Commercial and Custom Quartz Tuning Forks for Quartz Enhanced Photoacoustic Spectroscopy: Stability under Humidity Variation.

This work investigates the behavior of commercial and custom Quartz tuning forkss (QTF) under humidity variations. The QTFs were placed inside a humidity chamber and the parameters were studied with a setup to record the resonance frequency and quality factor by resonance tracking. The variations of these parameters that led to a 1% theoretical error on the Quartz Enhanced Photoacoustic Spectroscopy (QEPAS) signal were defined.

Evaluation of encapsulating and microporous nondegradable hydrogel scaffold designs on islet engraftment in rodent models of diabetes.

Islet transplantation is a promising therapeutic option for type 1 diabetes mellitus, yet the current delivery into the hepatic portal vasculature is limited by poor engraftment. Biomaterials have been used as a means to promote engraftment and function at extrahepatic sites, with strategies being categorized as encapsulation or microporous scaffolds that can either isolate or integrate islets with the host tissue, respectively. Although these approaches are typically studied separately using distinct material platforms, herein, we developed nondegradable polyethylene glycol (PEG)-based hydrogels for islet encapsulation or as microporous scaffolds for islet seeding to compare the initial engraftment and function of islets in syngeneic diabetic mice.

Retrievable hydrogels for ovarian follicle transplantation and oocyte collection.

Cancer survivorship rates have drastically increased due to improved efficacy of oncologic treatments. Consequently, clinical concerns have shifted from solely focusing on survival to quality of life, with fertility preservation as an important consideration. Among fertility preservation strategies for female patients, ovarian tissue cryopreservation and subsequent reimplantation has been the only clinical option available to cancer survivors with cryopreserved tissue.

Primordial Follicle Transplantation within Designer Biomaterial Grafts Produce Live Births in a Mouse Infertility Model.

The gonadotoxic effects of chemotherapy and radiation may result in premature ovarian failure in premenopausal oncology patients. Although autotransplantation of ovarian tissue has led to successful live births, reintroduction of latent malignant cells inducing relapse is a significant concern. In this report, we investigated the design of biomaterial grafts for transplantation of isolated ovarian follicles as a means to preserve fertility.

[Influence of unilayered and multilayered liposomes containing fatty-acid complex Bien upon phagocyte activity in rat alveolar macrophages].

The phagocyte activity of rat alveolar macrophages and their primary culture under the interaction with liposomes containing unsaturated fatty acid complex Bien has been studied in vitro. Quantitative dependence of the phagocyte number and phagocyte factor on the liposomal Bien concentration were estimated. Comparative analysis of the effects of multilayered and unilayered liposomes with Bien upon cell suspension has been carried out.