There is, I think, something ethereal about i —the square root of minus one. I remember first hearing about it at school. It seemed an odd beast at that time—an intruder hovering on the edge of reality.

Usually familiarity dulls this sense of the bizarre, but in the case of i it was the reverse: over the years the sense of its surreal nature intensified. It seemed that it was impossible to write mathematics that described the real world in …

I and i

I have developed "tennis elbow" from lugging this book around the past four weeks, but it is worth the pain, the effort, and the aspirin. It is also worth the (relatively speaking) bargain price. Including appendixes, this book contains 894 pages of text. The entire panorama of the neural sciences is surveyed and examined, and it is comprehensive in its scope, from genomes to social behaviors. The editors explicitly state that the book is designed as "an introductory text for students of biology, behavior, and medicine," but it is hard to imagine any audience, interested in any fragment of neuroscience at any level of sophistication, that would not enjoy this book. The editors have done a masterful job of weaving together the biologic, the behavioral, and the clinical sciences into a single tapestry in which everyone from the molecular biologist to the practicing psychiatrist can find and appreciate his or

Principles of Neural Science

Nanoparticles: Properties, applications and toxicities

■ Abstract Apoptosis is a genetically programmed, morphologically distinct form of cell death that can be triggered by a variety of physiological and pathological stimuli. Studies performed over the past 10 years have demonstrated that proteases play critical roles in initiation and execution of this process. The caspases, a family of cysteine-dependent aspartate-directed proteases, are prominent among the death proteases. Caspases are synthesized as relatively inactive zymogens that become activated by scaffold-mediated transactivation or by cleavage via upstream proteases in an intracellular cascade. Regulation of caspase activation and activity occurs at several different levels: ( a) Zymogen gene transcription is regulated; ( b) antiapoptotic members of the Bcl-2 family and other cellular polypeptides block proximity-induced activation of certain procaspases; and ( c) certain cellular inhibitor of apoptosis proteins (cIAPs) can bind to and inhibit active caspases. Once activated, caspases cleave a variety of intracellular polypeptides, including major structural elements of the cytoplasm and nucleus, components of the DNA repair machinery, and a number of protein kinases. Collectively, these scissions disrupt survival pathways and disassemble important architectural components of the cell, contributing to the stereotypic morphological and biochemical changes that characterize apoptotic cell death.

Mammalian caspases: structure ,a ctivation ,s ubstrates, and functions during apoptosis

Electrospinning is a versatile and viable technique for generating ultrathin fibers. Remarkable progress has been made with regard to the development of electrospinning methods and engineering of electrospun nanofibers to suit or enable various applications. We aim to provide a comprehensive overview of electrospinning, including the principle, methods, materials, and applications. We begin with a brief introduction to the early history of electrospinning, followed by discussion of its principle and typical apparatus. We then discuss its renaissance over the past two decades as a powerful technology for the production of nanofibers with diversified compositions, structures, and properties. Afterward, we discuss the applications of electrospun nanofibers, including their use as "smart" mats, filtration membranes, catalytic supports, energy harvesting/conversion/storage components, and photonic and electronic devices, as well as biomedical scaffolds. We highlight the most relevant and recent advances related to the applications of electrospun nanofibers by focusing on the most representative examples. We also offer perspectives on the challenges, opportunities, and new directions for future development. At the end, we discuss approaches to the scale-up production of electrospun nanofibers and briefly discuss various types of commercial products based on electrospun nanofibers that have found widespread use in our everyday life.

Electrospinning and Electrospun Nanofibers: Methods, Materials, and Applications

Optical and structural phase transitions in TiO2 nanoparticles with osteogenic differentiation potential

Heterostructure Zinc Oxide Nanosheets Decorated Polyaniline-Coated Polyurethane/Chitosan Hybrid Nanofiber-Based Flexible Sensor for Electrochemical Glucose Sensing

Herein, we report the bioactivity of the hybrid plasmonic aligned nanofibrous scaffolds composed of reduced graphene oxide (rGO, 209 nm) nanosheets enfolded gold nanorods (AuNR) with polycaprolactone (PCL) for breast cancer photo-therapy and subsequent nerve regeneration. The strategic inclusion of 0.00068 wt% (OD = 4.0) of monodispersed AuNR-rGO in PCL (AuNR-rGO@PCL (4.0)) leads to significant higher physicochemical and optical properties such as higher mechanical strength (7-fold increase), electrical conductivity (∼6-times enhancement), larger surface area (6.4 times), and more NIR light absorbance. Hence, the AuNR-rGO@PCL (4.0) was found to be an excellent photo agent for breast tumor ablation with more than 90% cancer cell (MCF-7) death under 808 nm NIR irradiation at low laser power density (0.72 W/cm 2 ). Also, the nanofibrous scaffold was observed to have a substantial effect on adhesion, proliferation, growth, and differentiation of PC12 and high affinity to S42 cell proliferation and migration which led to an exceptional nerve growth with a 2.5-fold (with NIR light after 3 days) and 2-fold (without NIR light after 7 days) increase in neurite length in comparison to PCL. The present study provides a new bioactive, biocompatible, non-toxic, and bifunctional aligned plasmonic scaffolds as an excellent single platform for breast cancer treatment and potential bioimplant to regain sensation loss after breast surgery and reconstruction. Plasmonic nanofibers for breast cancer phototherapy and subsequent nerve reconstruction. • Strategic inclusion of 0.00068 wt% of monodispersed AuNR-rGO in polycaprolactone . • Tensile strength, conductivity, and surface area increased 7.0, 6.0, and 6.4 times. • More than 90% breast cancer cell photo-ablation at 0.72 W/cm 2 of NIR laser power. • Excellent cell adhesion, proliferation, growth, and differentiation of PC12 and S42. • An exceptional nerve growth with a 2.5-fold increase in neurite length. 

Modulated plasmonic nanofibrous scaffold reinforced breast cancer photo-ablation and breast neurotization with resensation

/pdf/extraction-of-non-noble-metal-columbite-tantalite-as-a-1poqqwyfe1.pdf

Extraction of non-noble metal columbite-tantalite as a highly efficient electrocatalyst for water splitting

This study presents an impedance method of in-vitro characterization of the thrombotic potential of whole blood. Whole blood samples of 0.2 cc were put into a micro-cell with embedded three electrodes immediately after venepuncture at 37℃. Anti-coagulated blood samples were also collected for hematocrit and blood viscosity analyses. The rate of change of electron flow was measured, which indicates the inverse of the thrombotic potential. A sudden decrease in the rate of change of electron flow was observed at a time equal to approximately 110 seconds. This sudden decrease was significantly delayed in anti-coagulated samples. After the sudden decrease, the rate continued to decrease, reaching a minimum value in unadulterated samples while the change in the rate in the anti-coagulated ones was found rather moderate. Based on these preliminary findings, the present method may be of used as a new tool for the diagnosis of the thrombotic potential of whole blood.

Cheol Sang Kim

Papers

Optical and structural phase transitions in TiO2 nanoparticles with osteogenic differentiation potential

Heterostructure Zinc Oxide Nanosheets Decorated Polyaniline-Coated Polyurethane/Chitosan Hybrid Nanofiber-Based Flexible Sensor for Electrochemical Glucose Sensing

Modulated plasmonic nanofibrous scaffold reinforced breast cancer photo-ablation and breast neurotization with resensation

Extraction of non-noble metal columbite-tantalite as a highly efficient electrocatalyst for water splitting

In-vitro characterization of the thrombotic potential of whole blood using an impedance method