scholarly journals Applications of conducting polymers and their issues in biomedical engineering

Author(s):  
Rajeswari Ravichandran ◽  
Subramanian Sundarrajan ◽  
Jayarama Reddy Venugopal ◽  
Shayanti Mukherjee ◽  
Seeram Ramakrishna

Conducting polymers (CPs) have attracted much interest as suitable matrices of biomolecules and have been used to enhance the stability, speed and sensitivity of various biomedical devices. Moreover, CPs are inexpensive, easy to synthesize and versatile because their properties can be readily modulated by (i) surface functionalization techniques and (ii) the use of a wide range of molecules that can be entrapped or used as dopants. This paper discusses the various surface modifications of the CP that can be employed in order to impart physico-chemical and biological guidance cues that promote cell adhesion/proliferation at the polymer–tissue interface. This ability of the CP to induce various cellular mechanisms widens its applications in medical fields and bioengineering.

2021 ◽  
pp. 11-13
Author(s):  
Дарья Владиславовна Андриевская ◽  
Екатерина Владимировна Ульянова

В настоящее время известны основные причины формирования различных видов помутнений в спиртных напитках виноградного происхождения. В значительной степени изучены компоненты образующихся при этом осадков. Вместе с тем одна из часто возникающих проблем современного производства заключается в потере стабильности продукции при транспортировании и хранении, что влечет дополнительные расходы предприятий по возврату и технологическим обработкам забракованной продукции. Целью настоящей работы стало сравнительное исследование минерального состава обработанных коньяков и их стабильности к различным видам помутнений. Объекты исследований - образцы обработанных коньяков отечественного производства, которые были разделены в зависимости от возраста на четыре группы: 1 группа - 3-летние, 4-летние и 5-летние; 2 группа - выдержанные «КВ» и выдержанные высшего качества «КВВК»; 3 группа - старые «КС», 4 группа - очень старые «ОС». На 1-м этапе было проведено исследование физико-химических и органолептических показателей продукции. В результате установлено, что все образцы соответствовали требованиям ГОСТ 31732-2014. Тесты на склонность к различным видам помутнений показали стабильность образцов к обратимым коллоидным, белковым и кальциевым помутнениям. Установлено, что качественный состав минеральных веществ обработанных коньяков различного возраста идентичен. При этом массовая концентрация отдельных компонентов варьирует в широком диапазоне. Доля образцов обработанных коньяков, в которых были превышены уровни концентраций отдельных ионов, гарантирующих стабильность продукции, составила в среднем 15%. Сравнительный анализ количественного состава катионов и анионов в обработанных коньяках дает основание предположить, что образцы с высоким содержанием ионов Са2+, Na+ и SO42- имеют высокий риск потери стабильности в дальнейшем. Таким образом, результаты проведенных исследований показали необходимость совершенствования методики определения склонности коньяков к различным видам помутнений в части расширения контролируемых показателей. Currently, the main reasons for the formation of various types of turbidity in alcoholic beverages of grape origin are known. The components of the precipitation formed during this process have been studied to a large extent. At the same time, one of the frequently occurring problems of modern production is the loss of product stability during transportation and storage, which entails additional costs for enterprises to return and process rejected products. The purpose of this work was a comparative study of the mineral composition of processed cognacs and their stability to various types of turbidity. The objects of research were samples of processed cognacs of domestic production, which were divided depending on age into four groups: group 1 - three-year-old, four-year-old and five-year-old; group 2 - aged «KV» and aged of the highest quality «KVVK»; group 3 - old «KS», group 4 - very old «OS». At the first stage, a study of the physico-chemical and organoleptic parameters of the products was carried out. As a result, it was found that all samples met the requirements of GOST 31732-2014. Tests for the propensity to various types of turbidity showed the stability of the samples to reversible colloidal, protein and calcium turbidity. It is established that the qualitative composition of the minerals of processed cognacs of different ages is identical. At the same time, the mass concentration of individual components varies in a wide range. The share of samples of processed cognacs in which the concentration levels of individual ions guaranteeing the stability of products were exceeded averaged 15%. A comparative analysis of the quantitative composition of cations and anions in processed cognacs suggests that samples with a high content of Ca2+, Na+ and SO42- ions have a high risk of loss of stability in the future. Thus, the results of the conducted studies have shown the need to improve the methodology for determining the propensity of cognacs to various types of turbidity in terms of expanding the controlled indicators.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tatiana Woller ◽  
Ambar Banerjee ◽  
Nitai Sylvetsky ◽  
Xavier Deraet ◽  
Frank De Proft ◽  
...  

