Histological Evaluation of the Biocompatibility of Polyurea Crosslinked Silica Aerogel Implants in a Rat Model: A Pilot Study

Background: Aerogels are a versatile group of nanostructured/nanoporous materials with physical and chemical properties that can be adjusted to suit the application of interest. In terms of biomedical applications, aerogels are particularly suitable for implants such as membranes, tissue growth scaffolds, and nerve regeneration and guidance inserts. The mesoporous nature of aerogels can also be used for diffusion based release of drugs that are loaded during the drying stage of the material. From the variety of aerogels polyurea crosslinked silica aerogels have the most potential for future biomedical applications and are explored here. Methodology: This study assessed the short and long term biocompatibility of polyurea crosslinked silica aerogel implants in a Sprague-Dawley rat model. Implants were inserted at two different locations a) subcutaneously (SC), at the dorsum and b) intramuscularly (IM), between the gluteus maximus and biceps femoris of the left hind extremity. Nearby muscle and other internal organs were evaluated histologically for inflammation, tissue damage, fibrosis and movement (travel) of implant. Conclusion/Significance: In general polyurea crosslinked silica aerogel (PCSA) was well tolerated as a subcutaneous and an intramuscular implant in the Sprague-Dawley rat with a maximum incubation time of twenty months. In some cases a thin fibrous capsule surrounded the aerogel implant and was interpreted as a normal response to foreign material. No noticeable toxicity was found in the tissues surrounding the implants nor in distant organs. Comparison was made with control rats without any implants inserted, and animals with suture material present. No obvious or noticeable changes were sustained by the implants at either location. Careful necropsy and tissue histology showed age-related changes only. An effective sterilization technique for PCSA implants as well as staining and sectioning protocol has been established. These studies further support the notion that silica-based aerogels could be useful as biomaterials. © 2012 Sabri et al

Nonlinear rheology of colloidal dispersions

Colloidal dispersions are commonly encountered in everyday life and represent an important class of complex fluid. Of particular significance for many commercial products and industrial processes is the ability to control and manipulate the macroscopic flow response of a dispersion by tuning the microscopic interactions between the constituents. An important step towards attaining this goal is the development of robust theoretical methods for predicting from first-principles the rheology and nonequilibrium microstructure of well defined model systems subject to external flow. In this review we give an overview of some promising theoretical approaches and the phenomena they seek to describe, focusing, for simplicity, on systems for which the colloidal particles interact via strongly repulsive, spherically symmetric interactions. In presenting the various theories, we will consider first low volume fraction systems, for which a number of exact results may be derived, before moving on to consider the intermediate and high volume fraction states which present both the most interesting physics and the most demanding technical challenges. In the high volume fraction regime particular emphasis will be given to the rheology of dynamically arrested states.Comment: Review articl

Hydrodynamic interactions in colloidal ferrofluids: A lattice Boltzmann study

We use lattice Boltzmann simulations, in conjunction with Ewald summation methods, to investigate the role of hydrodynamic interactions in colloidal suspensions of dipolar particles, such as ferrofluids. Our work addresses volume fractions $\phi$ of up to 0.20 and dimensionless dipolar interaction parameters $\lambda$ of up to 8. We compare quantitatively with Brownian dynamics simulations, in which many-body hydrodynamic interactions are absent. Monte Carlo data are also used to check the accuracy of static properties measured with the lattice Boltzmann technique. At equilibrium, hydrodynamic interactions slow down both the long-time and the short-time decays of the intermediate scattering function $S(q,t)$, for wavevectors close to the peak of the static structure factor $S(q)$, by a factor of roughly two. The long-time slowing is diminished at high interaction strengths whereas the short-time slowing (quantified via the hydrodynamic factor $H(q)$) is less affected by the dipolar interactions, despite their strong effect on the pair distribution function arising from cluster formation. Cluster formation is also studied in transient data following a quench from $\lambda = 0$; hydrodynamic interactions slow the formation rate, again by a factor of roughly two

Restructuring of colloidal aggregates in shear flow: Coupling interparticle contact models with Stokesian dynamics

A method to couple interparticle contact models with Stokesian dynamics (SD) is introduced to simulate colloidal aggregates under flow conditions. The contact model mimics both the elastic and plastic behavior of the cohesive connections between particles within clusters. Owing to this, clusters can maintain their structures under low stress while restructuring or even breakage may occur under sufficiently high stress conditions. SD is an efficient method to deal with the long-ranged and many-body nature of hydrodynamic interactions for low Reynolds number flows. By using such a coupled model, the restructuring of colloidal aggregates under stepwise increasing shear flows was studied. Irreversible compaction occurs due to the increase of hydrodynamic stress on clusters. Results show that the greater part of the fractal clusters are compacted to rod-shaped packed structures, while the others show isotropic compaction.Comment: A simulation movie be found at http://www-levich.engr.ccny.cuny.edu/~seto/sites/colloidal_aggregates_shearflow.htm

First Observation of Self-Amplified Spontaneous Emission in a Free-Electron Laser at 109 nm Wavelength

We present the first observation of Self-Amplified Spontaneous Emission (SASE) in a free-electron laser (FEL) in the Vacuum Ultraviolet regime at 109 nm wavelength (11 eV). The observed free-electron laser gain (approx. 3000) and the radiation characteristics, such as dependency on bunch charge, angular distribution, spectral width and intensity fluctuations all corroborate the existing models for SASE FELs.Comment: 6 pages including 6 figures; e-mail: [email protected]

