Quantitative evaluation of predominant of weeds in winter wheat and barley fields in Eastern Azerbaijan, Iran | Evaluación cuantitativa de malezas predominantes en campos de trigo y cebada de invierno en Azerbaiyán Oriental, Iran

fields, consisting of 73 winter wheat and 20 winter barley fields were studied. Field products were sampled from stem (midspring) until the end of fruition in different regions of the province. Weeds were counted and identified according to genus and species, and their stage of development was registered. The entire sample contained 136 weed species from 100 Genera, belonging to 28 families. The most frequently encountered weeds were members of the Brassicaceae, with 20 species, Poaceae, with 17 species, and Asteraceae, with 16 species. Of the 136 weed species, the majority (88%) were dicotyledonous, while the remainder was monocotyledonous. Moreover, 78% of the weeds were annual/biennial. The current study revealed predominant weed species in wheat and barley fields of East Azerbaijan province of Iran. Moreover, we demonstrated that proper weed management will substantially help to reduce the damage to wheat and barley fields. Key words: Abundance, density, weed, wheat, barley RESUMEN Con el fin de determinar la densidad y abundancia de las malezas dominantes en la provincia de Azerbaiyán Oriental de Irán, se estudiaron un total de 93 campos (73 de trigo de invierno y 20 de cebada de invierno). Los productos de campo se muestrearon desde el tallo (a mediados de primavera) hasta el final de la fructificación en diferentes regiones de la provincia. Las malezas se contaron e identificaron de acuerdo al género y la especie y se registró su estado de desarrollo. La muestra completa tuvo 136 especies de malezas de 100 géneros, pertenecientes a 28 familias. Las malezas más frecuentemente encontradas fueron los miembros de las Brassicaceae, con 20 especies, Poaceae con 17 especies y Asteraceae con 16 especies. De las 136 especies de malezas, la mayoría (88%) fueron dicotiledóneas, mientras el resto fue monocotiledóneas. Por otra parte, el 78% de las malezas fueron anuales/bianuales. El estudio reveló especies de malezas predominantes en campos de trigo y cebada de la provincia de Azerbaiyán Oriental de Irán. Además, se demostró que el manejo de malezas adecuado contribuirá sustancialmente a reducir el daño a campos de trigo y cebada. Palabras clave: Abundancia, densidad, malezas, trigo, cebad

Approximately generalized additive functions in several variables via fixed point method

Abstract In this paper, we obtain the general solution and the generalized Hyers-Ulam-Rassias stability in random normed spaces, in non-Archimedean spaces and also in p-Banach spaces and finally the stability via fixed point method for a functional equation where m ≥ 2 is an integer number

Poly(ethylene glycol) with Observable Shedding

A novel FRET-bearing poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) conjugate fluoresces at 520 nm when it is cleaved off from nanoparticles (NPs). When the NPs were targeted to cancer cell lines, the reducing redox of the endosomal compartment caused disulfide bond cleavage and shedding of the PEG layer. The fluorescence emission can be suppressed by N-ethylmaleimide to inhibit disulfide cleavage and restored by dithiothreitol, a disulfide cleavage reagent, indicating a direct correlation between fluorescence emission and PEG shedding

Effects of ligands with different water solubilities on self-assembly and properties of targeted nanoparticles

The engineering of drug-encapsulated targeted nanoparticles (NPs) has the potential to revolutionize drug therapy. A major challenge for the smooth translation of targeted NPs to the clinic has been developing methods for the prediction and optimization of the NP surface composition, especially when targeting ligands (TL) of different chemical properties are involved in the NP self-assembly process. Here we investigated the self-assembly and properties of two different targeted NPs decorated with two widely used TLs that have different water solubilities, and developed methods to characterize and optimize NP surface composition. We synthesized two different biofunctional polymers composed of poly(lactide-co-glycolide)-b-polyethyleneglycol-RGD (PLGA-PEG-RGD, high water solubility TL) and PLGA-PEG-Folate (low water solubility TL). Targeted NPs with different ligand densities were prepared by mixing TL-conjugated polymers with non-conjugated PLGA-PEG at different ratios through nanoprecipitation. The NP surface composition was quantified and the results revealed two distinct nanoparticle assembly behaviors: for the case of PLGA-PEG-RGD, nearly all RGD molecules conjugated to the polymer were found to be on the surface of the NPs. In contrast, only ~20% of the folate from PLGA-PEG-Folate was present on the NP surface while the rest remained presumably buried in the PLGA NP core due to hydrophobic interactions of PLGA and folate. Finally, in vitro phagocytosis and cell targeting of NPs were investigated, from which a window of NP formulations exhibiting minimum uptake by macrophages and maximum uptake by targeted cells was determined. These results underscore the impact that the ligand chemical properties have on the targeting capabilities of self-assembled targeted nanoparticles and provide an engineering strategy for improving their targeting specificity.Prostate Cancer Foundation (Award in Nanotherapeutics)National Cancer Institute (U.S.) (Center of Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence at MIT-Harvard U54-CA151884)National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (Program of Excellence in Nanotechnology Award Contract HHSN268201000045C)National Science Foundation (U.S.). Graduate Research Fellowshi

Parallel microfluidic synthesis of size-tunable polymeric nanoparticles using 3D flow focusing towards in vivo study

Microfluidic synthesis of nanoparticles (NPs) can enhance the controllability and reproducibility in physicochemical properties of NPs compared to bulk synthesis methods. However, applications of microfluidic synthesis are typically limited to in vitro studies due to low production rates. Herein, we report the parallelization of NP synthesis by 3D hydrodynamic flow focusing (HFF) using a multilayer microfluidic system to enhance the production rate without losing the advantages of reproducibility, controllability, and robustness. Using parallel 3D HFF, polymeric poly(lactide-co-glycolide)-b-polyethyleneglycol (PLGA-PEG) NPs with sizes tunable in the range of 13-150 nm could be synthesized reproducibly with high production rate. As a proof of concept, we used this system to perform in vivo pharmacokinetic and biodistribution study of small (20 nm diameter) PLGA-PEG NPs that are otherwise difficult to synthesize. Microfluidic parallelization thus enables synthesis of NPs with tunable properties with production rates suitable for both in vitro and in vivo studies

