Synthesis of Aspirin-loaded Polymer–Silica Composites and their Release Characteristics

This study describes a novel approach to the synthesis of polymer–drug–silica nanocomposites via encapsulation/isolation of drug molecules, introduced into the polymer matrix by the silica gel. For the first time, tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) gelation in the vapor phase of the acidic catalyst is presented as an efficient method to enter the silica gel nanoparticles into the polymer–aspirin conjugate. The conducted studies reveal that the internal structure of the polymer carrier is significantly reorganized after the embedding of aspirin molecules and the silica gel. The total porosity of the polymer–drug–silica nanocomposites and the molecular structure of the silica gel embedded in the system strongly depend on the conditions of the silica source transformation. Additionally, the release of the drug was fine-tuned by adapting the conditions of hydrolysis and condensation of the silica gel precursor. Finally, to prove the usefulness of the proposed synthesis, the controlled release of aspirin from the polymer–drug–silica nanocomposites is demonstrated

Vapour-phase method in the synthesis of polymer-ibuprofen sodium-silica gel composites

The study discusses the synthesis of polymer-silica composites comprising water soluble drug (ibuprofen sodium, IBS). The polymers selected for this study were poly(TRIM) and poly(HEMA-co-TRIM) produced in the form of permanently porous beads via the suspension-emulsion polymerization method. The acid and base set ternary composites were prepared by the saturation of the solid dispersions of drug (poly(TRIM)-IBS and/or poly(HEMA-co-TRIM)-IBS) with TEOS, and followed by their exposition to the vapour mixture of water and ammonia, or water and hydrochloric acid, at autogenous pressure. The conducted analyses reveal that the internal structure and total porosity of the resulting composites strongly depend on the catalyst which was used for silica precursor gelation. The parameters characterizing the porosity of both of the acid set composites are much lower than the parameters of the base set composites. Moreover, the basic catalyst supplied in the vapour phase does not affect the ibuprofen sodium molecules, whereas the acid one causes transformation of the ibuprofen sodium into the sodium chloride and a derivative of propanoic acid, which is poorly water soluble. The release profiles of ibuprofen sodium from composites demonstrate that there are differences in the rate and efficiency of drug desorption from them. They are mainly affected by the chemical character of the polymeric carrier but are also associated with the restricted swelling of the composites in the buffer solution after precipitation of silica gel

