Enhanced chondrogenic differentiation of human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells on PCL/PLGA electrospun with different alignments and compositions

The simultaneous effect of electrospun scaffold alignment and polymer composition on chondrogenic differentiation of human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (hBMMSC) is investigated. Aligned and randomly oriented polycaprolactone/poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) hybrid electrospun scaffolds with two different ratios are fabricated by electrospinning. It is found that aligned nanofibrous scaffolds support higher chondrogenic differentiation of hBMMSCs compared to random ones. The aligned scaffolds show a higher expression level of chondrogenic markers such as type II collagen and aggrecan. It is concluded that the aligned nanofibrous scaffold with higher PLGA ratio could significantly enhance hBMMSC proliferation and differentiation to chondrocytes.     

Production of pure protein and antibodies and development of immunoassays to detect Ara h 3 levels in peanut varieties

Peanuts are one of the most allergenic foods and are widespread in western food products. Therefore, there has been intense research into the allergic nature of the proteins involved. Ara h 3 is one of three immunodominant allergenic proteins. It is a 60‐kDa protein, which forms following cleavage of the preprotein and association of the resultant 40‐ and 20‐kDa subunits. The large subunit has been shown to harbour most of the reactive epitopes and has the protein fold likely responsible for its trypsin inhibitor activity. In this work, we have developed a method for the high‐level expression and purification of recombinant Ara h 3 40‐kDa subunit. Specific antibodies have been produced and applied to the secondary and tertiary screens of hundreds of peanut cultivars. Several of these cultivars were identified that have significantly reduced accumulation of Ara h 3.     

G-C3N4 nanosheets adhered with Ag3BiO3 and carbon dots with appreciably promoted photoactivity towards elimination of several contaminants

Herein, graphitic carbon nitride nanosheets (signified as CN-NS) were anchored with Ag₃BiO₃ and carbon dots (abbreviated as CDs) by hydrothermal procedure with appreciably promoted photoactivity towards elimination of several contaminants. The CN-NS/CDs/Ag₃BiO₃ (30%) system, as optimal photocatalyst, demonstrated extremely high elimination efficiency for several pollutants such as methylene blue (MB), malachite green (MG), Rhodamine B (RhB), and methyl orange (MO) under visible light, which is 55.5, 36.5, 39.2, and 32.1 folds premier than CN material, respectively. Besides, PL, EIS, and transient photocurrent response data corroborated that the CN-NS/CDs/Ag₃BiO₃ (30%) material has the highest charge carriers segregation efficiency compared with the pure and binary systems. Energy band structure analysis demonstrated that the improved performance of CN-NS/CDs/Ag₃BiO₃ photocatalyst is allocated to Z-scheme heterojunction. Scavenging tests demonstrated that h⁺, ^?OH, and ^?O₂^? are the crucial species in the RhB degradation. Enhancement of elimination ability can be allocated to more generation of the charge carries and improvement of the segregation rate of them promoted through the Z-scheme mechanism.     

The effect of renewable energy and urbanization on CO2 emissions: A panel data

Europe has experienced fast-paced urbanization development over the past three decades. This paper empirically investigates the long-run equilibrium relationships and causal relationships among urbanization, renewable energy consumption, and CO₂ emissions, and this is important for EU countries’ future sustainable development. DOLS and FMOLS approaches are used for the period 1992–2014 .

Granger causality results show that there is a unidirectional relationship from CO₂ emissions to urbanization, and there is no causality between renewable energy consumption and CO₂ emissions. The results have important implications for EU policymakers on the path toward a sustainable society. Urbanization can have negative impacts on the natural environment with the net effect being hard in EU countries.     

The renewable energy,CO2 emissions,and economic growth: VAR model

This paper provides an empirical analysis of CO₂ emissions and economic growth, renewable energy consumption, and energy consumption over the period 1975–2014 in Germany. This paper uses the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) approach of cointegration test and vector error-correction models. The unit root and cointegration tests show that the long-run relationship between CO₂ emissions and its determinants. The empirical results show that the findings do not support the environmental Kuznets curve between real GDP and CO₂ emissions. To estimate the shocks of renewable energy consumptions, the study applies the dynamic test of Impulse Response Function (IRF) under the VAR method. The increasing portion of renewable energy consumption in electricity generation would have no impacts on the environment. However, the hikes of renewable energy sources would incur more cost to electricity producers and shrivel up the growth of economies through the expansionary effect of industry’s consumption and private capital spending in the Germany’s economy.     

Effect of BCD Plasma on a Bacteria Cell Membrane

Cell membrane rupture is considered to be one of the probable mechanisms for bacterial inactivation using barrier corona discharge (BCD) plasma. In this paper, the effect of the BCD plasma on the Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria cell wall was investigated through two analytical methods; Adenosine-5-triphosphate (ATP) assay and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). The ATP assay results indicate an increase in the ATP content of samples which were exposed to the BCD plasma. This implies the bacteria cell rupture. Moreover, AFM images confirm a serious damage of the bacteria cell wall under the influence of the bactericidal agents of the plasma.     

The effect of isopropanol addition on enhancement of transdermal controlled release of ibuprofen from ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer membranes

This work reports the study of the addition of isopropanol on controlled release of ibuprofen from ethylene vinyl acetate (EVAc) copolymer membranes. An EVAc solution in cyclohexane (4% w/v) containing triethyl citrate (7% w/v) as plasticizer was mixed with ibuprofen at three different concentrations of 4, 6, and 8%. Isopropanol was mixed with each of the previous mixtures to form solutions of 1, 3, and 5% isopropanol concentrations. Samples were solvent cast on glass petri‐dishes to form membranes. Home‐made diffusion cells were used for in vitro study. These cells were composed of two compartments, donor (exposed to ambient conditions), and receptor (including buffer solution maintained at 37°C). Each cell was equipped with a sampling port and water in and out system. An ultraviolet spectrometer at 222 nm was used to measure release rates of obtained membranes. The diffusion mechanism for drug release was examined by zero‐order, first‐order, Higuchi and Korsmeyer‐Peppas theories to confirm the obtained membranes follow the matrix‐type system. By increasing the drug concentration from 4 to 8%, drug release (cumulative amount) was improved from 20 (47.5%) to 30 (36%) μg/cm² after 24 h. Addition of 5% isopropanol to the above samples (4 and 8% loading) further increased drug release to 24 and 43 μg/cm². Results were in good agreement with the Korsmeyer‐Peppas theory for samples with 4 (% w/w) of ibuprofen. The highest percentage of drug release after 24 h was 59% for the sample with 4% drug loading compared to 50% for the sample with 8% drug loading, both with 5% isopropanol. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011     

Thermo-responsive nanocarrier based on poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) serving as a smart doxorubicin delivery system

Iranian Polymer Journal - Smart temperature- and pH-responsive nanocarriers could be considered as potent vehicle in drug delivery systems. By this means, a thermo-responsive polymeric nanocarrier...