REMOVED: Mastering Membranes to Command Functions

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Pharmaceutical particles design by membrane emulsification: preparation methods and applications in drug delivery

© 2017 Bentham Science Publishers.Nowadays, the rational design of particles is an important issue in the development of pharmaceutical medicaments. Advances in manufacturing methods are required to design new pharmaceutical particles with target properties in terms of particle size, particle size distribution, structure and functional activity. Membrane emulsification is emerging as a promising tool for the production of emulsions and solidified particles with tailored properties in many fields. In this review, the current use of membrane emulsification in the production of pharmaceutical particles is highlighted. Membrane emulsification devices designed for small-scale testing as well as membrane-based methods suitable for large-scale production are discussed. A special emphasis is put on the important factors that contribute to the encapsulation efficiency and drug loading. The most recent studies about the utilization of the membrane emulsification for preparing particles as drug delivery systems for anticancer, proteins/peptide, lipophilic and hydrophilic bioactive drugs are reviewed

Promoting Citizenship and Personal Growth: A Model for Student-Athlete Excellence

Many institutions of higher education are searching/or ways to augment specific areas of a student-athlete's life: such as study skills, fitness awareness, or disordered eating. East Stroudsburg University has developed a model that provided the additional support systems with the goal of developing not only a more competitive athlete but also a more mature and responsible member of the university community. This model included a physical and psycho-social component. A multi-discipline staff attempted to encourage the student-athletes with the life skills and the interaction to develop these tools for their life after college

REMOVED: Combination of Pre-Treatments, Membrane Bioreactor and Forward Osmosis for a Less Fouled Valorisation of Olive Mill Wastewater

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Destabilization and removal of immobilized enzymes adsorbed onto polyethersulfone ultrafiltration membranes by salt solutions

In this work the effectiveness of two saline solutions (NaCl and Na2SO4) to clean a permanently hydrophilic polyethersulfone (PESH) ultrafiltration (UF) membrane with a molecular weight cut-off (MWCO) of 30 kDa previously fouled with enzymatic solutions was investigated. The influence of protein concentration in the enzymatic solution during the fouling step and the effect of salt type during the cleaning procedure were studied. The protein aggregation was analyzed in solution and onto the membrane surface by using several techniques including Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS), Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) and Infrared Spectroscopy with Attenuated Total Reflectance (ATR-FTIR). In addition, mechanisms that dominate membrane fouling were studied by fitting some mathematical models (Hermia's models adapted to crossflow filtration, a combined model based on the complete blocking and cake formation equations and a resistance-in-series model) to the experimental data. Fouling results showed that the complete blocking/adsorption on membrane surface was the predominant fouling mechanism. Regarding the cleaning results, higher cleaning efficiency and low residual protein concentration was obtained with NaCl solutions for all the feed solutions tested due to the favorable interaction between Cl and proteins.Maria-Jose Corbaton-Baguena wishes to gratefully acknowledge the financial support from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through the grant EEBB-I-14-09011 (project CTM2010-20186). The authors acknowledge the European Union, Fondo Europeo di Sviluppo Regionale, The Ministero dell'Istruzione, dell'Universita e della Ricerca - MIUR, The Ministero dello Svilupppo Economic - MSE - for the financial support to the project "Sistemi tecnologici avanzati e processi integrati della filiera olivicola per la valorizzazione dei prodotti e dei sottoprodotti, lo sviluppo di nuovi settori e la creazione di sistemi produttivi Eco-compatibili" (PON Olio Piu, PON01_01545), within the framework PON Ricerca e Competitivita 2007-2013.Corbatón Báguena, MJ.; Gugliuzza, A.; Cassano, A.; Mazzei, R.; Giorno, L. (2015). Destabilization and removal of immobilized enzymes adsorbed onto polyethersulfone ultrafiltration membranes by salt solutions. Journal of Membrane Science. 486:207-214. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.memsci.2015.03.061S20721448

Preparation of Drug-Loaded PLGA-PEG Nanoparticles by Membrane-Assisted Nanoprecipitation

Purpose: The aim of this work is to develop a scalable continuous system suitable for the formulation of polymeric nanoparticles using membrane-assisted nanoprecipitation. One of the hurdles to overcome in the use of nanostructured materials as drug delivery vectors is their availability at industrial scale. Innovation in process technology is required to translate laboratory production into mass production while preserving their desired nanoscale characteristics. Methods: Membrane-assisted nanoprecipitation has been used for the production of Poly(D, L lactide-co-glycolide)-co-poly ethylene glycol] diblock) (PLGA-PEG) nanoparticles using a pulsed back-and-forward flow arrangement. Tubular Shirasu porous glass membranes (SPG) with pore diameters of 1 and 0.2 µm were used to control the mixing process during the nanoprecipitation reaction. Results: The size of the resulting PLGA-PEG nanoparticles could be readily tuned in the range from 250 to 400 nm with high homogeneity (PDI lower than 0.2) by controlling the dispersed phase volume/continuous phase volume ratio. Dexamethasone was successfully encapsulated in a continuous process, achieving an encapsulation efficiency and drug loading efficiency of 50% and 5%, respectively. The dexamethasone was released from the nanoparticles following Fickian kinetics. Conclusions: The method allowed to produce polymeric nanoparticles for drug delivery with a high productivity, reproducibility and easy scalability

A new score for improving cardiovascular risk prediction and prevention.

The ultrasonographic detection of subclinical atherosclerosis (scATS) at carotid and femoral vascular sites using the atherosclerosis burden score (ABS) improves the risk stratification for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease beyond traditional cardiovascular (CV) risk factors. However, its predictive value should be further enhanced. We hypothesize that combining the ABS and the Framingham risk score (FHRS) to create a new score called the FHRABS will improve CV risk prediction and prevention. We aim to investigate if incorporating the ABS into the FHRS improved CV risk prediction in a primary prevention setting. 1024 patients were included in this prospective observational cohort study. Carotid and femoral plaques were ultra-sonographic detected. Major incident cardiovascular events (MACEs) were collected. The receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC-AUC) and Youden's index (Ysi) were used to compare the incremental contributions of each marker to predict MACEs. After a median follow-up of 6.0 ± 3.3 years, 60 primary MACEs (5.8%) occurred. The ROC-AUC for MACEs prediction was significantly higher for the FHRABS (0.74, p < 0.024) and for the ABS (0.71, p < 0.013) compared to the FHRS alone (0.71, p < 0.46). Ysi or the FHRABS (42%, p < 0.001) and ABS (37%, p < 0.001) than for the FHRS (31%). Cox proportional-hazard models showed that the CV predictive performance of FHRS was significantly enhanced by the ABS (10.8 vs. 5.5, p < 0.001) and FHRABS (HR 23.30 vs. 5.50, p < 0.001). FHRABS is a useful score for improving CV risk stratification and detecting patients at high risk of future MACEs. FHRABS offers a simple-to-use, and radiation-free score with which to detect scATS in order to promote personalized CV prevention