Transepithelial Transport of Fc-Targeted Nanoparticles by the Neonatal Fc Receptor for Oral Delivery

Nanoparticles are poised to have a tremendous impact on the treatment of many diseases, but their broad application is limited because currently they can only be administered by parenteral methods. Oral administration of nanoparticles is preferred but remains a challenge because transport across the intestinal epithelium is limited. We show that nanoparticles targeted to the neonatal Fc receptor (FcRn), which mediates the transport of immunoglobulin G antibodies across epithelial barriers, are efficiently transported across the intestinal epithelium using both in vitro and in vivo models. In mice, orally administered FcRn-targeted nanoparticles crossed the intestinal epithelium and reached systemic circulation with a mean absorption efficiency of 13.7%*hour compared with only 1.2%*hour for nontargeted nanoparticles. In addition, targeted nanoparticles containing insulin as a model nanoparticle-based therapy for diabetes were orally administered at a clinically relevant insulin dose of 1.1 U/kg and elicited a prolonged hypoglycemic response in wild-type mice. This effect was abolished in FcRn knockout mice, indicating that the enhanced nanoparticle transport was specifically due to FcRn. FcRn-targeted nanoparticles may have a major impact on the treatment of many diseases by enabling drugs currently limited by low bioavailability to be efficiently delivered though oral administration.Prostate Cancer Foundation (Award in Nanotherapeutics)National Cancer Institute (U.S.) (Center for Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence U54-CA151884)National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (Program of Excellence in Nanotechnology Award Contract HHSN268201000045C)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant EB000244)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (R01 Grant EB015419-01)American Society for Engineering Education. National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate FellowshipNational Cancer Institute (U.S.) (Center for Cancer Nanotechnology Excellence Graduate Research Fellowship 5 U54 CA151884-02

Mass Production and Size Control of Lipid–Polymer Hybrid Nanoparticles through Controlled Microvortices

Lipid–polymer hybrid (LPH) nanoparticles can deliver a wide range of therapeutic compounds in a controlled manner. LPH nanoparticle syntheses using microfluidics improve the mixing process but are restricted by a low throughput. In this study, we present a pattern-tunable microvortex platform that allows mass production and size control of LPH nanoparticles with superior reproducibility and homogeneity. We demonstrate that by varying flow rates (i.e., Reynolds number (30–150)) we can control the nanoparticle size (30–170 nm) with high productivity (~3 g/hour) and low polydispersity (~0.1). Our approach may contribute to efficient development and optimization of a wide range of multicomponent nanoparticles for medical imaging and drug delivery.National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (Program of Excellence in Nanotechnology (PEN) Award Contract HHSN268201000045C)National Cancer Institute (U.S.) (Grant P01 CA151884)Prostate Cancer Foundation (Award in Nanotherapeutics

Microfluidic technologies for accelerating the clinical translation of nanoparticles

Using nanoparticles for therapy and imaging holds tremendous promise for the treatment of major diseases such as cancer. However, their translation into the clinic has been slow because it remains difficult to produce nanoparticles that are consistent ‘batch-to-batch’, and in sufficient quantities for clinical research. Moreover, platforms for rapid screening of nanoparticles are still lacking. Recent microfluidic technologies can tackle some of these issues, and offer a way to accelerate the clinical translation of nanoparticles. In this Progress Article, we highlight the advances in microfluidic systems that can synthesize libraries of nanoparticles in a well-controlled, reproducible and high-throughput manner. We also discuss the use of microfluidics for rapidly evaluating nanoparticles in vitro under microenvironments that mimic the in vivo conditions. Furthermore, we highlight some systems that can manipulate small organisms, which could be used for evaluating the in vivo toxicity of nanoparticles or for drug screening. We conclude with a critical assessment of the near- and long-term impact of microfluidics in the field of nanomedicine

Immunocompatibility properties of lipid–polymer hybrid nanoparticles with heterogeneous surface functional groups

Here we report the immunological characterization of lipid-polymer hybrid nanoparticles (NPs) and propose a method to control the levels of complement activation induced by these NPs. This method consists of the highly specific modification of the NP surface with methoxyl, carboxyl, and amine groups. Hybrid NPs with methoxyl surface groups induced the lowest complement activation, whereas the NPs with amine surface groups induced the highest activation. All possible combinations among carboxyl, amine, and methoxyl groups also activated the complement system to a certain extent. All types of NPs activated the complement system primarily via the alternative pathway rather than the lectin pathway The classical pathway was activated to a very small extent by the NPs with carboxyl and amine surface groups. Human serum and plasma protein binding studies showed that these NPs had different protein binding patterns. Studies of both complement activation and coagulation activation suggested that NPs with methoxyl surface groups might be an ideal candidate for drug delivery applications, since they are not likely to cause any immunological adverse reaction in the human body

Synthesis of Size-Tunable Polymeric Nanoparticles Enabled by 3D Hydrodynamic Flow Focusing in Single-Layer Microchannels

A versatile microfluidic platform to synthesize NPs by nanoprecipitation using 3D hydrodynamic flow focusing isolates the precipitating precursors from channel walls, eliminating fouling of the channels. It is shown that this new method enables robust nanoprecipitation without polymer aggregation, regardless of the polymer molecular weight or precursor concentration implemented, where the size of the resulting polymeric NPs is tunable