Showing papers in "Biomacromolecules in 2009"

TL;DR: The T OCN films prepared from softwood cellulose were transparent and flexible and had extremely low coefficients of thermal expansion caused by high crystallinity of TOCN, which is promising for potential applications in some high-tech materials.

TL;DR: In this article, recent advances in stimuli-sensitive polymersomes have been reviewed, and perspectives on future developments have been discussed.

TL;DR: It was proved that the chemical treatment clearly improves the ultimate properties of the nanocomposites and significant differences were reported according to the nature of the nanoparticle and amount of nanofillers used as reinforcement.

TL;DR: Solid-state (13)C NMR and X-ray analyses revealed that the C6 carboxylate groups formed are selectively present on the crystalline fibril surfaces at high densities.

TL;DR: The result showed that the experimentally determined modulus of the highly crystalline tunicate microfibrils was in agreement with the elasticModulus of native cellulose crystals.

TL;DR: A tutorial-type review of recent work on surface modification of polymeric biomaterials, with a focus on plasma-based strategies, to provide a fast introduction for researchers into the field.

TL;DR: The progress in the field of understanding and harnessing the interactions of polymeric nanoparticles synthesized by the miniemulsion process with different cell types is discussed and the blood-brain barrier is focused on.

TL;DR: This review describes the synthesis, properties, and, in particular, biomedical and pharmaceutical applications of an upcoming class of polymeric networks and assemblies based on cyclodextrins (CDs).

TL;DR: It was confirmed that the nanofibers were extracted from the natural chitin/protein/mineral composites of crab shell in their original state and the N-acetyl group was not removed and the alpha-chitin crystal structure was maintained, as confirmed by elemental analysis data, FT-IR spectra, and X-ray diffraction profiles.

TL;DR: It was proved that the fluorescence quenching of HSA by berberine is a result of the formation of berberin-HSA complex and the results of thermodynamic parameters DeltaG, DeltaH, and DeltaS at different temperatures indicate that the electrostatic interactions play a major role for berberines- HSA association.

TL;DR: Antimicrobial results show that these nanocomposite systems display a very effective bactericidal activity toward both Gram+ and Gram- bacteria, and the hydrogel does not show any cytotoxic effect toward three different eukaryotic cell lines.

TL;DR: The mixed culture process for PHA production does not require aseptic conditions and waste streams rather than pure substrates could be used as raw materials.

TL;DR: Owing to that unique selective interface-localization and improved phase morphology, the ternary composites present far lower rheological and conductive percolation thresholds than those of the binary composites, and also present extraordinary mechanical properties even at very low loading levels of the MWCNTs.

TL;DR: In this article, transparent nanoporous cellulose gel obtained from aqueous alkali hydroxide-urea solution was examined as supporting medium for noble metal nanoparticles, which were synthesized in the gel by hydrothermal reduction by cellulose or by added reductant.

TL;DR: The results indicate that chondrogenic differentiation of encapsulated rabbit marrow MSCs within OPF hydrogel composites could be affected by their swelling ratio, thus suggesting the potential of OPF composite hydrogels as part of a novel strategy for controlling the differentiation of stem cells.

TL;DR: The complete size distribution of starch can only be obtained with SEC for smaller sizes (largely amylose), plus a size-separation technique with very low shear, such as field-flow fractionation, for the amylopectin region.

TL;DR: This work describes the self-assembly of these Fmoc-peptides into various structures and characterize their distinctive molecular and physical properties, which offers new opportunities for developing cell-adhesive biomedical hydrogel scaffolds, as well as for establishing strategies to modify surfaces with bioactive materials.

TL;DR: The feasibility of core cross-linked PIC micelles as carriers for therapeutic siRNA and show that stable micellar structure is critical for effective siRNA delivery into target cells are shown.

TL;DR: The needed hydrolysis of amorphous cellulose chains can be performed simultaneously with the esterification of accessible hydroxyl groups to produce surface functionalized CNW in a single step, indicating increased hydrophobicity and thus more compatible with hydrophobic polymers when used as a reinforcing phase.

TL;DR: Glyceraldehyde and genipin were established as good options for cross-linking agents because of the low toxicity of these cross-linkers and the resistance to dissolution of the cross-linked fibers in cell culture medium at 37 °C.

TL;DR: It was shown that the copolymer composition of amphiphilic copolymers containing primary or tertiary amine groups can be tuned to achieve potent antimicrobial activity while minimizing red blood cell lysis.

TL;DR: Stable silver nanoparticles with a narrow size distribution and high density are prepared through strong ion interactions between host carboxylate groups and guest silver cations, which have been investigated by scanning electron microscopy, UV-visible spectroscopy, and a small-angle X-ray scattering method.

TL;DR: Intrinsic viscosities of all celluloses decreased with temperature, indicating a drop in solvent thermodynamic quality with heating, and the values of the activation energies calculated within Arrhenius approximation are in-line with those obtained for cellulose of comparable molecular weights in other solvents.

TL;DR: These versatile, nanoscale scaffolds were shown to be biocompatible and have cancer cell targeting, bimodal imaging, and disease treatment capabilities.

TL;DR: A wide range of approaches have been employed for the controlled delivery of growth factors by hydrogels, with recent work emphasizing biologically inspired strategies also included.

TL;DR: This review gives an overview of PHA granules in general, including biogenesis and GAPs, and focuses on their potential use as nano-/micro-beads in biotechnological and biomedical applications.

TL;DR: This work provided a novel pathway for the preparation of biodegradable all-cellulose nanocomposites, which are expected to be useful as biomaterials and food ingredients.

TL;DR: Nanocomposites based on an ethylene oxide/epichlorohydrin copolymer and nanowhiskers isolated from MCC were produced that display the maximum mechanical reinforcement predicted by the percolation model.

TL;DR: A network of hydrogen bonds involving O6 is proposed that can explain the main features of the polarized FTIR spectra of alpha- chitin and sheds some light on the origin of splitting of the amide I band observed on alpha-chitin IR spectra.

TL;DR: This work is the first that establishes the production of linear saturated terminal diisocyanate derived from fatty acids and corresponding PUs mostly from lipid feedstock.