Microrheometry for Studying the Rheology and Dynamics of Polymers Near Interfaces

1999 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gavin J.C. Braithwaite ◽  
Gareth H. McKinley
Keyword(s):  
Surface Force ◽  
High Viscosity ◽  
Polymer Processing ◽  
Interfacial Instabilities ◽  
Polymeric Fluids ◽  
Length Scales ◽  
Molecular Weights ◽  
Industrial Coating ◽  
Wide Range

Abstract The design of an instrument capable of opto-mechanical studies of the rheology of viscoelastic polymeric fluids near solid interfaces is described. The instrument probes the ‘meso’-scale (length scales of 0 (μm)) and bridges the gap between molecular-scale devices such as the Surface Force Apparatus (SFA) and conventional rheometers. The high viscosity materials and intermediate length scales probed with the current device are of direct relevance to industrial coating and thin film polymer processing operations, in addition to fundamental investigations of slip and interfacial instabilities. The device utilises small fluid samples (of the order of 1 μL), allows a wide range of viscosities (and thus molecular weights) to be investigated and can also be used with different substrate materials and surface coatings. Direct optical access to the sample also permits in-situ rheo-optical studies of material response under different loading conditions and flow histories.

scholarly journals 3D Printing of a Reactive Hydrogel Bio-Ink Using a Static Mixing Tool

Polymers ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 1986 ◽  
Author(s):  
María Puertas-Bartolomé ◽  
Małgorzata K. Włodarczyk-Biegun ◽  
Aránzazu del Campo ◽  
Blanca Vázquez-Lasa ◽  
Julio San Román
Keyword(s):  
3D Printing ◽  
Viscosity Solutions ◽  
Structural Integrity ◽  
Cell Types ◽  
High Viscosity ◽  
Soft Tissue Regeneration ◽  
Low Viscosity ◽  
Good Shape ◽  
Wide Range

Hydrogel-based bio-inks have recently attracted more attention for 3D printing applications in tissue engineering due to their remarkable intrinsic properties, such as a cell supporting environment. However, their usually weak mechanical properties lead to poor printability and low stability of the obtained structures. To obtain good shape fidelity, current approaches based on extrusion printing use high viscosity solutions, which can compromise cell viability. This paper presents a novel bio-printing methodology based on a dual-syringe system with a static mixing tool that allows in situ crosslinking of a two-component hydrogel-based ink in the presence of living cells. The reactive hydrogel system consists of carboxymethyl chitosan (CMCh) and partially oxidized hyaluronic acid (HAox) that undergo fast self-covalent crosslinking via Schiff base formation. This new approach allows us to use low viscosity solutions since in situ gelation provides the appropriate structural integrity to maintain the printed shape. The proposed bio-ink formulation was optimized to match crosslinking kinetics with the printing process and multi-layered 3D bio-printed scaffolds were successfully obtained. Printed scaffolds showed moderate swelling, good biocompatibility with embedded cells, and were mechanically stable after 14 days of the cell culture. We envision that this straightforward, powerful, and generalizable printing approach can be used for a wide range of materials, growth factors, or cell types, to be employed for soft tissue regeneration.

In-situ electrical-resistivity measurements in the high-voltage electron microscope

1978 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 68-69
Author(s):  
W. E. King
Keyword(s):  
Electrical Resistivity ◽  
Electron Microscope ◽  
High Voltage ◽  
Resistivity Measurements ◽  
Voltage Electron ◽  
High Voltage Electron Microscope ◽  
High Voltage Electron ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Helium Gas

A side-entry type, helium-temperature specimen stage that has the capability of in-situ electrical-resistivity measurements has been designed and developed for use in the AEI-EM7 1200-kV electron microscope at Argonne National Laboratory. The electrical-resistivity measurements complement the high-voltage electron microscope (HVEM) to yield a unique opportunity to investigate defect production in metals by electron irradiation over a wide range of defect concentrations.A flow cryostat that uses helium gas as a coolant is employed to attain and maintain any specified temperature between 10 and 300 K. The helium gas coolant eliminates the vibrations that arise from boiling liquid helium and the temperature instabilities due to alternating heat-transfer mechanisms in the two-phase temperature regime (4.215 K). Figure 1 shows a schematic view of the liquid/gaseous helium transfer system. A liquid-gas mixture can be used for fast cooldown. The cold tip of the transfer tube is inserted coincident with the tilt axis of the specimen stage, and the end of the coolant flow tube is positioned without contact within the heat exchanger of the copper specimen block (Fig. 2).

