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.     

Investigation of the Curing Mechanism in the GPTS/APTS Binder System

The acid catalyzed sol-gel reaction in the mixed binder system, 3-glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane (GPTS)/3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTS) was investigated and one step and two step synthesis process were compared. Hydrolysis product was observed using the ¹H, ¹³C NMR and Raman spectra. Especially, based on the Raman spectra, epoxy ring opening was observed, varying the ratio of GPTS to APTS. The two step process made clear sol, while the one step process resulted in a milky suspension. According to the Raman spectra, the epoxy ring opening reaction kinetics proceeded slower in the two step process than one step process. Throughout the two step process, it was possible to apply the binder for the coating of substrate.     

激光诱导击穿光谱(LIBS)法微损快速检测党参中Pb

中药材重金属元素快速检测对污染监控及人们健康具有重要意义。激光诱导击穿光谱技术(Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy, LIBS)属于一种快速检测方法,研磨压片等预处理方法相对样品消解已有所简化,但破坏了样品的物理性质,且不能满足中药材大宗品种、大批量检测需求。若进一步简化样品预处理,将更加凸显LIBS快速检测的优势。本文建立了激光诱导击穿光谱技术(LIBS)快速微损检测中药材样品重金属元素定标方法。线性相关系数R2为0.7764,建立的微损定标曲线线性可用于切片党参LIBS快速检测,对待测党参切片样品检测平均相对误差为3.74%,与电感耦合等离子体质谱法(ICP-MS)对比,相关系数R2为0.7957,验证了LIBS技术微损检测的可行性。制备的党参参考定标样品可多次重复用于待测样定标和仪器标定等。实验对待测党参样品仅进行切片处理,避免了研磨、压片等预处理,更加充分地体现LIBS快速检测的优势,为LIBS技术应用于中药材重金属元素快检等领域提供了一种新方法。     

Low-Cost Potentiometric Sensor for Chloride Measurement in Continuous Industrial Process Control

Recently, the new updates in legislation about drinking water control and human health have increased the demand for novel electrochemical low-cost sensors, such as potentiometric ones. Nowadays, the determination of chloride ion in aqueous solutions has attracted great attention in several fields, from industrial processes to drinking water control. Indeed, chloride plays a crucial role in corrosion, also influencing the final taste of beverages, especially coffee. The main goal is to obtain devices suitable for continuous and real-time analysis. For these reasons, we investigated the possibility to develop an easy, low-cost potentiometric chloride sensor, able to perform analysis in aqueous mediums for long immersion time and reducing the need of periodic calibration. We realized a chloride ion selective electrode made of Ag/AgCl sintered pellet and we tested its response in model solutions compatible with drinking water. The sensor was able to produce a stable, reproducible, and accurate quantification of chloride in 900 s, without the need for a preliminary calibration test. This opens the route to potential applications of this sensor in continuous, in situ, and real time measurement of chloride ions in industrial processes, with a reduced need for periodic maintenance.     

Periodic Mesoporous Organosilica Nanoparticles for CO2 Adsorption at Standard Temperature and Pressure

(1) Background: Due to human activities, greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations in the atmosphere are constantly rising, causing the greenhouse effect. Among GHGs, carbon dioxide (CO₂) is responsible for about two-thirds of the total energy imbalance which is the origin of the increase in the Earth’s temperature. (2) Methods: In this field, we describe the development of periodic mesoporous organosilica nanoparticles (PMO NPs) used to capture and store CO₂ present in the atmosphere. Several types of PMO NP (bis(triethoxysilyl)ethane (BTEE) as matrix, co-condensed with trialkoxysilylated aminopyridine (py) and trialkoxysilylated bipyridine (Etbipy and iPrbipy)) were synthesized by means of the sol-gel procedure, then characterized with different techniques (DLS, TEM, FTIR, BET). A systematic evaluation of CO₂ adsorption was carried out at 298 K and 273 K, at low pressure. (3) Results: The best values of CO₂ adsorption were obtained with 6% bipyridine: 1.045 mmol·g⁻¹ at 298 K and 2.26 mmol·g⁻¹ at 273 K. (4) Conclusions: The synthetized BTEE/aminopyridine or bipyridine PMO NPs showed significant results and could be promising for carbon capture and storage (CCS) application.     

Dynamic Variation of Amino Acid Contents and Identification of Sterols in Xinyang Mao Jian Green Tea

As important biomolecules in Camellia sinensis L., amino acids (AAs) are considered to contribute to the overall green tea sensory quality and undergo dynamic changes during growth. However, limited by analytical capacity, detailed AAs composition in different growth stages remains unclear. To address this question, we analyzed the dynamic changes of 23 AAs during leaf growth in Xinyang Mao Jian (XYMJ) green tea. Using amino acid analyzer, we demonstrated that most AAs are abundant on Pure Brightness Day and Grain Rain Day. After Grain Rain, 23 AAs decreased significantly. Further analysis shows that theanine has a high level on the day before Spring Equinox and Grain Rain, accounting for 44–61% of the total free AAs content in tea leaves. Glu, Pro, and Asp are the second most abundant AAs. Additionally, spinasterol and 22,23-dihydrospinasterol are first purified and identified in ethanol extract of XYMJ by silica gel column chromatography method. This study reveals the relationship between plucking days and the dynamic changes of AAs during the growth stage and proves the rationality of the traditional plucking days of XYMJ green tea.     

