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This paper presents the results of studies in the field of polymer materials application for fabric modification. The aim of the study is to identify the most effective technique of deposition of Russian-made formulations of an acryl and urethane nature with pigment compositions in the processes of functional fabric production. The authors analyze the efficiency of three processing solutions: the technology of uniform dyeing with pigments consisting of coating the fabric surface with a pigment–polymer composition, the technology of obtaining “camouflage” fabrics based on a conceptually new approach to creating the IR-remission effect on printed fabrics, and the technology of creating a stable retro-reflective effect on a fabric through the use of polymers produced in Russia. The paper also shows the conceptual differences in the pigment distribution mechanisms in the fiber or in the polymer matrix depending on the technique of fabric coating. The cheapest and safest technique for the environment is the squeegee method of pigment application, which provides fabrics with both oil- and water-repellent properties. An innovative technology has been developed based on the squeegee method for achieving the IR-remission effect on fabrics with “camouflage” patterns. A series of physico–chemical tests (spectrophotometry, electron microscopy), as well as assessment of the consumer properties of the obtained textile materials confirmed the efficiency of using aqueous dispersions of acrylic polymers made in Russia for producing competitive functional fabrics.

Advanced knowledge of the permeability characteristics of transparent gels play a key role in providing a rational basis for the study of porous polymer permeability and the research on the migration behavior of superpolymer solutions. Thus, a new type of transparent gel was prepared to simulate porous media, with aim to observe and analyze the permeability characteristics of transparent gel under the conditions of our experimental design by combining a transparent soil test and simple particle image velocimetry. The experimental results showed that the permeability of the transparent gel was similar to that through actual soil. The permeability coefficients of the transparent gel under different pressure gradients varied greatly early in the experimental cycle, while changing only slightly afterward, showing an overall trend of decreasing first and then stabilizing. With the increase of the mass ratio, the permeability coefficient of the sample decreased, the distribution of the low-velocity zone of the intercepted section became wider and tended to move upward. Differences in spatial position also caused different patterns of velocity and direction. The findings presented in this paper contribute to providing a new direction for the study of porous polymer permeability and the porous migration of superpolymer solutions.

Acyclovir (ACV) is an effective and selective antiviral drug, and the study of its toxicology and the use of appropriate detection techniques to control its toxicity at safe levels are extremely important for medicine efforts and human health. This review discusses the mechanism driving ACV’s ability to inhibit viral coding, starting from its development and pharmacology. A comprehensive summary of the existing preparation methods and synthetic materials, such as 5-aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide, guanine and its derivatives, and other purine derivatives, is presented to elucidate the preparation of ACV in detail. In addition, it presents valuable analytical procedures for the toxicological studies of ACV, which are essential for human use and dosing. Analytical methods, including spectrophotometry, high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), electrochemical sensors, molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs), and flow injection–chemiluminescence (FI-CL) are also highlighted. A brief description of the characteristics of each of these methods is also presented. Finally, insight is provided for the development of ACV to drive further innovation of ACV in pharmaceutical applications. This review provides a comprehensive summary of the past life and future challenges of ACV.

Detection of relevant contaminants using screening approaches is a key issue to ensure food safety and respect for the regulatory limits established. Electrochemical sensors present several advantages such as rapidity; ease of use; possibility of on-site analysis and low cost. The lack of selectivity for electrochemical sensors working in complex samples as food may be overcome by coupling them with molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs). MIPs are synthetic materials that mimic biological receptors and are produced by the polymerization of functional monomers in presence of a target analyte. This paper critically reviews and discusses the recent progress in MIP-based electrochemical sensors for food safety. A brief introduction on MIPs and electrochemical sensors is given; followed by a discussion of the recent achievements for various MIPs-based electrochemical sensors for food contaminants analysis. Both electropolymerization and chemical synthesis of MIP-based electrochemical sensing are discussed as well as the relevant applications of MIPs used in sample preparation and then coupled to electrochemical analysis. Future perspectives and challenges have been eventually given.

