The feasibility of 4D flow MR imaging to visualize flow patterns and generate relative pressure maps in the dural venous sinus in healthy subjects (
= 60) and patients with dural arteriovenous ...fistulas (
= 7) was investigated. Dural venous drainage was classified based on torcular Herophili anatomy by using 4D flow MR imaging-derived angiograms and magnitude images. Subjects were scanned in a 3T clinical MR imaging system. 4D flow MR imaging enabled noninvasive characterization of dural sinus anatomy and mapping of relative pressure differences.
Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-
-3-hydroxyvalerate), PHBV, is a microbial biopolymer with excellent biocompatible and biodegradable properties that make it a potential candidate for substituting ...petroleum-derived polymers. However, it lacks mechanical strength, water sorption and diffusion, electrical and/or thermal properties, antimicrobial activity, wettability, biological properties, and porosity, among others, limiting its application. For this reason, many researchers around the world are currently working on how to overcome the drawbacks of this promising material. This review summarises the main advances achieved in this field so far, addressing most of the chemical and physical strategies to modify PHBV and placing particular emphasis on the combination of PHBV with other materials from a variety of different structures and properties, such as other polymers, natural fibres, carbon nanomaterials, nanocellulose, nanoclays, and nanometals, producing a wide range of composite biomaterials with increased potential applications. Finally, the most important methods to fabricate porous PHBV scaffolds for tissue engineering applications are presented. Even though great advances have been achieved so far, much research needs to be conducted still, in order to find new alternative enhancement strategies able to produce advanced PHBV-based materials able to overcome many of these challenges.
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IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
One promising approach to recycle multicomponent plastic waste (e. g., multilayer plastic films) is selective dissolution. Selective dissolution is a solvent‐mediated process in which differences in ...polymer solubility in a carefully chosen solvent system are exploited to recover a target polymer. Here, a computational approach was developed that rapidly predicts temperature‐dependent polymer solubilities to guide the design of solvent systems for solvent‐mediated polymer recycling. Polymer conformations were obtained from molecular dynamics simulations by modeling the polymer as a short oligomer and then used as input to the conductor‐like screening model for real solvents (COSMO‐RS) for solubility predictions. Using polyethylene (PE) and ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH) as representative polymers, the effect of simulation parameters was systematically studied, and predicted solubilities were found to be in good agreement with experimental measurements. The applicability of the approach was demonstrated by identifying selective solvents for PE and EVOH dissolution from a library of 524 solvents.
Polymer solubility prediction: Selective dissolution is a promising technique for multicomponent plastic waste recycling. A computational approach is presented that utilizes molecular‐scale models to predict temperature‐dependent polymer solubilities in good agreement with experimental measurements. The potential of this approach to guide solvent selection for new selective dissolution processes is illustrated.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
The recently reported processing strategy called solvent‐targeted recovery and precipitation (STRAP) enables deconstruction of multilayer plastic packaging films into their constituent resins by ...selective dissolution. It uses a series of solvent washes that are guided by thermodynamic calculations of polymer solubility. In this work, the use of antisolvents in the STRAP process was reduced and solvent mixtures were considered to enable the temperature‐controlled dissolution and precipitation of the target polymers in multilayer films. This was considered as a means to further improve the STRAP process and its estimated costs. Two STRAP approaches were compared based on different polymer precipitation techniques: precipitation by the addition of an antisolvent (STRAP‐A) and precipitation by decreasing the solvent temperature (STRAP‐B). Both approaches were able to separate the constituent polymers in a post‐industrial film composed primarily of polyethylene (PE), ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH), and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) with near 100 % material efficiency. Technoeconomic analysis indicates that the minimum selling price (MSP) of the recycled resins with STRAP‐B is 21.0 % lower than that achieved with STRAP‐A. This provides evidence that thermally driven polymer precipitation is an option to reduce the use of antisolvents, making the STRAP process more economically and environmentally attractive. A third process, STRAP‐C, was demonstrated with another post‐industrial multilayer film of a different composition. The results demonstrate that this process can also recover polymers at similar costs to those of virgin resins, indicating that the STRAP technology is flexible and can remain economically competitive as the plastic feed complexity is increased.
