Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) is an ultrasensitive analytical technique, which capable of providing high specificity; thus, it can be used for toxicological drug assay (detection and quantification). However, SERS-based analysis directly in human biofluids requires mitigation fouling nonspecificity effects that commonly appeared from unwanted adsorption endogenous biomolecules presen...

O ur laboratory has developed a number of novel synthetic scaffold materials based on fumaric acid for an assortment of tissue engineering applications. These biodegradable materials include poly(propylene fumarate) (PPF), poly(propylene fumarate-co-ethylene glycol) (P(PF-co-EG)), and oligo(poly(ethylene glycol) fumarate) (OPF), each of which can be applied as an injectable liquid and crosslink...

A novel method of producing a poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG)-based gradient matrix that varies gradually in thickness from 0 to 500 A over a distance of 5-20 mm is presented. The gradient matrix is graft copolymerized from a mixture of PEG methacrylates onto organic thin films providing free radical polymerization sites initiated by UV irradiation at 254 nm. The films used as grafting platforms co...

Methacrylic acid-co-poly(ethylene glycol methacrylate) (MAA-co-PEGMA) copolymers (MPEG-type polycarboxylate ether (PCE) superplasticizers) are characterized by a comb-like structure. Although they have been used for years as dispersants in cementitious formulations, their structure–property relationship is still not fully understood. In this work, PCEs with uniform composition and different cha...

This review presents some examples obtained by molecular techniques in the study of non-ionic reverse micelles of poly(ethylene oxide) type surfactants: tetraethylene glycol mono-ndodecyl ether (C12E4), Triton X-100, and triblok copolymers poly(ethylene oxide)-blockpoly(propylene oxide)-blockpoly(ethylene oxide) (L62 and L64 Pluronics). By using specific spectral parameters of spin, fluorescenc...

OBJECTIVE To determine the permeability of human metaphase II oocytes to ethylene glycol and water in the presence of ethylene glycol, and to use this information to develop a method to vitrify human oocytes. DESIGN An incomplete randomized block design. SETTING A university-affiliated assisted reproductive center. PATIENT(S) Women undergoing assisted reproduction in the Center for Reprod...