On-demand serum-free media formulations for human hematopoietic cell expansion using a high dimensional search algorithm.

Substitution of serum and other clinically incompatible reagents is requisite for controlling product quality in a therapeutic cell manufacturing process. However, substitution with chemically defined compounds creates a complex, large-scale optimization problem due to the large number of possible factors and dose levels, making conventional process optimization methods ineffective. We present a framework for high-dimensional optimization of serum-free formulations for the expansion of human hematopoietic cells.

Microbial hexuronate catabolism in biotechnology.

The most abundant hexuronate in plant biomass is D-galacturonate. D-Galacturonate is the main constituent of pectin. Pectin-rich biomass is abundantly available as sugar beet pulp or citrus processing waste and is currently mainly used as cattle feed.

Mass transfer dynamics in the dissolution of Taylor bubbles.

The knowledge of thermodynamic and mass transfer parameters in gas-liquid systems is critical for the design of macroscale units for separation and reaction processes. The phenomenon of shrinkage of Taylor bubbles upon dissolution has the capability of supplying these design parameters, provided a reliable mathematical model is available for data deconvolution. Unfortunately, the existing models in the literature suffer from at least one of the following three major limitations.

Structural enzymology reveals the molecular basis of substrate regiospecificity and processivity of an exemplar bacterial glycoside hydrolase family 74 -xyloglucanase.

produces a single multimodular enzyme containing a glycoside hydrolase (GH) family 74 module (AIQ73809). Recombinant production and characterization of the GH74 module (GH74) revealed a highly specific, processive -xyloglucanase that can hydrolyze the polysaccharide backbone at both branched and unbranched positions. X-ray crystal structures obtained for the free enzyme and oligosaccharide complexes evidenced an extensive hydrophobic binding platform - the first in GH74 extending from subsites -4 to +6 - and unique mobile active-site loops.

Cardiovascular disease models: A game changing paradigm in drug discovery and screening.

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death worldwide. Although investment in drug discovery and development has been sky-rocketing, the number of approved drugs has been declining. Cardiovascular toxicity due to therapeutic drug use claims the highest incidence and severity of adverse drug reactions in late-stage clinical development.

Bioretention cells under cold climate conditions: Effects of freezing and thawing on water infiltration, soil structure, and nutrient removal.

Bioretention cells are a popular control strategy for stormwater volume and quality, but their efficiency for water infiltration and nutrient removal under cold climate conditions has been poorly studied. In this work, soil cores were collected from an active bioretention cell containing engineered soil material amended with a phosphate sorbent medium. The cores were used in laboratory column experiments conducted to obtain a detailed characterization of the soil's bioretention performance during six consecutive freeze-thaw cycles (FTCs, from -10 to +10 °C).

Preparation of high-yield N-doped biochar from nitrogen-containing phosphate and its effective adsorption for toluene.

Novel biochar was prepared from plant-based biomass by the addition of nitrogen-containing phosphates (NCPs), including ammonia phosphate (AP), ammonia polyphosphate (APP) and urea phosphate (UP). The results demonstrated that with the addition of NCPs, the yield of biochar could be significantly increased from about 30% to up to about 60%. The pore structure of the biochar was significantly improved, and the AP-prepared biochar obtained a higher and of 798 m g and 0.

Supramolecular Assembly of Peptide and Metallopeptide Gelators and Their Stimuli-Responsive Properties in Biomedical Applications.

Supramolecular gels are a fascinating class of soft materials that have attracted significant attention in recent years. They are composed of small molecule gelators that assemble into supramolecular network structures. The resulting space is filled with solvent.

A TRACER 3D Co-Culture tumour model for head and neck cancer.

Cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs) are a key component of the tumour microenvironment and have been shown to play an important role in the progression of cancer. To probe these tumour-stroma interactions, we incorporated CAFs derived from head and neck cancer patients and squamous carcinoma cells of the hypopharynx (FaDu) into the Tissue Roll for the Analysis of Cellular Environment and Response (TRACER) platform to establish a co-culture platform that simulates the CAF-tumour microenvironmental interactions in head and neck tumours. TRACER culture involves infiltrating cells into a thin fibrous scaffold and then rolling the resulting biocomposite around a mandrel to generate a 3D and layered structure.

