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Enzyme-responsive hydrogels, formed by step growth photopolymerization of biscysteine peptide linkers with alkene functionalized polyethylene glycol, provide interesting opportunities as biomaterials and drug delivery systems. In this study, we developed stimuli-responsive, specific, and cytocompatible hydrogels for delivery of anti-inflammatory drugs for the treatment of inflammatory skin diseases. We designed peptide linkers with optimized sensitivity towards matrix metalloproteinases, a family of proteolytic enzymes overexpressed in the extracellular matrix of the skin during inflammation. The peptide linkers were crosslinked with branched 4-arm and 8-arm polyethylene glycols by thiol-norbornene photopolymerization, leading to the formation of a hydrogel network, in which the anti-inflammatory Janus kinase inhibitor tofacitinib citrate was incorporated. The hydrogels were extensively characterized by physical properties, in vitro release studies, cytocompatibility with fibroblasts, and anti-inflammatory efficacy testing in both an atopic dermatitis-like keratinocyte assay and an activated T-cell assay. The drug release was studied after single and multiple-time exposure to matrix metalloproteinase 9 to mimic inflammatory flare-ups. Drug release was found to be triggered by matrix metalloproteinase 9 and to depend on type of crosslinker and of the polyethylene glycol polymer, due to differences in architecture and swelling behavior. Moreover, swollen hydrogels showed elastic properties similar to those of extracellular matrix proteins in the dermis. Cell studies revealed limited cytotoxicity when fibroblasts and keratinocytes were exposed to the hydrogels or their enzymatic cleavage products. Taken together, our results suggest multi-arm polyethylene glycol hydrogels as promising matrix metalloproteinase-responsive drug delivery systems, with potential in the treatment of inflammatory skin disease. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: Smart responsive drug delivery systems such as matrix metalloproteinase-responsive hydrogels are excellent candidates for the treatment of inflammatory skin diseases including psoriasis. Their release profile can be optimized to correspond to the patient's individual disease state by tuning formulation parameters and disease-related stimuli, providing personalized treatment solutions. However, insufficient cross-linking efficiency, low matrix metalloproteinase sensitivity, and undesirable drug release kinetics remain major challenges in the development of such drug delivery systems. In this study, we address shortcomings of previous work by designing peptide linkers with optimized sensitivity towards matrix metalloproteinases and high cross-linking efficiencies. We further provide a proof-of-concept for the usability of the hydrogels in inflammatory skin conditions by employing a drug release set-up simulating inflammatory flare-ups., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Arsenic (As) is highly toxic and over 100 million people living on the floodplains of Asia are exposed to excessive groundwater As. A very large spatial variability over small distances has been observed in the groundwater As concentrations. Advances in the prediction of the As distribution in aquifers would support drinking water management. The application of remote sensing of geomorphic paleo river features combined with geological, geophysical and archeological data and available groundwater As measurements may be used to predict groundwater As levels in rural areas, as shown by the example from the Red River delta, Vietnam. Groundwater in sediments deposited in the marine environment is low in As, probably due to the precipitation of As in sulfide minerals under anoxic conditions. Groundwater As levels in freshwater alluvial deposits in undisturbed floodplain areas are slightly increased and the highest As concentrations are associated with meander belts. The meander belts remain clearly visible in remote sensing and may well reflect the youngest preserved alluvial sediments. High As levels in the meander belt aquifers are probably related to the availability of highly reactive organic matter and consequent reduction of iron oxyhydroxides and As release. Furthermore, given similar hydrogeological conditions, the extent of flushing of As from the youngest alluvial sands is limited compared to the older Pleistocene sands. Even within abandoned meander belts a high spatial variability of As concentrations was observed. The younger channel belts (<1 ka BP) and old Holocene aquifers below undisturbed floodplain environments deposited during a period with high sea level host groundwater enriched in As. Low As groundwater is found in sandy channel belts deposited during the regression of the sea and in Pleistocene islands preserved within the floodplain. The decisive influence of the depositional environment of the aquifer sediments on groundwater As content is revealed., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Real-time monitoring of bioprocesses plays a key-role in modern industries, providing new information on full-scale production, thus enabling control of the process and allowing it to run at optimal conditions while minimizing waste. Monitoring of phosphates and ammonium in fermentation processes has a twofold interest: they are important nutrients for living organisms while at the same time constituting environmental nutrient pollutants, for which unnecessary use and disposal must be avoided. In this report, the possibility of simultaneous analysis of phosphates and ammonium in fermentations was verified using spectroscopy-based methods combined with chemometrics to construct calibration models. To achieve this, the models were based on synthetic samples mimicking real fermentation media, providing a dataset where the analytes were completely uncorrelated. Different at-line techniques (mid- and near- infrared spectroscopy, MIR and NIR) were evaluated for their ability to monitor quickly both analytes, in a wide range of concentrations (10-100 mM), in three media of different complexities. Partial Least Squares (PLS) models on MIR spectroscopy gave very good results, with prediction errors lower than 5 % for both analytes in all datasets. In contrast, the results for PLS models on NIR spectroscopy were inferior (prediction errors between 3 and 26 %) for both analytes, as, in the case of phosphate, it could be demonstrated that the model was based on based on indirect predictions., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

