Synthesis and Characterization of Sulfanilamide-Based Nonionic Surfactants and Evaluation of Their Nano-Vesicular Drug Loading Application

Nonionic surfactants are highly stable and cost-effective and receiving acceptance for applications in many diverse fields including drug delivery, due to their distinctive properties. Here, we report on the synthesis and characterization of sulfanilamide-based nonionic surfactants for nanoscale vesicular drug loading applications. Nonionic surfactants were synthesized through alkylation of sulfanilamide with alkyl halides that possessed diverse degrees of lipophilicity. They were explored for their nanovesicular drug loading with Cefixime as a hydrophobic model drug. Drug-loaded nanovesicles were characterized for surface morphologies, size, size distribution, surface charge, and drug loading efficiency using atomic force microscopy (AFM), dynamic light scattering (DLS), and UV–visible spectrophotometry. All of the synthesized nonionic surfactants revealed their CMC values in 0.055–0.035 mM range depending upon the lipophilic chain length of surfactants. They caused a decreased hemoglobin release and low toxicity against cell culture. They self-assembled and loaded an increased amount of drug in the form of nanorange spherical shape niosomal vesicles. Results of the current study verify these synthesized nonionic surfactants are hemocompatible, nontoxic, and capable of self-assembling into nanorange niosomal vesicles. These niosomal vesicles can be suggested as safe and highly efficient nanocarriers for hydrophobic drug loading and delivery.     

Nanoemulsions of Acai Oil: Physicochemical Characterization for the Topical Delivery of Antifungal Drugs

Nanoemulsion-based acai oil was obtained by the phase inversion method using two nonionic surfactants, Ceteareth-20 (Brij™ CS20) and polyoxyethylene-hydrogenated castor oil (Croduret™ 50), with the concentration of each surfactant varying from 7 to 10 %. The formulation with 10 % Brij CS20 presented the best values for droplet size, zeta potential, and polydispersity index (PDI). Ketoconazole was incorporated into this formulation, with an encapsulation efficiency of 98.31 % and equally good zeta potential, droplet size, and PDI, and spherical shape when observed by transmission electron microscopy. Overall, nanoemulsions of acai oil proved to be a good vehicle for imidazole antifungals such as ketoconazole.     

Disabling partners in crime: Gold nanoparticles disrupt multicellular communications within the tumor microenvironment to inhibit ovarian tumor aggressiveness

The tumor microenvironment (TME) plays a key role in the poor prognosis of many cancers. However, there is a knowledge gap concerning how multicellular communication among the critical players within the TME contributes to such poor outcomes. Using epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) as a model, we show how crosstalk among cancer cells (CC), cancer associated fibroblasts (CAF), and endothelial cells (EC) promotes EOC growth. We demonstrate here that co-culturing CC with CAF and EC promotes CC proliferation, migration, and invasion in vitro and that co-implantation of the three cell types facilitates tumor growth in vivo. We further demonstrate that disruption of this multicellular crosstalk using gold nanoparticles (GNP) inhibits these pro-tumorigenic phenotypes in vitro as well as tumor growth in vivo. Mechanistically, GNP treatment reduces expression of several tumor-promoting cytokines and growth factors, resulting in inhibition of MAPK and PI3K-AKT activation and epithelial-mesenchymal transition - three key oncogenic signaling pathways responsible for the aggressiveness of EOC. The current work highlights the importance of multicellular crosstalk within the TME and its role for the aggressive nature of EOC, and demonstrates the disruption of these multicellular communications by self-therapeutic GNP, thus providing new avenues to interrogate the crosstalk and identify key perpetrators responsible for poor prognosis of this intractable malignancy.     

Effect of graphene on the performance of nickel foam-based CoNi nanosheet anode catalyzed direct urea-hydrogen peroxide fuel cell

The highly porous electrode of a crisscrossed CoNi nanosheets array grown on reduced graphene oxide decorated Ni foam (CoNi/rGO@Ni foam) is fabricated through a facile dip and dry method followed by electroreduction and electrodeposition methods. The phase composition and morphology of the electrode are characterized by XRD, SEM, TEM, and EDS. In single electrode tests, CoNi/rGO@Ni foam electrode displays an excellent catalytic performance (330 mA cm⁻² at 0.6 V) and stability towards urea electrooxidation when comparing to Ni foam and CoNi nanosheets modified Ni foam (CoNi@Ni foam) electrode. Besides, a low initial oxidation potential of urea electro-oxidation to 0.14 V is achieved on the CoNi/rGO@Ni foam electrode. The introducing of rGO to the electrode greatly reduced the reaction activation energy from 14.47 to 10.35 kJ mol⁻¹. Besides, large active surface area (261.67 cm²) is also obtained from the electrode. The CoNi/rGO@Ni foam anode exhibits a maximum power density of 12.58 mW cm⁻² in direct urea-hydrogen peroxide fuel cell tests. Excellent performance shows in single electrode tests and fuel cell tests suggest that addition of rGO to the electrode is an easy and feasible method to enhance the performance of the catalyst.     

Feasibility of non-destructive evaluation for apple crispness based on portable acoustic signal

In this paper, apple crispness was evaluated by sensory evaluation and compared with non-destructive measurements of portable acoustic signal to discuss the feasibility of non-destructive evaluation for apple crispness based on portable acoustic signal. Acoustic eigenvalues from the acoustic signal were processed by time domain and Hilbert–Huang transform (HHT), followed by analysing the correlations with apple crispness that had been evaluated via sensory evaluation. Multiple linear regression (MLR) and artificial neural network (ANN) were applied to predict apple crispness. The results proved that crispness correlates significantly (P < 0.01) with four acoustic eigenvalues, including waveform index, sound intensity, energy of low frequency and energy of high frequency. The average relative error of apple crispness predicted by ANN was 1.42 ± 1.9%, remarkably lower (P < 0.01) that of MLR (6.79 ± 5.64%), implying that the model predicted by ANN is more accurate than that of MLR.     