Many recent studies in the field of cosmetics have focused on organically sourced substances. Products made from organic materials are safe, high quality, cruelty-free, and more effective than those made from synthetic materials. Many organic compounds are known to be physiologically active in humans and have an extended storage capacity and long-lasting environmental effects. Agro-industrial waste has recently increased substantially, and the disposal of date palm waste, often performed in primitive ways such as burning, is harmful to the environment. Fruit processing industries generate over 10% of the total date seed waste daily, which could be converted into useful food products. Date fruit and seed are rich in sugar, vitamins, fiber, minerals, and phenolic compounds with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties that significantly promote human and animal health. This waste is rich in bioactive compounds and essential oils used in many kinds of food, medicine, and cosmetics. Most active cosmetic ingredients come from natural sources such as fruit, fish, and dairy, and recent research shows that date extract and seed oil help to reduce melanin, eczema, acne, and dry patches, while increasing skin moisture and elasticity. This review details the bioactive compounds and nutraceutical properties of date fruit and seed, and their use as cosmetic ingredients.

Conservation of wooden artefacts that are exposed outdoors, mainly in open-air museums, is a very complex and difficult issue that aims to preserve both the integrity and aesthetics of valuable objects. Unceasingly subjected to several factors, such as alternating weather conditions and the activities of microorganisms, algae, and insects, they undergo continuous changes and inevitable deterioration. Their biological and physical degradation often results in the formation of gaps and cracks in the wooden tissue, which creates a need not only for wood consolidation, but also for using specialist materials to fill the holes and prevent further degradation of an object. To ensure effective protection for a wooden artefact, a filling material must both protect the wood against further degradation and adapt to changes in wood dimensions in response to humidity variations. A variety of substances, both organic and inorganic, have been used for conservation and gap filling in historic wooden objects over the years. The filling compounds typically consist of two components, of which one is a filler, and the second a binder. In the case of inorganic fillers, plaster has been traditionally used, while the most popular organic fillers were wood powder, wood shavings, and powdered cork. As with binders, mainly natural substances have been used, such as animal glues or waxes. Nowadays, however, due to the lower biodegradability and better physicochemical properties, synthetic materials are gaining popularity. This article discusses the types of filling compounds currently used for gap filling in wooden artefacts exposed outdoors, outlining their advantages and drawbacks, as well as future perspective compounds. It appears that particularly composite materials based on natural polymers deserve attention as promising filling materials due to their high elasticity, as well as similarity and good adhesion to the wooden surface. Their main shortcomings, such as susceptibility to biodegradation, could be eliminated by using some modern, bio-friendly preservatives, providing effective protection for historic wooden artefacts.

Bone preservation and primary regeneration is a daily challenge in the field of dental medicine. In recent years, bioresorbable metals based on magnesium (Mg) have been widely investigated due to their bone-like modulus of elasticity, their high biocompatibility, antimicrobial, and osteoconductive properties. Synthetic Mg-based biomaterials are promising candidates for bone regeneration in comparison with other currently available pure synthetic materials. Different alloys based on Mg were developed to fit clinical requirements. In parallel, advances in additive manufacturing offer the possibility to fabricate experimentally bioresorbable metallic porous scaffolds. This review describes the promising clinical results of resorbable Mg-based biomaterials for bone repair in osteosynthetic application and discusses the perspectives of use in oral bone regeneration.

Microgels are hydrogel particles with diameters in the micrometer scale that can be fabricated in different shapes and sizes. Microgels are increasingly used for biomedical applications and for biofabrication due to their interesting features, such as injectability, modularity, porosity and tunability in respect to size, shape and mechanical properties. Fabrication methods of microgels are divided into two categories, following a top-down or bottom-up approach. Each approach has its own advantages and disadvantages and requires certain sets of materials and equipments. In this review, we discuss fabrication methods of both top-down and bottom-up approaches and point to their advantages as well as their limitations, with more focus on the bottom-up approaches. In addition, the use of microgels for a variety of biomedical applications will be discussed, including microgels for the delivery of therapeutic agents and microgels as cell carriers for the fabrication of 3D bioprinted cell-laden constructs. Microgels made from well-defined synthetic materials with a focus on rationally designed ultrashort peptides are also discussed, because they have been demonstrated to serve as an attractive alternative to much less defined naturally derived materials. Here, we will emphasize the potential and properties of ultrashort self-assembling peptides related to microgels.

