Digital Light Processing 3D Bioprinting of Gelatin-Norbornene Hydrogel for Enhanced Vascularization

Digital light processing (DLP) bioprinting can be used to fabricate volumetric scaffolds with intricate internal structures, such as perfusable vascular channels. The successful implementation of DLP bioprinting in tissue fabrication requires using suitable photo-reactive bioinks. Norbornene-based bioinks have emerged as an attractive alternative to (meth)acrylated macromers in 3D bioprinting owing to their mild and rapid reaction kinetics, high cytocompatibility for in situ cell encapsulation, and adaptability for post-printing modification or conjugation of bioactive motifs. In this contribution, the development of gelatin-norbornene (GelNB) is reported as a photo-cross-linkable bioink for DLP 3D bioprinting. Low concentrations of GelNB (2–5 wt.%) and poly(ethylene glycol)-tetra-thiol (PEG4SH) are DLP-printed with a wide range of stiffness (G' ≈120 to 4000 Pa) and with perfusable channels. DLP-printed GelNB hydrogels are highly cytocompatible, as demonstrated by the high viability of the encapsulated human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs). The encapsulated HUVECs formed an interconnected microvascular network with lumen structures. Notably, the GelNB bioink permitted both in situ tethering and secondary conjugation of QK peptide, a vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-mimetic peptide. Incorporation of QK peptide significantly improved endothelialization and vasculogenesis of the DLP-printed GelNB hydrogels, reinforcing the applicability of this bioink system in diverse biofabrication applications.     

Potassium Ion-selective Electrode with a Sensitive Ion-to-Electron Transducer Composed of Porous Laser-induced Graphene and MoS2 Fabricated by One-step Direct Laser Writing

In this study, an ion-selective electrode with a sensitive ion-to-electron transducer composed of porous laser-induced graphene (LIG) and MoS₂ (LIG-MoS₂/ISE) was fabricated to measure the potassium ion concentration in a greenhouse nutrient solution for soilless culture. Additionally, a more effective and low-cost method was proposed for the large-batch production and manufacture of potassium ion-selective electrodes (K⁺-ISEs) using the direct laser writing technique, which differs considerably from existing methods. Moreover, the sensing mechanism of the proposed LIG-MoS₂/ISE for potassium ion detection was investigated. The morphology and physical properties of the LIG-MoS₂/SC-K⁺-ISEs were studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Raman spectroscopy and energy-dispersive spectroscopy. Potentiometric measurements, chronopotentiometry, potentiometric water layer tests, cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) were used to evaluate the analytical performance of the newly developed K⁺-ISEs. A Nernstian slope of 30.1 mV/decade for the activity of potassium ions in a concentration range from 10⁻⁷ to 10⁻² M was determined. The EIS and chronopotentiometry results revealed that the LIG-MoS₂/SC-K⁺-ISE had a larger resistance and double-layer capacitance than the LIG/SC-K⁺-ISE. The ion-selective membrane (ISM) and solid-contact layer did not have any water film between them, according to the potentiometric water layer test. The results proved that the LIG-MoS₂ nanocomposite could possibly be used as a sensitive ion-to-electron transducer to fabricate K⁺-ISEs. The K⁺-ISE fabrication method using the direct laser writing technique had a higher efficiency, enabling its broad application prospects in agriculture.     

Interplay of spin–orbit coupling and superconducting correlations in germanium telluride thin films

There is much current interest in combining superconductivity and spin–orbit coupling in order to induce the topological superconductor phase and associated Majorana‐like quasiparticles which hold great promise towards fault‐tolerant quantum computing. Experimentally these effects have been combined by the proximity‐coupling of super‐conducting leads and high spin–orbit materials such as InSb and InAs, or by controlled Cu‐doping of topological insu‐lators such as Bi₂Se₃. However, for practical purposes, a single‐phase material which intrinsically displays both these effects is highly desirable. Here we demonstrate coexisting superconducting correlations and spin–orbit coupling in molecular‐beam‐epitaxy‐grown thin films of GeTe. The former is evidenced by a precipitous low‐temperature drop in the electrical resistivity which is quelled by a magnetic field, and the latter manifests as a weak antilocalisation (WAL) cusp in the magnetotransport. Our studies reveal several other intriguing features such as the presence of two‐dimensional rather than bulk transport channels below 2 K, possible signatures of topological superconductivity, and unexpected hysteresis in the magnetotransport. Our work demonstrates GeTe to be a potential host of topological SC and Majorana‐like excitations, and to be a versatile platform to develop quantum information device architectures. (© 2016 The Authors. Phys. Status Solidi RRL published by WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

A new explicit iteration method for a class of variational inequalities

In this paper, we propose a new simple explicit iterative algorithm to find a solution for variational inequalities over the set of common fixed points of an infinite family of nonexpansive mappings on real reflexive and strictly convex Banach spaces with a uniformly Gâteaux differentiable norm. Two numerical examples also are given for illustration.     

A molecular docking simulation study on potent inhibitors against Rhizoctonia solani and Magnaporthe oryzae in rice: silver-tetrylene and bis-silver-tetrylene complexes vs. validamycin and tricyclazole pesticides

Structural Chemistry - Rice, well known as the most important staple food source worldwide, is highly susceptible to many infectious diseases, especially rice sheath blight caused by fungus...     