Evaluating the effect of enzymatic pretreatment on the anaerobic digestibility of pulp and paper biosludge.

Anaerobic digestion of biosludge has not yet been implemented in pulp mills due to low biogas yields. Enzymatic pretreatment of biosludge has shown improvements in biogas yields but results are varied. A key limitation of previous studies is that they fail to consider the COD contribution from the enzyme solutions.

Design of biomimetic substrates for long-term maintenance of alveolar epithelial cells.

There is a need to establish in vitro lung alveolar epithelial culture models to better understand the fundamental biological mechanisms that drive lung diseases. While primary alveolar epithelial cells (AEC) are a useful option to study mature lung biology, they have limited utility in vitro. Cells that survive demonstrate limited proliferative capacity and loss of phenotype over the first 3-5 days in traditional culture conditions.

Isomers of tris(chloropropyl) phosphate (TCPP) in technical mixtures and environmental samples.

Tris(chloropropyl) phosphate (TCPP) is an environmentally abundant organophosphate ester (OPE). TCPP is comprised of four isomers with seven possible structures, eight CAS numbers, and even more common names. A review of 54 studies reporting one or more TCPP isomers confirmed that the most abundant and most often reported TCPP isomer was tris(2-chloro-1-methylethyl) phosphate, also known as tris(chloroisopropyl) phosphate (TCiPP, referred to hereafter as TCPP1).

Modulation of cellular polarization and migration by ephrin/Eph signal-mediated boundary formation.

Compartment boundaries are essential for ensuring proper cell organization during embryo development and in adult tissues, yet the mechanisms underlying boundary establishment are not completely understood. A number of mechanisms, including (i) differential adhesion, (ii) differential tension, and (iii) cell signaling-mediated cell repulsion, are known to contribute and likely a context-dependent balance of each of these dictates boundary implementation. The ephrin/Eph signaling pathway is known to impact boundary formation in higher animals.

Recent advances in polysaccharide bio-based flocculants.

Natural polysaccharides, derived from biomass feedstocks, marine resources, and microorganisms, have been attracting considerable attention as benign and environmentally friendly substitutes for synthetic polymeric products. Besides many other applications, these biopolymers are rapidly emerging as viable alternatives to harmful synthetic flocculating agents for the removal of contaminants from water and wastewater. In recent years, a great deal of effort has been devoted to improve the production and performance of polysaccharide bio-based flocculants.

A Ferrocene-Tryptophan Conjugate: The Role of the Indolic Nitrogen in Supramolecular Assembly.

Bio-organometallic ferrocene-containing amino acids and peptides have been reported to form gels and are interesting to study due to their structural properties and applications for biological purposes. In this study, a ferrocene-dicarboxylic acid derivative of the dipeptide tryptophan-tryptophan was investigated. The indolic nitrogen in the amino acid tryptophan is important for biological functions due to its role in hydrogen bonding.

Preliminary Design and Experimental Investigation of a Novel Pneumatic Conveying Method to Disperse Natural Fibers in Thermoset Polymers.

Natural fibers can be attractive reinforcing materials in thermosetting polymers due to their low density and high specific mechanical properties. Although the research effort in this area has grown substantially over the last 20 years, manufacturing technologies to make use of short natural fibers in high volume fraction composites; are still limited. Natural fibers, after retting and preprocessing, are discontinuous and easily form entangled bundles.

Operations research in global health: a scoping review with a focus on the themes of health equity and impact.

Background: Operations research (OR) is a discipline that uses advanced analytical methods (e.g. simulation, optimisation, decision analysis) to better understand complex systems and aid in decision-making.

Development of TRACER: tissue roll for analysis of cellular environment and response.

