Cancer Cell Detection and Precision Targeting Drug Delivery by Covalently Functionalized Liposome.

In diagnostics, targeting ability is still a topic of concern for cancer cell detection as well as the drug delivery process. Selective detection of cancer cells from normal cells is a highly demanding but also crucial and challenging task. Recent emergence of folic acid as a targeting ligand can improve the drug delivery systems specifically targeted to cancer cells due to the high affinity to bind the folate receptor (FR) on the surface of cancer cells.

Curvature- and temperature-dependent transport of soluble surfactant mixtures to the air-aqueous surface with applications in fluorine-free firefighting foams.

Understanding surfactant adsorption to air-water interfaces is crucial to eliminating toxic fluorocarbon-based surfactants while retaining firefighting performance. The adsorption of commercial siloxane and Glucopon surfactants is investigated by measuring dynamic surface tension at different length scales using a pendant drop tensiometer and capillary pressure microtensiometer (CPM) for millimeter and micrometer sized bubbles at 23 °C and 60 °C. Higher surfactant concentration and higher curvature favor surfactant adsorption.

Concurrent targeted delivery of doxorubicin and curcumin to the cancer cells using simple and versatile ligand-installed multifaceted chitosan-based nanoconjugates.

Existing chemotherapeutic approaches against refractory cancers are ineffective due to off-target effects, inefficient delivery, and inadequate accumulation of anticancer drugs at the tumor site, which causes limited efficiency of drug treatment and toxicity to neighboring healthy cells. The development of nano-based drug delivery systems (DDSs) with the goal of delivering desired therapeutic doses to the diseased cells and has already proven to be a promising strategy to address these challenges. Our study focuses on achieving an efficient tumor-targeted delivery of a combination of drugs for therapeutic benefits by developing a versatile DDS by following a simple one-step chemical approach.

Environmentally sustainable ethyl levulinate synthesis from delignified sugarcane bagasse using ternary eutectic solvent under MW-xenon irradiation: engine performance and emission assessment.

For the first time, a synergistic energy-efficient combination of microwave-xenon (MW-XE) irradiations in presence of photoactive ternary acidic deep eutectic solvents (TADES) has been applied for intensification of ethyl levulinate synthesis from delignified sugarcane bagasse (DSB) under mild (90 min, 90 °C) and environmentally benign process conditions. The Taguchi orthogonal designed optimized conditions (20 W/cm of MW specific irradiation power input, 1 mol/mol of FeCl to citric acid ratio, 90 min of reaction time, 150 W of XE specific power input) rendered maximum 61.3 mol% of EL yield (selectivity: 87.

Evolution of interfacial mechanics of lung surfactant mimics progression of acute respiratory distress syndrome.

How acute respiratory distress syndrome progresses from underlying disease or trauma is poorly understood, and there are no generally accepted treatments resulting in a 40% mortality rate. However, during the inflammation that accompanies this disease, the phospholipase A concentration increases in the alveolar fluids leading to the hydrolysis of bacterial, viral, and lung surfactant phospholipids into soluble lysolipids. We show that if the lysolipid concentration in the subphase reaches or exceeds its critical micelle concentration, the surface tension, γ, of dipalmitoyl phosphatidylcholine (DPPC) or Curosurf monolayers increases and the dilatational modulus, [Formula: see text], decreases to that of a pure lysolipid interface.

Efficient Synergistic Antibacterial Activity of α-MSH Using Chitosan-Based Versatile Nanoconjugates.

The application of antimicrobial peptides has emerged as an alternative therapeutic tool to encounter against multidrug resistance of different pathogenic organisms. α-Melanocyte stimulating hormone (α-MSH), an endogenous neuropeptide, is found to be efficient in eradicating infection of various kinds of , including methicillin-resistant (MRSA). However, the chemical stability and efficient delivery of these biopharmaceuticals (i.

Microtensiometer for Confocal Microscopy Visualization of Dynamic Interfaces.

Adsorption of surface-active molecules to fluid-fluid interfaces is ubiquitous in nature. Characterizing these interfaces requires measuring surfactant adsorption rates, evaluating equilibrium surface tensions as a function of bulk surfactant concentration, and relating how surface tension changes with changes in the interfacial area following equilibration. Simultaneous visualization of the interface using fluorescence imaging with a high-speed confocal microscope allows the direct evaluation of structure-function relationships.

Dilatational and shear rheology of soluble and insoluble monolayers with a Langmuir trough.

Hypothesis: The surface dilatational and shear moduli of surfactant and protein interfacial layers can be derived from surface pressures measured with a Wilhelmy plate parallel, ΔΠ and perpendicular ΔΠ to the barriers in a Langmuir trough.

Experimental: Applying area oscillations, A+ ΔAe, in a rectangular Langmuir trough induces changes in surface pressure, ΔΠ and ΔΠ for monolayers of soluble palmitoyl-lysophosphatidylcholine (LysoPC), insoluble dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine (DPPC), and the protein β-lactoglobulin to evaluate E+G=AΔΠΔA and E-G=AΔΠΔA. G was independently measured with a double-wall ring apparatus (DWR) and E by area oscillations of hemispherical bubbles in a capillary pressure microtensiometer (CPM) and the results were compared to the trough measurements.

