The wound contact layer of UrgoTul Absorb Border (Urgo Medical) foam dressing contains a Technology Lipido Colloid (TLC) Healing Matrix, which includes hydrocolloid and lipophilic substances designed to stimulate fibroblast proliferation and thus promote granulation tissue formation. A multicentre, noncomparative, clinical evaluation of UrgoTul Absorb Border investigated whether use of the dressing promoted granulation tissue formation and the management of wound exudate. Other parameters evaluated included: pain-free dressing changes, protection and improvement of surrounding tissue, ease of application, conformability, ability to remain in place, wear time, effect on peri-wound skin, durability, ease of removal, and patient comfort. There were 43 patients recruited into the evaluation. Results show that 8 wounds (19%) achieved full epithelialisation and 34 (81%) improved. All participating clinicians rated the dressing's overall performance, including its ability to manage exudate, as excellent, very good, or good.

Background: A major complication of using medical devices is the development of biofilm-associated infection caused by Staphylococcus epidermidis where polysaccharide intercellular adhesin (PIA) is a major mechanism of biofilm accumulation. PIA affects innate and humoral immunity in isolated cells and animal models. Few studies have examined these effects in prosthetic joint infection (PJI).Methods: This study used ex vivo whole blood modelling in controls together with matched-serum and staphylococcal isolates from patients with PJI.Results: Whole blood killing of PIA positives. epidermidis and its isogenic negative mutant was identical. Differences were unmasked in immunosuppressed whole blood pre-treated with dexamethasone where PIA positive bacteria showed a more resistant phenotype. PIA expression was identified in three unique patterns associated with bacteria and leukocytes, implicating a soluble form of PIA. Purified PIA reduced whole blood killing while increasing C5a levels. In clinically relevant staphylococcal isolates and serum samples from PJI patients; firstly complement C5a was increased 3-fold compared to controls; secondly, the C5a levels were significantly higher in serum from PJI patients whose isolates preferentially formed PIA-associated biofilms.Conclusions: These data demonstrate for the first time that the biological effects of PIA are mediated through C5a in patients with PJI. (C) 2015 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

We report two isoreticular 3D peptide-based porous frameworks formed by coordination of the tripeptides Gly-L-His-Gly and Gly-L-His-L-Lys to Cu-II which display sponge-like behaviour. These porous materials undergo structural collapse upon evacuation that can be reversed by exposure to water vapour, which permits recovery of the original open channel structure. This is further confirmed by sorption studies that reveal that both solids exhibit selective sorption of H2O while CO2 adsorption does not result in recovery of the original structures. We also show how the pendant aliphatic amine chains, present in the framework from the introduction of the lysine amino acid in the peptidic backbone, can be post-synthetically modified to produce urea-functionalised networks by following methodologies typically used for metal-organic frameworks built from more rigid classical linkers.

The separation of molecules with similar size and shape is an important technological challenge. For example, rare gases can pose either an economic opportunity or an environmental hazard and there is a need to separate these spherical molecules selectively at low concentrations in air. Likewise, chiral molecules are important building blocks for pharmaceuticals, but chiral enantiomers, by definition, have identical size and shape, and their separation can be challenging. Here we show that a porous organic cage molecule has unprecedented performance in the solid state for the separation of rare gases, such as krypton and xenon. The selectivity arises from a precise size match between the rare gas and the organic cage cavity, as predicted by molecular simulations. Breakthrough experiments demonstrate real practical potential for the separation of krypton, xenon and radon from air at concentrations of only a few parts per million. We also demonstrate selective binding of chiral organic molecules such as 1-phenylethanol, suggesting applications in enantioselective separation.

A chemoselective spectroscopic method for measuring CO2 sorption isotherms at pressures up to 14 MPa (140 bar) is validated against manometric measurements and molecular simulations, giving insights into the preferred sorption sites in various crystalline porous organic cages.

