Emulsion Electrospinning for Drug Delivery: Two Encapsulation Methods

One major technique to fabricate core-shell fibers is emulsion electrospinning due to its simple setup and potential to preserve the bioactivity of a loaded agent within the core. Here, we explore two different emulsion electrospinning approaches to encapsulate a hydrophilic drug, as Lidocaine Hydrochloride (LidHCl), inside a hydrophobic polymer fiber, as Poly-Lactic Acid (PLA) in a core-shell structure. Therefore, we incorporate the drug in the fiber core by means of an aqueous phase containing or lacking a polymeric matrix Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA) to disperse the drug. We studied the electrospinnability of PLA-based emulsion solutions to produce LidHCl-loaded smooth fibers by varying the applied voltage and the tip-to-collector distance. We evaluated the morphology and chemical properties of emulsion electrospun fibers by field emission scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Finally, we analyzed the drug release profile of both core-shell structures and compared them with blend PLA-LidHCl fiber system. Analysis revealed that emulsion electrospun nanofibers were able to encapsulate the drug within the fibers in both cases. However, PVA matrix inside the core played a key role on the encapsulation and spatial distribution of the drug and therefore on its release. Results suggest that the in vitro release profile of a hydrophilic drug could be tailored by the presence of the inner matrix polymer enabling the production of electrospun fibers with desired features.Fil: Sanchez, Maria Alejandra. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Tecnología. Departamento de Bioingeniería. Laboratorio de Medios e Interfases; Argentina. University of Loughborough; Reino Unido. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Instituto Superior de Investigaciones Biológicas. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Instituto Superior de Investigaciones Biológicas; ArgentinaFil: Rodriguez, Andrea Paola. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Tecnología. Departamento de Bioingeniería. Laboratorio de Medios e Interfases; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Instituto Superior de Investigaciones Biológicas. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Instituto Superior de Investigaciones Biológicas; ArgentinaFil: Monsalve, Leandro Nicolas. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Industrial; ArgentinaFil: Georgiadou S. University of Loughborough; Reino Unid

Βελτίωση της ακτινοθεραπευτικής πράξης μέσω υπολογιστικών μοντέλων διαχείρισης ανθρωπίνων παραγόντων

Τα τελευταία χρόνια, νέες και προηγμένες τεχνολογίες έχουν αλλάξει ριζικά τον προγραμματισμό και την εκτέλεση της ακτινοθεραπευτικής πράξης. Με την ανάπτυξη των πολύφυλλων κατευθυντήρων (MLC), η διαμορφούμενης έντασης ακτινοθεραπεία (IMRT) και η ακτινοθεραπεία καθοδηγούμενη από εικόνα (IGRT), παρέχει ένα πιο αυστηρά καθορισμένο όγκο στόχο ενώ παράλληλα ελαχιστοποιούνται οι δόσεις στα κρίσιμα όργανα. Ωστόσο, η διαδικασία θεραπείας έχει γίνει πιο περίπλοκη και για τη βελτίωση της ασφάλειας των ασθενών και της ποιότητας της θεραπείας, η βιομηχανία της ακτινοθεραπείας έχει επικεντρωθεί σε μεγάλο βαθμό στη δημιουργία νέων συσκευών παράδοσης ακτινοβολίας και νέων συστημάτων πληροφορικής. Ενώ αυτές οι νέες τεχνολογίες βελτιώνουν την ποιότητα της ακτινοθεραπείας και μειώνουν τα σφάλματα κατά την ακτινοβόληση, δημιούργησαν νέες πηγές σφαλμάτων. Τα συστήματα καταγραφής και επαλήθευσης (R & V) που αναπτύχθηκαν πρόσφατα για να διασφαλίσουν την ακρίβεια στην παροχή θεραπευτικών σχεδίων συχνά συνδέεται με ζητήματα χρηστικότητας που μπορούν να οδηγήσουν σε σφάλματα. Αυτό καταδεικνύει τη μεγάλη ανάγκη βελτίωσης της αλληλεπίδρασης μεταξύ χρηστών και τεχνολογιών. Ωστόσο, οι περισσότερες αξιολογήσεις τεχνολογιών επικεντρώθηκαν στην βελτίωση των τεχνικών και των τεχνολογιών ενώ περιορισμένες μελέτες εξέτασαν το ρόλο που παίζει ο ανθρώπινος παράγοντας στην ασφάλεια του ασθενή. Ως εκ τούτου, η μελέτη αυτή στοχεύει στην εφαρμογή των μηχανισμών ανθρώπινων παραγόντων προκειμένου να εντοπίσει τις μη ασφαλής παραμέτρους ενός συστήματος ακτινοθεραπείας και να παρέχει συστάσεις σχετικά με τα ζητήματα που προκύπτουν από τα σφάλματα αυτά. Πιο συγκεκριμένα, χωρίζεται σε τέσσερις φάσεις: • Ανασκόπηση των συμβάντων στην ακτινοθεραπεία. • Ανάλυση ροής εργασιών. Unified Modeling Language (UML) διαγράμματα δραστηριοτήτων • Ανάλυση παραγόντων ποσοτικής έρευνα • Ευρετική Αξιολόγηση. Συστηματική επιθεώρηση διεπαφών χρήστη με βάση ένα σύνολο αρχών ευχρηστίας και συστάσειςIn recent years, new and advanced technologies have radically changed the programming and implementation of radiotherapy. With the development of multi-leaf collimator (MLC), intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) and image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT) provides a more strictly defined target volume while minimising doses to critical organs. However, the treatment process has become more complex and in order to improve patient safety and the quality of treatment, the radiotherapy industry has largely focused on the creation of new radiation delivery devices and new IT systems. While these new technologies improve the quality of radiotherapy and reduce errors in irradiation, they have created new sources of errors. Recently developed recording and verification systems (R & V) to ensure accuracy in the delivery of therapeutic plans are often associated with usability issues that can lead to errors. This demonstrates the great need to improve interaction between users and technologies. However, most technology assessments focused on improving techniques and technologies and limited studies looked at the role the human factor plays in patient safety. Therefore, this study aims to implement human factor mechanisms to identify the unsafe parameters of an radiotherapy system and to provide recommendations on the issues arising from these errors. More specifically, it is divided into four phases: • Review of events in radiotherapy. • Workflow analysis. Unified Modeling Language (UML) activity diagrams • Analysis of quantitative research factors • Heuristic evaluation. Systematic inspection of user interfaces based on a set of user principles and recommendation

