astrophysical opacities that determine the flow of radiation through the interior of stars, and biomedical research using nanotechnology for novel methodologies for cancer diagnostics and therapy (theranostics). Recent determination of solar abundances suggests that a re-examination of the absolute accuracy of these opacities m...

Photoacoustic imaging (PAI) is an emerging noninvasive and inexpensive bioimaging modality, which has stimulated a wide interest in recent years for cancer theranostics. Hybrid nano- microgels have been designed as protective carriers to incorporate PAI contrast agents due their biocompatibility biodegradability, high loading capacity, versatile surface chemistry, stimuli-responsive properties....

[This corrects the article on p. 302 in vol. 6, PMID: 26909107.].

Theranostic nanoparticles hold the potential to revolutionize disease management. Over the last decade, there has been growing interest in the engineering of various kinds of theranostic nanoparticles for simultaneous cancer imaging and therapy in small animals. Efficient targeting of theranostic nanoparticles to the tumor site is critical for both diagnosis and therapy. However, difficulties s...

Despite the effort of developing various nanodelivery systems, most of them suffer from undesired high uptakes by the reticuloendothelial system, such as liver and spleen. Herein we develop an endogenous phosphatase-triggered coassembly strategy to form tumor-specific indocyanine green (ICG)-doped nanofibers (5) for cancer theranostics. Based on coordinated intermolecular interactions, 5 signif...

Curcumin (CCM) is an important molecule for achieving cancer theranostics because CCM is a naturally-occurring biocompatible material that exhibits both anticancer activity and strong fluorescence property that can be used for bio-imaging. However, CCM has never been utilized in clinical trials due to its extremely low water solubility, its rapid hydrolysis in aqueous conditions at neutral pH, ...

Nanoparticles have been making their way in biomedical applications and personalized medicine, allowing for the coupling of diagnostics and therapeutics into a single nanomaterial-nanotheranostics. Gold nanoparticles, in particular, have unique features that make them excellent nanomaterials for theranostics, enabling the integration of targeting, imaging and therapeutics in a single platform, ...

The integrated functions of diagnostics and therapeutics make theranostics great potential for personalized medicine. Stimulus-responsive therapy allows spatial control of therapeutic effect only in the site of interest, and offers promising opportunities for imaging-guided precision therapy. However, the imaging strategies in previous stimulus-responsive therapies are 'always on' or irreversib...