Surfactant effects on the particle size,zeta potential,and stability of starch nanoparticles and their use in a pH-responsive manner

Storage conditions seem to be important in the long-term stability of nanoparticles (NPs). This work studies the effects of surfactants and storage container on particle size distribution and zeta potential during long-term storage of acid hydrolyzed potato starch NPs. The NPs were prepared from potato starch using acid hydrolysis and high-intensity ultrasonication. During the ultrasonic treatment, the surfactants were added dropwise to the solutions to reduce the size and stabilize the formed NPs. Particle size distribution, zeta potential, and FE-SEM were used to characterize the ensuing NPs. Additionally, a 5-month stability study was performed to evaluate the maintenance of potato starch NPs over time at different storage conditions. Then, NPs from corn starch were produced by the same procedure and were used for preparing pH-responsive nanocarriers containing NaHCO₃ for delivery of an anti-cancer drug, FTY720. These NPs were able to release the drug at pH 5.0 because of CO₂ generated from NaHCO₃ in acidic pH and released from the NPs by the production of pores, which accelerate drug release.     

Simultaneous kinetic spectrophotometric determination of Cu(II), Co(II) and Ni(II) using partial least squares (PLS) regression

A partial least squares (PLS-1) calibration model based on kinetic—spectrophotometric measurement, for the simultaneous determination of Cu(II), Ni(II) and Co(II) ions is described. The method was based on the difference in the rate of the reaction between Co(II), Ni(II) and Cu(II) ions with 1-(2-pyridylazo)2-naphthol in a pH 5.8 buffer solution and in micellar media at 25°C. The absorption kinetic profiles of the solutions were monitored by measuring the absorbance at 570 nm at 2 s intervals during the time range of 0–10 min after initiation of the reaction. The experimental calibration matrix for the partial least squares (PLS-1) model was designed with 30 samples. The cross-validation method was used for selecting the number of factors. The results showed that simultaneous determination could be performed in the range 0.1-2 μg mL⁻¹ for each cation. The proposed method was successfully applied to the simultaneous determination of Cu(II), Ni(II) and Co(II) ions in water and in synthetic alloy samples.      

Galangin/β-Cyclodextrin Inclusion Complex as a Drug-Delivery System for Improved Solubility and Biocompatibility in Breast Cancer Treatment

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the potential of a newly modified cyclodextrin derivative, water-soluble β-cyclodextrin–epichlorohydrin (β-CD), as an effective drug carrier to enhance the poor solubility and bioavailability of galangin (GAL), a poorly water-soluble model drug. In this regard, inclusion complexes of GAL/β-CDP were prepared. UV-VIS spectrophotometry, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray crystallography (XRD), zeta potential analysis, particle size analysis, field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were applied to characterize the synthesized GAL/β-CD. Michigan Cancer Foundation-7 (MCF-7; human breast cancer cells) and rat embryo fibroblast (REF; normal cells) were employed to examine the in vitro cytotoxic effects of GAL/β-CD using various parameters. The dye-based tests of MTT and crystal violet clearly exhibited that GAL/β-CD-treated cells had a reduced proliferation rate, an influence that was not found in the normal cell line. The cells’ death was found to follow apoptotic mechanisms, as revealed by the dye-based test of acridine orange/ethidium bromide (AO/EtBr), with the involvement of the mitochondria via caspase-3-mediated events, as manifested by the Rh 123 test. We also included a mouse model to examine possible in vivo toxic effects of GAL/β-CD. It appears that the inclusion complex does not have a significant influence on normal cells, as indicated by serum levels of kidney and liver enzymatic markers, as well as thymic and splenic mass indices. A similar conclusion was reached on the histological level, as manifested by the absence of pathological alterations in the liver, kidney, thymus, spleen, heart, and lung.     

Indirect Determination of Sulfide by Cold Vapor Atomic Absorption Spectrometry

A method for the determination of sulfide based on its interference with the determination of Hg by cold vapor atomic absorption spectrometry is described. The decrease in mercury absorbance at 253.7nm is proportional to the concentration of sulfide over the range of 10–320ngmL^–1. The limit of detection was found to be 7ngmL^–1 and the relative standard deviation (R.S.D.) for the determination of different concentrations of sulfide was in the range of 1.8–2.2%. This method was applied to the determination of sulfide in whole human blood after gas-phase separation.     