Integrin Binding Dynamics Modulate Ligand-Specific Mechanosensing in Mammary Gland Fibroblasts

The link between integrin activity regulation and cellular mechanosensing of tissue rigidity, especially on different extracellular matrix ligands, remains poorly understood. Here, we find that primary mouse mammary gland stromal fibroblasts (MSFs) are able to spread efficiently, generate high forces, and display nuclear YAP on soft collagen-coated substrates, resembling the soft mammary gland tissue. We describe that loss of the integrin inhibitor, SHARPIN, impedes MSF spreading specifically on soft type I collagen but not on fibronectin. Through quantitative experiments and computational modeling, we find that SHARPIN-deficient MSFs display faster force-induced unbinding of adhesions from collagen-coated beads. Faster unbinding, in turn, impairs force transmission in these cells, particularly, at the stiffness optimum observed for wild-type cells. Mechanistically, we link the impaired mechanotransduction of SHARPIN-deficient cells on collagen to reduced levels of collagen-binding integrin α11β1. Thus integrin activity regulation and α11β1 play a role in collagen-specific mechanosensing in MSFs.publishedVersio

Advances in solution-processed near-infrared light-emitting diodes

Near-infrared light-emitting diodes based on solution-processed semiconductors, such as organics, halide perovskites and colloidal quantum dots, have emerged as a viable technological platform for biomedical applications, night vision, surveillance and optical communications. The recently gained increased understanding of the relationship between materials structure and photophysical properties has enabled the design of efficient emitters leading to devices with external quantum efficiencies exceeding 20%. Despite considerable strides made, challenges remain in achieving high radiance, reducing efficiency roll-off and extending operating lifetime. This Review summarizes recent advances on emissive materials synthetic methods and device key attributes that collectively contribute to improved performance of the fabricated light-emitting devices

Retrofit 2050: critical challenges for urban transitions

Scaling up retrofit presents a number of critical challenges for the transition to urban sustainability. Drawing together insights from the EPSRC Retrofit 2050 project this briefing sets out key success factors that need to be in place to deliver sustainable futures for UK cities

SORLA regulates endosomal trafficking and oncogenic fitness of HER2

The human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) is an oncogene targeted by several kinase inhibitors and therapeutic antibodies. While the endosomal trafficking of many other receptor tyrosine kinases is known to regulate their oncogenic signalling, the prevailing view on HER2 is that this receptor is predominantly retained on the cell surface. Here, we find that sortilin-related receptor 1 (SORLA; SORL1) co-precipitates with HER2 in cancer cells and regulates HER2 subcellular distribution by promoting recycling of the endosomal receptor back to the plasma membrane. SORLA protein levels in cancer cell lines and bladder cancers correlates with HER2 levels. Depletion of SORLA triggers HER2 targeting to late endosomal/lysosomal compartments and impairs HER2-driven signalling and in vivo tumour growth. SORLA silencing also disrupts normal lysosome function and sensitizes anti-HER2 therapy sensitive and resistant cancer cells to lysosome-targeting cationic amphiphilic drugs. These findings reveal potentially important SORLA-dependent endosomal trafficking-linked vulnerabilities in HER2-driven cancers.Peer reviewe

Unusual site for iatrogenic esophageal perforation in a premature neonate

Esophageal perforation in the neonate period is uncommon and often iatrogenic in origin, requiring a prompt diagnosis in order to prevent further complications. We present a case of iatrogenic esophageal perforation in a premature neonate following orogastric tube placement. Findings on plain film radiograph were consistent with thoracic esophageal perforation. Due to the patient’s hemodynamic stability, the patient was treated nonoperatively with favorable results. We also discuss the cause, clinical clues to the diagnosis and treatment in cases with esophageal perforation