Kinetics of Nanomedicine in Tumor Spheroid as an Model System for Efficient Tumor-Targeted Drug Delivery With Insights From Mathematical Models.

Numerous strategies have been developed to treat cancer conventionally. Most importantly, chemotherapy shows its huge promise as a better treatment modality over others. Nonetheless, the very complex behavior of the tumor microenvironment frequently impedes successful drug delivery to the tumor sites that further demands very urgent and effective distribution mechanisms of anticancer drugs specifically to the tumor sites.

Dilatational rheology of water-in-diesel fuel interfaces: effect of surfactant concentration and bulk-to-interface exchange.

Micrometer-sized water droplets dispersed in diesel fuel are stabilized by the fuel's surface-active additives, such as mono-olein and poly(isobutylene)succinimide (PIBSI), making the droplets challenging for coalescing filters to separate. Dynamic material properties found from interfacial rheology are known to influence the behavior of microscale droplets in coalescing filters. In this work, we study the interfacial dilatational properties of water-in-fuel interfaces laden with mono-olein and PIBSI, with a fuel phase of clay-treated ultra-low sulphur diesel (CT ULSD).

Inflammation product effects on dilatational mechanics can trigger the Laplace instability and acute respiratory distress syndrome.

In the lungs, the Laplace pressure, ΔP = 2γ/R, would be higher in smaller alveoli than larger alveoli unless the surface tension, γ decreases with alveolar interfacial area, A, such that 2ε > γ in which ε = A(dγ/dA) is the dilatational modulus. In Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS), lipase activity due to the immune response to an underlying trauma or disease causes single chain lysolipid concentrations to increase in the alveolar fluids via hydrolysis of double-chain phospholpids in bacterial, viral, and normal cell membranes. Increasing lysolipid concentrations decrease the dilatational modulus dramatically at breathing frequencies if the soluble lysolipid has sufficient time to diffuse off the interface, causing 2ε < γ, thereby potentially inducing the "Laplace Instability", in which larger alveoli have a lower internal pressure than smaller alveoli.

Printed Circuit Board-Derived Glass Fiber-Epoxy Resin-Supported Mo-Cu Bimetallic Catalyst for Glucose Synthesis.

A glass fiber-epoxy resin (GFER) framework derived from mixed waste printed circuit boards (MWPCBs) was utilized to prepare a cost-effective, reusable Mo-Cu bimetallic Bronsted-Lewis solid acid catalyst through wet-impregnation under near-infrared radiation (NIRR) activation. The efficacy of the novel Mo-Cu catalyst was assessed in the synthesis of glucose through hydrolysis of jute () fiber, and the process parameters were optimized (Mo precursor loading: 1.0 wt %, catalyst concentration: 5 wt %, hydrolysis temperature: 80 °C, and hydrolysis time: 10 min) through Taguchi orthogonal design.

Modifying interfacial interparticle forces to alter microstructure and viscoelasticity of densely packed particle laden interfaces.

Hypothesis: It is possible to control the absolute and relative magnitude of repulsive and attractive interactions and hence microstructure of interfacial particles at and air/water interface by adjusting subphase composition. It should be possible to modify interfacial viscoelasticity from elastic to viscous behavior through these changes to interfacial microstructure.

Experiments: Particle laden interfaces are made from micron sized polystyrene at an air/water interface.

Contact angle distribution of particles at fluid interfaces.

Recent measurements have implied a distribution of interfacially adsorbed particles' contact angles; however, it has been impossible to measure statistically significant numbers for these contact angles noninvasively in situ. Using a new microscopy method that allows nanometer-scale resolution of particle's 3D positions on an interface, we have measured the contact angles for thousands of latex particles at an oil/water interface. Furthermore, these measurements are dynamic, allowing the observation of the particle contact angle with high temporal resolution, resulting in hundreds of thousands of individual contact angle measurements.

Effect of interfacial viscoelasticity on the bulk linear viscoelastic moduli of globular protein solutions.

The role of interfacial rheology on the bulk linear viscoelastic moduli of low concentration bovine albumin solutions is probed. Previously reported soft gel properties of these systems were attributed to either protein aggregation or organization within the bulk. Instead, these behaviors are shown to be attributable to the measurement error caused by interfacial rheology due to adsorption of bovine serum albumin to the air and water interface.

Simultaneous interfacial rheology and microstructure measurement of densely aggregated particle laden interfaces using a modified double wall ring interfacial rheometer.

The study of particle laden interfaces has increased significantly due to the increasing industrial use of particle stabilized foams and Pickering emulsions, whose bulk rheology and stability are highly dependent on particle laden interface's interfacial rheology, which is a function of interfacial microstructure. To understand the physical mechanisms that dictate interfacial rheology of particle laden interfaces requires correlating rheology to microstructure. To achieve this goal, a double wall ring interfacial rheometer has been modified to allow real time, simultaneous interfacial visualization and shear rheology measurements.