Lighting the Path: Light Delivery Strategies to Activate Photoresponsive Biomaterials In Vivo

Photoresponsive biomaterials are experiencing a transition from in vitro models to in vivo demonstrations that point toward clinical translation. Dynamic hydrogels for cell encapsulation, light-responsive carriers for controlled drug delivery, and nanomaterials containing photosensitizers for photodynamic therapy are relevant examples. Nonetheless, the step to the clinic largely depends on their combination with technologies to bring light into the body. This review highlights the challenge of photoactivation in vivo, and presents strategies for light management that can be adopted for this purpose. The authors’ focus is on technologies that are materials-driven, particularly upconversion nanoparticles that assist in “direct path” light delivery through tissue, and optical waveguides that “clear the path” between external light source and in vivo target. The authors’ intention is to assist the photoresponsive biomaterials community transition toward medical technologies by presenting light delivery concepts that can be integrated with the photoresponsive targets. The authors also aim to stimulate further innovation in materials-based light delivery platforms by highlighting needs and opportunities for in vivo photoactivation of biomaterials.     

Dyeing of poly(lactic acid) fibres with synthesised novel heterocyclic disazo disperse dyes

Poly(lactic acid) (PLA) is the first melt‐processable, renewable, sustainable and biodegradable natural‐based synthetic fibre. It has a broad range of uses and combines ecological advantages with outstanding performance in textiles. PLA fibre, as an aliphatic polyester, can be dyed with disperse dyes. Apart from the limited number of commercial disperse dyes, disperse dye exhaustion on PLA is generally lower than that on  poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET). In this study, new heterocyclic disazo disperse dyes, substituted with methyl, nitro and chloro groups at their ortho‐, meta‐ and para‐ positions, synthesised in our previous study, were applied to PLA and PET fibres to examine their dyeing performance, and colour fastness and dye exhaustion properties. Different shades of yellow, orange, reddish brown and brown were obtained. Most of the synthesised novel heterocyclic disazo disperse dyes exhibited good build‐up properties with high K/S levels on both fibres. Para‐ bonding substituent provided higher K/S values than meta‐ and ortho‐ positions for –NO₂ and –Cl substituents for both fibres. Overall, the most synthesised novel heterocyclic disazo disperse dyes in this study exhibited good build‐up properties with high K/S, exhaustion and wet fastness levels on both PLA and PET fibres.      

Dissipation in Mesoscopic Superconductors with Ac Magnetic Fields

The response of mesoscopic superconductors to an ac magnetic field is investigated both experimentally and with numerical simulations. We study small square samples with dimensions of the order of the penetration depth. We obtain the ac susceptibitity χ=χ′+iχ″ at microwave frequencies as a function of the dc magnetic field H _dc. We find that the dissipation, given by x″, has a non monotonous behavior in mesoscopic samples. In the numerical simulations we obtain that the dissipation increases before the penetration of vortices and then it decreases abruptly after vortices have entered, the sample. This is verified experimentally, where we find that χ″ has strong oscillations as a function of H _dc in small squares of Pb.     

Photo-Chemically-Deposited and Industrial Cu/ZnO/Al2O3 Catalyst Material Surface Structures During CO2 Hydrogenation to Methanol: EXAFS,XANES and XPS Analyses of Phases After Oxidation,Reduction, and Reaction

Catalysis Letters - Industrial Cu/ZnO/Al2O3 or novel rate catalysts, prepared with a photochemical deposition method, were studied under functional CH3OH synthesis conditions at the set temperature...     

Synthesis of UHMW-PE by a Highly Active Homogeneous System: η5-(C5H5)2Ti(η1-OC(O)C6H5)2/MAO

Summary The complex ⁵-(C₅H₅)₂Ti (¹-OC(O)C₆H₅)₂ was synthesized and activated with MA0 for ethylene polymerization. The resultant polymer is UHMW-PE with a viscosimetric molecular weight of Mv = 6.8 x 10⁶ to 0.7 x 10⁶ g/mol dependent on the temperature of the reaction. The effects of the Al/Ti molar ratio and temperature of the reaction on the catalytic activity and polymer properties were studied.     

Correction to: How to model and prove hybrid systems with KeYmaera: a tutorial on safety

International Journal on Software Tools for Technology Transfer -     

Empirical Comparisons of X‐bar Charts when Control Limits are Estimated

A control chart is a very common tool used to monitor the quality of business processes. An estimator of the process variability is generally considered to obtain the control limits of a chart when parameters of the process are unknown. Assuming Monte Carlo simulations, this paper first compares the efficiency of the various estimators of the process variability. Two empirical measures used to analyze the performance of control charts are defined. Results derived from various empirical studies reveal the existence of a linear relationship between the performance of the various estimators of the process variability and the performance of charts. The various Monte Carlo simulations are conducted under the assumption that the process is in both situations of in‐control and out‐of‐control. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Potensoft: MATLAB-based software for potential field data processing, modeling and mapping

An open-source software including an easy-to-use graphical user interface (GUI) has been developed for processing, modeling and mapping of gravity and magnetic data. The program, called Potensoft, is a set of functions written in MATLAB. The most common application of Potensoft is spatial and frequency domain filtering of gravity and magnetic data. The GUI helps the user easily change all the required parameters. One of the major advantages of the program is to display the input and processed maps in a preview window, thereby allowing the user to track the results during the ongoing process. Source codes can be modified depending on the users' goals. This paper discusses the main features of the program and its capabilities are demonstrated by means of illustrative examples. The main objective is to introduce and ensure usage of the developed package for academic, teaching and professional purposes.