Safely dissolvable and healable active packaging films based on alginate and pectin

Extensive usage of long-lasting petroleum based plastics for short-lived application such as packaging has raised concerns regarding their role in environmental pollution. In this research, we have developed active, healable, and safely dissolvable alginate-pectin based biocomposites that have potential applications in food packaging. The morphological study revealed the rough surface of these biocomposite films. Tensile properties indicated that the fabricated samples have mechanical properties in the range of commercially available packaging films while possessing excellent healing effciency. Biocomposite films exhibited higher hydrophobicity properties compared to neat alginate films. Thermal analysis indicated that crosslinked biocomposite samples possess higher thermal stability in temperatures below 120 °C, while antibacterial analysis against E. coli and S. aureus revealed the antibacterial properties of the prepared samples against different bacteria. The fabricated biodegradable multi-functional biocomposite films possess various imperative properties, making them ideal for utilization as packaging material

Towards Translational ImmunoPET/MR Imaging of Invasive Pulmonary Aspergillosis: The Humanised Monoclonal Antibody JF5 Detects Aspergillus Lung Infections In Vivo

This is the final published versionAvailable from Ivyspring International Publisher via the DOI in this recordInvasive pulmonary aspergillosis (IPA) is a life-threatening lung disease of hematological malignancy and bone marrow transplant patients caused by the ubiquitous environmental fungus Aspergillus fumigatus. Current diagnostic tests for the disease lack sensitivity as well as specificity, and culture of the fungus from invasive lung biopsy, considered the gold standard for IPA detection, is slow and often not possible in critically ill patients. In a previous study, we reported the development of a novel non-invasive procedure for IPA diagnosis based on antibody-guided positron emission tomography and magnetic resonance imaging (immunoPET/MRI) using a [64Cu]DOTA-labeled mouse monoclonal antibody (mAb), mJF5, specific to Aspergillus. To enable translation of the tracer to the clinical setting, we report here the development of a humanised version of the antibody (hJF5), and pre-clinical imaging of lung infection using a [64Cu]NODAGA-hJF5 tracer. The humanised antibody tracer shows a significant increase in in vivo biodistribution in A. fumigatus infected lungs compared to its radiolabeled murine counterpart [64Cu]NODAGA-mJF5. Using reverse genetics of the pathogen, we show that the antibody binds to the antigenic determinant 1,5-galactofuranose (Galf) present in a diagnostic mannoprotein antigen released by the pathogen during invasive growth in the lung. The absence of the epitope Galf in mammalian carbohydrates, coupled with the enhanced imaging capabilities of the hJF5 antibody, means that the [64Cu]NODAGA-hJF5 tracer developed here represents an ideal candidate for the diagnosis of IPA and translation to the clinical setting.This work was supported by the European Union Seventh Framework Programme FP7/2007-2013 under Grant 602820, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Grant WI3777/1-2 to SW), and the Werner Siemens Foundation. We thank Sven Krappman for use of the A. fumigatustdTomato strain, and acknowledge the Imaging Centre Essen (IMCES) for assistance with optical imaging of lungs

An excitable Rho GTPase signaling network generates dynamic subcellular contraction patterns

Rho GTPase-based signaling networks control cellular dynamics by coordinating protrusions and retractions in space and time. Here, we reveal a signaling network that generates pulses and propagating waves of cell contractions. These dynamic patterns emerge via self organization from an activator-inhibitor network, in which the small GTPase Rho amplifies its activity by recruiting its activator, GEF-H1. Rho also inhibits itself by local recruitment of acto myosin and the associated RhoGAP Myo9b. This network structure enables spontaneous, self limiting patterns of subcellular contractility that can explore mechanical cues in the extracellular environment. Indeed, acto-myosin pulse frequency in cells is altered by matrix elasticity, showing that coupling of contractility pulses to environmental deformations modulates network dynamics. Thus, our study reveals a mechanism that integrates intracellular biochemical and extracellular mechanical signals into subcellular activity patterns to control cellular contractility dynamics

Raw SEM data

Raw SEM images of electrospun A) neat PU, B) PU/1CNTs, C) PU/2.5CNTs, D) PU/5CNTs, E) PU/7.5CNTs and F) PU/10CNTs mats

Preparation of internally-crosslinked alginate microspheres: Optimization of process parameters and study of pH-responsive behaviors

In this study, the effects of various parameters of the water-in-oil emulsification/internal gelation method on the properties of calcium-alginate microparticles were evaluated and optimized. Results showed that the spherical-shaped microparticles with the highest circularity and high production yield can be produced by alginate solution with a concentration of 2 wt., calcium carbonate/alginate ratio of 10/1 (w/w), water/oil volume ratio of 1/20, emulsifier concentration of 5 (v/v), and emulsification speed of 1000 rpm. Two model drugs including simvastatin lactone and simvastatin β-hydroxyacid were loaded into the microspheres with promising encapsulation efficiencies of 73 and 69 , respectively. The microspheres showed a pH-responsive swelling behavior with a percentage of 10.60 , 352.65 , 690.03 , and 1211.46 at the pH values of 2.0, 4.5, 7.4, and 8.5, respectively. The microspheres showed an increasing trend of release rate in direct proportion to pH. These findings would be useful for therapeutic applications which need pH-responsive drug carriers. © 2020 Elsevier Lt

