Poly (vinyl alcohol) hydrogels for pH dependent colon targeted drug delivery

Oral drug administration is convenient with pH dependent drug delivery system since the drug has to pass through different pH environments in gastro intestinal (GI) tract. The pH dependent swelling/shrinking behavior of hydrogel drug carrier controls the drug release without affecting the function of drug. pH dependent hydrogels of poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) were prepared by cross linking with maleic acid (MA). The hydrogels were characterized by attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy, DSC, porosimetry, SEM, TEM, biocompatibility study and by measuring their swelling behavior in water, simulated gastric fluid (SGF) and intestinal fluid (SIF). Swelling of the hydrogels was found to be highest in SIF (pH: 7.5) and lowest in SGF (pH: 1.2) resembling that required in colon targeted drug delivery systems. Since the swelling behavior of the gel is pH dependent, these hydrogels were studied for colon targeted drug delivery in an in-vitro set-up resembling the condition of GI tract. The ratio of PVA and MA in the hydrogel was varied to study the effect on the drug diffusion rate. For drug delivery study, vitamin B₁₂ and salicylic acid were used as model drugs. The hydrogel, loaded with model drugs vitamin B₁₂ and salicylic acid also demonstrated colon specific drug release with a relatively higher drug release in SIF (pH: 7.5) than that in SGF (pH: 1.2).     

DEPP functionally graded piezoceramics via micro-fabrication by co-extrusion

This paper introduces the Dual Electro/Piezo Property (DEPP) gradient technique via Micro-Fabrication through Co-eXtrusion (MFCX) which pairs a high displacement lead zirconate titanate (PZT) piezoceramic with a high permittivity barium titanate (BT) dielectric. By grading with this material combination spatially across an actuator, the electric field is concentrated in the more active region for improved efficiency, higher displacements, and complex motions. To aid in synthesis and analysis of any gradient profile, compositional maps are provided for key material properties (density, stiffness, permittivity, and piezoelectric coefficients). The DEPP technique was validated, independent of the MFCX process, by powder pressing a conventional bimodal gradient beam which demonstrated through experiments high displacement capabilities at lower driving potentials than comparable functionally graded piezoceramic actuators. For more complex gradients, the MFCX process was adapted to the DEPP gradient technique and illustrated by the fabrication of a linearly graded prototype whose monolithic nature and gradual material variation significantly reduces internal stresses, improves reliability, and extends service lifetime.     

氦原子间的范德瓦尔斯力与其半经验势函数的拼接构造

为了确定氦原子势函数的具体形式,通过分析氦原子间的范德瓦尔斯作用力,指出氦原子势函数可由其范德瓦尔斯排斥势和吸引势拼接构造而成,并得出了氦原子通用势函数的具体形式.结果表明:对于氦原子势函数,排斥力不再适宜采用原子中心间距r的-12次方的形式,而更适合采用指数形式的排斥项,因此其势函数通用形式中包括指数型排斥项以及分别...     

Ultrasensitive aptamer-based multiplexed electrochemical detection by coupling distinguishable signal tags with catalytic recycling of DNase I

This work reports an aptamer-based, disposable, and multiplexed sensing platform for simultaneous electrochemical determination of small molecules, employing adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and cocaine as the model target analytes. The multiplexed sensing strategy is based on target-induced release of distinguishable redox tag-conjugated aptamers from a magnetic graphene platform. The electronic signal of the aptasensors could be further amplified by coupling DNase I with catalytic recycling of self-produced reactants. The assay was based on the change in the current at the various peak potentials in the presence of the corresponding signal tags. Experimental results revealed that the multiplexed electrochemical aptasensor enabled the simultaneous monitoring of ATP and cocaine in a single run with wide working ranges and low detection limits (LODs: 0.1 pM for ATP and 1.5 pM for cocaine). This concept offers promise for rapid, simple, and cost-effective analysis of biological samples.     

Quantitative Analysis of the Degradation Behavior of Silicon Solar Cell Irradiated by 1 MeV Electron Beams Using Photocarrier Radiometry Combined with Lock-in Carrierography

Silicon solar cells with cover glass irradiated by 1 MeV electron beams at various fluences were investigated using photocarrier radiometry (PCR) combined with lock-in carrierography (LIC, spectrally gated dynamic photoluminescence). The minority carrier transport properties (i.e., minority carrier lifetime τ, diffusion coefficient D, surface recombination velocities S) and the degradation of these properties were studied using PCR. The relative damage coefficient obtained by LIC was consistent with the PCR measurement. The local series resistance of the solar cell before and after irradiation was characterized by LIC. The results showed that the series resistance increased with electron fluences.     

Effect of V doping concentration on the electronic structure,optical and photocatalytic properties of nano-sized V-doped anatase TiO2

V-doped TiO₂ with V/Ti ratio of 1–5% has been synthesized by hydrothermal method and then characterized by XRD, TEM, BET specific surface area, XPS and UV–vis. absorption spectra. The photocatalytic activity of the as-synthesized samples was investigated by the degradation of methylene blue in aqueous solution under visible light irradiation. Density functional theory (DFT) based calculations were performed to investigate the mechanism of band gap narrowing, the shift of light absorption edge, the location of V in the TiO₂ lattice and the variation in electronic and optical properties of TiO₂ with the increase of V doping concentration. Irrespective of the V doping concentration, TEM images indicate that all the doped samples were composed of equiaxed spherical anatase TiO₂ particles with good crystallinity and uniform particle size distribution. Both the experimental results from XPS survey and the theoretical calculation argue that the doped V replaces the lattice Ti and form substitutional impurity. The visible light absorption can be optimized by adjusting the V doping concentration. Among the doped samples with different V doping concentrations, the sample with V/Ti ratio of 2% depicts better visible light photocatalytic activity due to the enhanced visible light absorption and improved separation of electron–hole pairs.     

Application of the Extended Langmuir Model for the Determination of Lyophobicity of 1-Propanol in Acetonitrile

Surface tensions (σ) of binary liquid mixtures of acetonitrile (ACN) with 1-propanol (PrOH) were measured over the entire composition range at eight different temperatures, 278.15 K, 283.15 K, 288.15 K, 293.15 K, 298.15 K, 303.15 K, 308.15 K, and 313.15 K. The lyophobicities (β) of the surfactant PrOH relative to that of ACN as well as the surface mole fractions () of PrOH at various temperatures were derived using the extended Langmuir model (Langmuir 17, 4261, 2001). The β values indicate the greater affinity of PrOH for the surface, and this trend slightly increases with rising temperature. The determined values indicate that the surface concentration of PrOH is always higher than its bulk concentration and consequently confirm that the surface is enriched with PrOH.     

多孔材料缓冲吸能特性表征方法

分析了多孔材料缓冲吸能机理，综述了多孔缓冲材料吸能特性的几种表征方法：缓冲曲线、缓冲系数、Janssen因子、Rusch曲线、能量吸收率曲线和能量吸收图，并分析了各种表征方法的优缺点。能量吸收图汇集了应变率和材料结构特征等信息，且能够模型化，对于不同密度多孔材料吸能特性的表征具有一定的普适性。