Vacuum evaporative deposition of photochromic spirophenanthroxazine thin films and their solvato-bleaching feature

Stimuli-responsive materials are the major contributors to functional materials that play a significant role in many fields such as sensors and actuators. Among these materials photochromic molecules has attracted both the scientific and industrial communities, due to their unique features. When exposed to UV radiation photochromic materials would either exhibit isomerization (e.g. trans-cis / cis-trans), or result in a ring opening /closure, which would result not only in a change in their absorption spectrum, but also in their chemical and physical properties such as refractive indices, dielectric constants, oxidation-reduction potentials and geometrical structures. The embedment of photochromic molecules particularly Spirooxazine within a polymer matrix has been studied significantly in literature, yet due to its synthesis limitations standalone systems including the transform from particle, percolated and continuous film where never reported to the best of our knowledge. Thus, herein we introduced the deposition of standalone Spirooxazine thin films via evaporative deposition with emphasizing the percolated and continuous film samples. The cluster deposition of SPO is being extensively studied elsewhere by our group under the framework of ASCI project. The deposited films were studied for their chemical integrity, thickness, crystallinity, density, and photochromic ability. In addition, the deposited films decay kinetics were studied under both constant temperature and the influence of multiple volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as Acetone, Acetonitrile and Isopropanol. Where a new unreported term, Solvato-bleaching, was assigned to describe the color fading kinetics upon VOCs exposure. It was determined that the solvato-bleaching rate of the deposited film is dependent on the polarity of the solvent, so that with decreasing polarity the rate increases. However, some exceptions may take place when the surface morphology changes, thus we assume that the interaction is a surface limited reaction

Reflective Coloration from Structural Plasmonic to Disordered Polarizonic

The generation of pigment‐free colors by nanostructures and subwavelength patterns has evolved in the last decade and outperformed the conventional paints in terms of durability, recyclability, and environmental friendliness. The recent progress in the field of structural coloration, particularly reflective coloration, offering a full‐color gamut, has realized high‐resolution printing, not attainable by the pigment paints. Herein, an overview of the various systems able to offer reflective coloration for a variety of optical applications with static and dynamic responses is presented. Specifically, an emphasis is given to recent works of the article's authors on the cooperative action of the disordered particles and dipoles that can generate specular reflective colors. In addition, further developments of reflective color nanosystems are discussed. In the first section, an overview of the recent progress in the field of plasmonic reflective structural coloration is provided. The second part of the article deals with the authors’ latest findings with respect to polarizonic color generation and its implementation in various areas ranging from environmental detection and biosensing to colored solar perfect absorbers. The report is wrapped up with an outlook and summary

Nanotheranostics: A Possible Solution for Drug-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus and their Biofilms?

Staphylococcus aureus is a notorious pathogen that colonizes implants (orthopedic and breast implants) and wounds with a vicious resistance to antibiotic therapy. Methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) is a catastrophe mainly restricted to hospitals and emerged to community reservoirs, acquiring resistance and forming biofilms. Treating biofilms is problematic except via implant removal or wound debridement. Nanoparticles (NPs) and nanofibers could combat superbugs and biofilms and rapidly diagnose MRSA. Nanotheranostics combine diagnostics and therapeutics into a single agent. This comprehensive review is interpretative, utilizing mainly recent literature (since 2016) besides the older remarkable studies sourced via Google Scholar and PubMed. We unravel the molecular S. aureus resistance and complex biofilm. The diagnostic properties and detailed antibacterial and antibiofilm NP mechanisms are elucidated in exciting stories. We highlight the challenges of bacterial infections nanotheranostics. Finally, we discuss the literature and provide “three action appraisals”. (i) The first appraisal consists of preventive actions (two wings), avoiding unnecessary hospital visits, hand hygiene, and legislations against over-the-counter antibiotics as the general preventive wing. Our second recommended preventive wing includes preventing the adverse side effects of the NPs from resistance and toxicity by establishing standard testing procedures. These standard procedures should provide breakpoints of bacteria’s susceptibility to NPs and a thorough toxicological examination of every single batch of synthesized NPs. (ii) The second appraisal includes theranostic actions, using nanotheranostics to diagnose and treat MRSA, such as what we call “multifunctional theranostic nanofibers. (iii) The third action appraisal consists of collaborative actions

Nanotheranostics: A Possible Solution for Drug-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus and their Biofilms?

Staphylococcus aureus is a notorious pathogen that colonizes implants (orthopedic and breast implants) and wounds with a vicious resistance to antibiotic therapy. Methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) is a catastrophe mainly restricted to hospitals and emerged to community reservoirs, acquiring resistance and forming biofilms. Treating biofilms is problematic except via implant removal or wound debridement. Nanoparticles (NPs) and nanofibers could combat superbugs and biofilms and rapidly diagnose MRSA. Nanotheranostics combine diagnostics and therapeutics into a single agent. This comprehensive review is interpretative, utilizing mainly recent literature (since 2016) besides the older remarkable studies sourced via Google Scholar and PubMed. We unravel the molecular S. aureus resistance and complex biofilm. The diagnostic properties and detailed antibacterial and antibiofilm NP mechanisms are elucidated in exciting stories. We highlight the challenges of bacterial infections nanotheranostics. Finally, we discuss the literature and provide “three action appraisals”. (i) The first appraisal consists of preventive actions (two wings), avoiding unnecessary hospital visits, hand hygiene, and legislations against over-the-counter antibiotics as the general preventive wing. Our second recommended preventive wing includes preventing the adverse side effects of the NPs from resistance and toxicity by establishing standard testing procedures. These standard procedures should provide breakpoints of bacteria’s susceptibility to NPs and a thorough toxicological examination of every single batch of synthesized NPs. (ii) The second appraisal includes theranostic actions, using nanotheranostics to diagnose and treat MRSA, such as what we call “multifunctional theranostic nanofibers. (iii) The third action appraisal consists of collaborative actions

