Functionalization of Specific Electrostrictive Polymers for High Power Harvesting

Author(s):  
Bouchta Sahraoui ◽  
Adil Eddiai ◽  
Mounir Meddad ◽  
Daniel Guyomar ◽  
Abdelowahed Hajjaji ◽  
...  

The energy harvesting based on electrostrictive polymers has great potential for remote applications such as in vivo sensors, embedded micro-electro-mechanical systems devices. The harvested energy and action are controlled by the permittivity, the Young's modulus and their dependence on frequency and level of stress. One should use a model which takes into account mechanical losses in order to obtain efficient devices. This chapter provides a brief overview of the methods for harvesting mechanical to electrical energy using elestrostrictive polymer. The second paragraph presents two new techniques which enable the improvement of the electromechanical performance of electrostrictive polymers in order to demonstrate their potential for the vibrational energy recovery. Based on the strong relationship between the frequency of operation and the mechanical strain from one could improve the electromechanical conversion. The development of a new prototype based on electrostrictive polymers for increasing the conversion AC–DC power is discussed.

2012 ◽  
Vol 476-478 ◽  
pp. 1336-1340
Author(s):  
Kai Feng Li ◽  
Rong Liu ◽  
Lin Xiang Wang

The concept of energy harvesting works towards developing self-powered devices that do not require replaceable power supplies. Energy scavenging devices are designed to capture the ambient energy surrounding the electronics and convert it into usable electrical energy. A number of sources of harvestable ambient energy exist, including waste heat, vibration, electromagnetic waves, wind, flowing water, and solar energy. While each of these sources of energy can be effectively used to power remote sensors, the structural and biological communities have placed an emphasis on scavenging vibrational energy with ferroelectric materials. Ferroelectric materials have a crystalline structure that provide a unique ability to convert an applied electrical potential into a mechanical strain or vice versa. Based on the properties of the material, this paper investigates the technique of power harvesting and storage.


Author(s):  
Birgit Rath-Deschner ◽  
Andressa V. B. Nogueira ◽  
Svenja Beisel-Memmert ◽  
Marjan Nokhbehsaim ◽  
Sigrun Eick ◽  
...  

Abstract Objectives The aim of this in vitro and in vivo study was to investigate the interaction of periodontitis and orthodontic tooth movement on interleukin (IL)-6 and C-X-C motif chemokine 2 (CXCL2). Materials and methods The effect of periodontitis and/or orthodontic tooth movement (OTM) on alveolar bone and gingival IL-6 and CXCL2 expressions was studied in rats by histology and RT-PCR, respectively. The animals were assigned to four groups (control, periodontitis, OTM, and combination of periodontitis and OTM). The IL-6 and CXCL2 levels were also studied in human gingival biopsies from periodontally healthy and periodontitis subjects by RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry. Additionally, the synthesis of IL-6 and CXCL2 in response to the periodontopathogen Fusobacterium nucleatum and/or mechanical strain was studied in periodontal fibroblasts by RT-PCR and ELISA. Results Periodontitis caused an increase in gingival levels of IL-6 and CXCL2 in the animal model. Moreover, orthodontic tooth movement further enhanced the bacteria-induced periodontal destruction and gingival IL-6 gene expression. Elevated IL-6 and CXCL2 gingival levels were also found in human periodontitis. Furthermore, mechanical strain increased the stimulatory effect of F. nucleatum on IL-6 protein in vitro. Conclusions Our study suggests that orthodontic tooth movement can enhance bacteria-induced periodontal inflammation and thus destruction and that IL-6 may play a pivotal role in this process. Clinical relevance Orthodontic tooth movement should only be performed after periodontal therapy. In case of periodontitis relapse, orthodontic therapy should be suspended until the periodontal inflammation has been successfully treated and thus the periodontal disease is controlled again.


1996 ◽  
Vol 148 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
M L Panno ◽  
D Sisci ◽  
M Salerno ◽  
M Lanzino ◽  
V Pezzi ◽  
...  