Antiproliferative and antiinflammatory coxib–combretastatin hybrids suppress cell cycle progression and induce apoptosis of MCF7 breast cancer cells

In our study, some newly synthesized aryl-substituted pyrazole derivatives mimicking cis-diphenylethylene scaffold of two apoptotic inducing agents celecoxib and combretastatin A-4 were found to have strong antiproliferative as well as antiinflammatory activities. Among these coxib–combretastatin hybrids, two lead compounds 8 and 6c simultaneously inhibited prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) production in LPS-activated murine macrophage RAW 264.7 cells and suppressed cell cycle progression of MCF7 cells at G2/M or G0/G1 phases, but only compound 8 induced apoptosis via caspase-3 activation. Both the lead compounds showed good docking energies with both protein targets COX-2 and tubulin in the molecule interaction modeling. The cis-diphenylethylene scaffold of celecoxib or combretastatin A-4 as well as functional groups such as the ethyl ester group and the sulfonamide could be considered as potential key features for the dual activity of studied compounds meanwhile the trimethoxybenzene remained the crucial characterization of the newly derived compounds of combretastatins.

     

A stereoselective entry into functionalized 1,2-diamines by zinc-mediated homologation of alpha-aminoacids

A general, stereoselective synthesis of 4,5-disubstituted imidazolidines-2-ones from alpha-aminoacids has been developed: the key steps are a Blaise reaction of bromoacetate on alpha-aminonitriles and further reduction. Although reduction with sodium cyanoborohydride afforded a mixture of cis and trans isomers 6a-e with moderate to good stereoselectivity, reduction with sodium in liquid ammonia gave the trans isomers 8a-e with complete stereoselectivity. Acidic hydrolysis of the urea gave 4-amino-pyrrolidinones, which can be precursors to beta,gamma-diaminoacids or 3-aminopyrrolidines.     

Enhancement of electrical stability of a-IGZO TFTs by improving the surface morphology and packing density of active channel

a-IGZO films were deposited on Si substrates by d.c sputtering technique with various working power densities (p_d) in the range of 0.74–2.22 W/cm². The correlation between material properties and their effects on electrical stability of a-IGZO thin-film transistor (TFTs) was studied as a function of p_d. At a p_d of 1.72 W/cm² a-IGZO film had smoothest surface roughness (0.309 nm) with In-rich and Ga-poor cation compositions as a channel. This structurally ordered TFTs exhibited a high field effect mobility of 9.14 cm²/Vs, a sub-threshold swing (S.S.) of 0.566 V/dec, and an on–off ratio of 10⁷. Additionally, the V_th shift in hysteresis loop is almost eliminated. It was shown that the densification of the a-IGZO film resulted in the reduction of its interface trap density (1.83 × 10¹² cm^?2), which contributes for the improvement in the electrical and thermal stability.     

A new hydrochalcone from Miliusa sinensis

A new dihydrochalcone 4',6'-dihydroxy-2',3',4-trimethoxydihydrochalcone (1) along with nine known compounds, pashanone (2), dihydropashanone (3), pinostrobin (4), 5-hydroxy-7,4'-dimethoxyflavanone (5), 5-hydroxy-6,7-dimethoxyflavanone (6), 5-hydroxy-7,8-dimethoxyflavanone (7), 24-methylencycloartane-3β,21-diol (8), liriodenine (9) and 3,5-dihydroxy-7,3',4'-trimethoxyflavone (10), were isolated from the extracts, exhibiting cytotoxic activity (n-hexane and ethyl acetate extracts) of Miliusa sinensis. The structure of (1) was elucidated by the analysis of spectral data (IR, HR-MS, EI-MS, 1D and 2D NMR).     

Effect of electrospun non-woven mats of dibutyryl chitin/poly(lactic acid) blends on wound healing in hairless mice

The aim of this study was to examine the proliferative ability of dibutyryl chitin (DBC) on scratch wounds in HaCaT keratinocytes and to evaluate the effect of nanoporous non-woven mat (DBCNFM) on skin wound healing in hairless mice using the advantages of DBCNFM, such as high porosity and high surface area to volume. The cell spreading activity of DBC was verified through a cell spreading assay in scratched human HaCaT keratinocytes. Scratch wound experiments showed that DBC notably accelerates the spreading rate of HaCaT keratinocytes in a dose dependent manner. The molecular aspects of the healing process were also investigated by hematoxylin & eosin staining of the healed skin, displaying the degrees of reepithelialization and immunostaining on extracellular matrix synthesis and remodeling of the skin. Topical application of DBCNFM significantly reduced skin wound rank scores and increased the skin remodeling of the wounded hairless mice in a dose dependent way. Furthermore, DBCNFM notably increased the expression of the type 1 collagen and filaggrin. These results demonstrate that DBC efficiently accelerates the proliferation of HaCaT keratinocytes and DBCNFM notably increases extracellular matrix synthesis on remodeling of the skin, and these materials are a good candidate for further evaluation as an effective wound healing agent.