Influence of polymer network structure on the elastic and fracture properties of polyacrylamide hydrogel.

The elastic and fracture properties of hydrogels are strongly influenced by the polymer network structure. The hydrogel network is similar to the extracellular matrix (ECM) of tissues. The network structure of the hydrogel can be varied by varying the polymer volume fraction () and crosslinker concentration ().

The Cost Effectiveness of Elective Surgical Procedures with Longer NHS Waiting Lists: A Targeted Review.

Objectives: Our aim was to review the evidence for the cost effectiveness of elective surgeries with long waiting lists within the NHS in England. This is to inform understanding of national spending priorities in the context of significant demand for elective surgeries and to inform the debate on appropriate cost-effectiveness thresholds across healthcare decision making.

Methods: We conducted a targeted literature review to identify published cost-effectiveness analyses for nine elective procedures with long waiting lists in the NHS, selected based on previous reviews.

Exploring the antifungal potential of novel Bacillus siamensis RBN19 against Bipolaris oryzae infecting rice: in vitro and in silico studies.

Survey conducted during February and May 2023 in the rice growing regions of Chengalpattu and Kanchipuram districts of Tamil Nadu, India, revealed that Chengalpattu district had brown spot incidence ranging from 10.6 % to 89 %. Maximum of 89 PDI (percent disease incidence) was observed in the farm of SRM College of Agricultural Sciences, Chengalpattu District, Tamil Nadu, India.

Charge symmetry breaking in neutral polyzwitterions.

Response of polar and neutral monomers in macromolecules to an electric field in their crowded aqueous solutions remains as an unchartered area of research, in contrast with well understood behavior of ionized groups. Wondering whether such monomers impart merely frictional resistance or cooperate with the other ionic groups in their electrophoretic mobility, we investigate single-molecule electrophoresis of a couple of neutral polyzwitterions which have charge-neutrality with strong acidic group and permanent positive charge within their repeat units. Combining experiments and theory, we study the roles of dipole orientation of zwiterionic monomers and salt identity.

Universal law of hierarchical dynamics in gels arising from confluence of local physically dynamic bonds.

Gels comprised of dynamic bonds are important candidates for the emerging 'intelligent' gels due to their unique characteristics. We report a universal law of hierarchical gel dynamics arising from association-dissociation of physical crosslinks, as discerned from dynamic light scattering (DLS) on diverse sets of complex gels. It is the first experimental evidence of a stretched exponential decay with a universal exponent 1/3 in DLS for all the physical gels, complementing more than five decades of DLS studies on conventional chemical gels.