Analysis of submicron-sized niflumic acid crystals prepared by electrospray crystallization
Authors: Antoine E D M van der Heijden
Joop H Ter Horst
Tímea Szunyogh
Rita Ambrus
Piroska Szabó-Révész
Norbert Radacsi
Journal: Journal of pharmaceutical and biomedical analysis (2013)
Discipline: PHARMACOLOGY & TOXICOLOGY
Keywords: submicron-sized drug particles; nano size scale; drug formulation; low solubility; Biopharmaceutical Classification System

Abstract:  Interest in submicron-sized drug particles has emerged from both laboratory and industrial perspectives in the last decade. Production of crystals in the nano size scale offers a novel way to particles for drug formulation solving formulation problems of drugs with low solubility in class II of the Biopharmaceutical Classification System. In this work niflumic acid nanoparticles with a size range of 200-800nm were produced by the novel crystallization method, electrospray crystallization. Their properties were compared to those from evaporative and anti-solvent crystallizations, using the same organic solvent, acetone. There is a remarkable difference in the product crystal size depending on the applied methods. The size and morphology were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy and laser diffraction. The structure of the samples was investigated using differential scanning calorimetry, Fourier-transformed infrared spectroscopy and X-ray powder diffraction. The particles produced using electrospray crystallization process were probably changing from amorphous to crystalline state after the procedure. 

Retracted: No

PubPeer comments:
 All Western immunoblots in this article (Figure 2, 5 and 7) have the same background. Contrast enhancement is needed to observe the problem. This paper is apparently dead, scientifically speaking. ![file] ![file] ![file] , 
 #1 As Indigofera has noted, the  western blots here are all calligraphic brushstrokes drawn on multiple copies of the same background. Producing every band of every figure. ![file] ![file] Also of interest is the fact that the same identical recurring background and the same style of calligraphic blots also appear in [Liu et al (2020)] - e.g. Fig 1E at left here - despite the lack of overlap between the two lists of authors. ![file] Different authorship lists, unconnected institutions from different cities, but presenting blots with the same backgrounds. Can anyone help me understand this phenomenon? ![file] , 
 #1  Contrast enhancement is needed to observe the problem. Another clue to the presence of a problem might be the sight of the same shapes of protein blob in every band, whatever the molecular weight, however far the proteins have travelled across the gel, in every experiment. ![file] , 
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 This paper belongs to a set of over 400 papers (as per February 2020) that share very similar Western blots with tadpole-like shaped bands, the same background pattern, and striking similarities in title structures, paper layout, bar graph design, and - in a subset - flow cytometry panels. Despite these similarities, these papers are authored by researchers from different departments and institutes, with almost no overlap in authors. The list of these papers is available here: https: docs.google.com spreadsheets d 1KXqTAyl4j-jVorFPMD2XRpr76LcIKJ0CVyIvRj0exYQ edit?usp=sharing A more detailed description of this set of papers, suspected to all be generated by a common source, a paper mill , can be found here: * https: forbetterscience.com 2020 01 24 the-full-service-paper-mill-and-its-chinese-customers (January 2020) * https: scienceintegritydigest.com 2020 02 21 the-tadpole-paper-mill (February 2020) The same paper mill has been described in these papers: * Jana Christopher - Systematic fabrication of scientific images revealed - FEBS Letters (2018) - https: febs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com doi full 10.1002 1873-3468.13201 * Jennifer A Byrne and Jana Christopher - Digital magic, or the dark arts of the 21st centuryu2014how can journals and peer reviewers detect manuscripts and publications from paper mills? - FEBS Letters (2020) - https: febs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com doi full 10.1002 1873-3468.13747 , 
 Retracted (no dated Retraction Note yet): ------------------------------- The above article, published online on 30 December 2019 in Wiley Online Library , has been retracted by agreement between the the journal s Editor in Chief, Prof. Dr. Christian Behl, and Wiley Periodicals LLC. The retraction has been agreed following an investigation based on allegations raised by a third party. Several flaws and inconsistencies between results presented and experimental methods described were found, the editors consider the conclusions of this article to be invalid. The authors collaborated in the investigation initially, but were not available for a final confirmation of the retraction. ,