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The specificity of carbohydrate transporters towards their substrates poses a significant challenge for the development of molecular probes to monitor sugar uptake in cells for biochemical and biomedical applications. Herein we report a new set of coumarin-based fluorescent sugar conjugates applicable for the analysis of fructose uptake due to their free passage through the fructose-specific transporter GLUT5. The reported probes cover a broad range of the fluorescence spectrum providing essential tools for the evaluation of fructose transport capacity in live cells.

Electrospinning and polymer blending have been the focus of research and the industry for their versatility, scalability, and potential applications across many different fields. In tissue engineering, nanofiber scaffolds composed of natural fibers, synthetic fibers, or a mixture of both have been reported. This review reports recent advances in polymer blended scaffolds for tissue engineering and the fabrication of functional scaffolds by electrospinning. A brief theory of electrospinning and the general setup as well as modifications used are presented. Polymer blends, including blends with natural polymers, synthetic polymers, mixture of natural and synthetic polymers, and nanofiller systems, are discussed in detail and reviewed.

Background Gastric electric stimulation (GES) at a high-frequency, low-energy setting is an option for treating refractory gastroparesis. The currently available commercial stimulator, the Enterra neurostimulator (Medtronic Inc, Minneapolis, MN), however, requires surgical implantation and is powered by a nonrechargeable battery. Objective To develop and test a miniature wireless GES device for endoscopic implantation in an experimental model. Design In-vivo gastric signals were recorded and measured in a nonsurvival swine model (n = 2; 110-lb animals). Intervention An endoscopically placed, wireless GES device was inserted into the stomach through an overtube; the two GES electrodes were endoscopically attached to the gastric mucosa and secured with endoclips to permit stimulation. Main Outcome Measurements Stable electrogastrogram measures were observed during GES stimulation. Results Electrogastrogram recordings demonstrated that gastric slow waves became more regular and of constant amplitudes when stomach tissues were stimulated, in comparison with no stimulation. The frequency-to-amplitude ratio also changed significantly with stimulation. Limitation Nonsurvival pig studies. Conclusion Gastric electric stimulation is feasible by our endoscopically implanted, wireless GES device.

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In this paper, we investigated the effect of power combining and delivering in multi-input and multi-output (MIMO) wireless energy transmission systems which consist of more than one transmitter antennas as sources, more than one receiver antennas as loads and repeaters. Theoretical expressions were developed to model system operation that can be in a large scale wireless energy network architecture. System characteristics such as power transfer between antennas, power losses induced in each antenna, wireless efficiency, coil misalignment and power fluctuation due to the loss of frequency synchronization were examined by theory and verified with experiments. Measurement results matched well with the theory demonstrating the feasibility of combining and delivering power with high efficiencies in large scale wireless energy transmission systems.