Preparation and evaluation of novel nano-bioglass/gelatin conduit for peripheral nerve regeneration

Peripheral nerves are exposed to physical injuries usually caused by trauma that may lead to a significant loss of sensory or motor functions and is considered as a serious health problem for societies today. This study was designed to develop a novel nano bioglass/gelatin conduit (BGGC) for the peripheral nerve regeneration. The bioglass nanoparticles were prepared by sol–gel technique and characterized using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray diffraction analysis. The interfacial bonding interaction between the nano-bioglass and gelatin in the developed conduits was assessed by FTIR. The surface morphology and pore size of the nanocomposite were investigated through scanning electron microscopy with the pore size of the conduits being 10–40 μm. Biocompatibility was assessed by MTT assay which indicated the BGGC to have good cytocompatibility. The guidance channel was examined and used to regenerate a 10 mm gap in the right sciatic nerve of a male Wistar rat. Twenty rats were randomly divided into two experimental groups, one with the BGGC and the other being normal rats. The gastrocnemius muscle contractility was also examined at one, two and three months post-surgery in all groups using electromyography (EMAP). Histological and functional evaluation and the results obtained from electromyography indicated that at three months, nerve regeneration of the BGGC group was statistically equivalent to the normal group (p > 0.05). Our result suggests that the BGGC can be a suitable candidate for peripheral nerve repair.     

Experimental and theoretical study of asphaltene deposition and permeability impairment in low-permeability carbonate cores

Asphaltene deposition is one of the problems that oil industries face during oil production, processing, transport, and refining. Deposition of asphaltene flocculation on reservoir rock can plug pore spaces and cause permeability impairment. Carbonate rock, which has low permeability, tend to adsorb asphaltene causing more loss of permeability. In this study, three miscible CO₂ injection core tests were conducted at reservoir conditions and the effects of asphaltene content on the amount of formation damage in carbonate cores with low permeability were investigated. High asphaltene content oil has been used in the experiments. Results show that permeability reduction was more than porosity losses. An empirical model for permeability impairment was derived based on experimental data by considering the activation of the two mechanisms simultaneously. The results may be useful for understanding permeability impairment mechanisms during gas injection in low-permeability carbonate cores.     

Progressive dimensionality reduction by transform for hyperspectral imagery

This paper develops to a new concept, called progressive dimensionality reduction by transform (PDRT), which is particularly designed to perform data dimensionality reduction in terms of progressive information preservation. In order to materialize the PRDT a key issue is to prioritize information contained in each spectral-transformed component so that all the spectral transformed components will be ranked in accordance with their information priorities. In doing so, projection pursuit (PP)-based dimensionality reduction by transform (DRT) techniques are developed for this purpose where the Projection Index (PI) is used to define the direction of interestingness of a PP-transformed component, referred to as projection index component (PIC). The information contained in a PIC is then calculated by the PI and used as the priority score of this particular PIC. Such a resultant PDRT is called progressive dimensionality reduction by projection index-based projection pursuit (PDR-PIPP) which performs PDRT by retaining an appropriate set of PICs for information preservation according to their priorities. Two procedures are further developed to carry out PDR-PIPP in a forward or a backward manner, referred to forward PDR-PIPP (FPDR-PIPP) or backward PDRT (BPDR-PIPP), respectively, where FPDR-PIPP can be considered as progressive band expansion by starting with a minimum number of PICs and adding new PICs progressively according to their reduced priorities as opposed to BPDRT which can be regarded progressive band reduction by beginning with a maximum number of PICs and removing PICs with least priorities progressively. Both procedures are terminated when a stopping rule is satisfied. The advantages of PDR-PIPP allow users to transmit, communicate, process and store data more efficiently and effectively in the sense of retaining data integrity progressively.     

A replicated investigation of nitroxide‐mediated radical polymerization of styrene over a range of reaction conditions

A comprehensive experimental investigation of nitroxide‐mediated radical polymerization (NMRP) of styrene using 2,2,6,6‐tetramethyl‐1‐piperidinyloxy (TEMPO) as controller is presented. Polymerizations with a bimolecular initiator (benzoyl peroxide; BPO) were carried out at 120 and 130°C, with TEMPO/BPO molar ratios ranging from 0.9 to 1.5. Results indicate that increasing temperature increases the rate of polymerization while the decrease in molecular weights is only slight. It was also observed that increasing the ratio of TEMPO/BPO decreased both the rate of polymerization and molecular weights. Probably for the first time in the history of such investigations, the paper contains a comprehensive database, appropriate for parameter estimation in aid of future modelling studies, since it comes from a systematic data collection containing independent replication.     

