Hierarchically Structured Porous Poly(2‐oxazoline) Hydrogels

A new method for fabricating hydrogels with intricate control over hierarchical 3D porosity using microfiber porogens is presented. Melt electrospinning writing of poly(ε‐caprolactone) is used to create the sacrificial template leading to hierarchical structuring consisting of pores inside the denser poly(2‐oxazoline) hydrogel mesh. This versatile approach provides new opportunities to create well‐defined multilevel control over interconnected pores with diameters in the lower micrometer range inside hydrogels with potential applications as cell scaffolds with tunable diffusion and transport of, e.g., nutrients, growth factors or therapeutics.

     

A study of the 138Ba(d,p)139Ba reaction at 19 MeV

The ¹³⁸Ba(d,p) reaction has been studied at an incident deuteron energy of 19 MeV, using the injector-tandem accelerator and the multichannel magnetic spectrograph of the University of Oxford. Deuteron and proton optical model parameters have been obtained from the analysis of elastic scattering experiments on a ¹³⁸Ba target. The parameters have been used to calculate theoretical (d, p) angular distributions on the basis of the DWBA. From the comparison of experimental and theoretical distributions, orbital angular momentum transfers have been deduced and spectroscopic factors determined for all the levels observed up to an excitation energy of 2.5 MeV in ¹³⁹Ba. The spectroscopic information thus obtained is more complete than that from previous studies, and is in satisfactory agreement with expected sum rule limits. A notable item of new information is the assignment of an l_n = 6 transition to the level at 1.54 MeV in ¹³⁹Ba.     

Economics of Engineering and Social Systems

Journal of the Operational Research Society -     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">N</Emphasis>-arachidonoyl glycine,an abundant endogenous lipid,potently drives directed cellular migration through GPR18, the putative abnormal cannabidiol receptor

Background  

Microglia provide continuous immune surveillance of the CNS and upon activation rapidly change phenotype to express receptors that respond to chemoattractants during CNS damage or infection. These activated microglia undergo directed migration towards affected tissue. Importantly, the molecular species of chemoattractant encountered determines if microglia respond with pro- or anti-inflammatory behaviour, yet the signaling molecules that trigger migration remain poorly understood. The endogenous cannabinoid system regulates microglial migration via CB₂ receptors and an as yet unidentified GPCR termed the 'abnormal cannabidiol' (Abn-CBD) receptor. Abn-CBD is a synthetic isomer of the phytocannabinoid cannabidiol (CBD) and is inactive at CB₁ or CB₂ receptors, but functions as a selective agonist at this G_i/o-coupled GPCR. N-arachidonoyl glycine (NAGly) is an endogenous metabolite of the endocannabinoid anandamide and acts as an efficacious agonist at GPR18. Here, we investigate the relationship between NAGly, Abn-CBD, the unidentified 'Abn-CBD' receptor, GPR18, and BV-2 microglial migration.     

CVD graphene vs. highly ordered pyrolytic graphite for use in electroanalytical sensing

We explore and contrast the electroanalytical performance of a commercially available CVD grown graphene electrode with that of edge- and basal-plane pyrolytic graphite electrodes constructed from highly ordered pyrolytic graphite for the sensing of biologically important analytes, namely β-nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) and uric acid (UA). We demonstrate that for the analytes studied here, in the best case, the electroanalytical performance of the CVD-graphene mimics that of edge plane pyrolytic graphite, suggesting no significant advantage of utilising CVD-graphene in this context.     

Investigating the reaction mechanism and organocatalytic synthesis of α,α'-dihydroxy ketones

A biomimetic TK one-pot reaction using hydroxypyruvate and aldehydes to generate α,α'-dihydroxy ketones in water has recently been described. To investigate this tertiary-amine mediated reaction mechanism two approaches were used. Firstly, (13)C labelled lithium hydroxypyruvate was synthesised and used to establish where hydroxypyruvate is incorporated in the product. In separate experiments reaction intermediates were also successfully intercepted and structurally identified using ESI-MS with tandem mass spectrometry ESI-MS/MS. These studies indicated that two mechanisms appear to be operating, one involving the addition of the tertiary amine catalyst to hydroxypyruvate, the other an aldol-based mechanism. Since the first mechanism may enable facial stereodifferentiation in the addition of intermediates to the aldehyde, a preliminary study on the use of chiral catalysts was performed and the first asymmetric organocatalytic synthesis of α,α'-dihydroxy ketones in aqueous media achieved, in up to 50% ee, using a quinine ether catalyst.