An investigation of the potential application of chitosan/aloe-based membranes for regenerative medicine

A significant number of therapeutics derived from natural polymers and plants have been developed to replace or to be used in conjunction with existing dressing products. The use of the therapeutic properties of aloe vera could be very useful in the creation of active wound dressing materials. The present work was undertaken to examine issues concerning structural features, topography, enzymatic degradation behavior, antibacterial activity and cellular response of chitosan/aloe vera-based membranes. The chitosan/aloe vera-based membranes that were developed displayed satisfactory degradation, roughness, wettability and mechanical properties. A higher antibacterial potency was displayed by the blended membranes. Moreover, in vitro assays demonstrated that these blended membranes have good cell compatibility with primary human dermal fibroblasts. The chitosan/aloe vera-based membranes might be promising wound dressing materials.The authors acknowledge financial support from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (grants SFRH/BPD/45307/2008 and SFRH/BD/64601/2009), the "Fundo Social Europeu", and the "Programa Diferencial de Potencial Humano". This work was partially supported by the FEDER through POCTEP 0330_IBEROMARE_1_P

Self-organization of quantum-dot pairs by high-temperature droplet epitaxy

The spontaneously formation of epitaxial GaAs quantum-dot pairs was demonstrated on an AlGaAs surface using Ga droplets as a Ga nano-source. The dot pair formation was attributed to the anisotropy of surface diffusion during high-temperature droplet epitaxy

Natural origin biodegradable systems in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine: present status and some moving trends

The fields of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine aim at promoting the regeneration of tissues or replacing failing or malfunctioning organs, by means of combining a scaffold/support material, adequate cells and bioactive molecules. Different materials have been proposed to be used as both three-dimensional porous scaffolds and hydrogel matrices for distinct tissue engineering strategies. Among them, polymers of natural origin are one of the most attractive options, mainly due to their similarities with the extracellular matrix (ECM), chemical versatility as well as typically good biological performance. In this review, the most studied and promising and recently proposed naturally derived polymers that have been suggested for tissue engineering applications are described. Different classes of such type of polymers and their blends with synthetic polymers are analysed, with special focus on polysaccharides and proteins, the systems that are more inspired by the ECM. The adaptation of conventional methods or non-conventional processing techniques for processing scaffolds from natural origin based polymers is reviewed. The use of particles, membranes and injectable systems from such kind of materials is also overviewed, especially what concerns the present status of the research that should lead towards their final application. Finally, the biological performance of tissue engineering constructs based on natural-based polymers is discussed, using several examples for different clinically relevant applications

Correlação linear e espacial entre a produtividade de forragem, a porosidade total e a densidade do solo de Pereira Barreto (SP) Linear and spatial correlations between forage yield, total porosity and bulk density in Pereira Barreto, Brazil

Em relação aos sistemas de manejo adotados pelo homem, a porosidade total e a densidade do solo são atributos ativamente alterados, refletindo decisivamente sobre a produtividade vegetal agrícola. No ano agrícola de 2005, na Fazenda Bonança, no município de Pereira Barreto, Estado de São Paulo, Brasil, foram analisadas a produtividade de forragem do milho outonal (MSF) no sistema plantio direto irrigado, a porosidade total (PT) e a densidade do solo (DS) em profundidade, em um Latossolo Vermelho distrófico. O objetivo foi estudar a variabilidade e as correlações lineares e espaciais entre os atributos da planta e do solo, visando selecionar um indicador da qualidade física do solo de boa representatividade para produtividade da forragem. Foi instalada a malha geoestatística, para coleta de dados do solo e planta, contendo 125 pontos amostrais, numa área de 2.500 m². Os atributos estudados, além de não terem variado aleatoriamente, apresentaram variabilidade dos dados entre média e baixa e seguiram padrões espaciais bem definidos, com alcance entre 6,8 e 23,7 m. Por sua vez, a correlação linear entre o atributo da planta e os do solo, em razão do elevado número de observações, foi baixa. As observações de melhor correlação com a MSF foram a DS1 e a PT1. Entretanto, do ponto de vista espacial, houve excelente correlação inversa entre a MSF e a DS1, assim como entre a DS1 e a PT1. Nos sítios onde a DS1 aumentou (1,45-1,64 kg dm-3) a MSF variou entre 11.653 e 14.552 kg ha-1; já naqueles onde diminuiu (1,35-1,45 kg dm-3) a MSF, ficou entre 14.552 e 17.450 kg ha-1. Portanto, a densidade global, avaliada na camada de 0-0,10 m (DS1), apresentou-se como satisfatório indicador da qualidade física do solo de Pereira Barreto (SP), quando destinado à produtividade de forragem do milho outonal.<br>Total porosity and bulk density are strongly affected by soil management, which is reflects directly in agricultural productivity. In 2005, plant attributes were analyzed in an irrigated fall corn crop under no-tillage besides some soil characteristics (total porosity-TP and bulk density-BD), in a Haplic Acrustox on the Fazenda Bonança (Dahma Agricultural Company) in Pereira Barreto County, Sao Paulo State, Brazil (20 &deg; 40 ' 12 '' latitude S; 51 &deg; 01 '50 '' longitude W). The purpose of the study was to evaluate the variability, and linear and spatial correlations among the attributes (plant and soil) in order to identify an indicator of soil physical quality for corn forage productivity (CPF) . A geostatistical grid was installed to collect soil and plant data, with 125 sample points, over an area of 2.500 m². The studied attributes did not vary randomly and the variability was medium to low, with well defined patterns. The spatial range varied between 6.8 and 23.7 m. On the other hand, the linear correlations between the CPF with the soil attributes (TP and BD) were low due to the high data number. BD1 and TP1 were best correlated with the CPF. However, concerning the spatial variability, the inverse correlations between CPF and BD1, as well as between BD1 and TP1 were excellent. The BD1 increased (1.45-1.64 kg dm-3) when the CPF varied from 11.653 to14.552 kg ha-1. At the sites where bulk density decreased (1.35-1.45 kg dm-3) the CPF varied from 14.552 to17.450 kg ha-1. Thus, the bulk density in the 0-0.10 m soil layer proved to be a satisfactory index of the soil physical quality regarding forage yield of fall corn