The degradation of thin-film transistors (TFTs) caused by the self-heating effect constitutes a problem to be solved for the next generation of displays. Aluminum nitride (AlN) is a viable alternative for gate dielectric of TFTs due to its good thermal conductivity, matching coefficient of thermal expansion to indium-gallium-zinc-oxide, and excellent stability at high temperatures. Here, AlN thin films of different thicknesses were fabricated by a low temperature reactive radio-frequency magnetron sputtering process, using a low cost, metallic Al target. Their electrical properties have been thoroughly assessed. Furthermore, the 200 nm and 500 nm thick AlN layers have been integrated as gate-dielectric in transparent TFTs with indium-gallium-zinc-oxide as channel semiconductor. Our study emphasizes the potential of AlN thin films for transparent electronics, whilst the functionality of the fabricated field-effect transistors is explored and discussed. © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

A therapeutic deep eutectic system (THEDES) is here defined as a deep eutectic solvent (DES) having an active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) as one of the components. In this work, THEDESs are proposed as enhanced transporters and delivery vehicles for bioactive molecules. THEDESs based on choline chloride (ChCl) or menthol conjugated with three different APIs, namely acetylsalicylic acid (AA), benzoic acid (BA) and phenylacetic acid (PA), were synthesized and characterized for thermal behaviour, structural features, dissolution rate and antibacterial activity. Differential scanning calorimetry and polarized optical microscopy showed that ChCl:PA (1:1), ChCl:AA (1:1), menthol:AA (3:1), menthol:BA (3:1), menthol:PA (2:1) and menthol:PA (3:1) were liquid at room temperature. Dissolution studies in PBS led to increased dissolution rates for the APIs when in the form of THEDES, compared to the API alone. The increase in dissolution rate was particularly noticeable for menthol-based THEDES. Antibacterial activity was assessed using both Gram-positive and Gram-negative model organisms. The results show that all the THEDESs retain the antibacterial activity of the API. Overall, our results highlight the great potential of THEDES as dissolution enhancers in the development of novel and more effective drug delivery systems.

© 2016 Elsevier B.V. Upper urinary tract urothelial carcinoma (UTUC) accounts for 5–10{%} of urothelial carcinomas and is a disease that has not been widely studied as carcinoma of the bladder. To avoid the problems of conventional therapies, such as the need for frequent drug instillation due to poor drug retention, we developed a biodegradable ureteral stent (BUS) impregnated by supercritical fluid CO 2 (scCO 2 ) with the most commonly used anti-cancer drugs, namely paclitaxel, epirubicin, doxorubicin, and gemcitabine. The release kinetics of anti-cancer therapeutics from drug-eluting stents was measured in artificial urine solution (AUS). The in vitro release showed a faster release in the first 72 h for the four anti-cancer drugs, after this time a plateau was achieved and finally the stent degraded after 9 days. Regarding the amount of impregnated drugs by scCO 2 , gemcitabine showed the highest amount of loading (19.57 $μ$g drug /mg polymer: 2{%} loaded), while the lowest amount was obtained for paclitaxel (0.067 $μ$g drug /mg polymer : 0.01{%} loaded). A cancer cell line (T24) was exposed to graded concentrations (0.01–2000 ng/ml) of each drugs for 4 and 72 h to determine the sensitivities of the cells to each drug (IC 50 ). The direct and indirect contact study of the anti-cancer biodegradable ureteral stents with the T24 and HUVEC cell lines confirmed the anti-tumoral effect of the BUS impregnated with the four anti-cancer drugs tested, reducing around 75{%} of the viability of the T24 cell line after 72 h and demonstrating minimal cytotoxic effect on HUVECs.

Marine sponges are a rich source of natural bioactive compounds. One of the most abundant valuable products is collagen/gelatin, which presents an interesting alternative source for pharmaceutical and biomedical applications. We have previously proposed an innovative green technology for the extraction of collagen/gelatin from marine sponges based in water acidified with carbon dioxide. In this work, we have optimized the process operating conditions toward high yields and collagen quality as well as to reduce extraction procedure duration and energy consumption. The process extraction efficiency is higher than 50{%}, corresponding to a yield of approximately 10{%} of the sponge dry mass, obtained for mild operating conditions of 10 bar and 3 h. The extracted material was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), rheology, Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), circular dichroism (CD), amino acid analysis, and SDS-PAGE. The extracts were found to be composed of highly pure mixtures of co...

© 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH {&} Co. KGaA, Weinheim. This work presents a novel route toward porous scaffolds for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine (TERM) applications. Hybrid cryogels with gelatin, gellan gum, carboxymethylcellulose, and lignin were prepared by a two-step process. Textural properties of the cryogels were analyzed by SEM and micro-computed tomography. The results indicated that rapid freezing retained sample shape and yielded macroporous materials. The mechanical properties of the cryogels were characterized in compression mode. Cytotoxicity studies indicated that the hybrid-alginate cryogels did not present cytotoxicity and have the potential to be used in TERM.