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Cardenas, C., Guzman, F., Carmona, M., Munoz, C., Nilo, L., Labra, A., et al. (2020). Synthetic Peptides as a Promising Alternative to Control Viral Infections in Atlantic Salmon. Pathogens, 9(8), 600.
Abstract: Viral infections in salmonids represent an ongoing challenge for the aquaculture industry. Two RNA viruses, the infectious pancreatic necrosis virus (IPNV) and the infectious salmon anemia virus (ISAV), have become a latent risk without healing therapies available for either. In this context, antiviral peptides emerge as effective and relatively safe therapeutic molecules. Based on in silico analysis of VP2 protein from IPNV and the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase from ISAV, a set of peptides was designed and were chemically synthesized to block selected key events in their corresponding infectivity processes. The peptides were tested in fish cell lines in vitro, and four were selected for decreasing the viral load: peptide GIM182 for IPNV, and peptides GIM535, GIM538 and GIM539 for ISAV. In vivo tests with the IPNV GIM 182 peptide were carried out using Salmo salar fish, showing a significant decrease of viral load, and proving the safety of the peptide for fish. The results indicate that the use of peptides as antiviral agents in disease control might be a viable alternative to explore in aquaculture.`
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Chang, Y. C., Larrain, F. A., Fuentes-Hernandez, C., Park, Y., & Kippelen, B. (2023). Inverted organic tandem solar cells with a charge recombination stack employing spatially confined p-type electrical doping. J. Appl. Phys., 134(9), 095502.
Abstract: We report on the application of solution-based p-type electrical doping using 12-molybdophosphoric acid hydrate (PMA) to the fabrication of organic tandem solar cells. Such a doping approach leads to a spatially confined vertical doping profile down to a limited depth from the surface of polymer films, thus allowing the hole-collecting component of the charge recombination stack to be embedded in the photoactive layer of the bottom sub-cell. This simplifies the device architecture by removing the need for an extra dedicated hole-collecting layer. It is shown that this novel charge recombination stack comprising a PMA-doped bottom photoactive layer and a trilayer of Ag/AZO/PEIE is compatible with a solution-processed top photoactive layer. The fabricated inverted organic tandem solar cells exhibit an open-circuit voltage that is close to the sum of the open-circuit voltages of the individual sub-cells, and a fill factor that is close to the better fill factor of the two sub-cells.
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Chang, Y. C., Larrain, F. A., Fuentes-Hernandez, C., Park, Y., & Kippelen, B. (2024). Solution-based electrical doping of organic photovoltaics with non-fullerene acceptors facilitated by solvent vapor pre-treatment. AIP Advances, 14(1), 015247.
Abstract: Solution-based electrical doping of organic semiconductors using 12-molybdophosphoric acid (PMA) hydrate has been shown to allow p-type doping of conjugated polymers over a limited depth from the surface, enabling the fabrication of organic solar cells with a simplified device architecture. However, the doping level of certain conjugated polymers using PMA was found to be limited by the polymer film volume. Here, we report a modified PMA doping technique based on film volume expansion that is applicable to device fabrication, leading to hole-collecting layer-free non-fullerene organic photovoltaic devices, which exhibit a comparable photovoltaic performance to those with a commonly evaporated MoO3 hole-collecting layer. (c) 2024 Author(s). All article content, except where otherwise noted, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
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Contreras-Raggio, J. I., Arancibia, C. T., Millan, C., Ploeg, H. L., Aiyangar, A., & Vivanco, J. F. (2022). Height-to-Diameter Ratio and Porosity Strongly Influence Bulk Compressive Mechanical Properties of 3D-Printed Polymer Scaffolds. Polymers, 14(22), 5017.
Abstract: Although the architectural design parameters of 3D-printed polymer-based scaffolds-porosity, height-to-diameter (H/D) ratio and pore size-are significant determinants of their mechanical integrity, their impact has not been explicitly discussed when reporting bulk mechanical properties. Controlled architectures were designed by systematically varying porosity (30-75%, H/D ratio (0.5-2.0) and pore size (0.25-1.0 mm) and fabricated using fused filament fabrication technique. The influence of the three parameters on compressive mechanical properties-apparent elastic modulus E-app, bulk yield stress sigma(y) and yield strain epsilon(y)-were investigated through a multiple linear regression analysis. H/D ratio and porosity exhibited strong influence on the mechanical behavior, resulting in variations in mean E-app of 60% and 95%, respectively. sigma(y) was comparatively less sensitive to H/D ratio over the range investigated in this study, with 15% variation in mean values. In contrast, porosity resulted in almost 100% variation in mean sigma(y) values. Pore size was not a significant factor for mechanical behavior, although it is a critical factor in the biological behavior of the scaffolds. Quantifying the influence of porosity, H/D ratio and pore size on bench-top tested bulk mechanical properties can help optimize the development of bone scaffolds from a biomechanical perspective.
