A Review of the Common Neurodegenerative Disorders: Current Therapeutic Approaches and the Potential Role of Nanotherapeutics

Neurodegenerative disorders are primarily characterized by neuron loss. The most common neurodegenerative disorders include Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. Although there are several medicines currently approved for managing neurodegenerative disorders, a large majority of them only help with associated symptoms. This lack of pathogenesis-targeting therapies is primarily due to the restrictive effects of the blood–brain barrier (BBB), which keeps close to 99% of all “foreign substances” out of the brain. Since their discovery, nanoparticles have been successfully used for targeted delivery into many organs, including the brain. This review briefly describes the pathophysiology of Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and their current management approaches. We then highlight the major challenges of brain-drug delivery, followed by the role of nanotherapeutics for the diagnosis and treatment of various neurological disorders.     

二元醇共价交联羧基化石墨烯复合膜和正丁醇脱水性能

以二元醇(乙二醇、1,3-丙二醇和1,4-丁二醇)为交联剂,通过抽滤的方式在涂覆盐酸多巴胺的聚醚砜(PES)支撑层上制备了共价交联的羧基化石墨烯/聚醚砜(CG/PES)复合膜。稳定性测试证明盐酸多巴胺的涂覆和二元醇的交联显著提高了分离层和支撑层以及CG纳米片间的结合力。采用扫描电子显微镜、X射线衍射仪、X射线光电子能谱仪和水接触角测试仪对复合膜的物化性质和微观形貌进行了表征。结果表明,所得复合膜的分离层连续无缺陷,厚度在60～64nm之间。二元醇与CG纳米片上的羧基成功发生反应,将CG纳米片锚固在一起。交联剂的引入没有大幅降低亲水性且实现了对分离层层间距的有效调控,随二元醇分子尺寸增加,所得复合膜的层间距由0.761nm提高到0.778nm。CG/PES复合膜对正丁醇/水混合物具有优良的渗透汽化分离性能。在料液温度为50℃、料液中水的质量分数为10%时,三种交联剂所得复合膜的渗透通量分别达到0.79kg/(m²·h)、0.87kg/(m²·h)和0.96kg/(m²·h),而分离因子比未交联的复合膜高一个数量级。15天的...     

Highly Sensitive Plus Shaped Cavity in Silicon Fiber for RI Detection of Water Samples

Silicon - Fiber grating based sensors demonstrate great potential especially for the refractive index (RI) based sensing. However, a meticulous effort is still required to improve the sensitivity...     

N4-Allyldeoxycytidine: A New DNA Tag with Chemical Sequencing Power for Pinpointing Labelling Sites,Mapping Epigenetic Markers,and In Situ Imaging

DNA tagging with base analogues has found numerous applications. To precisely record the DNA labelling information, it would be highly beneficial to develop chemical sequencing tags that can be encoded into DNA as regular bases and decoded as mutant bases following a mild, efficient and bioorthogonal chemical treatment. Here we reported such a DNA tag, N⁴-allyldeoxycytidine (a⁴dC), for labeling and identifying DNA by in vitro assays. The iodination of a⁴dC led to fast and complete formation of 3 , N⁴-cyclized deoxycytidine, which induced base misincorporation during DNA replication and thus could be located at single base resolution. We explored the applications of a⁴dC in pinpointing DNA labelling sites at single base resolution, mapping epigenetic marker N⁴-methyldeoxycytidine, and imaging nucleic acids in situ. In addition, mammalian cellular DNA could be metabolically labelled with a⁴dC. Our study sheds light on the design of next generation DNA tags with chemical sequencing power.     

The effect of electrochemical lithiation on physicochemical properties of RF-sputtered Sn thin films

Thin films of Sn were deposited on Pt/Si substrates by sputtering technique and subjected to electrochemical lithiation studies. Electrochemical lithiation of Sn resulted in the formation of Sn–Li alloys of different compositions. Charging of Sn-coated Pt/Si electrodes was terminated at different potentials and the electrodes were examined for physicochemical properties. The scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy images suggested that the Sn films expanded on lithiation. Roughness of the film increased with an increase in the quantity of Li present in Sn–Li alloy. Electrochemical impedance data suggested that the kinetics of charging became sluggish with an increase in the quantity of Li in Sn–Li alloy.     

Forming of Protein Bubbles and Porous Films Using Co‐Axial Electrohydrodynamic Flow Processing

Air and 5 wt.‐% BSA solution are used as a model system to generate protein‐coated microbubbles, which are significantly smaller in diameter than the processing needle apertures. The effects of processing parameters (applied voltage and flow rate) on the bubble size distribution and stability are studied. The optimal processing conditions are also explored in terms of heating of the solutions and prepared structures. Both individual microbubbles and porous films were successfully prepared using this method which has significant potential for the preparation of microbubbles for drug delivery systems, porous coatings, thin films, scaffolds and ultrasound contrast agents. The versatile nature of the method implies that many macromolecules and other active agents can be used.

     

Service life prediction of organic coatings: electrochemical impedance spectroscopy vs actual service life

Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) is used to derive an expression for predicting the service life of organic coating in a C4-type environment (industrial and costal areas with moderate salinity) as defined in ISO 12944 standard for paints and varnishes—corrosion protection of steel structures by protective paint systems. Three coating systems with a record of 2, 5, and 10 years of durability were selected for the study. The selection was also based on proven composition and dry film thickness (DFT) of the coatings as per ISO 12944. Electrochemical impedance measurements of the paint-coated panels were carried out by exposing the coated mild steel panels without scribe in different corrosive environments such as immersion in NaCl solution, neutral salt spray, etc. Neutral salt spray exposure was found to be the most severe corrosive environment among all the three coating systems. In most of the cases, EIS gave early indication of coating failure when compared to visual defects such as blistering and over-film corrosion.     

Effect of pro‐oxidants on biodegradation of polyethylene (LDPE) by indigenous fungal isolate,Aspergillus oryzae

Proxidant additives represent a promising solution to the problem of the environment contamination with polyethylene film litter. Pro‐oxidants accelerate photo‐ and thermo‐oxidation and consequent polymer chain cleavage rendering the product apparently more susceptible to biodegradation. In the present study, fungal strain, Aspergillus oryzae isolated from HDPE film (buried in soil for 3 months) utilized abiotically treated polyethylene (LDPE) as a sole carbon source and degraded it. Treatment with pro‐oxidant, manganese stearate followed by UV irradiation and incubation with A. oryzae resulted in maximum decrease in percentage of elongation and tensile strength by 62 and 51%, respectively, compared with other pro‐oxidant treated LDPE films which showed 45% (titanium stearate), 40% (iron stearate), and 39% (cobalt stearate) decrease in tensile strength. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) analysis of proxidant treated LDPE films revealed generation of more number of carbonyl and carboxylic groups (1630–1840 cm⁻¹ and 1220–1340 cm⁻¹) compared with UV treated film. When these films were incubated with A. oryzae for 3 months complete degradation of carbonyl and carboxylic groups was achieved. Scanning electron microscopy of untreated and treated LDPE films also revealed that polymer has undergone degradation after abiotic and biotic treatments. This concludes proxidant treatment before UV irradiation accelerated photo‐oxidation of LDPE, caused functional groups to be generated in the polyethylene film and this resulted in biodegradation due to the consumption of carbonyl and carboxylic groups by A. oryzae which was evident by reduction in carbonyl peaks. Among the pro‐oxidants, manganese stearate treatment caused maximum degradation of polyethylene. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011