Molecular communication and networking: opportunities and challenges

The ability of engineered biological nanomachines to communicate with biological systems at the molecular level is anticipated to enable future applications such as monitoring the condition of a human body, regenerating biological tissues and organs, and interfacing artificial devices with neural systems. From the viewpoint of communication theory and engineering, molecular communication is proposed as a new paradigm for engineered biological nanomachines to communicate with the natural biological nanomachines which form a biological system. Distinct from the current telecommunication paradigm, molecular communication uses molecules as the carriers of information; sender biological nanomachines encode information on molecules and release the molecules in the environment, the molecules then propagate in the environment to receiver biological nanomachines, and the receiver biological nanomachines biochemically react with the molecules to decode information. Current molecular communication research is limited to small-scale networks of several biological nanomachines. Key challenges to bridge the gap between current research and practical applications include developing robust and scalable techniques to create a functional network from a large number of biological nanomachines. Developing networking mechanisms and communication protocols is anticipated to introduce new avenues into integrating engineered and natural biological nanomachines into a single networked system. In this paper, we present the state-of-the-art in the area of molecular communication by discussing its architecture, features, applications, design, engineering, and physical modeling. We then discuss challenges and opportunities in developing networking mechanisms and communication protocols to create a network from a large number of bio-nanomachines for future applications.     

Modelling the lymphatic system: challenges and opportunities

The lymphatic system is a vital part of the circulatory and immune systems, and plays an important role in homeostasis by controlling extracellular fluid volume and in combating infection. Nevertheless, there is a notable disparity in terms of research effort expended in relation to the treatment of lymphatic diseases in contrast to the cardiovascular system. While similarities to the cardiovascular system exist, there are considerable differences in their anatomy and physiology. This review outlines some of the challenges and opportunities for those engaged in modelling biological systems. The study of the lymphatic system is still in its infancy, the vast majority of the models presented in the literature to date having been developed since 2003. The number of distinct models and their variants are few in number, and only one effort has been made thus far to study the entire lymphatic network; elements of the lymphatic system such as the nodes, which act as pumps and reservoirs, have not been addressed by mathematical models. Clearly, more work will be necessary in combination with experimental verification in order to progress and update the knowledge on the function of the lymphatic system. As our knowledge and understanding of its function increase, new and more effective treatments of lymphatic diseases are bound to emerge.     

Formulation and delivery strategies of ibuprofen: challenges and opportunities

Ibuprofen, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), is mostly administered orally and topically to relieve acute pain and fever. Due to its mode of action this drug may be useful in the treatment regimens of other, more chronic conditions, like cystic fibrosis. This drug is poorly soluble in aqueous media and thus the rate of dissolution from the currently available solid dosage forms is limited. This leads to poor bioavailability at high doses after oral administration, thereby increasing the risk of unwanted adverse effects. The poor solubility is a problem for developing injectable solution dosage forms. Because of its poor skin permeability, it is difficult to obtain an effective therapeutic concentration from topical preparations. This review aims to give a brief insight into the status of ibuprofen dosage forms and their limitations, particle/crystallization technologies for improving formulation strategies as well as suggesting its incorporation into the pulmonary drug delivery systems for achieving better therapeutic action at low dose.     

Assessment of environmental exposures from agricultural pesticides in childhood leukaemia studies: challenges and opportunities

Pesticides are ubiquitous in environments of many rural communities due to drift from agricultural applications and home/garden use. Studies of childhood leukaemia predominantly relied on retrospective pesticide exposure assessment and parental recall of use or proximity to fields or pesticide applications. Sample size requirements mostly preclude the collection of individual-level exposure information, biomarkers or environmental measurements of pesticides prospectively in cohorts. Yet such measures can be used in nested case-control approaches or for validating exposure models that can be applied to large populations. Recently developed models incorporate geographic information system technology and environmental databases of pesticide and/or crop data to assess exposure. Models developed in California to estimate residential exposures are presented by linking addresses to agricultural pesticide application data and land-use maps. Results from exposure validation and simulation studies and exposure measurement error issues are discussed.     

