New perspectives about molecular arrangement of primary and permanent dentin

The dentin quality of primary and permanent teeth was inspected by Fourier transformed Raman spectroscopy (FT-Raman); scanning electron microscopy/energy-dispersive spectroscopy (SEM/EDS) and hardness test. Middle dentin of crowns were reached by carbide bur abrading providing a uniform smear layer. Phosphoric acid was applied in order to simulate the etching of total etching adhesive systems. The groups were (n = 10): G1 (primary dentin smear layer); G2 (35% phosphoric acid etched primary dentin); G3 (permanent dentin smear layer); G4 (35% phosphoric acid etched permanent dentin). FT-Raman results were subjected to cluster analysis. SEM/EDS were made in order to add the data obtained by FT-Raman. The hardness data were subjected to ANOVA and Tukey test. FT-Raman showed differences among groups, either to organic or inorganic content. For the organic content, primary and permanent dentin became similar after the etching; conversely, the inorganic content showed differences for the two substrates. Hardness test showed no significant differences between primary and permanent dentin, before or after etching, but the etching decreased these values. The mineral content arrangement of primary dentin is different from permanent dentin, independently of the etching. The substrate type did no influence the hardness, but the etching decreased it.     

Biodegradable polycarbonates containing side carboxyl groups—synthesis,properties, and degradation study

The main objective of the presented research was to synthesise biodegradable aliphatic polycarbonates containing reactive carboxyl pendant groups and to examine the influence of the copolymer chain microstructure and composition on the process of their hydrolytic degradation and cytocompatibility. The work describes copolymerization of cyclic trimethylene carbonate derivative containing benzyl‐ester pendant group (benzyl 5‐methyl‐2‐oxo‐1,3‐dioxane‐5‐carboxylate) with trimethylene carbonate. The copolymerization was conducted with the use of zinc (II) and lanthanum (III) acetylacetonates as ring‐opening polymerization coordination initiators. Detailed NMR analysis allowed to define the microstructure of the obtained copolymers, which depended on the composition and type of used initiator. The final tapered chain microstructure of the obtained copolymers was related to huge differences in comonomers reactivity and evidenced low level of transesterification of the main copolymer backbone. Chosen copolymers, with unprotected carbonyl groups, were subjected to in vitro degradation test and cytocompatibility studies. It was found that high concentration of carboxyl groups resulted in copolymers which formed hydrogels and were very prone to hydrolytic degradation; they were also cytotoxic toward osteoblast‐like MG 63 cells. Copolymers with lower content of carboxyl groups were found less susceptible to degradation and cytocompatible with studied cells. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2017 , 55, 2756–2769     

PAINT-ing Fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl (Fmoc)-Diphenylalanine Hydrogels

Self-assembly of fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl-protected diphenylalanine (FmocFF) in water is widely known to produce hydrogels. Typically, confocal microscopy is used to visualize such hydrogels under wet conditions, that is, without freezing or drying. However, key aspects of hydrogels like fiber diameter, network morphology and mesh size are sub-diffraction limited features and cannot be visualized effectively using this approach. In this work, we show that it is possible to image FmocFF hydrogels by Points Accumulation for Imaging in Nanoscale Topography (PAINT) in native conditions and without direct gel labelling. We demonstrate that the fiber network can be visualized with improved resolution (≈50 nm) both in 2D and 3D. Quantitative information is extracted such as mesh size and fiber diameter. This method can complement the existing characterization tools for hydrogels and provide useful information supporting the design of new materials.     

Correlation of p16(INK4A) expression and HPV copy number with cellular FTIR spectroscopic signatures of cervical cancer cells

Cervical cancer, a potentially preventable disease, has its main aetiology in infection by high risk human papillomavirus (HR-HPV). Approaches to improving cervical cancer screening and diagnostic methodologies include molecular biological analysis, targeting of biomarker proteins, but also exploration and implementation of new techniques such as vibrational spectroscopy. This study correlates the biomarker protein p16(INK4A) expression levels dependent on HPV copy number with the infrared absorption spectral signatures of the cervical cancer cell lines, HPV negative C33A, HPV-16 positive SiHa and CaSki and HPV-18 positive HeLa. Confocal fluorescence microscopy demonstrated that p16(INK4A) is expressed in all investigated cell lines in both nuclear and cytoplasmic regions, although predominantly in the cytoplasm. Flow cytometry was used to quantify the p16(INK4A) expression levels and demonstrated a correlation, albeit nonlinear, between the reported number of integrated HPV copies and p16(INK4A) expression levels. CaSki cells were found to have the highest level of expression, HeLa intermediate levels, and SiHa and C33A the lowest levels. FTIR spectra revealed differences in nucleic acid, lipid and protein signatures between the cell lines with varying HPV copy number. Peak intensities exhibited increasing tendency in nucleic acid levels and decreasing tendency in lipid levels with increasing HPV copy number, and although they were found to be nonlinearly correlated with the HPV copy number, their dependence on p16(INK4A) levels was found to be close to linear. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) of the infrared absorption spectra revealed differences between nuclear and cytoplasmic spectroscopic signatures for all cell lines, and furthermore clearly differentiated the groups of spectra representing each cell line. Finally, Partial Least Squares (PLS) analysis was employed to construct a model which can predict the p16(INK4A) expression level based on a spectral fingerprint of a cell line, demonstrating the diagnostic potential of spectroscopic techniques.     

