Polyaspartamide-graft-polymethacrylate nanoparticles for doxorubicin delivery

A new PHEA‐IB‐PMANa⁺ copolymer has been synthesized and its pH‐induced self‐assembly has been investigated in an aqueous medium. PHEA‐IB‐PMANa⁺ formed nanoparticles with diameters from 25 to 50 nm upon protonation of the carboxylic acid moieties dislocated along the grafted polymethacrylate sodium salt side chains. The physico‐chemical characterization of the nanoparticles was performed using light scattering, zeta‐potential measurements, SEM, and AFM. Doxorubicin‐loaded nanoparticles were prepared and drug release profiles were evaluated under conditions mimicking physiological media. A biological characterization was carried out by testing the cytotoxicity on Caco‐2 cells, and cellular uptake on mouse monocyte macrophage (J774 A.1) and Caco‐2 cells.

     

Scaling properties of functionals and existence of constrained minimizers

In this paper we develop a new method to prove the existence of minimizers for a class of constrained minimization problems on Hilbert spaces that are invariant under translations. Our method permits to exclude the dichotomy of the minimizing sequences for a large class of functionals. We introduce family of maps, called scaling paths, that permits to show the strong subadditivity inequality. As byproduct the strong convergence of the minimizing sequences (up to translations) is proved. We give an application to the energy functional I associated to the Schrödinger-Poisson equation in R³

iψt+Δψ−(|x|⁻¹?²|ψ|)ψ+|ψ|^p−2ψ=0     

Selective and mild oxidation of thiols to sulfonic acids by hydrogen peroxide catalyzed by methyltrioxorhenium

Aromatic and aliphatic thiols are oxidized in acetonitrile at 20 °C by hydrogen peroxide in the presence of methyltrioxorhenium as the catalyst to yield the corresponding sulfonic acids in high isolated yields (85-94%).     

The fragmentation of 5- and 3-substituted thiophene-2-carboxamides under electron impact

The 70 eV electron impact mass spectra of twelve 5- and 3-substituted thiophene-2-carboxamides are discussed with the aid of exact mass measurements and labelling experiments. All mass spectra exhibit pronounced molecular ions. Some isomeric 5- and 3-substituted title compounds can be differentiated by mass spectrometry. The fragmentation is influenced by a strong ‘ortho-effect’ which activates the NH₃ elimination. In the other cases the most important fragmentation is NH₂˙ loss, followed by CO elimination.     

About the synthesis of N-1-substituted 3-aminopyrroles. A comparison

A general method for the preparation of 3-amino-1-methylpyrroles in excellent yields is reported. The key step involves the N-methylation of the nitro derivatives 2 , under phase transfer catalysis conditions.     

Realization ofU q (so(N)) within the differential algebra onR q N

We realize the Hopf algebraU _q–1 (so(N)) as an algebra of differential operators on the quantum Euclidean spaceR _q ^N . The generators are suitableq-deformed analogs of the angular momentum components on ordinaryR ^N . The algebra Fun(R _q ^N ) of functions onR _q ^N splits into a direct sum of irreducible vector representations ofU _q–1 (so(N)); the latter are explicitly constructed as highest weight representations.     

Numerical calculation of cutoff frequencies of optical fibers by a variational technique

A numerical method for calculating cutoff frequencies of modes of weakly guiding optical fibers is described. Starting from a properly constructed field representation, the method follows a variational approach to obtain an eigenvalue problem for the cutoff frequencies which can be easily solved by a standard numerical routine. The field representation uses an expansion in terms of the Laguerre–Gauss functions in the fiber core and limiting form for small arguments of modified Bessel functions in the fiber cladding. Fibers with power-law refractive index profiles and fibers with a profile showing a dip on the axis are analyzed. Results obtained for modes of arbitrary order (both azimuthal and radial) show that our method is very efficient and accurate.     

Minimum embedding of P3‐designs into (K4—e)‐designs

A (K₄ ? e)‐design on v + w points embeds a P₃‐design on v points if there is a subset of v points on which the K₄ ? e blocks induce the blocks of a P₃‐design. It is shown that w ≥ ¾(v ? 1). When equality holds, the embedding design is easily constructed. In this paper, the next case, when w = ¾v, is settled with finitely many exceptions. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Combin Designs 11: 352–366, 2003; Published online in Wiley InterScience ( www.interscience.wiley.com ). DOI 10.1002/jcd.10044