In situ forming PLGA implant for 90 days controlled release of leuprolide acetate for treatment of prostate cancer

In prostate cancer, hormone therapy via leuprolide acetate drug (LUP) is used to lower the level of testosterone down to castration level to effectively control the development of prostate cancer. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effective parameters in degradation and controlled release of an injectable in situ formed polymeric implant, loaded with leuprolide acetate, in order to achieve an optimum formulation for sustained drug release for 90 days with minimum burst release. The main problem associating with such implants is their high burst release. Designing an injectable implant with sustained and minimum burst release has thus become an attractive challenge in drug delivery field. Effects of type of poly(lactic‐co‐glycolic acid) 75:25 copolymers (RG752, RG756) and addition of nano‐hydroxyapatite (HA) particles on degradation rates of the implants and release profiles were examined in vitro and in vivo in a rabbit animal model. Results showed that implants containing polymers with higher molecular weights had significantly lower weight loss and molecular weight reduction. Adding nanoparticles of hydroxyapatite into poly(lactic‐co‐glycolic acid) implants caused further reduction in degradation rates, leading to a more sustained drug release in vivo, with reduced burst release. Different conventional kinetic models were applied to drug release and degradation data. The degradation data fit well to the first‐order degradation model. Higuchi model was the best kinetic release model fitted to the experimental in vitro release data. This study led to an optimum formulation (RG756:RG752 3:1 + 5% HA) with sustained leuprolide release and testosterone suppression over a 90‐day period with significant decrease of burst release phase (50%, p < 0.001) compared with the conventional Eligard formulation. The histopathology test showed that the formulated implant had no effects of toxicity or tissue necrosis in organs of the animal model. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Cross-linked, heterogeneous colloidosomes exhibit pH-induced morphogenesis

Inspired by morphogenesis in biology, we present a strategy for developing functional 3D materials with the capacity to morph based on environmental cues. We utilized local mechanical stresses to cause global shape changes in colloidosomes. Colloidosomes were assembled from pH-sensitive calcium alginate particles (CAPs) with high and low swelling ratios. Colloidosomes were subsequently cross-linked via diamine compounds with varying carbon chain lengths. New colloidosome isoforms were generated from heterogeneous mixtures of CAPs, which resulted in nonuniform stresses. Our study demonstrated that coordinated networks of heterogeneous subunits may be used to design programmable materials.     

Isoelectric focusing in a drop

A novel approach to molecular separations is investigated using a technique termed droplet-based isoelectric focusing. Drops are manipulated discretely on a superhydrophobic surface, subjected to low voltages for isoelectric focusing, and split-resulting in a preparative separation. A universal indicator dye demonstrates the generation of stable, reversible pH gradients (3-10) in ampholyte buffers, and these gradients lead to protein focusing within the drop length. Focusing was visually characterized, spectroscopically verified, and assessed quantitatively by noninvasive light scattering measurements. It was found to correlate with a quantitative model based on 1D steady-state theory. This work illustrates that molecular separations can be deployed within a single open drop, and the differential fractions can be separated into new discrete liquid elements.     

Simulations of a lattice model of two-headed linear amphiphiles: influence of amphiphile asymmetry

Using a 2D lattice model, we conduct Monte Carlo simulations of micellar aggregation of linear-chain amphiphiles having two solvophilic head groups. In the context of this simple model, we quantify how the amphiphile architecture influences the critical micelle concentration (CMC), with a particular focus on the role of the asymmetry of the amphiphile structure. Accordingly, we study all possible arrangements of the head groups along amphiphile chains of fixed length N = 12 and 16 molecular units. This set of idealized amphiphile architectures approximates many cases of symmetric and asymmetric gemini surfactants, double-headed surfactants, and boloform surfactants. Consistent with earlier results, we find that the number of spacer units s separating the heads has a significant influence on the CMC, with the CMC increasing with s for s < N/2. In comparison, the influence of the asymmetry of the chain architecture on the CMC is much weaker, as is also found experimentally.     

