Dexketoprofen trometamol-loaded poly-lactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA) nanoparticles: Preparation, in vitro characterization and cyctotoxity

Purpose: To design, formulate and characterize sustained-release formulations of dexketoprofen trometamol (DT) nanoparticles (NPs) Methods: Dexketoprofen trometamol (DT)-loaded poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) NPs were produced by double emulsion-solvent evaporation method. The NPs were variously characterized for drug loading and release, particle profile, as well as by thermal analysis, x-ray difraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and nuclear magnetic resonance analysis ( 1 H-NMR). Furthermore, the NPs were evaluated for cytotoxicity against NIH-3T3 cells by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-Yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Results: The DT-loaded NPs demonstrated nanostructural characteristics and extended drug release. Particle size was in the range of 243 and 295 nm which remained unchanged in drug stability testing in simulated gastrointestinal media. Encapsulation efficiency ranged from 49 – 64 % for all the formulations. Higuchi and Korsmeyer-Peppas were the best-fit release kinetic models for the NPs containing 5 and 10 % DT, respectively. The NPs with 10 % DT presented no significant cytotoxicty at the doses and periods studied. Conclusion: Stable and non-toxic DT NPs with potential for sustained and controlled release of the drug have been successfully developed.Anadolu University Scientific Research Project Foundation 1708S47

Measuring cross-lingual semantic similarity across european languages

This paper studies cross-lingual semantic similarity (CLSS) between five European languages (i.e. English, French, German, Spanish and Italian) via unsupervised word embeddings from a cross-lingual lexicon. The vocabulary in each language is projected onto a separate high-dimensional vector space, and these vector spaces are then compared using several different distance measures (i.e., correlation, cosine etc.) to measure their pairwise semantic similarities between these languages. A substantial degree of similarity is observed between the vector spaces learned from corpora of the European languages. Null hypothesis testing and bootstrap methods (by resampling without replacement) are utilized to verify the results. © 2017 IEEE

Effect of six weeks aerobic training upon blood trace metals levels

This study was carried out to investigate the effects of 6-week aerobic exercise program upon blood Zn and Cu levels. There were 12 male university students with an average age of 21.67 ± 0.89 years and no regular training habits participated in the study. The participants were subjected three days a week 1 hour a day continuous running program on treadmill with an intensity of 60-70% for a period of six weeks. They were fed with zinc and copper free diet throughout the study and it was made sure that they were not using copper or zinc containing vitamin tablets. The differences between the pre and post study periods were found to be statistically significant as regards to both resting and maximal loading conditions (p<0.01). The pre and post training max VO2 values were also found to be positively correlated with the copper and zinc levels in blood. Both the copper and zinc blood levels were significantly decreased after 6-week aerobic training period p<0.05. © Neuroendocrinology Letters

Evaluation of biventricular myocardial performance index in patients with Behçet's disease

Objective: The global function of both left ventricular (LV) and right ventricular (RV) functions were compared in patients with Behçet's disease (BD) versus healthy controls. Methods: Biventricular function was evaluated by measurement of the myocardial performance index (MPI) evaluated from tissue Doppler echocardiographic measurements in 24 BD patients and was compared with measurements in 24 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. Results: Significantly higher MPI values were associated with ventricular dysfunction. The study demonstrated impaired RV function in patients with BD compared with healthy controls, whereas normal LV function was observed both in patients with BD and in healthy controls. Conclusion: Early noninvasive evaluation of the properties of BD during the asymptomatic phase of this inflammatory disease may have prognostic value in the management of patients. © 2012 Field House Publishing LLP

Pre-formulation and systematic evaluation of amino acid assisted permeability of insulin across in vitro buccal cell layers

The aim of this work was to investigate alternative safe and effective permeation enhancers for buccal peptide delivery. Basic amino acids improved insulin solubility in water while 200 and 400 µg/mL lysine significantly increased insulin solubility in HBSS. Permeability data showed a significant improvement in insulin permeation especially for 10 µg/mL of lysine (p < 0.05) and 10 µg/mL histidine (p < 0.001), 100 µg/mL of glutamic acid (p < 0.05) and 200 µg/mL of glutamic acid and aspartic acid (p < 0.001) without affecting cell integrity; in contrast to sodium deoxycholate which enhanced insulin permeability but was toxic to the cells. It was hypothesized that both amino acids and insulin were ionised at buccal cavity pH and able to form stable ion pairs which penetrated the cells as one entity; while possibly triggering amino acid nutrient transporters on cell surfaces. Evidence of these transport mechanisms was seen with reduction of insulin transport at suboptimal temperatures as well as with basal-to-apical vectoral transport, and confocal imaging of transcellular insulin transport. These results obtained for insulin is the first indication of a possible amino acid mediated transport of insulin via formation of insulin-amino acid neutral complexes by the ion pairing mechanism