Mercury is a toxic and noxious element and is the only metal that naturally occurs as gas. One of the most challenging topics (included in the United Nations Minimata convention) is to understand the adsorption&ndash, release processes of manmade materials (e.g., concrete, bricks, tiles, painting). Adsorption of Hg by construction and demolition waste materials has recently been studied, but investigations on how much Hg0 can be released from these products are rather poor. The abandoned mining site of Abbadia San Salvatore (Siena, central Italy) where, for about one century, cinnabar was roasted to produce liquid mercury, is known for the high concentrations of (i) Hg0 in edifices and structures and (ii) total and leachate Hg in synthetic materials. In the present paper, a new, simple and low-cost method to measure the amount of GEM (Gaseous Elemental Mercury) released from anthropic materials (concrete, wall rocks, and tiles) located in the Hg0-rich environments of the former mining site, is proposed. The efficiency of a specific paint that was supposed to act as blocking agent to Hg0 was also tested.

Polymeric biointerfaces are already being used extensively in a wide set of biomedical devices and systems. The possibility of controlling cell populations on biointerfaces may be essential for connecting biological systems to synthetic materials and for researching relevant interactions between life and matter. In this study, we present and analyze synergies between an innovative approach for surface microstructuring and a molecular nanopatterning procedure of recent development. The combined set of techniques used may be instrumental for the development of a new generation of functional polymeric biointerfaces. Eukaryotic cell cultures placed upon the biointerfaces developed, both before and after molecular patterning, help to validate the proposal and to discuss the synergies between the surface microstructuring and molecular nanopatterning techniques described in the study. Their potential role in the production of versatile polymeric biointerfaces for lab- and organ-on-a-chip biodevices and towards more complex and biomimetic co-culture systems and cell cultivation set-ups are also examined.

The problem of waste generated by packaging obtained from conventional synthetic materials, often multilayer, has become more and more pressing with increasing consumption. In this context, nature and humanity have suffered the most. In order to address this phenomenon, global and European organizations have launched and promoted programs and strategies. Replacing petroleum-based packaging with biopolymer packaging has proven to be a real alternative. Thus, the substitution of plastics with biodegradable, non-toxic, edible materials, which can be obtained from marine or agro-industrial waste, is of interest. In the present study, we aimed to develop natural edible materials, obtained entirely from biopolymers such as agar and sodium alginate and plasticized with glycerol and water. Designed to be used for food and food supplements packaging, they can be completely solubilized before consumption. The films were developed through a casting method and were tested in order to identify the physical, optical, and solubility properties. According to the results, the most suitable composition for use as a hydrosoluble packaging material contains agar:alginate:glycerol in a 2:1:1 ratio. The microstructure indicates a homogeneous film, with low roughness values (Rz = 12.65 ± 1.12 µm), high luminosity (92.63), above-average transmittance (T = 51.70%), and low opacity (6.30 A* mm−1). The obtained results are of interest and highlight the possibility of substituting intensely polluting materials with those based on biopolymers.

Wounds have become one of the causes of death worldwide. The metabolic disorder of the wound microenvironment can lead to a series of serious symptoms, especially chronic wounds that bring great pain to patients, and there is currently no effective and widely used wound dressing. Therefore, it is important to develop new multifunctional wound dressings. Hydrogel is an ideal dressing candidate because of its 3D structure, good permeability, excellent biocompatibility, and ability to provide a moist environment for wound repair, which overcomes the shortcomings of traditional dressings. This article first briefly introduces the skin wound healing process, then the preparation methods of hydrogel dressings and the characteristics of hydrogel wound dressings made of natural biomaterials and synthetic materials are introduced. Finally, the development prospects and challenges of hydrogel wound dressings are discussed.

The quality control of essential oils (EO) principally aims at revealing the presence of adulterations and at quantifying compounds that are limited by law by evaluating EO chemical compositions, usually in terms of the normalised relative abundance of selected markers, for comparison to reference values reported in pharmacopoeias and/or international norms. Common adulterations of EO consist of the addition of cheaper EO or synthetic materials. This adulteration can be detected by calculating the percent normalised areas of selected markers or the enantiomeric composition of chiral components. The dilution of the EO with vegetable oils is another type of adulteration. This adulteration is quite devious, as it modifies neither the qualitative composition of the resulting EO nor the marker’s normalised percentage abundance, which is no longer diagnostic, and an absolute quantitative analysis is required. This study aims at verifying the application of the two above approaches (i.e., normalised relative abundance and absolute quantitation) to detect EO adulterations, with examples involving selected commercial EO (lavender, bergamot and tea tree) adulterated with synthetic components, EO of different origin and lower economical values and heavy vegetable oils. The results show that absolute quantitation is necessary to highlight adulteration with heavy vegetable oils, providing that a reference quantitative profile is available.