A New Entropy Function to Analyze Isentropic Processes of Ideal Gases with Variable Specific Heats

A new entropy function s⁺ is defined in terms of the existing entropy function s° and temperature as s⁺ = s° − R lnT to facilitate the analysis of isentropic processes of ideal gases with variable specific heats. The function s⁺ also makes it possible to calculate the entropy changes of ideal gases during processes when volume information is available instead of pressure information and the variation of specific heats with temperature is to be accounted for. The introduction of the function s⁺ eliminates the need to use the dimensionless isentropic functions relative pressure P_r and relative specific volume v_r of ideal gases and to tabulate their values. The P_r and v_r data are often confused with pressure and specific volume, with an adverse effect on the study of the second law of thermodynamics. The new s⁺ function nicely complements the existing s° function in entropy change calculations: the former is conveniently used when volume information is given while the latter is used when pressure information is available. Therefore, the introduction of the new entropy function s⁺ is expected to make a significant contribution to the thermodynamics education and research by streamlining entropy analysis of ideal gases.     

Evaluation of Water Ammonium Ion Test Kit and Its Feasibility for the Analysis of Protein in Food

The traditional method for the determination of protein in food needs the operations of digestion, distillation, absorption, and titration; therefore, it is complicated and time-consuming and requires professional personnel. Is there a more convenient and faster detection method that can directly determine the ammonium ions in protein digestion solution to obtain the protein content of food and avoid the distillation–absorption–titration process? The feasibility of water ammonium ion test kits for food protein rapid detection was discussed here. After digestion, the protein in food transforms into ammonium ions in the digestion solution. Because of the variety of food, there are many different inorganic ions left in the food digestion solution, and at the same time, digestion agents are added in the digestion process and become potential interference factors in ammonium determination. Therefore, the detection accuracy of ammonium test kits needs to be evaluated first, including their anti-interference ability. The standard curve of ammonium was established by the test kit. When the ammonium concentration was 0.00–2.50 mg/L, the absorbance at 620 nm was linearly related to the ammonium concentration, the determination coefficient R² was 0.9995, and the detection limit of this method was 0.01 mg/L. The influences of temperature, pH value, and reaction time on the test kit method were discussed. The precision was 0.90–3.33%; the repeatability was 1.71–4.86%; and the recovery rate of tap water, river water, and sea water was controlled within 90–103%. The anti-interference ability of the evaluated test kit was better than that of the national standard detection method. The test kit, combined with sample pretreatment and protein conversion formula, was used to detect protein in different types of food (milk powder, rice flour, wheat flour, soy, banana, milk, fish food, chicken food, and dog food). The results showed that there were no significant differences (ρ > 0.05) between the national method and the test kit method. The ammonium ion test kit method shortened the determination time and had higher sensitivity, showing its potential for the rapid determination of food protein.     

Removal of Carbamazepine in Aqueous Solution by CoS2/Fe2+/PMS Process

Carbamazepine (CBZ), as a typical pharmaceutical and personal care product (PPCP), cannot be efficiently removed by the conventional drinking water and wastewater treatment process. In this work, the CoS₂/Fe²⁺/PMS process was applied for efficient elimination of CBZ. The CBZ removal efficiency of CoS₂/Fe²⁺/PMS was 2.5 times and 23 times higher than that of CoS₂/PMS and Fe²⁺/PMS, respectively. The intensity of DMPO-HO• and DMPO-SO4•− followed the order of Fe²⁺/PMS < CoS₂/PMS < CoS₂/Fe²⁺/PMS, also suggesting the CoS₂/Fe²⁺/PMS process has the highest oxidation activity. The effects of reaction conditions (e.g., CoS₂ dosage, Fe²⁺ concentration, PMS concentration, initial CBZ concentration, pH, temperature) and water quality parameters (e.g., SO42−, NO3−, H2PO4−, Cl−, NH4+, humic acid) on the degradation of CBZ were also studied. Response surface methodology analysis was carried out to obtain the best conditions for the removal of CBZ, which are: Fe²⁺ = 70 µmol/L, PMS = 240 µmol/L, CoS₂ = 0.59 g/L. The sustainability test demonstrated that the repeated use of CoS₂ for 8 successive cycles resulted in little function decrease (<10%). These findings suggest that CoS₂/Fe²⁺/PMS may be a promising method for advanced treatment of tailwater from sewage treatment plant.     

多失效模式光电系统可靠性建模分析方法北大核心CSCD

系统可靠性建模分析是开展可靠性分配、预计、故障树分析及可靠性优化设计的基础。介绍了一种光电系统可靠性建模分析方法,针对光电系统中部分分系统具有多种失效模式且各失效模式均服从指数分布的特点,依据齐次马尔科夫理论,采用马尔科夫状态转移图方法建立了产品的可靠性模型,并给出解析表达式、数值计算方法和Monte Carlo仿真方法。最后,将其应用于某机载光电系统供电回路的实例分析中。采用两种计算方法及Monte Carlo仿真方法分别进行计算,并将结果进行对比分析,证明了该方法的正确性及可行性。