Phenotypically complex living materials containing engineered cyanobacteria.

The field of engineered living materials lies at the intersection of materials science and synthetic biology with the aim of developing materials that can sense and respond to the environment. In this study, we use 3D printing to fabricate a cyanobacterial biocomposite material capable of producing multiple functional outputs in response to an external chemical stimulus and demonstrate the advantages of utilizing additive manufacturing techniques in controlling the shape of the fabricated photosynthetic material. As an initial proof-of-concept, a synthetic riboswitch is used to regulate the expression of a yellow fluorescent protein reporter in Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942 within a hydrogel matrix.

GVHD after unrelated cord blood transplant in children: characteristics, severity, risk factors and influence on outcome.

We reviewed our experience in 79 children who had unrelated cord blood transplant (UCBT) between 1996 and 2007 with a major focus on GVHD, comparing both traditional and National Institute of Health (NIH) criteria. The cumulative incidence (CI) of acute GVHD (aGVHD, by day +100) was 0.42 for grade II-IV and 0.

Langmuir and Langmuir-Blodgett films of bidisperse silica nanoparticles.

We present the studies on the structure and optical properties of bidisperse Stöber silica nanoparticulate Langmuir films prepared at the air/water interface in a Wilhelmy film balance and transferred onto glass slides using the Langmuir-Blodgett technique. Three different compositions (covered area ratios: 4:1; 1:1, and 1:4) of two bidisperse systems were used in the experiments. Bidisperse samples (B1 and B2) were prepared by mixing the appropriate amount of monodisperse sols of particles with 61 and 100 nm diameters (B1) and those with 37 and 100 nm diameters (B2).

Complex Langmuir-Blodgett films of SiO2 and ZnO nanoparticles with advantageous optical and photocatalytical properties.

Multifunctional Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) films were fabricated on the surface of glass substrates using sol-gel derived ZnO and SiO2 particles. ZnO particles of 6 and 110 nm diameter were synthesized according to the methods of Meulenkamp and Seelig et al. (Meulenkamp, E.

Contact angle determination of nanoparticles: film balance and scanning angle reflectometry studies.

Stöber silica nanoparticles of diameter about 45, 60 and 100 nm and different hydrophobicity are used to produce monolayers at a water-air interface. Both the surface pressure-area isotherms and the reflectivity angle of incidence curves of the layers have been measured in a Wilhelmy film balance. The contact angle of the as-prepared particles have been determined from the isotherms by two different evaluation methods, and compared to those obtained from in situ scanning angle reflectometry (SAR) measurements.