A Levanase, LevB, from Bacillus subtilis 168, was expressed as a His6-tagged protein in Escherichia coli. The enzyme was purified and characterised for its activity and substrate specificity. LevB has a pH optimum of 6.0-6.5 and a maximum observed specific activity of 3 U mg(-1) using levan from Erwinia herbicola as substrate. Hydrolysis products were analysed by HPAEC, TLC, and NMR using chicory root inulin, mixed linkage fructans purified from ryegrass (Lolium perenne) and levan from E. herbicola as substrates. This revealed that LevB is an endolevanase that selectively cleaves the (β-2,6) fructosyl bonds and does not hydrolyse inulin. Ryegrass fructans and bacterial levan was hydrolysed partially releasing oligosaccharides, but together with exoinulinase, LevB hydrolysed both ryegrass fructans and bacterial levan to near completion. We suggest that LevB can be used as a tool to achieve more structural information on complex fructans and to achieve complete degradation and quantification of mixed linkage fructans., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Starch phosphate is important in starch metabolism and in order to deduce its location and structural effects in clusters and building blocks of amylopectin, these were isolated from a normal potato (WT) and two starches with antisense suppressed glucan water dikinase (asGWD) activity and starch branching enzyme (asSBE) activity possessing suppressed and increased phosphate contents, respectively. Neutral N-chains and phosphorylated P-chains of the amylopectin macromolecules were similar in WT and asGWD, whereas asSBE possessed considerably longer P-chains. Cluster β-limit dextrins were isolated by α-amylase treatment and successive β-amylolysis. Cluster sizes were generally smaller in asSBE. The building block composition of neutral N-clusters were very similar in WT and asGWD, while asSBE was different, containing less blocks with degree of polymerization (DP)>14. Phosphate content of the P-clusters of WT and asGWD was rather similar, while asSBE contained highly phosphorylated P-clusters with proportionally more P-chains and a low degree of branching. The average chain lengths of the P-clusters were, however, similar in all samples. Our data demonstrate only minor effect on the cluster structure in relation to phosphate deposition suggesting conserved reaction patterns of starch phosphorylation. Models are suggested to account for the principle structural and functional effects of starch phosphate esters., (Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

The conformational and hydration properties of the two disaccharides methyl beta-cellobioside and methyl beta-laminarabioside were investigated by NMR spectroscopy and explicit solvation molecular dynamics simulations using the carbohydrate solution force field (CSFF). Adiabatic maps produced with this force field displayed 4 minima A: (Phi=300 degrees , Psi=280 degrees), B: (Phi=280 degrees , Psi=210 degrees), C: (Phi=260 degrees , Psi=60 degrees), and D: (Phi=60 degrees , Psi=260 degrees) for methyl beta-cellobioside and 3 minima A: (Phi=290 degrees , Psi=130 degrees), B: (Phi=270 degrees , Psi=290 degrees), and C: (Phi=60 degrees , Psi=120 degrees) for methyl beta-laminarabioside. Molecular dynamics simulations were initiated from all minima. For each disaccharide, the simulation started from the A minimum was conducted for 50ns, while the other minima were explored for 10ns. The simulations revealed two stable minima for both compounds. For methyl beta-cellobioside, the simulation minima in aqueous solution were shifted from their adiabatic map counterparts, while the simulation minima for methyl beta-laminarabioside coincided with the corresponding adiabatic map minima. To validate the simulation results, NMR-derived NOEs and coupling constants across the glycoside linkage, (3)J(HC) and (3)J(CH), were compared with values calculated from the MD trajectories. For each disaccharide, the best agreement was obtained for the simulations started at the A minimum. For both compounds, inter-ring water bridges in combination with the direct hydrogen bonds between the same groups were found to be determining factors for the overall solution structure of the disaccharides which differed from solid-state structures. Comparison with helical parameters showed that the preferred glycosidic dihedral configurations in the methyl beta-cellobioside simulation were not highly compatible with the structure of cellulose, but that curdlan helix structures agreed relatively well with the methyl beta-laminarabioside simulation. Polymers generated using glycosidic dihedral angles from the simulations revealed secondary structure motifs that that may help to elucidate polymer associations and small-molecule binding.

Multivariate curve resolution (MCR) was applied to (13)C cross-polarisation (CP) magic angle spinning (MAS) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra of non-depolymerised alginate powders obtained from brown seaweed plus a pure mannuronate sample isolated from Pseudomonas fluorescens for estimation of the mannuronic acid/guluronic acid ratio (M/G ratio). An excellent MCR model with a correlation coefficient of r(2)=0.99 was established between the estimated M/G ratios and the M/G ratios obtained from the traditional (1)H solution state NMR method. The new method allows for successful determination of the M/G ratio independent of the calcium content (at least up to 2.4%, which was the upper limit in this study) with a root mean square error of prediction of 0.05. It is thus concluded that (13)C CP-MAS NMR in combination with multivariate curve resolution is a reliable, convenient (no sample preparation is required) and relatively rapid method for M/G ratio determinations of alginates and it may serve as a good alternative to the chemical techniques traditionally used.