<p>Expanded porphyrins provide a versatile route to molecular switching devices due to their ability to shift between several π-conjugation topologies encoding distinct properties. Taking into account its size and huge conformational flexibility, DFT remains the workhorse for modeling such extended macrocycles. Nevertheless, the stability of Hückel and Möbius conformers depends on a complex interplay of different factors, such as hydrogen bonding, p···p stacking, steric effects, ring strain and electron delocalization. As a consequence, the selection of an exchange-correlation functional for describing the energy profile of topological switches is very difficult. For these reasons, we have examined the performance of a variety of wavefunction methods and density functionals for describing the thermochemistry and kinetics of topology interconversions across a wide range of macrocycles. Especially for hexa- and heptaphyrins, the Möbius structures have a pronouncedly stronger degree of static correlation than the Hückel and figure-eight structures, and as a result the relative energies of singly-twisted structures are a challenging test for electronic structure methods. Comparison of limited orbital space full CI calculations with CCSD(T) calculations within the same active spaces shows that post-CCSD(T) correlation contributions to relative energies are very minor. At the same time, relative energies are weakly sensitive to further basis set expansion, as proven by the minor energy differences between MP2/cc-pVDZ and explicitly correlated MP2-F12/cc-pVDZ-F12 calculations. Hence, our CCSD(T) reference values are reasonably well-converged in both 1-particle and n-particle spaces. While conventional MP2 and MP3 yield very poor results, SCS-MP2 and particularly SOS-MP2 and SCS-MP3 agree to better than 1 kcal mol<sup>-1</sup> with the CCSD(T) relative energies. Regarding DFT methods, only M06-2X provides relative errors close to chemical accuracy with a RMSD of 1.2 kcal mol<sup>-1</sup>. While the original DSD-PBEP86 double hybrid performs fairly poorly for these extended p-systems, the errors drop down to 2 kcal mol<sup>-1</sup> for the revised revDSD-PBEP86-NL, again showing that same-spin MP2-like correlation has a detrimental impact on performance like the SOS-MP2 results. </p>


2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (27) ◽  
pp. 3234-3250
Author(s):  
Sushil K. Kashaw ◽  
Prashant Sahu ◽  
Vaibhav Rajoriya ◽  
Pradeep Jana ◽  
Varsha Kashaw ◽  
...  

Potential short interfering RNAs (siRNA) modulating gene expression have emerged as a novel therapeutic arsenal against a wide range of maladies and disorders containing cancer, viral infections, bacterial ailments and metabolic snags at the molecular level. Nanogel, in the current medicinal era, displayed a comprehensive range of significant drug delivery prospects. Biodegradation, swelling and de-swelling tendency, pHsensitive drug release and thermo-sensitivity are some of the renowned associated benefits of nanogel drug delivery system. Global researches have also showed that nanogel system significantly targets and delivers the biomolecules including DNAs, siRNA, protein, peptides and other biologically active molecules. Biomolecules delivery via nanogel system explored a wide range of pharmaceutical, biomedical engineering and agro-medicinal application. The siRNAs and DNAs delivery plays a vivacious role by addressing the hitches allied with chronic and contemporary therapeutic like generic possession and low constancy. They also incite release kinetics approach from slow-release while mingling to rapid release at the targets will be beneficial as interference RNAs delivery carriers. Therefore, in this research, we focused on the latest improvements in the delivery of siRNA loaded nanogels by enhancing the absorption, stability, sensitivity and combating the hindrances in cellular trafficking and release process.


