Inhibitory Effects of Carrageenans on Endotoxin-Induced Inflammation.

The inhibitory effects of carrageenans (CRGs) on lipopolysaccharide (LPS) induced inflammation in a mouse model of endotoxemia and in complex therapy of patients with enteric infections of Salmonella etiology were studied. The atomic force microscopy (AFM) examination of LPS and its mixture with CRGs showed that the LPS morphology is significantly changed under the action of κ- and κ/β-CRGs. CRGs were able to increase the synthesis of anti-inflammatory interleukin 10 (IL-10) in vitro, and, at low concentrations, their activity in the mixture with LPS was higher.

Formation of a Thin Continuous GaSb Film on Si(001) by Solid Phase Epitaxy.

Nanocrystalline GaSb films were grown on Si(001) from the stoichiometric Ga⁻Sb mixture using solid-phase epitaxy at temperatures of 200⁻500 °C. Use of the solid-phase epitaxy method allowed the suppression of Ga surface diffusion and prevention of intense Sb desorption. At the annealing temperature of 300 °C, a 14-nm-thick GaSb film aggregates, while a 20-nm-thick GaSb film remains continuous with a roughness of 1.

Morphology, electrokinetic characteristics and the effect on biofilm formation of carrageenan:chitosan polyelectrolyte complexes.

Carrageenan:chitosan (CG:CH) polyelectrolyte complexes (PEC) were obtained and the effect of the initial components ratio on formation was studied by dynamic light scattering, atomic force microscopy (AFM) and electrokinetic measurements. Positively charged PEC particles (average ζ-potential 40.2 mV) were formed, provided that the polycation was present in excess in the complex and was stabilized by chitosan amino groups.

Pervaporation multilayer membranes based on a polyelectrolyte complex of λ-carrageenan and chitosan.

A polyelectrolyte complex (PEC) was prepared from chitosan (CS) and λ-carrageenan (λ-CAR) using a layer-by-layer deposition of polyion solutions on a plated nonporous support. This material was then used as a multilayer membrane for the pervaporation separation of aqueous ethanol solutions. The fabricated complex film (25-30μm thick) was a multilayer system (λ-CAR-PEC-CS) containing a polycation CS (MW 3.

Enhancement of the Si p-n diode NIR photoresponse by embedding β-FeSi2 nanocrystallites.

By using solid phase epitaxy of thin Fe films and molecular beam epitaxy of Si, a p(+)-Si/p-Si/β-FeSi2 nanocrystallites/n-Si(111) diode structure was fabricated. Transmission electron microscopy data confirmed a well-defined multilayered structure with embedded nanocrystallites of two typical sizes: 3-4 and 15-20 nm, and almost coherent epitaxy of the nanocrystallites with the Si matrix. The diode at zero bias conditions exhibited a current responsivity of 1.