Using crosslinkable diacetylene phospholipids to construct two-dimensional packed beds in supported lipid bilayer separation platforms

Abstract

Separating and purifying cell membrane-associated biomolecules has been a challenge owing to their amphiphilic property. Taking these species out of their native lipid membrane environment usually results in biomolecule degradation. One of the new directions is to use supported lipid bilayer (SLB) platforms to separate the membrane species while they are protected in their native environment. Here we used a type of crosslinkable diacetylene phospholipids, diynePC (1,2-bis(10,12-tricosadiynoyl)-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine), as a packed material to create a ‘two-dimensional (2D) packed bed’ in a SLB platform. After the diynePC SLB is exposed to UV light, some of the diynePC lipids in the SLB can crosslink and the non-crosslinked monomer lipids can be washed away, leaving a 2D porous solid matrix. We incorporated the lipid vesicle deposition method with a microfluidic device to pattern the location of the packed-bed region and the feed region with species to be separated in a SLB platform. Our atomic force microscopy result shows that the nano-scaled structure density of the ‘2D packed bed’ can be tuned by the UV dose applied to the diynePC membrane. When the model membrane biomolecules were forced to transport through the packed-bed region, their concentration front velocities were found to decrease linearly with the UV dose, indicating the successful creation of packed obstacles in these 2D lipid membrane separation platforms.     

Extruded blend films of poly(vinyl alcohol) and polyolefins: common and hard-elastic nanostructure evolution in the polyolefin during straining as monitored by SAXS

Abstract

Straining of PVA/PE and PVA/PP blends (70:30) is monitored by small-angle x-ray scattering (SAXS). Sheet-extruded films with different predraw ratio are investigated. The discrete SAXS of predrawn samples originates from polyolefin nanofibrils inside of polyolefin microfibrils immersed in a PVA matrix. PE nanofibrils deform less than the macroscopic strain without volume change. PP nanofibrils experience macroscopic strain. They lengthen but their diameter does not decrease. This is explained by strain-induced crystallization of PP from an amorphous depletion shell around the core of the nanofibril. The undrawn PVA/PE film exhibits isotropic semicrystalline nanostructure. Undrawn PVA/PP holds PP droplets containing oriented stacks of semicrystalline PP like neat precursors of hard-elastic thermoplasts. Respective predrawn films are softer than the undrawn material, indicating conversion into the hard-elastic state. Embedding of the polyolefin significantly retards neck formation. The polyolefin microfibrils can easily be extracted from the water-soluble matrix.     

Selection application of material to be used in hip prosthesis production with analytic hierarchy process

Metallic biomaterials used in making hip prosthesis are required to meet expectations in terms of fatigue strength, corrosion resistance, wear resistance, cost and biocompatibility. It is also desirable that the modulus of elasticity they possess is close to the level of the possible bone. Metallic biomaterials face the problem of ion release even though they meet the criteria mentioned above. As a result, the choice of metallic material to be preferred in the manufacture of hip prosthesis can be made by evaluating all these criteria among themselves and by the performances of biomaterials to be compared according to these criteria. In this study, firstly the criteria expected from the metals to be used as biomaterials have been determined. Expert opinions about the subject and criteria determined in accordance with the studies in the literature by using analytical hierarchy process have been graded according to each other. Afterwards, selection of the most appropriate material was ensured by making the order of importance according to the criteria of the candidate materials.     

聚二甲基硅氧烷膜分离甲醇/碳酸二甲酯混合物的渗透汽化研究

制备了一系列聚二甲基硅氧烷(PDMS)均质膜,用于渗透汽化法分离甲醇/碳酸二甲酯混合物,此系列PDMS均质膜优先脱除碳酸二甲酯.考查了PDMS均质膜在甲醇和碳酸二甲酯液体中的溶胀性能,并研究了PDMS预聚体的黏度、交联剂浓度、操作温度及料液浓度对渗透汽化分离性能的影响.结果表明,对于不同黏度的PDMS预聚体均表现出随交联剂浓度增加分离因子先增加后减小,而渗透通量则逐渐减小;随操作温度增加分离因子减小而渗透通量增大;随料液中碳酸二甲酯浓度增加分离因子先增加后减小,而渗透通量则逐渐增大.对于碳酸二甲酯浓度为30%的甲醇/碳酸二甲酯混合物,40℃时渗透侧碳酸二甲酯浓度为59.7%,分离因子为3.46,渗透通量为1.41 kg/(m2·h).     

