Silica monolith aerogels with different degrees of hydrophobicity by incorporating methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMS) or trimethylethoxysilane (TMES) in standard sol-gel synthesis were prepared. Excellent properties of aerogels, obtained with the sol-gel synthesis, were preserved with supercritical drying with CO2. The degree of hydrophobicity of the aerogels was tested by measuring the contact angl...

Five well characterised strains of Clostridium difficile of differing virulence and two Escherichia coli strains, a verotoxigenic O157:H7 isolate and a urinary isolate, were examined for cell surface hydrophobicity and charge, and haemagglutinating ability. Phase partition in hexadecane or octan-1-ol was similar for C. difficile and E. coli, as was retention by hydrophobic interaction chromatog...

This paper reports combined hydrophobicity and mechanical durability through the nanoscale engineering of surfaces in the form of nanorod-polymer composites. Specifically, the hydrophobicity derives from nanoscale features of mechanically hard ZnO nanorods and the mechanical durability derives from the composite structure of a hard ZnO nanorod core and soft polymer shell. Experimental character...

Hydrophobic interaction is generally considered to play an important role in the adherence of microorganisms to eukaryotic cells and also to certain inert surfaces. Using a microbe adhesion assay to hydrocarbons (n-hexadecane), 68 strains of Candida albicans and 30 non-albicans strains were studied. Influence of source of isolate, age of the culture, and percentage of germ tube formation on adh...

BACKGROUND Gastric mucosal surface hydrophobicity (GMSH) is an essential component of the mucosal defence system that is decreased by Helicobacter pylori and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). Gastric ulcers occur predominantly in elderly subjects, and may thus reflect diminished mucosal resistance. AIMS To investigate whether aging decreases GMSH. PATIENTS One hundred and twen...

The polarity of polyurethane coats was studied on the basis of the goniometric method for determination of wetting angle values, on the basis of calculated surface free energy (SFE) values by the van Oss-Good and Owens-Wendt methods, and on the basis of polarity measurements with the use of the (1)H NMR spectra. Test polyurethanes were synthesised in the reaction of methylene diphenyl 4,4'-diis...

The importance of E. coli as an indicator organism in fresh water has led to numerous studies focusing on cell properties and transport behavior. However, previous studies have been unable to assess if differences in E. coli cell surface properties and genomic variation are associated with different environmental habitats. In this study, we investigated the variation in characteristics of E. co...

5-HIAA in the caudate nucleus (Alzheimer, 3.2 f 1.7; control, 5.2k2.3; P< 0.01), HVA in the caudate nucleus (Alzheimer, 13.5k5.0; control, 24.6k7.3; P<O.OI) and HVA in putamen (Alzheimer, 2.3 k0.9; control, 4.7k2.6; P<0.002). The highest CSF concentration of HVA is in the lateral ventricles, which are adjacent to the dopamine-rich caudate nucleus. Therefore, it seems likely that the CSF deficit...

The geometric entropy arising from partitioning space in a fluid " field theory " is shown to be linearly proportional to the area of an excluded region. The coefficient of proportionality is related to surface tension by a thermodynamic argument. Good agreement with experimental data is obtained for a number of fluids. The calculation employs a density matrix formalism developed previously for...