Catalytic Nanomotors: Self‐Propelled Sphere Dimers

Experimental and theoretical studies of the self‐propelled motional dynamics of a new genre of catalytic sphere dimer, which comprises a non‐catalytic silica sphere connected to a catalytic platinum sphere, are reported for the first time. Using aqueous hydrogen peroxide as the fuel to effect catalytic propulsion of the sphere dimers, both quasi‐linear and quasi‐circular trajectories are observed in the solution phase and analyzed for different dimensions of the platinum component. In addition, well‐defined rotational motion of these sphere dimers is observed at the solution–substrate interface. The nature of the interaction between the sphere dimer and the substrate in the aqueous hydrogen peroxide phase is discussed. In computer simulations of the sphere dimer in solution and the solution–substrate interface, sphere‐dimer dynamics are simulated using molecular‐dynamics methods and solvent dynamics are modeled by mesoscopic multiparticle collision methods taking hydrodynamic interactions into account. The rotational and translational dynamics of the sphere dimer are found to be in good accord with the predictions of computer simulations.     

Chemical polymerization of pyrrole in the presence of l‐serine or l‐glutamic acid: Electrically controlled amoxicillin release from composite hydrogel

Polypyrrole (PPy) was chemically prepared from aqueous solutions individually containing l ‐serine or l ‐glutamic acid, with the addition of ammonium persulfate as the oxidant. The electrical, XPS and FTIR characterizations indicated that the amino acids co‐doped the PPy backbone. TEM revealed that PPy presented a quasi‐spherical morphology with diameters in nanometric scale. The nanostructures of PPy‐glutamic acid efficiently adsorbed therapeutic doses of amoxicillin. Composite hydrogels were obtained by the entrapment of amoxicillin‐loaded PPy in polyacrylamide network. The antibiotic molecules can be subsequently released (or sustained) from composite hydrogel in response to application (or removal) of electrical stimulation. This tuning release profile can lead to promising drug delivery applications such as implantable devices and iontophoretic systems. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015 , 132, 41804.     

Cigarette smoke negatively and dose-dependently affects the biosynthetic pathway of the n−3 polyunsaturated fatty acid series in human mammary epithelial cells

Maternal smoking during pregnancy has been associated with a reduced content of n−3 long-chain PUFA (LC-PUFA) in breast milk, thereby reducing the intake of key nutrients by the infants. We postulated that the mammary gland is affected by maternal smoking in the process of n−3 LC-PUFA secretion into milk. This prompted us to investigate the effects of cigarette smoke on the synthesis of n−3 LC-PUFA in vitro by using a line of healthy epithelial cells from the human mammary gland, MCF-10A. Cells were exposed to cigarette smoke under controlled conditions by adding to the medium aliquots of horse serum containing smoke components, as analyzed by GC-MS. The major findings concern the inhibition of both the conversion of the precursor ¹⁴C-ALA (α-linolenic acid) to n−3 LC-PUFA and of the Δ5 desaturation step (assessed by HPLC analysis with radiodetection of n−3 FAME) following exposure to minimal doses of smoke-enriched serum, and the dose-dependent relationship of these effects. The data indicate that exposure to cigarette smoke negatively affects the synthesis of n−3 LC-PUFA from the precursor in mammary gland cells.     

Prognostic Value of Serum Caspase-Cleaved Cytokeratin-18 Levels before Liver Transplantation for One-Year Survival of Patients with Hepatocellular Carcinoma

Cytokeratin (CK)-18 is the major intermediate filament protein in the liver and during hepatocyte apoptosis is cleaved by the action of caspases; the resulting fragments are released into the blood as caspase-cleaved cytokeratin (CCCK)-18. Higher circulating levels of CCCK-18 have been found in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) than in healthy controls and than in cirrhotic patients. However, it is unknown whether serum CCCK-18 levels before liver transplantation (LT) in patients with HCC could be used as a prognostic biomarker of one-year survival, and this was the objective of our study with 135 patients. At one year after LT, non-survivors showed higher serum CCCK-18 levels than survivors (p = 0.001). On binary logistic regression analysis, serum CCCK-18 levels >384 U/L were associated with death at one year (odds ratio = 19.801; 95% confidence interval = 5.301–73.972; p < 0.001) after controlling for deceased donor age. The area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve of serum CCCK-18 levels to predict death at one year was 77% (95% CI = 69%–84%; p < 0.001). The new finding of our study was that serum levels of CCCK-18 before LT in patients with HCC could be used as prognostic biomarker of survival.     

