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Functional Bionanocomposite Fibers of Chitosan Filled with Cellulose Nanofibers Obtained by Gel Spinning
2021
Extremely high mechanical performance spun bionanocomposite fibers of chitosan (CHI), and cellulose nanofibers (CNFs) were successfully achieved by gel spinning of CHI aqueous viscous formulations filled with CNFs. The microstructural characterization of the fibers by X-ray diffraction revealed the crystallization of the CHI polymer chains into anhydrous chitosan allomorph. The spinning process combining acidic–basic–neutralization–stretching–drying steps allowed obtaining CHI/CNF composite fibers of high crystallinity, with enhanced effect at incorporating the CNFs. Chitosan crystallization seems to be promoted by the presence of cellulose nanofibers, serving as nucleation sites for the gr…
Realization of polyaspartamide-based nanoparticles and in vivo lung biodistribution evaluation of a loaded gucocorticoid after aerosolization in mice
2016
Abstract In this study, novel polymeric nanoparticles (NPs) were developed and their potential as carriers for beclomethasone dipropionate (BDP) into the lung after aerosolization was demonstrated by in vivo studies in mice. In particular, these NPs were obtained starting from two polyaspartamide-based copolymers which were synthesized by chemical reaction of α,β-poly(N-2-hydroxyethyl)- dl -aspartamide (PHEA) and its pegylated derivative (PHEA-PEG2000) with poly(lactic acid) (PLA). To obtain nanosized particles, the high pressure homogenization (HPH)—solvent evaporation method was followed by using an organic phase containing both PHEA-PLA and PHEA-PEG2000-PLA (at a weight ratio equal to 1:…
Regulatory networks underlying mycorrhizal development delineated by genome-wide expression profiling and functional analysis of the transcription fa…
2017
Background: Ectomycorrhizal (ECM) fungi develop a mutualistic symbiotic interaction with the roots of their host plants. During this process, they undergo a series of developmental transitions from the running hyphae in the rhizosphere to the coenocytic hyphae forming finger-like structures within the root apoplastic space. These transitions, which involve profound, symbiosis-associated metabolic changes, also entail a substantial transcriptome reprogramming with coordinated waves of differentially expressed genes. To date, little is known about the key transcriptional regulators driving these changes, and the aim of the present study was to delineate and functionally characterize the trans…
Polysarcosine-Based Lipids: From Lipopolypeptoid Micelles to Stealth-Like Lipids in Langmuir Blodgett Monolayers.
2016
Amphiphiles and, in particular, PEGylated lipids or alkyl ethers represent an important class of non-ionic surfactants and have become key ingredients for long-circulating (“stealth”) liposomes. While poly-(ethylene glycol) (PEG) can be considered the gold standard for stealth-like materials, it is known to be neither a bio-based nor biodegradable material. In contrast to PEG, polysarcosine (PSar) is based on the endogenous amino acid sarcosine (N-methylated glycine), but has also demonstrated stealth-like properties in vitro, as well as in vivo. In this respect, we report on the synthesis and characterization of polysarcosine based lipids with C14 and C18 hydrocarbon chains and their end g…
The effect of inbreeding rate on fitness, inbreeding depression and heterosis over a range of inbreeding coefficients
2014
Understanding the effects of inbreeding and genetic drift within populations and hybridization between genetically differentiated populations is important for many basic and applied questions in ecology and evolutionary biology. The magnitudes and even the directions of these effects can be influenced by various factors, especially by the current and historical population size (i.e. inbreeding rate). Using Drosophila littoralis as a model species, we studied the effect of inbreeding rate over a range of inbreeding levels on (i) mean fitness of a population (relative to that of an outbred control population), (ii) within‐population inbreeding depression (reduction in fitness of offspring fro…
Preparation of tungstophosphoric acid/cerium-doped NH2-UiO-66 Z-scheme photocatalyst: a new candidate for green photo-oxidation of dibenzothiophene a…
2021
International audience; The goal of this study was to introduce an effective visible-light induced photocatalytic system with a good ability for photocatalytic oxidative desulfurization (PODS) and denitrogenation (PODN) using molecular oxygen (O2) as an oxidant. In this regard, tungestophosphoric acid (PW12) was supported onto cerium-doped NH2-UiO-66 (PW12/Ce-NUiO-66) and employed for the photo-oxidation of dibenzothiophene (DBT) and quinoline (Qu). Herein, using cerium (Ce) as a “mediator” facilitated the separation of charge carriers, while NH2-UiO-66 remarkably enhanced the surface area with plentiful adsorption sites and shifted the adsorption edge of PW12to the visible region. The sum …
In Vitro Evaluation of Poly(lactide-co-glycolide) In Situ Forming Gels for Bedaquiline Fumarate Salt and Pharmacokinetics Following Subcutaneous Inje…
2021
This study evaluated in vitro and in vivo drug release of bedaquiline from in situ forming gels (ISGs) containing 200 mg eq./g bedaquiline fumarate salt prepared with four different grades of poly(d,l-lactide) (PDLLA) or poly(d,l-lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) with a lactide/glycolide ratio of 50/50 or 75/25 and acid (A) or ester (E) end-capping in N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone at a polymer/solvent ratio of 20/80% (w/w). Mean in vitro drug release in 0.05 M phosphate buffer pH 7.4 with 1% (w/v) sodium lauryl sulphate was 37.3, 47.1, 53.3, and 62.3% within 28 days for ISGs containing PLGA5050A, PDLLA, PLGA7525A, and PLGA7525E, respectively. The data suggested that drug release was primarily controlle…
Simple metal under tensile stress: layer-dependent herringbone reconstruction of thin potassium films on graphite
2014
While understanding the properties of materials under stress is fundamentally important, designing experiments to probe the effects of large tensile stress is difficult. Here tensile stress is created in thin films of potassium (up to 4 atomic layers) by epitaxial growth on a rigid support, graphite. We find that this “simple” metal shows a long-range, periodic “herringbone” reconstruction, observed in 2- and 3- (but not 1- and 4-) layer films by low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). Such a pattern has never been observed in a simple metal. Density functional theory (DFT) simulations indicate that the reconstruction consists of self-aligned stripes of enhanced atom density fo…
Protein recovery as a resource from waste specifically via membrane technology : from waste to wonder
2021
Economic growth and the rapid increase in the world population has led to a greater need for natural resources, which in turn, has put pressure on said resources along with the environment. Water, food, and energy, among other resources, pose a huge challenge. Numerous essential resources, including organic substances and valuable nutrients, can be found in wastewater, and these could be recovered with efficient technologies. Protein recovery from waste streams can provide an alternative resource that could be utilized as animal feed. Membrane separation, adsorption, and microbe-assisted protein recovery have been proposed as technologies that could be used for the aforementioned protein re…
Haptic Perception in Extreme Obesity: qEEG Study Focused on Predictive Coding and Body Schema
2020
Haptic perception (HP) is a perceptual modality requiring manual exploration to elaborate the physical characteristics of external stimuli through multisensory integrative cortical pathways. Cortical areas exploit processes of predictive coding that collect sensorial inputs to build and update internal perceptual models. Modifications to the internal representation of the body have been associated with eating disorders. In the light of this, obese subjects were selected as a valid experimental model to explore predictive coding in haptic perception. To this purpose, we performed electroencephalographic (EEG) continuous recordings during a haptic task in normally weighted versus obese subjec…