Nanocelluloses: a new family of nature-based materials

Cellulose fibrils with widths in the nanometer range are nature-based materials with unique and potentially useful features. Most importantly, these novel nanocelluloses open up the strongly expanding fields of sustainable materials and nanocomposites, as well as medical and life-science devices, to the natural polymer cellulose. The nanodimensions of the structural elements result in a high surface area and hence the powerful interaction of these celluloses with surrounding species, such as water, organic and polymeric compounds, nanoparticles, and living cells. This Review assembles the current knowledge on the isolation of microfibrillated cellulose from wood and its application in nanocomposites; the preparation of nanocrystalline cellulose and its use as a reinforcing agent; and the biofabrication of bacterial nanocellulose, as well as its evaluation as a biomaterial for medical implants.     

Subcomponent self-assembly of circular helical Dy6(L)6 and bipyramid Dy12(L)8 architectures directed via second-order template effects

In situ metal-templated (hydrazone) condensation also called subcomponent self-assembly of 4,6-dihydrazino-pyrimidine, o-vanillin and dysprosium ions resulted in the formation of discrete hexa- or dodecanuclear metallosupramolecular Dy₆(L)₆ or Dy₁₂(L)₈ aggregates resulting from second-order template effects of the base and the lanthanide counterions used in these processes. XRD analysis revealed unique circular helical or tetragonal bipyramid architectures in which the bis(hydrazone) ligand L adopts different conformations and shows remarkable differences in its mode of metal coordination. While a molecule of trimethylamine acts as a secondary template that fills the void of the Dy₆(L)₆ assembly, sodium ions take on this role for the formation of heterobimetallic Dy₁₂(L)₈ by occupying vacant coordination sites, thus demonstrating that these processes can be steered in different directions upon subtle changes of reaction conditions. Furthermore, Dy₆(L)₆ shows an interesting spin-relaxation energy barrier of 435 K, which is amongst the largest values within multinuclear lanthanide single-molecular magnets.

Subcomponent self-assembly gave access to Dy₁₂(L)₈ and Dy₆(L)₆ architectures via second-order template effects. The Dy₆(L)₆ assembly behaves as a single-molecule magnet exhibiting a high anisotropy barrier and butterfly-shaped magnetic hysteresis.     

Efficacy of cidofovir injection for the treatment of recurrent respiratory papillomatosis

To evaluate the efficacy of intralesional cidofovir injection for the treatment of recurrent respiratory papillomatosis (RRP). It is a prospective, open-label study design. This prospective study included 16 RRP patients, ages 9 to 68 years, who were treated with intralesional injections of cidofovir combined with surgical excision of RRP. The disease states of the patients pretreatment and posttreatment were assessed by assigning RRP severity scores, examining the need for any surgical excision of RRP, and evaluating the presence of RRP upon long-term follow-up. Sixteen patients were treated with cidofovir; however, three were lost to follow-up. Thirteen patients are the subjects of this report. This study group included three pediatric patients. Ten of thirteen patients (76.9%) responded to the treatment and are presently in remission. One patient did not respond, and two patients relapsed after initial success or had a partial response. The responders consisted of eight adults and two children. The mean number of injections the responders received was 3.5, and the average follow-up period of the responders was 25.4 months. No immediate complication of cidofovir treatment was evident. However, three patients were found to have significant vocal fold scarring after long-term follow-up. Cidofovir has been found to be efficacious in treating RRP. Further study regarding long-term follow-up and the assessment of possible side effects after cidofovir intralesional injection for RRP is required.     

General order Newton-Padé approximants for multivariate functions

Summary Padé approximants are a frequently used tool for the solution of mathematical problems. One of the main drawbacks of their use for multivariate functions is the calculation of the derivatives off(x ₁, ...,x _p ). Therefore multivariate Newton-Padé approximants are introduced; their computation will only use the value off at some points. In Sect. 1 we shall repeat the univariate Newton-Padé approximation problem which is a rational Hermite interpolation problem. In Sect. 2 we sketch some problems that can arise when dealing with multivariate interpolation. In Sect. 3 we define multivariate divided differences and prove some lemmas that will be useful tools for the introduction of multivariate Newton-Padé approximants in Sect. 4. A numerical example is given in Sect. 5, together with the proof that forp=1 the classical Newton-Padé approximants for a univariate function are obtained.     

Sur le théorème en moyenne d'Akcoglu-Sucheston

Sans résumé