Nanoreinforced Hydrogels for Tissue Engineering: Biomaterials that are Compatible with Load-Bearing and Electroactive Tissues.

Given their highly porous nature and excellent water retention, hydrogel-based biomaterials can mimic critical properties of the native cellular environment. However, their potential to emulate the electromechanical milieu of native tissues or conform well with the curved topology of human organs needs to be further explored to address a broad range of physiological demands of the body. In this regard, the incorporation of nanomaterials within hydrogels has shown great promise, as a simple one-step approach, to generate multifunctional scaffolds with previously unattainable biological, mechanical, and electrical properties.

Nitrogen enriched dissolved organic matter (DOM) isolates and their affinity to form emerging disinfection by-products.

Increased contributions from wastewater discharges and algal activity in drinking water supplies can lead to elevated levels of dissolved organic nitrogen (DON), which can increase the likelihood for the formation of emerging nitrogenous disinfection by-products (N-DBPs) of health concern. Dissolved organic matter (DOM) isolated from five waters, using a newly developed DOM isolation method specific to DON fractionation, produced thirty-four isolates of suitable mass. Each isolate was treated with free chlorine or chloramines under formation potential conditions.

Fluorescence spectroscopy and molecular weight distribution of extracellular polymers from full-scale activated sludge biomass.

Two fractions of extracellular polymer substances (EPSs), soluble and readily extractable (RE), were characterised in terms of their molecular weight distributions (MWD) and 3-D excitation-emission-matrix (EEM) fluorescence spectroscopy signatures. The EPS fractions were different: the soluble EPSs were composed mainly of high molecular weight compounds, while the RE EPSs were composed of small molecular weight compounds. Contrary to previous thought, EPS may not be considered only as macromolecular because most organic matter present in both fractions had low molecular weight.