Platelet-Released Factors: Their Role in Viral Disease and Applications for Extracellular Vesicle (EV) Therapy

Platelets, which are small anuclear cell fragments, play important roles in thrombosis and hemostasis, but also actively release factors that can both suppress and induce viral infections. Platelet-released factors include sCD40L, microvesicles (MVs), and alpha granules that have the capacity to exert either pro-inflammatory or anti-inflammatory effects depending on the virus. These factors are prime targets for use in extracellular vesicle (EV)-based therapy due to their ability to reduce viral infections and exert anti-inflammatory effects. While there are some studies regarding platelet microvesicle-based (PMV-based) therapy, there is still much to learn about PMVs before such therapy can be used. This review provides the background necessary to understand the roles of platelet-released factors, how these factors might be useful in PMV-based therapy, and a critical discussion of current knowledge of platelets and their role in viral diseases.     

Development and characterization of magnesium composites containing nano-sized silicon carbide and carbon nanotubes as hybrid reinforcements

Magnesium based hybrid composites containing nano-sized silicon carbide and carbon nanotubes reinforcements with minimal porosity were successfully fabricated using powder metallurgy technique with microwave sintering and hot extrusion. It was found that the addition of nano-sized silicon carbide and carbon nanotubes reinforcements lowered the coefficient of thermal expansion of magnesium. Moreover, increasing presence of silicon carbide particles led to a progressive reduction in coefficient of thermal expansion for a constant overall amount of reinforcements indicating that carbon nanotubes lowered the coefficient of thermal expansion to a lesser extent when compared to silicon carbide. Micro-hardness, 0.2% YS and UTS (except for Mg+1%CNT) showed improvement, while failure strain decreased when nano-sized silicon carbide and carbon nanotubes were added to magnesium. The failure mode of magnesium and magnesium composites was predominantly brittle exhibiting the presence of cleavage steps.     

Enhanced Photovoltaic Performance of PEDOT:PSS/Si Heterojunction Solar Cell with ZnO BSF Layer: A Simulation Study using SCAPS-1D

Silicon - Here, we report an enhanced photovoltaic (PV) performance including open circuit voltage (Voc), short circuit current (Jsc), fill factor (FF) and power conversion efficiency (PCE) of...     

Influence of surface treatment on properties of Cocos nucifera L. Var typica fiber reinforced polymer composites

Natural fibers are a powerful competitor in the polymer composite market due to their availability, sustainability, obtainability, cost, and biodegradability. The surface of natural fibers was changed to increase mechanical qualities, hydrophobicity, and bonding with polymer matrix. This study exposes the influence of several surface treatments of coconut tree peduncle fibers (CTPFs) on the thermomechanical and water absorption properties of CTPF-reinforced polymer composites. The CTPFs were treated with sodium hydroxide, benzoyl peroxide, potassium permanganate and stearic acid at a constant 40 wt% and individually reinforced in an unsaturated polyester resin matrix containing 60 wt% CTPFs. Chemically treated CTPFs improved reinforcement-matrix adhesion and enhanced composite mechanical characteristics. In addition, the scanning electron microscope fractographical study of stressed composite specimens shows improved reinforcement-matrix bonding. Moreover, the treated CTPFs have a higher cellulose wt%, which improves the composites crystalline nature, hydrophobicity and thermal stability. The potassium permanganate treated CTPF composite's maximum tensile strength of 128 MPa, flexural strength of 119 MPa, impact strength of 9.9 J/cm², hardness value of 99 HRRW and thermal stability up to 193°C make them appropriate for lightweight mobility and structural applications.     

A convolutional neural network (CNN)-based direct method to detect stiction in control valves

Control valves are considered important capital assets in any process industry. A properly maintained control valve can have a significant impact on how well the process is controlled as well as the overall cost of the plant. However, control valves can suffer from poor control performance due to valve non-linearities. One of the main reasons for non-linearity is control valve stiction. Stiction not only causes oscillations in the process variables but also shortens the life of the control valve, resulting in an economic loss for the process. In a process plant, a control engineer generally analyzes the time series plot of process value (PV), set point (SP), and controller output (OP) data and identifies stiction based on the typical shape pattern of PV/SP/OP plot. In this study, the same shape pattern methodology is adapted to identify stiction using convolutional neural network (CNN) technique. A one-dimensional convolution neural network (Conv1D) algorithm is developed, which works directly on PV/SP/OP time series data for stiction detection. The proposed CNN algorithm is tested on both simulated and industrial control loop data. The suggested method provides promising results with a combined stiction prediction accuracy of 92% (92.2% in predicting non-sticky and 91.53% in predicting sticky loops) for the industrial loops data studied.     

