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Topic Review
Biography
Topic Review
Organ-on-Chip
Organ-on-chip (OOC) devices are in vitro miniaturized multicellular systems with defined architectures that represent the new frontier in biomedical research to produce micro-organoids and tissues for drug testing and regenerative medicine. Although OOC devices can potentially improve the prediction capability of preclinical studies in comparison to in vitro tests and animal models, the successful transition from conventional 2D cell culture to human OOC implies the development of microfluidically supported 3D architectures to mimic the native extracellular matrix (ECM), to induce cell-ECM and multicellular interactions, as well as to modulate many cell functions including polarity, morphology, and motility. In this regard, cell-laden microgels (CLMs) represent a promising tool for 3D cell culturing and on-chip generation of micro-organs.
384
08 Oct 2021
Topic Review
Optimized Polymeric Membranes for Water Treatment
Conventional polymers, endowed with specific functionalities, are extensively utilized for filtering and extracting a diverse set of chemicals, notably metals, from solutions. The main structure of a polymer is an integral part for designing an efficient separating system. However, its chemical functionality further contributes to the selectivity, fabrication process, and resulting product morphology. One example would be a membrane that can be employed to selectively remove a targeted metal ion or chemical from a solution, leaving behind the useful components of the solution. Such membranes or products are highly sought after for purifying polluted water contaminated with toxic and heavy metals. An efficient water-purifying membrane must fulfill several requirements, including a specific morphology attained by the material with a specific chemical functionality and facile fabrication for integration into a purifying module Therefore, the selection of an appropriate polymer and its functionalization become crucial and determining steps.
164
23 Jan 2024
Topic Review
Non-Ionic Surfactants
Surfactants are essential in the manufacture of polymeric nanoparticles by emulsion formation methods and to preserve the stability of carriers in liquid media. The deposition of non-ionic surfactants at the interface allows a considerable reduction of the globule of the emulsion with high biocompatibility and the possibility of oscillating the final sizes in a wide nanometric range.
4.1K
29 Jun 2021
Topic Review
Non-Fullerene Acceptors of IDIC/ITIC Families
IDIC/ITIC families of non-fullerene acceptors has boosted the photovoltaic performances of bulk-heterojunction organic solar cells. The fine tuning of the photophysical, morphological and processability properties with the aim of reaching higher and higher photocurrent efficiencies has prompted uninterrupted worldwide research on these peculiar families of organic compounds.
1.1K
17 Nov 2020
Topic Review
Non-Covalent Interactions of Intrinsic Self-Healing Elastomers
Self-healing elastomers refer to a class of synthetic polymers that possess the unique ability to autonomously repair from internal and external damages. In recent years, significant progress has been made in the field of self-healing elastomers. In particular, intrinsic self-healing elastomers have garnered a great deal of attention.
242
18 Dec 2023
Topic Review
Non-collagenous proteins in bone ECM
Engineering biomaterials that mimic the extracellular matrix (ECM) of bone is of significant importance since most of the outstanding properties of the bone are due to matrix constitution. Bone ECM is composed of a mineral part comprising hydroxyapatite and of an organic part of primarily collagen with the rest consisting on non-collagenous proteins.
1.2K
14 Apr 2021
Topic Review
Nitric Oxide for Dermal Application
Nitric oxide (NO•) is a free radical gas, produced in the human body to regulate physiological processes, including skin health. The lack of NO• is known to cause or worsen skin conditions, so an exogenous delivery through NO-donors can compensate its deficiency. This has been incorporated into natural, synthetic and semisynthetic polymeric matrices that have been evaluated for antimicrobial, wound healing and circulatory dermal applications.
593
25 Apr 2021
Topic Review
NIAS in Plastic Food Packaging
Several food contact materials (FCMs) contain non-intentionally added substances (NIAS), and most of the substances that migrate from plastic food packaging are unknown. Food packaging can contain NIAS as a result of the interactions between different substances in the packaging materials, between food content and substances (for example, additives) in FCM, from degradation processes and mainly from the impurities present in the raw materials used for FCM production. (EU) nº 10/2011 defines that “non-intentionally added substance means an impurity in the substances used or a reaction intermediate formed during the production process or a decomposition or reaction product”. Most NIAS are regularly detected when using high sensitivity analytical techniques, although the chemical structure of unknown compounds is often difficult to establish by conventional tools.
2.1K
01 Jul 2021
Topic Review
Natural-Drugs-Based Low-Molecular-Weight Supramolecular Gels
The utilization of paclitaxel, camptothecin, rhein, curcumin, and other natural small molecular drugs with unique rigid backbone structures and modifiable multiple sites as building blocks to form gels by self-assembly has attracted widespread attention. The obtained low-molecular-weight supramolecular gel not only retains the general characteristics of the gel but also overcomes the shortcomings of natural drugs, such as poor water solubility and low bioavailability.
1.0K
12 Aug 2021
Topic Review
Natural Polymeric Composites Derived from Animals
The special property of polymeric-based systems is that they serve as adjuvants, may trigger an antigen-mediated immune response, and also substantially deliver the antigen or vaccine to the desired anatomical or physiological location. Moreover, the benefit of polymeric-based delivery methods is that they may be made using natural polymers, which reduces the risk of tissue cytotoxicity.
236
23 Mar 2023
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