24 research outputs found
The Development of Electroconvulsive Therapy
The current acceptance of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) as a suitable treatment for depression is a result of years of medical and ethical controversy. The treatment faced social, political, and scientific barriers as it developed; however, its effectiveness in treating mental disorders has allowed it to remain in use to this day. This paper will trace the changes electroconvulsive therapy has seen in technology, application, and societal endorsement over the years
The Grizzly, December 10, 2009
Escape Velocity Performs Winter Show: Celebrate! • Management Teams Tally Up Their Profits • Sustainability: Dreaming of a Green Christmas • Ursinus Hosts America Reads for the Tenth Annual Holiday Celebration • UC United Brings Inspirational Speaker Nancy Hunter Denney to Ursinus • Dangerous Effects of Tanning Beds • New Mammogram Recommendations • Bizarre Foods: The Fabulous Five Dollar Festive Feast • Opinion: Present Your Partner with the Perfect Present: Holiday Gift Ideas • Breaking School Records and Then Somehttps://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/grizzlynews/1802/thumbnail.jp
(Photo-)crosslinkable gelatin derivatives for biofabrication applications
Over the recent decades gelatin has proven to be very suitable as an extracellular matrix mimic for bio-fabrication and tissue engineering applications. However, gelatin is prone to dissolution at typical cell culture conditions and is therefore often chemically modified to introduce (photo-)crosslinkable functionalities. These modifications allow to tune the material properties of gelatin, making it suitable for a wide range of biofabrication techniques both as a bioink and as a biomaterial ink (component). The present review provides a non-exhaustive overview of the different reported gelatin modification strategies to yield crosslinkable materials that can be used to form hydrogels suitable for biofabrication applications. The different crosslinking chemistries are discussed and classified according to their mechanism including chain-growth and step-growth polymerization. The step-growth polymerization mechanisms are further classified based on the specific chemistry including different (photo-)click chemistries and reversible systems. The benefits and drawbacks of each chemistry are also briefly discussed. Furthermore, focus is placed on different biofabrication strategies using either inkjet, deposition or light-based additive manufacturing techniques, and the applications of the obtained 3D constructs
Homo and Hetero-assembly of Inorganic Nanoparticles
This thesis describes the synthesis and assembly of metal and semiconductor nanoparticles (NPs). The two research topics include i) hetero-assembly of metal and semiconductor NPs, ii) effect of ionic strength on homo-assembly of gold nanorods (GNRs). First, we present hetero-assembly of GNRs and semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) in a chain using biotin-streptavidin interaction. We synthesized alloyed CdTeSe QDs and modified them with mercaptoundecanoic acid to render them water-soluble and to attach streptavidin. We synthesized GNRs by a seed-mediated method and selectively modified the ends with biotin. Hetero-assembly of QDs and GNRs depended on the size, ligands, and ratio of QDs and GNRs. Second, we controlled the rate of homo-assembly of GNRs by varying the ionic strength of the DMF/water solution. The solubility of polystyrene on the ends of GNRs depended on the ionic strength of the solution, which correlated with the rate of assembly of GNRs into chains.MAS
Thiol-ene chemistry for polymer coatings and surface modification : building in sustainability and performance
Future advancement of coatings relies on new synthetic building blocks and methods that enable added functionality, while minimising the environmental impact and cost. This review highlights the use of thiol-ene chemistry for surface modification and coatings, a topic of increasing interest in academic and industrial context since the beginning of this century. This chemistry platform has the advantages of rapid and uniform cross-linking, delayed gelation, reduced shrinkage, and insensitivity to oxygen. Recently, it resulted in significant advances in UV-cured coatings, including pigmented acrylate coatings and waterborne polyurethane dispersions. Moreover, biobased coatings were developed via thiol-ene coupling of unsaturated moieties in vegetable oils with multifunctional thiols, resulting in tunable properties. The homogeneous thiol-ene network formation has also been employed in hybrid coatings, yielding synergistic effects of the inorganic components within the thiol-ene matrix. Moreover, the UV-triggered thiol-ene reaction is fast and efficient, which is useful for surface modification with spatial and temporal control. In general, this review will critically describe how thiol-ene chemistry became a powerful tool for the sustainable development of functional coating materials and surfaces with a variety of building blocks
Precisely Alternating Functionalized Polyampholytes Prepared in a Single Pot from Sustainable Thiolactone Building Blocks
Polyampholytes with precisely alternating
cationic and anionic
functional groups were prepared using sustainable thiolactone building
blocks in a simple one-pot procedure at room temperature and in water.
Ring opening of the <i>N-</i>maleamic acid-functionalized
homocysteine thiolactone monomer enabled the introduction of different
functional groups into the polymer chain, which contributed to both
ionic and hydrogen bonding interactions. The resulting polyampholytes
exhibited various isoelectric points while maintaining high solubility
in water under different pH and ionic strengths, which expands their
potential applications. Finally, it is shown that the upper critical
solution temperature (UCST) of these alternating polyampholytes in
water/ethanol (30/70% vol) solutions can be tuned as a function of
the content of ionic and hydroxyl groups