Site specific agricultural soil management with the use of new technologies

2013 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-67
Keyword(s):  
New Technologies ◽  
Digital Interface ◽  
Appropriate Treatment ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Soil Variation ◽  
Soil Information ◽  
Remote Sensing Techniques ◽  
Agricultural Areas

<p>The Soil Science Institute of Thessaloniki produces new digitized Soil Maps that provide a useful electronic database for the spatial representation of the soil variation within a region, based on in situ soil sampling, laboratory analyses, GIS techniques and plant nutrition mathematical models, coupled with the local land cadastre. The novelty of these studies is that local agronomists have immediate access to a wide range of soil information by clicking on a field parcel shown in this digital interface and, therefore, can suggest an appropriate treatment (e.g. liming, manure incorporation, desalination, application of proper type and quantity of fertilizer) depending on the field conditions and cultivated crops. A specific case study is presented in the current work with regards to the construction of the digitized Soil Map of the regional unit of Kastoria. The potential of this map can easily be realized by the fact that the mapping of the physicochemical properties of the soils in this region provided delineation zones for differential fertilization management. An experiment was also conducted using remote sensing techniques for the enhancement of the fertilization advisory software database, which is a component of the digitized map, and the optimization of nitrogen management in agricultural areas.</p>

Indium Bromide-catalyzed Unprecedented Hydrogenolysis: A Novel One-Pot Synthesis of Per-O-Acetylated β-carboxymethyl O and S-glycosides

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (8) ◽  
pp. 900-908
Author(s):  
Ram Naresh Yadav ◽  
Amrendra K Singh ◽  
Bimal Banik
Keyword(s):  
Asymmetric Synthesis ◽  
Chiral Auxiliary ◽  
Bioactive Molecules ◽  
One Pot ◽  
Enantiomerically Pure ◽  
Stereoselective Glycosylation ◽  
One Pot Synthesis ◽  
Wide Range

Numerous O (oxa)- and S (thia)-glycosyl esters and their analogous glycosyl acids have been accomplished through stereoselective glycosylation of various peracetylated bromo sugar with benzyl glycolate using InBr3 as a glycosyl promotor followed by in situ hydrogenolysis of resulting glycosyl ester. A tandem glycosylating and hydrogenolytic activity of InBr3 has been successfully investigated in a one-pot procedure. The resulting synthetically valuable and virtually unexplored class of β-CMGL (glycosyl acids) could serve as an excellent potential chiral auxiliary in the asymmetric synthesis of a wide range of enantiomerically pure medicinally prevalent β-lactams and other bioactive molecules of diverse medicinal interest.

scholarly journals A Generalization Performance Study Using Deep Learning Networks in Embedded Systems

Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 1031
Author(s):  
Joseba Gorospe ◽  
Rubén Mulero ◽  
Olatz Arbelaitz ◽  
Javier Muguerza ◽  
Miguel Ángel Antón
Keyword(s):  
Deep Learning ◽  
Embedded Systems ◽  
Embedded System ◽  
General Purpose ◽  
Learning Networks ◽  
Performance Study ◽  
Learning Techniques ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Learning Architectures

Deep learning techniques are being increasingly used in the scientific community as a consequence of the high computational capacity of current systems and the increase in the amount of data available as a result of the digitalisation of society in general and the industrial world in particular. In addition, the immersion of the field of edge computing, which focuses on integrating artificial intelligence as close as possible to the client, makes it possible to implement systems that act in real time without the need to transfer all of the data to centralised servers. The combination of these two concepts can lead to systems with the capacity to make correct decisions and act based on them immediately and in situ. Despite this, the low capacity of embedded systems greatly hinders this integration, so the possibility of being able to integrate them into a wide range of micro-controllers can be a great advantage. This paper contributes with the generation of an environment based on Mbed OS and TensorFlow Lite to be embedded in any general purpose embedded system, allowing the introduction of deep learning architectures. The experiments herein prove that the proposed system is competitive if compared to other commercial systems.

