The purpose of this investigation is to develop a hydrogel to aid skin regeneration by creating an extracellular matrix for fibroblast growth with antibacterial and infection-detection properties. Authors developed two natural hydrogels based on pectin and potato peels and characterized the gels for fibroblast compatibility through rheology, scanning electron microscopy, swelling, degradation, and cell cytotoxicity assays. Overall, this experiment fabricated various hydrogels capable of acting as skin substitutes and counteracting infections to facilitate wound healing. Following further testing and validation, these hydrogels could help alleviate the 13-billion-dollar financial burden of foot ulcer treatment.
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Impact of aluminum surface area on the rate of reaction with aqueous copper (II) chloride solutions
In this article the authors looked at how temperature was impacted when alumnium was added in various forms to aqueous copper(II) solutions. Their study investigates the impact of surface area on chemical reactions.
Read More...The peroxidase-like activity of papain colorimetrically detects H2O2 and glucose with high sensitivity
Many diabetics agree that the current glucometer methods are invasive, inefficient, and unsustainable for measuring blood glucose. These authors investigate the possibility of using a non-invasive glucometer patch that predicts blood glucose from patient sweat, with high accuracy.
Read More...Examination of the underlying chemical physics of the Mpemba effect in water and other liquids
Counterintuitive in nature, the Mpemba effect asserts that hot liquid freezes faster than cold liquid. While noted throughout history by scientific minds like Aristotle, the phenomenon remains in contention with varying hypotheses for the effect proposed alongside the effect’s rise in popularity. Contributing to the research efforts surrounding the Mpemba effect, the authors in this article explore the effect in different liquids ranging in physical properties and intermolecular forces to determine potential parameters attributable to producing the Mpemba effect.
Read More...Copper nanoparticle synthesis using Picea glauca ‘Conica’
The authors propose a method to recycle Christmas tree needles into a non-toxic reducing agent for synthesizing copper nanoparticles.
Read More...Novel environmentally friendly approach to wastewater treatment eliminates aluminum sulfate and chlorination
The authors tested environmentally-friendly alternatives to wastewater treatment chemicals, including activated charcoal for filtration and citrus peels for preventing bacterial growth.
Read More...Deuterated solvent effects in the kinetics and thermodynamics of keto-enol tautomerization of ETFAA
In this study, the authors determined whether tautomerization dynamics in protic and aprotic solvents displayed differences in reaction rates and in the proportion of the keto and enol tautomers present.
Read More...Development of a novel machine learning platform to identify structural trends among NNRTI HIV-1 reverse transcriptase inhibitors
With advancements in machine learning a large data scale, high throughput virtual screening has become a more attractive method for screening drug candidates. This study compared the accuracy of molecular descriptors from two cheminformatics Mordred and PaDEL, software libraries, in characterizing the chemo-structural composition of 53 compounds from the non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTI) class. The classification model built with the filtered set of descriptors from Mordred was superior to the model using PaDEL descriptors. This approach can accelerate the identification of hit compounds and improve the efficiency of the drug discovery pipeline.
Read More...The effect of wild orange essential oil on ascorbic acid decay in freshly squeezed orange juice
The goal of this project was to see if the addition of wild orange essential oil to freshly squeezed orange juice would help to slow down the decay of ascorbic acid when exposed to various temperatures, allowing vital nutrients to be maintained and providing a natural alternative to the chemical additives in use in industry today. The authors hypothesized that the addition of wild orange essential oil to freshly squeezed orange juice would slow down the rate of oxidation when exposed to various temperatures, reducing ascorbic acid decay. On average, wild orange EO slowed down ascorbic acid decay in freshly squeezed orange juice by 15% at the three highest temperatures tested.
Read More...Protein concentrations in cows’ milk during the four stages of lactation
In this article, the authors quantify fluctuations of primary proteins found within bovine milk across four stages of lactation. Critically, these findings bear great relevance to the nutritional support of calves as well as the varying severity of symptoms of lactose intolerance.
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