By numerical simulations MAS and QCPMG methods for acquiring spectra of spin-1 nuclei were compared in order to determine the most sensitive experiment for analysis of molecular dynamics. To comply with the large quadrupolar constants for 14N and the CSA reported for 6Li both of these interactions are included up to second order. For 2H and 6Li both QCPMG and single-pulse MAS experiments were suitable for dynamics studies whereas the single-pulse MAS experiment were the method of choice for investigation of 14N dynamics for C(Q)'s larger than 750kHz at 14.1T. This property prohibits excitation of the 14N lineshape using either single hard or softer composite rf-pulses. Focusing on 14N it was demonstrated that the centerband lineshape is sensitive toward both off-MAS and CSA effects. In addition, excitation by real-time pulses showed that proper lineshapes corresponding to a site with a C(Q) of 3MHz may be excited by a very short pulse.

The worldwide used herbicide dichlobenil (2,6-dichlorobenzonitrile) has resulted in widespread presence of its metabolite 2,6-dichlorobenzamide (BAM) in surface water and groundwater. To evaluate the potential for natural attenuation of this BAM pollution in groundwater, we studied the degradation of BAM and dichlobenil in 16 samples of clayey till, unconsolidated sand and limestone, including sediments from both oxidized and reduced conditions. The degradation of dichlobenil occurred primarily in the upper few meters below surface, although dichlobenil was strongly sorbed to these sediments. However, the degradation of dichlobenil to BAM could not be correlated to either sorption, water chemistry, composition of soils or sediments. Degradation of dichlobenil to BAM was limited (<2% degraded) in the deeper unsaturated zones, and no degradation was observed in aquifer sediments. This illustrates, that dichlobenil transported to aquifers does not contribute to the BAM-contamination in aquifers. A small, but significant degradation of BAM was observed in the upper part of the unsaturated zones in sandy sediments, but no degradation was observed in the clayey till sediment or in the deeper unsaturated zones. The insignificant degradation of BAM in aquifer systems shows that BAM pollution detected in aquifers will appear for a long time; and consequently the potential for natural attenuation of BAM in aquifer systems is limited.

Experimental procedures are proposed and demonstrated that separate the spectroscopic contribution from both (47)Ti and (49)Ti in solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance spectra. These take advantage of the different nuclear spin quantum numbers of these isotopes that lead to different "effective" radiofrequency fields for the central transition nutation frequencies when these nuclei occur in sites with a significant electric field gradient. Numerical simulations and solid-state NMR experiments were performed on the TiO(2) polymorphs anatase and rutile. For anatase, the separation of the two isotopes at high field (21.1T) facilitated accurate determination of the electric field gradient (EFG) and chemical shift anisotropy (CSA) tensors. This was accomplished by taking advantage of the quadrupolar interaction between the EFG at the titanium site and the different magnitudes of the nuclear quadrupole moments (Q) of the two isotopes. Rutile, having a larger quadrupolar coupling constant (C(Q)), was examined by (49)Ti-selective experiments at different magnetic fields to obtain spectra with different scalings of the two anisotropic tensors. A small chemical shielding anisotropy (CSA) of -30 ppm was determined.

Simulations of QCPMG NMR type experiments have been used to explore dynamic processes of half-integer quadrupolar nuclei in solids. By setting up a theoretical approach that is well suited for efficient numerical simulations the QCPMG type experiments have been analyzed regarding the effect of the magnitude of the EFG- and CSA-tensors, the spin-quantum number, different dynamical processes and MAS. Compared to the QE experiment the QCPMG experiment offers not only intensity gain by an order of magnitude and changes in overall lineshape as a function of the kinetic rate constant but the lineshape of the individual spin-echo sidebands is also very sensitive towards dynamics. Hereby a visual identification of the dynamics is obtained. In common for all the simulations the spin-echo sidebands are narrow in the slow (k< or =10(2) Hz) and the fast (k> or =10(7) Hz) dynamic regime whereas they are broadened in the intermediate regime 10(3)< or =k< or =10(7) Hz. The maximum intensity of the spin-echo sidebands for two-site jumps is highly dependent on the type of anisotropic interactions involved and the type of QCPMG experiment. Hence, in the fast limit the maximum intensity was 140% of the initial intensity when significant CSA was present or under the QCPMG-MAS experiment compared to 89 or 71% for the static experiment influenced by the quadrupolar interaction only. For 3-, 4-, and 6-site jumps the maximum intensity in the fast limit reached up to 339% of the intensity in the static limit.