Comparative Study of Alternating Low-band-Gap Benzothiadiazole Co-oligomers

The benzothiadiazole – arylene alternating conjugated oligomers have been designed and synthesized via Suzuki coupling reaction. The structures and properties of the conjugated oligomers were characterized by ¹HNMR, ¹³CNMR, UV–vis absorption spectroscopy, photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. The luminescent measurements demonstrate that polybenzothiadiazoles are good chromophores able to form thin films by Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) technique, making them suitable for further applications. Also the electrical properties of obtained films confirm the good potential of these novel aryl-based π-conjugated polymers for the development of various electrical and electrochemical solid-state devices.     

Mono- and Di-Pyrene [60]Fullerene and [70]Fullerene Derivatives as Potential Components for Photovoltaic Devices

In the present work, we report the successful synthesis and characterization of six (two new) fullerene mono- and di-pyrene derivatives based on C₆₀ and C₇₀ fullerenes. The synthesized compounds were characterized by spectral methods (ESI-MS, ¹H-NMR, ¹³C-NMR, UV-Vis, FT-IR, photoluminescence and photocurrent spectroscopy). The energy of HOMO and LUMO levels and the band gaps were determined from cyclic voltammetry and compared with the theoretical values calculated according to the DFT/B3LYP/6-31G(d) and DFT/PBE/6-311G(d,p) approach for fully optimized molecular structures at the DFT/B3LYP/6-31G(d) level. Efficiency of solar cells made of PTB7: C₆₀ and C₇₀ fullerene pyrene derivatives were analyzed based on the determined energy levels of the HOMO and LUMO orbitals of the derivatives as well as the extensive spectral results of fullerene derivatives and their mixtures with PTB7. As a result, we found that the electronic and spectral properties, on which the efficiency of a photovoltaic cell is believed to depend, slightly changes with the number and type of pyrene substituents on the fullerene core. The efficiency of constructed solar cells largely depends on the homogeneity of the photovoltaic layer, which, in turn, is a derivative of the solubility of fullerene derivatives in the solvent used to apply these layers by spincoating.     

Separation of curium from americium using composite sorbents and complexing agent solutions: part 2

TODGA–PAN composite sorbent and (PhSO₃H)₂–BTPhen in nitric acid solution were employed as a system for separation of curium from americium. The influence of aqueous phase composition (complexing agent and nitric acid concentrations) on weight distribution coefficients and Cm/Am separation factor was studied in batch experiments with trace amounts of ²⁴¹Am and ²⁴⁴Cm. Based on the results obtained, column experiment was designed and conducted. The Cm/Am separation factor of 3.8 ± 0.1 found in batch experiments with TODGA–PAN could be reproduced also in column experiment resulting in good separation of Cm from Am. The efficiency of Cm separation from Am in the TODGA–PAN system was compared with the analogous system with DGA resin (Triskem International). After separation on a 0.5 mL column (φ4.7 × 29 mm) the Cm fraction containing 93% of Cm(III) contained only 3% of Am(III) in optimum conditions.

     

Simple micellar electrokinetic chromatography method for the determination of hydrogen sulfide in hen tissues

A new method for the determination of hydrogen sulfide in hen tissues has been developed and validated. For estimation of hydrogen sulfide content, a sample (0.1 g) of hen tissue was treated according to the procedure consisted of some essential steps: simultaneous homogenization of a tissue and derivatization of hydrogen sulfide to its S‐quinolinium derivative with 2‐chloro‐1‐methylquinolinium tetrafluoroborate, separation of so‐formed derivative by micellar electrokinetic chromatography with sweeping, and detection and quantitation with the use of UV detector set to measure analytical signals at 375 nm. Effective electrophoretic separation was achieved using fused silica capillary (effective length 41.5 cm, 75 μm id) and 0.05 mol/L, pH 8 phosphate buffer with the addition of 0.04 mol/L SDS and 26% ACN. The lower limit of quantification was 0.12 μmol hydrogen sulfide in 1 g of tissue. The calibration curve prepared in tissue homogenate for hydrogen sulfide showed linearity in the range from 0.15 to 2.0 μmol/g, with the coefficient of correlation 0.9978. The relative standard deviation of the points of the calibration curve varied from 8.3 to 3.2% RSD.