The underlying mechanism of UV light-induced dissociation and visible light-induced reformation of vesicles formed by an azobenzene diblock copolymer was investigated. These processes were studied in situ by monitoring changes in optical transmittance of the vesicular solution while being exposed to UV or visible light irradiation. The results indicate that the UV-induced dissociation of the ve...

The present study was conducted to clarify the mechanism of toxicity of organic compounds using lipid model membranes (liposomes and planar lipid membranes). The compounds studied were trialkyltin and trialkyllead chlorides, dialkyltin dichlorides and some inorganic forms of those metals. Two different (anionic and cationic) detergents were also used in the experiments to change the surface pro...

Unspecific adhesion of bacteria is usually the first step in the formation of biofilms on abiotic surfaces, yet it is unclear up to now which forces are governing this process. Alongside long-ranged van der Waals and electrostatic forces, short-ranged hydrophobic interaction plays an important role. To characterize the forces involved during approach and retraction of an individual bacterium to...

Flavonoids can exert beneficial health effects through multiple mechanisms. In this paper, we address the important, although not fully understood, capacity of flavonoids to interact with cell membranes. The interactions of polyphenols with bilayers include: (a) the partition of the more non-polar compounds in the hydrophobic interior of the membrane, and (b) the formation of hydrogen bonds bet...

The wetting behavior of water on the solid surfaces is fundamental to various physical, chemical and biological processes. Conventionally, the surface with charges or charge dipoles is hydrophilic, whereas the non-polar surface is hydrophobic though some exceptions were recently reported. Using molecular dynamics simulations, we show that there is a critical length of the charge dipoles on the ...

Graphene nanopores are potential successors to biological and silicon-based nanopores. For sensing applications, it is however crucial to understand and block the strong nonspecific hydrophobic interactions between DNA and graphene. Here we demonstrate a novel scheme to prevent DNA-graphene interactions, based on a tailored self-assembled monolayer. For bare graphene, we encounter a paradox: wh...

PURPOSE To retrospectively evaluate the incidence of neodymium: YAG (ND:YAG) laser capsulotomies for posterior capsule opacification (PCO) seen with hydrophobic and hydrophilic acrylic intraocular lens implants 18 months after surgery. METHODS One hundred and five eyes that had phacoemulsification with a continuous curvilinear capsulorhexis and implantation of either a hydrophobic or a hydrop...

PURPOSE To investigate the ability of an open capsule device to prevent posterior capsule opacification. METHODS A total of 40 eyes of 20 New Zealand white rabbits were randomly divided into six similar groups of 6 to 7 eyes each. After crystalline lens evacuation, one control group (group A) was implanted with a hydrophilic acrylic intraocular lens and no device, and another control group (g...

In the present work, Iranian natural zeolite particles (NZ) as an abundant and low-cost resource were modified by chemical covalent attachments of commercially available stearic acid (SA) with tunable hydrophobic/hydrophilic properties. The versatile, simple, and green technique of mechanogriding was performed for the hydrophobic derivatisation of NZ. The NZ and as-prepared modified particles w...

Ionic liquids dissolve cellulose in a more efficient and environmentally acceptable way than conventional methods in aqueous solution. An understanding of how ionic liquids act on cellulose is essential for improving pretreatment conditions and thus detailed knowledge of the interactions between the cations, anions and cellulose is necessary. Here, to explore ionic liquid effects, we perform al...