The challenges and opportunities of technological approaches to fatigue management

There are a number of different strategies to mitigate the effects of fatigue in transportation and other occupational settings. Many are centered on regulatory or organizational approaches, such as work scheduling restriction and employer screening practices. While these generally benefit safety and productivity, there are clearly limitations to these approaches. Technologies that objectively detect or predict operator fatigue may be used to effectively complement or even supplant organizational or regulatory approaches. Over the past decade and a half, there have been considerable advances in relevant technologies, including onboard devices that monitor drivers’ state or level of performance as well as devices that predict fatigue in advance of a work cycle or trip. In this paper, we discuss the challenges and opportunities for technological approaches to fatigue management, beginning with a discussion of the “ideal” system, followed by some of the general issues and limitations of current technologies. We also discuss some of the critical and outstanding issues related to the human interaction with these systems, including user acceptance and compliance. Finally, we discuss future directions in next generation technology for fatigue management.     

OLED技术与产业发展的机会与挑战

OLED(有机发光显示)是指有机半导体材料在电场作用下发光的技术,是最有发展前景的新型显示技术之一,也是国际上高技术领域的一个竞争热点。本文介绍了国外技术及产业现状,我国OLED产业的发展情况和产业环境,并就我国OLED产业发展过程中存在的问题提出了一些建议。     

Chemomechanics of complex materials: challenges and opportunities in predictive kinetic timescales

What do nanoscopic biomolecular complexes between the cells that line our blood vessels have in common with the microscopic silicate glass fiber optics that line our communication highways, or with the macroscopic steel rails that line our bridges? To be sure, these are diverse materials which have been developed and studied for years by distinct experimental and computational research communities. However, the macroscopic functional properties of each of these structurally complex materials pivots on a strong yet poorly understood interplay between applied mechanical states and local chemical reaction kinetics. As is the case for many multiscale material phenomena, this chemomechanical coupling can be abstracted through computational modeling and simulation to identify key unit processes of mechanically altered chemical reactions. In the modeling community, challenges in predicting the kinetics of such structurally complex materials are often attributed to the so-called rough energy landscape, though rigorous connection between this simple picture and observable properties is possible for only the simplest of structures and transition states. By recognizing the common effects of mechanical force on rare atomistic events ranging from molecular unbinding to hydrolytic atomic bond rupture, we can develop perspectives and tools to address the challenges of predicting macroscopic kinetic consequences in complex materials characterized by rough energy landscapes. Here, we discuss the effects of mechanical force on chemical reactivity for specific complex materials of interest, and indicate how such validated computational analysis can enable predictive design of complex materials in reactive environments.     

Additive manufacturing: scientific and technological challenges,market uptake and opportunities

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Integrating mine closure planning with environmental impact assessment: challenges and opportunities drawn from African and Australian practice

Abstract

Best practice mine closure planning and environmental impact assessment (EIA) principles share many common features. This research examined how mine closure planning relates to, and can be integrated with EIA by comparing practice in eight African and Australian jurisdictions. Emphasis was placed on key challenges and opportunities associated with: institutional arrangements for mine closure planning; financial mechanisms for mine site closure and rehabilitation including abandoned/legacy mine sites; transparency of mine closure planning and financing provisions; and regulation of artisanal and small-scale mining activity. Data were gathered through document analysis, interviews and interactions with practitioners from Western Australia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia. Issues associated with mine closure planning and rehabilitation under existing arrangements and opportunities for improvement through existing EIA processes already in place in each jurisdiction are explored. All eight jurisdictions have appropriate regulatory provisions in place already, but implementation capacity remains a challenge. Opportunities for effective practice lie in using mine closure planning and EIA measures in an integrated fashion, avoiding duplication and enabling synergies in management to be realised.     

