Isolated centrosomes nucleate microtubules when incubated in pure tubulin solutions well below the critical concentration for spontaneous polymer assembly (approximately 15 microM instead of 60 microM). Treatment with urea (2-3 M) does not severely damage the centriole cylinders but inactivates their ability to nucleate microtubules even at high tubulin concentrations. Here we show that centros...

An in situ polycondensation approach was applied to functionalize multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs), resulting in various linear or hyperbranched polycondensed polymers [e.g., polyureas, polyurethanes, and poly(urea-urethane)-bonded carbon nanotubes]. The quantity of the grafted polymer can be easily controlled by the feed ratio of monomers. As a typical example, the polyurea-functionalized ...

A nitrogen (N) source comparison study was conducted to further evaluate the effects of inorganic N source and placement on growing-season and non-crop period soil nitrous oxide (NO). Commercially available controlled-release N fertilizers were evaluated for their potential to reduce NO emissions from a clay loam soil compared with conventionally used granular urea and urea-ammonium nitrate (UA...

A fast and efficient protocol for the synthesis of N,N'-disubstituted urea derivatives from alkyl halides and primary or secondary amines has been developed. The synthetic pathway combines nucleophilic substitutions and a Staudinger-aza-Wittig reaction in the presence of polymer-bound diphenylphosphine under 14 bar of CO2 pressure and has been performed in a one-pot two-step process. The protoc...

Development of highly cost-effective, highly operation-convenient and highly efficient natural polymer-based adsorbents for their biodegradability and biocompatibility, and supply of safe drinking water are the most threatening problems in water treatment field. To tackle the challenges, a new kind of efficient recyclable magnetic chitosan/cellulose hybrid microspheres was prepared by sol-gel m...

Biomaterial scaffolds are a key part of cardiac tissue engineering therapies. The group has recently synthesized a novel polycaprolactone based polyurethane-urea copolymer that showed improved mechanical properties compared with its previously published counterparts. The aim of this study was to explore whether indirect three-dimensional (3D) printing could provide a means to fabricate this nov...

A computer controlled pH meter was developed using simple op-amp circuits. Analog to digital converter (ADC) card was used to acquire the output potential from the op-amp. S9ftware based signal averaging helped in reduction of electrical noise. The instrument was calibrated against pH and ammonia selective electrodes where it followed Nemstian behaviour and was l\Sed in the development of a sim...

The objective of this research was to provide a useful approach of polymer synthesis for accelerating the fast cure of phenol-urea-formaldehyde (PUF) resin as wood adhesive by optimizing its structure and composition. The PUF resins containing high contents of very reactive groups such as para-methylol groups were synthesized by reacting methylolurea, phenol, and formaldehyde in the presence of...

A new approach to odor and pH control in medical and hygiene care applications relies on a treatment of absorbent fluff with selected enzyme inhibitors. Cellulose fiber was found to be a convenient carrier for some chemicals which modify the structure of an enzyme and/or block its active site. In an absorbent system exposed for example to body liquids containing urea, selected substances, when ...