Calorimetry

Synchrotron-radiation-based techniques are a powerful tool for the investigation of materials. In particular, the availability of highly brilliant sources has opened the possibility to develop techniques sensitive to dynamics at the atomic scale such as X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy (XPCS). XPCS is particularly relevant in the study of glasses, which have been often investigated at the macroscopic scale by, for example, differential scanning calorimetry. Here, we show how to adapt a Flash calorimeter to combine XPCS and calorimetric scans...

BACKGROUND: In water calorimetry, absolute dose to water is determined by measuring radiation-induced temperature rises. In conventional water calorimeters, temperature detectors are housed in handmade glass vessels that are filled with high-purity water, thus mitigating radiation-induced exo/endothermic chemical reactions of impurities that would otherwise introduce additional heat gain/loss, known as heat defect. Being hand-crafted, these glass vessels may suffer from imperfections, have shape and design constraints, are often backordered, and can be prohibitively expensive...

In the field of energy harvesting, phase change materials (PCMs) hold great promise. 2-hydroxyethylammonium stearate ([HEA]Ste), bis(2-hydroxyethyl)ammonium stearate ([DHEA]Ste), and tris(2-hydroxyethyl)ammonium stearate ([THEA]Ste) ionic liquids (ILs) demonstrate promising capabilities to enhance thermal energy storage (TES) performance within the 30-100 °C temperature range. This research presents these ILs as PCMs for the first time, emphasizing their environmentally friendly characteristics, safety profile, and cost-effectiveness...

BACKGROUND: Surgical stress response in colorectal surgery consists of a neurohormonal and an immunological response and influences oncological outcomes. The intensity of surgical trauma influences mortality, morbidity, and metastasis' occurrence in colorectal neoplasia. Energy expenditure (EE) stands for the body's energy consumed to keep its homeostasis and can be either calculated or measured by direct or indirect calorimetry. AIM: The present study attempted to evaluate surgical stress response using EE measurement and compare it to the postoperative cortisol dynamic...

To enhance Li storage properties, nitrogenation methods are developed for Si anodes. First, melamine, urea, and nitric oxide (NO) precursors are used to nitrogenize carbon-coated Si particles. The properties of the obtained particles are compared. It is found that the NO process can maximize the graphitic nitrogen (N) content and electronic conductivity of a sample. In addition, optimized N functional groups and O─C species on the electrode surface increase electrolyte wettability. However, with a carbon barrier layer, NO hardly nitrogenizes the Si cores...

In our preceding paper (Y. Fukui et al. , Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. , 2023, 25 , 25594-25602), we reported a systematic study of the Ag+ -ion conducting behaviour of silver iodide (AgI)-loaded mesoporous aluminas (MPAs) with different pore diameters and AgI-loading ratios. By optimising the control parameters, the Ag+ -ion conductivity has reached 7.2 × 10-4 S cm-1 at room temperature, which is more than three orders of magnitude higher than that of bulk AgI. In the present study, the effect of silver bromide (AgBr)-doping in the AgI/MPA composites on Ag+ -ion conductivity is systematically investigated for the first time, using variable-temperature powder X-ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurements...

BACKGROUND: Infection with Angiostrongylus cantonensis (AC) in humans or mice can lead to severe eosinophilic meningitis or encephalitis, resulting in various neurological impairments. Developing effective neuroprotective drugs to improve the quality of life in affected individuals is critical. METHODS: We conducted a Gene Ontology enrichment analysis on microarray gene expression (GSE159486) in the brains of AC-infected mice. The expression levels of melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH) were confirmed through real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) and immunofluorescence...

BACKGROUD: This study investigated the structure, functional and physicochemical properties of lotus seed protein (LSP) under different pH environments. The structures of LSP were characterized by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), zeta potential, particle size distributions, free sulfhydryl and rheological property. The functional and physicochemical properties of LSP were characterized by color, foaming property, emulsification property, solubility, oil holding capacity (OHC), water holding capacity (WHC), differential scanning calorimetry analysis (DSC) and surface hydrophobicity...

Polycyclic energetic materials make up a distinctive class of conjugated structures that consist of two or more rings. In this work, 1,3-bis(3,5-dinitro-1 H -pyrazol-4-yl)-4,6-dinitrobenzene ( BDPD ) was synthesized and investigated in detail as a polycyclic heat-resistant energetic molecule that can be deprotonated by bases to obtain its anionic ( 3 - 5 ) salts. All compounds were thoroughly characterized by 1 H and 13 C NMR, infrared spectroscopy, high-resolution mass spectrometry, and elemental analysis...

Four weeks before competition in the 2023 Marathon des Sables, a 6-stage, ~250 km running event in the Sahara Desert, we examined the effects of a 7-day intake of New Zealand blackcurrant extract (210 mg anthocyanins per day) on 1 h treadmill running-induced physiological and metabolic responses in the heat (~34 °C, relative humidity: ~30%) in non-acclimatized amateur female and male athletes (age: 23, 38 yrs, BMI: 24.2, 28.4 kg·m-2 , body fat%: 29.2, 18.8%, V˙O2max : 50.1, 52.1 mL·kg-1 ·min-1 )...

