Raman Micro-Spectroscopy Identifies Carbonaceous Particles Lying on the Surface of Crocidolite, Amosite, and Chrysotile Fibers

Micro-Raman spectroscopy has been applied on UICC (Union for International Cancer Control’s) crocidolite and amosite from South Africa and on UICC chrysotile from Canada. Under Optical Microscope (OM), the surface of the fibers was often characterized by areas, micrometric in size, appearing dark. The laser beam was successively focused on areas of the same sample showing different optical contrasts. On the bright zones, Raman spectra peculiar for crocidolite, amosite or chrysotile were recorded. When dark areas were optically identified, the laser beam was addressed onto these regions and, in the Raman patterns, in addition to the bands produced by the mineral fiber, bands ascribing to substituted carbonaceous phases were observed. These bands were lying in the 4000–1100 cm−1 spectral range. On the basis of the shape of the bands and their relative intensities, suggestions about the order-disorder of the carbonaceous particles could be proposed, and they appeared more ordered on amosite than on crocidolite and chrysotile. From the exposed data, crocidolite and amosite fibers from South Africa, and chrysotile fibers from Canada, largely used in industry in the past, are characterized by many carbonaceous micrometric particles, lying on the fiber surfaces. Based on the noxiousness of the carbon particles on human health, their presence on asbestos fibers may play a role in increasing the carcinogenic effects of the analyzed fibrous minerals

Polyanionic Biopolymers for the Delivery of Pt(II) Cationic Antiproliferative Complexes

Phenanthriplatin, that is, (SP-4-3)-diamminechlorido(phenanthridine)platinum(II) nitrate, an effective antitumor cationic Pt(II) complex, was loaded on negatively charged dextran sulfate (DS) as a model vector for drug delivery via electrostatic interactions. The free complex and the corresponding conjugate with DS were tested on two standard human tumor cell lines, namely, ovarian A2780 and colon HCT 116, and on several malignant pleural mesothelioma cell lines (namely, epithelioid BR95, mixed/biphasic MG06, sarcomatoid MM98, and sarcomatoid cisplatin-resistant MM98R). The in vitro results suggest that the conjugate releases the active metabolite phenanthriplatin with a biphasic fashion. In these experimental conditions, the conjugate is slightly less active than free phenanthriplatin; but both exhibited antiproliferative potency higher than the reference metallodrug cisplatin and were able to overcome the acquired cisplatin chemoresistance in MM98R cells

Thymus vulgaris Essential Oil in Beta-Cyclodextrin for Solid-State Pharmaceutical Applications

: Antimicrobial resistance related to the misuse of antibiotics is a well-known current topic. Their excessive use in several fields has led to enormous selective pressure on pathogenic and commensal bacteria, driving the evolution of antimicrobial resistance genes with severe impacts on human health. Among all the possible strategies, a viable one could be the development of medical features that employ essential oils (EOs), complex natural mixtures extracted from different plant organs, rich in organic compounds showing, among others, antiseptic properties. In this work, green extracted essential oil of Thymus vulgaris was included in cyclic oligosaccharides cyclodextrins (CD) and prepared in the form of tablets. This essential oil has been shown to have a strong transversal efficacy both as an antifungal and as an antibacterial agent. Its inclusion allows its effective use because an extension of the exposure time to the active compounds is obtained and, therefore, a more marked efficacy, especially against biofilm-producing microorganisms such as P. aeruginosa and S. aureus, was registered. The efficacy of the tablet against candidiasis opens their possible use as a chewable tablet against oral candidiasis and as a vaginal tablet against vaginal candidiasis. Moreover, the registered wide efficacy is even more positive since the proposed approach can be defined as effective, safe, and green. In fact, the natural mixture of the essential oil is produced by the steam current method; therefore, the manufacturer employs substances that are not harmful, with very low production and management costs

A study on the carbon soot derived from the wood combustion and on the relative alkali-extractable fraction

In this experimental study, waste particulate of domestic flame combustion of wooden matters have been reacted according to a direct mild-condition reductive-oxidative chemical synthesis. Water-soluble graphenic and polycyclic aromatic frameworks have been extracted from graphitized carbon residues. Products have been recovered by elemental carbon contented in both fly and bottom combustion particu- late. Their pH-sensitive behavior in aqueous solutions has been elucidated. Products and reactant substrates have been spectroscopically characterized by mean of solid state vibrational FT-IR and Raman, UV-VIS, XRD, solution 1H and 13C NMR, SEM-EDX and MALDI-TOF MS techniques. Discussion upon the reactivity of flame carbon residues of wooden matters is reported, in comparison to the reactivity displayed by other graphenic structures, according to the reported synthetic protocol