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Knitting is a versatile technology which offers a large portfolio of products and solutions of interest in heart valve (HV) tissue engineering (TE). One of the main advantages of knitting is its ability to construct complex shapes and structures by precisely assembling the yarns in the desired position. With this in mind, knitting could be employed to construct a HV scaffold that closely resembles the authentic valve. This has the potential to reproduce the anisotropic structure that is characteristic of the heart valve with the yarns, in particular the 3-layered architecture of the leaflets. These yarns can provide oriented growth of cells lengthwise and consequently enable the deposition of extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins in an oriented manner. This technique, therefore, has a potential to provide a functional knitted scaffold, but to achieve that textile engineers need to gain a basic understanding of structural and mechanical aspects of the heart valve and in addition, tissue engineers must acquire the knowledge of tools and capacities that are essential in knitting technology. The aim of this review is to provide a platform to consolidate these two fields as well as to enable an efficient communication and cooperation among these two research areas.

The steady increase in the number of patients with diseased aortic valves demands the development of effective aortic valve replacement procedures. Engineering and technology offer various manufactured alternatives, but none can exactly match the natural human valve. In addition to the experts of heart valve tissue engineering, many researchers focus on specific aspects of the manufacturing of artificial valves. The aim of this study was to benefit such manufacturing processes. From the contributor's perspective, it is vital to gain comprehensive knowledge before embarking on this project. The perfect/optimal shape of the valve is the fundamental aspect that needs to be considered by all participants. It is noteworthy that the geometry not only limits the functionality of the structure but also determines the choice of material and engineering methods. In this study, we attempt to determine if current knowledge is sufficient to reach consensus on the issue of the optimum shape of the valve. Here, we not only provide a brief overview of traditional literature but also include the opinions of experts. This innovative way of scientific communication is unprecedented in scientific literature, and we hope that both professionals and contributors will find this study useful.

The ferulic acid (FA) is a natural antioxidant, abundantly present in plants, which acts as the plant's immune system. In order to take advantage of its properties, a method has been developed, which combines antioxidant FA with bio-based biodegradable poly(lactic acid) fibers and biocompatible hydrophilic polyallylamine, enabling the production of versatile base material that could be used for active anti-inflammatory wound dressings. The fibers are first subjected to aminolysis in order to obtain amino moieties on the surface, able to react with the molecules of FA. Next, the FA was attached to the aminolyzed fibers surface with use of 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide and N-hydroxysuccinimide. The anti-inflammatory properties of the modified fibers were assessed using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging assay. Presence of FA on the fibers' surface was investigated through X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis and Folin-Ciocalteu (total phenolic content) test. V C 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2017, 134, 45112.

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