While protic ionic liquids (ILs) have found great success as solvents for a broad range of applications, little is known about their degradation when exposed to temperatures above ambient for extended periods of time. Here, we report the thermal stability of six protic ILs, namely, ethylammonium nitrate, ethylammonium formate, ethylammonium acetate, ethanolammonium nitrate, ethanolammonium formate, and ethanolammonium acetate. The effect of heating each ionic liquid to 60 °C for 1 h or 1 week (sealed or open to the atmosphere) was evaluated by considering the changes to water content, pH, mass, thermal phase transitions, and molecular structure after each treatment...

Studies seem to show that high-intensity interval training (HIIT) is a more time-efficient protocol for weight loss, compared with moderate-intensity continuous training (MICT). Our aim was to compare the acute effects of energy expenditure (EE) matched HIIT vs. MICT on excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC) and substrate metabolism in male college students with obesity. Twenty-one untrained male college students (age, 22 ± 3 years; body fat, 28.4 ± 4.5%) completed two acute interventions (~ 300 kcal) on a treadmill in a randomized order: (1) HIIT: 3 min bouts at 90% of maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max ) with 2 min of recovery at 25% of VO2max ; (2) MICT: 60% of VO2max continuous training...

The long treatment period and development of drug resistance in tuberculosis (TB) necessitates the discovery of new anti-tubercular agents. The drug discovery program of the institute leads to the development of an anti-tubercular lead (IIIM-019), which is an analogue of nitrodihydroimidazooxazole and exhibited promising anti-tubercular action. However, IIIM-019 displays poor aqueous solubility (1.2 µg/mL), which demands suitable dosage form for its efficient oral administration. In the present study, third generation solid dispersion-based formulation was developed to increase the solubility and dissolution of IIIM-019...

OBJECTIVES: Gamete and embryo-foetal origins of adult diseases hypothesis proposes that adulthood chronic disorders are associated with adverse foetal and early life traits. Our study aimed to characterise developmental changes and underlying mechanisms of metabolic disorders in offspring of pre-eclampsia (PE) programmed pregnancy. METHODS: Nω-Nitro-l-arginine methyl ester hydrochloride (L-NAME) induced pre-eclampsia-like C57BL/6J mouse model was used. Lipid profiling, histological morphology, indirect calorimetry, mRNA sequencing, and pyrosequencing were performed on PE offspring of both young and elderly ages...

Surface energy is a fundamental property of materials and is particularly important in describing nanomaterials where atoms or molecules at the surface constitute a large fraction of the material. Traditionally, surface energy is considered to be a positive quantity, where atoms or molecules at the surface are less thermodynamically stable than their counterparts in the interior of the material because they have fewer bonds or interactions at the surface. Using calorimetric methods, we show that the surface energy is negative in some prototypical colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals, or quantum dots with organic ligand coatings...

Biocopolymers based on vanillin/fufurylamine-biobenzoxazine (V-fa) and epoxide castor oil (ECO), a bioepoxy, were prepared for application as dental fiber-reinforced composite post. The mechanical and thermal properties of the V-fa/ECO biocopolymers were assessed with regard to the influence of ECO content. The addition of the ECO at an amount of 20% by weight into the poly(V-fa) preserved the stiffness, glass transition temperature and thermal stability nearly to the poly(V-fa). Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was used to examine the curing kinetics of the V-fa/ECO monomer system with different heating rates...

Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) have attracted significant attention because of their nanoscale magnetic properties. SPION aggregates may afford emergent properties, resulting from dipole-dipole interactions between neighbors. Such aggregates can display internal order, with high packing fractions (>20%), and can be stabilized with block co-polymers (BCPs), permitting design of tunable composites for potential nanomedicine, data storage, and electronic sensing applications. Despite the routine use of magnetic fields for aggregate actuation, the impact of those fields on polymer structure, SPION ordering, and magnetic properties is not fully understood...

Three-dimensional (3D) structures are actually the state-of-the-art technique to create porous scaffolds for tissue engineering. Since regeneration in cartilage tissue is limited due to intrinsic cellular properties this study aims to develop and characterize three-dimensional porous scaffolds of poly (L-co-D, L lactide-co-trimethylene carbonate), PLDLA-TMC, obtained by 3D fiber deposition technique. The PLDLA-TMC terpolymer scaffolds (70:30), were obtained and characterized by scanning electron microscopy, gel permeation chromatography, differential scanning calorimetry, thermal gravimetric analysis, compression mechanical testing and study on in vitro degradation, which showed its amorphous characteristics, cylindrical geometry, and interconnected pores...

OBJECTIVES: Currently, the most important treatment approach for hemophilia type A is recombinant Factor VIII. However, due to its low retention time in the blood, the patients usually need successive injections. In addition, neutralization of injected proteins by antibodies complicates treatment. We examined the prolongation of the persistence time of injectable FVIII in the blood and the potential effects on survival using promising PEGylated liposomes (PEGLip) utilizing hydrogenated soy phosphatidylcholine (HSPC, Tm= 54...

PURPOSE: This study aimed to develop a novel and feasible modification strategy to improve the solubility and antitumor activity of resiquimod (R848) by utilizing the supramolecular effect of 2-hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin (2-HP-β-CD). METHODS: R848-loaded PLGA nanoparticles modified with 2-HP-β-CD (CD@R848@NPs) were synthesized using an enhanced emulsification solvent-evaporation technique. The nanoparticles were then characterized in vitro by several methods, such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, particle size analysis, and zeta potential analysis...