550 research outputs found
Albumin-heparin microspheres as carriers for cytostatic agents
Much work has been done on adriamycin-loaded albumin microspheres (Alb-MS) for chemoembolization [1–4], the rationale being that site-specific drug delivery may increase the therapeutic efficacy of the drug. Alb-Ms are being investigated because of their biocompatibility and because the degradation products of these microspheres are non-toxic. However, these microspheres have some disadvantages (i.e. drug loading during the microsphere preparation, low payloads, large burst effects). These disadvantages can be overcome by the incorporation of heparin (a highly negatively charged mucopolysaccharide). Albumin-heparin microspheres were prepared (i) by crosslinking of soluble albumin and heparin first using 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide (EDC) and subsequently glutaraldehyde (Alb-Hep-MS) and (ii) by crosslinking a preformed soluble conjugate of heparin and albumin with glutaraldehyde (Alb-Hep-Conj-MS). Albumin-heparin microspheres could be loaded with adriamycin after microsphere preparation giving payloads of 15–30%. Preliminary in vitro adriamycin release experiments showed that Alb-Hep-Conj-MS exhibit sustained release properties. Furthermore ion-exchange properties could be observed both with Alb-Hep-MS and Alb-Hep-Conj-MS. In vitro and in vivo toxicity experiments with Alb-Hep-MS showed no adverse effects
Adriamycin loading and release characteristics of albumin-heparin conjugate microspheres
Biodegradable ion-exchange microspheres, prepared from a prefabricated conjugate of albumin and heparin were investigated as carriers for adriamycin. The ion-exchange microspheres could be loaded with adriamycin giving payloads up to 33% w/w, depending on the heparin content of the conjugate. In vitro adriamycin release depended on the ionic strength of the release medium. In ion containing media, for instance saline, 90% of the drug was released within 45 min, whereas in non-ionic media, such as distilled water, only 30% was released. Drug release profiles could be modelled by combining ion-exchange kinetics and diffusion controlled drug release models
Preparation and characterization of albumin-heparin microspheres
Albumin-heparin microspheres were prepared by a two-step process which involved the preparation of a soluble albumin-heparin conjugate, followed by formation of microspheres from this conjugate or by a double cross-linking technique involving both coupling of soluble albumin and heparin and microsphere stabilization in one step. The first technique was superior since it allowed better control over the composition and the homogeneity of the microspheres. Microspheres could be prepared with a diameter of 5¿35¿m. The size could be controlled by adjusting the emulsification conditions. The degree of swelling of the microspheres was sensitive to external stimuli, and increased with increasing pH and decreasing ionic strength of the medium
Adriamycin-loaded albumin-heparin conjugate microspheres for intraperitoneal chemotherapy
Adriamycin-loaded albumin-heparin conjugate microspheres (ADR-AHCMS) were evaluated as possible intraperitoneal (i.p.) delivery systems for site-specific cytotoxic action. The biocompatibility of the microspheres after intraperitoneal injection was tested first. 1 day after i.p. administration of empty as well as drug-loaded AHCMS to male Balb/c mice, only a moderate increase in i.p. neutrophils was measured. 3 days after injection neutrophil levels were comparable with the controls. No significant increases in the numbers of other cell types were observed, indicating an acute inflammatory response which can be considered to be mild. Antitumour efficacy was tested in an L1210 tumour-bearing mouse model and in a CC531 tumour-bearing rat model. The use of ADR-AHCMS leads to longer survival times of mice and improved tumour growth delay in rats, as compared with untreated controls and free drug treated animals. In both animal models higher adriamycin doses were initially tolerated if the drug was formulated in microspheres, although long-term adriamycin toxicity effects were evident in all treated groups. Doses and dosage schedules may be optimized to further reduce the toxic effects of the drug
Steering effect on the shape of islands for homoepitaxial growth of Cu on Cu(100)
The steering effect on the growth of islands is investigated by combining
molecular dynamics (MD) and kinetic Monte Carlo (KMC) simulations. Dynamics of
depositing atoms and kinetics of atoms on a substrate are realized by MD and
