Prolonged drug release using PCL–TMZ nanofibers induce the apoptotic behavior of U87 glioma cells

In situ prolonged delivery of drugs at the site of tumor can be satisfactorily accelerated patient recovery. We compared the effect of temozolomide while incorporated by polycaprolactone nanofibers on the apoptotic behavior of U87 glioma cells. After biocompatibility evaluation of nanofibers by scanning electron microscope and 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazolyl-2)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide analysis, the apoptosis of U87 cells was evaluated using p53, Bcl2 and Bax genes expression. It was found that nanofiber-temozolomide group showed a greater ability to induce apoptosis as well as have a significantly diminished initial burst release of drug compared with other groups and have promising potential in treating cancer.     

Advances in Antimicrobial Microneedle Patches for Combating Infections

Skin infections caused by bacteria, viruses and fungi are difficult to treat by conventional topical administration because of poor drug penetration across the stratum corneum. This results in low bioavailability of drugs to the infection site, as well as the lack of prolonged release. Emerging antimicrobial transdermal and ocular microneedle patches have become promising medical devices for the delivery of various antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral therapeutics. In the present review, skin anatomy and its barriers along with skin infection are discussed. Potential strategies for designing antimicrobial microneedles and their targeted therapy are outlined. Finally, biosensing microneedle patches associated with personalized drug therapy and selective toxicity toward specific microbial species are discussed.     

A meshfree weak-strong (MWS) form method for the unsteady magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) flow in pipe with arbitrary wall conductivity

In this paper a meshfree weak-strong (MWS) form method is considered to solve the coupled equations in velocity and magnetic field for the unsteady magnetohydrodynamic flow throFor this modified estimaFor this modified estimaFor this modified estimaugh a pipe of rectangular and circular sections having arbitrary conducting walls. Computations have been performed for various Hartman numbers and wall conductivity at different time levels. The MWS method is based on applying a meshfree collocation method in strong form for interior nodes and nodes on the essential boundaries and a meshless local Petrov–Galerkin method in weak form for nodes on the natural boundary of the domain. In this paper, we employ the moving least square reproducing kernel particle approximation to construct the shape functions. The numerical results for sample problems compare very well with steady state solution and other numerical methods.     

Deposition of palladium submonolayer on nanoporous gold film and investigation of its performance for the methanol electrooxidation reaction

The electrocatalytic activity of nanoporous gold film (NPGF) toward methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) upon Pd deposition is studied. Pd_θNPGFs (where, θ stands for the surface coverage of Pd on NPGF: 0.07, 0.19, 0.37 and 0.59) are prepared via surface engineering of NPGF using underpotential deposition (UPD) and galvanic replacement method.     

Optimization of extraction process of bioactive compounds from Bene hull using subcritical water

Bene hull contains antioxidant components. Optimum conditions for bioactive compound extraction processes from Bene hull using subcritical water with response surface methodology (RSM) were obtained. Temperature (110–200°C), processing time (30–60 min), and the water to Bene hull ratio (10:1–50:1) were the investigated factors. The optimal conditions for maximizing the antioxidant activity were 196.8°C for 52.6 min and a ratio of 43.6:1 for water to Bene hull. Under these conditions, the amount of polyphenolic compounds, the reduction power (RP) (EC₅₀), and the DPPH free radical scavenging activity (RSA) (EC₅₀) were predicted to be 2,284 mg of gallic acid/100 g of Bene hull, 0.2002 mg/mL, and 0.6284 mg/mL, respectively. HPLC analysis was used to identify the main phenolic compounds. The subcritical water extraction technique could be used as a beneficial method to obtain bioactive compounds from Bene hull.     

A boundary-only meshless method for numerical solution of the Eikonal equation

The radial basis function (RBF) collocation methods for the numerical solution of partial differential equation have been popular in recent years because of their advantage. For instance, they are inherently meshless, integration free and highly accurate. In this article we study the RBF solution of Eikonal equation using boundary knot method and analog equation method. The boundary knot method (BKM) is a meshless boundary-type radial basis function collocation technique. In contrast with the method of fundamental solution (MFS), the BKM uses the non-singular general solution instead of the singular fundamental solution to obtain the homogeneous solution. Similar to MFS, the RBF is employed to approximate the particular solution via the dual reciprocity principle. In the current paper, we applied the idea of analog equation method (AEM). According to AEM, the nonlinear governing operator is replaced by an equivalent nonhomogeneous linear one with known fundamental solution and under the same boundary conditions. Finally numerical results and discussions are presented to show the validity and efficiency of the proposed method.     

Multicenter trial of Enterococcus antibiotic susceptibility

Antibiotic susceptibility of 446 Enterococcus isolates from 9 medical centres of Moscow and St. Petersburg was tested. Among the isolates 386 belonged to E.faecalis, 48 to E.faecium and 12 to the other species. All the isolates were susceptible to vancomycin. As for E.faecalis 84 and 85 per cent of the isolates were susceptible to ampicillin and ampicillin/sulbactam respectively (no production of beta-lactamases), the frequency of high resistance to aminoglycosides amounted to 44 per cent with respect to streptomycin and to 25 per cent with respect to gentamicin, 75 per cent of the isolates was susceptible to ciprofloxacin. As for E.faecium and the rare species of Enterococcus more than 70 per cent of the isolates was resistant to ampicillin and ampicillin/sulbactam, the frequency of high resistance to aminoglycosides exceeded 60 per cent, 17 and 25 per cent of the isolates were susceptible to ciprofloxacin.     

The rheological behavior of bitumen and moisture susceptibility modified with SBS and nanoclay

The effect of styrene–butadiene–styrene (SBS) and nanoclay additive on performance of pure bitumen and stone matrix asphalt (SMA) mixture was investigated. Different samples with various percentages of nanoclay (2%, 3%, 4%, and 5%) and SBS (0% and 5%) by weight of bitumen were prepared, and the rheological and chemical behavior of bitumen (rotational viscosity, dynamic shear rheometer, SEM, and FTIR), the indirect tensile strength and moisture susceptibility of different mixtures were evaluated. Based on the results, using nanoclay and SBS polymer can improve the rheological behavior of base binder and the resistance of SMA mixtures against moisture damage.