Biocompatibility and photoluminescence of Sm3+-doped SiO2-Gd2O3: A promising non-toxic red phosphor to plasmatic membrane tracking

Sm³⁺ doped SiO₂-Gd₂O₃ composites were obtained by a sol-gel process, and the ideal percentage of Sm³⁺ was evaluated for bioimaging applications. By XRD, a formation of Gd₂O₃ cubic materials was observed, and TEM shows that Gd₂O₃ particles are dispersed in a SiO₂ lattice. PLE spectra confirm the main absorption bands in the UV region and emission shows the most efficient excitation at 275 nm. PL results reveal the incorporation of Sm³⁺ in Gd₂O₃ structures and lead to the understanding of the efficient energy transfer between Gd³⁺ and Sm³⁺ in the materials. The mechanism is proposed and discussed. CIE plotting shows color coordinates in the orange and red regions, mainly dependent on the excitation source. Sm³⁺ positions in Gd₂O₃ are discussed using the results obtained in the emission spectra. Materials presented high lifetime values, between 1.53 and 1.82 ms. The phosphors show tunability properties and better performance as red phosphors when excited at 275 nm. Cell viability was performed and the material is non-toxic. The materials were evaluated as biological markers, and present fluorescence under rhodamine emission filters. SiO₂-Gd₂O₃:Sm³⁺ demonstrates a good viability index and co-localizes with membrane cell markers, showing a promising material for cell tracking. The material also demonstrates potential for cancer targeting.     

Paclitaxel-loaded PLA/PEG/fluorescein anticancer agent prepared by Ugi reaction

Two different fluorescent block copolymers of poly(lactic acid) (PLA) and polyethylene glycol (PEG) containing fluorescein grafted to the polymer chain were synthesized by Ugi four-component condensation (UFCC). The structure of these PEG–PLA copolymers was confirmed by ¹H-NMR and fluorescence spectroscopy. Paclitaxel-loaded fluorescent microspheres (PCT-FMS1 and PCT-FMS2) were prepared from them by the single-emulsion solvent evaporation method. A kinetic study of drug release in vitro using high-performance liquid chromatography showed a prolonged and controlled release of paclitaxel. Anticancer activity of release medium against colorectal cancer cell line (Caco-2) was determined using the cell viability assay. Paclitaxel-loaded microspheres were able to inhibit cancer cell growth and colony formation. The main contribution of this work is to propose a new application for UFCC in the preparation of biomasked fluorescent drug delivery systems able to improve cancer treatment.     

Selection for Some Olive Oil Quality Components Through the Analysis of Fruit Flesh

Selection for oil quality is commonly conducted at the latest stages of olive breeding programs, as oil quality traits are measured in extracted oils. At the initial stages of breeding, the number of genotypes is high and fruit production is low, which makes it difficult to conduct oil extraction. The objective of this research was to evaluate the feasibility of conducting selection for some important oil quality traits in olive by analyzing fruit flesh instead of extracted oils. Fatty acids, tocopherols, phytosterols, and squalene were measured in fruit flesh and extracted oils from 22 individual olive trees showing variability for oil quality traits. Correlation coefficients between analyses conducted on fruit flesh and extracted oils were r = 0.98 for the main fatty acids palmitic, oleic, and linoleic acid, r = 0.96 for tocopherol content, r = 0.89 for phytosterol content, r = 0.97 for squalene content, and r = 0.91 and 0.94 for the concentrations of the two main sterols β-sitosterol and Δ⁵-avenasterol, respectively. The results revealed that selection for the mentioned oil quality traits can be efficiently conducted through the analysis of fruit flesh instead of extracted oil, which facilitates selection on larger numbers of genotypes at the initial stages of olive breeding programs.     

Partial discharge signal denoising with spatially adaptive wavelet thresholding and support vector machines

In this paper an improved method to denoise partial discharge (PD) signals is presented. The method is based on the wavelet transform (WT) and support vector machines (SVM) and is distinct from other WT-based denoising strategies in the sense that it exploits the high spatial correlations presented by PD wavelet decompositions as a way to identify and select the relevant coefficients. PD spatial correlations are characterized by WT modulus maxima propagation along decomposition levels (scales), which are a strong indicative of the their time-of-occurrence. Denoising is performed by identification and separation of PD-related maxima lines by an SVM pattern classifier. The results obtained confirm that this method has superior denoising capabilities when compared to other WT-based methods found in the literature for the processing of Gaussian and discrete spectral interferences. Moreover, its greatest advantages become clear when the interference has a pulsating or localized shape, situation in which traditional methods usually fail.