Cyanobacterial Encapsulation In Biocompatible Silica Gels v1

Author(s):  
celiamm not provided

Silica gels are a biohybrid material for the encapsulation of cyanobacteria. Their internal structure is based on a highly porous three-dimensional SiO2 network with a mesoporous distribution of porosity, with a high number of micropores and mesopores. The cells are "encapsulated" in the material as they are embedded in the matrix, establishing almost direct contact with it. There is a reduced space between the cell and the silica matrix, favouring contact. Macroscopically, the material can be presented in almost any desired shape and structure, ideally as thin films or hollow tubular monoliths of reduced thickness. Visually, it appears to be a rigid, greenish-coloured material. The gels allow a low diffusional limit, its transparency allows cells to photosynthesise, and it is tough. Their synthesis is not simple, as the behaviour of the gels can be variable; but in the end they form an almost ideal encapsulation for cyanobacteria.

1994 ◽  
Vol 346 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kris S. Oka ◽  
J.D. Mackenzie

ABSTRACTEthylene diamine tetra-acetic acid (EDTA) doped silica gels were made by the sol-gel process for the potential application as a filter for heavy metal ions in wastewater. The behavior of the organic molecule in the matrix was studied by investigating the percentage of EDTA leached out with a variation in the timing of addition of the EDTA molecule into the starting silica gel solution. Leach tests using water as the medium were performed for 2, 12 and 24 hours in order to determine the amount of EDTA trapped in the pores or in the matrix. A minimum amount of EDTA leached from the gels was detected in the samples to which EDTA was added 4 hours after initial hydrolysis of TEOS. This result was correlated to having a greater percentage of pore volume in the range of 15–20 Å, which was further substantiated with density measurements. The physical changes in the silica matrix altering the pore volume distribution were attributed to the addition of the water into which the EDTA molecule was initially dissolved.


Author(s):  
H.W. Deckman ◽  
B.F. Flannery ◽  
J.H. Dunsmuir ◽  
K.D' Amico

We have developed a new X-ray microscope which produces complete three dimensional images of samples. The microscope operates by performing X-ray tomography with unprecedented resolution. Tomography is a non-invasive imaging technique that creates maps of the internal structure of samples from measurement of the attenuation of penetrating radiation. As conventionally practiced in medical Computed Tomography (CT), radiologists produce maps of bone and tissue structure in several planar sections that reveal features with 1mm resolution and 1% contrast. Microtomography extends the capability of CT in several ways. First, the resolution which approaches one micron, is one thousand times higher than that of the medical CT. Second, our approach acquires and analyses the data in a panoramic imaging format that directly produces three-dimensional maps in a series of contiguous stacked planes. Typical maps available today consist of three hundred planar sections each containing 512x512 pixels. Finally, and perhaps of most import scientifically, microtomography using a synchrotron X-ray source, allows us to generate maps of individual element.


2003 ◽  
Vol 70 ◽  
pp. 201-212 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hideaki Nagase ◽  
Keith Brew

The tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMPs) are endogenous inhibitors of the matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), enzymes that play central roles in the degradation of extracellular matrix components. The balance between MMPs and TIMPs is important in the maintenance of tissues, and its disruption affects tissue homoeostasis. Four related TIMPs (TIMP-1 to TIMP-4) can each form a complex with MMPs in a 1:1 stoichiometry with high affinity, but their inhibitory activities towards different MMPs are not particularly selective. The three-dimensional structures of TIMP-MMP complexes reveal that TIMPs have an extended ridge structure that slots into the active site of MMPs. Mutation of three separate residues in the ridge, at positions 2, 4 and 68 in the amino acid sequence of the N-terminal inhibitory domain of TIMP-1 (N-TIMP-1), separately and in combination has produced N-TIMP-1 variants with higher binding affinity and specificity for individual MMPs. TIMP-3 is unique in that it inhibits not only MMPs, but also several ADAM (a disintegrin and metalloproteinase) and ADAMTS (ADAM with thrombospondin motifs) metalloproteinases. Inhibition of the latter groups of metalloproteinases, as exemplified with ADAMTS-4 (aggrecanase 1), requires additional structural elements in TIMP-3 that have not yet been identified. Knowledge of the structural basis of the inhibitory action of TIMPs will facilitate the design of selective TIMP variants for investigating the biological roles of specific MMPs and for developing therapeutic interventions for MMP-associated diseases.


2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 142-146
Author(s):  
O.A. Solnyshkina

In this work the 3D dynamics of two immiscible liquids in unbounded domain at low Reynolds numbers is considered. The numerical method is based on the boundary element method, which is very efficient for simulation of the three-dimensional problems in infinite domains. To accelerate calculations and increase the problem size, a heterogeneous approach to parallelization of the computations on the central (CPU) and graphics (GPU) processors is applied. To accelerate the iterative solver (GMRES) and overcome the limitations associated with the size of the memory of the computation system, the software component of the matrix-vector product


2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmad Al-Sarraj ◽  
Khaled M. Saoud ◽  
Abdelaziz Elmel ◽  
Said Mansour ◽  
Yousef Haik

