Commercial wheat straw soda lignin was used to develop an alkali-O2 oxidation method to produce a ready-to-use solution for concrete plasticizing (cement dispersing). Lignin characterization was done directly from the solution. Depending on conditions, oxidation primarily induced either condensation or degradation of lignin. Thus, both the negative charge and the molar mass of the lignin were c...

Lignosulfonate/poly(2-ethylaniline) (LS-PEA) composite nanospheres were prepared via in situ polymerization of 2-ethylaniline (EA) with lignosulfonate (LS) as a dispersant. LS-PEA nanospheres with an average diameter of 155 nm were obtained at an optimal LS concentration of 20 wt.%. Subsequently, nitrogen-containing carbon nanospheres were fabricated via direct pyrolysis of the LS-PEA composite...

Calmodulin, an intracellular calcium-binding protein, is thought to regulate ectodomain shedding of many membrane proteins, but the underlying molecular mechanism has remained unclear. Basing on a solution structure of calcium-loaded calmodulin in complex with a L-selectin fragment that contains a portion of its transmembrane domain, Gifford et al. (University of Calgary) recently suggested tha...

Background: Angiogenesis, the development of new blood vessels, is an important process in tissue development and wound healing, but becomes pathologic when associated with solid tumor growth, proliferative retinopathies, and rheumatoid arthritis. Accurate and reliable qualification of neovascular (angiogenic) response, both in vitro and in vivo, is an essential requirement for the study of new...