TGFβ-1 Induced Cross-Linking of the Extracellular Matrix of Primary Human Dermal Fibroblasts

Excessive cross-linking is a major factor in the resistance to the remodelling of the extracellular matrix (ECM) during fibrotic progression. The role of TGFβ signalling in impairing ECM remodelling has been demonstrated in various fibrotic models. We hypothesised that increased ECM cross-linking by TGFβ contributes to skin fibrosis in Systemic Sclerosis (SSc). Proteomics was used to identify cross-linking enzymes in the ECM of primary human dermal fibroblasts, and to compare their levels following treatment with TGFβ-1. A significant upregulation and enrichment of lysyl-oxidase-like 1, 2 and 4 and transglutaminase 2 were found. Western blotting confirmed the upregulation of lysyl hydroxylase 2 in the ECM. Increased transglutaminase activity in TGFβ-1 treated ECM was revealed from a cell-based assay. We employed a mass spectrometry-based method to identify alterations in the ECM cross-linking pattern caused by TGFβ-1. Cross-linking sites were identified in collagens I and V, fibrinogen and fibronectin. One cross-linking site in fibrinogen alpha was found only in TGFβ-treated samples. In conclusion, we have mapped novel cross-links between ECM proteins and demonstrated that activation of TGFβ signalling in cultured dermal fibroblasts upregulates multiple cross-linking enzymes in the ECM.     

A microfluidic approach for development of hybrid collagen-chitosan extracellular matrix-like membranes for on-chip cell cultures

To advance organ-on-a-chip development and other areas befitting from physiologically-relevant biomembranes,a microfluidic platform is presented for synthesis of biomembranes during gelation and investigation into their role as extracellular matrix supports.In this work,high-throughput studies of collagen,chitosan,and collagen-chitosan hybrid biomembranes were carried out to characterize and compare key properties as a function of the applied hydrodynamic conditions during gelation.Specifically,depending on the biopolymer material used,varying flow conditions during biomembrane gelation caused width,uniformity,and swelling ratio to be differently affected and controllable.Finally,cell viability studies of seeded fibroblasts were conducted,thus showing the potential for biological applications.     

煤矿科室工作信息管理系统设计

为了提高了煤矿工作者的工作效率和矿井安全程度，设计了煤矿科室工作信息管理系统，分析了系统的关键技术，主要为J2EE技术和B/S和C/S的体系结构；根据现场调研，对系统需求进行了分析，然后设计了系统总体架构和系统功能模块。煤矿科室工作信息管理系统的应用，减少了人力资源的浪费，确保了信息的保存和查询的安全性。     

Leader-following consensus of fractional-order multi-agent systems via adaptive control

This article focuses on the consensus problem of leader-following fractional-order multi-agent systems (MASs) with general linear and Lipschitz nonlinear dynamics. First, the distributed adaptive protocols for linear and nonlinear fractional-order MASs are constructed, respectively. We allow the control coupling gains to be time varying for each agent. Moreover, the adaptive modification schemes for the control gain are designed, which renders smaller control gains and thus requires smaller amplitude on the control input without sacrificing consensus convergence. Second, based on fractional-order Lyapunov stability theorem and Barbalat's lemma, two novel sufficient conditions in terms of linear matrix inequalities are provided to ensure that the leader-following consensus can be obtained in the case for any undirected connected communication graph. Furthermore, we show that the proposed algorithm also works for consensus of agents with intrinsic Lipschitz nonlinear dynamics. As a result, the proposed framework requires no global information and thus can be implemented in a fully distributed manner. Finally, the numerical simulations are given to demonstrate the effectiveness of obtained the theoretical results.     

Sintering Mechanism and Microstructure of TaC/SiC Composites Consolidated by plasma-activated sintering

TaC/SiC composites with 5 wt% SiC addition were densified by plasma-activated sintering (PAS) at 1500–1800 °C for 5 min under 30 MPa. The effects of plasma-activated sintering on microstructures, densification and mechanical properties of the composites were investigated. The results showed that TaC/SiC composites achieved a relative density more than 99% of the theoretical density at 1600 °C. A low eutectic liquid phase generated by the oxide on the particle surface was observed in the composite to realize a relatively low temperature sintering densification. While the TaC particle size decreased insignificantly with increasing sintering temperature, the transformation of morphology of SiC particles changing from equiaxed to elongated grain was activated, accompanying with a slight particle size decreasing of the SiC phase, thus promoting a relatively high flexural strength of 550 MPa under 1800 °C. Besides, some ultra-fine 2 nm Ta₂Si was observed in the glassy pockets, strengthening the amorphous phase and thus increasing the flexural strength.     

