Significantly less wear of UHMWPE rubbing against pyrocarbon than against CoCr.

The history of joint replacement can be framed as a battle to reduce wear. Pyrocarbon has been shown to be a low wear material, but can low wear against an ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) counterface be achieved? To investigate this research question, a 50-station, clinically validated wear screening machine was used. Half the stations tested UHMWPE pins against pyrocarbon discs, and half the stations tested UHMWPE pins against cobalt chromium (CoCr) discs.

Rapid confocal imaging of vesicle-to-sponge phase droplet transition in dilute dispersions of the CE surfactant.

The lamellar-to-sponge phase transition of fluorescently labelled large unilamellar vesicles (LUVs) of the non-ionic surfactant triethylene glycol mono n-decyl ether (CE) was investigated in situ by confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM). Stable dispersions of micrometer-sized CE LUVs were prepared at 20 °C and quickly heated at different temperatures close to the lamellar-to-sponge phase transition temperature. Phase transition of the strongly fluctuating individual vesicles into micrometre-sized sponge phase droplets was observed to occur via manyfold multilamellar morphologies with increasing membrane confinement through inter- and intra- lamellar fusion.

Enzyme-assisted self-assembly within a hydrogel induced by peptide diffusion.

The diffusion of adequate peptide through an enzyme-embedded host hydrogel leads to the in situ start-up and growth of an interpenetrated fibrous network. Based on the enzyme-assisted self-assembly concept, both chemistry and mechanical features of the hybrid hydrogel can be tuned.

Interaction of jack bean (Canavalia ensiformis) urease and a derived peptide with lipid vesicles.

Ureases are metalloenzymes that catalyze the hydrolysis of urea to ammonia and carbon dioxide. Jack bean (Canavalia ensiformis) produces three isoforms of urease (Canatoxin, JBU and JBURE-II). Canatoxin and JBU display several biological properties independent of their ureolytic activity, such as neurotoxicity, exocytosis-inducing and pro-inflammatory effects, blood platelets activation, insecticidal and antifungal activities.

Scraping and stapling of end-grafted DNA chains by a bioadhesive spreading vesicle to reveal chain internal friction and topological complexity.

Stained end-grafted DNA molecules about 20 μm long are scraped away and stretched out by the spreading front of a bioadhesive vesicle. Tethered biotin ligands bind the vesicle bilayer to a streptavidin substrate, stapling the DNAs into frozen confinement paths. Image analysis of the stapled DNA gives access, within optical resolution, to the local stretching values of individual DNA molecules swept by the spreading front, and provides evidence of self-entanglements.