Development of drug adsorbates onto soluble inorganic silicate glass surface: example with acetaminophen

A ternary melt-derived inorganic glass system (Igl) of composition corresponding to 62SiO₂, 35Na₂O, 3Al₂O₃ (wt.%) has been formulated and studied as a drug carrier. The [Al₂O₃/Na₂O] ratio is less than one and the aluminium ion is a network former that retards the glass dissolution. The processing conditions lead to a brittle, easily grinding, amorphous product. The Igl structure was proven by IR-spectroscopy, energy-dispersive spectrometry, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy. A very important fact established is that the Igl corrosion (dissolution) is pH-dependent. Inorganic glass system was transformed into model acetaminophen (APH) adsorbate (APH/Igla 1:1(w/w)) with mild experimental conditions and evaluated as a drug carrier. No interactions between Igl and APH during the processing were proven. Besides, APH settles onto the glass surface as crystalline phase. A lower extent of corrosion, apparent solubility and delayed in vitro APH release from the adsorbate in water and artificial gastric juice in comparison to the samples untreated drug and APH/Iglm physical mixture were established. It is hypothesized that the glass decomposition products, formed into contact with a solvent, initiate interactions with APH at the glass/solution interface. Similar behaviour of the Igl and its drug adsorbates could be expected in gastro-intestinal tract.     

Multiplex SNP genotyping using Locked Nucleic Acid and microfluidics

Locked Nucleic Acid's or LNA are a new class of bicyclic DNA analogues that have a high affinity and specificity towards complementary nucleic acids. LNA containing oligonucleotides were used to develop a multiplex SNP genotyping assay based entirely on hybridization between capture probe and target. The approach incorporates a polymer microarray platform, photochemistry for immobilization of oligonucleotides onto microarrays, and a dedicated software tool to aid primer and capture probe design for highly multiplex genotyping. Furthermore, these technologies are combined in an integrated microfluidics platform for simple, highly multiplex and robust SNP genotyping.     

Benchmarking lightweight face architectures on specific face recognition scenarios

Artificial Intelligence Review - This paper studies the impact of lightweight face models on real applications. Lightweight architectures proposed for face recognition are analyzed and evaluated on...