Opportunities and challenges for the nasal administration of nanoemulsions

© 2015 Bentham Science Publishers. Nasal delivery has become a growing area of interest for drug administration as a consequence of several practical advantages, such as ease of administration and non-invasiveness. Moreover, the avoidance of hepatic first-pass metabolism and rapid and efficient absorption across the permeable nasal mucosa offer a promising alternative to other traditional administration routes, such as oral or parenteral delivery. In fact, nasal delivery has been proposed for a number of applications, including local, systemic, direct nose-to-brain and mucosal vaccine delivery. Nanoemulsions, due to their stability, small droplet size and optimal solubilization properties, represent a versatile formulation approach suitable for several administration routes. Nanoemulsions demonstrated great potential in nasal drug delivery, increasing the absorption and the bioavailability of many drugs for systemic and nose-tobrain delivery. Furthermore, they act as an active component, i.e. an adjuvant, in nasal mucosal vaccinations, displaying the ability to induce robust mucosal immunity, high serum antibodies titres and a cellular immune response avoiding inflammatory response. Interestingly, nanoemulsions have not been proposed for the treatment of local ailments of the nose. Despite the promising results in vitro and in vitro, the application of nanoemulsions for nasal delivery in humans appears mainly hindered by the lack of detailed toxicology studies to determine the effect of these formulations on the nasal mucosa and cilia and the lack of extensive clinical trials

A mechanistic investigation of the ruthenium porphyrin catalysed aziridination of olefins by aryl azides

A combination of DFT and kinetic studies suggests a mechanism for olefin aziridination by organic azides catalysed by ruthenium porphyrins

Audio vs. Video: Does Viewing Support Learning? A Comparision of an Audio-Visual with an Auditory Virtual Lecture

Häufig wird behauptet, dass audiovisuelle Informationen gegenüber auditiven lernwirksamer sind. Dies wird meist mit der kognitiv-anregenden Funktion begründet, die der audiovisuellen Darstellung zugeschrieben wird. Bisherige empirische Arbeiten konnten das auch tendenziell bestätigen; allerdings beziehen sich diese Befunde überwiegend auf das video- oder fernsehgestützte Lernen, bei dem den Lernenden keine zusätzlichen textbasierten Informationen zur Verfügung stehen. Für den Bereich der virtuellen Vorlesung wurde noch nicht untersucht, ob sich eine audiovisuelle Präsentation des Vortragenden gegenüber einer rein auditiven Präsentation positiv auf den Lernerfolg auswirkt. In einer empirischen Studie mit 61 Versuchspersonen wurde daher Lernenden ein Ausschnitt aus einer Online-Vorlesung in zwei Variationen präsentiert. Während die eine Gruppe eine Lerneinheit bearbeitete, in der sie neben textbasierten Informationen eine Videosequenz (Aufnahme des Dozenten) präsentiert bekam, bearbeitete die zweite Gruppe die gleiche Lerneinheit; hier war jedoch nur die Stimme des Dozenten hörbar. In einem direkt anschließenden Wissens- und späteren Behaltenstest zeigten sich keine signifikanten Leistungsunterschiede zwischen den beiden Gruppen. Jedoch berichtete die Mehrheit der Versuchspersonen, dass sie die Videovariante für affektiv-unterstützender hält als die Tonvariante. (ZPID

Scanning Electron Microscope Cytochemistry of Blood Cells

The backscattered electron imaging (BEI) mode of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) has been applied to study various histo-cytochemical reactions in biological specimens since the early seventies. Due to numerous, recent technical improvements the BEI mode of SEM now belongs to the routine of many SEM laboratories. For cytochemistry, BEI has been mainly used to: visualize intracellular structures and organelles; recognize the different cell types in heterogeneous populations or tissues; study the correlations between enzymatic activities and cell surface features. We have evaluated the most relevant results obtained in the study of blood cells and the possible future applications of these techniques

Transport pathways of peroxyacetyl nitrate in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere from different monsoon systems during the summer monsoon season

