Composite polymeric magnetic nanoparticles for co-delivery of hydrophobic and hydrophilic anticancer drugs and MRI imaging for cancer therapy

Exercising complementary roles of polymer-coated magnetic nanoparticles for precise drug delivery and image contrast agents has attracted significant attention in biomedical applications. The objective of this study was to prepare and characterize magnetic nanoparticles embedded in polylactide-co-glycolide matrixes (PLGA-MNPs) as a dual drug delivery and imaging system capable of encapsulating both hydrophilic and hydrophobic drugs. PLGA-MNPs were capable of encapsulating both hydrophobic and hydrophilic drugs in a 2:1 ratio. Biocompatibility, cellular uptake, cytotoxicity, membrane potential, and apoptosis were carried out in two different cancer cell lines (MCF-7 and PANC-1). The molecular basis of induction of apoptosis was validated by Western blotting analysis. For targeted delivery of drugs, targeting ligand such as Herceptin was used, and such a conjugated system demonstrated enhanced cellular uptake and an augmented synergistic effect in an in vitro system when compared with native drugs. Magnetic resonance imaging was carried out both in vitro and in vivo to assess the efficacy of PLGA-MNPs as contrast agents. PLGA-MNPs showed a better contrast effect than commercial contrast agents due to higher T(2) relaxivity with a blood circulation half-life ～ 47 min in the rat model. Thus, our results demonstrated the dual usable purpose of formulated PLGA-MNPs toward either, in therapeutics by delivering different hydrophobic or hydrophilic drugs individually or in combination and imaging for cancer therapeutics in the near future.     

Chitosan-functionalized graphene oxide as a nanocarrier for drug and gene delivery

The covalent functionalization of graphene oxide (GO) with chitosan (CS) is successfully accomplished via a facile amidation process. The CS-grafted GO (GO-CS) sheets consist of about 64 wt.% CS, which imparts them with a good aqueous solubility and biocompatibility. Additionally, the physicochemical properties of GO-CS are studied. As a novel nanocarrier, GO-CS is applied to load a water-insoluble anticancer drug, camptothecin (CPT), via π-π stacking and hydrophobic interactions. It is demonstrated that GO-CS possesses a superior loading capacity for CPT, and the GO-CS-CPT complexes show remarkably high cytotoxicity in HepG2 and HeLa cell lines compared to the pure drug. At the same time, GO-CS is also able to condense plasmid DNA into stable, nanosized complexes, and the resulting GO-CS/pDNA nanoparticles exhibit reasonable transfection efficiency in HeLa cells at certain nitrogen/phosphate ratios. Therefore, the GO-CS nanocarrier is able to load and deliver both anticancer drugs and genes.     

Effect of natural antioxidants and vacuum packaging on the quality of buffalo meat nuggets during refrigerated storage

Buffalo meat nuggets (BMN) were incorporated with 500 ppm sodium ascorbate, 10 ppm -tocopherol acetate and 0.5% sodium tripolyphosphate while processing. There were three experimental groups of BMN, namely control aerobic packaged (CAP), treated aerobic packaged (TAP) and treated vacuum packaged (TVP), refrigerated and stored at 4 °C. It was observed that the treated samples (TAP and TVP) had significantly (p < 0.05) higher pH, W-B shear force, moisture and protein contents, sensory attributes and lower free fatty acids content in comparison to CAP samples. Vacuum packed nuggets (TVP) had significantly (p < 0.05) lower free fatty acid content, higher lactobacilli and total anaerobe counts and markedly higher scores for flavour and overall palatability, even at the 25th day of storage. Product quality reduced as storage time increased. Use of natural antioxidants and vacuum packaging extended the shelf life of BMN from 10 to 30 days under refrigerated storage.     

Determination of hemin-binding characteristics of proteins by a combinatorial peptide library approach

Studies of the binding of heme/hemin to proteins or peptides have recently intensified as it became evident that heme serves not only as a prosthetic group, but also as a regulator and effector molecule interacting with transmembrane and cytoplasmic proteins. The iron‐ion‐containing heme group can associate with these proteins in different ways, with the amino acids Cys, His, and Tyr allowing individual modes of binding. Strong coordinate‐covalent binding, such as in cytochrome c, is known, and reversible attachment is also discussed. Ligands for both types of binding have been reported independently, though sometimes with different affinities for similar sequences. We applied a combinatorial approach using the library (X)₄(C/H/Y)(X)₄ to characterize peptide ligands with considerable hemin binding capacities. Some of the library‐selected peptides were comparable in terms of hemin association independently of whether or not a cysteine residue was present in the sequence. Indeed, a preference for His‐based (≈39 %) and Tyr‐based (≈40 %) sequences over Cys‐based ones (≈21 %) was detected. The binding affinities for the library‐selected peptides, as determined by UV/Vis spectroscopy, were in the nanomolar range. Moreover, selected representatives efficiently competed for hemin binding with the human BK channel hSlo1, which is known to be regulated by heme through binding to its heme‐binding domain.     