Covalent attachment of trypsin on plasma polymerized allylamine

This paper focuses on the immobilization of a proteolytic enzyme, trypsin, on plasma polymerized allylamine (ppAA) films. The later have been deposited onto silicon substrate by means of radiofrequency glow discharge. The covalent attachment of the enzyme was achieved in three steps: (i) activation of the polymer surface with glutaraldehyde (GA) as a linker, (ii) immobilization of trypsin and (iii) imino groups reduction treatment. The effects and efficiency of each step were investigated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Fluorescent spectroscopy was used to evaluate the change of the biological activity following the immobilization steps. The results showed that enzyme immobilization on GA-modified substrate increases the enzyme activity by 50% comparing to adsorbed enzymes, while the imino reduction treatment improves the enzyme retention by about 30% comparing to untreated samples. In agreement with XPS and AFM data, UV–vis absorption spectroscopy, used to quantify the amount of immobilized enzyme, showed that allylamine plasma polymer presents a high adsorption yield of trypsin. Although the adsorbed enzymes exhibit a lower activity than that measured for enzymes grafted through GA linkers, the highest catalytic activity obtained was for the enzymes that underwent the three steps of the immobilization process.     

Fixed point, approximate fixed point and Kantorovich-Rubinstein maximum principle in convex metric spaces

We obtain necessary conditions for the existence of fixed point and approximate fixed point of nonexpansive and asymptotically nonexpansive maps defined on a closed bounded convex subset of a uniformly convex complete metric space and study the structure of the set of fixed points. We construct Mann type iterative sequences in convex metric space and study its convergence. As a consequence of fixed point results, we prove best approximation results. We also prove Kantorovich-Rubinstein maximum principle in convex metric spaces.     

Thermal study of an array of inline horizontal cylinders below a nearly adiabatic ceiling

Steady state two-dimensional free convection heat transfer from a horizontal, isothermal cylinder in a horizontal array of cylinders consists of three isothermal cylinders, located underneath a nearly adiabatic ceiling is studied experimentally. A Mach–Zehnder interferometer is used to determine thermal field and smoke test is made to visualize flow field. Effects of the cylinders spacing to its diameter (S/D), and cylinder distance from ceiling to its diameter (L/D) on heat transfer from the centered cylinder are investigated for Rayleigh numbers from 1500 to 6000. Experiments are performed for an inline array configuration of horizontal cylinders of diameters D = 13 mm. Results indicate that due to the nearly adiabatic ceiling and neighboring cylinders, thermal plume resulted from the centered cylinder separates from cylinder surface even for high L/D values and forming recirculation regions. By decreasing the space ratio S/D, the recirculation flow strength increases. Also, by decreasing S/D, boundary layers of neighboring cylinders combine and form a developing flow between cylinders. The strength of developing flow depends on the cylinders Rayleigh number and S/D ratio. Due to the developing flow between cylinders, the vortex flow on the top of the centered cylinder appears for all L/D ratios and this vortex influences the value of local Nusselt number distribution around the cylinder.Variation of average Nusselt number of the centered cylinder depends highly on L/D and the trend with S/D depends on the value of Rayleigh number.     

Pexider type operators and their norms in <Emphasis Type="Italic">X</Emphasis><Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">λ</Emphasis></Subscript> spaces

In this paper, we introduce Pexiderized generalized operators on certain special spaces introduced by Bielecki-Czerwik and investigate their norms.     

Channel flow of a Maxwell fluid with chemical reaction

This work is concerned with the two-dimensional boundary layer flow of an upper-convected Maxwell (UCM) fluid in a channel with chemical reaction. The walls of the channel are porous. Employing similarity transformations the governing non-linear partial differential equations are reduced into non-linear ordinary differential equations. The resulting ordinary differential equations are solved analytically using homotopy analysis method (HAM). Expressions for series solutions are derived. The convergence of the obtained series solutions are shown explicitly. The effects of Reynold’s number Re, Deborah number De, Schmidt number Sc and chemical reaction parameter γ on the velocity and the concentration fields are shown through graphs and discussed.     

On the spacel P(β)

Let\(\{ \beta (n)\} _{n = 0}^\infty \) be a sequence of positive numbers and 1 ≤p < ∞. We consider the spacel ^P(β) of all power series\(f(z) = \sum\limits_{n = 0}^\infty {\hat f(n)z^n } \) such that\(\sum\limits_{n = 0}^\infty {|\hat f(n)|^p |\beta (n)|^p } \). We give a necessary and sufficient condition for a polynomial to be cyclic inl ^P(β) and a point to be bounded point evaluation onl ^P(β).