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del Valle, M. A., Ramos, A. C., Diaz, F. R., & Gacitua, M. A. (2015). Electrosynthesis and Characterisation of Polymer Nanowires from Thiophene and its Oligomers. J. Braz. Chem. Soc., 26(11), 2313–2320.
Abstract: Validating methodology formerly reported, polythiophene electrosynthesised as nanowires from the monomer and some of its oligomers is now described. The work is conducted on a platinum electrode previously modified with a template that tunes the polymer growth inside the confined space of the pores. In addition, it was confirmed that the use of larger chain-length oligomers as starting unit helps to obtain more homogeneous wires, although its adhesion to the supporting substrate works against. Characterisation allows to verify the morphology and to confirm higher levels of doping/undoping of the nanostructures as compared to the corresponding bulky deposits, which points to improved macroscopic properties. It is demonstrated that this strategy allows obtaining nanowires of very small diameter, ranging from 2.8 to 4.0 nm; thus demonstrating that the use of this approach enables the direct obtainment of nanowires upon the electrode surface, with the obvious advantage that this implies.
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Dumais, J. (2021). Mechanics and hydraulics of pollen tube growth. New Phytol., 232(4), 1549–1565.
Abstract: All kingdoms of life have evolved tip-growing cells able to mine their environment or deliver cargo to remote targets. The basic cellular processes supporting these functions are understood in increasing detail, but the multiple interactions between them lead to complex responses that require quantitative models to be disentangled. Here, I review the equations that capture the fundamental interactions between wall mechanics and cell hydraulics starting with a detailed presentation of James Lockhart's seminal model. The homeostatic feedbacks needed to maintain a steady tip velocity are then shown to offer a credible explanation for the pulsatile growth observed in some tip-growing cells. Turgor pressure emerges as a central variable whose role in the morphogenetic process has been a source of controversy for more than 50 yr. I argue that recasting Lockhart's work as a process of chemical stress relaxation can clarify how cells control tip growth and help us internalise the important but passive role played by turgor pressure in the morphogenetic process.
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Norambuena-Contreras, J., Gonzalez-Torre, I., Vivanco, J. F., & Gacitua, W. (2016). Nanomechanical properties of polymeric fibres used in geosynthetics. Polym. Test, 54, 67–77.
Abstract: Geosynthetics are composite materials manufactured using different types of polymeric fibres, usually employed as anti-reflective cracking systems in asphalt pavements. Materials that compose geosynthetics can be damaged due to mechanical and thermal effects produced during the installation process under hot mix asphalts. In this paper, different polymeric fibres extracted from geosynthetics have been evaluated using nanoindentation tests. The main objective was to evaluate the effect of installation process (dynamic compaction and thermal damage) on the mechanical behaviour of individual polymeric fibres at nano-scale. To do this, elastic modulus (E) and hardness (H) of three different polymeric fibres commonly used in geosynthetics (polypropylene, polyester and polyvinyl-alcohol), in two testing directions and under two different states have been studied. Main conclusions of this work are that mechanical properties of geosynthetics individual fibres can change after installation, producing changes in the behaviour of geosynthetics at macro-scale with consequences in the pavement functionality, and that these changes are different depending on the material that composed the fibres. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Park, Y., Fuentes-Hernandez, C., Kim, K., Chou, W. F., Larrain, F. A., Graham, S., et al. (2021). Skin-like low-noise elastomeric organic photodiodes. Sci. Adv., 7(51), eabj6565.