Preparation and characterization of polypyrrole/modified multiwalled carbon nanotube nanocomposites polymerized in situ in the presence of barium titanate

Polypyrrole (PPy) composites were prepared with both unmodified and amine‐modified multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) in the presence and absence of barium titanate (BaTiO₃) by in situ oxidative polymerization. A uniform coating of PPy on the MWCNTs and BaTiO₃ surfaces was confirmed by field emission scanning electron microscopy and high‐resolution transmission electron microscopy images. The structure of the pure and amine‐modified MWCNTs were identified by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The incorporation of BaTiO₃ enhanced the thermal stability and capacitance properties of the composites. The maximum specific capacitance and energy density values found for the PPy/amine‐modified MWCNT/BaTiO₃ composites were 155.5 F/g and 21.6 W h/kg, respectively, at a scan rate of 10 mV/s. The maximum power density was found to be 385.7 W/kg for the same composite at a scan rate of 200 mV/s. Furthermore, the impedance spectra of the composites showed moderate capacitive behavior. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 2013     

Directional Properties of Cold Rolled Non-oriented Electrical Steel Sheets

Applications of cold rolled non-oriented (CRNO) electrical steels demand uniform magnetic property in all directions. The objective of the present study was to investigate the magnetic properties of CRNO steel in different directions. Four different sets of samples were made from CRNO steel sheets—(1) samples along the rolling direction, (2) samples at 30° to the rolling direction, (3) samples at 60° to the rolling direction and (4) samples at 90° to the rolling direction. The textural and magnetic properties were investigated using standard techniques. X-ray diffraction and electron backscattered diffraction were used for bulk- and micro-texture measurements respectively. Single sheet tester was used for core loss and magnetic permeability measurements. The results showed different textural and magnetic properties in all the CRNO samples. However, the properties were always better in rolling direction where the texture was more.     

Dry Sliding Wear Characteristics of Gravity Die-Cast Magnesium Alloys

The paper deals with the wear behavior of conventional cast Mg-Sn-based alloys. The alloys were studied through pin-on-disk wear test under four different loading conditions; namely, 9.8, 19.6, 29.4, and 39.2 N. The study highlights the cumulative wear loss, volumetric wear loss, dry sliding wear rate, and coefficient of friction of the alloys. The volumetric wear increased with increasing applied load. The wear mechanism was studied with scanning electron microscope. The wear occurs mainly by plowing mechanism and also by delamination. During wear, extensive plastic deformation and work hardening occurred. Microstructural analysis has been carried out for all the alloys at different loading conditions.     

Experimental Study on the Effect of Microstructure on Dry Sliding Wear Behavior of Titanium Alloy Using Taguchi Experimental Design

The present article depicts the influence of independent control factors such as microstructural variation, normal load, sliding velocity, and test duration on the dry sliding wear behavior of titanium alloy at room temperature using a statistical approach. Different heat treatments were carried out in a controlled manner to produce various microstructural features (i.e., lamellar, bimodal, and equiaxed) in this alloy. A lamellar microstructure is found to be harder than bimodal microstructure followed by an equiaxed microstructure in this alloy. Dry sliding wear tests were carried out using a multiple tribotester following a well-planned experimental schedule based on Taguchi's orthogonal arrays. The dry sliding wear behavior of this alloy consisting of various microstructural features is related to their hardness values. The results indicated that a lamellar microstructure has the lowest sliding wear resistance followed by bimodal and equiaxed microstructures. Using signal-to-noise ratios and analysis of variance (ANOVA), an optimal combination of control factors that minimize the dry sliding wear in this alloy were determined. Among all four control factors, normal load is the most significant control factor influencing the dry sliding wear behavior of the investigated titanium alloy, followed by microstructural variation, sliding velocity, and test duration. Normal load has a greater static influence of 39.53%, microstructural variation has an influence of 31.55%, sliding velocity has an influence of 21.6%, and test duration has an influence of 5.7% on the dry sliding wear of this alloy. Two wear mechanisms were identified: oxidative wear occurs at the lowest sliding velocity and delamination wear occurs at the highest sliding velocity. Optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and Rockwell hardness measurements were used to characterize the microstructures in order to correlate the results obtained.     

Analysis of Tribological Performance of Cu Hybrid Composites Reinforced with Graphite and TiC Using Factorial Techniques

In this study, a copper hybrid metal matrix composite reinforced with graphite (5, 10, and 15 vol%) and TiC (5, 10, and 15 vol%) was processed by a powder metallurgy route. Optical micrographs confirm the uniform distribution of reinforcements in the copper matrix. The hardness of the composites decreased with the addition of graphite. However, the addition of TiC into the copper matrix increased the hardness of the composites due to its high hardness. The influence of graphite percentages, load, sliding speed, and sliding distance on the wear of the as-sintered hybrid composites was studied based on the design of experiments. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to study the effect of the parameters on the wear weight loss of the hybrid composites. The weight loss due to wear of the hybrid composites decreases from 0.1345 to 0.0830 g as the volume percentage of graphite increases from 5 to 15%. Results indicated that the normal load has greater static influence of 43.85%, sliding distance has an influence of 29.84%, percentage of graphite has an influence of 15.17%, and sliding speed has an influence of 1.83% on the weight loss of copper hybrid composites due to sliding wear. The worn-out surfaces were analyzed using electron microscopy, which reveals that the addition of both hard ceramic reinforcement TiC and soft solid lubricant graphite significantly improves the tribological performance of the copper composites.     

Performance assessment of a solar still using blackened surface and thermocol insulation

Fluoride contaminated drinking water is a severe problem in many parts of the world because of fluoride-related health hazards, which are considered to be a major environmental problem today. The present work is aimed at utilizing solar energy for removal of fluoride from drinking water by using a “solar still”. Also tests have been conducted with the “solar still” to find out hourly output rate and “still efficiencies” with various test matrixes. It is observed that the distillate from “solar still” showed a fluoride reduction of 92–96%. Further, the efficiency of “solar still” got increased by 11% when capacity of water in the solar basin was raised from 10 to 20 L. Upon suitable modification of the solar basin with appropriate base liner and insulation, this efficiency of the “solar still” is found to be further increased by 6% with a 20 L basin capacity.