Here, a low cost high sensitive fiber optic Fabry–Pérot interferometer (FPI) acoustic sensor is developed. A novel polyvinyl chloride (PVC) diaphragm-based fiber-tip FPI is implemented for the sake of acoustic sensing with high sensitivity. The PVC diaphragm has been coated to the pigtail of a standard single-mode fiber (SMF). Subsequently, the multilayer graphene oxide (GO) is deposited on the PVC cavity. The configuration of (SMF + PVC + GO) attests a sensitivity higher than (SMF + PVC). In fact, GO acts as the acoustic membrane and PVC features as the cavity to demonstrate a sensitive FPI acoustic sensor. The results also give out the acoustic sensitivity of the (SMF + PVC + GO) sensor equivalent to 685 mV/Pa (19.9 rad/Pa) at 1 kHz and a 100 mPa pressure with a frequency response ranging 0.1–10 kHz.

Nowadays, finding a novel, effective, biocompatible, and minimally invasive cancer treatment is of great importance. One of the most promising research fields is the development of biocompatible photothermal nanocarriers. PTT (photothermal therapy) with an NIR (near-infrared) wavelength range (700–2000 nm) would cause cell death by increasing intercellular and intracellular temperature. PTT could also be helpful to overcome drug resistance during cancer treatments. In this study, an amine derivative of phospholipid poly ethylene glycol (DSPE-PEG (5000) amine) was conjugated with SWCNTs (single-walled carbon nanotubes) to reduce their intrinsic toxicity. Toxicity studies were performed on lung, liver, and ovarian cancer cell lines that were reported to show some degree of drug resistance to cisplatin. Toxicity results suggested that DSPE-PEG (5000) amine SWCNTs might be biocompatible photothermal nanocarriers in PTT. Therefore, our next step was to investigate the effect of DSPE-PEG (5000) amine SWCNT concentration, cell treatment time, and laser fluence on the apoptosis/necrosis of SKOV3 cells post-NIR exposure by RSM and experimental design software. It was concluded that photothermal efficacy and total apoptosis would be dose-dependent in terms of DSPE-PEG (5000) amine SWCNT concentration and fluence. Optimal solutions which showed the highest apoptosis and lowest necrosis were then achieved.

Here, nitrogen doped molybdenum disulfide quantum dots (N-MoS₂ QDs) are fabricated by making use of the pulsed laser ablation (PLA) process in liquid nitrogen (LN₂) as a dopant agent. In fact, LN₂ contributes the rapid condensation of the plasma plume to form MoS₂ QDs, optimizing the conditions for the synthesis of N-doped MoS₂ with p-type property. The structural/optical features of the synthesized products are studied using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), absorption spectroscopy, photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy techniques, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The TEM image shows the creation of MoS₂ QDs with 5.5 nm average size. UV-vis and PL spectroscopy confirm the formation of N-MoS₂ QDs according to the dominant peaks. The Tuck plot gives a direct band-gap of 4.34 eV for MoS₂ QDs. Furthermore, XPS spectroscopy reveals Mo-N bonding, indicating nitrogen doping as evidence of p-type MoS₂ QDs. Thus, PLA provides a single-stage way to the clean and green synthesis of the MoS₂ QDs suspension without a need for high vacuum devices and additional chemical components. Regarding the pristine MoS₂, the N-MoS₂ QDs benefit from a low overpotential of −0.35 V at −10 mA/cm² per µg alongside a low Tafel slope of 300 mV/dec. Subsequently, the lower R_ct value of N-MoS₂ QDs verifies the enhancement of the charge transfer kinetics mainly due to the elevated electronic conductivity. Furthermore, the quasi-rectangular cyclic voltammetry (CV) as well as the larger current window demonstrate a notable electrocatalytic activity. The former is based on the enhanced active sites in favor of N-MoS₂ QDs against other samples of interest. Thereby, it is discovered that the N-doped MoS₂ QD acts as an effective catalyst to notably improve the performance of the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER).

Background: Loading of poorly water-soluble drugs on the porous materials has attracted great interest as an effective approach for enhancement of dissolution rate of drugs. The Aerosil (Ae) with porous structure is expected to facilitate the dissolution of drugs which is generally associated with precipitation. Thus, the purpose of this investigation was thus to develop a formulation which combines a precipitation inhibitor and a poorly soluble drug loaded Ae. Methods: A poorly water-soluble drug, Cinnarizine (CNZ) was used as a model, and Eudragit L100 (Eu) was used as a precipitation inhibitor. Formulations were produced by solvent evaporation and characterized by FT-IR and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Dissolution experiments were carried out in phosphate buffer (pH 6.8) under non-sink conditions. Results: DSC thermograms revealed that no crystalline structure of CNZ was present in CNZ-loaded Ae formulations and no long-range order was arranged upon loading of CNZ into Ae. In dissolution test, the CNZ-loaded Ae physically blended with Eu achieved a remarkedly higher CNZ concentration over the plain CNZ and over the CNZ-Eu co-loaded Ae. The dissolution rate of CNZ from the CNZ-loaded Ae was enhanced with increasing Ae amount and the dissolution was maximum when the ratio of CNZ: Ae was 1:10 CNZ: Ae. In addition, the precipitation inhibition was increased when the amount of Eu was high. Conclusion: The results of this work revealed that the dissolution behaviour of CNZ-loaded Ae is enhanced by physically blending of Eu as a suitable precipitation inhibitor.