Archaeosome: As New Drug Carrier for Delivery of Paclitaxel to Breast Cancer

In the present study, paclitaxel was archaeosomed to reduce side effects and improve its therapeutic index. Carriers have made a big evolution in treatment of many diseases in recent years. Lipid carriers are of special importance among carriers. Archaeosome is one of the lipid carriers. Paclitaxel is one of the drugs used to treat breast cancer which has some unwanted side effects despite its therapeutic effects. Archaeosomes were extracted from methanogenic archi bacteria and synthesized with a certain ratio of paclitaxel in PBS. The mean diameter of archaeosomal paclitaxel was measured by Zeta sizer instrument, Drug releasing of archaeosomal paclitaxel was examined within 26 h which results showed that the most drug releasing occurs during first 3 h. The cytotoxicity effect of archaeosomal paclitaxel on breast cancer’s cell line was evaluated by MTT assay which results showed that the cytotoxicity effect of archaeosomal paclitaxel on breast cancer’s cell line is more than that of the standard paclitaxel formulation. The results indicated that new drug delivery of paclitaxel using archaeosome, increases the therapeutic index of the drug.     

Effect of Sodium Chloride on Efficiency of Cisplatinum Dissolved in Dimethyl Sulfoxide: An In Vitro Study

Cisplatinum (Cispt) is an anti-cancer drug with a low level of solubility. One of Cispt’s solvents is dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) which can be substituted with chlorine of drug as Cispt’s solvent. Applying such a solvent in biological studies is impossible due to intense reduction in activity. On the other hand, it is specified that Cispt’s stability is increased in aqueous media by increasing sodium chloride (NaCl) concentration up to 0.9 %. Consequently, we intended to study the effect of DMSO on cytotoxicity of Cispt in presence of sodium. MTT assay was employed to study cytotoxicity effect of Cispt + NaCl + DMSO and Cispt + DMSO on G-292 cell line. Cytotoxicity in dilutions of 300 and 9 (p < 0.01) of Cispt in Cispt + NaCl + DMSO formulation was equal to 78 and 7 %. These values were estimated 79 and 18 % for Cispt + DMSO formulation and 79 and 24 % for free drug. IC50 values demonstrated reduction of 45 % in cytotoxicity of Cispt in Cispt + DMSO formulation. Studying chemical structure of Cispt and Cispt dissolved in DMSO showed that NaCl cannot inhibit inactivating effect of DMSO on Cispt and effect of this solvent on Cispt is independent from presence of NaCl. Results represented that using NaCl does not result in stability and keeping cytotoxicity properties of Cispt in DMSO. Findings suggest more studies for using DMSO as a solvent of Cispt.     

Is M-learning acceptance influenced by knowledge acquisition and knowledge sharing in developing countries?

Education and Information Technologies - Researchers have shown that knowledge acquisition and sharing have considerably influenced the acceptance of various technologies. However, there is a...     

Understanding key drivers affecting students’ use of artificial intelligence-based voice assistants

Education and Information Technologies - Artificial intelligence (AI)-based voice assistants have become an essential part of our daily lives. Yet, little is known concerning what motivates...     

Feedback-seeking behavior in second language writing: motivational mechanisms

Focused on the effects of different type of feedback on learners’ written products, research on written corrective feedback (WCF) has cast second language writers as passive recipients rather than proactive agents in the feedback process. Revisiting the notion of WCF, this study introduces the notion of feedback-seeking behavior (Ashford & Cummings, 1983) to the field of second language writing and examines its motivational mechanisms using Dweck’s (1999) theory of mindsets and an overarching cost-value analysis framework (e.g., Ashford & Cummings, 1983; Anseel et al., 2015). Questionnaire data were collected from 128 foreign language writers from a major public university in the United States. Multiple regression and mediation analyses showed that a growth language mindset predicted the value of feedback, which, in turn, was a strong predictor of both feedback monitoring and feedback inquiry. A fixed language mindset, on the other hand, predicted the cost of feedback seeking, which, in turn, negatively predicted feedback monitoring. The findings offer new venues for second language writing research and pedagogy.

     

The role of written formative feedback in inducing non-formal learning among masters students

This article adds to the existing literature on nonformal learning in education in general and the role played by written feedback in providing the space for such learning in particular. The study was conducted in an English as a Foreign Language context in which the participating students received written feedback on their English writings. Employing qualitative interviews and stimulated recall methodology, we explored interstudent interactions, cross-cultural understanding, and initiation into communities of practice, and categorized these as reactive and deliberative types of nonformal learning. Drawing upon Eraut's typology of nonformal learning, we would argue that formative written feedback provided on students' writings could lead to nonformal learning because it encourages them to act upon it.     

Citizens as consumers: Profiling e-government services’ users in Egypt via data mining techniques

This study uses data mining techniques to examine the effect of various demographic, cognitive and psychographic factors on Egyptian citizens’ use of e-government services. Data mining uses a broad family of computationally intensive methods that include decision trees, neural networks, rule induction, machine learning and graphic visualization. Three artificial neural network models (multi-layer perceptron neural network [MLP], probabilistic neural network [PNN] and self-organizing maps neural network [SOM]) and three machine learning techniques (classification and regression trees [CART], multivariate adaptive regression splines [MARS], and support vector machines [SVM]) are compared to a standard statistical method (linear discriminant analysis [LDA]). The variable sets considered are sex, age, educational level, e-government services perceived usefulness, ease of use, compatibility, subjective norms, trust, civic mindedness, and attitudes. The study shows how it is possible to identify various dimensions of e-government services usage behavior by uncovering complex patterns in the dataset, and also shows the classification abilities of data mining techniques.     

Cytotoxicity of Liposomal Paclitaxel in Breast Cancer Cell Line MCF-7

Regarding that the breast cancer is the most prevalent disease among women, paclitaxel, an anti-cancer drug, could be used in treatment of this disease. As paclitaxel has adverse effects, it was used of nanoliposome drug delivery technology in order to reduce adverse effects and improve drug efficacy. Certain ratios of phosphatidylcholine, cholesterol and paclitaxel were synthesized to prepare nanoliposomal paclitaxel. Using Zeta sizer device, the mean diameter of nanoliposomal paclitaxel was obtained 421.4 nm and its encapsulation efficiency was 91.3 %. By dialysis, drug release in nanoliposome paclitaxel formulation within 28 h was studied which was 5.53 %. This study showed that cytotoxicity effect of nanoliposomal paclitaxel is more than that of the standard form.