Women in Nanoscience

A special issue of Applied Nano (ISSN 2673-3501).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 December 2021) | Viewed by 10808

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Nanobiotechnology, Nanomedicine, and Nanobioelectronics Laboratory, Department of Mathematics and Physics “Ennio De Giorgi”, University of Salento, via per Arnesano 16, 73100 Lecce, Italy
Interests: physics applied to biology; nanomaterials and toxicity; green nanomaterials; biophysics of cell membranes; biomaterials; silver and gold nanoparticles
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Mathematics and Physics “Ennio De Giorgi”, University of Salento, Via Monteroni, 73100 Lecce, Italy
Interests: cancer cells; atomic force microscopy; cell mechanical alteration
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Gender stereotypes and bias are widespread especially in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields, which show barriers for the progression of women in academia. Although many progresses have been made in recent years, a gender unbalance among academic careers in the STEM field remains, we are still far away from the full gender equality.

Currently, women are unexpressed in most scientific disciplines and publish fewer articles in their careers; consequently, their work obtain fewer citations.

Gender equality is one of the objectives of the ONU Agenda 2030. In the scientific field, the gap between men and women remains evident: according to UNESCO data, in 2017, only 30 % are women in the research sector. Over the past 20 years, the European Commission has supported numerous investigations to track the involvement of the women. The “She Figures” report, published every three years since 2003, is now a fundamental reference to examine gender differences in the research and development sector, in the European Union.

In addition, many data suggest that women scientists are few and they do not network with each other. In this context, this Special Issue is aimed at being an opportunity to connect female scientists, from all over the word. The challenge is to promote and highlight the women working in cutting edge multidisciplinary fields of Nano Science and Technology.

We encourage women scientists to submit original manuscripts, review articles, case reports, and commentaries relating to nanoscience topics. This area includes organic and inorganic nanochemistry, spectroscopy, experimental nanophysics, nanomedicine, computational nanoscience and application of nanomaterials in the development of new technologies in different fields.

Dr. Valeria De Matteis
Dr. Mariafrancesca Cascione
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • nanoscience
  • nanophysics
  • nanochemistry
  • nanomedicine
  • computational nanophysics
  • energy nanoscience
  • environmental nanoscience

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 5227 KiB  
Article
Towards Cellular Ultrastructural Characterization in Organ-on-a-Chip by Transmission Electron Microscopy
by Adrianna Glinkowska Mares, Natalia Feiner-Gracia, Yolanda Muela, Gema Martínez, Lidia Delgado, Lorenzo Albertazzi and Silvia Pujals
Appl. Nano 2021, 2(4), 289-302; https://doi.org/10.3390/applnano2040021 - 30 Sep 2021
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 4519
Abstract
Organ-on-a-chip technology is a 3D cell culture breakthrough of the last decade. This rapidly developing field of bioengineering intertwined with microfluidics provides new insights into disease development and preclinical drug screening. So far, optical and fluorescence microscopy are the most widely used methods [...] Read more.
Organ-on-a-chip technology is a 3D cell culture breakthrough of the last decade. This rapidly developing field of bioengineering intertwined with microfluidics provides new insights into disease development and preclinical drug screening. So far, optical and fluorescence microscopy are the most widely used methods to monitor and extract information from these models. Meanwhile transmission electron microscopy (TEM), despite its wide use for the characterization of nanomaterials and biological samples, remains unexplored in this area. In our work we propose a TEM sample preparation method, that allows to process a microfluidic chip without its prior deconstruction, into TEM-compatible specimens. We demonstrated preparation of tumor blood vessel-on-a-chip model and consecutive steps to preserve the endothelial cells lining microfluidic channel, for the chip’s further transformation into ultrathin sections. This approach allowed us to obtain cross-sections of the microchannel with cells cultured inside, and to observe cell adaptation to the channel geometry, as well as the characteristic for endothelial cells tight junctions. The proposed sample preparation method facilitates the electron microscopy ultrastructural characterization of biological samples cultured in organ-on-a-chip device. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Women in Nanoscience)
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20 pages, 8070 KiB  
Article
Effect on Mouse Liver Morphology of CeO2, TiO2 and Carbon Black Nanoparticles Translocated from Lungs or Deposited Intravenously
by Justyna Modrzynska, Alicja Mortensen, Trine Berthing, Gitte Ravn-Haren, Józef Szarek, Anne Thoustrup Saber and Ulla Vogel
Appl. Nano 2021, 2(3), 222-241; https://doi.org/10.3390/applnano2030016 - 20 Aug 2021
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 4141
Abstract
Exposure to nanoparticles by various routes results in size-dependent translocation of nanoparticles to the systemic circulation and subsequent accumulation in the liver. The purpose of this study was to determine possible adverse effects in the liver of long-lasting nanoparticle presence in the organ. [...] Read more.
Exposure to nanoparticles by various routes results in size-dependent translocation of nanoparticles to the systemic circulation and subsequent accumulation in the liver. The purpose of this study was to determine possible adverse effects in the liver of long-lasting nanoparticle presence in the organ. Mice exposed to a single dose (162 µg/animal equivalent to 9 mg/kg body weight) of TiO2, CeO2 or carbon black nanoparticles by intratracheal instillation or intravenous injection, resulting in relatively low or high liver burdens, were followed for 1, 28 or 180 days. Clinical appearance, feed intake, body and liver weights, hematological indices, and transaminases and alkaline phosphatase activities were unaffected by exposure. Exposure-related foreign material persisted in the liver up to 180 days after intratracheal and intravenous exposure, mainly in sinusoids, near Kupffer cells, or around blood vessels. Increased incidences of histological findings after intratracheal or intravenous exposure included: initially, prominent nuclei of Kupffer cells, the apparent increase in binucleate hepatocytes (TiO2 and carbon black) and inflammatory infiltrations (CeO2); later, cytoplasmic vacuolation, pyknosis and necrosis, especially for CeO2. Thus, neither low nor high nanoparticle burden in the liver affected enzymatic markers of liver injury, but indications of exposure-related necrotic changes, particularly for CeO2 nanoparticles, were noted. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Women in Nanoscience)
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