Strap in: The solvent‐targeted recovery and precipitation (STRAP) process allows for the recovery of the constituent polymers in a multilayer plastic film composed of polyethylene (PE), ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVOH), and polyethylene terephthalate (PET). The target polymers are selectively dissolved and precipitated, separating them into recyclable streams.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Increasing ambient temperature reorganizes the Drosophila sleep pattern in a way similar to the human response to heat, increasing daytime sleep while decreasing nighttime sleep. Mutation of core ...circadian genes blocks the immediate increase in daytime sleep, but not the heat-stimulated decrease in nighttime sleep, when animals are in a light:dark cycle. The ability of per01 flies to increase daytime sleep in light:dark can be rescued by expression of PER in either LNv or DN1p clock cells and does not require rescue of locomotor rhythms. Prolonged heat exposure engages the homeostat to maintain daytime sleep in the face of nighttime sleep loss. In constant darkness, all genotypes show an immediate decrease in sleep in response to temperature shift during the subjective day, implying that the absence of light input uncovers a clock-independent pro-arousal effect of increased temperature. Interestingly, the effects of temperature on nighttime sleep are blunted in constant darkness and in cryOUT mutants in light:dark, suggesting that they are dependent on the presence of light the previous day. In contrast, flies of all genotypes kept in constant light sleep more at all times of day in response to high temperature, indicating that the presence of light can invert the normal nighttime response to increased temperature. The effect of temperature on sleep thus reflects coordinated regulation by light, the homeostat, and components of the clock, allowing animals to reorganize sleep patterns in response to high temperature with rough preservation of the total amount of sleep.
•Ambient temperature changes the stereotypic sleep profile in Drosophila•Homeostatic rebound sleep is a critical component of the response to heat•Cycling light coordinates the temperature responses of daytime and nighttime sleep•Temperature is integrated with light cycle by a LNv-DN1p clock subcircuit
Why do we sleep more during the day and less at night when it is hot? Parisky et al. show that the reorganization of sleep by increased ambient temperature in Drosophila is controlled by a coordinated interaction of light, the clock, and homeostatic processes. This allows animals to alter the timing of sleep while preserving its approximate amount.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Less than 10% of the plastics generated globally are recycled, while the rest are incinerated, accumulated in landfills, or leak into the environment. New technologies are emerging to chemically ...recycle waste plastics that are receiving tremendous interest from academia and industry. Chemists and chemical engineers need to understand the fundamentals of these technologies to design improved systems for chemical recycling and upcycling of waste plastics. In this paper, we review the entire life cycle of plastics and options for the management of plastic waste to address barriers to industrial chemical recycling and further provide perceptions on possible opportunities with such materials. Knowledge and insights to enhance plastic recycling beyond its current scale are provided. Outstanding research problems and where researchers in the field should focus their efforts in the future are also discussed.
This paper reviewed the entire life cycle of plastics and options for the management of plastic waste to address barriers to industrial chemical recycling and further provide perceptions on possible opportunities with such materials.
Hyaluronic acid (HA) and gelatin (Gel) are major components of the extracellular matrix of different tissues, and thus are largely appealing for the construction of hybrid hydrogels to combine the ...favorable characteristics of each biopolymer, such as the gel adhesiveness of Gel and the better mechanical strength of HA, respectively. However, despite previous studies conducted so far, the relationship between composition and scaffold structure and physico-chemical properties has not been completely and systematically established. In this work, pure and hybrid hydrogels of methacroyl-modified HA (HAMA) and Gel (GelMA) were prepared by UV photopolymerization and an extensive characterization was done to elucidate such correlations. Methacrylation degrees of ca. 40% and 11% for GelMA and HAMA, respectively, were obtained, which allows to improve the hydrogels’ mechanical properties. Hybrid GelMA/HAMA hydrogels were stiffer, with elastic modulus up to ca. 30 kPa, and porous (up to 91%) compared with pure GelMA ones at similar GelMA concentrations thanks to the interaction between HAMA and GelMA chains in the polymeric matrix. The progressive presence of HAMA gave rise to scaffolds with more disorganized, stiffer, and less porous structures owing to the net increase of mass in the hydrogel compositions. HAMA also made hybrid hydrogels more swellable and resistant to collagenase biodegradation. Hence, the suitable choice of polymeric composition allows to regulate the hydrogels´ physical properties to look for the most optimal characteristics required for the intended tissue engineering application.