Periodontitis is a disease with a high prevalence among adults. If not treated, it can lead to loss of teeth. Periodontal therapy aims at maintaining patient’s teeth through infection control and correction of non-maintainable anatomies including—when possible—regeneration of lost periodontal tissues. The biological regenerative potential of the periodontium is high, and several biomaterials can be utilized to improve the outcome of periodontal therapy. Use of different natural and synthetic materials in the periodontal field has been studied for many years. The main materials used today in periodontology analyzed in this review are: Resorbable and non-resorbable barrier membranes; autogenous, allogeneic, xenogeneic, and alloplastic bone substitutes; biological agents, such as amelogenins; platelet-derived growth factor; bone morphogenic proteins; rh fibroblast growth factor 2; teriparatide hormone; platelet concentrates; and 3D scaffolds. With the development of new surgical techniques some concepts on periodontal regeneration that were strictly applied in the past seem to be not so critical today. This can have an impact on the materials that are needed when attempting to regenerate lost periodontal structures. This review aims at presenting a rationale behind the use of biomaterials in modern periodontal regeneration

Bioengineered livers are promising in vitro models for drug testing, toxicological studies, and as disease models, and might in the future be an alternative for donor organs to treat end-stage liver diseases. Liver tissue engineering (LTE) aims to construct liver models that are physiologically relevant. To make bioengineered livers, the two most important ingredients are hepatic cells and supportive materials such as hydrogels. In the past decades, dozens of hydrogels have been developed to act as supportive materials, and some have been used for in vitro models and formed functional liver constructs. However, currently none of the used hydrogels are suitable for in vivo transplantation. Here, the histology of the human liver and its relationship with LTE is introduced. After that, significant characteristics of hydrogels are described focusing on LTE. Then, both natural and synthetic materials utilized in hydrogels for LTE are reviewed individually. Finally, a conclusion is drawn on a comparison of the different hydrogels and their characteristics and ideal hydrogels are proposed to promote LTE.

The increased demands of small-diameter vascular grafts (SDVGs) globally has forced the scientific society to explore alternative strategies utilizing the tissue engineering approaches. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) comprises one of the most lethal groups of non-communicable disorders worldwide. It has been estimated that in Europe, the healthcare cost for the administration of CVD is more than 169 billion €. Common manifestations involve the narrowing or occlusion of blood vessels. The replacement of damaged vessels with autologous grafts represents one of the applied therapeutic approaches in CVD. However, significant drawbacks are accompanying the above procedure; therefore, the exploration of alternative vessel sources must be performed. Engineered SDVGs can be produced through the utilization of non-degradable/degradable and naturally derived materials. Decellularized vessels represent also an alternative valuable source for the development of SDVGs. In this review, a great number of SDVG engineering approaches will be highlighted. Importantly, the state-of-the-art methodologies, which are currently employed, will be comprehensively presented. A discussion summarizing the key marks and the future perspectives of SDVG engineering will be included in this review. Taking into consideration the increased number of patients with CVD, SDVG engineering may assist significantly in cardiovascular reconstructive surgery and, therefore, the overall improvement of patients’ life.

The need to transition to more sustainable and renewable technology has resulted in a focus on cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs) and nanocrystals (CNCs) as one of the materials of the future with potential for replacing currently used synthetic materials. Its abundance and bio-derived source make it attractive and sought after as well. CNFs and CNCs are naturally hydrophilic due to the abundance of -OH group on their surface which makes them an excellent recipient for applications in the medical industry. However, the hydrophilicity is a deterrent to many other industries, subsequently limiting their application scope. In either light, the increased rate of progress using CNCs in advanced materials applications are well underway and is becoming applicable on an industrial scale. Therefore, this review explores the current modification platforms and processes of nanocellulose directly as functional materials and as carriers/substrates of other functional materials for advanced materials applications. Niche functional attributes such as superhydrophobicity, barrier, electrical, and antimicrobial properties are reviewed due to the focus and significance of such attributes in industrial applications.