2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (3) ◽  
pp. 211-220 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chandrasai Potla Durthi ◽  
Madhuri Pola ◽  
Satish Babu Rajulapati ◽  
Anand Kishore Kola

Aim & objective: To review the applications and production studies of reported antileukemic drug L-glutaminase under Solid-state Fermentation (SSF). Overview: An amidohydrolase that gained economic importance because of its wide range of applications in the pharmaceutical industry, as well as the food industry, is L-glutaminase. The medical applications utilized it as an anti-tumor agent as well as an antiretroviral agent. L-glutaminase is employed in the food industry as an acrylamide degradation agent, as a flavor enhancer and for the synthesis of theanine. Another application includes its use in hybridoma technology as a biosensing agent. Because of its diverse applications, scientists are now focusing on enhancing the production and optimization of L-glutaminase from various sources by both Solid-state Fermentation (SSF) and submerged fermentation studies. Of both types of fermentation processes, SSF has gained importance because of its minimal cost and energy requirement. L-glutaminase can be produced by SSF from both bacteria and fungi. Single-factor studies, as well as multi-level optimization studies, were employed to enhance L-glutaminase production. It was concluded that L-glutaminase activity achieved by SSF was 1690 U/g using wheat bran and Bengal gram husk by applying feed-forward artificial neural network and genetic algorithm. The highest L-glutaminase activity achieved under SSF was 3300 U/gds from Bacillus sp., by mixture design. Purification and kinetics studies were also reported to find the molecular weight as well as the stability of L-glutaminase. Conclusion: The current review is focused on the production of L-glutaminase by SSF from both bacteria and fungi. It was concluded from reported literature that optimization studies enhanced L-glutaminase production. Researchers have also confirmed antileukemic and anti-tumor properties of the purified L-glutaminase on various cell lines.


Polymer Chemistry: A Practical Approach in Chemistry has been designed for both chemists working in and new to the area of polymer synthesis. It contains detailed instructions for preparation of a wide-range of polymers by a wide variety of different techniques, and describes how this synthetic methodology can be applied to the development of new materials. It includes details of well-established techniques, e.g. chain-growth or step-growth processes together with more up-to-date examples using methods such as atom-transfer radical polymerization. Less well-known procedures are also included, e.g. electrochemical synthesis of conducting polymers and the preparation of liquid crystalline elastomers with highly ordered structures. Other topics covered include general polymerization methodology, controlled/"living" polymerization methods, the formation of cyclic oligomers during step-growth polymerization, the synthesis of conducting polymers based on heterocyclic compounds, dendrimers, the preparation of imprinted polymers and liquid crystalline polymers. The main bulk of the text is preceded by an introductory chapter detailing some of the techniques available to the scientist for the characterization of polymers, both in terms of their chemical composition and in terms of their properties as materials. The book is intended not only for the specialist in polymer chemistry, but also for the organic chemist with little experience who requires a practical introduction to the field.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-81
Author(s):  
Sajana Manandhar ◽  
Erica Sjöholm ◽  
Johan Bobacka ◽  
Jessica M. Rosenholm ◽  
Kuldeep K. Bansal

Since the last decade, the polymer-drug conjugate (PDC) approach has emerged as one of the most promising drug-delivery technologies owing to several benefits like circumventing premature drug release, offering controlled and targeted drug delivery, improving the stability, safety, and kinetics of conjugated drugs, and so forth. In recent years, PDC technology has advanced with the objective to further enhance the treatment outcomes by integrating nanotechnology and multifunctional characteristics into these systems. One such development is the ability of PDCs to act as theranostic agents, permitting simultaneous diagnosis and treatment options. Theranostic nanocarriers offer the opportunity to track the distribution of PDCs within the body and help to localize the diseased site. This characteristic is of particular interest, especially among those therapeutic approaches where external stimuli are supposed to be applied for abrupt drug release at the target site for localized delivery to avoid systemic side effects (e.g., Visudyne®). Thus, with the help of this review article, we are presenting the most recent updates in the domain of PDCs as nanotheranostic agents. Different methodologies utilized to design PDCs along with imaging characteristics and their applicability in a wide range of diseases, have been summarized in this article.