Functional Metal Matrix Composites: Self-lubricating,Self-healing,and Nanocomposites-An Outlook

Many different types of advanced metal matrix composites are now available, some of which possess functional properties. Recent work on particle-reinforced, self-lubricating and self-healing metals and metal matrix nanocomposites (MMNCs) synthesized by solidification synthesis is reviewed. Particle-based MMNCs have been developed by several modern processing tools based on either solid- or liquid-phase synthesis techniques that are claimed to exhibit exciting mechanical properties including improvements of modulus, yield strength, and ultimate tensile strength. This article presents a brief and objective review of the work done over the last decade to identify the challenges and future opportunities in the area of functional nanocomposites. Increasing interest in lightweight materials has resulted in studies on hollow particle-filled metal matrix syntactic foams. Syntactic foams seem especially suitable for development with functional properties such as self-healing and self-lubrication. The metal matrix micro and nanocomposites, and syntactic foams having combinations of ultrahigh strength and wear resistance, self-lubricating, and/or self-healing properties can lead to increased energy efficiency, reliability, comfort of operation, reparability, and safety of vehicles. The focus of the present review is aluminum and magnesium matrix functional materials.     

Improving machinability of Inconel 718 with a new hybrid machining technique

In this paper, by joining three non-traditional machining methods — plasma-enhanced machining, cryogenic machining, and ultrasonic vibration assisted machining — a new hybrid machining technique for machining of Inconel 718 is presented. Cryogenic machining reduces the temperature in the cutting zone, and therefore decrease tool wear and increases tool life, while plasma-enhanced machining helps to increase the temperature in the workpiece to make it softer. Also, applying ultrasonic vibrations to the tool helps to improve cutting quality and to prolong tool life by lowering, mainly, the cutting force and improving the dynamic cutting stability. This study experimentally investigates the effect of cutting parameters on cutting performance in the machining of Inconel 718 and compares the results of hybrid machining and conventional machining (CM). It is found that the hybrid method results in better surface finish and improves tool life in hard cutting at low cutting speeds as compared to the CM method.     

The effects of pre-treatment with vitamin B6 on memory retrieval in rats

The effects of pre-treatment with vitamin B₆ on memory retrieval in adult male Wistar rats were evaluated using a step-through passive avoidance task. The rats were divided into three groups of 10 each. All animals were fed standard rodent chow. Vitamin B₆ (50 or 100 mg/kg) was administered intraperitoneally (i.p.) every other day for 1 month before training was initiated. Three retention tests were performed to assess the memory of the rats. Vitamin B₆ (100 mg/kg) significantly increased the step-through latency of the passive avoidance response compared with the control in the first retention test of the passive avoidance paradigm (p < 0.05). In addition, vitamin B₆ at 100 mg/kg significantly increased memory retrieval in the second and third retention tests conducted 2 days and 1 week after training, respectively, compared with the control (p < 0.05). These results indicate that pre-treatment with vitamin B₆ potentially enhances memory retrieval.     

Efficient preconcentration and determination of traces of aluminum ion using silica-bonded glycerol sorbent

A solid-phase extraction system was proposed for the determination of aluminum after preconcentration with glycerol-bonded silica gel. The method is rapid and efficient for the enrichment of aluminum ions at trace levels. Optimal sorption conditions were found for sorption and desorption of aluminum ions. The effects of diverse ions on the sorption and recovery of aluminum have been studied and it was shown that the selectivity of the sorption process was very good. A very satisfactory preconcentration factor of 500 was achieved by this method. The lowest concentration of aluminum ions for quantitative recovery was 2ngml(-1). The capacity of sorbent was 400microg per gram of sorbent. The method showed good reproducibility (R.S.D.=2.2% for n=7) and was applied to the determination of aluminum in mineral water, hair and green tea samples.     

Design of an adaptive-robust controller for a powder coating robot and its comparison with inverse dynamic approach

In this research, the design and function of “DAP”, a 3-DOF ‘RRP’ (rotational/prismatic) dual-acting pick-and-place-painting robot, are first briefly presented and, along with its kinematic and dynamic analysis, is studied to eliminate the man presence in industrially polluted environment such as coating processes. The main function of this robot is coating epoxy powder on “Hawle” gate valves at temperatures up to 200°C. Then, the movement and control simulation trend for maneuvering in optimization path are described by non-linear inverse dynamic and adaptive-robust controllers as modern control methods regarding to angle and torque feedback systems in industrial robots. Comparison of these control approaches is considered in relation to uncertainties. The results obtained from this research could greatly satisfy the need for overcoming uncertainties in such combined industrial processes.