Vibrational spectroscopy, when combined with synchrotron radiation-based (SR) microscopy, is a powerful new analytical tool with high spatial resolution for detecting biochemical changes in individual living cells. In contrast to other microscopy methods that require fixing, drying, staining or labeling, SR-FTIR microscopy probes intact living cells providing a composite view of all of the mole...

MYB-type transcription factors (TFs) play essential roles in plant growth, development and respond to environmental stresses. Role of MYB-related TFs of rice in drought stress tolerance is not well documented. Here, we report the isolation and characterization of a novel MYB-related TF, OsMYB48-1, of rice. Expression of OsMYB48-1 was strongly induced by polyethylene glycol (PEG), abscisic acid ...

The lack of durability in concrete repairs induces repair failures in field and endless “repair of repairs”. Most often drying shrinkage of “new” repair material restrained by “old” concrete substrate causes cracking in the repair material, combined with interface delamination between the repair and the concrete substrate, which may also introduce chlorides, oxygen, moisture, alkali or sulphate...

Phase separation simulation study related to cellulose acetate-water-acetone has been done. Results show that porous asymmetric and symmetric membranes can be produced by changing the nonsolvent concentration or by the drying conditions without altering the polymer content using dry-casting process. Dry-casting process is the process in which complete evaporation of solvent and nonsolvent takes...

Citation: Haggag YA and Faheem AM (2015) Evaluation of nano spray drying as a method for drying and formulation of therapeutic peptides and proteins. The high sensitivity of peptides and proteins to physicochemical stresses during processing and storage is the major hurdle against its pharmaceutical applications. Peptide-based drug formulations are commonly prepared as solid dosage forms becaus...

Enzymes subjected to freeze-thawing are known to be protected by polymers that are preferentially excluded from the hydrated surface of proteins [reviewed in Carpenter et al. (1994) ACS Symp. Ser. 567, 134-147]. Preferentially excluded solutes are also known to stabilize quaternary structure, which enhances the thermostability of multimeric proteins in aqueous systems. Also, it has been suggest...

Water is an important component of collagen in tendons, but its role for the function of this load-carrying protein structure is poorly understood. Here we use a combination of multi-scale experimentation and computation to show that water is an integral part of the collagen molecule, which changes conformation upon water removal. The consequence is a shortening of the molecule that translates ...

Spray drying is a promising method for the stabilization of vaccines, which are usually formulated as liquids. Usually, vaccine stability is improved by spray drying in the presence of a range of excipients. Unlike freeze drying, there is no freezing step involved, thus the damage related to this step is avoided. The edge of spray drying resides in its ability for particles to be engineered to ...