The tumour microenvironment is heterogeneous and consists of multiple cell types, variable extracellular matrix (ECM) composition, and contains cell-defined gradients of small molecules, oxygen, nutrients and waste. Emerging in vitro cell culture systems that attempt to replicate these features often fail to incorporate design strategies to facilitate efficient data collection and stratification. The tissue roll for analysis of cellular environment and response (TRACER) is a novel strategy to assemble layered, three-dimensional tumours with cell-defined, graded heterogeneous microenvironments that also facilitates cellular separation and stratification of data from different cell populations from specific microenvironments.

Patterning cellular compartments within TRACER cultures using sacrificial gelatin printing.

In the past decade, it has been well recognised that the tumour microenvironment contains microenvironmental components such as hypoxia that significantly influence tumour cell behaviours such, invasiveness and therapy resistance, all of which provide new targets for studying cancer biology and developing anticancer therapeutics. In response, a large number of two-dimensional and three-dimensional (3D) in vitro tumour models have been developed to recapitulate different aspects of the tumour microenvironment and enable the study of related biological questions. While more complex models enable new biological insight, such models often involve time-consuming and complex fabrication or analysis processes, which limit their adoption by the broader cancer biology community.

Combination of a peptide-modified gellan gum hydrogel with cell therapy in a lumbar spinal cord injury animal model.

Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) is a highly incapacitating condition for which there is still no cure. Current clinical approaches are mainly based on palliative care, so there is a need to find possible treatments to SCI. Cellular transplantation is regarded with great expectation due to the therapeutic potential of cells such as Adipose tissue-derived Stromal/Stem Cells (ASCs) or Olfactory Ensheathing Cells (OECs).

Penetration of chlorhexidine coating into tooth enamel: A surface analytical study.

Chlorhexidine has proved an efficient antibacterial agent and has been used successfully to prevent new carious lesions in the teeth of adults and children. The substantivity of chlorhexidine has not been identified with any precision, but is certainly not of short duration. In this work, surface analytical techniques have been applied to study the chemical composition, distribution, and penetration of an applied liquid coating containing chlorhexidine onto tooth enamel in order to ascertain mechanisms by which chlorhexidine keeps its long term substantivity.

Ambient PM2.5 and risk of emergency room visits for myocardial infarction: impact of regional PM2.5 oxidative potential: a case-crossover study.

Background: Regional differences in the oxidative potential of fine particulate air pollution (PM2.5) may modify its impact on the risk of myocardial infarction.

Methods: A case-crossover study was conducted in 16 cities in Ontario, Canada to evaluate the impact of regional PM2.

Chemical pretreatment of combined sewer overflows for improved UV disinfection.

The aim of this research was to better understand chemical pre-treatment of combined sewer overflows (CSOs) for subsequent ultraviolet (UV) disinfection. Approximately 200 jar tests were completed. Alum (Al2(S04)3·12H2O) resulted in a higher UV light transmission (UVT), and equivalent total suspended solids (TSS) removal, than ferric chloride (FeCl3).

Ring Opening Reactions through C-O Bond Cleavage Uniquely Adding Chemical Functionality to Boron Subphthalocyanine.

We are reporting the unexpected reaction between bromo-boron subphthalocyanine (Br-BsubPc) and THF, 1,4-dioxane or γ-butyrolactone that results in the ring opening of the solvent and its addition into the BsubPc moiety. Under heating, the endocyclic C-O bond of the solvent is cleaved and the corresponding bromoalkoxy-BsubPc derivative is obtained. These novel alkoxy-BsubPc derivatives have remaining alkyl-bromides suitable for further functionalization.

Topographically grooved gel inserts for aligning epithelial cells during air-liquid-interface culture.

Epithelial tissues are a critical component of all tubular organs. Engineering artificial epithelium requires an understanding of the polarization of epithelia: both apicobasal and in a planar fashion. Air liquid interface (ALI) culture is typically used to generate apicobasal polarized airway epithelium in vitro; however, this approach does not provide any signalling cues to induce morphological planar polarization of the generated epithelial layer.