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This study reports a sustainable strategy to produce polymeric materials with convenient properties, employing principles close to green chemistry, starting from epoxy/methacrylate vegetable oil monomers. New bio‐based derivatives were obtained from the well‐known epoxidized linseed oil, reacted with a renewable reagent, undecylenic acid, using suitable synthesis parameters in heterogeneous catalysis. The undecylenic double bonds grafted on the linseed oil structure were then reacted, resulting epoxidized undecylenic acid‐linseed oil (monomer 1). Monomer 1 was further used as an intermediate to obtain methacrylic derivatives: monomer 2—methacrylate epoxidized undecylenic acid‐linseed oil (bearing both epoxy and methacrylic moieties) and monomer 3—methacrylate undecylenic acid‐linseed oil (bearing only methacrylic functionalities). These three monomers were employed in different eco‐friendly ultraviolet/visible light curing attempts, proving their ability to generate polymer networks in different reaction conditions. The resulting materials were investigated through different thermal and thermo‐mechanical assays, establishing their general properties. The influence of the undecylenic fragments, epoxy/methacrylate content and curing conditions were established. Gel fraction varied according to the initial precursor composition (62/87% for the epoxy‐based materials; 58/91% for the methacrylic‐based materials). A good elasticity was observed for the new materials (Tg ranging from 20 to 44°C), and a great thermal resistance also (thermal degradation temperatures of 400/453°C for the epoxy network and 382°C for the methacrylic one), in good agreement with other studied mono‐ or di‐functional polymer matrices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the discussion on climate change is a set of impacts caused both by natural causes and, directly or indirectly, by human activity. Topics include effects are felt in the form of long-term changes in weather patterns, in short, climate changes that can threaten people's security, the environment and development conditions; and climate change is not a new phenomenon, it is already a constitutive part of life on our planet and acts.

The need of issuing medical diagnoses with fast turn-around times (but without compromising accuracy) is generating technical challenges in all stages of histological processing. Because of the multiple variables related to tissue harvesting, processing, and sectioning quite often the resulting histological slides reach the pathologist with fragmented or incomplete tissue sections. In the present study we evaluated the feasibility of a new method of multiplexing tissue specimens with irregular shapes by placing them during grossing into sectionable matrices (BxFrame™ GRID). The working time required for a histotechnologist in obtaining multiplexed preparations as well as the costs of laboratory supplies was compared with conventional methods. Five different types of tissue (duodenum, brain, heart, tail, and skin) were placed in BxFrame™ matrices, and subjected to histological processing, sectioned, and stained. The new multiplexing method reduced the total working time with 45% to 70% when compared to conventional methods (depending on the type of tissue) while the cost of consumables was reduced with up to 70%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One critical step in new drugs development is the investigation of the interactions between drug candidate and target protein. Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (NMR) is a well-established technique for studding these interactions. Due to its availability and structural similarities to human albumin, bovine serum albumin (BSA) is widely accepted as a model for investigating the binding of small molecules to serum albumin. We report here on the evaluation of binding interactions between BSA and 18 metabolites using saturation transfer difference (STD) NMR experiments. Positive STD signals that indicate metabolite-protein interactions were obtained for leucine, pyruvic acid, valine, threonine, alanine, 4-aminohippuric acid and tryptophan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a scientific workshop that focused on the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and aimed to identify the main lessons learned from the conflict. Topics include the different war scenarios in Ukraine, the effects of the conflict on various aspects of society, strategic communication, and the importance of resilience and standardization in NATO member countries.