Spontaneous formation of small and ultrasmall unilamellar vesicles in mixtures of drug surfactant and phospholipid: Effect of chemical structure of phospholipid tails on vesicle size.

We have investigated the effect of length and chemical structure of phospholipid tails on the spontaneous formation of unilamellar liposomal vesicles in binary solute mixtures of cationic drug surfactant and zwitterionic phosphatidylcholine phospholipids. Binary drug surfactant-phospholipid mixtures with four different phospholipids with identical headgroups (two saturated phospholipids 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DMPC, 14:0) and 1,2-Dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DPPC, 16:0), and two unsaturated lipids 1,2-dioleoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DOPC, 18:1) and 1,2-Dierucoyl-sn-Glycero-3-Phosphatidylcholine (DEPC, 22:1)) combined with two different tricyclic antidepressant drugs (amitriptyline hydrochloride (AMT) and doxepin hydrochloride (DXP)) have been investigated with small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) and cryo-transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM). We observe a conspicuous impact of phospholipid tail structure on both micelle-to-vesicle transition point and vesicle size.

Moisture-Dependent Vibrational Dynamics and Phonon Transport in Nanocellulose Materials.

Superinsulating nanofibrillar cellulose foams have the potential to replace fossil-based insulating materials, but the development is hampered by the moisture-dependent heat transport and the lack of direct measurements of phonon transport. Here, inelastic neutron scattering is used together with wide angle X-ray scattering (WAXS) and small angle neutron scattering to relate the moisture-dependent structural modifications to the vibrational dynamics and phonon transport and scattering of cellulose nanofibrils from wood and tunicate, and wood cellulose nanocrystals (W-CNC). The moisture interacted primarily with the disordered regions in nanocellulose, and WAXS showed that the crystallinity and coherence length increased as the moisture content increased.

MXene-based solvent-responsive actuators with a polymer-intercalated gradient structure.

Actuators based on electrically conductive and hydrophilic two-dimensional (2D) TiCT MXene are of interest for fast and specific responses in demanding environments, such as chemical production. Herein, TiCT -based solvent-responsive bilayer actuators were developed, featuring a gradient polymer-intercalation structure in the active layer. These actuators were assembled using negatively charged pristine TiCT nanosheets as the passive layer and positively charged polymer-tethered TiCT as the active layer.

Hierarchical Incorporation of Reduced Graphene Oxide into Anisotropic Cellulose Nanofiber Foams Improves Their Thermal Insulation.

Anisotropic cellulose nanofiber (CNF) foams represent the state-of-the-art in renewable insulation. These foams consist of large (diameter >10 μm) uniaxially aligned macropores with mesoporous pore-walls and aligned CNF. The foams show anisotropic thermal conduction, where heat transports more efficiently in the axial direction (along the aligned CNF and macropores) than in the radial direction (perpendicular to the aligned CNF and macropores).

Validity and Reliability of Dysphagia Outcome Severity Scale (DOSS) When Used to Rate Flexible Endoscopic Evaluations of Swallowing (FEES).

The Dysphagia Outcome and Severity Scale is used both clinically and within dysphagia research, internationally. Although it was developed using videofluoroscopic swallowing studies, it is frequently used to rate Flexible Endoscopic Evaluations of Swallowing. The validity and reliability of DOSS-use with FEES, however, has not previously been evaluated.