Current Nanoscience - Volume 8, Issue 4, 2012

The past years have witnessed a persistent deterioration of sexual health, especially among young adults. The most concerning problems are sexually transmitted diseases and non-planned pregnancies that cost millions of dollars in healthcare. Sexually transmitted diseases are usually represented by cutaneous signs which may provide a portal of entry for the transmission of other infections, such as HIV. Skin is a widely Read More

Skin infection is a major cause of hospital admissions as well as causes significant morbidity. Normal human skin is fortunately endowed with its own arsenal of defence strategies to preclude the ingress of pathogenic microbes. However, certain conditions compromise the barrier integrity of skin and permit pathogens to invade the skin. Skin infections may be caused by bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites. Topical delivery is adv Read More

Microemulsions are nanosized thermodynamically stable transparent, single optically isotropic liquid systems of water, oil and surfactants. The thermodynamic stability, ease of production, high solubilization capacity and small droplet size made them ideal for transdermal drug delivery. Microemulsions can be prepared using various oils, surfactants and cosurfactants. This diversity in composition will affect the type of mi Read More

Dermatomycosis are fungal infections that involve the stratum corneum of the skin and the nails, hair, and surfaces of mucous membranes. Mycological infections represent important public health disorders, and their incidence has increased in recent years. This increase may result from a number of causes, such as an increase in the susceptible population, including the elderly and immunodeficient, and social and cultura Read More

It is known that nitric oxide (NO) exerts numerous physiological activities in mammals and it is considered a key mediator in many skin disorders. NO is synthesized in human skin cells where it regulates diverse physiological mechanisms such as dermal blood flow, wound healing, skin pigmentation, and aging. The great challenge of NO-based therapies is to preserve the biological activity of this ephemeral free radical. Read More

Despite the efficacy of topical retinoic acid, skin reactions have limited its acceptance by patients. Other retinoids, like Retinyl Palmitate (RP), are considerably less irritating, but they are also less effective. In order to enhance the performance of retinoids, in this work RP has been added to cosmetic formulations such as nanoemulsions, which can provide better penetration of this active substance. Because the vehicle can di Read More

Topical photodynamic therapy (PDT) has been applied to almost all types of nonmelanoma skin cancer and numerous superficial benign skin disorders. Strategies to improve the accumulation of photosensitizer in the skin have been studied in recent years. Although the hydrophilic phthalocyanine zinc compound, zinc phthalocyanine tetrasulfonate (ZnPcSO4) has shown high photodynamic efficiency and reduced pho Read More

Chitosan based novel occlusive bioadhesive system for prophylaxis and/or treatment of oral mucositis based on chitosan, suitable surfactants (Cetyl trimethylammonium bromide and Polyquaternium-1 (Polyquad®)) and Propolis ethanolic extract were developed and evaluated in this investigation. The positive synergy was observed combined the antifungal and antioxidant capacity of synthetic and natural biomaterials Read More

β-Galactosyl residues were covalently attached to modified 10 kDa polyethylenimine (PEI) derivatives and the conjugates were evaluated for cell type-specific effects on transfection efficiency and cytotoxicity. The PEI derivatives consisted of 10 kDa branched PEI, which has lower molecular weight and less cytotoxicity than the more widely used 25 kDa PEI, which was initially carboxyalkylated with three different alkyl chain le Read More

In this paper we have implemented the semi-empirical compact model for CNTFETs already proposed by us both in SPICE, using ABM library, and in Verilog-A in order to compare them. Typical analogue circuits and logic blocks have been simulated and results have been presented to validate the implementation of the proposed CNTFET model both in Verilog-A and in SPICE. The obtained results have been the same in static simula Read More

By a method that already has been introduced by Eliasi and Taeri, we computed the diameter of zigzag polyhex nanotubes. As a consequence of calculating, the reverse Wiener index and reciprocal complementary Wiener index of zigzag polyhex nanotorus were computed. We expressed the results in terms of Gamma function, to help us use the software to speed up calculations. Finally, we obtain these indices for some nume Read More

Enteric-coated guar gum microspheres of ornidazole aimed for colon drug delivery have been developed. The influence of core to coat ratio was investigated upon the encapsulation efficiency, swelling, weight loss and drug release behavior. The SEM was used to characterize the surface of these microspheres. Drug–polymer interactions were studied by differential scanning calorimetry and X-ray diffractometry. Enteric coati Read More

Nanosized Cr doped ZnO particles were synthesized by facile sol-gel method. The structural, optical and photocatalytic properties of the particles have been investigated by XRD, UV-Vis and FTIR spectroscopy at room temperature for 0%, 0.5%, 1%, 3% and 5% doping concentrations of Cr. X-ray diffraction analysis reveals that the Cr doped ZnO occurs in a single phase polycrystalline nature with wurtzite lattice. The average c Read More

The physical properties and performance of polymer matrix composites can be significantly improved by the addition of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as reinforcements. Nanocomposites formed from poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) and carboxylated multiwall CNTs (MWCNTs) have been recently fabricated in order to generate suitable implant materials for bone tissue engineering. Here, we reported the cellular reactions of osteo Read More

In the present research, the effect of citric acid amounts on the structural and magnetic properties of ferrite particles with a chemical composition of Ni0.4Cu0.2Zn0.4Fe2O4 has been evaluated. Molar ratios of metal nitrates to citric acid (MN: CA) were selected as 1:1 and 1:2. X-ray diffraction pattern confirmed the formation of the spinel phase. Thermal gravimetric analysis, differential thermal analysis, field emission scanning Read More

Chromium oxide nanoparticles (NPs) were rapidly synthesized by reduction of potassium dichromate solution with a Tridax procumbens leaf extract containing carbohydrates as a major component which act as reducing agent. The results indicated that watersoluble carbohydrates which have aldehyde group may cause the formation of Cr2O3 nanoparticles. The purification process of the Cr2O3 product does not require expen Read More

The Ag nanorods were prepared by a simple hydrothermal process, and no any harmful chemicals, templates or surfactants were used. The products were characterized in detail by multiform techniques: scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and energy-dispersive X-ray analysis. The results show that the products are Ag nanorods with diameters about 40-50 nm and lengths r Read More

In this study, different amounts of sol-gel derived strontium-containing bioactive glass nano-powders were added to hydroxyapatite to improve its mechanical properties. The bodies were sintered at 1000-1200 °C. Strontium was used in the bioglass composition for its stimulating effects on bone formation. XRD, SEM and microindentation methods were employed for phase analysis, microstructure observation and microhard Read More