Palaeozoic-Recent geological development and uplift of the Amanos Mountains (S Turkey) in the critically located northwesternmost corner of the Arabian continent

<p>We have carried out a several-year-long study of the Amanos Mountains, on the basis of which we present new sedimentary and structural evidence, which we combine with existing data, to produce the first comprehensive synthesis in the regional geological setting. The ca. N-S-trending Amanos Mountains are located at the northwesternmost edge of the Arabian plate, near the intersection of the African and Eurasian plates. Mixed siliciclastic-carbonate sediments accumulated on the north-Gondwana margin during the Palaeozoic. Triassic rift-related sedimentation was followed by platform carbonate deposition during Jurassic-Cretaceous. Late Cretaceous was characterised by platform collapse and southward emplacement of melanges and a supra-subduction zone ophiolite. Latest Cretaceous transgressive shallow-water carbonates gave way to deeper-water deposits during Palaeocene-Eocene. Eocene southward compression, reflecting initial collision, resulted in open folding, reverse faulting and duplexing. Fluvial, lagoonal and shallow-marine carbonates accumulated during Late Oligocene(?)-Early Miocene, associated with basaltic magmatism. Intensifying collision during Mid-Miocene initiated a foreland basin that then infilled with deep-water siliciclastic gravity flows. Late Miocene-Early Pliocene compression created mountain-sized folds and thrusts, verging E in the north but SE in the south. The resulting surface uplift triggered deposition of huge alluvial outwash fans in the west. Smaller alluvial fans formed along both mountain flanks during the Pleistocene after major surface uplift ended. Pliocene-Pleistocene alluvium was tilted towards the mountain front in the west. Strike-slip/transtension along the East Anatolian Transform Fault and localised sub-horizontal Quaternary basaltic volcanism in the region reflect regional transtension during Late Pliocene-Pleistocene (<4 Ma).</p

Kinetic, Isotherm and Thermodynamic Analysis on Adsorption of Cr(VI) Ions from Aqueous Solutions by Synthesis and Characterization of Magnetic-Poly(divinylbenzene-vinylimidazole) Microbeads

The magnetic-poly(divinylbenzene-1-vinylimidazole) [m-poly(DVB-VIM)] microbeads (average diameter 53–212 μm) were synthesized and characterized; their use as adsorbent in removal of Cr(VI) ions from aqueous solutions was investigated. The m-poly(DVB-VIM) microbeads were prepared by copolymerizing of divinylbenzene (DVB) with 1-vinylimidazole (VIM). The m-poly(DVB-VIM) microbeads were characterized by N2 adsorption/desorption isotherms, ESR, elemental analysis, scanning electron microscope (SEM) and swelling studies. At fixed solid/solution ratio the various factors affecting adsorption of Cr(VI) ions from aqueous solutions such as pH, initial concentration, contact time and temperature were analyzed. Langmuir, Freundlich and Dubinin–Radushkvich isotherms were used as the model adsorption equilibrium data. Langmuir isotherm model was the most adequate. The pseudo-first-order, pseudo-second-order, Ritch-second-order and intraparticle diffusion models were used to describe the adsorption kinetics. The apparent activation energy was found to be 5.024 kJ mol−1, which is characteristic of a chemically controlled reaction. The experimental data fitted to pseudo-second-order kinetic. The study of temperature effect was quantified by calculating various thermodynamic parameters such as Gibbs free energy, enthalpy and entropy changes. The thermodynamic parameters obtained indicated the endothermic nature of adsorption of Cr(VI) ions. Morever, after the use in adsorption, the m-poly(DVB-VIM) microbeads with paramagnetic property were separeted via the applied magnetic force. The magnetic beads could be desorbed up to about 97% by treating with 1.0 M NaOH. These features make the m-poly(DVB-VIM) microbeads a potential candidate for support of Cr(VI) ions removal under magnetic field