Biliquid oil-in-water nanofoams and spontaneous emulsification obtained with a surfactant resistant to curvature changes.

Hypothesis: Due to its huge polar headgroup, octaoxyethylene octyl ether carboxylic acid (CECHCOOH = Akypo LF2™) is supposed not to be able to change its curvature sufficiently to form bicontinuous microemulsions. Instead, upon adding an oil to the binary water - surfactant system, excess oil could be squeezed out or a biliquid foam could form.

Experiments: An auto-dilution setup was used to record small-angle X-ray scattering data along six dilution lines in the newly established phase diagram of the ternary system 2-ethylhexanol - CECHCOOH - water.

Faculty Development Needs in Southeastern Conference Nursing Schools.

Background: This study examined nurse faculty members' teaching, scholarship, and professional development interests across Southeastern Conference (SEC) nursing schools, and evaluated differences in these needs associated with years in academia, tenure status, faculty rank, and Accountable Health Communities (AHC) versus non-AHC settings.

Method: Rosenthal and Stanberry's framework for faculty development provided the theoretical foundation for this cross-sectional study to explore topics of interests of faculty at 12 SEC nursing schools.

Results: A total of 470 faculty responded to the online survey (57% response rate).

Low Demineralized Caseins to Replace Sodium Caseinate for Application in Whipped Creams.

Caseinate is commonly used in the dairy industry for its stabilizing properties. Its functionalities are largely due to its manufacturing process involving a high level of demineralization that induces casein precipitation. To address this, the researchers are looking for alternatives to respond to consumer demands for high-quality ingredients and increase efficiency.

Rabies Virus Phosphoprotein Exhibits Thermoresponsive Phase Separation with a Lower Critical Solution Temperature.

Rabies virus (RABV) generates membrane-less liquid organelles (Negri bodies) in the cytoplasm of its host cell, where genome transcription and replication and nucleocapsid assembly take place, but the mechanisms of their assembly and maturation remain to be explained. An essential component of the viral RNA synthesizing machine, the phosphoprotein (P), acts as a scaffold protein for the assembly of these condensates. This intrinsically disordered protein forms star-shaped dimers with N-terminal negatively charged flexible arms and C-terminal globular domains exhibiting a large dipole moment.

Caesarean section scar: Histological analysis on hysterectomy specimen. A pilot study.

Introduction: In recent years, caesarean section (CS) rate has risen worldwide. Complications associated with CS scars have risen too, such as scar dehiscences and uterine ruptures. Uterine healing is a complex phenomenon still poorly understood.

Insertion of anionic synthetic clay in lamellar surfactant phases.

We describe the different mixed colloidal solutions that can be obtained when mixing equivalent quantities of a synthetic anionic clay to surfactants forming lamellar phases in the absence of added salt. The important quantity driving toward insertion or depletion is the osmotic pressure, of the lamellar phase and of the clay alone. Competition for water is the main driving force toward dispersion, inclusion or exclusion (phase separation).

Confinement induced change of microemulsion phase structure in controlled pore glass (CPG) monoliths.

We use small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) to investigate the structure and phase behavior of a complex fluid within meso- and macroporous matrices. Specifically, bicontinuous microemulsions of the temperature-dependent ternary system CE-water--octane are investigated in controlled pore glass (CPG) membranes with nominal pore diameters of 10 nm, 20 nm, 50 nm, and 100 nm. The scattering data were analyzed using the Teubner-Strey model and a multiphase generalization of clipped Gaussian-field models.

Influence of critical micelle concentration of choline-based long chain fatty acid soaps on their antibacterial activity against Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

Hypothesis: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a pressing global health concern. ESKAPEE pathogens, such as Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) are notable of concern in healthcare settings due to their resistance to critical antibiotics. To combat AMR, the development of alternatives such as bacterial membrane-active agents is crucial.

Stabilization of Non-Native Folds and Programmable Protein Gelation in Compositionally Designed Deep Eutectic Solvents.

Proteins are adjustable units from which biomaterials with designed properties can be developed. However, non-native folded states with controlled topologies are hardly accessible in aqueous environments, limiting their prospects as building blocks. Here, we demonstrate the ability of a series of anhydrous deep eutectic solvents (DESs) to precisely control the conformational landscape of proteins.

Effect of cardiolipin on the lamellarity and elongation of liposomes hydrated in PBS.

Lamellarity and shape are important factors in the formation of vesicles and determine their role in biological systems and pharmaceutical applications. Cardiolipin (CL) is a major lipid in many biological membranes and exerts a great influence on their structural organization due to its particular structure and physico-chemical properties. Here, we used small-angle X-ray and neutron scattering to study the effects of CL with different acyl chain lengths and saturations (CL, CL, CL) on vesicle morphology and lamellarity in membrane models containing mixtures of phosphatidylcholine and phosphatidylethanolamine with different acyl chain lengths and saturations (C and C ).

Dynamic Covalent Amphiphilic Polymer Conetworks Based on End-Linked Pluronic F108: Preparation, Characterization, and Evaluation as Matrices for Gel Polymer Electrolytes.