Participation of the nurse in the adaptation of the child to hospital conditions

Hospitalizacja jest trudnym doświadczeniem dla dziecka. Wiąże się z dużym obciążeniem fizycznym i psychicznym. Konieczność pobytu w szpitalu wymaga adaptacji dziecka do nowego środowiska. Pielęgniarka, jako osoba będąca najbliżej małego pacjenta, ma zasadniczy wpływ na jego prawidłowe przystosowanie się do warunków szpitalnych. Oddziaływanie na chore dziecko zależy od jego wieku i sposobów radzenia sobie w trudnej sytuacji. Przed pielęgniarkami na oddziałach pediatrycznych stoi zadanie właściwego wprowadzania dziecka w rolę pacjenta, minimalizowania jego niepokoju i lęku oraz nawiązanie i podtrzymanie kontaktu z nim oraz z jego rodzicami. Celem pracy było ukazanie roli, jaką odgrywa pielęgniarka w adaptacji dziecka do warunków szpitalnych. Systematyczny przegląd piśmiennictwa medycznego w aspekcie specyficznych problemów wynikających z hospitalizacji dzieci. Hospitalizacja pozbawia dziecko jego naturalnego środowiska, rozdziela go z rodziną, uniemożliwia dotychczasową aktywność życiową i wymusza przestrzeganie odgórnie narzuconego reżimu szpitalnego, ograniczając w konsekwencji jego swobodę i odbierając mu poczucie bezpieczeństwa. Samopoczucie dziecka w szpitalu zależy od wielu czynników, jak chociażby od stosunków psychospołecznych z personelem. Dziecko odczuwa, czy personel darzy go sympatią, czy rozumie jego problemy i potrzeby, okazuje cierpliwość, zainteresowanie, prawidłowo się z nim komunikuje (podejście humanistyczne, które sprzyja przystosowaniu się dziecka do warunków szpitalnych) czy też jest skoncentrowany wyłącznie na jego chorobie (podejście biologiczne). Dzieciom i młodzieży podczas hospitalizacji należy stwarzać możliwość wyrażania przeżywanych emocji (rozmowa, wyrażenie obaw, zabawy, kontakt z rówieśnikami).Pielęgniarki powinny dbać o zaspokajanie potrzeb psychospołecznych dzieci znajdujących się na oddziałach pediatrycznych. Kierunek oddziaływań pielęgniarek umożliwiający adaptację dziecka do warunków szpitala powinien uwzględniać wiek dziecka, etap rozwoju psychofizycznego, aktualny stan zdrowia, poziom wydolności organizmu oraz jego indywidualne potrzeby.The hospitalization is difficult experience for the child. He is connected with a great physical and psychological burden. The necessity of the stay in hospital requires the adaptation of the child to the new environment. The nurse as the staying person closest the short patient has the fundamental influence on of him correct adjustment to hospital conditions. The influence on the ill child depends from his age and ways of dealing with in the difficult situation. Before nurses on pediatric branches setting due leading the child into the soil of the patient, minimizing his anxiety and fear and establishing is standing and supporting the contact with it and with his parents. Introduce the part nurse is playing which in the adaptation of the child to hospital conditions. Systematic review of the medical writing in the aspect of peculiar problems resulting from the hospitalization of children. The hospitalization is depriving the child of his habitat, he is separating him with the family, he is making the current energetic attitude to life impossible and he is forcing into obeying the top-down imposed hospital regime reducing his freedom in consequence and getting the sense of security back from him. The physical and mental state of the child at the hospital depends on many determinants, as even if from psychosocial relationships with the staff. The child is sensing whether the staff likes him, whether he understands his problems and needs, he is showing the patience, interest, correctly is communicating with him (humanistic approach which is supporting the adjustment of the child to hospital conditions) whether is also concentrated exclusively on his illness (biological approach). Children and young people during the hospitalization should have an opportunity to express survived emotions (conversation, saying its anxieties, games, contact with peers). Nurses should care for satisfying needs of psychosocial children at pediatric wards. Direction of influences of nurses enabling the adaptation of the child to conditions of the hospital should take the age of the child into account, level of development psychophysical, the current state of health, the level of the function of the organism and his individual needs

Effect of condensing tetraethoxysilane on desorption of organic compound from porous polymer

The present article reports the easy to use approach on the application of tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) for the enhancement of drug release from mesoporous acrylic resin, in which a water insoluble drug is embedded. The investigated system combines the swelling of polymer with gelation of silica precursor within the polymer matrix. The nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory naproxen was used as a model drug and Amberlite XAD7HP was used as a drug carrier. Tetraethoxysilane was introduced into the loaded polymer up to the total pore filling. The transformation of tetraethoxysilane in aqueous solution at different pH produces condensed silica and ethanol which is a good solvent of naproxen. Appearance of ethanol in the sample facilitates naproxen release into an external solution at differentiated pH. The rate of release strongly depends on the pH of release solution due to differences in the hydrolysis and gelation rates of tetraethoxysilane. The addition of tetraethoxysilane to the polymer-naproxen composite appears beneficial for drug transport into the external media

Positron Probing of Liquid-free Volume To Investigate Adsorption–Desorption Behavior of Water in Two-Dimensional Mesoporous SBA‑3

Transport of fluids through channels and cavities of nano/mesoporous materials is of paramount importance in various fields of science and industry. The transport properties can be well derived from the adsorption–desorption behavior of fluids. Positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS) allows probing adsorption–desorption of water from 2D mesopores of SBA-3. In situ study of the size of evolving water-free volumes during successive stages of adsorption and desorption is a sensitive way to elucidate the course of pore filling and emptying. The changes of positron annihilation parameters indicate that adsorption of water is mediated through the formation of isles on the surface of the pore walls, and these, in turn, develop into water plugs. Subsequently, these plugs grow and consecutively join together when the distance between them decreases to ca. 1 nm until the complete capillary condensation occurs. Akin to adsorption, desorption of water from the pores involves the formation of cavities capped with water plugs. The final stage of desorption shows the presence of water trapped in micropores in the pore walls. The linear dependence between the volume of water and the intensity of the water-related positronium component allows to estimate the amount of water in the system. The study highlights an approach to understand adsorption–desorption mechanism of liquids in mesopores by probing liquid-free volumes using ortho-positronium