Anisotropic crystal growth in aerosil/polymethylmethacrylate systems dispersed in dimethacrylate monomers

Complex organized crystals were shown to grow within the settled phase composed of aggregated aerosil/polymethylmethacrylate or aerosil/poly(cetyl vinyl ether-maleic anhydride) resulting from the supply of the corresponding homopolymer or the alternated copolymer to the aerosil initially dispersed in a mixture of dimethacrylate monomers. The basic suspending phase was realized by mixing 1,3-butanediol dimethacrylate and bisphenol A dimethacrylate. The crystal nucleation and growth were both extremely slow processes that developed over months. Small and large crystals were realized usually displaying the shape of hexagonal platelets. The dose of polymer initially supplied to the system exerted a structuring role in the crystalline organization. DCS determinations showed the enthalpy of fusion to depend on the polymer dose and molecular weight. AFM showed the basal and lateral phases to grow with developing steps of two different thicknesses. The monomer ordering was evidenced by the fact that the polymerization shrinkage only affected the sequence of monomers lying parallel to the basal phases, the polymerization of monomers along the perpendicular axis being prevented from any shrinkage.     

In Vitro Study of Calcium Microsecond Electroporation of Prostate Adenocarcinoma Cells

Electroporation, applied as a non-thermal ablation method has proven to be effective for focal prostate treatment. In this study, we performed pre-clinical research, which aims at exploring the specific impact of this so-called calcium electroporation on prostate cancer. First, in an in-vitro study of DU 145 cell lines, microsecond electroporation (μsEP) parameters were optimized. We determined hence the voltage that provides both high permeability and viability of these prostate cancer cells. Subsequently, we compared the effect of μsEP on cells’ viability with and without calcium administration. For high-voltage pulses, the cell death’s mechanism was evaluated using flow-cytometry and confocal laser microscopy. For lower-voltage pulses, the influence of electroporation on prostate cancer cell mobility was studied using scratch assays. Additionally, we applied calcium-binding fluorescence dye (Fluo-8) to observe the calcium uptake dynamic with the fluorescence microscopy. Moreover, the molecular dynamics simulation visualized the process of calcium ions inflow during μsEP. According to our results calcium electroporation significantly decreases the cells viability by promoting apoptosis. Furthermore, our data shows that the application of pulsed electric fields disassembles the actin cytoskeleton and influences the prostate cancer cells’ mobility.     

Prediction of the decay resistance of heat treated wood on the basis of its elemental composition

The effect of heat treatment temperature on the elemental composition of Scots pine sapwood (Pinus sylvestris) has been investigated in the range of temperatures between 220 and 250 °C. The results revealed an important increase of carbon content, while oxygen content significantly decreases. Independently of the heat treatment temperature, elemental composition is strongly correlated with the mass losses due to thermal degradations. Carbon content as well as O/C ratio seem to represent valuable markers to estimate wood degradation after heat treatment. Heat treated specimens were exposed to fungal decay using the brown rot fungus Poria placenta and the weight losses due to fungal degradation were determined. Correlations between weight losses recorded after fungal exposure and elemental composition indicated that carbon content or O/C ratio can be used to predict wood durability conferred by heat treatment allowing us to envisage the development of a proper method to evaluate the quality of heat treated wood and predict its durability. These results also confirm that chemical modifications of wood cell wall polymers are the main factors responsible for wood durability improvement against fungal decay after heat treatment.     

Temperature Control of Sequential Nucleation–Growth Mechanisms in Hierarchical Supramolecular Polymers

Upon cooling in solution, chiral triarylamine tris-amide unimers produce organogels by stacking into helical supramolecular polymers, which subsequently bundle into larger fibers. Interestingly, circular dichroism, vibrational circular dichroism, and AFM imaging of the chiral self-assemblies revealed that monocolumnar P-helical fibrils formed upon fast cooling, whereas bundled M-superhelical fibers formed upon slow cooling. The mechanistic study of this structural bifurcation reveals the presence of a strong memory effect, reminiscent of a complex stepwise combination of primary and secondary nucleation-growth processes. These results highlight the instrumental role of sequential self-assembly processes to control supramolecular architectures of multiple hierarchical order.     

Multi‐correlation Fourier transform spectroscopy with the resolved modes of a frequency comb laser

An instrument achieving 100 KHz spectral precision using multiple correlation Fourier transform spectroscopy has been demonstrated. The instrument can measure the individual frequency comb modes of 100 MHz frequency comb lasers in air. The experiments show ～400,000 resolved modes at linewidths of 85 MHz in the region of 829 nm and ～ 182,000 resolved modes at linewidths of 28 MHz in the region of 1.5 μm, with a recording time of few minutes. The precision of the instrument, defined by the frequency positioning, attains sub‐MHz even when the scan is performed in air.     

Picomolar-sensitive impedimetric sensor for salivary calcium analysis at POC based on SAM of Schiff base–modified gold electrode

Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry - Analysis of saliva is a potential diagnostic tool in the management of human diseases. Analysis of saliva in healthy individuals is vital to comparison in...     

Theoretical modeling of piezoelectric energy harvesting in the system using technical textile as a support

An approach to harvesting electrical energy from a mechanically excited piezoelectric element has been described. The topic of this paper studies the most important properties of piezoelectric polymer polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) in energy harvesting. We have chosen to develop a recovery application within the clothes. By the use of a piezoelectric energy harvester capable to convert the mechanical energy produced by the knee during walking to an electrical energy. This will be achieved by replacing the traditional textile of the kneepad with the one that is made of the technical textile based on acrylic knitted and PVDF as a patch stuck on the textile. Furthermore, PVDF has many unique features, such as excellent mechanical behavior, large strain without structure fatigue, which enables it to act strongly as the load bearing member, and corrosion resistance. The technical textile, functioning as multifunctional wearable human interfaces, is considered today as a useful tool in several energy fields. In this paper, a smart structure based on piezoelectric polymer (PVDF) has been presented, which a power analytical model, based on the frequency, the geometrical parameters and other factors were investigated. Furthermore, the set of numerical results illustrating the harvested power for a given size of the device has been performed and discussed and how this harvested power may be used as a source for a wearable device. Finally, the theory presented in this study can be used for the realization of other optimal designs, for a wearable sensor with low consumption and so on. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Optimization Studies of Porous Carbon Preparation from Oil Shale Using Response Surface Methodology and Its Application for Phenol Adsorption

This paper discusses the elaboration of adsorbents from oil shale. The experimental designs a response surface methodology(RSM), which has been applied to optimize the significant preparation factors, such as temperature, time, and the activating agent percentage. The results obtained from central composite design(CCD) revealed that the interaction between the factors was significant for the maximum quantity of adsorption(response). Planned results have shown that a maximum quantity of adsorption for methylene blue is 65 mg/g, which could be achieved with a temperature of 275℃ over 2 h and a percentage of the activating agent of 45%. The predicted values agreed with the experimental finding, with a determination coefficient(R²) of 0.96. The model has been validated by experiments after conditions optimization. The new material(RHO) was characterized by cation exchange capacity, zero charge pH, surface functions, X-ray fluorescence, specific surface area, and electron microscopy analysis. Phenol adsorption was determined using Langmuir, Freundlich and Temkin, which were used to describe the adsorption isotherms. The adsorption capacity of the material was about 263 mg/g, and the kinetic studies showed rapid adsorption.