Crack initiation and propagation in braided SiC/SiC composite tubes: Effect of braiding angle

Crack initiation and propagation in three braided SiC/SiC composite tubes with different braiding angles are investigated by in situ tensile tests with synchrotron micro-computed tomography. Crack networks are precisely detected after an image subtraction procedure based on Digital Volume Correlation. FFT based simulations are performed on the full-resolution 3D images to assess elastic stress/strain fields. Quantitative measurements of the crack geometries are performed using a novel method based on grey levels. The results show that braiding angle has no obvious effect on the location of crack onsets (initiation always occurs at tow interfaces), whereas it significantly affects the paths of crack propagation. This work provides an explicit demonstration of the crack propagation scenarios with respect to the mesoscopic fibre architectures.     

Microstructure and mechanical properties of Si3N4f/BN composites with BN interphase prepared by chemical vapor deposition of borazine

The boron nitride (BN) interphase of silicon nitride (Si₃N₄) fiber-reinforced BN matrix (Si₃N_4f/BN) composites was prepared by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of liquid borazine, and the microstructure, growth kinetics and crystallinity of the BN coating were examined. The effects of coating thickness on the mechanical strength and fiber/matrix interfacial bonding strength of the composites were then investigated. The CVD BN coating plays a key role in weakening the interfacial bonding condition that improves the mechanical properties of the composites. The layering structure of the BN coating promotes crack propagation within the coating, which leads to a variety of toughening mechanisms including crack deflection, fiber bridging and fiber pull out. Single-fiber push-out experiments were performed to quantify the fiber/matrix bonding strength with different coating thicknesses. The physical bonding strength due to thermal mismatch was discussed.     

Homogenization with uncertainty in Poisson ratio for polymers with rubber particles

The main aim of this work is dual computer analysis of probabilistic coefficients for the homogenized tensor of the polymer filled with the rubber particles having randomized Poisson ratios of both constituents. The major issue is to verify an influence of a randomness in rubber Poisson ratio close to the compressibility limit on the uncertainty of the effective tensor probabilistic characteristics. Probabilistic analysis presented here is carried out using mainly the stochastic perturbation technique provided by the common application of the traditional FEM commercial code ABAQUS and the symbolic computations package MAPLE. This FEM-based technique employs polynomial response function of the optimum order recovered from the weighted least squares method and following a set of deterministic solutions obtained for various values of the randomized input parameter. Optimization procedure is released entirely into a symbolic environment, where maximization of the correlation factor together with minimization of the fitting variance and approximation error are applied. Homogenization technique consists in equating of deformation energies for the real composite and the artificial one characterized by the effective elasticity tensor with uncertainty.     

Dynamic mechanical analysis and thermal properties of LLDPE/EVA/modified silica nanocomposites

The effect of hexamethylene disilazane modified nanosilica on the dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), crystallization, melting and thermal degradation behavior of linear low density polyethylene/ethylene vinyl acetate copolymer (LLDPE/EVA) blends are explored.Detailed DMA analysis is carried out in order to investigate the reinforcing behavior of nanosilica adopting Kerner–Nielson model. Oxidative degradation and thermal stabilities of samples are also studied by the thermogravimetery analysis. The high content of nanosilica particles results in significant shift of degradation temperature to higher temperatures in the oxygen atmosphere. This behavior might be attributed to the barrier properties of nanoparticles against oxygen and gaseous degradation products. However, incorporation of modified nanosilica into LLDPE/EVA blend is decreased the onset of degradation temperature of the unfilled system. In nitrogen atmosphere, no changes are observed in the thermal degradation range and only a reduction is documented in the onset of degradation temperature. Considering important role of onset of degradation temperature, activation energy of starting of degradation temperature is calculated utilizing Kissinger-Ozawa model in both oxygen and nitrogen atmospheres. Results showed that activation energy of degradation reaction is decreased by ∼ 20 kJ/mol. This decrease is owing to the release of modifiers from the nanoparticles.