scholarly journals Global soil moisture data derived through machine learning trained with in-situ measurements

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sungmin O. ◽  
Rene Orth
Keyword(s):  
Machine Learning ◽  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Temporal Dynamics ◽  
Soil Moisture Data ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Global Soil

AbstractWhile soil moisture information is essential for a wide range of hydrologic and climate applications, spatially-continuous soil moisture data is only available from satellite observations or model simulations. Here we present a global, long-term dataset of soil moisture derived through machine learning trained with in-situ measurements, SoMo.ml. We train a Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) model to extrapolate daily soil moisture dynamics in space and in time, based on in-situ data collected from more than 1,000 stations across the globe. SoMo.ml provides multi-layer soil moisture data (0–10 cm, 10–30 cm, and 30–50 cm) at 0.25° spatial and daily temporal resolution over the period 2000–2019. The performance of the resulting dataset is evaluated through cross validation and inter-comparison with existing soil moisture datasets. SoMo.ml performs especially well in terms of temporal dynamics, making it particularly useful for applications requiring time-varying soil moisture, such as anomaly detection and memory analyses. SoMo.ml complements the existing suite of modelled and satellite-based datasets given its distinct derivation, to support large-scale hydrological, meteorological, and ecological analyses.

scholarly journals Quantification of assembly forces during creation of head-neck taper junction considering soft tissue bearing: a biomechanical study

Arthroplasty ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Toni Wendler ◽  
Torsten Prietzel ◽  
Robert Möbius ◽  
Jean-Pierre Fischer ◽  
Andreas Roth ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Soft Tissue ◽  
Work Experience ◽  
Soft Tissues ◽  
Force Sensor ◽  
Biomechanical Study ◽  
Measuring System ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Head Neck

Abstract Background All current total hip arthroplasty (THA) systems are modular in design. Only during the operation femoral head and stem get connected by a Morse taper junction. The junction is realized by hammer blows from the surgeon. Decisive for the junction strength is the maximum force acting once in the direction of the neck axis, which is mainly influenced by the applied impulse and surrounding soft tissues. This leads to large differences in assembly forces between the surgeries. This study aimed to quantify the assembly forces of different surgeons under influence of surrounding soft tissue. Methods First, a measuring system, consisting of a prosthesis and a hammer, was developed. Both components are equipped with a piezoelectric force sensor. Initially, in situ experiments on human cadavers were carried out using this system in order to determine the actual assembly forces and to characterize the influence of human soft tissues. Afterwards, an in vitro model in the form of an artificial femur (Sawbones Europe AB, Malmo, Sweden) with implanted measuring stem embedded in gelatine was developed. The gelatine mixture was chosen in such a way that assembly forces applied to the model corresponded to those in situ. A study involving 31 surgeons was carried out on the aforementioned in vitro model, in which the assembly forces were determined. Results A model was developed, with the influence of human soft tissues being taken into account. The assembly forces measured on the in vitro model were, on average, 2037.2 N ± 724.9 N, ranging from 822.5 N to 3835.2 N. The comparison among the surgeons showed no significant differences in sex (P = 0.09), work experience (P = 0.71) and number of THAs performed per year (P = 0.69). Conclusions All measured assembly forces were below 4 kN, which is recommended in the literature. This could lead to increased corrosion following fretting in the head-neck interface. In addition, there was a very wide range of assembly forces among the surgeons, although other influencing factors such as different implant sizes or materials were not taken into account. To ensure optimal assembly force, the impaction should be standardized, e.g., by using an appropriate surgical instrument.