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Mechanical forces influence homeostasis in virtually every tissue 1, 2. Tendon, constantly exposed to variable mechanical force, is an excellent model in which to study the conversion of mechanical ...stimuli into a biochemical response 3–5. Here we show in a mouse model of acute tendon injury and in vitro that physical forces regulate the release of active transforming growth factor (TGF)-β from the extracellular matrix (ECM). The quantity of active TGF-β detected in tissue exposed to various levels of tensile loading correlates directly with the extent of physical forces. At physiological levels, mechanical forces maintain, through TGF-β/Smad2/3-mediated signaling, the expression of Scleraxis (Scx), a transcription factor specific for tenocytes and their progenitors. The gradual and temporary loss of tensile loading causes reversible loss of Scx expression, whereas sudden interruption, such as in transection tendon injury, destabilizes the structural organization of the ECM and leads to excessive release of active TGF-β and massive tenocyte death, which can be prevented by the TGF-β type I receptor inhibitor SD208. Our findings demonstrate a critical role for mechanical force in adult tendon homeostasis. Furthermore, this mechanism could translate physical force into biochemical signals in a much broader variety of tissues or systems in the body.
► Physical forces regulate the release of active TGF-β from the extracellular matrix ► Mechanical forces maintain Scleraxis expression through TGF-β-mediated signaling ► An excess release of active TGF-β directly links to adult tendon pathology
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
Nitric oxide (NO), produced by the neural nitric oxide synthase enzyme (nNOS) is a transmitter of inhibitory neurons supplying the muscle of the gastrointestinal tract. Transmission from these ...neurons is necessary for sphincter relaxation that allows the passage of gut contents, and also for relaxation of muscle during propulsive activity in the colon. There are deficiencies of transmission from NOS neurons to the lower esophageal sphincter in esophageal achalasia, to the pyloric sphincter in hypertrophic pyloric stenosis and to the internal anal sphincter in colonic achalasia. Deficits in NOS neurons are observed in two disorders in which colonic propulsion fails, Hirschsprung’s disease and Chagas’ disease. In addition, damage to NOS neurons occurs when there is stress to cells, in diabetes, resulting in gastroparesis, and following ischemia and reperfusion. A number of factors may contribute to the propensity of NOS neurons to be involved in enteric neuropathies. One of these is the failure of the neurons to maintain Ca2+ homeostasis. In neurons in general, stress can increase cytoplasmic Ca2+, causing a Ca2+ toxicity. NOS neurons face the additional problem that NOS is activated by Ca2+. This is hypothesized to produce an excess of NO, whose free radical properties can cause cell damage, which is exacerbated by peroxynitrite formed when NO reacts with oxygen free radicals.
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BFBNIB, DOBA, FZAB, GIS, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
•Similar peptide profile between duodenum and simulated gastric phase.•Homogeneity of the outflowed material from the stomach at different time points.•The pig duodenal content showed fluctuating ...amounts of intact caseins.•In vivo and in vitro free amino acids show comparable profiles.
Correlation and validation of the results of simulated gastrointestinal digestion of food compounds towards in vivo data is essential. The objective of this work was to monitor the digestion of milk micellar casein in the porcine upper intestinal tract and to match the outcome with the gastric in vitro digestion following the Infogest harmonized protocol. In pig duodenum, small amounts of intact caseins were present in all samples, while caseins were observed up to 60 min of gastric in vitro digestion. The peptide profile generated after in vitro and in vivo digestion showed clear similarities with specific overrepresented regions rich in proline and other hydrophobic residues. The statistical comparison of the in vivo and in vitro peptidome resulted in satisfactory correlation coefficients, up to 0.8. Therefore, the in vitro protocol used was a robust and simple model that provides a similar peptide profile than that found in porcine duodenum.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
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