Effect of Bilayer Flexibility and Medium Viscosity on Separation of Liposomes upon Stagnation: Bilayer flexibility, medium viscosity and liposomal separation

Liposomes are widely used as drug delivery systems in different forms including osmotic pumps, infusion and IV injection. In spite of these, there is no data available about their behavior under convective flow (e.g. infusion or osmotic pumps) and upon stagnation in such drug delivery systems. As a part of a series of investigations in this area, the present study investigates the effects of viscosity and flexibility on liposomes separation upon stagnation.Here, liposomes with different bilayer flexibility and medium viscosity were encountered gravity (separating force) in a designed sedimentation model and changes in their properties were monitored over time. Rigid liposomes in the low viscosity formulation showed significant phase separation (three times reduction in size) and decreased lipid content over time. Increasing the bilayer flexibility of large liposomes, prevented them from phase separation. Neither size reduction nor decreased lipid content was observed. Increasing viscosity of the liposomal formulation of 3.4 cP to 45.2 cP also prevented sedimentation of liposomes and phase separation in the system. These results indicate that bilayer flexibility and viscosity affect the separation of large liposomes in pre-administrational steps and even stagnation during administration in systems such as infusion pumps

Zinc Supplementation and the Effects on Pregnancy Outcomes in Gestational Diabetes: A Randomized, Double-blind, Placebo-controlled Trial

Objective: The current study was designed to determine the beneficial effects of zinc intake on biomarkers of inflammation, oxidative stress, and pregnancy outcomes among pregnant women with gestational diabetes (GDM). Methods: This randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial was conducted among 50 women with GDM. Patients were randomly allocated to intake either 233 mg zinc gluconate (containing 30 mg zinc) (n=25) or a placebo (n=25) for 6 weeks. Fasting blood samples were taken at the fist of the study and after 6 weeks of intervention to quantify related variables. Newborn's weight, height, head circumference, Apgar score, and hyperbilirubinemia were determined. Results: The change in serum zinc levels after 6 weeks of supplementation was greater in women consuming zinc than in the placebo group (+8.5±13.5 vs. -3.6±16.2 mg/dL, P=0.006). Changes in serum high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) (-110.1±1 475.5 vs. +1 137.8±2 429.2 ng/mL, P=0.03) and plasma total antioxidant capacity (TAC) concentrations (+60.0±129.0 vs. -28.4±81.4 mmol/L, P=0.006) were significantly different between the supplemented women and placebo group. We did not find any significant effect of zinc administration on pregnancy outcomes. Conclusion: Taken together, zinc administration among patients with GDM was associated with decreased hs-CRP and increased TAC concentrations; however, it did not influence maternal plasma nitric oxide (NO), glutathione (GSH), malondialdehyde (MDA) levels, or pregnancy outcomes. © J. A. Barth Verlag in Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York

Abundance of molecular triple ionization by double Auger decay

Abstract Systematic measurements of electron emission following formation of single 1s or 2p core holes in molecules with C, O, F, Si, S and Cl atoms show that overall triple ionization can make up as much as 20% of the decay. The proportion of triple ionization is observed to follow a linear trend correlated to the number of available valence electrons on the atom bearing the initial core hole and on closest neighbouring atoms, where the interatomic distance is assumed to play a large role. The amounts of triple ionization (double Auger decay) after 1s or 2p core hole formation follow the same linear trend, which indicates that the hole identity is not a crucial determining factor in the number of electrons emitted. The observed linear trend for the percentage of double Auger decay follows a predictive line equation of the form DA = 0.415 · Nve + 5.46

Coulomb explosion of CD3I induced by single photon deep inner-shell ionisation

L-shell ionisation and subsequent Coulomb explosion of fully deuterated methyl iodide, CD3I, irradiated with hard X-rays has been examined by a time-of-flight multi-ion coincidence technique. The core vacancies relax efficiently by Auger cascades, leading to charge states up to 16+. The dynamics of the Coulomb explosion process are investigated by calculating the ions' flight times numerically based on a geometric model of the experimental apparatus, for comparison with the experimental data. A parametric model of the explosion, previously introduced for multi-photon induced Coulomb explosion, is applied in numerical simulations, giving good agreement with the experimental results for medium charge states. Deviations for higher charges suggest the need to include nuclear motion in a putatively more complete model. Detection efficiency corrections from the simulations are used to determine the true distributions of molecular charge states produced by initial L1, L2 and L3 ionisation

Auger decay of 4d inner-shell holes in atomic Hg leading to triple ionization

Abstract Formation of triply ionized states upon the creation of 4d inner-shell holes in atomic Hg is investigated by using synchrotron radiation of 730 eV photon energy and a versatile multielectron coincidence detection technique in combination with multiconfiguration Dirac-Fock calculations. By carefully selecting Coster-Kronig electrons detected only in coincidence with a 4d photoelectron, the Coster-Kronig spectrum has been extracted and the corresponding branching ratios of the 4d hole have been determined. The results are found to differ from previously established experimental ratios based on electron impact ionization but to agree now better with theory. We also present an Auger cascade analysis of pathways leading to triply ionized states of atomic Hg upon removal of a 4d inner-shell electron