Abstract: Stretchable optoelectronics made of elastomeric semiconductors could enable the integration of intelligent systems with soft materials, such as those of the biological world. Organic semiconductors and photodiodes have been engineered to be elastomeric; however, for photodetector applications, it remains a challenge to identify an elastomeric bulk heterojunction (e-BHJ) photoactive layer that combines a low Young's modulus and a high strain at break that yields organic photodiodes with low electronic noise values and high photodetector performance. Here, a blend of an elastomer, a donor-like polymer, and an acceptor-like molecule yields a skin-like e-BHJ with a Young's modulus of a few megapascals, comparable to values of human tissues, and a high strain at break of 189%. Elastomeric organic photodiodes based on e-BHJ photoactive layers maintain low electronic noise current values in the tens of femtoamperes range and noise equivalent power values in the tens of picowatts range under at least 60% strain.
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Ramirez-Morales, J. E., Tapia-Venegas, E., Campos, J. L., & Ruiz-Filippi, G. (2019). Operational behavior of a hydrogen extractive membrane bioreactor (HEMB) during mixed culture acidogenic fermentation. Int. J. Hydrog. Energy, 44(47), 25565–25574.
Abstract: Fermentative hydrogen production requires a continuous products-removal and effective upgrading steps to improve its general performance. Therefore, implementation of new technologies capable of achieving both requirements is essential. We present the operational behavior of a new process concept based on integration of membranes for gas separation and fermentation technology. This process, which we term as hydrogen extractive membrane bioreactor consists of coupling two dense polymeric membranes to a hydrogen producing culture. The process automatization of this system was essential to maintain the proper operational pressures in the membrane module and in the bioreactorgas-phase. This system was able to extract and partially separate the hydrogen and carbon dioxide generated. The hydrogen partial pressure was reduced from 55.5 to 49 KPa, which means an increase of hydrogen yield of 16.3% (1.1-1.28 mol-H-2/mol-glucose). Simultaneously, the implemented system generated a final hydrogen stream 13% (v/v) more concentrated than a conventional process. (C) 2019 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Slane, J., Vivanco, J., Ebenstein, D., Squire, M., & Ploeg, H. L. (2014). Multiscale characterization of acrylic bone cement modified with functionalized mesoporous silica nanoparticles. J. Mech. Behav. Biomed. Mater., 37, 141–152.
Abstract: Acrylic bone cement is widely used to anchor orthopedic implants to bone and mechanical failure of the cement mantle surrounding an implant can contribute to aseptic loosening. In an effort to enhance the mechanical properties of bone cement, a variety of nanoparticles and fibers can be incorporated into the cement matrix. Mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) are a class of particles that display high potential for use as reinforcement within bone cement. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to quantify the impact of modifying an acrylic cement with various low-loadings of mesoporous silica. Three types of MSNs (one plain variety and two modified with functional groups) at two loading ratios (0.1 and 0.2 wt/wt) were incorporated into a commercially available bone cement. The mechanical properties were characterized using four-point bending, microindentation and nanoindentation (static, stress relaxation, and creep) while material properties were assessed through dynamic mechanical analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetric analysis, FTIR spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. Four-point flexural testing and nanoindentation revealed minimal impact on the properties of the cements, except for several changes in the nano-level static mechanical properties. Conversely, microindentation testing demonstrated that the addition of MSNs significantly increased the microhardness. The stress relaxation and creep properties of the cements measured with nanoindentation displayed no effect resulting from the addition of MSNs. The measured material properties were consistent among all cements. Analysis of scanning electron micrographs images revealed that surface functionalization enhanced particle dispersion within the cement matrix and resulted in fewer particle agglomerates. These results suggest that the loading ratios of mesoporous silica used in this study were not an effective reinforcement material. Future work should be conducted to determine the impact of higher MSN loading ratios and alternative functional groups. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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Thandapani, P., Aepuru, R., Beron, F., Mangalaraja, R. V., Varaprasad, K., Zabotto, F. L., et al. (2023). Multiferroic Electroactive Polymer Blend/Ferrite Nanocomposite Flexible Films for Cooling Devices. ACS Appl. Polym. Mater., 5(8), 5926–5936.
