Engineered Multifunctional Albumin‐Decorated Porous Silicon Nanoparticles for FcRn Translocation of Insulin

The last decade has seen remarkable advances in the development of drug delivery systems as alternative to parenteral injection‐based delivery of insulin. Neonatal Fc receptor (FcRn)‐mediated transcytosis has been recently proposed as a strategy to increase the transport of drugs across the intestinal epithelium. FcRn‐targeted nanoparticles (NPs) could hijack the FcRn transcytotic pathway and cross the epithelial cell layer. In this study, a novel nanoparticulate system for insulin delivery based on porous silicon NPs is proposed. After surface conjugation with albumin and loading with insulin, the NPs are encapsulated into a pH‐responsive polymeric particle by nanoprecipitation. The developed NP formulation shows controlled size and homogeneous size distribution. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images show successful encapsulation of the NPs into pH‐sensitive polymeric particles. No insulin release is detected at acidic conditions, but a controlled release profile is observed at intestinal pH. Toxicity studies show high compatibility of the NPs with intestinal cells. In vitro insulin permeation across the intestinal epithelium shows approximately fivefold increase when insulin is loaded into FcRn‐targeted NPs. Overall, these FcRn‐targeted NPs offer a toolbox in the development of targeted therapies for oral delivery of insulin.     

Let There be Light: Polymeric Micelles with Upper Critical Solution Temperature as Light‐Triggered Heat Nanogenerators for Combating Drug‐Resistant Cancer

Complete drug release and efficient drug retention are two critical factors in reversing drug resistance in cancer therapy. In this regard, polymeric micelles with an upper critical solution temperature (UCST) are designed as a new exploration to reverse drug resistance. The amphiphilic UCST‐type block copolymers are used to encapsulate photothermal agent IR780 and doxorubicin (DOX) simultaneously. The integrated UCST‐type drug nanocarriers show light‐triggered multiple synergistic effects to reverse drug resistance and are expected to kill three birds with one stone: First, owing to the photothermal effect of IR780, the nanocarriers will be dissociated upon exposure to laser irradiation, leading to complete drug release. Second, the photothermal effect‐induced hyperthermia is expected to avoid the efflux of DOX and realize efficient drug retention. Last but not least, photothermal ablation of cancer cells can be achieved after laser irradiation. Therefore, the UCST‐type drug nanocarriers provide a new strategy in reversing drug resistance in cancer therapy.     

Electrochemical Behavior of Single CuO Nanoparticles: Implications for the Assessment of their Environmental Fate

The electrochemical behavior of copper oxide nanoparticles is investigated at both the single particle and at the ensemble level in neutral aqueous solutions through the electrode‐particle collision method and cyclic voltammetry, respectively. The influence of Cl^? and NO₃^? anions on the electrochemical processes occurring at the nanoparticles is further evaluated. The electroactivity of CuO nanoparticles is found to differ between the two types of experiments. At the single‐particle scale, the reduction of the CuO nanoparticles proceeds to a higher extent in the presence of chloride ion than of nitrate ion containing solutions. However, at the multiparticle scale the CuO reduction proceeds to the same extent regardless of the type of anions present in solution. The implications for assessing realistically the environmental fate and therefore the toxicity of metal‐based nanoparticles in general, and copper‐based nanoparticles in particular, are discussed.     

Investigation of charge carrier depletion in freestanding nanowires by a multi-probe scanning tunneling microscope

Profiling of the electrical properties of nanowires (NWs) and NW heterocontacts with high spatial resolution is a challenge for any application and advanced NW device development. For appropriate NW analysis, we have established a four-point prober, which is combined in vacuo with a state-of-the-art vapor-liquid-solid preparation, enabling contamination-free NW characterization with high spatial resolution. With this ultrahigh-vacuum-based multi-tip scanning tunneling microscopy (MT-STM), we obtained the resistance and doping profiles of freestanding NWs, along with surface-sensitive information. Our in-system 4-probe STM approach decreased the detection limit for low dopant concentrations to the depleted case in upright standing NWs, while increasing the spatial resolution and considering radial depletion regions, which may originate from surface changes. Accordingly, the surface potential of oxide-free GaAs NW {112} facets has been estimated to be lower than 20 mV, indicating a NW surface with very low surface state density.

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Characterization of Cementitious Materials Exposed to Freezing and Thawing in Combination with Deicing Salts Using 3D Scans

Surface deterioration of concrete subjected to freezing and thawing in combination with deicing salts is one of the most important factors determining the durability of concrete infrastructure in cold climates. The freeze–thaw deicing salt (FTDS) resistance of cementitious materials can be determined by the capillary suction of de-icing chemicals and freeze–thaw (CDF) test. Specimens are subjected to repeated freeze–thaw cycles with simultaneous addition of deicing salt and the amount of material scaled off near the surface is determined. For concretes with adequate FTDS resistance, this test method works very well. However, specimens with unknown performance often experience increased edge scaling. This leads to a falsification of results and consequently to an underestimation of the actual freeze–thaw resistance. In materials research, however, concretes with high levels of surface deterioration are studied in order to investigate various factors of influence on the freeze–thaw resistance of concretes in a targeted manner. This article presents a novel methodology that delivers new information regarding surface deterioration of CDF samples using high-resolution 3D scan data. Change of volume is used to support deterioration results of the standard CDF methodology. Increase of surface area is used to estimate change in roughness of samples.     

Correction to: The effect of various simultaneous sources of mechanical error in the estimators of correlation causing deflation in reliability: seeking the best options of correlation for deflation-corrected reliability

Behaviormetrika - The article “The effect of various simultaneous sources of mechanical error in the estimators of correlation causing deflation in reliability: seeking the best options of...     

Fluid jet polishing of optical surfaces

We present a new finishing process that is capable of locally shaping and polishing optical surfaces of complex shapes. A fluid jet system is used to guide a premixed slurry at pressures less than 6 bars to the optical surface. We used a slurry comprising water and 10% #800 SiC abrasives (21.8 mum) to reduce the surface roughness of a BK7 sample from 350 to 25 nm rms and to vary the shape of a polished sample BK7, maintaining its surface roughness of 1.6 nm rms, thereby proving both the shaping and polishing possibilities of the presented method.     

Influence of the Glass-Transition Temperature and the Chromophore Content on the Grating Buildup Dynamics of poly(N-vinylcarbazole)-based Photorefractive Polymers

The influence of the glass-transition temperature T(g) and the electro-optical chromophore content on the grating buildup dynamics in photorefractive polymer composites is investigated. The response times were found to be strongly dependent on both parameters. In the low-T(g) regime, composites of different chromophore content respond similarly quickly (200-500 ms), whereas significant differences occur for T(g) above the measurement (room) temperature. The composites with the highest chromophore content give the best steady-state performance; however, their response is much slower than that for those containing less chromophore.     

Studies of 2D Cryocrystals by STM Techniques

Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) studies of two-dimensional (2D) cryocrystals ⁴ He, Kr, Xe) physisorbed on graphite surfaces are presented. Individual helium atoms, usually thought to be invisible with STM, were recently observed on graphite surfaces at a density corresponding to the commensurate solid. Here we show that a local elastic deformation seems to be the principal mechanism responsible to render the atoms visible. Recent tight-binding calculations of the local density of states (LDOS) of graphite which predict the appearance of an energy gap support this picture. I-z curve measurements for the case of ⁴ He show a sharp drop (increase) of the tunneling current I at a certain tip-surface distance z during retraction (approach) of the tip. This drop (increase) may be associated with the tunneling of a single He adatom, opening new possibilities to study the quantum tunneling of atoms via STM.