The lack of an appropriate intracellular delivery system for therapeutic nucleic acids (TNAs) is a major problem in molecular biology, biotechnology, and medicine. A relatively new class of highly symmetrical hyperbranched polymers, called dendrimers, shows promise for transporting small TNAs into both cells and target tissues. Dendrimers have intrinsic advantages for this purpose: their physico-chemical and biological properties can be controlled during synthesis, and they are able to transport large numbers of TNA molecules that can specifically suppress the expression of single or multiple targeted genes. Numerous chemical modifications of dendrimers extend the biocompatibility of synthetic materials and allow targeted vectors to be designed for particular therapeutic purposes. This review summarizes the latest experimental data and trends in the medical application of various types of dendrimers and dendrimer-based nanoconstructions as delivery systems for short small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) and microRNAs at the cell and organism levels. It provides an overview of the structural features of dendrimers, indicating their advantages over other types of TNA transporters.

Incorporating sustainable materials into geotechnical applications increases day by day due to the consideration of impacts on healthy geo-environment and future generations. The environmental issues associated with conventional synthetic materials such as cement, plastic-composites, steel and ashes necessitate alternative approaches in geotechnical engineering. Recently, natural fiber materials in place of synthetic material have gained momentum as an emulating soil-reinforcement technique in sustainable geotechnics. However, the natural fibers are innately different from such synthetic material whereas behavior of fiber-reinforced soil is influenced not only by physical-mechanical properties but also by biochemical properties. In the present review, the applicability of natural plant fibers as oriented distributed fiber-reinforced soil (ODFS) and randomly distributed fiber-reinforced soil (RDFS) are extensively discussed and emphasized the inspiration of RDFS based on the emerging trend. Review also attempts to explore the importance of biochemical composition of natural-fibers on the performance in subsoil reinforced conditions. The treatment methods which enhances the behavior and lifetime of fibers, are also presented. While outlining the current potential of fiber reinforcement technology, some key research gaps have been highlighted at their importance. Finally, the review briefly documents the future direction of the fiber reinforcement technology by associating bio-mediated technological line.

The substance secreted by mussels, also known as nature’s glue, is a type of liquid protein that hardens rapidly into a solid water-resistant adhesive material. While in seawater or saline conditions, mussels can adhere to all types of surfaces, sustaining its bonds via mussel adhesive proteins (MAPs), a group of proteins containing 3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (DOPA) and catecholic amino acid. Several aspects of this adhesion process have inspired the development of various types of synthetic materials for biomedical applications. Further, there is an urgent need to utilize biologically inspired strategies to develop new biocompatible materials for medical applications. Consequently, many researchers have recently reported bio-inspired techniques and materials that show results similar to or better than those shown by MAPs for a range of medical applications. However, the susceptibility to oxidation of 3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine poses major challenges with regard to the practical translation of mussel adhesion. In this review, various strategies are discussed to provide an option for DOPA/metal ion chelation and to compensate for the limitations imposed by facile 3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine autoxidation. We discuss the anti-proliferative, anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial activity, and adhesive behaviors of mussel bio-products and mussel-inspired materials (MIMs) that make them attractive for synthetic adaptation. The development of biologically inspired adhesive interfaces, bioactive mussel products, MIMs, and arising areas of research leading to biomedical applications are considered in this review.

The cytocompatibility of biological and synthetic materials is an important issue for biomaterials. Gelatin hydrogels are used as biomaterials because of their biodegradability. We have previously reported that the mechanical properties of gelatin hydrogels are improved by cross-linking with polyrotaxanes, a supramolecular compound composed of many cyclic molecules threaded with a linear polymer. In this study, the ability of gelatin hydrogels cross-linked by polyrotaxanes (polyrotaxane&ndash, gelatin hydrogels) for cell cultivation was investigated. Because the amount of polyrotaxanes used for gelatin fabrication is very small, the chemical composition was barely altered. The structure and wettability of these hydrogels are also the same as those of conventional hydrogels. Fibroblasts adhered on polyrotaxane&ndash, gelatin hydrogels and conventional hydrogels without any reduction or apoptosis of adherent cells. From these results, the polyrotaxane&ndash, gelatin hydrogels have the potential to improve the mechanical properties of gelatin without affecting cytocompatibility. Interestingly, when cells were cultured on polyrotaxane&ndash, gelatin hydrogels after repeated stress deformation, the cells were spontaneously oriented to the stretching direction. This cellular response was not observed on conventional hydrogels. These results suggest that the use of a polyrotaxane cross-linking agent can not only improve the strength of hydrogels but can also contribute to controlling reorientation of the gelatin.

