Preparation of Pure Uranium,Thorium, and Yttrium Oxides from El-Garra El-Hamra Sulfate Leach Liquor

Radiochemistry - The study deals with separation of uranium, thorium, and yttrium with highest possible purity from El-Garaa El-Hamara sulfate leach liquor. From the latter, almost complete...     

Fatal Attraction: How Bacterial Adhesins Affect Host Signaling and What We Can Learn from Them

The ability of bacterial species to colonize and infect host organisms is critically dependent upon their capacity to adhere to cellular surfaces of the host. Adherence to cell surfaces is known to be essential for the activation and delivery of certain virulence factors, but can also directly affect host cell signaling to aid bacterial spread and survival. In this review we will discuss the recent advances in the field of bacterial adhesion, how we are beginning to unravel the effects adhesins have on host cell signaling, and how these changes aid the bacteria in terms of their survival and evasion of immune responses. Finally, we will highlight how the exploitation of bacterial adhesins may provide new therapeutic avenues for the treatment of a wide range of bacterial infections.     

Macrophage Immunomodulation Through New Polymers that Recapitulate Functional Effects of Itaconate as a Power House of Innate Immunity

Itaconate (ITA) is an emerging powerhouse of innate immunity with therapeutic potential that is limited in its ability to be administered in a soluble form. A library of polyester materials that incorporate ITA into polymer backbones resulting in materials with inherent immunoregulatory behavior is developed. Harnessing hydrolytic degradation release from polyester backbones, ITA polymers result in the mechanism specific immunoregulatory properties on macrophage polarization in vitro. In a functional assay, the polymer-released ITA inhibits bacterial growth on acetate. Translation to an in vivo model of biomaterial associated inflammation, intraperitoneal injection of ITA polymers demonstrate a rapid resolution of inflammation in comparison to a control polymer silicone, demonstrating the value of sustained biomimetic presentation of ITA.     

Polymers dynamics of the nonfluoro,nano-brush repelling agent with self-stratifying property in water-based coatings

While perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs), also known as C8s, are used extensively in textile repellent coatings, concerns have arisen for their carcinogenicity and hazardous effects on the environment. In this study, a novel water-based, nonfluoro, and nanobrush textile repelling agent was prepared by conventional sol–gel chemistry using amorphous fumed silica and n-octyltriethoxysilane as the starting materials. Minimal interaction between the designed repelling agent and marketed water-based resins was confirmed using linear viscosity region (LVR) analysis and asymmetric-flow field-flow fractionation (AF4), suggesting the self-stratification potential of the repelling agent. More specifically, the repelling agent exhibited excellent compatibility and self-stratifying ability with a force-emulsified acrylic-based resin, affording a water contact angle of 104.3° when incorporated at 7% solid content. Performance tests carried out on thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) revealed excellent adhesion (100/100) of a final formulation, and a significant increase in water contact angle from 80.1° to 103.8° after treatment. In addition, the fouling area after the removal of a submerged sample from a mixture of slurry, polymer, and oil decreased from 48 to 1% when the repelling agent was added. Moreover, the sludge-fouling property remained unchanged after 1000 cycles of abrasion. These findings demonstrate the potential of the described nonfluoro, nanobrush repelling agent as an environmentally safe alternative for use with commercial resins, in turn realizing a fully water-based hydrophobic coating. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019 , 136, 48003.     

Quantum Sensing in a Physiological‐Like Cell Niche Using Fluorescent Nanodiamonds Embedded in Electrospun Polymer Nanofibers

Fluorescent nanodiamonds (fNDs) containing nitrogen vacancy (NV) centers are promising candidates for quantum sensing in biological environments. This work describes the fabrication and implementation of electrospun poly lactic‐co‐glycolic acid (PLGA) nanofibers embedded with fNDs for optical quantum sensing in an environment, which recapitulates the nanoscale architecture and topography of the cell niche. A protocol that produces uniformly dispersed fNDs within electrospun nanofibers is demonstrated and the resulting fibers are characterized using fluorescent microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Optically detected magnetic resonance (ODMR) and longitudinal spin relaxometry results for fNDs and embedded fNDs are compared. A new approach for fast detection of time varying magnetic fields external to the fND embedded nanofibers is demonstrated. ODMR spectra are successfully acquired from a culture of live differentiated neural stem cells functioning as a connected neural network grown on fND embedded nanofibers. This work advances the current state of the art in quantum sensing by providing a versatile sensing platform that can be tailored to produce physiological‐like cell niches to replicate biologically relevant growth environments and fast measurement protocols for the detection of co‐ordinated endogenous signals from clinically relevant populations of electrically active neuronal circuits.