Treatment by serum up-conversion nanoparticles in the fluoride matrix changes the mechanism of cell death and the elasticity of the membrane

Nanoparticles are increasingly being used for treatment and diagnostic purposes, but their effects on cells is not fully understood. Here, the interaction of fluorescent up-conversion nanoparticles (UpC-NPs) with neutrophils was investigated by imaging and measurement of membrane-cytosceletal elasticity by atomic force microscopy. It was found that UpC-NPs induce the death of neutrophils mainly by necrosis, and to a smaller extent by a novel process called ‘mummification'. Necrosis occurs by gradual loss of intracellular contents and nuclei, 45–110 min after exposure to UpC-NPs. Mummification is apparent as an increase in the rigidity of the neutrophils' membrane and acquisition of a characteristic bumpy shape with numerous protrusions; this structure does not change during atomic force microscopy scanning. Coating UpC-NPs with protein by incubation with serum leads to (1) formation of nanoparticle aggregates in the nm and μm size range, (2) a reduction in toxicity, (3) reduced mummification of neutrophils, and (4) no significant reduction of the elasticity of the membrane-cytoskeletal complex of neutrophils 30 min after exposure to coated UpC-NPs. The study shows that serum proteins greatly curb the toxicity of nanoparticles and reveals mummification as a novel mechanism of UpC-NP-induced cell death.     

Strain induced strengthening of soft thermoplastic polyurethanes under cyclic deformation

We investigate the cyclic mechanical behavior in uniaxial tension of three different commercial thermoplastic polyurethane elastomers (TPU) often considered as a sustainable replacement for common filled elastomers. All TPU have similar hard segment contents and linear moduli but sensibly different large strain properties as shown by X-ray analysis. Despite these differences, we found a stiffening effect after conditioning in step cyclic loading which greatly differs from the common softening (also referred as Mullins effect) observed in chemically crosslinked filled rubbers. We propose that this self-reinforcement is related to the fragmentation of hard domains, naturally present in TPU, in smaller but more numerous sub-units that may act as new physical crosslinking points. The proposed stiffening mechanism is not dissimilar to the strain-induced crystallization observed in stretched natural rubber, but it presents a persistent nature. In particular, it may cause a local reinforcement where an inhomogeneous strain field is present, as is the case of a crack propagating in cyclic fatigue, providing a potential explanation for the well-known toughness and wear resistance of TPU.     

Regulation of plastic from a circular economy perspective

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超拉伸聚乙烯的弹性模量和导热性能

为了揭示聚合物分子链伸展、取向的本征特性，发展了两个新的测量方法和实验装置，用于研究拉伸比高达２００的超拉伸聚乙烯凝胶的弹性性能、传热性能和聚合物结构的关系．应用激光脉冲热致超声法给出材料拉伸方向和横向杨氏模量，应用激光脉冲光热辐射法给出拉伸方向，横向和厚度方向的导热系数．随拉伸比λ的增加，轴向杨氏模量急剧的增加，而横向的仅有少许减小．导热系数具有相似的特性．本文发现当λ＝２００时，这种拉伸取向聚乙烯的轴向模量可达钢的８０％，而导热系数甚至可达２倍，直至成为热的良导体，这是由于在高拉伸比时形成了相当数量的伸展分子链构成的针状晶体———晶桥．本文提出晶桥作为短纤维分散相的取向聚合物的结构模型，对于超拉伸聚乙烯的上述特性可以进行统一描述和定量化分析，和实验结果很好符合．     

Synergistic Effects of Pseudocolor Imaging,Differentiation, and Square and Logarithmic Conversion on Accuracy of Quantification of Chemical Characteristics Using Test Strips and Similar Products

Test strips and similar products are highly feasible tools for the rapid and approximate determination of chemical characteristics. Although the application of both the quantitative observation of coloration and regression modeling has recently enabled these products to become quantitative tools, their precision and accuracy may be further improved. In this study, the pseudocolor imaging of the coloration image, derivative spectrophotometry-like differentiation of the coloration values, and logarithmic conversion of the raw and derivative values were compared in terms of the precision and accuracy of the quantitative determination of corrosiveness, glucose, nitrate, and pH using the products. The best regression models for the determination were provided by the combination of pseudocolor imaging and differentiation (nitrate and pH); pseudocolor imaging, differentiation, and square-conversion (corrosiveness); or all of the techniques (glucose). When compared to the use of the original 10 raw coloration variables of red-green-blue, cyan-magenta-yellow-key black, and L*a*b* color models only, the above combinations improved the normalized mean absolute error from 14.8% to 3.09% (corrosiveness), 6.33% to 3.15% (glucose), 7.46% to 4.56% (nitrate), and 3.22% to 0.94% (pH). These achievements were largely attributed to the combination of multiple variables that have non-linear and nonmonotonic relationships with the chemical characteristics.     

Generalized one-electron spin functions and self-similarity measures

A simple method for construction of eigenfunctions of one-electron spin angular momentum operators from products of the primitive one-electron spin functions is presented. Properties of these functions and their applications to the evaluation of some integrals met in theory of quantum similarity are briefly discussed.     

Removable sets for continuous solutions of quasilinear elliptic equations

We show that sets of Hausdorff measure zero are removable for -Hölder continuous solutions to quasilinear elliptic equations similar to the -Laplacian. The result is optimal. We also treat larger sets in terms of a growth condition. In particular, our results apply to quasiregular mappings.

     

Multi-Fractal Formalism for Quasi-Self-Similar Functions

The study of multi-fractal functions has proved important in several domains of physics. Some physical phenomena such as fully developed turbulence or diffusion limited aggregates seem to exhibit some sort of self-similarity. The validity of the multi-fractal formalism has been proved to be valid for self-similar functions. But, multi-fractals encountered in physics or image processing are not exactly self-similar. For this reason, we extend the validity of the multi-fractal formalism for a class of some non-self-similar functions. Our functions are written as the superposition of similar structures at different scales, reminiscent of some possible modelization of turbulence or cascade models. Their expressions look also like wavelet decompositions. For the computation of their spectrum of singularities, it is unknown how to construct Gibbs measures. However, it suffices to use measures constructed according the Frostman's method. Besides, we compute the box dimension of the graphs.     

Hausdorff Dimension of Sets of Generic Points for Gibbs Measures

For a translation invariant Gibbs measure on the configuration space X of a lattice finite spin system, we consider the set X of generic points. Using a Breiman type convergence theorem on the set X of generic points of an arbitrary translation invariant probability measure on X, we evaluate the Hausdorff dimension of the set X with respect to any metric out of a wide class of scale metrics on X (including Billingsley metrics generated by Gibbs measures).