A Comparison of Tissue Spray and Lipid Extract Direct Injection Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry for the Differentiation of Eutopic and Ectopic Endometrial Tissues

Recent research revealed that tissue spray mass spectrometry enables rapid molecular profiling of biological tissues, which is of great importance for the search of disease biomarkers as well as for online surgery control. However, the payback for the high speed of analysis in tissue spray analysis is the generally lower chemical sensitivity compared with the traditional approach based on the offline chemical extraction and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry detection. In this study, high resolution mass spectrometry analysis of endometrium tissues of different localizations obtained using direct tissue spray mass spectrometry in positive ion mode is compared with the results of electrospray ionization analysis of lipid extracts. Identified features in both cases belong to three lipid classes: phosphatidylcholines, phosphoethanolamines, and sphingomyelins. Lipids coverage is validated by hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry of lipid extracts. Multivariate analysis of data from both methods reveals satisfactory differentiation of eutopic and ectopic endometrium tissues. Overall, our results indicate that the chemical information provided by tissue spray ionization is sufficient to allow differentiation of endometrial tissues by localization with similar reliability but higher speed than in the traditional approach relying on offline extraction.

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Branching of equilibria of a system of micro/nanostrings at direct currents

Branching of equilibria of a system of three parallel conducting nano/microlayers, which is used to detect changes in the external and internal mechanical and electric characteristics (for example, conductivity, tension force, and gap between layers), has been investigated. A change in the physical parameters may cause asymmetric bending of the outer layers and deformation of the formerly neutral middle layer. By changing the current in one of the outer layers slowly, their initial symmetry (neutrality of the inner layer) can be restored and the change that occurred in the parameters can be determined.     

Synthesis and study of the photochromic behavior of 3-[6′-nitro-1,3,3-trimethylspiro(indolino-2,2′-[2H]-chromen-5-yl)]propenoic acid and its ethyl ester

A new photochromic probe containing a spacer with the reactive carboxyl terminal group at the C5 atom of the photochrome molecule was synthesized. The spectral and kinetic study of the behavior of the new photochromic probes in toluene and ethanol was performed.     

Recent strategies to improve moisture stability in metal halide perovskites materials and devices

At present,the stability of the new generation of solar cells based on hybrid perovskites is the bottleneck for their practical applications.Photochemical effects,high temperature,ultraviolet light,humidity and other known or still unknown factors might cause reduction of effectiveness or even irreversible loss of materials properties due to decomposition of functional layers within perovskite solar cells(PSCs).These factors alone have a serious impact on each component of the device,while their combinations lead to much more complicated effects and consequences.This review focuses on the stability of PSCs and the degradation of the device in a humid environment.We assess the instability factors and deep-seated principles of evolution of the device structure in a humidity environment with the emphasis on the influence on their interrelations.The related solutions are reviewed from the perspective of the encapsulation,perovskite active layer,carrier transport layer and electrodes.Combined with the latest research,we believe that the waterproof strategy of PSCs requires either tight encapsulation or thorough modifications in the device itself.Therefore,it is important to develop feasible strategies to improve the overall device stability over humid according to the target characteristics of various devices.     

New Blood Coagulation Factor XIIa Inhibitors: Molecular Modeling,Synthesis, and Experimental Confirmation

In the modern world, complications caused by disorders in the blood coagulation system are found in almost all areas of medicine. Thus, the development of new, more advanced drugs that can prevent pathological conditions without disrupting normal hemostasis is an urgent task. The blood coagulation factor XIIa is one of the most promising therapeutic targets for the development of anticoagulants based on its inhibitors. The initial stage of drug development is directly related to computational methods of searching for a lead compound. In this study, docking followed by quantum chemical calculations was used to search for noncovalent low-molecular-weight factor XIIa inhibitors in a focused library of druglike compounds. As a result of the study, four low-molecular-weight compounds were experimentally confirmed as factor XIIa inhibitors. Selectivity testing revealed that two of the identified factor XIIa inhibitors were selective over the coagulation factors Xa and XIa.     

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.     

Nitropyridines as 2π-Partners in 1,3-Dipolar Cycloadditions with N-Methyl Azomethine Ylide: An Easy Access to Condensed Pyrrolines

1,3-Dipolar cycloaddition reactions of 2-substituted 5-R-3-nitropyridines and isomeric 3-R-5-nitropyridines with N-methyl azomethine ylide were studied. The effect of the substituent at positions 2 and 5 of the pyridine ring on the possibility of the [3+2]-cycloaddition process was revealed. A number of new derivatives of pyrroline and pyrrolidine condensed with a pyridine ring were synthesized.