Data ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 4
Author(s):  
Evgeny Mikhailov ◽  
Daniela Boneva ◽  
Maria Pashentseva

A wide range of astrophysical objects, such as the Sun, galaxies, stars, planets, accretion discs etc., have large-scale magnetic fields. Their generation is often based on the dynamo mechanism, which is connected with joint action of the alpha-effect and differential rotation. They compete with the turbulent diffusion. If the dynamo is intensive enough, the magnetic field grows, else it decays. The magnetic field evolution is described by Steenbeck—Krause—Raedler equations, which are quite difficult to be solved. So, for different objects, specific two-dimensional models are used. As for thin discs (this shape corresponds to galaxies and accretion discs), usually, no-z approximation is used. Some of the partial derivatives are changed by the algebraic expressions, and the solenoidality condition is taken into account as well. The field generation is restricted by the equipartition value and saturates if the field becomes comparable with it. From the point of view of mathematical physics, they can be characterized as stable points of the equations. The field can come to these values monotonously or have oscillations. It depends on the type of the stability of these points, whether it is a node or focus. Here, we study the stability of such points and give examples for astrophysical applications.


2014 ◽  
Vol 70 (12) ◽  
pp. 2040-2046 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Chekli ◽  
S. Phuntsho ◽  
L. D. Tijing ◽  
J. L. Zhou ◽  
J.-H. Kim ◽  
...  

Manufactured nanoparticles (MNPs) are increasingly released into the environment and thus research on their fate and behaviour in complex environmental samples is urgently needed. The fate of MNPs in the aquatic environment will mainly depend on the physico-chemical characteristics of the medium. The presence and concentration of natural organic matter (NOM) will play a significant role on the stability of MNPs by either decreasing or exacerbating the aggregation phenomenon. In this study, we firstly investigated the effect of NOM concentration on the aggregation behaviour of manufactured Fe-oxide nanoparticles. Then, the stability of the coated nanoparticles was assessed under relevant environmental conditions. Flow field-flow fractionation, an emerging method which is gaining popularity in the field of nanotechnology, has been employed and results have been compared to another size-measurement technique to provide increased confidence in the outcomes. Results showed enhanced stability when the nanoparticles are coated with NOM, which was due to electrosteric stabilisation. However, the presence of divalent cations, even at low concentration (i.e. less than 1 mM) was found to induce aggregation of NOM-coated nanoparticles via bridging mechanisms between NOM and Ca2+.


2015 ◽  
Vol 17 (32) ◽  
pp. 20687-20698 ◽  
Author(s):  
Serena De Santis ◽  
Giancarlo Masci ◽  
Francesco Casciotta ◽  
Ruggero Caminiti ◽  
Eleonora Scarpellini ◽  
...  

Fourteen cholinium-amino acid based room temperature ionic liquids were prepared using a cleaner synthetic method. Chemicophysical properties were well correlated with the wide range of amino acid chemical structures.


1995 ◽  
Vol 349 (1329) ◽  
pp. 297-297

Many cellular mechanisms use a process of variation and selection to generate specific patterns. Among these, dynamic instability of microtubules has been shown to employ a specific mechanism to intentionally generate variation. In many systems the growth of neurons or neuronal processes is excessive, the final connections being established by stabilization of functional interactions. When changes in neuronal networks take place, such as in metamorphosis, use is made of the plasticity of neuronal connectivity. In the immune system, specific responses are generated by variation and selection. Processes that explore a wide range of conditions and a wide range of structures can be called exploratory processes. These are very robust and capable of responding to damage, variability in the environment and ontogenic changes in the organisms. Such robustness would be useful for adapting to changes that occur during phylogenetic changes as well. Given the extensive history of extinction and radiation in evolution, it may be supposed that these mechanisms have themselves been selected for their capacity to survive rapid changes in the organism and for their ability to generate cellular variation.


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