Temperature-controlled 'breathing' of carbon dioxide bubbles

We report a microfluidic (MF) approach to studies of temperature mediated carbon dioxide (CO(2)) transfer between the gas and the liquid phases. Micrometre-diameter CO(2) bubbles with a narrow size distribution were generated in an aqueous or organic liquid and subsequently were subjected to temperature changes in the downstream channel. In response to the cooling-heating-cooling cycle the bubbles underwent corresponding contraction-expansion-contraction transitions, which we term 'bubble breathing'. We examined temperature-controlled dissolution of CO(2) in four exemplary liquid systems: deionized water, a 0.7 M aqueous solution of NaCl, ocean water extracted from Bermuda coastal waters, and dimethyl ether of poly(ethylene glycol), a solvent used in industry for absorption of CO(2). The MF approach can be extended to studies of other gases with a distinct, temperature-dependent solubility in liquids.     

Exact arithmetic on the Stern–Brocot tree

In this paper we present the Stern–Brocot tree as a basis for performing exact arithmetic on rational numbers. There exists an elegant binary representation for positive rational numbers based on this tree [Graham et al., Concrete Mathematics, 1994]. We will study this representation by investigating various algorithms to perform exact rational arithmetic using an adaptation of the homographic and the quadratic algorithms that were first proposed by Gosper for computing with continued fractions. We will show generalisations of homographic and quadratic algorithms to multilinear forms in n variables. Finally, we show an application of the algorithms for evaluating polynomials.     

A note on a theorem of Fejér

There is well known classical Theorem of Fejér [2] on determination of jump of a function of the classV ₁. This Theorem has been generalized for different method of summability by various mathematicians in the classV _t only. In this paper we extend the Theorem of Fejér and of Siddiqi [3] to the strictly larger classV _p (1<p<∞).     

Heterocyclic Synthesis with Enamines: Convenient Syntheses of Polyfunctionally Substituted Pyrazole,Pyridine, Pyrimidine and Pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimrdine Derivatives

Facile syntheses of pyrazole, pyridine, pyrimidine and pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidine derivatives have been achieved by the reaction of β-enamino nitrile 2a with hydrazines, phenyl isothiocyanate, thiourea and active methylene reagents. The β-enamino ketone 2e with the same reagents affords 3,5-dimethyl heterocyclic ring systems.     

Some stochastic $${\varvec{}}$$-divergences in information theory

In this paper, we introduce the concept of stochastic HH-divergences based on convex stochastic processes. As an application, we propose some inequalities related to stochastic HH-divergences for convex stochastic processes. Our result extends HH-divergence in the class of f-divergence to the class of convex stochastic processes.     

Novel Pyrano[2,3‐d]thiazole and Thiazolo[4,5‐b]pyridine Derivatives: One‐pot Three‐component Synthesis and Biological Evaluation as Anticancer Agents,c‐Met,and Pim‐1 Kinase Inhibitors

Preparation of pyrano[2,3‐d]thiazole and thiazolo[4,5‐b]pyridine derivatives through multicomponent reactions (MCRs) was achieved by the reaction of 2‐(2‐amino‐4,5,6,7‐tetrahydrobenzo[b]thiophen‐3‐yl)thiazol‐4(5H)‐one with various active methylene reagents such as ethyl cyanoacetate or malononitrile in basic conditions containing diverse aromatic aldehyde. Furthermore, this study aims to evaluate the in vitro cytotoxic activity of the synthetic compounds against six cancer cell lines, and all the prepared compounds revealed valuable activity compared with the CHS‐828, which is the 2‐[6‐(4‐chlorophenoxy)hexyl]‐1‐cyano‐3‐pyridin‐4‐ylguanidine as the standard drug. Some of the pyrano[2,3‐d]thiazole and thiazolo[4,5‐b]pyridine derivatives showed the highest antitumor activity towards the six cancer cell lines. Moreover, (c‐Met) enzymatic activity of the most potent compounds showed that compounds 3b 2‐(2‐amino‐4,5,6,7 tetrahydrobenzo[b]thiophen‐3‐yl)‐5‐hydroxy‐7‐(2‐hydroxy‐phenyl)‐7H‐pyrano[2,3‐d]thiazole‐6 carbonitrile and 5e 2‐(2‐amino‐4,5,6,7‐tetrahydrobenzo[b]thiophen‐3‐yl)‐5‐hydroxy‐7‐phenyl‐4,7‐dihydrothiazolo[4,5‐b]pyridine‐6‐carbonitrile were with higher activities than foretinib. Three compounds were selected to examine their Pim‐1 kinase where compounds 3b and 7b showed the highest inhibitions.