Mulch film to plastic debris: A survey of agricultural soils of Hebei Province, North China.

A significant amount of residual plastic film fragments (RPFF) accumulate in soil because of the widespread use and insufficient recycling of mulch films, substantially contaminating the ecosystem with plastic waste. However, information on RPFF abundance in agricultural soils that use long-term plastic film mulch is limited. In this study, 304 soil samples from 11 cities in Hebei Province, China, were used to examine the presence of RPFF in agricultural soils.

PEG-derivatized birinapant as a nanomicellar carrier of paclitaxel delivery for cancer therapy.

A novel triblock amphiphilic copolymer (PAL-PEG-Birinapant) was designed and synthesized as a dual-functional micellar carrier utilizing birinapant (an inhibitor of inhibitor-of-apoptosis proteins) as a pH-sensitive segment and inhibitor-of-apoptosis proteins-targeting ligand. The mixed micelles comprised of PAL-PEG-Birinapant (PPB) and mPEG2k-PDLLA2k (MPP), named as PPB/MPP (2/1,w/w) micelles were developed for enhanced solubility and antitumor potency of hydrophobic drugs as paclitaxel (PTX). In vitro cell viability and cytotoxicity studies revealed that the PTX-loaded PPB/MPP micelles were more potent than the commercial PTX formulation (Taxol), as well as the in vitro cell apoptosis study.