Multiple mycotoxin co-occurrence in maize grown in three agro-ecological zones of Tanzania

In this study, the co-occurrence of multiple mycotoxins in maize kernels collected from 300 households' stores in three agro-ecological zones in Tanzania was evaluated by using ultra high performance liquid chromatography/time-of-flight mass spectrometry (TOFMS) with a QuEChERS-based procedure as sample treatment. This method was validated for the analysis of the main eleven mycotoxins of health concern that can occur in maize: aflatoxin B₁ (AFB₁), aflatoxin B₂ (AFB₂), aflatoxin G₁ (AFG₁), aflatoxin G₂ (AFG₂), ochratoxin A (OTA), deoxynivalenol (DON), fumonisin B₁ (FB₁), fumonisin B₂ (FB₂), HT-2 toxin, T-2 toxin and zearalenone (ZEN). From each zone one major maize producing district for home consumption was chosen and 20 villages for each district were randomly selected for sampling. All mycotoxins of health concern, except for T-2 toxin, were detected in the maize samples. Particularly high levels of AFB₁ (50%; 3–1,081 μg kg⁻¹), FB₁ (73%; 16–18,184 μg kg⁻¹), FB₂ (48%; 178–38,217 μg kg⁻¹) and DON (63%; 68–2,196 μg kg⁻¹) were observed. Some samples exceeded the maximum limits set in Tanzania for aflatoxins or in European regulations for other mycotoxins in unprocessed maize. Eighty seven percent of samples were contaminated with more than one mycotoxin, with 45% of samples co-contaminated by carcinogenic mycotoxins, aflatoxins and fumonisins. Significant differences in contamination pattern were observed among the three agro-ecological zones. The high incidence and at high levels (for some) of these mycotoxins in maize may have serious implications on the health of the consumers since maize constitute the staple food of most Tanzanian population. Effective strategies targeting more than one mycotoxin are encouraged to reduce contamination of maize with mycotoxins.     

Fabrication of metal-organic framework-based nanofibrous separator via one-pot electrospinning strategy

Metal-organic framework(MOF)/polymer composites have attracted extensive attention in the recent years.However,it still remains challenging to efficiently and effectively fabricate these composite materials.In this study,we propose a facile one-pot electrospinning strategy for preparation of HKUST-1/polyacrylonitrile(PAN)nanofibrous membranes from a homogeneous stock solution containing HKUST-1 precursors and PAN.MOF crystallization and polymer solidification occur simultaneously during the electrospinning process,thus avoiding the issues of aggregation and troublesome multistep fabrication of the conventional approach.The obtained HKUST-1/PAN electrospun membranes show uniform MOF distribution throughout the nanofibers and yield good mechanical properties.The membranes are used as separators in Li-metal full batteries under harsh testing conditions,using an ultrathin Li-metal anode,a high mass loading cathode,and the HKUST-1/PAN nanofibrous separator.The results demonstrate significantly improved cycling performance(capacity retention of 83.1%after 200 cycles)under a low negative to positive capacity ratio(N/P ratio of 1.86).The improvement can be attributed to an enhanced wettability of the separator towards electrolyte stemmed from the nanofibrous structure,and a uniform lithium ion flux stabilized by the open metal sites of uniformly distributed HKUST-1 particles in the membrane during cycling.     

Pt supported on boron,nitrogen co-doped carbon nanotubes (BNC NTs) for effective methanol electrooxidation

The research for electrocatalyst with high electroactivity and great CO-resistance ability for direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) is still a huge challenge. In this report, we develop Boron, Nitrogen co-doped carbon nanotubes (BNC NTs) as a support for Pt. Owing to the doping of boron, the catalyst not only provides extremely active sites for methanol oxidation reactions (MOR) but also protects Pt nanoparticles from agglutinating, performing superior electroactivity and excellent ability to anti CO poisoning. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) results demonstrate the strong electron effect between Pt and B. Notably, the Pt/BNC NTs catalyst exhibits higher catalytic activity towards MOR and more superior durability in comparison with Pt/NC NTs and commercial JM Pt/C catalyst. The accelerated durability test (ADT) illustrates that Pt/BNC NTs catalyst can improve the issue of electrochemical surface area (ECSA) conservation, with only 30% diminish in comparison with the initial ECSA after 5000 cycles. The experiment result demonstrate that boron doping is the key step to improve the catalytic activities and CO-resistance ability due to the combination effects, involving firm B–C and N–C bonds, the stronger electron transfer in the nanotube structure among Pt, B and N, the stronger adsorption intensity of oxygen species from doped B.     

中药材栀子的X射线衍射傅立叶指纹图谱鉴定研究

为建立一种新的中药材鉴定与分析方法,我们采用粉末X射线衍射分析技术,分别对19个不同来源的栀子样品进行实验分析研究。利用粉末X射线衍射傅立叶(Fourier)指纹图谱分析方法,获得栀子与水栀子等中药材的各自对照衍射图谱和特征标记峰值。使用对照衍射图谱和特征标记峰值可以很好地区分道地中药材栀子、药材栀子变种-水栀子及地方习用品-黄花栀子。分析结果表明,粉末X射线衍射Fourier指纹图谱分析方法可以用于传统中药材的鉴定与质量控制。