High strain rate nanoindentation testing: Recent advancements,challenges and opportunities

Recent advancements in electronics have renewed the interest in high strain rate nanoindentation testing, resulting in the development of new high strain rate nanoindentation test equipment and test methodologies. In this work, the current state-of-the-art in high strain rate nanoindentation testing is critically reviewed, with focus on three key aspects - the testing equipment's dynamic mechanical and electronic response, test methodology, and post-processing of raw data to obtain hardness and strain rate. The challenges in instrument hardware design and post-test data analysis are discussed, along with optimal strain rate window for accurate high strain rate measurements. Specific focus will be on instrumented high strain rate testing using self-similar indenters at strain rates in excess of 100 s^?1, wherein load and depth of penetration into the sample are both measured or applied.     

Ti-HA-BaTiO_3生物复合材料的制备与性能

为进一步提高骨修复材料的骨诱导性能,引入了BaTiO_3压电涂层。首先,通过等离子喷涂法在Ti基体上制备羟基磷灰石(HA)、Ti-HA和Ti-HA-BaTiO_3这3种生物涂层;然后,采用正交试验设计优化了喷涂工艺参数,用SEM/EDS对涂层的形貌和成分进行了表征,并通过划痕试验测试了涂层与基体的结合强度;最后,进行了细胞培养试验,用CCK-8法对细胞毒性进行了评价,并在SEM下观察了细胞的粘附形态。结果显示:细胞带有伪足,呈梭形和不规则多边形,且粘附在Ti-HA-BaTiO_3复合涂层表面;细胞伸展形态良好,涂层的细胞毒性等级不高于1级。可见,Ti-HA-BaTiO_3复合材料可以作为临床植入材料应用。     

A decade of piezoresponse force microscopy: progress, challenges, and opportunities

Coupling between electrical and mechanical phenomena is a near-universal characteristic of inorganic and biological systems alike, with examples ranging from piezoelectricity in ferroelectric perovskites to complex, electromechanical couplings in electromotor proteins in cellular membranes. Understanding electromechanical functionality in materials such as ferroelectric nanocrystals and thin films, relaxor ferroelectrics, and biosystems requires probing these properties on the nanometer level of individual grain, domain, or protein fibril. In the last decade, piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM) was established as a powerful tool for nanoscale imaging, spectroscopy, and manipulation of ferroelectric materials. Here, we present principles and recent advances in PFM, including vector and frequency-dependent imaging of piezoelectric materials, briefly review applications for ferroelectric materials, discuss prospects for electromechanical imaging of local crystallographic and molecular orientations and disorder, and summarize future challenges and opportunities for PFM emerging in the second decade since its invention     

从资源共享到服务共享：透明计算的机遇与挑战

随着计算机和网络技术以及应用的不断快速发展,计算模式从最初的以主机计算为主,发展到以桌面(PC)计算为主,再发展到现在的以网络计算为主,乃至普适计算.然而,迄今为止的计算模式还是遵循以单机或单机联合为基础的单机思维模式,因此,目前的计算模式还是一种以"资源共享"为主要特征的计算.在网络和普适计算的新时代,用户关心的主要是服务和服务共享,计算机也将从以"资源共享"为特征的计算过渡到以"服务共享"为特征的计算.笔者提出一种适应于"服务共享"的计算模式--透明计算,并对其概念、体系结构及相关关键技术进行介绍.此外,还对透明计算的未来发展及影响进行展望.     

Fabrication,microstructure and properties of HA/Mg-Zn-Ca bio-composites

正A biodegradable magnesium matrix and HA or beta-tricalcium phosphate(β-TCP)particles reinforced composite Mg-Zn-Ca/1beta-TCP(wt.%)and Mg-Zn-Ca/1HA(wt.%)were fabricated for biomedical applications by the novel route of combined high shear solidification(HSS)and equal     

Enhancing oral bioavailability of poorly soluble drugs with mesoporous silica based systems: opportunities and challenges