Abstract A possible role of tri-iodothyronine (T3) on the interplay between testicular steroids and Sertoli cells has been investigated on the basis of previous findings demonstrating a direct inhibitory influence of T3 on aromatase activity and oestradiol production in peripuberal Sertoli cells. In this context, the present study was focused on the effects of T3 on oestrogen receptor (ER) and androgen receptor (AR) contents in the cytosol and nucleus of Sertoli cells isolated from 2-, 3- and 4-week-old euthyroid, hypothyroid and hypothyroid treated rats. Hypothyroidism was induced by the oral administration of 0·025% methimazole (MMI) from birth until the rats were killed at 2, 3 and 4 weeks of age. Half of the MMI-treated animals were injected i.p. with l-tri-iodothyronine (T3; 3 μg/100 g body weight) during the last week before death. Sertoli cells from all groups were initially cultured under basal conditions for the first 24 h and subsequently in the presence of testosterone with or without T3 for an additional 24 h. Hypothyroidism was associated with severe impairment of body as well as testicular growth. Euthyroid ERs showed an elevated Kd (0·76 nm) which was similar in the different age groups investigated. The in vitro addition of T3 or testosterone induced a decrease in ER content and this decrease was greater after exposure to both hormones. In 2- and 3-week-old hypothyroid rats, ER content was markedly increased and was reversed in euthyroid rats when T3 was given in vivo. When ERs were assayed in the Sertoli cell nucleus and cytoplasm of 2- and 3-week-old animals, a strong relationship in ER content in the two cellular compartments was observed. Neither of the hormones tested seemed to affect the AR content in the nucleus significantly, while the in vitro addition of testosterone or T3 or both hormones together augmented the ARs in the cytosol to a greater extent, resulting in an increase in their total (cytosolic and nuclear) content in the cells. The present data suggest that T3 down-regulates ERs and up-regulates ARs in peripuberal Sertoli cells. The additive effect of testosterone and T3 in up-regulating ARs could possibly involve a role for T3 in influencing the androgen responsiveness of the Sertoli cells during spermatogenesis. Journal of Endocrinology (1996) 148, 43–50


Author(s):  
Lee Wells ◽  
Yirong Lin ◽  
Henry Sodano ◽  
Byeng Youn

The continual advances in wireless technology and low power electronics have allowed the deployment of small remote sensor networks. However, current portable and wireless devices must be designed to include electrochemical batteries as the power source. The use of batteries can be troublesome due to their limited lifespan, thus necessitating their periodic replacement. Furthermore, the growth of battery technology has remained relatively stagnant over the past decade while the performance of computing systems has grown steadily, which leads to increased power usage from the electronics. In the case of wireless sensors that are to be placed in remote locations, the sensor must be easily accessible or of disposable nature to allow the device to function over extended periods of time. For this reason the primary question becomes how to provide power to each node. This issue has spawned the rapid growth of the energy harvesting field. Energy scavenging devices are designed to capture the ambient energy surrounding the electronics and convert it into usable electrical energy. The concept of power harvesting works towards developing self-powered devices that do not require replaceable power supplies. However, when designing a vibration based energy harvesting system the maximum energy generation occurs when the resonant frequency of the system is tuned to the input. This poses certain issues for their practical application because structural systems rarely vibrate at a signal frequency. Therefore, this effort will investigate the optimal geometric design of two dimensional energy harvesting systems for maximized bandwidth. Topology and shape optimization will be used to identify the optimal geometry and experiments will be performed to characterize the energy harvesting improvement when subjected to random vibrations.


Blood ◽  
1986 ◽  
Vol 67 (2) ◽  
pp. 522-528 ◽  
Author(s):  
J McCullough ◽  
M Clay ◽  
D Hurd ◽  
K Richards ◽  
C Ludvigsen ◽  
...  

