Predictors of Dietary Supplement Use Among Children Attending Care and Educational Institutions in Krakow, Poland.

Background/objectives: Socioeconomic status and parental lifestyle influence dietary behaviors, including the administration of oral dietary supplements in children. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of selected health, dietary, and sociodemographic factors on the use of dietary supplements by children.

Methods: In this cross-sectional observational study, a diagnostic survey based on the computer-assisted web interview method was conducted in November 2022 among 2826 parents whose children attend public educational institutions in Krakow, Poland.

The Impact of the Methacrylation Process on the Usefulness of Chitosan as a Biomaterial Component for 3D Printing.

Chitosan is a very promising material for tissue model printing. It is also known that the introduction of chemical modifications to the structure of the material in the form of methacrylate groups makes it very attractive for application in the bioprinting of tissue models. The aim of this work is to study the characteristics of biomaterials containing chitosan (BCH) and its methacrylated equivalent (BCM) in order to identify differences in their usefulness in 3D bioprinting technology.

Elasticity Modification of Biomaterials Used in 3D Printing with an Elastin-Silk-like Recombinant Protein.

The recombinant structural protein described in this study was designed based on sequences derived from elastin and silk. Silk-elastin hybrid copolymers are characterized by high solubility while maintaining high product flexibility. The phase transition temperature from aqueous solution to hydrogel, as well as other physicochemical and mechanical properties of such particles, can differ significantly depending on the number of sequence repeats.

Graphene Oxide (GO)-Based Bioink with Enhanced 3D Printability and Mechanical Properties for Tissue Engineering Applications.

Currently, a major challenge in material engineering is to develop a cell-safe biomaterial with significant utility in processing technology such as 3D bioprinting. The main goal of this work was to optimize the composition of a new graphene oxide (GO)-based bioink containing additional extracellular matrix (ECM) with unique properties that may find application in 3D bioprinting of biomimetic scaffolds. The experimental work evaluated functional properties such as viscosity and complex modulus, printability, mechanical strength, elasticity, degradation and absorbability, as well as biological properties such as cytotoxicity and cell response after exposure to a biomaterial.

Characterization of a Chimeric Resilin-Elastin Structural Protein Dedicated to 3D Bioprinting as a Bioink Component.

In this study we propose to use for bioprinting a bioink enriched with a recombinant RE15mR protein with a molecular weight of 26 kDa, containing functional sequences derived from resilin and elastin. The resulting protein also contains RGD sequences in its structure, as well as a metalloproteinase cleavage site, allowing positive interaction with the cells seeded on the construct and remodeling the structure of this protein in situ. The described protein is produced in a prokaryotic expression system using an bacterial strain and purified by a process using a unique combination of known methods not previously used for recombinant elastin-like proteins.

Foaming of PCL-Based Composites Using scCO-Biocompatibility and Evaluation for Biomedical Applications.

The process of foaming poly(caprolactone)-based composite materials using supercritical carbon dioxide was analyzed, especially in terms of the biocompatibility of the resultant materials. The influence of foaming process conditions and composite material properties on the functional properties of polymer solid foams, intended for artificial scaffolds for bone cell culture, was investigated. The relationship between wettability (contact angle) and water absorption rate as a result of the application of variable conditions for the production of porous structures was presented.

Foaming of PCL-Based Composites Using scCO: Structure and Physical Properties.

The process of foaming poly(caprolactone)-based composites using supercritical carbon dioxide was analyzed. The impact of the conditions of the solid-foam production process on the process efficiency and properties of porous structures was investigated. The novel application of various types of porogens-hydroxyapatite, nanocellulose, carboxymethylcellulose, and graphene oxide-was tested in order to modify the properties and improve the quality of solid foams, increasing their usefulness in specialized practical applications.

Bionic Organs: Shear Forces Reduce Pancreatic Islet and Mammalian Cell Viability during the Process of 3D Bioprinting.

Background: 3D bioprinting is the future of constructing functional organs. Creating a bioactive scaffold with pancreatic islets presents many challenges. The aim of this paper is to assess how the 3D bioprinting process affects islet viability.

Novel Strategies in Artificial Organ Development: What Is the Future of Medicine?

The technology of tissue engineering is a rapidly evolving interdisciplinary field of science that elevates cell-based research from 2D cultures through organoids to whole bionic organs. 3D bioprinting and organ-on-a-chip approaches through generation of three-dimensional cultures at different scales, applied separately or combined, are widely used in basic studies, drug screening and regenerative medicine. They enable analyses of tissue-like conditions that yield much more reliable results than monolayer cell cultures.

The Influence of the Flow of Detergent and Donor Characteristics on the Extracellular Matrix Composition After Human Pancreas Decellularization.

Introduction: The extracellular matrix (ECM) consists, among others, of polysaccharides, glycosaminoglycans, and proteins. It is being increasingly used in tissue bioengineering. Obtaining ECM of the highest quality through decellularization is a big challenge because of some differences in organ structure.