Abstract: Accordingly, the present invention provides a method of forming an electrode having reduced corrosion and water decomposition on a surface thereof. A substrate which has a conductive layer disposed thereon is provided and the conductive layer has an oxide layer with an exposed surface. The exposed surface of the oxide layer contacts a solution of an organic surface active compound in an organic solvent to form a protective layer of the organic surface active compound over the oxide layer. The protective layer has a thickness of from about 0.5 nm to about 5 nm and ranges therebetween depending on a chemical structure of the surface active compound.

Abstract: The method utilises a conducting trench base with non-conducting trench walls to corral charged particles precisely into the trenches. The nanoparticles are close packed in the channels and highly ordered. This approach utilises the charge on the particles to selectively deposit them within the trenches, as all nanoparticles in solution can be charged, and this can be extended to any nanoparticle system beyond gold. Also, this method results in the layer-by-layer growth of the gold nanoparticles. Therefore the depth of the nanoparticle layers within the trenches is controllable. This allows the possibility of heterolayered structures of different nanoparticle layers. Further this method ensures that assembly occurs to fill the void space available provided the back-contacting electrode is more conducting than the trench walls.

Abstract: The present invention discloses the use of PSP-94 for treating a patient suffering from hypercalcemia of malignancy. Prostate secretory protein of 94 amino acids (PSP-94) is known to serve as prognostic marker in hormone-dependent prostate. In the current study the effect of PSP-94 on prostate cancer growth, metastases to the skeleton and hypercalcemia of malignancy was examined. A marked dose-dependent decrease in primary tumor volume was seen in experimental animals receiving PSP-94. Furthermore, while control animals routinely developed hypercalcemia due to PTHrP production, treatment with PSP-94 led to a near normalization of plasma calcium and a marked reduction in PTHrP production as determined by radioimmunoassay and immunohistochemistry. Results obtained demonstrate the ability of PSP-94 to be an effective treatment modality for prostate cancer. Furthermore, decrease in plasma PTHrP and calcium levels can serve as useful biochemical markers for monitoring the efficacy of this novel anti-tumor agent.