面向饮用水制备过程的纳滤膜分离技术

纳滤膜分离技术在饮用水制备方面具有独特的作用，是制备优质饮用水的有效方法．依据电荷效应，纳滤膜可以降低水质硬度，去除饮用水中对人体有害的硝酸盐、砷、氟化物和重金属等无机污染物；依据筛分效应，纳滤膜可以有效地去除农药残留物、三氯甲烷及其中问体、激素以及天然有机物等有机污染物．文章详细综述了国内外纳滤膜技术在饮用水制备中应用研究的最新进展，纳滤膜对地表水或地下水中存在的各种无机、有机污染物的分离特性及饮用水制备过程中的纳滤膜污染与防治对策．     

Some electrical feedthroughs to be used at low temperatures

A type of low temperature feedthrough is described for use by low temperature physicists     

Comments on drugs difficult to compound and the quality of chemicals to be used in compounding

These comments are minor modifications to the material submitted by the author to the docket for the FDA Pharmacy Compounding Committee that met on October 15 and 16, 1998.     

膜分离技术在水处理领域的应用

对2000年底巴黎“饮用水和工业用水制造领域中的膜技术”国际会议进行了简单的回顾，根据会议经历对当今膜分离技术在水处理领域的应用市场进行分析，提出今后液体膜分离技术的研究和发展的重点。最后对我国液体分离膜技术的发展提出一些建议。     

Characterization of membranes used in pressure driven composite processing

Nano-porous membranes are being used in the Vacuum Assisted Process (VAP) as a surface fluid barrier layer that provides continuous venting, reduced void content and improved process repeatability. A model to describe the membrane/resin interactions as a function of microstructure and constituent properties was presented in previous work. It enables the prediction of barrier characteristics, especially permeability, as a function membrane microstructure and process pressure. In this paper, we fully characterize six EPTFE candidate membranes for VAP. Membranes are characterized using SEM and porometry to establish pore size distributions and their corresponding Weibull fits. We will also present the permeability results for the different materials, based on our previous findings, and use this information to provide a ranking of the membranes based on their pressure capability for processes of interest.     

Holographic characteristics of a 1-mm-thick photopolymer to be used in holographic memories

Poly(vinyl alcohol-acrylamide) photopolymers are materials of interest in the field of digital information storage (holographic memories). We analyzed the behavior of a 1-mm-thick photopolymer. Using a standard holographic setup, we recorded unslanted diffraction gratings. The material has high angular selectivity (0.4 degrees), good sensitivity (88 mJ/cm2), and small losses caused by absorption and scattering of light. It also has a high maximum diffraction efficiency (70%). A significant induction period was seen in the material. The authors hypothesize that, during most of this induction period, polymerization does in fact take place but is not reflected in the appearance of the diffracted light until a certain threshold value of exposure is reached.     

Optimum determination of speckle size to be used in electronic speckle pattern interferometry

Characteristics of the fringe pattern detected by an electronic speckle pattern interferometer, in conditions in which a test object deforms in an arbitrary direction and the speckle intensity is detected over a pixel area in the TV camera to be used, have been investigated from two aspects: speckle noise reduction and fringe contrast. The main result is that the fringes are obtained with high contrast and low speckle noise, if the speckle size is selected by the optical system so as to be smaller than the pixel size. This result is applicable to highly accurate measurements of the out-of-plane displacements of the test object, whose in-plane displacement is small.     

Probabilistic modeling of a nonlinear dynamical system used for producing voice

This paper is devoted to the construction of a stochastic nonlinear dynamical system for signal generation such as the production of voiced sounds. The dynamical system is highly nonlinear, and the output signal generated is very sensitive to a few parameters of the system. In the context of the production of voiced sounds the measurements have a significant variability. We then propose a statistical treatment of the experiments and we developed a probability model of the sensitive parameters in order that the stochastic dynamical system has the capability to predict the experiments in the probability distribution sense. The computational nonlinear dynamical system is presented, the Maximum Entropy Principle is used to construct the probability model and an experimental validation is shown.     

