Mucus provides a barrier to bacteria and toxins while allowing nutrient absorption and waste transport. Unlike colonic mucus, small intestinal mucus structure is poorly understood. This study aimed to provide evidence for a continuous, structured mucus layer and assess the diffusion of different sized particles through it. Mucus structure was assessed by histology and immunohistochemistry. Ultra-structure was assessed by scanning...

Small intestinal mucus transport of food-derived particulates has not been extensively studied, despite mucus being a barrier nutrients need to cross before absorption. We used complex dispersions of digesta obtained from simulated, dynamic gastrointestinal digestion of yogurt to examine the penetrability of human and porcine mucus to the particles formed of lipolysis products. Quantitative, time-lapse confocal microscopy revealed...

The four most popular water models in molecular dynamics were studied in large-scale simulations of Brownian motion of colloidal particles in optical tweezers and then compared with experimental measurements in the same time scale. We present the most direct comparison of colloidal polystyrene particle diffusion in molecular dynamics simulations and experimental data on the same time scales in the ballistic regime. The four most...

The gastrointestinal mucus layer represents the last barrier between ingested food or orally administered pharmaceuticals and the mucosal epithelium. This complex gel structure plays an important role in the process of small intestinal absorption. It provides protection against hazardous particles such as bacteria but allows the passage of nutrients and drug molecules towards the intestinal epithelium. In scientific research, mucus...

One of the possible applications of ionic liquids is to produce electricity from heat. The iron oxide nanoparticle is a potent electrical particle, which is expected to improve the heat’s efficiency to electricity conversion, however, it is prone to aggregation and sedimentation, which hamper its application. One of the methods to enhance the nanoparticle’s solubility and electrical properties is the use of a stabilizing component...