Microrobotics and MEMS-based fabrication techniques for scaffold-based tissue engineering

Scaffold based tissue engineering strategies use cells, biomolecules and a scaffold to promote the repair and regeneration of tissues. Although scaffold-based tissue engineering approaches are being actively developed, most are still experimental, and it is not yet clear what defines an ideal scaffold/cell construct. Solid free form fabrication (SFF) techniques can precisely control matrix architecture (size, shape, interconnectivity, branching, geometry and orientation). The SFF methods enable the fabrication of scaffolds with various designs and material compositions, thus providing a control of mechanical properties, biological effects and degradation kinetics. This paper reviews the application of micro-robotics and MEMS-based fabrication techniques for scaffold design and fabrication. It also presents a novel robotic technique to fabricate scaffold/cell constructs for tissue engineering by the assembly of microscopic building blocks.     

Retronasal Aroma of Beef Pate Analyzed by a Chewing Simulator

In retronasal aroma, the targeted aroma compounds are released from food during chewing. The changes in the food structures during chewing strongly influence the release of the compounds, therefore affecting the perception of food. Here, the relationship between retronasal aroma and food deliciousness based on the physicochemical properties of aroma compounds was examined. We considered the consumption of solid foods and the effect of oral parameters in elderly people. Beef pate was used as a model food sample to study the effect of the release of aroma compounds under controlled in vitro mastication and salivation conditions using a chewing simulator. We identified the effects of coexisting ingredients such as beef fat on the time course behavior of the release of aroma compounds. In particular, the release of the middle types of aromas was significantly faster with stronger chewing force, and higher with a high fat content of the sample. In addition, a larger release intensity was observed when soy proteins were partially substituted for beef proteins. Using an appropriate model saliva, a change in the salting-out effect from the saliva composition was found to be a factor, which could explain the lowering of aroma sensation in an elderly person.     

Nickel‐Catalyzed Arylation,Alkenylation, and Alkynylation of Unprotected Thioglycosides at Room Temperature

Unprotected thioglycosides were effective nucleophiles for Ni⁰‐catalyzed C? S bond‐forming reaction with functionalized (hetero)aryl, alkenyl, and alkynyl halides. The functional‐group tolerance on the electrophilic partner was typically high and the anomeric selectivities of the thioglycosides were high in all cases. The efficiency of this general procedure was well‐demonstrated by the synthesis of 4‐methyl‐7‐thioumbelliferyl‐β‐D ‐cellobioside (MUS‐CB).     

Coherent control of the optical nonlinear and luminescence anisotropies in molecular thin films by multiphoton excitations

Photoinduced orientational distributions are implemented with one- and two-photon absorption interference in polymer films containing chromophores that exhibit luminescent and nonlinear properties. The odd- and even-order parameters of the final distribution are probed by simultaneous measurement of second-harmonic generation (SHG) and two-photon fluorescence (TPF). We show the possibility of engineering local SHG and TPF anisotropies by controlling the polarization states and intensities of the writing optical fields. Complex multipolar orders are modeled with an irreducible spherical tensor-based formalism jointly applied to the molecular polarizabilities and field tensors.     

Synthesis and Structures of Stable PtII and PtIV Alkylidenes: Evidence for π-Bonding and Relativistic Stabilization

Isolable cationic Pt^II and Pt^IV alkylidenes, proposed intermediates in catalytic organic transformations, are reported. The bonding in these species was probed by experimental, structural, spectroscopic, electrochemical and computational methods, providing direct evidence for π-bonding, the often-theorized relativistic stabilization of these species, and the influence of oxidation state.     

Synthesis,Structure, and DFT Analysis of the THF Solvate of 2-Picolyllithium: A 2-Picolyllithium Solvate with Significant Carbanionic Character

Previous studies of different solvates of 2-methylpyridyllithium (2-picolyllithium) have uncovered electronic structures corresponding to aza-allyl and enamido resonance forms of the metallated pyridine-based compounds. Here, we report the synthesis and characterization of [2-CH₂Li(THF)₂C₅H₄N], a new THF solvate. X-ray crystallographic studies reveal a dimeric arrangement featuring a non-planar eight-membered [NCCLi]₂ ring, in which the primary cation-anion interaction is between the central Li atom and the C atom of the deprotonated methyl group [length, 2.285(2) Å], suggesting a new carbanionic resonance structure for this 2-picolyllithium series. The significant carbanionic character of [2-CH₂Li(THF)₂C₅H₄N] was confirmed by gas-phase DFT calculations [B3LYP/6-311+G(d)] with the calculated electron density interrogated by means of quantum theory of atoms in molecules (QTAIM) and natural bond orbital (NBO) analyses. For comparison these computational analyses were also performed on the literature structures of [2-CH₂Li(2-Picoline)C₅H₄N] and [2-CH₂Li(PMDETA)C₅H₄N]. In a reactivity study, [2-CH₂Li(THF)₂C₅H₄N] was found to undergo nucleophilic addition to pyridine to generate dipyridylmethane in a good yield.     

Vibrationally resolved K-shell photoionization cross sections of methane

We use an extension of the static-exchange density functional theory (DFT) method, previously reported in [E. Plésiat et al., Phys. Rev. A 2, 023409 (2012), E. Plésiat, P. Decleva, F. Martín, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 31, 10853 (2012)], to evaluate vibrationally resolved (total and angular) K-shell photoelectron cross sections of methane. The calculated cross sections are in very good agreement with the existing experimental measurements at low photoelectron energies. We show that, in contrast with the rich interference patterns previously observed in molecular frame C(1s) photoelectron angular distributions of methane at both low and high photoelectron energy, no interference effects are observed in the calculated β parameters, even at high photon energies.     

Tunable optical vortex arrays from a single nematic topological defect

We report on the generation of tunable structured light fields endowed with various sets of phase singularities from a single topological defect in a nematic liquid crystal mesophase. The experimental demonstration relies on the use of electric field-induced nonsingular topological defects called "umbilics."