Exploring the Interplay between Drug Release and Targeting of Lipid-Like Polymer Nanoparticles Loaded with Doxorubicin

Targeted delivery of doxorubicin still poses a challenge with regards to the quantities reaching the target site as well as the specificity of the uptake. In the present approach, two colloidal nanocarrier systems, NanoCore-6.4 and NanoCore-7.4, loaded with doxorubicin and characterized by different drug release behaviors were evaluated in vitro and in vivo. The nanoparticles utilize a specific surface design to modulate the lipid corona by attracting blood-borne apolipoproteins involved in the endogenous transport of chylomicrons across the blood–brain barrier. When applying this strategy, the fine balance between drug release and carrier accumulation is responsible for targeted delivery. Drug release experiments in an aqueous medium resulted in a difference in drug release of approximately 20%, while a 10% difference was found in human serum. This difference affected the partitioning of doxorubicin in human blood and was reflected by the outcome of the pharmacokinetic study in rats. For the fast-releasing formulation NanoCore-6.4, the AUC_0→1h was significantly lower (2999.1 ng × h/mL) than the one of NanoCore-7.4 (3589.5 ng × h/mL). A compartmental analysis using the physiologically-based nanocarrier biopharmaceutics model indicated a significant difference in the release behavior and targeting capability. A fraction of approximately 7.310–7.615% of NanoCore-7.4 was available for drug targeting, while for NanoCore-6.4 only 5.740–6.057% of the injected doxorubicin was accumulated. Although the targeting capabilities indicate bioequivalent behavior, they provide evidence for the quality-by-design approach followed in formulation development.     

Stress-strain state of an anisotropic plate with curved cracks and thin rigid inclusions

We solve the bending problem for an anisotropic plate with flaws like smooth curved nonoverlapping through cracks and rigid inclusions. The problem is solved by the method of Lekhnitskii complex potentials specified as Cauchy type integrals over the flaw contours with an unknown integrand density function. We use the Sokhotskii—Plemelj formulas to reduce the boundary-value problem to a system of singular integral equations with the additional conditions that the displacements in the plate are single-valued when going around the cut contours and the equilibrium conditions for stress-free rigid inclusions. After the singular integrals are approximated by the Gauss-Chebyshev quadrature formulas, the problem is reduced to solving a system of linear algebraic equations. We study the local stress distribution near flaw tips. We analyze the mutual influence of flaws on the stress distribution character near their vertices and compare the well-known solutions for isotropic plates with the solutions obtained by passing to the limit in the anisotropy parameters (“weakly anisotropic material”) and by using the method proposed here.     

Stress–strain state of a composite anisotropic plate with curvilinear cracks and thin rigid inclusions

A complexpotential solution of a mixed problem of the linear theory of elasticity is given for an infinite plate composed of two anisotropic halfplanes. The plate contains cuts and thin undeformable inclusions shaped like arbitrary open smooth curves that do not intersect each other and the interface between the halfplanes.     

Intermolecular interactions in rifabutin–2-hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin–water solutions,according to solubility data

The formulations of rifabutin (RB) and 2-hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin (HP-β-CD), obtained using different preparation techniques, are studied by means of differential scanning calorimetry and molecular spectroscopy (FTIR, NMR, Raman scattering, and photon correlation light scattering). It is established that molecules of RB do not form inclusion complexes with the molecules of HP-β-CD, and an increase in the solubility of RB determined earlier is caused by the formation of weak intermolecular associates.     

Pion electromagnetic characteristics in the quark model with confinement

Pion electromagnetic characteristics such as electric polarizability and rms radius were calculated. Pions are considered a nonrelativistic system of two pointlike spinor quarks with a linear potential at large distances and a Coulomb one at short ones.     

Microwave radiation absorbers based on corrugated composites with carbon fibers

A complex analysis of the dependence of the absorption coefficient of polymer composites with nonmagnetic carbon inclusions on the real and imaginary parts of the complex permittivity, as well as on the material thickness is performed in frequency range 26–37 GHz. The composites containing 0.2 wt % of carbon fibers have been obtained. It has been experimentally found that the corrugation of the composite surface substantially increases the absorbability (from 63 to 92% at a frequency of 30 GHz and a thickness of 4.50 mm) upon a decrease in the sample mass (by 28%). A method has been proposed for calculating the absorptance of corrugated composites in the microwave range.     

Electrochemically deposited thiophene-based polymers as protective agents for Prussian Blue thin films

A composite material based on overlapped layers of electrochemically synthesized Prussian Blue (PB) and terthiophene-derived polymer is described, aiming at enhancing the stability of the hexacyanoferrate thanks to the protective action of the polymer. Two bilayer configurations and deposition methods (for the polymer component) were tested. The morphology and electrochemical behavior in organic solvent and in aqueous solutions containing different supporting electrolytes were carried out. The best performances of electrodes modified with films of the composite material as to increased stability of PB were achieved with the potentiostatically deposited polymer covering the PB layer, in acetate buffer at pH 5.5. As for potential cycling stress, the anodic and cathodic peak currents due to PB were not decreased after 20 cycles. Conversely, PB alone displayed the anodic peak currents relevant to PB/Prussian White (PW) and PB/Berlin Green (BG) systems decreased by about 30 %. The stability to local pH increase was assessed by cyclic voltammetry after electrochemical reduction of H₂O₂. For example, the anodic peak currents were decreasing by 15 % and 5 % for the two PB redox systems, while for PB alone the same currents decreased by 35 % and 10 %. The response sensitivity to hydrogen peroxide was improved by 54 %, with respect to PB alone, as evaluated by chronoamperometry.     

Onion-like carbon based polymer composite films in microwaves

The electromagnetic (EM) absorbing properties of a novel technological material – onion-like carbon (OLC) and OLC-based polymer composites are studied experimentally in microwave frequency range. We have found strong dependence of the electromagnetic response of the nanocarbon fillers and corresponding composites on the annealing temperature of the precursor detonation nanodiamonds and the cluster size of the OLC particles. The role of different hosts in the design of effective EM absorbing materials has also been discussed. Reported results show a high potential of onion-like carbon for the design of EM lossy materials in Ka band (26–37 GHz).