Fibers and 3D mesh scaffolds from biodegradable starch-based blends: production and characterization

The aim of this work is the production of fibers from biodegradable polymers to obtain 3D scaffolds for tissue engineering of hard tissues. The scaffolds required for this highly demanding application need to have, as well as the biological and mechanical characteristics, a high degree of porosity with suitable dimensions for cell seeding and proliferation. Furthermore, the open cell porosity should have adequate interconnectivity for a continuous flow of nutrients and outflow of cell metabolic residues as well as to allow cell growth into confluent layers. Blends of corn starch, a natural biodegradable polymer, with other synthetic polymers (poly(ethylene vinyl alcohol), poly(epsilon-caprolactone), poly(lactic acid)) were selected for this work because of their good balance of properties, namely biocompatibility, processability and mechanical properties. Melt spinning was used to produce fibers from all the blends and 3D meshes from one of the starch-poly(lactic acid) blends. The experimental characterization included the evaluation of the tensile mechanical properties and thermal properties of the fibers and the compression stiffness, porosity and degradation behavior of the 3D meshes. Light microscopy picture of 3D meshes.     

Determination of N-nitrosamines by HPTLC with Fluorescence Detection — Use of Non-Ionic Surfactants as Enhancing Agents

JPC – Journal of Planar Chromatography – Modern TLC - The dansyl derivatives of N-nitrosodimethylamine, N-nitrosodi-ethylamine, and N-nitrosodibuthylamine have been separated by HPTLC...     

Anionic copper complex fragmentations from enkephalins under low-energy collision-induced dissociation in an ion trap mass spectrometer

Peptide metallation with Cu2+ was explored in the negative ESI mode using an ion trap mass spectrometer. Under these conditions, the [(M-3H) + CuII]- species formed were investigated under low-energy collision-induced dissociation conditions. MS2 experiments indicate a very different behavior of CuII metallated complexes compared with [M-H]- species. CuII induces an easy loss of CO2 and specific side-chain cleavages (by radical losses) at the C-terminal residue, as observed previously by prompt 'in source' dissociation experiments. The loss of CO2 yields an unstable carbylide that leads to further dissociations involving the migration of a proton or a hydrogen radical (through the reduction of CuII). Multistage MS3 experiments were carried out to rationalize this behavior. Fragmentation pathways are proposed in order to explain the product ions observed. The side-chain radical loss at the C-terminus was demonstrated to be a consecutive process. Finally, evidence is provided that the specific side-chain cleavages can be used for the differentiation of Leu/Ile and Gln/Lys residues when they are located at the C-terminus. The existence of a zwitterionic form in the case of the anionic YGGFK-CuII complex is proposed.     

Optimisation of Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Systems for Complexation of Naproxen : Beta-Cyclodextrin

Supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO₂)offers several attractive scenarios for thepharmaceutical processing as an alternativeto aqueous and organic solvents. In thiswork naproxen, a widely used non steroidalanti-inflammatory drug with analgesic andanti-inflammatory properties, was chosenas a model drug. Its complexation with cyclodextrinsimproves the rate and extent of dissolutionof the drug, increase its rate of absorption and mayreduce the unpleasant side-effects of the drug.The interest in using this supercritical technologyled us to develop an experimental unit for the useof supercritical CO₂ as a processing medium forthe complexation of naproxen with beta cyclodextrin (CD).     

Effects of cetylpyridinium bromide micelles on the spectrofluorimetric characteristics of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

The presence of a micellar medium of cetylpyridinium bromide (CPB) causes, in relation to the aqueous medium, important bathochromic shifts in the excitation spectra of a considerable number of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Furthermore, the CPB acts as a quencher, provoking inhibitions of the fluorescence intensity emitted by PAHs. The micellar inhibition factors show that, generally, the quenching affects alternant hydrocarbons to a greater extent. Some interesting relationships between the hydrocarbon structure and both the characteristic wavelengths of fluorescence spectra and the values of Deltalambda are established.     