Abstract In this paper, we report oxidation time effect on highly porous silver oxide nanowires thin films fabricated using ultrasonic spray pyrolysis and oxygen plasma etching method. The NW’s morphological, electrical, and optical properties were investigated under different plasma etching periods and the number of deposition cycles. The increase of plasma etching and oxidation time increases the surface roughness of the Ag NWs until it fused to form a porous thin film of silver oxide. AgNWs based thin films were characterized using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope, transmission electron microscope, X-ray photoemission spectroscopy, and UV–Vis spectroscopy techniques. The obtained results indicate the formation of mixed mesoporous Ag2O and AgO NW thin films. The Ag2O phase of silver oxide appears after 300 s of oxidation under the same conditions, while the optical transparency of the thin film decreases as plasma etching time increases. The sheet resistance of the final film is influenced by the oxidation time and the plasma application periodicity. Graphic abstract


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Haijun Wu ◽  
Shoucong Ning ◽  
Moaz Waqar ◽  
Huajun Liu ◽  
Yang Zhang ◽  
...  

AbstractTraditional strategies for improving piezoelectric properties have focused on phase boundary engineering through complex chemical alloying and phase control. Although they have been successfully employed in bulk materials, they have not been effective in thin films due to the severe deterioration in epitaxy, which is critical to film properties. Contending with the opposing effects of alloying and epitaxy in thin films has been a long-standing issue. Herein we demonstrate a new strategy in alkali niobate epitaxial films, utilizing alkali vacancies without alloying to form nanopillars enclosed with out-of-phase boundaries that can give rise to a giant electromechanical response. Both atomically resolved polarization mapping and phase field simulations show that the boundaries are strained and charged, manifesting as head-head and tail-tail polarization bound charges. Such charged boundaries produce a giant local depolarization field, which facilitates a steady polarization rotation between the matrix and nanopillars. The local elastic strain and charge manipulation at out-of-phase boundaries, demonstrated here, can be used as an effective pathway to obtain large electromechanical response with good temperature stability in similar perovskite oxides.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arindam Mondal ◽  
Akash Lata ◽  
Aarya Prabhakaran ◽  
Satyajit Gupta

Application of three-dimensional (3D)-halide perovskites (HaP) in photocatalysis encourages the new exercise with two-dimensional (2D) HaP based thin-films for photocatalytic degradation of dye. The reduced dimensionality to 2D-HaPs, with a...


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pradeep Kumar ◽  
Viness Pillay ◽  
Yahya E. Choonara

AbstractThree-dimensional porous scaffolds are widely employed in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine for their ability to carry bioactives and cells; and for their platform properties to allow for bridging-the-gap within an injured tissue. This study describes the effect of various methoxypolyethylene glycol (mPEG) derivatives (mPEG (-OCH3 functionality), mPEG-aldehyde (mPEG-CHO) and mPEG-acetic acid (mPEG-COOH)) on the morphology and physical properties of chemically crosslinked, semi-interpenetrating polymer network (IPN), chitosan (CHT)/mPEG blend cryosponges. Physicochemical and molecular characterization revealed that the –CHO and –COOH functional groups in mPEG derivatives interacted with the –NH2 functionality of the chitosan chain. The distinguishing feature of the cryosponges was their unique morphological features such as fringe thread-, pebble-, curved quartz crystal-, crystal flower-; and canyon-like structures. The morphological data was well corroborated by the image processing data and physisorption curves corresponding to Type II isotherm with open hysteresis loops. Functionalization of mPEG had no evident influence on the macro-mechanical properties of the cryosponges but increased the matrix strength as determined by the rheomechanical analyses. The cryosponges were able to deliver bioactives (dexamethasone and curcumin) over 10 days, showed varied matrix degradation profiles, and supported neuronal cells on the matrix surface. In addition, in silico simulations confirmed the compatibility and molecular stability of the CHT/mPEG blend compositions. In conclusion, the study confirmed that significant morphological variations may be induced by minimal functionalization and crosslinking of biomaterials.


1982 ◽  
Vol 92 (3) ◽  
pp. 747-752 ◽  
Author(s):  
WS Haston ◽  
JM Shields ◽  
PC Wilkinson

The adhesion and locomotion of mouse peripheral lymph node lymphocytes on 2-D protein- coated substrata and in 3-D matrices were compared. Lymphocytes did not adhere to, or migrate on, 2-D substrata suck as serum- or fibronectin-coated glass. They did attach to and migrate in hydrated 3-D collagen lattices. When the collagen was dehydrated to form a 2-D surface, lymphocyte attachment to it was reduced. We propose that lymphocytes, which are poorly adhesive, are able to attach to and migrate in 3-D matrices by a nonadhesive mechanism such as the extension and expansion of pseudopodia through gaps in the matrix, which could provide purchase for movement in the absence of discrete intermolecular adhesions. This was supported by studies using serum-coated micropore filters, since lymphocytes attached to and migrated into filters with pore sizes large enough (3 or 8 mum) to allow pseudopod penetration but did not attach to filters made of an identical material (cellulose esters) but of narrow pore size (0.22 or 0.45 mum). Cinematographic studies of lymphocyte locomotion in collagen gels were also consistent with the above hypothesis, since lymphocytes showed a more variable morphology than is typically seen on plane surfaces, with formation of many small pseudopodia expanded to give a marked constriction between the cell and the pseudopod. These extensions often remained fixed with respect to the environment as the lymphocyte moved away from or past them. This suggests that the pseudopodia were inserted into gaps in the gel matrix and acted as anchorage points for locomotion.


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