The development of new porous materials for use in applications such as gas storage and separation processes, catalysis, catalysts supports and the removal of environmentally unfriendly species has increased rapidly over the past decade. Research into the development of these new materials has been dominated by metal organic frameworks, covalent organic frameworks, nanoporous polymers and, most recently, porous organic cage molecules. This thesis describes adsorption studies of a metal organic framework, Zn (TBAPy) and a porous tetrahedral organic cage molecule of ~ 1 nm diameter formed by the condensation reaction of 1,3,5triformylbenzene with 1,2-ethylenediamine. The development of metal organic frameworks has traditionally involved the formation of rigid network structures, analogous to that of zeolites. More recently the focus has shifted to those of dynamic, flexible framework materials, and the response of these materials to adsorption of gases and vapours. The metal organic framework Zn (TBAPy) is based on a zinc metal centre functionalised with benzoate fragments. The initial two-dimensional structure undergoes rearrangement of the paddlewheel units to form a 3D framework, Zn (TBAPy)' upon desolvation. The ability of this 3D network to separate p-xylene and m-xylene was investigated. It was found that these isomers produced different effects on the framework, with p-xylene producing a typical Type I isotherm, whereas m-xylene induced a structural change within the material, with a much slower rate of m-xylene adsorption at higher pressures. This could potentially lead to the equilibrium separation of these two isomers by the metal organic framework Zn (TBAPy)'. The 1 nm diameter tetrahedral cage molecules formed by the condensation reaction of 1,3,5-triformylbenzene with 1,2-ethylenediamine can exist in a number of stable polymorphs, Cage 1α, Cage 1β and Cage 1γ. These polymorphs can be interconverted by exposure to certain organic vapours/solvents. The conversion of Cage 1β to Cage 1α by adsorption of probe molecules ethyl acetate, 2-butanone, diethyl ether, pentane and methanol was studied. Adsorption of ethyl acetate, 2butanone and diethyl ether produced unusual adsorption isotherms, which included desorption of adsorbed vapour with increasing pressure during the adsorption isotherms. This desorption is attributed to the structural change from Cage 1β to Cage 1α. The unusual desorption step is not observed for methanol or pentane adsorption. The adsorption of methyl acetate was studied over a wide temperature range in order to assess the thermodynamic and kinetic characteristics of the unusual desorption step. The adsorption of dichloromethane showed the reverse transformation of Cage 1α to Cage 1β, showing that the inter conversion produces stable polymorphs. The kinetics of the structural transformation followed an Avrami model and the mechanism is an activated process. Cage 1α has voids between the cages, which are connected by very narrow constrictions that allow the kinetic molecular sieving of oxygen, carbon dioxide and nitrogen. It was found that oxygen adsorbs approximately ten times faster than nitrogen on Cage 1α, with selectivity and rate constants similar to those observed for carbon molecular sieves. The thermodynamics and kinetic results are discussed in terms of structural characteristics and diffusion into molecular cage materials. The kinetic molecular sieving is not present in the polymorph Cage 1β, which has wider pores.

The reaction between Zn and a pyrene-based ligand decorated with benzoate fragments (H(4)TBAPy) yields a 2D layered porous network with the metal coordination based on a paddlewheel motif. Upon desolvation, the structure undergoes a significant and reversible structural adjustment with a corresponding reduction in crystallinity. The combination of computationally assisted structure determination and experimental data analysis of the desolvated phase revealed a structural change in the metal coordination geometry from square-pyramidal to tetrahedral. Simulations of desolvation showed that the local distortion of the ligand geometry followed by the rotation and displacement of the pyrene core permits the breakup of the metal-paddlewheel motifs and the formation of 1D Zn-O chains that cross-link adjacent layers, resulting in a dimensionality change from the 2D layered structure to a 3D structure. Constrained Rietveld refinement of the powder X-ray diffraction pattern of the desolvated phase and the use of other analytical techniques such as porosity measurements, (13)C CP MAS NMR spectroscopy, and fluorescence spectroscopy strongly supported the observed structural transformation. The 3D network is stable up to 425 °C and is permanently porous to CO(2) with an apparent BET surface area of 523(8) m(2)/g (p/p° = 0.02-0.22). Because of the hydrophobic nature, size, and shape of the pores of the 3D framework, the adsorption behavior of the structure toward p-xylene and m-xylene was studied, and the results indicated that the shape of the isotherm and the kinetics of the adsorption process are determined mainly by the shape of the xylene isomers, with each xylene isomer interacting with the host framework in a different manner.