Facilitation of Cell Cycle and Cellular Migration of Rat Schwann Cells by O-Carboxymethyl Chitosan to Support Peripheral Nerve Regeneration

O-carboxymethyl chitosan (CM-chitosan), holds high potential as a valuable biomaterial for nerve guidance conduits (NGCs). However, the lack of explicit bioactivity on neurocytes and poor duration that does not match nerve repair limit the restorative effects. Herein, CM-chitosan-based NGC is designed to induce the reconstruction of damaged peripheral nerves without addition of other activation factors. CM-chitosan possesses excellent performance in vitro for nerve tissue engineering, such as increasing the organization of filamentous actin and the expression of phospho-Akt, and facilitating the cell cycle and migration of Schwann cells. Moreover, CM-chitosan exhibits increased longevity upon cross-linking (C-CM-chitosan) with 1, 4-Butanediol diglycidyl ether, and C-CM-chitosan fibers possess appropriate biocompatibility. In order to imitate the structure of peripheral nerves, multichannel bioactive NGCs are prepared from lumen fillers of oriented C-CM-chitosan fibers and outer warp-knitted chitosan pipeline. Implantation of the C-CM-chitosan NGCs to rats with 10-mm defects of peripheral nerves effectively improve nerve function reconstruction by increasing the sciatic functional index, decreasing the latent periods of heat tingling, enhancing the gastrocnemius muscle, and promoting nerve axon recovery, showing regenerative efficacy similar to that of autograft. The results lay a theoretical foundation for improving the potential high-value applications of CM-chitosan-based bioactive materials in nerve tissue engineering.     

Performance characteristics of a new prototype for a portable GC using ambient air as carrier gas for on-site analysis

The performance characteristics of a portable GC instrument requiring no compressed gas supplies and using relatively lightweight transportable components for the analysis of volatile organic components in large-volume air samples are described. To avoid the need for compressed gas tanks, ambient air is used as the carrier gas, and a vacuum pump is used to pull the carrier gas and injected samples through the wall-coated capillary column and a photoionization detector (PID). At-column heating is used eliminating the need for a conventional oven. The fused silica column is wrapped with heater wire and sensor wire so that heating is provided directly at the column. A PID is used since it requires no external gas supplies and has high sensitivity for many compounds of interest in environmental air monitoring. In order to achieve detection limits in the ppb range, an online multibed preconcentrator containing beds of graphitized carbons and carbon molecular sieves is used. After sample collection, the flow direction through the preconcentrator is reversed, and the sample is thermally desorbed directly into the column. Decomposition of sensitive compounds during desorption is greater with air as the carrier gas than with hydrogen.     

Tissue engineering and peripheral nerve regeneration (Ⅲ)——Sciatic nerve regeneration with PDLLA nerve guide

The biodegradation rate and biocompatibility of poly(d, / -lactide) (PDLLA) in vivo were evaluated. The aim of this study was to establish a nerve guide constructed by the PDLLA with 3-D microenvironment and to repair a 10 mm of sciatic nerve gap in rats. The process of the nerve regeneration was investigated by histological assessment, electrophysiological examination, and determination of wet weight recovery rate of the gastrocnemius muscle. After 3 weeks, the nerve guide had changed from a transparent to an opaque status. The conduit was degraded and absorbed partly and had lost their strength with breakage at the 9th week of postoperation. At the conclusion of 12 weeks, proximal and distal end of nerves were anastomosed by nerve regeneration and the conduit vanished completely. The results suggest that PDLLA conduits may serve for peripheral nerve regeneration and PDLLA is a sort of hopeful candidate for tissue engineering.     

Cross influence of discharge and circulation on head loss of conduit of pump system with low head

The relationship between the head loss and the discharge and circulation of the conduit of a pump system with low head is an important problem with an obvious influence on the improvement of its hydraulic performance. The velocity circulation from the pump guide vane makes the relationship more complicated, which has to be understood comprehensively. The results indicate that, under the condition of zero circulation, the head loss of the inlet and outlet conduits is in proportion to the square of discharge. Under the condition that the Reynolds number is satisfied with the resistant square area, the conduit loss is in proportion to the square of discharge for the similar working points with different speeds in a certain rotational speed range, indicating that the pump system efficiency is constant. The outlet conduit loss of design discharge for a pump system with low head depends on the velocity circulation from the guide vane exit, and the relationship between the loss and the circulation is an open curve with an upward direction, meaning that there is an optimal circulation for the loss. Under the condition of various working points for a pump system with low head, the head loss of the outlet conduit is under the cross influence of both the discharge and the circulation. As a result, the relationship between the head loss and the discharge is almost linear, and the mechanism needs to be further studied.     

