Physicochemical Characterization of the Particulate Matter in New Jersey/New York City Area, Resulting from the Canadian Quebec Wildfires in June 2023.

The global increase in wildfires, primarily driven by climate change, significantly affects air quality and health. Wildfire-emitted particulate matter (WFPM) is linked to adverse health effects, yet the toxicological mechanisms are not fully understood given its physicochemical complexity and the lack of spatiotemporal exposure data. This study focuses on the physicochemical characterization of WFPM from a Canadian wildfire in June 2023, which affected over 100 million people in the US Northeast, particularly around New Jersey/New York.

Dispersion and Dosimetric Challenges of Hydrophobic Carbon-Based Nanoparticles in In Vitro Cellular Studies.

Methodologies across the dispersion preparation, characterization, and cellular dosimetry of hydrophilic nanoparticles (NPs) have been developed and used extensively in the field of nanotoxicology. However, hydrophobic NPs pose a challenge for dispersion in aqueous culture media using conventional methods that include sonication followed by mixing in the culture medium of interest and cellular dosimetry. In this study, a robust methodology for the preparation of stable dispersions of hydrophobic NPs for cellular studies is developed by introducing continuous energy over time via stirring in the culture medium followed by dispersion characterization and cellular dosimetry.

Effective density of inhaled environmental and engineered nanoparticles and its impact on the lung deposition and dosimetry.

Background: Airborne environmental and engineered nanoparticles (NPs) are inhaled and deposited in the respiratory system. The inhaled dose of such NPs and their deposition location in the lung determines their impact on health. When calculating NP deposition using particle inhalation models, a common approach is to use the bulk material density, ρ, rather than the effective density, ρ.

Surface stabilization determines macrophage uptake, cytotoxicity, and bioactivity of curcumin nanocrystals.

Pharmaceutical nanocrystals represent a promising new formulation that combines the benefits of bulk crystalline materials and colloidal nanoparticles. To be applied in vivo, nanocrystals must meet several criteria, namely colloidal stability in physiological media, non-toxicity to healthy cells, avoidance of macrophage clearance, and bioactivity in the target tissue. In the present work, curcumin, a naturally occurring poorly water-soluble molecule with a broad spectrum of bioactivity has been considered a candidate substance for preparing pharmaceutical nanocrystals.

Antibiotic depot system with radiofrequency controlled drug release.

Drug depot systems have traditionally relied on the spontaneous dissolution and diffusion of drugs or prodrugs from a reservoir with constant exposure to the surrounding physiological fluids. While this is appropriate for clinical scenarios that require constant plasma concentration of the drug over time, there are also situations where multiple bursts of the drug at well-defined time intervals are preferred. This work presents a drug depot system that enables repeated on-demand release of antibiotics in precise doses, controlled by an external radiofrequency magnetic field.

Multilobed Magnetic Liposomes Enable Remotely Controlled Collection, Transport, and Delivery of Membrane-Soluble Cargos to Vesicles and Cells.

Lipid bilayers are the basic structural components of all living systems, forming the membranes of cells, sub-cellular organelles, and extracellular vesicles. A class of man-made lipidic vesicles called multilobed magnetic liposomes (MMLs) is reported in this work; these MMLs possess a previously unattained combination of features owing to their unique multilobe structure and composition. MMLs consist of a central cluster of lipid-coated magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles that lend them a magnetophoretic velocity comparable to the most efficient living microswimmers.

Investigation of tablet disintegration pathways by the combined use of magnetic resonance imaging, texture analysis and static light scattering.

Efficient tablet disintegration is a pre-requisite for fast and complete drug dissolution from immediate release formulations. While the overall tablet disintegration time is a routinely measured quality attribute of pharmaceutical products, little attention is usually paid to the analysis of disintegration fragments and the cascade of elementary steps that lead to their formation. In this work, we investigate the disintegration pathways of directly compressed tablets by a unique combination of three methods: (i) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), to gain insight into structural changes of tablets during disintegration; (ii) texture analysis, to measure the disintegration kinetics; and (iii) static light scattering, to characterise the size distribution of disintegration fragments.

Antibody-pHPMA functionalised fluorescent silica nanoparticles for colorectal carcinoma targeting.

The systemic application of highly potent drugs such as cytostatics poses the risks of side effects, which could be reduced by using a carrier system able to specifically deliver the encapsulated drug to the target tissue. Essential components of a nanoparticle-based drug delivery system include the drug carrier itself, a targeting moiety, and a surface coating that minimizes recognition by the immune system. The present work reports on the preparation, characterization and testing of a new delivery system consisting of fluorescent silica nanoparticles functionalised with a non-immunogenic stealth polymer poly(-(2-hydroxypropyl)methacrylamide) (pHPMA) and a monoclonal antibody IgG M75 that specifically binds to Carbonic Anhydrase IX (CA IX).