The effect of leukocyte antibodies detected under different conditions on the fate in vivo of granulocytes was studied using 111-indium- labeled granulocytes. Sera from patients were tested by granulocyte agglutination (GA), granulocytotoxicity (GC), granulocyte immunofluorescence (GIF), lymphocytotoxicity (LC), and antibody- dependent lymphocyte-mediated granulocytotoxicity. Granulocytes from donors to be studied were labeled with 111-indium and injected. Then the intravascular recovery and survival or tissue localization was determined in 93 studies. Antibodies detected by granulocyte agglutination were associated with a significant reduction in recovery (6.7% v 30.8% in controls; P less than .001) and t1/2 (0.3 hours v 5.6 hours in controls; P = .002). When all possible combinations of serum reactivity were considered, reactivity in the GA plus GIF assays had the best correlation with decreased recovery (R2 = .49; P less than .001) and t1/2 (R2 = .73; P less than .001). When the relationship between the strength of antibody reactivity and the recovery and t1/2 were analyzed, the best relationship was between the combination of LC and GIF with recovery (R2 = .62; P = .001). Because of the general availability of the HLA (LC) testing, the role of LC reactivity was investigated in other ways. There was a strong relationship between sera highly reactive by LC and those reactive by GIF. These highly reactive sera were also associated with reduced recovery and t1/2. The influence of specific HLA antigen mismatches was also studied. When donor and recipient were mismatched for the HLA-A2, B8, or BW44 antigens, there was a significant reduction in either recovery, t1/2, or both. Tissue localization was studied by body scans in patients with and without known sites of inflammation. Antibodies detected by a combination of GA and GIF caused abnormal pulmonary sequestration of granulocytes (three cases) and failure of granulocytes to localize at known sites of inflammation (three cases). HLA (LC) antibodies did not alter tissue localization despite the presence of the corresponding HLA antigens on granulocytes. It appears that GA, GIF, or a combination of these tests is the most effective predictor of altered in vivo fate of granulocytes. However, sera highly reactive by LC and GIF probably define a group of highly immunized patients in whom granulocyte recovery and t1/2 are also reduced. Mismatching for certain HLA antigens is also associated with reduced granulocyte recovery and survival. At present, GA, with or without the immunofluorescence assay, is the most effective predictor of altered in vivo granulocyte activity.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Katta ◽  
A. Sanzeni ◽  
A. Das ◽  
M. Vergassola ◽  
M.B. Goodman

AbstractTouch deforms, or strains, the skin beyond the immediate point of contact. The spatiotemporal nature of the touch-induced strain fields depend on the mechanical properties of the skin and the tissues below. Somatosensory neurons that sense touch branch out within the skin and rely on a set of mechano-electrical transduction channels distributed within their dendrites to detect mechanical stimuli. Here, we sought to understand how tissue mechanics shape touch-induced mechanical strain across the skin over time and how individual channels located in different regions of the strain field contribute to the overall touch response. We leveraged C. elegans’ touch receptor neurons (TRNs) as a simple model amenable to in vivo whole-cell patch clamp recording and an integrated experimental-computational approach to dissect the mechanisms underlying the spatial and temporal dynamics that we observed. Consistent with the idea that strain is produced at a distance, we show that delivering strong stimuli outside the anatomical extent of the neuron is sufficient to evoke MRCs. The amplitude and kinetics of the MRCs depended on both stimulus displacement and speed. Finally, we found that the main factor responsible for touch sensitivity is the recruitment of progressively more distant channels by stronger stimuli, rather than modulation of channel open probability. This principle may generalize to somatosensory neurons with more complex morphologies.SummaryThrough experiment and simulation, Katta et al. reveal that pushing faster and deeper recruits more and more distant mechano-electrical transduction channels during touch. The net result is a dynamic receptive field whose size and shape depends on tissue mechanics, stimulus parameters, and channel distribution within sensory neurons.


