A novel, high hydrolysis ratio sol-gel route for the biocompatible production of macroporous silica gels is presented. This route exploits the two step nature of the gelation reaction to remove undesired alcohol by-products from an acidic aqueous sol prior to gelation. These alcohol-free sols will gel when the pH is raised to the physiologic range in a two-step, acid/base catalyzed process. Fur...

A simple theoretical model is developed which describes how current eddies are excited in the scrape-off layer SOL of a large-aspect-ratio, low, circular cross-section tokamak by time-varying magnetohydrodynamical instabilities originating from within the plasma. This model is used to study the interaction of SOL currents with tearing modes and resistive wall modes in a typical tokamak plasma. ...

We report on the fabrication and characterization of thick UV-patternable hybrid sol-gel films by spin coating using a modified sol-gel process. Thick coating of 25 microns with crack-free surface can be produced by one spin coating step. Thick layers of more than 100 μm can be obtained with a multi-coating process. Characterization using different techniques including optical microscope and at...

Prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibody has been reported in Mexican Americans, but its prevalence in other US Hispanic/Latino groups is unknown. We studied 2 populations of US Hispanic/Latino adults; 3210 from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2007-2010 and 11 964 from the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL). Age-standardized prevalenc...

Neuromuscular junctions (NMJs) on fast and slow muscle fibers display different transmitter release characteristics that appear well adapted to the different patterns of nerve impulses that they transmit in vivo. Here, we ask whether the release properties of such NMJs, termed fast and slow, can be transformed by chronic nerve stimulation. In young adult rats, nerve impulse conduction in the sc...

Sol-gel entrapment is an efficient immobilization technique that allows preparation of robust and highly stable biocatalysts. Lipase from Candida antarctica B was immobilized by sol-gel entrapment and by sol-gel entrapment combined with adsorption on Celite 545, using a ternary silane precursor system. After optimization of the immobilization protocol, the best enzyme loading was 17.4 mg/g supp...

The colonisation of clinical and industrial surfaces with microorganisms, including antibiotic-resistant strains, has promoted increased research into the development of effective antibacterial and antifouling coatings. This study describes the preparation of metal nitrate (Ag, Cu, Zn) doped methyltriethoxysilane (MTEOS) coatings and the rapid assessment of their antibacterial activity using po...

The hypothesis of this study was that diabetes-induced desensitization of rat soleus (SOL) and extensor digitorum longus (EDL) to non-depolarizing muscle relaxants (NDMRs) depends on the stage of diabetes and on the kind of NDMRs. We tested the different magnitude of resistance to vecuronium, cisatracurium, and rocuronium at different stages of streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetes by the EDL s...

The aims of the present study were to investigate the effects of spasticity (1) on muscle tendon unit (MTU) length-force characteristics of rat m. gastrocnemius (GAS), m. soleus (SOL) and m. plantaris (PL), and (2) on epimuscular myofascial force transmission between synergistic GAS, SOL and PL, as well as between the calf muscles and antagonistic m. tibialis anterior (TA). The effects of spast...

Tin oxide nanostructures, un-doped and Zn-doped, have been prepared by conventional sol-gel technique. Research grade tin chloride (SnCl2.2H2O) and zinc acetate (Zn(O2C2H3)2) were used as tin and zinc sources. Ethylene glycol and alcohol were used as solvents under different synthesis conditions. Transparent un-doped and Zn-doped SnO2 sol was prepared after continuous stirring and refluxing at ...