Breath Analysis: Comparison among Methodological Approaches for Breath Sampling

Despite promising results obtained in the early diagnosis of several pathologies, breath analysis still remains an unused technique in clinical practice due to the lack of breath sampling standardized procedures able to guarantee a good repeatability and comparability of results. The most diffuse on an international scale breath sampling method uses polymeric bags, but, recently, devices named Mistral and ReCIVA, able to directly concentrate volatile organic compounds (VOCs) onto sorbent tubes, have been developed and launched on the market. In order to explore performances of these new automatic devices with respect to sampling in the polymeric bag and to study the differences in VOCs profile when whole or alveolar breath is collected and when pulmonary wash out with clean air is done, a tailored experimental design was developed. Three different breath sampling approaches were compared: (a) whole breath sampling by means of Tedlar bags, (b) the end-tidal breath collection using the Mistral sampler, and (c) the simultaneous collection of the whole and alveolar breath by using the ReCIVA. The obtained results showed that alveolar fraction of breath was relatively less affected by ambient air (AA) contaminants (p-values equal to 0.04 for Mistral and 0.002 for ReCIVA Low) with respect to whole breath (p-values equal to 0.97 for ReCIVA Whole). Compared to Tedlar bags, coherent results were obtained by using Mistral while lower VOCs levels were detected for samples (both breath and AA) collected by ReCIVA, likely due to uncorrected and fluctuating flow rates applied by this device. Finally, the analysis of all data also including data obtained by explorative analysis of the unique lung cancer (LC) breath sample showed that a clean air supply might determine a further confounding factor in breath analysis considering that lung wash-out is species-dependent.     

Flash vacuum thermolysis of 1,5-Bis-(1-chloroethenyl)anthracene. The thermal conversion of cyclopent[hi]aceanthrylene into cyclopent[hi]acephenanthrylene

Flash Vacuum Thermolysis of 1,5-bis-(1-chloroethenyl)anthracene (6) gives cyclopent[hi]-aceanthrylene (2) which at T≥9000 °C rearranges to cyclopent[hi]acephenanthrylene (1). This conversion occurs more readily than that of the monocyclopenta-fused aceanthrylene to acephenanthrylene.     

Charge transfer absorption for pi-conjugated polymers and oligomers mixed with electron acceptors

Pi-conjugated polymers and oligomers show charge transfer (CT) absorption bands when mixed with electron acceptors in chloroform solution. This is attributed to the formation of (ground state) donor-acceptor complexes in solution. By varying the concentration of the donor and acceptor, the extinction coefficient for the CT absorption and the association constant of donor and acceptor are estimated. The spectral position of the CT bands correlates with the electrochemical oxidation potential of the pi-conjugated donor and the reduction potential of the acceptor.     

Novel Synthesis and Characterization of Doxycycline‐Loaded Gold Nanoparticles: The Golden Doxycycline for Antibacterial Applications

Doxycycline (DOXY) is a tetracycline antibiotic with a potent antibacterial activity against a wide variety of bacteria. One potential strategy to enhance the penetration and the antibacterial activity of antibiotics is the use of nanotechnology. In this work, an innovative synthesis of stable PEGylated‐gold nanoparticles (PEG‐AuNPs) loaded with DOXY is reported. As far as it is known, this is the first report on the combination of DOXY with AuNPs as polymeric complex. The obtained nanoparticles are fully characterized by transmission electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering, zeta‐potential, and UV–vis and Raman spectroscopy. The stability and sustained activity of the drug in nanoparticles is determined on a panel of Gram‐positive and Gram‐negative bacteria in comparison with the native form of the drug. This combined therapeutic agent restores the susceptibility of DOXY and shows an antibacterial activity against major human pathogens.     

Size,Shape, and Wavelength Effect on Photothermal Heat Elevation of Gold Nanoparticles: Absorption Coefficient Experimental Measurement

Complex-shaped nanoparticles as gold nanourchins (GNU) and nanorods (GNR) are very suitable agents in the case of photothermal therapy due to their photon-heat conversion ability in the red and near-infrared region (NIR). The quantification in heat generation of complex shaped nanostructures is an important key to predict the therapeutic effect of these nanoparticles. For that, the determination of the nanoparticles absorption cross section (σ_Abs) responsible for the heat generation is one of the important steps before any application. Although it is obvious to determine σ_Abs for spheres via Mie's theory, in the case of complex structures like GNU or GNR, this parameter is difficult to model. In this work, a new methodology is used to determine experimentally σ_Abs for both GNU and GNR. Experimental measurements of the photothermal properties of 100 nm size GNU and two different sizes of GNRs are studied regarding different parameters such as concentration, laser excitation wavelength, and exposure time. By using the heat transfer theory, the temperature elevation in the nanoparticles solutions is converted to temperature elevation at the nanoparticles surface and σ_Abs values are then calculated for both GNU and GNR in the NIR spectral region.     

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On properties of cell matrices

In this paper properties of cell matrices are studied. A determinant of such a matrix is given in a closed form. In the proof a general method for determining a determinant of a symbolic matrix with polynomial entries, based on multivariate polynomial Lagrange interpolation, is outlined. It is shown that a cell matrix of size n>1 has exactly one positive eigenvalue. Using this result it is proven that cell matrices are (Circum-)Euclidean Distance Matrices ((C)EDM), and their generalization, k-cell matrices, are CEDM under certain natural restrictions. A characterization of k-cell matrices is outlined.     

Development of Non‐Cell Adhesive Vascular Grafts Using Supramolecular Building Blocks

Cell‐free approaches to in situ tissue engineering require materials that are mechanically stable and are able to control cell‐adhesive behavior upon implantation. Here, the development of mechanically stable grafts with non‐cell adhesive properties via a mix‐and‐match approach using ureido‐pyrimidinone (UPy)‐modified supramolecular polymers is reported. Cell adhesion is prevented in vitro through mixing of end‐functionalized or chain‐extended UPy‐polycaprolactone (UPy‐PCL or CE‐UPy‐PCL, respectively) with end‐functionalized UPy‐poly(ethylene glycol) (UPy‐PEG) at a ratio of 90:10. Further characterization reveals intimate mixing behavior of UPy‐PCL with UPy‐PEG, but poor mechanical properties, whereas CE‐UPy‐PCL scaffolds are mechanically stable. As a proof‐of‐concept for the use of non‐cell adhesive supramolecular materials in vivo, electrospun vascular scaffolds are applied in an aortic interposition rat model, showing reduced cell infiltration in the presence of only 10% of UPy‐PEG. Together, these results provide the first steps toward advanced supramolecular biomaterials for in situ vascular tissue engineering with control over selective cell capturing.