Biosynthesis of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles on l-Carnosine Biofunctionalized Polyacrylonitrile Nanofibers: a Biomimetic Wound Healing Material

Multifunctional biohybrid nanofibers (NFs) that can simultaneously drive various cellular activities and confer antibacterial properties are considered desirable in producing advanced wound healing materials. In this study, a bionanohybrid formulation was processed as a NF wound dressing to stimulate the adhesion and proliferation of fibroblast and endothelial cells that play a major role in wound healing. Polyacrylonitrile (PAN) electrospun NFs were hydrolyzed using NaOH and biofunctionalized with l-carnosine (CAR), a dipeptide which could later biosynthesize zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles (NPs) on the NFs surface. The morphological study verified that ZnO NPs are uniformly distributed on the surface of CAR/PAN NFs. Through EDX and XRD analysis, it was validated that the NPs are composed of ZnO and/or ZnO/Zn(OH)2. The presence of CAR and ZnO NPs brought about a superhydrophilicity effect and notably raised the elastic modulus and tensile strength of Zn-CAR/PAN NFs. While CAR ligands were shown to improve the viability of fibroblast (L929) and endothelial (HUVEC) cells, ZnO NPs lowered the positive impact of CAR, most likely due to their repulsive negative surface charge. A scratch assay verified that CAR/PAN NFs and Zn-CAR/PAN NFs aided HUVEC migration more than PAN NFs. Also, an antibacterial assay implied that CAR/PAN NFs and Zn-CAR/PAN NFs are significantly more effective in inhibiting Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) than neat PAN NFs are (1000 and 500%, respectively). Taken together, compared to the neat PAN NFs, CAR/PAN NFs with and without the biosynthesized ZnO NPs can support the cellular activities of relevance for wound healing and inactivate bacteria

En jämförelse av energianvändning och klimatpåverkan av två olika byggnader

The composition will focus on valuations of energy during production, the construction process and the building's operation and with regards to climate impact and resource use.  In addition, energy performance in different buildings will be examined.  Another important factor that the work will focus on is energy consumption.  There is already a lot of research on energy efficiency in buildings and our work should be based on the latest research and new findings in this area. The first step in the work was to contact HFAB through telephone calls and email interviews. Furthermore, the energy efficiency has been calculated for the simulated villa. Later, climate calculations were made for Nerven 1, which is an apartment building. Data coming from HFAB applies to apartment buildings. Subsequently, environmental calculations have been made for the simulated villa, which showed a result that the villa is more environmentally friendly compared to apartment buildings. The main reason for this is the poor impact of concrete on the environment. Apartment buildings use significantly more concrete than the villa, which gives a bad environmental impact and results in the villa being friendlier.

En jämförelse av energianvändning och klimatpåverkan av två olika byggnader

The composition will focus on valuations of energy during production, the construction process and the building's operation and with regards to climate impact and resource use.  In addition, energy performance in different buildings will be examined.  Another important factor that the work will focus on is energy consumption.  There is already a lot of research on energy efficiency in buildings and our work should be based on the latest research and new findings in this area. The first step in the work was to contact HFAB through telephone calls and email interviews. Furthermore, the energy efficiency has been calculated for the simulated villa. Later, climate calculations were made for Nerven 1, which is an apartment building. Data coming from HFAB applies to apartment buildings. Subsequently, environmental calculations have been made for the simulated villa, which showed a result that the villa is more environmentally friendly compared to apartment buildings. The main reason for this is the poor impact of concrete on the environment. Apartment buildings use significantly more concrete than the villa, which gives a bad environmental impact and results in the villa being friendlier.

Nanotheranostics

Staphylococcus aureus is a notorious pathogen that colonizes implants (orthopedic and breast implants) and wounds with a vicious resistance to antibiotic therapy. Methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) is a catastrophe mainly restricted to hospitals and emerged to community reservoirs, acquiring resistance and forming biofilms. Treating biofilms is problematic except via implant removal or wound debridement. Nanoparticles (NPs) and nanofibers could combat superbugs and biofilms and rapidly diagnose MRSA. Nanotheranostics combine diagnostics and therapeutics into a single agent. This comprehensive review is interpretative, utilizing mainly recent literature (since 2016) besides the older remarkable studies sourced via Google Scholar and. We unravel the molecular S. aureus resistance and complex biofilm. The diagnostic properties and detailed antibacterial and antibiofilm NP mechanisms are elucidated in exciting stories. We highlight the challenges of bacterial infections nanotheranostics. Finally, we discuss the literature and provide “three action appraisals”. (i) The first appraisal consists of preventive actions (two wings), avoiding unnecessary hospital visits, hand hygiene, and legislations against over-the-counter antibiotics as the general preventive wing. Our second recommended preventive wing includes preventing the adverse side effects of the NPs from resistance and toxicity by establishing standard testing procedures. These standard procedures should provide breakpoints of bacteria’s susceptibility to NPs and a thorough toxicological examination of every single batch of synthesized NPs. (ii) The second appraisal includes theranostic actions, using nanotheranostics to diagnose and treat MRSA, such as what we call “multifunctional theranostic nanofibers. (iii) The third action appraisal consists of collaborative actions.Peer reviewe