2003 ◽  
Vol 31 (9) ◽  
pp. 1125-1131 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ross A. Kopher ◽  
James A. Nudera ◽  
Xin Wang ◽  
Kevin O’Grady ◽  
Jeremy J. Mao
Keyword(s):  

2006 ◽  
Vol 26 (12) ◽  
pp. 4539-4552 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keqin Zhang ◽  
Cielo Barragan-Adjemian ◽  
Ling Ye ◽  
Shiva Kotha ◽  
Mark Dallas ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Within mineralized bone, osteocytes form dendritic processes that travel through canaliculi to make contact with other osteocytes and cells on the bone surface. This three-dimensional syncytium is thought to be necessary to maintain viability, cell-to-cell communication, and mechanosensation. E11/gp38 is the earliest osteocyte-selective protein to be expressed as the osteoblast differentiates into an osteoid cell or osteocyte, first appearing on the forming dendritic processes of these cells. Bone extracts contain large amounts of E11, but immunostaining only shows its presence in early osteocytes compared to more deeply embedded cells, suggesting epitope masking by mineral. Freshly isolated primary osteoblasts are negative for E11 expression but begin to express this protein in culture, and expression increases with time, suggesting differentiation into the osteocyte phenotype. Osteoblast-like cell lines 2T3 and Oct-1 also show increased expression of E11 with differentiation and mineralization. E11 is highly expressed in MLO-Y4 osteocyte-like cells compared to osteoblast cell lines and primary osteoblasts. Differentiated, mineralized 2T3 cells and MLO-Y4 cells subjected to fluid flow shear stress show an increase in mRNA for E11. MLO-Y4 cells show an increase in dendricity and elongation of dendrites in response to shear stress that is blocked by small interfering RNA specific to E11. In vivo, E11 expression is also increased by a mechanical load, not only in osteocytes near the bone surface but also in osteocytes more deeply embedded in bone. Maximal expression is observed not in regions of maximal strain but in a region of potential bone remodeling, suggesting that dendrite elongation may be occurring during this process. These data suggest that osteocytes may be able to extend their cellular processes after embedment in mineralized matrix and have implications for osteocytic modification of their microenvironment.


2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 204589401877304 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pratap Karki ◽  
Anna A. Birukova

The maintenance of endothelial barrier integrity is absolutely essential to prevent the vascular leak associated with pneumonia, pulmonary edema resulting from inhalation of toxins, acute elevation to high altitude, traumatic and septic lung injury, acute lung injury (ALI), and its life-threatening complication, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). In addition to the long-known edemagenic and inflammatory agonists, emerging evidences suggest that factors of endothelial cell (EC) mechanical microenvironment such as blood flow, mechanical strain of the vessel, or extracellular matrix stiffness also play an essential role in the control of endothelial permeability and inflammation. Recent studies from our group and others have demonstrated that substrate stiffening causes endothelial barrier disruption and renders EC more susceptible to agonist-induced cytoskeletal rearrangement and inflammation. Further in vivo studies have provided direct evidence that proinflammatory stimuli increase lung microvascular stiffness which in turn exacerbates endothelial permeability and inflammation and perpetuates a vicious circle of lung inflammation. Accumulating evidence suggests a key role for RhoA GTPases signaling in stiffness-dependent mechanotransduction mechanisms defining EC permeability and inflammatory responses. Vascular stiffening is also known to be a key contributor to other cardiovascular diseases such as arterial pulmonary hypertension (PH), although the precise role of stiffness in the development and progression of PH remains to be elucidated. This review summarizes the current understanding of stiffness-dependent regulation of pulmonary EC permeability and inflammation, and discusses potential implication of pulmonary vascular stiffness alterations at macro- and microscale in development and modulation of ALI and PH.


Author(s):  
Vulisi Narendra Kumar ◽  
Gayadhar Panda ◽  
Bonu Ramesh Naidu

The growing demand for electrical energy calls for the assimilation of renewable energy sources to the main utility grid. Multiple renewable energy sources (RESs) like solar PV array, wind turbine, micro-hydro plant, etc. can be combined and controlled to form a microgrid. In spite of the availability of different microgrid topologies, DC microgrid largely facilitates the injection of DC power from various renewable energy sources into the stabilised DC power pool. The requirement for a minimal number of conversion stages, simple structure, economic operation, and numerous localised applications are driving factors for the DC microgrid technology. The mettle of the DC microgrid technology lies in choosing the appropriate microgrid participants for energy interchange and the suitable supervisory control to tap power from the microgrid partakers even after respecting their operating constraints. The use of high gain DC-DC converters is inevitable in DC microgrid due to the low terminal voltage levels of different RESs.


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