Background: The development in implants such as acetabular cups using additive manufacturing techniques is playing an increasingly important role in the healthcare industry. Method: This study compared the primary stability of four selectively laser-melted press-fit cups (Ti6Al4V) with open-porous, load-bearing structural elements on the surface. The aim was to assess whether the material of the artificial bone stock affects the primary stability of the acetabular cup. The surface structures consist of repeated open-porous, load-bearing elements orthogonal to the acetabular surface. Experimental pull-out and lever-out tests were performed on exact-fit and press-fit cups to evaluate the primary stability of the cups in different synthetic bone substitutes. The acetabular components were placed in three different commercially available synthetic materials (ROHACELL-IGF 110, SikaBlock M330, Sawbones Solid Rigid). Results &amp, conclusions: Within the scope of the study, it was possible to show the differences in fixation strength between the tested acetabular cups depending on their design, the structural elements used, and the different bone substitute material. In addition, functional correlations could be found which provide a qualitative reference to the material density of the bone stock and the press-fit volume of the acetabular cups.

Functional impairment of the human corneal endothelium can lead to corneal blindness. In order to meet the high demand for transplants with an appropriate human corneal endothelial cell density as a prerequisite for corneal function, several tissue engineering techniques have been developed to generate transplantable endothelial cell sheets. These approaches range from the use of natural membranes, biological polymers and biosynthetic material compositions, to completely synthetic materials as matrices for corneal endothelial cell sheet generation. This review gives an overview about currently used materials for the generation of transplantable corneal endothelial cell sheets with a special focus on thermo-responsive polymer coatings.

Over centuries, the field of regenerative skin tissue engineering has had several advancements to facilitate faster wound healing and thereby restoration of skin. Skin tissue regeneration is mainly based on the use of suitable scaffold matrices. There are several scaffold types, such as porous, fibrous, microsphere, hydrogel, composite and acellular, etc., with discrete advantages and disadvantages. These scaffolds are either made up of highly biocompatible natural biomaterials, such as collagen, chitosan, etc., or synthetic materials, such as polycaprolactone (PCL), and poly-ethylene-glycol (PEG), etc. Composite scaffolds, which are a combination of natural or synthetic biomaterials, are highly biocompatible with improved tensile strength for effective skin tissue regeneration. Appropriate knowledge of the properties, advantages and disadvantages of various biomaterials and scaffolds will accelerate the production of suitable scaffolds for skin tissue regeneration applications. At the same time, emphasis on some of the leading challenges in the field of skin tissue engineering, such as cell interaction with scaffolds, faster cellular proliferation/differentiation, and vascularization of engineered tissues, is inevitable. In this review, we discuss various types of scaffolding approaches and biomaterials used in the field of skin tissue engineering and more importantly their future prospects in skin tissue regeneration efforts.

Hydrogels currently represent a powerful solution to promote the regeneration of soft and hard tissues. Primarily, they assure efficient bio-molecular interactions with cells, also regulating their basic functions, guiding the spatially and temporally complex multi-cellular processes of tissue formation, and ultimately facilitating the restoration of structure and function of damaged or dysfunctional tissues. In order to overcome basic drawbacks of traditional synthesized hydrogels, many recent strategies have been implemented to realize multi-component hydrogels based on natural and/or synthetic materials with tailored chemistries and different degradation kinetics. Here, a critical review of main strategies has been proposed based on the use of hydrogels-based devices for the regeneration of complex tissues, i.e., osteo-chondral tissues and intervertebral disc.

With the city, from its earliest emergence in the Near East between 4500 and 3100 BCE, came a wide range of new discoveries and inventions, from synthetic materials to wheeled vehicles[...]