Adsorption mechanism of polylysine on hydroxyapatite and its effect on dissolution properties of hydroxyapatite

Adsorbed amounts of poly-l-lysine (pLys) and bromide ion on hydroxyapatite (HAp) from aqueous solutions of poly-l-lysine hydrobromide, and amounts of calcium and phosphate ions liberated concurrently from HAp during the adsorption of pLys were determined at 25 degrees . The pLys was adsorbed on HAp by the mechanism of ion-exchange between its amino groups and calcium ions of HAp. The released amount of calcium ion increased, therefore, with the adsorbed amount of pLys. On the other hand, the released amount of phosphate ion first decreased and then increased after attaining a minimum with the equilibrium concentration of pLys. The analysis using an equilibrium dialysis method revealed that the released phosphate ions were mainly in the bound state to the amino groups of pLys remaining in the solution, and that the concentrations of calcium and phosphate ions free from both HAp and pLys were restricted by each other under the law of the solubility product of HAp. The first decrease in the released amount of phosphate ion was concluded to be attributed primarily to the increase in the released amount of calcium ion because pLys remaining in the solution was little in this region. When sodium hydroxide was added to the solution, the adsorbed amount of pLys increased and then slightly decreased with the equilibrium pH of the solution due to the increase or decrease of the electrostatic attractive force between the adsorbate and the adsorbent. However, conformational change in pLys around pH 10 seemed to have little effect on the adsorption.     

Determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in seawater by high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection following micelle-mediated preconcentration

In this work, the nonionic surfactant polyoxyethylene-10-lauryl ether has been used for the extraction and preconcentration of 14 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, classified as priority pollutants by the US Environmental Protection Agency, from seawater samples. The cloud-point preconcentration previous separation by HPLC and quantification using fluorimetric detection and wavelength programming allow to determine these pollutants with detection limits ranging from 1.0 to 1.5 x 10(2) ng/l with RSDs better than 10.4%. The methodology is evaluated using well-established extraction and preconcentration methods and GC-MS.     

Rh(II) catalysed intramolecular C-H insertion of diazo substrates in water: a simple and efficient approach to catalyst reuse

Water is an efficient solvent for the Rh2(OAc)4 catalysed intramolecular C-H insertion of a range of diazo substrates without competitive water insertion. Due to the high solubility and stability of the catalyst in water, the catalyst can be efficiently reused.     

A Comparative Study of Naproxen – Beta Cyclodextrin Complexes Prepared by Conventional Methods and Using Supercritical Carbon Dioxide

Naproxen is a poorly soluble anti-inflammatorydrug, the solubility of which canbe enhanced by complexation withbeta-cyclodextrin. Besides that, the inclusioncomplex reduces the incidence of gastrointestinal side effects of the drug. The aim of this work was to compare the physicochemical characteristics of the solid complexes prepared by traditional methods (kneading, freeze-drying and spray-drying) and using a supercritical fluid technology. The unusual solvent properties of carbon dioxide above their critical temperature and pressure were exploited in order to prepare inclusion compounds. Complexes prepared using supercritical fluid technology showed similar properties to those of freeze-drying andspray-drying complexes as proved by DSC, FT-IRand UV.     

Investigation of the reactivity of arylamines, organo-hydrazines and tolylisocyanate towards [PW12-xMxO40]n- Keggin anions

Reaction of K7[A,alpha-PW9Mo2O39] with Na2MoO4.2H2O in a mixture of water/dioxane/hydrochloric acid and further precipitation with (Bu4N)Br provided (Bu4N)3[A,alpha-PW9Mo3O40](3). Analogous reaction with K7-xNax[alpha-PW11O39] is an alternative to the synthesis of (Bu4N)3[alpha-PW11O39{MoVIO}]2. Multinuclear NMR and ESI mass spectrometry have been used to interpret the reaction of (Bu4N)x[alpha-PW11O39{ReO}](x=3 1; x=4 1I), (Bu4N)x[alpha-PW11O39{MoO}](x=3 2; x=4 2I) and (Bu4N)3[A,alpha-PW9Mo3O40]3 by organohydrazines, arylamines, tolylisocyanate and tetraphenylphosphine imide.