We present the development of a platform of well-defined, dynamic covalent amphiphilic polymer conetworks (APCN) based on an α,ω-dibenzaldehyde end-functionalized linear amphiphilic poly(ethylene glycol)--poly(propylene glycol)--poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG--PPG--PEG, Pluronic) copolymer end-linked with a triacylhydrazide oligo(ethylene glycol) triarmed star cross-linker. The developed APCNs were characterized in terms of their rheological (increase in the storage modulus by a factor of 2 with increase in temperature from 10 to 50 °C), self-healing, self-assembling, and mechanical properties and evaluated as a matrix for gel polymer electrolytes (GPEs) in both the stretched and unstretched states. Our results show that water-loaded APCNs almost completely self-mend, self-organize at room temperature into a body-centered cubic structure with long-range order exhibiting an aggregation number of around 80, and display an exceptional room temperature stretchability of ∼2400%.

Regio- and Chemoselective Double Allylic Substitution of Alkenyl -Diols.

Double allylic substitution is an attractive approach to building molecular complexity from simple starting materials by creating two new bonds in one pot. However, this type of reaction has been doomed by chemoselectivity and regioselectivity issues. In this letter, we describe a new approach to introduce two new C-C, C-N, C-O, or C-S bonds in a chemo- and regioselective fashion.

Lead Extraction in a Functionalized and Permeable Silica-Based Porous Liquid.

Silica-based porous liquids (PLs) are innovative and versatile liquid materials with a high potential, although their application is often restricted to gas sorption. In this work, we propose to evaluate their potential to extract metals. For this goal, we have adapted their synthesis to provide PLs functionalized with thiols that are expected to chelate metallic contaminants, such as lead.

Fast Data Generation for Training Deep-Learning 3D Reconstruction Approaches for Camera Arrays.

In the last decade, many neural network algorithms have been proposed to solve depth reconstruction. Our focus is on reconstruction from images captured by multi-camera arrays which are a grid of vertically and horizontally aligned cameras that are uniformly spaced. Training these networks using supervised learning requires data with ground truth.

A dilute nematic gel produced by intramicellar segregation of two polyoxyethylene alkyl ether carboxylic acids.

Motivation: Surfactants like CECHCOOH have such bulky headgroups that they cannot show the common sphere-to-cylinder transition, while surfactants like CECHCOOH are mimicking lipids and form only bilayers. Mixing these two types of surfactants allows one to investigate the competition between intramicellar segregation leading to disc-like bicelles and the temperature dependent curvature constraints imposed by the mismatch between heads and tails.

Experiments: We establish phase diagrams as a function of temperature, surfactant mole ratio, and active matter content.

From crisis management to multi-level interinstitutional partnerships: Development of the southeastern conference deans nursing coalition.

The Southeastern Conference (SEC) Nursing Dean's Coalition is a purposeful alliance organized to collaboratively address several challenges that arose during the COVID-19 pandemic. Over the last three years, this strategic team of academic leaders has evolved from a crisis response team to a multidimensional support team, leveraging both individual and collective strengths, to provide several benefits to the dean members, as well as other SEC nursing faculty members, students, and institutions. Participation has grown from the original 12 deans to engage a broader team of associate deans and nurse leaders in faculty development, research, service, and diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Aqueous Binary Mixtures of Stearic Acid and Its Hydroxylated Counterpart 12-Hydroxystearic Acid: Fine Tuning of the Lamellar/Micelle Threshold Temperature Transition and of the Micelle Shape.

This study examines the structures of soft surfactant-based biomaterials which can be tuned by temperature. More precisely, investigated here is the behavior of stearic acid (SA) and 12-hydroxystearic acid (12-HSA) aqueous mixtures as a function of temperature and the 12-HSA/SA molar ratio (R). Whatever R is, the system exhibits a morphological transition at a given threshold temperature, from multilamellar self-assemblies at low temperature to small micelles at high temperature, as shown by a combination of transmittance measurements, Wide Angle X-ray diffraction (WAXS), small angle neutron scattering (SANS), and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) experiments.

Structure of microemulsions in the continuous phase channel.

We have studied the microemulsion and lamellar phases of two of the most commonly described systems based on nonionic CE and ionic AOT surfactants. We show that CE is best described by the symmetric disordered open connected lamellar model (DOC-lamellar), contrary to the more commonly employed standard flexible model. In the case of AOT, the bicontinuous microemulsion structure is best described by the standard flexible model at high temperatures.

Carrier peptide interactions with liposome membranes induce reversible clustering by surface adsorption and shape deformation.

The cell-penetrating peptide penetratin and its analogues shuffle and penetramax have been used as carrier peptides for oral delivery of therapeutic peptides such as insulin. Their mechanism of action for this purpose is not fully understood but is believed to depend on the interactions of the peptide with the cell membrane. In the present study, peptide-liposome interactions were investigated using advanced biophysical techniques including small-angle neutron scattering and fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy.