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Nanofibers, which are formed by the electrospinning process, are used in a variety of applications. For this purpose, a specific diameter suited for each application is required, which is achieved by varying a set of parameters. This parameter adjustment process is empirical and works by trial and error, causing high input costs and wasting time and financial resources. In this work, an artificial neural network model is presented to predict the diameter of polyethylene nanofibers, based on the adjustment of 15 parameters. The model was trained from 105 records from data obtained from the literature and was then validated with nine nanofibers that were obtained and measured in the laboratory. The average error between the actual results was 2.29%. This result differs from those taken in an evaluation of the dataset. Therefore, the importance of increasing the dataset and the validation using independent data is highlighted.

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Pluronic/lipid mix promises stealth liposomes with long circulation time and long-term stability for pharmaceutical applications. However, the influence of Pluronics on several aspects of lipid membranes has not been fully elucidated. Herein it was described the effect of Pluronics on the structured water, alkyl chain conformation, and kinetic stability of dimyristoylphosphatidylcholine (DMPC) liposomes using interfacial and deeper fluorescent probes along with computational molecular modeling data. Interfacial water changed as a function of Pluronics' hydrophobicity with polypropylene oxide (PPO) anchoring the copolymers in the lipid bilayer. Pluronics with more than 30-40 PO units had facilitated penetration at the bilayer while shorter PPO favored a more interfacial interaction. Low Pluronic concentrations provided long-term stability of vesicles by steric effects of polyethylene oxide (PEO), but high amounts destabilized the vesicles as a sum of water-bridge cleavage at the polar head group and the reduced alkyl-alkyl interactions among the lipids. The high kinetic stability of Pluronic/DMPC vesicles is a proof-of-concept of its advantages and applicability in nanotechnology over conventional liposome-based pharmaceutical products for future biomedical applications.

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In many ways, cancer cells are different from healthy cells. A lot of tactical nano-based drug delivery systems are based on the difference between cancer and healthy cells. Currently, nanotechnology-based delivery systems are the most promising tool to deliver DNA-based products to cancer cells. This review aims to highlight the latest development in the lipids and polymeric nanocarrier for siRNA delivery to the cancer cells. It also provides the necessary information about siRNA development and its mechanism of action. Overall, this review gives us a clear picture of lipid and polymer-based drug delivery systems, which in the future could form the base to translate the basic siRNA biology into siRNA-based cancer therapies.

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HYPOTHESIS: Cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) undergo precipitation in the presence of high concentrations of cationic surfactants in aqueous solutions. To avoid such behavior and/or to promote redispersion of CNC/surfactant mixtures, the CNC surface was grafted with poly di(ethylene oxide) methyl ether methacrylate, P(MEO2MA). EXPERIMENTS: CNC-g-P(MEO2MA) was characterized using the following techniques 13C solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (13C SSNMR), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy - attenuated total reflection spectroscopy (FTIR-ATR) and thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA). Isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC), electrophoretic mobility, light scattering and high sensitivity differential scanning calorimetry (HSDSC) were used to study the interaction between CNC-g-P(MEO2MA) and ionic surfactants, dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide (C12TAB, cationic) and sodium dodecylsulfate (SDS, anionic) at temperatures below and above the LCST. FINDINGS: CNC-g-P(MEO2MA) underwent phase separation above its lower critical solution temperature (LCST ∼ 25 °C) and precipitated from solution as seen by HSDSC and transmittance experiments. When C12TAB was added to CNC-g-P(MEO2MA) it induced the precipitation that prevented the redispersion due to strong electrostatic interactions with the negative charges on the CNC surface. With increasing concentrations of SDS, the polymer phase transition temperature was increased, which can be used to redisperse the CNC complexes. By removing SDS from the mixture via dialysis, the CNC-g-P(MEO2MA) underwent subsequent phase transition.

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In this paper, it is shown that pure chitosan nanofibers and films were prepared with success in 0.5 M acetic acid as solvent using poly (ethylene oxide) (PEO) at different yields, allowing electrospinning of the blends. After processing, a neutralization step of chitosan followed by water washing is performed, preserving the initial morphology of chitosan materials. The influence of the yield in PEO in the blend on the degree of swelling and hydrophilicity of films and nanofibers is demonstrated. Then, the mechanical behavior of blended nanofibers and films used as reference are determined for small stress applied in the linear domain by DMA and by uniaxial traction up to rupture. The dried and wet states are covered for the first time. It is shown that the mechanical properties are increased when electrospinning is performed in the presence of PEO up to a 70/30 chitosan/PEO weight ratio even after PEO extraction. This result can be explained by a better dispersion of the chitosan in the presence of PEO.

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In this work, Nevirapine (NVP) was encapsulated within three derivatives of poly(ethylene oxide)-poly(propylene oxide)-poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO-PPO-PEO) block copolymers (Tetronic(®) 904, 1107 and Pluronic(®) F127) with and without the addition of three pharmaceutical cosolvents (glycerin, propylene glycol and polyethylene glycol 400) over a wider range of concentrations (0-40% v/v). Also, we evaluated the effect of addition of the cosolvents on the micellar size as determined by dynamic light scattering (DLS) measurements and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The solubilization capacity of the systems was investigated by UV-spectrophotometry (282nm) and the systems stability was evaluated for 1 month at 25°C. Finally, oral bioavailability of the NVP-loaded micellar systems (2mg/mL) was assessed in male Wistar rats (8mg/kg) and compared with a pediatric commercially available formulation (Viramune(®)). The present study demonstrates that PEO-PPO-PEO polymeric micelles were able to enhance apparent aqueous solubility of NVP with the addition of cosolvents. Moreover, micellar nanocarriers significantly (p<0.05) improved the oral bioavailability of the drug versus Viramune(®). Overall results support the suitability of the strategy toward the development of an optimized NVP aqueous formulation to prevent HIV/AIDS mother-to-child transmission.

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