粘附功对光滑直管内流动阻力的影响

本文采用两种不同的处理液处理玻璃管道内壁,改变管内壁与流体水之间的粘附功,研究了粘附功对光滑直管内流动阻力的影响。试验结果表明,在管壁与液体间的粘附功小于液体的内聚功条件下,当液体的雷诺数大于临界雷诺数时可显现明显的内流减阻效果。     

Vibration-proof conduit fastening

It is shown that the problem of determining the type and parameters of conduit end fastening from the eigenfrequency spectrum has a dual solution. A method of solving this problem is developed. Some examples are given. __________ Translated from Prikladnaya Mekhanika i Tekhnicheskaya Fizika, Vol. 49, No. 1, pp. 139–147, January–February, 2008.     

Flow patterns and boundary conditions for inlet and outlet conduits of large pump system with low head

The flow patterns in the inlet and outlet conduits have a decisive effect on the safe, stable, and highly efficient operation of the pump in a large pumping station with low head. The numerical simulation of three-dimensional （3D） turbulence flow in conduits is an important method to study the hydraulic performance and conduct an optimum hydraulic design for the conduits. With the analyses of the flow patterns in the inlet and outlet conduits, the boundary conditions of the numerical simulation for them can be determined. The main obtained conclusions are as follows： （i） Under normal operation conditions, there is essentially no pre-swirl flow at the impeller chamber inlet of an axial-flow pump system, based on which the boundary condition at the inlet conduit may be defined. （ii） The circulation at the guide vane outlet of an axial-flow pump system has a great effect on the hydraulic performance of the outlet conduit, and there is optimum circulation for the performance. Therefore, it is strongly suggested to design the guide vane according to the optimum circulation. （iii） The residual circulation at the guide vane outlet needs to be considered for the inlet boundary condition of the outlet conduit, and the value of the circulation may be measured in a specially designed test model.     

气体进出方式对MPCVD大面积金刚石膜均匀性的影响

使用自行研制的MPCVD装置,在功率为8 kW条件下、气体由四种方式进出反应腔体时,在直径65 mm的Si基片上制备了金刚石膜.分别利用数字千分尺和Raman光谱对金刚石膜的厚度和品质均匀性进行了表征.使用Comsol软件模拟了不同进出气方式下腔体内部气体流场的分布,并分析了气体进出方式与所制备金刚石膜均匀性之间的关系.研究表明,反应气体进出位置的改变对等离子体的状态没有明显的影响,但对膜的厚度和品质均匀性有影响较大.气体由中间腔体侧壁上的进气孔进入时,容易造成膜厚度和品质的不均匀性.气体由耦合天线的圆盘中心的进气孔进入时,膜厚度和品质的均匀性明显提高,而由锥形反射体底平面上的出气孔排出时均匀性最优.反应气体流场分布的不均匀性和等离子体区域流速的差异是导致金刚石膜厚度和品质不均匀性的主要原因.     

On non‐stationary viscous incompressible flow through a cascade of profiles

The paper deals with theoretical analysis of non‐stationary incompressible flow through a cascade of profiles. The initial‐boundary value problem for the Navier–Stokes system is formulated in a domain representing the exterior to an infinite row of profiles, periodically spaced in one direction. Then the problem is reformulated in a bounded domain of the form of one space period and completed by the Dirichlet boundary condition on the inlet and the profile, a suitable natural boundary condition on the outlet and periodic boundary conditions on artificial cuts. We present a weak formulation and prove the existence of a weak solution. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Electrohydrodynamic flow analysis in a circular cylindrical conduit using Least Square Method

In this article, Electrohydrodynamic flow (EHD flow) in a circular cylindrical conduit is studied by a semi-exact and high efficient weighted residual method called Least Square Method (LSM). A principle of LSM is briefly introduced and later is employed to solve the described problem. Furthermore, the effects of the Hartmann electric number (Ha) and the strength of nonlinearity (α) on velocity profiles are discussed and presented graphically. Results are compared with numerical solution and obtained residuals are compared with those of HAM which previously were done by Mastroberardino in Ref. [3]. Outcomes reveal that LSM has an excellent agreement with numerical solution; also depicted residual functions showed that LSM is more acceptable than HAM especially for large values of Ha and α numbers, also it is simpler and needs fewer computations.