Uniform ZnO nanorods can be used to improve the response of ZnO gas sensor

Uniform ZnO nanorods were synthesized in high-yield by using metal zinc powder as zinc source via a one-step facile hydrothermal process under mild conditions, in which cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) with ordered chain structures acted as the conversion of Zn powder into ZnO nanorods. The characterization results show that the as-synthesized products were structurally uniform and have diameters of 40–80 nm. Gas sensing properties studies show that ZnO nanorods exhibit more excellent response and stability to ethanol than that of ZnO nanoparticles. After working continuously for 50 days, the sensitivity of ZnO nanorods still retained 7.3, whereas, the ZnO nanoparticles showed only 1.0. The facile preparation method and the improved properties derived from typical rods-like nanostructure are significant for the future applications of gas sensing material.     

The effect of megavoltage radiation on polymeric materials to be used in biomedical devices

For a number of biomedical applications, including the development of phantoms for quality control of radiotherapy treatments and dose determination, it is important to study the radiation response of the used materials, in order to distinguish the relevant dose distribution modifications from the artifacts caused by the phantom material when subjected to high dose irradiation. Beside the radiation response, those materials should have certain physical and chemical properties in order to be able to be used for the purposes described above, i.e., mechanical hardness and inelasticity, chemically stability and nonreactive, among others. In this work, a wide range of polymeric materials were irradiated under megavoltage radiation using a radiotherapy linear accelerator. The irradiated materials were imaged using transmission X-ray tomography to determine if some radiation induced electronic density change could result in altered Hounsfield units. Furthermore, Raman Spectroscopy and X-ray Diffraction (XRD) techniques were used before and after irradiation in order to study any structural modification induced by the radiation. In addition, a special phantom simulating a breast treatment with two tangential beams has been fabricated and tested.     

Clarifications to the paper "Holographic characteristics of a 1-mm-thick photopolymer to be used in holographic memories"

We have corrected typing errors related to the characterization of the dynamic range of the acrylamide photopolymer described in an earlier study [Appl. Opt. 42, 7008 (2003)]. The M number is expressed as M/# instead of M# as appears in the text. The value calculated from the experimental results that are included in the article is M/# = 3.8 instead of 38 as appears in the text.     

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy used to detect palladium and silver metal dispersed in bacterial cellulose membranes

The technique of laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy has been used for the first time to our knowledge for the identification of metals such as palladium and silver that were dispersed in bacterial cellulose membranes. These results for palladium-dispersed films have been correlated to a calibration curve obtained by use of atomic absorption spectroscopy and were found to be in good agreement. The experiments were conducted by use of wet and dry metal-doped membranes. The metal peaks obtained with a dry membrane are greater than five times higher in signal-to-background ratio than when metals are detected by a hydrated membrane. The advantage of this laser-based technique is that minimal sample handling and sample preparation are needed and measurements are completed in real time (a few seconds). Hence this technique can be used for the detection of metals in dry membranes that would be used in the construction of electrode assemblies.     

Preparation and evaluation of an experimental luting glass ionomer cement to be used in dentistry

The aim of this paper is to compare the fluoride-releasing and mechanical properties of an experimental luting glass ionomer cement, which has a modified composition and a commercial luting cement. The experimental powder was obtained by sol–gel process and then, it was used to prepare the experimental cements. The properties of cement pastes, such as setting time and working time, microhardness and diametral tensile strength were determined. Fluoride release from GICs was evaluated at time intervals of 1, 7, 14, 21 and 28 days in deionized water. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) analyses showed that the surface of the experimental cements is more homogeneous than commercial GICs. The mechanical properties and the measure of liberation of fluoride of the two cements were influenced by ratio powder:liquid and chemical composition of the precursor powders. Experimental cements released less fluoride than commercial cements. However, this liberation was more constant during the analyzed period. Thus, the results obtained in this study indicated that the composition of the experimental powder modified by the niobium can lead the formation of the polysalt matrix with good mechanical properties. In other words, we can say that experimental powder offered considerable promise for exploitation in dental field.