Porous silica-based drug delivery systems have shown considerable promise for improving the oral delivery of poorly water-soluble drugs. More specifically, micro- and meso-porous silica carriers have high surface areas with associated ability to physically adsorb high-drug loads in a molecular or amorphous form; this allows molecular state drug release in aqueous gastrointestinal environments, potential for supersaturation, and hence facilitates enhanced absorption and increased bioavailability. This review focuses primarily on the ability of porous silica materials to modulate in vitro drug release and enhance in vivo biopharmaceutical performance. The key considerations identified and addressed are the physicochemical properties of the porous silica materials (e.g. the particle and pore size, shape, and surface chemistry), drug specific properties (e.g. pKa, solubility, and nature of interactions with the silica carrier), potential for both immediate and controlled release, drug release mechanisms, potential for surface functionalization and inclusion of precipitation inhibitors, and importance of utilizing relevant and effective in vitro dissolution methods with discriminating dissolution media that provides guidance for in vivo outcomes (i.e. IVIVC).     

Critical assessment 27: dissimilar resistance spot welding of aluminium/steel: challenges and opportunities

Dissimilar joining of aluminium and steel, especially using resistance spot welding as a critical process in vehicle manufacturing, is a key challenge for multi-materials lightweight design strategy. Controlling the formation and growth of Al₅Fe₂ intermetallic is the outstanding issue for producing high strength crash-resistance Al/steel dissimilar resistance spot welds. This critical assessment highlights the current understating regarding factors affecting the joint properties and approaches to control the interfacial reaction. Finally, the unresolved scientific challenges are discussed with the goal of shedding light on the path forward to produce reliable metallurgical bonding between aluminium and steels for automotive application.     

短切碳纤维增强HA/PMMA生物复合材料的制备及性能

以丙烯腈短切碳纤维(C)为增强相,纳米羟基磷灰石(HA)为改性体,聚甲基丙烯酸甲酯(PMMA)为基体,采用原位合成与溶液共混相结合的方法,制备了C_f-HA/PMMA生物复合材料。用X射线衍射仪(XRD)、红外吸收光谱仪(FTIR)、扫描电子显微镜(SEM)和能谱仪(EDS)等对材料的结构组成及断面的微观形貌等进行测试和表征,使用万能材料试验机测试其力学性能。结果表明：该合成工艺可以保证短切碳纤维和HA 在基体PMMA中均匀分布;所制备的复合材料具有较好的力学性能。随着碳纤维含量的增加,复合材料的弯曲强度和模量均呈先增大后减小的趋势。当碳纤维含量为4 %、HA含量为2%时(质量分数),复合材料的弯曲强度和弯曲模量达到极大值97.41 MPa和3.06 GPa。从复合材料的SEM照片可以看出,当碳纤维含量增加到6%时,纤维在基体PMMA中出现部分聚集现象。     

Effects of diammonium phosphate on the flammability and mechanical properties of bio-composites

The flammability, thermal stability and mechanical properties of natural fiber-reinforced thermoplastic bio-composites were measured using a horizontal burning test, thermogravimetric analyzer, and universal testing machine, respectively. The composites were fabricated from film resins (Polylactic-acid, PLA and Polypropylene, PP) and natural fibers (coconut filter and jute fiber) by a hot press machine. To improve the flame retardancy of the bio-composites, various diammonium phosphates (DAP) were treated into the fibers. In general, the results indicate that increasing the percentage of DAP used to treat the fibers effectively improves the flame resistant, weight loss rate, and flexural modulus but decreases the flexural and tensile strengths of the bio-composites. Bio-composites with DAP-treated fibers showed a greater flexural modulus than those with untreated fibers, and the flexural modulus was even greater than that of neat polymers (PLA and PP). Also, increasing the percentage of DAP for treatment of the fibers in the composites decreases the temperature required for 5% weight loss and the decomposition rate, but increases the char residual at 500 °C. The best linear burning rate and weight loss rate were observed for fiber treatment with 5% DAP. The compressive and wear properties of these bio-composites were also studied.