Fabrication of bioactive and mechanical matched bone substitutes is crucial for clinical application in bone defects repair. In this study, nano-hydroxyapatite/polyamide (nHA/PA) composite was coated on injection-moulded PA by a chemical corrosion and phase-inversion technique. The shear strength, gradient composition and pore structure of the bioactive coating were characterized. Osteoblast-li...

Pyrrole-imidazole (PI) polyamide is a novel gene regulating agent that competitively inhibits transcription factor binding to the promoter of the specific target gene. Liver fibrosis is an integral stage in the development of chronic liver disease, and transforming growth factor β (TGFβ) is known to play a central role in the progression of this entity. The aim of this study was to evaluate the...

The fluorescence from tetramethyl rhodamine in hairpin polyamide tetramethyl rhodamine (TMR) conjugates is quenched in solution. TMR fluoresces brightly upon polyamide binding match DNA. Similar behavior is not observed in the presence of mismatch DNA; the hairpin polyamide-fluorophore conjugates therefore provide a smallmolecule fluorescent means for detecting chosen DNA sequences in homogenou...

Lectin-like oxidized low-density lipoprotein receptor-1 (LOX-1) is a membrane protein that can support the binding, internalization, and proteolytic degradation of oxidized low-density lipoprotein. The LOX-1 expression increases in the neointima after balloon injury. To develop an efficient compound to inhibit LOX-1, we designed and synthesized a novel gene silencer pyrrole-imidazole (PI) polya...

Textile composites are the materials in which the composition and internal structure is changed under controlled conditions so as to match their performance to the most demanding structural or non-structural roles. Textile reinforcement structure can be made of fibers, yarns or fabrics (woven, braided, knitted or non wovens) and are generally flexible. The application of traditional textile tec...

We have previously reported the use of hydrogel particles as the draw agent for forward osmosis desalination. In the present work, the effects of draw agent, feed concentration and membrane on the process performance were systematically examined. Our results showed that the incorporation of carbon filler particles in polymer hydrogels led to enhanced swelling ratios of the draw agents and thus ...

Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MW-CNT) inside a polyamide-6 (PA6)–MW-CNT composite were visualized by atomic force microscopy (i) in a field-assisted intermittent contact and (ii) in the tunneling (TUNA) mode. Individual buried MW-CNTs were clearly discerned within the PA6 matrix. An average diameter of 33 ± 5 nm of the MW-CNTs was determined based on field-assisted intermittent contact mode AF...