Reconfigurable Dual Peptide Tethered Polymer System Offers a Synergistic Solution for Next Generation Dental Adhesives

Resin-based composite materials have been widely used in restorative dental materials due to their aesthetic, mechanical, and physical properties. However, they still encounter clinical shortcomings mainly due to recurrent decay that develops at the composite-tooth interface. The low-viscosity adhesive that bonds the composite to the tooth is intended to seal this interface, but the adhesive seal is inherently defective and readily damaged by acids, enzymes, and oral fluids. Bacteria infiltrate the resulting gaps at the composite-tooth interface and bacterial by-products demineralize the tooth and erode the adhesive. These activities lead to wider and deeper gaps that provide an ideal environment for bacteria to proliferate. This complex degradation process mediated by several biological and environmental factors damages the tooth, destroys the adhesive seal, and ultimately, leads to failure of the composite restoration. This paper describes a co-tethered dual peptide-polymer system to address composite-tooth interface vulnerability. The adhesive system incorporates an antimicrobial peptide to inhibit bacterial attack and a hydroxyapatite-binding peptide to promote remineralization of damaged tooth structure. A designer spacer sequence was incorporated into each peptide sequence to not only provide a conjugation site for methacrylate (MA) monomer but also to retain active peptide conformations and enhance the display of the peptides in the material. The resulting MA-antimicrobial peptides and MA-remineralization peptides were copolymerized into dental adhesives formulations. The results on the adhesive system composed of co-tethered peptides demonstrated both strong metabolic inhibition of S. mutans and localized calcium phosphate remineralization. Overall, the result offers a reconfigurable and tunable peptide-polymer hybrid system as next-generation adhesives to address composite-tooth interface vulnerability.     

The Production and Characterization of Ytterbium‐Stabilized Zirconia Films for SOFC Applications

(ZrO₂)_1–x(Yb₂O₃)_x binary systems were investigated in the doping range of 0.02 ≤ x ≤ 0.12. Ytterbium‐doped zirconia powders were synthesized using the Pechini method. X‐ray diffraction (XRD) measurements showed that fcc ZrO₂ was stabilized for 8–12 mol% Yb‐doping rate. The produced Yb‐stabilized Zr (YbSZ) films were characterized; their thickness and homogeneity properties depended on the nature of the YbSZ slurry. All coating parameters were optimized and determined with precoating treatments. The samples were characterized by differential thermal analysis/thermal gravimetry (DTA/TG), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and ac impedance measurements.     

Anthocyanin Absorption and Metabolism by Human Intestinal Caco-2 Cells—A Review

Anthocyanins from different plant sources have been shown to possess health beneficial effects against a number of chronic diseases. To obtain any influence in a specific tissue or organ, these bioactive compounds must be bioavailable, i.e., effectively absorbed from the gut into the circulation and transferred to the appropriate location within the body while still maintaining their bioactivity. One of the key factors affecting the bioavailability of anthocyanins is their transport through the gut epithelium. The Caco-2 cell line, a human intestinal epithelial cell model derived from a colon carcinoma, has been proven to be a good alternative to animal studies for predicting intestinal absorption of anthocyanins. Studies investigating anthocyanin absorption by Caco-2 cells report very low absorption of these compounds. However, the bioavailability of anthocyanins may be underestimated since the metabolites formed in the course of digestion could be responsible for the health benefits associated with anthocyanins. In this review, we critically discuss recent findings reported on the anthocyanin absorption and metabolism by human intestinal Caco-2 cells.     

The solubility of apricot kernel oil in supercritical carbon dioxide

The solubility of kernel oil from apricots (Prunus armeniaca L.) in supercritical carbon dioxide at 313.15, 323.15 and 333.15 K and at 15, 30, 45, 52.5 and 60 MPa was determined. Appropriate models were fitted to the data and the crossover pressure of apricot kernel oil was found to be between 20 and 30 MPa. Crossover pressure is a pressure value at which the effect of temperature on the solubility changes. Solubility increased as the temperature increased above the crossover pressure but decreased when temperature increased below the crossover pressure. It increased with an increase in pressure over all of the temperature range. The solubility data were well represented by models based on density but the best was found to be the Adachi & Lu equation. An empirical model that did not require density data for CO₂ was proposed to relate solubility to temperature and pressure and it was found equally successful to the Adachi & Lu equation.     

The effects of the combination of freezing and the use of natural antioxidant technology on the quality of frozen sardine fillets (Sardinella aurita)

The effects of combination of freezing and the use of antioxidant technology on the quality of frozen sardine fillets were investigated in terms of sensory, biochemical [thiobarbituric acid (TBA), total volatile basic nitrogen (TVB‐N), peroxide value (PV) and free fatty acids (FFA)] and microbiological analyses [total viable count (TVC)]. Fish were filleted and divided into three groups. The first group was used as the control (C) without rosemary extract, the second group was treated with 1% rosemary extracts for 2 min (R1) and the third was treated with 2% rosemary extracts for 2 min (R2). All groups were frozen at ?18 °C over the storage period of 6 months. The results obtained from this study showed that the combination of antioxidant and frozen storage resulted in significant reduction of bacterial growth and stabilised the biochemical characteristics, especially for R2. However, the use of antioxidant at the level of 2% (R2) gave a bitter taste according to sensory assessment whereas the panellists mostly preferred R1.     

Assessment of glass fiber-reinforced polyester pipe powder in soil improvement

This study investigates the use of glass fiber-reinforced polyester (GRP) pipe powder (PP) for improving the bearing capacity of sandy soils. After a series of direct share tests, the optimum PP addition for improving the bearing capacity of soils was found to be 12%. Then, using the optimum PP addition, the bearing capacity of the soil was estimated through a series of loading tests on a shallow foundation model placed in a test box. The bearing capacity of sandy soil was improved by up to 30.7%. The ratio of the depth of the PP-reinforced soil to the diameter of the foundation model (H/D) of 1.25 could sufficiently strengthen sandy soil when the optimum PP ratio was used. Microstructural analyses showed that the increase in the bearing capacity can be attributed to the chopped fibers in the PP and their multiaxial distribution in the soil. Besides improving the engineering properties of soils, using PP as an additive in soils would reduce the accumulation of the industrial waste, thus providing a twofold benefit.