KMC, respectively. The reported experimental results on the asymmetric island
growth [van Dijken {\it et al.}, Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 82}, 4038 (1999).] is
well reproduced. A salient phenomenon, the reversal of the asymmetry, is found
as the island size increases, and attributed to the asymmetric flux on the
lower terrace of island.Comment: 5 figur
Vaginal delivery and serum markers of ischemia/reperfusion injury
Objective: Vaginal deliveries have been associated with pelvic organ prolapse and incontinence. The objective was to show whether markers of ischemia/reperfusion injury are dependent upon the mode of delivery and length of labor. Method: Complete venipuncture sets were obtained on 62 subjects. All samples collected were analyzed for serum creatine phosphokinase (CPK) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH). Lipid peroxidation was analyzed, using thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS), on a subset of 37 patients. Results: There was a significant increase in CPK from admission to 1Â h postpartum and postpartum day 1 in vaginal delivery versus cesarean delivery. Longer second stages were associated with significant increases in CPK. There were no significant changes in either LDH or TBARS from admission to any other time point regardless of mode of delivery. Conclusion: Vaginal delivery and longer second stages were associated with a much greater increase in one of these injury markers.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/135489/1/ijgo96.pd
Mechanism of resonant x-ray magnetic scattering in NiO
We study the resonant x-ray magnetic scattering (RXMS) around the K edge of
Ni in the antiferromagnet NiO, by treating the 4p states of Ni as a band and
the 3d states as localized states. We propose a mechanism that the 4p states
are coupled to the magnetic order through the intra-atomic Coulomb interaction
between the 4p and the 3d states and through the p-d mixing to the 3d states of
neighboring Ni atoms. These couplings induce the orbital moment in the 4p band,
and thereby give rise to the RXMS intensity at the K edge in the dipolar
process. It is found that the spin-orbit interaction in the 4p band has
negligibly small contribution to the RXMS intensity. The present model
reproduces well the experimental spectra. We also discuss the azimuthal angle
dependence of the intensity.Comment: 10 pages (revtex) and 7 postscript figure
Annihilation Contributions in B -> K_1 gamma decay in next-to-leading order in LEET and CP-asymmetry
The effect of weak annihilation and u-quark penguin contribution on the
branching ratio B -> K_1 gamma at next-to-leading order of alpha_s are
calculated using LEET approach. It is shown that the value of LEET form factor
remains the same in the range of unitarity triangle phase alpha favored by the
Standard Model. CP-asymmetry for above mentioned decay has been calculated and
its suppression due to the hard spectator correction has also been
incorporated. In addition, the sensitivity of the CP-asymmetry on the
underlying parameters has been discussed.Comment: 12 pages, 10 figure
Polyphasic taxonomy of Aspergillus section Fumigati and its teleomorph Neosartorya
The taxonomy of Aspergillus section Fumigati with its
teleomorph genus Neosartorya is revised. The species concept is based
on phenotypic (morphology and extrolite profiles) and molecular
(β-tubulin and calmodulin gene sequences) characters in a polyphasic
approach. Four new taxa are proposed: N. australensis N. ferenczii, N.
papuaensis and N. warcupii. All newly described and accepted
species are illustrated. The section consists of 33 taxa: 10 strictly
anamorphic Aspergillus species and 23 Neosartorya species.
Four other Neosartorya species described previously were not
available for this monograph, and consequently are relegated to the category
of doubtful species
Production and Decay of D_1(2420)^0 and D_2^*(2460)^0
We have investigated and final states and
observed the two established charmed mesons, the with mass
MeV/c and width MeV/c and
the with mass MeV/c and width
MeV/c. Properties of these final states, including
their decay angular distributions and spin-parity assignments, have been
studied. We identify these two mesons as the doublet predicted
by HQET. We also obtain constraints on {\footnotesize } as a function of the cosine of the relative phase of the two
amplitudes in the decay.Comment: 15 pages in REVTEX format. hardcopies with figures can be obtained by
sending mail to: [email protected]
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