The Asian summer monsoon involves complex transport patterns with large-scale redistribution of trace gases in the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere (UTLS). We employ the global chemistry–climate model ECHAM5–HAMMOZ in order to evaluate the transport pathways and the contributions of nitrogen oxide species peroxyacetyl nitrate (PAN), NO$_{χ}$ and HNO$_{3}$ from various monsoon regions, to the UTLS over southern Asia and vice versa. Simulated long-term seasonal mean mixing ratios are compared with trace gas retrievals from the Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding aboard ENVISAT(MIPAS-E) and aircraft campaigns during the monsoon season (June–September) in order to evaluate the model’s ability to reproduce these transport patterns. The model simulations show that there are three regions which contribute substantial pollution to the South Asian UTLS: the Asian summer monsoon (ASM), the North American monsoon (NAM) and the West African monsoon (WAM). However, penetration due to ASM convection reaches deeper into the UTLS compared to NAM and WAM outflow. The circulation in all three monsoon regions distributes PAN into the tropical latitude belt in the upper troposphere (UT). Remote transport also occurs in the extratropical UT where westerly winds drive North American and European pollutants eastward where they can become part of the ASM convection and lifted into the lower stratosphere. In the lower stratosphere the injected pollutants are transported westward by easterly winds. Sensitivity experiments with ECHAM5–HAMMOZ for simultaneous NO$_{χ}$ and nonmethane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs) emission change (-10 %) over ASM, NAM and WAM confirm similar transport. Our analysis shows that a 10% change in Asian emissions transports ~5–30 ppt of PAN in the UTLS over Asia, ~1–10 ppt of PAN in the UTLS of northern subtropics and mid-latitudes, ~7–10 ppt of HNO$_{3}$ and ~1–2 ppb of ozone in UT over Asia. Comparison of emission change over Asia, North America and Africa shows that the highest transport of HNO$_{3}$ and ozone occurs in the UT over Asia and least over Africa. The intense convective activity in the monsoon regions is associated with lightning and thereby the formation of additional NO$_{χ}$ . This also affects the distribution of PAN in the UTLS. Simulations with and without lightning show an increase in the concentrations of PAN (~40 %), HNO$_{3}$ (75%), NO$_{χ}$ (70 %) and ozone (30 %) over the regions of convective transport. Lightning-induced production of these species is higher over equatorial Africa and America compared to the ASM region. This indicates that the contribution of anthropogenic emissions to PAN in the UTLS over the ASM is higher than that of lightning

Multiresolution analysis of the two-dimensional free decaying turbulence in a pure electron plasma

The two-dimensional (2D) freely decaying turbulence is investigated experimentally in an electron plasma confined in a Malmberg\u2013Penning trap and studied using a wavelet-based multiresolution analysis. The coherent and incoherent parts of the flow are extracted using a recursive denoising algorithm with an adaptive self-consistent threshold. Only a small number of wavelet coefficients (but corresponding to the greatest part of the enstrophy or energy contents) turns out to be necessary to represent the coherent component. The remaining small amplitude coefficients represent the incoherent component, which is characterized by a near Gaussian vorticity PDF. Scale contributions to the measured enstrophy and energy distributions are inferred, and the results are compared with recent experiments and theoretical pictures of the 2D turbulence. The results suggest that the computational complexity of 2D turbulent flows may be reduced in simulations by considering only coherent structures interacting with a statistically modeled background

Excitation of the l=3 diocotron mode in a pure electron plasma by means of a rotating electric field

The l=3 diocotron mode in an electron plasma confined in a Malmberg–Penning trap has been resonantly excited by means of a rotating electric field applied on an azimuthally four-sectored electrode. The experimental observations are interpreted with a theory based on the linearization of the drift-Poisson equations and by means of two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. The experimental technique presented in this paper is able to selectively excite different diocotron perturbations and can be efficiently used for electron or positron plasma control and manipulation

La valutazione del Personale e il processo di incentivazione

Opera Omnia sulla Gestione contabile e finanziaria degli EE. LL

Mmot1, a New Helix-Loop-Helix Transcription Factor Gene Displaying a Sharp Expression Boundary in the Embryonic Mouse Brain

Several genetic factors have been proven to contribute to the specification of the metencephalic-mesencephalic territory, a process that sets the developmental foundation for prospective morphogenesis of the cerebellum and mesencephalon. However, evidence stemming from genetic and developmental studies performed in man and various model organisms suggests the contribution of many additional factors in determining the fine subdivision and differentiation of these central nervous system regions. In man, the cerebellar ataxias/aplasias represent a large and heterogeneous family of genetic disorders. Here, we describe the identification by differential screening and the characterization of Mmot1, a new gene encoding a DNA-binding protein strikingly similar to the helix-loop-helix factor Ebf/Olf1. Throughout midgestation embryogenesis, Mmot1is expressed at high levels in the metencephalon, mesencephalon, and sensory neurons of the nasal cavity. In vitro DNA binding data suggest some functional equivalence of Mmot1 and Ebf/Olf1, possibly accounting for the reported lack of olfactory or neural defects in Ebf −/− knockout mutants. The isolation of Mmot1 and of an additional homolog in the mouse genome defines a novel, phylogenetically conserved mammalian family of transcription factor genes of potential relevance in studies of neural development and its aberrations