Abstract: In recent days, the interest toward the development ofmulticaloricmaterials for cooling application is increasing, whereas multiferroicmaterials would be the suitable alternative to the conventional refrigerants.To explore them, the poly(methyl methacrylate)/poly(vinylidenefluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (PMMA/PVDF-HFP) blend and PMMA/PVDF-HFP/Zn0.5Cu0.5Fe2O4 flexible multiferroicnanocomposite films were fabricated by the solution casting method.The structural analyses prove that the strong interfacial interactionbetween the PMMA/PVDF-HFP blend and the Zn0.5Cu0.5Fe2O4 (ZCF) through hydroxyl (-OH) andcarbonyl group bonding with PVDF-HFP enhanced the thermal stabilityand suppressed the electroactive & beta; phase from 67 to 62%. Experimentalresults show that 10 wt % of superparamagnetic ZCF nanoparticles witha particle size of 6.8 nm induced both the magnetocaloric and magnetoelectriceffects in a nonmagnetic PMMA/PVDF-HFP ferroelectric matrix at roomtemperature. A set of isothermal magnetization curves were recordedin the magnetic field strength of 0-40 kOe and a temperaturerange of 2-400 K. The maximum magnetic entropy changes (& UDelta;S (M)) of -0.69 J & BULL;kg(-1) K-1 of ZCF nanoparticles and -0.094 J & BULL;kg(-1) K-1 of PMMA/PVDF-HFP/ZCF nanocompositesshowed an interesting table-like flat variation in the temperaturerange of 100-400 K as a function of the magnetic field. Thesamples display a large temperature span with a relative cooling power of 293 and 40 J & BULL;kg(-1) for ZCF and PMMA/PVDF-HFP/ZCF,respectively. The magnetoelectric effect of the PMMA/PVDF-HFP/ZCFcomposite was proved, but it generated only 1.42 mV/m & BULL;Oe in theapplied field of 5 kOe. Hence, the entropy change of the present nanocompositewas only due to the magnetocaloric effect, where the magnetoelectriccross-coupling coefficient was negligible. The multicaloric effectcould be established if the nanocomposite showed a larger magnetoelectriccross-coupling in addition to the magnetocaloric effect. This approachprovides the research findings in functional multiferroic polymernanocomposites for miniaturized cooling devices.
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Valle, H., Palao-Suay, R., Aguilar, M. R., Lerma, T. A., Palencia, M., Mangalaraja, R. V., et al. (2023). Nanocarrier of α-Tocopheryl Succinate Based on a Copolymer Derivative of (4,7-dichloroquinolin-2-yl)methanol and Its Cytotoxicity against a Breast Cancer Cell Line. Polymers, 15(22), 4342.
Abstract: In order to improve the water solubility and, therefore, bioavailability and therapeutic activity of anticancer hydrophobic drug alpha-tocopherol succinate (alpha-TOS), in this work, copolymers were synthesized via free radicals from QMES (1-[4,7-dichloroquinolin-2-ylmethyl]-4-methacryloyloxyethyl succinate) and VP (N-vinyl-2-pirrolidone) using different molar ratios, and were used to nanoencapsulate and deliver alpha-TOS into cancer cells MCF-7. QMES monomer was chosen because the QMES pendant group in the polymer tends to hydrolyze to form free 4,7-dichloro-2-quinolinemethanol (QOH), which also, like alpha-TOS, exhibit anti-proliferative effects on cancerous cells. From the QMES-VP 30:70 (QMES-30) and 40:60 (QMES-40) copolymers obtained, it was possible to prepare aqueous suspensions of empty nanoparticles (NPs) loaded with alpha-TOS by nanoprecipitation. The diameter and encapsulation efficiency (%EE) of the QMES-30 NPs loaded with alpha-TOS were 128.6 nm and 52%; while for the QMES-40 NPs loaded with alpha-TOS, they were 148.8 nm and 65%. The results of the AlamarBlue assay at 72 h of treatment show that empty QMES-30 NPs (without alpha-TOS) produced a marked cytotoxic effect on MCF-7 breast cancer cells, corresponding to an IC50 value of 0.043 mg mL-1, and importantly, they did not exhibit cytotoxicity against healthy HUVEC cells. Furthermore, NP-QMES-40 loaded with alpha-TOS were cytotoxic with an IC50 value of 0.076 mg mL-1, demonstrating a progressive release of alpha-TOS; however, the latter nanoparticles were also cytotoxic to healthy cells in the range of the assayed concentrations. These results contribute to the search for a new polymeric nanocarrier of QOH, alpha-TOS or other hydrophobic drugs for the treatment of cancer or others diseases treatable with these drugs.
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