Effect of Oil Gravity and Pore Volume Injected (PVI) of Steam to PVI of Foam During Enhanced Oil Recovery by Steam-CO2-Foam Flooding

Abstract In spite of CO2mobility reduction during CO2and surfactant solution co-injection, CO2-foam flooding in heavy oil reservoirs has relatively poor sweep efficiency due to the high viscosity the oil. Therefore, reducing the oil viscosity is necessary to improve CO2-foam sweep efficiency. For this reason, steam is injected initially during steam-CO2-foam flooding to reduce oil viscosity. Displacement process is followed using CO2and surfactant solution co-injection. In our previous experimental study, in order to highlight the potential of steam-CO2-foam flooding, three different oil recovery experiments were conducted using medium heavy crude oil (19 °API), including CO2-foam flooding after water flooding, CO2-foam flooding and steam-CO2-foam flooding. The results showed that steam-CO2-foam flooding increases oil recovery dramatically by simultaneous mechanisms such as oil viscosity reduction by steam, CO2dissolution in oil and emulsification by steam and surfactant. Furthermore, the effect of high surfactant concentration slug injection on steam-CO2-foam flooding performance was investigated. The results showed that slug causes the formation of viscous micro emulsions in front of CO2-foam flood and improves CO2-foam sweep efficiency. In this paper, the effects of oil gravity and pore volume injected (PVI) of steam to PVI of foam on the oil recovery during steam-CO2-foam flooding have been studied. The experiments are conducted using heavy oil (12 °API) and sand pack models under reservoir conditions of 1550 psi and 131°F. In order to investigate the effect of PVI of steam/PVI of foam ratio on the oil recovery, three different oil recovery scenarios have been conducted using heavy crude oil, including CO2-foam flooding only, steam-CO2-foam flooding including 0.14 PVI of steam/PVI of foam ratio and steam-CO2-foam flooding including 0.34 PVI of steam/PVI of foam ratio. The results show that in spite of decreasing oil recovery by decreasing API gravity of the oil during steam-CO2-foam flooding, increasing PVI of steam improves oil recovery. The steam-CO2-foam flooding process has the following benefits. (1) Combination of steam injection and CO2-foam flooding as a novel enhanced oil recovery (EOR) method to achieve favorable oil recovery. (2) The applicability of this EOR method in heavy and medium heavy oil reservoirs.</jats:p

A hydrogel–fiber–hydrogel composite scaffold based on silk fibroin with the dual‐delivery of oxygen and quercetin

Supplying sufficient oxygen within the scaffolds is one of the essential hindrances in tissue engineering that can be resolved by oxygen-generating biomaterials (OGBs). Two main issues related to OGBs are controlling oxygenation and reactive oxygen species (ROS). To address these concerns, we developed a composite scaffold entailing three layers (hydrogel-electrospun fibers-hydrogel) with antioxidant and antibacterial properties. The fibers, the middle layer, reinforced the composite structure, enhancing the mechanical strength from 4.27 ± 0.15 to 8.27 ± 0.25 kPa; also, this layer is made of calcium peroxide and silk fibroin (SF) through electrospinning, which enables oxygen delivery. The first and third layers are physical SF hydrogels to control oxygen release, containing quercetin (Q), a nonenzymatic antioxidant. This composite scaffold resulted in almost more than 40 mmHg of oxygen release for at least 13 days, and compared with similar studies is in a high range. Here, Q was used for the first time for an OGB to scavenge the possible ROS. Q delivery not only led to antioxidant activity but also stabilized oxygen release and enhanced cell viability. Based on the given results, this composite scaffold can be introduced as a safe and controllable oxygen supplier, which is promising for tissue engineering applications, particularly for bone

Fuel consumption assessment of an electrified powertrain with a multi-mode high-efficiency engine in various levels of hybridization

© 2017 Elsevier Ltd Powertrain electrification including hybridizing advanced combustion engines is a viable cost-effective solution to improve fuel economy of vehicles. This will provide opportunity for narrow-range high-efficiency combustion regimes to be able to operate and consequently improve vehicle\u27s fuel conversion efficiency, compared to conventional hybrid electric vehicles. Low temperature combustion (LTC) engines offer the highest peak brake thermal efficiency (BTE) reported in literature, but these engines have narrow operating ranges. In addition, LTC engines have ultra-low soot and nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions, compared to conventional compression ignition and spark ignition (SI) engines. In this study, an experimentally developed multi-mode LTC-SI engine is integrated into a parallel hybrid electric configuration, where the engine operation modes include homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI), reactivity controlled compression ignition (RCCI), and conventional SI. The powertrain controller is designed to enable switching among different modes, with minimum fuel penalty for transient engine operations. A pontryagin\u27s minimum principal (PMP) methodology is used in the energy management supervisory controller to study a multi-mode LTC engine in parallel HEV architecture with various hybridization levels. The amount of torque assist by the e-motor can change the LTC mode operating time, which leads to variation in the vehicle\u27s fuel consumption. The results for the urban dynamometer driving schedule (UDDS) driving cycle show the maximum benefit of the multi-mode LTC-SI engine is realized in the mild electrification level, where the LTC mode operating time increases dramatically from 5.0% in a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) to 20.5% in a mild HEV