Investigations on physical,mechanical, morphological and water absorption properties of ramie/hemp/kevlar reinforced vinyl ester hybrid composites

Structural uses in the vehicle, aerospace, and sporting goods industries are being supplanted by hybrid composites that utilized natural fibers as reinforcements. The main focus of this work is to fabricate and characterize the ramie, hemp, and kevlar fabric reinforced hybrid vinyl ester composites. The composite laminates were fabricated via economically feasible and flexible hand lay-up technique. Overall six composites were prepared by varying the stacking sequence, including both hybrid and non-hybrid composites. The prepared composites were subjected to physical analysis (density, void fraction), mechanical tests (tensile, flexural, interlaminar shear, and impact test), morphological analysis (scanning electron microscopy), and water absorption test. The hybrid composites exhibited lesser void percentage than the non-hybrid composites. The mechanical properties were maximum for kevlar fabric skinned with core natural fabric reinforced composites (L-5, L-6) due to hybridization of highly strengthened kevlar fabrics. Moreover, the number fabric layers reinforced to achieve the standard thickness also affected the mechanical properties. All composite morphologies exhibited the same failure characteristics, including transverse interlaminar shear cracking, microbuckling, and fiber rip. The texture of the Kevlar yarns is uniform, but the texture of the natural fabric yarns is relatively less uniform. In comparison to the salt water medium, the percentage of water absorbed by composites in normal and distilled water was greater. This is due to the presence and accumulation of salt particles on the surface of the materials, which inhibits the action of water molecules, resulting in a drop in the proportion.     

Peracetic acid bleaching of banana fibre: Process optimisation

Banana is an important commercially available natural fibre, suitable for making coarse yarns. It has also potential for making fine home and apparel textiles after requisite chemical intervention or blending with other fine fibres. For making such products, chemical processing, namely bleaching, coloration and finishing, play an important role. Bleaching of fibre is generally carried out in highly alkaline condition and at high temperature of 85°C using hydrogen peroxide to achieve whiteness index of > 70 with about 25% loss in tensile strength. To achieve a similar whiteness index, while addressing strength loss, a fibre friendly low-temperature low-alkali based peracetic acid (PAA) bleaching of banana fibre has been proposed in the present article. Important bleaching process parameters, namely PAA concentration (10–30 g/L), time (60–180 min) and temperature (60–80°C), have been varied for optimisation of the bleaching process. Banana fibre bleaching using PAA concentration of 20 g/L at 70°C for 2 h can produce fibre with whiteness index of > 70, which is suitable for subsequent coloration. The PAA bleached banana fibre can retain 84% of its bundle strength and 95.6% of its weight. Physical (strength, fineness), chemical (attenuated total reflectance Fourier-transform infrared [ATR-FTIR], energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy [EDX]), optical (colour) and morphological (scanning electron microscopy [SEM]) properties of banana fibres before and after bleaching were evaluated to study the efficacy of the process.     

Study of uranium sorption using D2EHPA‐impregnated polymeric beads

The extractant‐impregnated polymeric beads (EIPBs), containing Di(2‐ethylhexyl) phosphonic acid (D2EHPA) as an extractant and polyethersulfone as base polymer, were prepared by phase‐inversion method. These beads were characterized by fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and scanning electron microscope (SEM) analysis to gain insight into the composition and morphology of beads. The beads exhibited good acid stability as no significant structural deformation or leaching out of the extractant was observed in 6M HNO₃ solution, up to the studied equilibration time of 15 days. The synthesized EIPBs were evaluated, for their ability to absorb uranium from aqueous solution, at different concentration and pH values. The kinetics measurement showed that about 90 min of equilibration time was enough to remove saturation amount of uranium from the solution. Kinetic modeling analysis of the extraction results was carried out using pseudo‐first‐order, pseudo‐second‐order, and intraparticle diffusion equations and the corresponding rate constants were determined. The equilibrium data were fitted into different isotherm models and were found to be represented well by the Freundlich isotherm equation. Reusability of the beads was also established by multiple sorption–desorption experiments. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 130: 3355–3364, 2013     

Electrospun core–shell nanofibers for drug encapsulation and sustained release

Fabrication of core–shell nanofibers by coaxial electrospinning system suited for drug delivery applications was investigated based on tetracycline hydrochloride (TCH) as the core and poly(lactide‐co‐glycolide) as the shell materials. Comparison of drug release from monolithic fibers (blend electrospinning) and core–shell structures was performed to evaluate the efficacy of the core–shell morphology. The nanofibrous webs are potentially interesting for wound healing purposes since they can be maintained for an adequate length of time to gradually disinfect a local area without the need of bandage renewal. Further, our studies showed the potential of core–shell nanostructures for sustained drug release, which also suppressed the burst release effect from 62 to 44% in the first 3 hours by adding only 1 wt% TCH to the polymeric shell. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 2013. © 2013 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Mathematical Modeling of Agitated Thin-Film Dryer

Agitated thin-film dryers (ATFDs) are used to produce dry free-flowing powder from slurry/solution-type feed and widely implemented in pharmaceutical, chemical, and food industries. The feed passes through the ATFD in several forms such as solution/slurry and successively becomes paste, wet powder, and dry powder. The flow of feed in the ATFD undergoes a helical path (combination of rotational velocity imparted by the agitator/blade and axial velocity of feed) while flowing through the annular part of the dryer. The ATFD is described stage-wise and the parameters such as physical properties, scraped surface heat transfer coefficient, and evaporation rate (drying rate) are derived using stepwise model equations. The penetration theory is modeled to obtain the scraped-side heat transfer coefficient. The model equations were solved using MATLAB 7 (MathWorks Inc., Natick, MA) and the simulated drying rate was consequently validated with the experimental values.