Redox proteomics of the inflammatory secretome identifies a common set of redoxins and other glutathionylated proteins released in inflammation, influenza virus infection and oxidative stress

Protein cysteines can form transient disulfides with glutathione (GSH), resulting in the production of glutathionylated proteins, and this process is regarded as a mechanism by which the redox state of the cell can regulate protein function. Most studies on redox regulation of immunity have focused on intracellular proteins. In this study we have used redox proteomics to identify those proteins released in glutathionylated form by macrophages stimulated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) after pre-loading the cells with biotinylated GSH. Of the several proteins identified in the redox secretome, we have selected a number for validation. Proteomic analysis indicated that LPS stimulated the release of peroxiredoxin (PRDX) 1, PRDX2, vimentin (VIM), profilin1 (PFN1) and thioredoxin 1 (TXN1). For PRDX1 and TXN1, we were able to confirm that the released protein is glutathionylated. PRDX1, PRDX2 and TXN1 were also released by the human pulmonary epithelial cell line, A549, infected with influenza virus. The release of the proteins identified was inhibited by the anti-inflammatory glucocorticoid, dexamethasone (DEX), which also inhibited tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α release, and by thiol antioxidants (N-butanoyl GSH derivative, GSH-C4, and N-acetylcysteine (NAC), which did not affect TNF-α production. The proteins identified could be useful as biomarkers of oxidative stress associated with inflammation, and further studies will be required to investigate if the extracellular forms of these proteins has immunoregulatory functions

Transfer of newborns to neonatal care unit: a registry based study in Northern Tanzania

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Reduction in neonatal mortality has been slower than anticipated in many low income countries including Tanzania. Adequate neonatal care may contribute to reduced mortality. We studied factors associated with transfer of babies to a neonatal care unit (NCU) in data from a birth registry at Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre (KCMC) in Tanzania.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A total of 21 206 singleton live births registered from 2000 to 2008 were included. Multivariable analysis was carried out to study neonatal transfer to NCU by socio-demographic factors, pregnancy complications and measures of the condition of the newborn.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 3190 (15%) newborn singletons were transferred to the NCU. As expected, neonatal transfer was strongly associated with specific conditions of the baby including birth weight above 4000 g (relative risk (RR) = 7.2; 95% confidence interval (CI) 6.5-8.0) or below 1500 g (RR = 3.0; 95% CI: 2.3-4.0), five minutes Apgar score less than 7 (RR = 4.0; 95% CI: 3.4-4.6), and preterm birth before 34 weeks of gestation (RR = 1.8; 95% CI: 1.5-2.1). However, pregnancy- and delivery-related conditions like premature rupture of membrane (RR = 2.3; 95% CI: 1.9-2.7), preeclampsia (RR = 1.3; 95% CI: 1.1-1.5), other vaginal delivery (RR = 2.2; 95% CI: 1.7-2.9) and caesarean section (RR = 1.9; 95% CI: 1.8-2.1) were also significantly associated with transfer. Birth to a first born child was associated with increased likelihood of transfer (relative risk (RR) 1.4; 95% CI: 1.2-1.5), while the likelihood was reduced (RR = 0.5; 95% CI: 0.3-0.9) when the father had no education.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>In addition to strong associations between neonatal transfer and classical neonatal risk factors for morbidity and mortality, some pregnancy-related and demographic factors were predictors of neonatal transfer. Overall, transfer was more likely for babies with signs of poor health status or a complicated pregnancy. Except for a possibly reduced use of transfer for babies of non-educated fathers and a high transfer rate for first born babies, there were no signs that transfer was based on non-medical indications.</p

Tissue transglutaminase (TG2) enables survival of human malignant pleural mesothelioma cells in hypoxia

Malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) is an aggressive tumor linked to environmental/occupational exposure to asbestos, characterized by the presence of significant areas of hypoxia. In this study, we firstly explored the expression and the role of transglutaminase 2 (TG2) in MPM cell adaptation to hypoxia. We demonstrated that cells derived from biphasic MPM express the full-length TG2 variant at higher levels than cells derived from epithelioid MPM and normal mesothelium. We observed a significant induction of TG2 expression and activity when cells from biphasic MPM were grown as a monolayer in chronic hypoxia or packed in spheroids, where the presence of a hypoxic core was demonstrated. We described that the hypoxic induction of TG2 was HIF-2 dependent. Importantly, TGM2-v1 silencing caused a marked and significant reduction of MPM cell viability in hypoxic conditions when compared with normoxia. Notably, a TG2-selective irreversible inhibitor that reacts with the intracellular active form of TG2, but not a non-cell-permeable inhibitor, significantly compromised cell viability in MPM spheroids. Understanding the expression and function of TG2 in the adaptation to the hypoxic environment may provide useful information for novel promising therapeutic options for MPM treatment

The OpenMolcas Web: A Community-Driven Approach to Advancing Computational Chemistry

The developments of the open-source OpenMolcas chemistry software environment since spring 2020 are described, with a focus on novel functionalities accessible in the stable branch of the package or via interfaces with other packages. These developments span a wide range of topics in computational chemistry and are presented in thematic sections: electronic structure theory, electronic spectroscopy simulations, analytic gradients and molecular structure optimizations, ab initio molecular dynamics, and other new features. This report offers an overview of the chemical phenomena and processes OpenMolcas can address, while showing that OpenMolcas is an attractive platform for state-of-the-art atomistic computer simulations