Regioselective Functionalization of N-Fused Heteroaromatics via FeCl3-Catalyzed Nucleophilic Addition to Activated N-Heterocycles

Synthesis ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ikyon Kim ◽  
Sung June Kim ◽  
Sunhee Lee
Keyword(s):  
Aromatic Compounds ◽  
Nucleophilic Addition ◽  
Chemical Space ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Regioselective Functionalization

AbstractBroadening of nitrogen-fused heteroaromatic chemical space such as indolizine and pyrrolo[1,2-a]pyrazine was achieved via FeCl­3-catalyzed nucleophilic addition of these N-fused aromatic compounds to a wide range of azolinium systems generated in situ, leading to novel N-fused heteroaromatic scaffolds with dearomatized N-heterocyclic substituents regioselectively. Nucleophilic addition of indolizines and pyrrolo[1,2-a]pyrazines mainly occurred at the C1 position of the isoquinoliniums and at the C4 site of the quinoliniums.

scholarly journals Construction of a mammalian embryo model from stem cells organized by a morphogen signalling centre

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Peng-Fei Xu ◽  
Ricardo Moraes Borges ◽  
Jonathan Fillatre ◽  
Maraysa de Oliveira-Melo ◽  
Tao Cheng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stem Cells ◽  
Cell Tracking ◽  
Cardiac Tissue ◽  
Embryonic Stem ◽  
Mammalian Embryo ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Vitro Model ◽  
Neurula Stage

AbstractGenerating properly differentiated embryonic structures in vitro from pluripotent stem cells remains a challenge. Here we show that instruction of aggregates of mouse embryonic stem cells with an experimentally engineered morphogen signalling centre, that functions as an organizer, results in the development of embryo-like entities (embryoids). In situ hybridization, immunolabelling, cell tracking and transcriptomic analyses show that these embryoids form the three germ layers through a gastrulation process and that they exhibit a wide range of developmental structures, highly similar to neurula-stage mouse embryos. Embryoids are organized around an axial chordamesoderm, with a dorsal neural plate that displays histological properties similar to the murine embryo neuroepithelium and that folds into a neural tube patterned antero-posteriorly from the posterior midbrain to the tip of the tail. Lateral to the chordamesoderm, embryoids display somitic and intermediate mesoderm, with beating cardiac tissue anteriorly and formation of a vasculature network. Ventrally, embryoids differentiate a primitive gut tube, which is patterned both antero-posteriorly and dorso-ventrally. Altogether, embryoids provide an in vitro model of mammalian embryo that displays extensive development of germ layer derivatives and that promises to be a powerful tool for in vitro studies and disease modelling.

scholarly journals Recent Advancements in Polymer/Liposome Assembly for Drug Delivery: From Surface Modifications to Hybrid Vesicles

Polymers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (7) ◽  
pp. 1027
Author(s):  
Vincenzo De Leo ◽  
Francesco Milano ◽  
Angela Agostiano ◽  
Lucia Catucci
Keyword(s):  
Drug Delivery ◽  
First Generation ◽  
Phospholipid Bilayer ◽  
Bioactive Molecules ◽  
Systemic Delivery ◽  
Molecular Weights ◽  
Liposome Preparation ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Liposome Surface

Liposomes are consolidated and attractive biomimetic nanocarriers widely used in the field of drug delivery. The structural versatility of liposomes has been exploited for the development of various carriers for the topical or systemic delivery of drugs and bioactive molecules, with the possibility of increasing their bioavailability and stability, and modulating and directing their release, while limiting the side effects at the same time. Nevertheless, first-generation vesicles suffer from some limitations including physical instability, short in vivo circulation lifetime, reduced payload, uncontrolled release properties, and low targeting abilities. Therefore, liposome preparation technology soon took advantage of the possibility of improving vesicle performance using both natural and synthetic polymers. Polymers can easily be synthesized in a controlled manner over a wide range of molecular weights and in a low dispersity range. Their properties are widely tunable and therefore allow the low chemical versatility typical of lipids to be overcome. Moreover, depending on their structure, polymers can be used to create a simple covering on the liposome surface or to intercalate in the phospholipid bilayer to give rise to real hybrid structures. This review illustrates the main strategies implemented in the field of polymer/liposome assembly for drug delivery, with a look at the most recent publications without neglecting basic concepts for a simple and complete understanding by the reader.

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