Electrospun microporous gelatin–polycaprolactone blend tubular scaffold as a potential vascular biomaterial

The work reported involved the fabrication of an electrospun tubular conduit of a gelatin and polycaprolactone (PCL) blend as an adventitia‐equivalent construct. Gelatin was included as the matrix for increased biocompatibility with the addition of PCL for durability. This is contrary to most of the literature available for biomaterials based on blends of gelatin and PCL where PCL is the major matrix. The work includes the assiduous selection of key electrospinning parameters to obtain smooth bead‐free fibres with a narrow distribution of pore size and fibre diameter. Few reports elucidate the optimization of all electrospinning parameters to fabricate tubular conduits with a focus on obtaining homogeneous pores and fibres. This stepwise investigation would be unique for the fabrication of gelatin–PCL electrospun tubular constructs. The fabricated microfibrous gelatin–PCL constructs had pores of size ca 50–100 μm reportedly conducive for cell infiltration. The measured value of surface roughness of 57.99 ± 17.4 nm is reported to be favourable for protein adhesion and cell adhesion. The elastic modulus was observed to be similar to that of the tunica adventitia of the native artery. Preliminary in vitro and in vivo biocompatibility tests suggest safe applicability as a biomaterial. Minimal cytotoxicity was observed using MTT assay. Subcutaneous implantation of the scaffold demonstrated acute inflammation which decreased by day 15. The findings of this study could enable the fabrication of smooth bead‐free microfibrous gelatin–PCL tubular construct as viable biomaterial which can be included in a bilayer or a trilayer scaffold for vascular tissue engineering. © 2019 Society of Chemical Industry     

Isolation of antimicrobial agent from the marine algae Cystoseira hakodatensis

Cystoseira hakodatensis is an unutilised brown algae belonging to family Sargassaceae. A crude methanol extract from the algae showed inhibitory effects on the growths of Bacillus cereus and Bacillus licheniformis. To isolate the major antimicrobial agent, a sequential active‐guided isolation procedure was applied: liquid–liquid extraction, column chromatography and bio‐autography. A marked antimicrobial agent (active α) was isolated in hydrophobic fraction and was determined to phenolics without carbohydrates and proteins by phytochemical test. Regarding the antimicrobial potential, the isolated active α showed better inhibitory effects against B. cereus and B. licheniformis at 2 and 4 times of lower concentrations (62.5 and 31.3 μg mL^?1) in comparison with epigallocatechin gallate. These results showed that C. hakodatensis is a potential source of antimicrobial agent capable of preventing the growth of the two bacteria.     

Stream-Based Data Sampling Mechanism for Process Object

Process object is the instance of process. Vertexes and edges are in the graph of process object. There are different types of the object itself and the associations between object. For the large-scale data, there are many changes reflected. Recently, how to find appropriate real-time data for process object becomes a hot research topic. Data sampling is a kind of finding c hanges o f p rocess o bjects. There i s r equirements f or s ampling to be adaptive to underlying distribution of data stream. In this paper, we have proposed a adaptive data sampling mechanism to find a ppropriate d ata t o m odeling. F irst o f all, we use concept drift to make the partition of the life cycle of process object. Then, entity community detection is proposed to find changes. Finally, we propose stream-based real-time optimization of data sampling. Contributions of this paper are concept drift, community detection, and stream-based real-time computing. Experiments show the effectiveness and feasibility of our proposed adaptive data sampling mechanism for process object.     

Enhanced photoreactivity of MOFs by intercalating interlayer bands via simultaneous ?NCO and ?SCu modification

Herein, we propose a novel method to enhance the photoreactivity of an MOF catalyst by grafting isocyanate bonds ( NCO) and sulfhydryl-complexed copper ( SCu) onto ZIF-8 (NIF-SCu). The grafting process intercalated interlayer bands between the conduction and valence bands of ZIF-8, thereby providing a “ladder” for facile electron transition. The extreme improvement in the photoreactivity of NIF-SCu could be attributed to the enhancement in light responses in the range of 350–450 nm by  NCO groups and the widening of the visible light range of the MOF by  SCu groups. The formation of staggered energy levels in NIF-SCu could also narrow the band gap, lower the resistance, and facilitate the transfer of photogenerated carriers, thereby generating electrons with strong reduction potential in the  SCu conduction band. This study provides a new strategy for improving or even endowing the photoactivity of environmental functional materials with wide bandgaps.     

The impacts of cattle access points on deposited sediment levels in headwater streams in Ireland

Cattle access to streams has been linked globally with degradation of stream water quality, driven largely by bank erosion and resultant instream, fine sediment deposition. The majority of evidence on such effects is however based in arid and semiarid regions of the United States and Australia, with few studies relating to cool temperate climates such as Northwest Europe. In this study, “Quorer” resuspendable sediment samples were taken from riffle geomorphic units upstream (control) and at two points downstream (pressure and recovery) of cattle access points in headwater streams in agricultural catchments in Ireland to assess levels of deposited stream sediment. Samples were taken in April/May (2016) prior to the grazing season and in October (2016) at the end of the grazing season. Sites in good‐high ecological status catchments and less than good ecological status catchments were included in the study. Higher levels of sediment were found downstream of cattle access points in both good‐high status and less than good status catchments; however, the impacts of access points were spatially confined to, in most cases, the area immediately downstream of the point of access. There was a strong correlation between deposited sediment mass and organic matter (OM) mass, with levels of OM increasing linearly with deposited sediment mass. Levels of measured sediment were negatively correlated with riparian habitat health (measured using a qualitative habitat assessment). The results of this study highlight the need for measures to prevent cattle access to headwater streams where access points can be many in order to manage local habitat quality and downstream water quality issues.