A procedure for the Galerkin method for a vibrating system

In this paper, we apply the Galerkin method to the problem of vibration of a one-dimensional system with free end conditions. Giving a MAPLE^®procedure, we test the results on two numerical examples.     

A Hydrogel Platform that Incorporates Laminin Isoforms for Efficient Presentation of Growth Factors – Neural Growth and Osteogenesis

Laminins (LMs) are important structural proteins of the extracellular matrix (ECM). The abundance of every LM isoform is tissue-dependent, suggesting that LM has tissue-specific roles. LM binds growth factors (GFs), which are powerful cytokines widely used in tissue engineering due to their ability to control stem cell differentiation. Currently, the most commonly used ECM mimetic material in vitro is Matrigel, a matrix of undefined composition containing LM and various GFs, but subjected to batch variability and lacking control of physicochemical properties. Inspired by Matrigel, a new and completely defined hydrogel platform based on hybrid LM-poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) hydrogels with controllable stiffness (1–25 kPa) and degradability is proposed. Different LM isoforms are used to bind and efficiently display GFs (here, bone morphogenetic protein (BMP-2) and beta-nerve growth factor (β-NGF)), enabling their solid-phase presentation at ultralow doses to specifically target a range of tissues. The potential of this platform to trigger stem cell differentiation toward osteogenic lineages and stimulate neural cells growth in 3D, is demonstrated. These hydrogels enable 3D, synthetic, defined composition, and reproducible cell culture microenvironments reflecting the complexity of the native ECM, where GFs in combination with LM isoforms yield the full diversity of cellular processes.     

Inertial Microfluidics with Integrated Vortex Generators Using Liquid Metal Droplets as Fugitive Ink

This work demonstrates a simple method for fabricating nearly spherical dome structures on top of lithographically defined microfluidic channels using gallium‐based liquid metal droplets as fugitive ink. The droplets remain stable during the pouring and curing of polydimethylsiloxane and can be easily removed by applying a basic solution. This facilitates the formation of domes with diameters of a few hundred micrometers patterned on the desired locations of the channel. The expansion of the channel at the interface of the dome leads to formation of a large vortex inside the dome. Experiments using high‐speed imaging along with numerical simulations show the utility of the vortex‐induced flow rotation for orbiting of human monocytes and polystyrene microbeads inside the dome. The lateral displacement of liquids caused by the vortex is further utilized for creating controllable multiband flow/color profiles within a T‐mixer. The method enables the fabrication of customized, complex, and 3D microfluidic systems utilizing planar microfabricated structures.     

A Facile Magnetic Extrusion Method for Preparing Endosome-Derived Vesicles for Cancer Drug Delivery

To date, the scaled-up manufacturing and efficient drug loading of exosomes are two existing challenges limiting the clinical translation of exosome-based drug delivery. Herein, a facile magnetic extrusion method is developed for preparing endosome-derived vesicles, also known as exosome mimetics (EMs), which share the same biological origin and similar morphology, composition, and biofunctions with native exosomes. The high yield and consistency of this magnetic extrusion method help to overcome the manufacturing bottleneck in exosome research. Moreover, the proposed standardized multi-step method readily facilitates the ammonium sulfate gradient approach to actively load chemodrugs such as doxorubicin into EMs. The engineered EMs developed and tested here exhibit comparable drug delivery properties as do native exosomes, and potently inhibit tumor growth by delivering doxorubicin in an orthotopic breast tumor model. These findings demonstrate that EMs can be prepared in a facile and scaled-up manner as a promising biological nanomedicine for cancer drug delivery.     

Dynamic Extracellular Imaging of Biochemical Cell Activity Using InGaN/GaN Nanowire Arrays as Nanophotonic Probes

The application of InGaN/GaN nanowire heterostructure arrays as photonic probes for dynamic imaging of biochemical and cellular processes in an incident light fluorescence microscope is demonstrated. The photoluminescence intensity of InGaN/GaN nanowires sensitively depends on the pH value of the surrounding solution, making them suitable probes for the optical detection of biochemical processes accompanied by local pH variations. Grown on a conductive substrate, the nanowire arrays can be operated in a well‐defined electrochemical working point with high sensitivity and stability. The achievable pH and bias resolution as well as signal‐to‐noise ratio are assessed as a function of the working point and for different integration times. A bias resolution of 1 mV and a pH resolution of 0.03 are achieved at a time resolution below 25 ms. The application for dynamic imaging of the activity of isolated intestinal crypts from Wistar rats is demonstrated. Here, the pH change in the vicinity of the crypt is quantified and attributed to the activity of the sodium‐proton exchanger (NHE). Imaging of the effect of amiloride and NH₄Cl on its activity is demonstrated with a spatial resolution of <0.63 µm and reveals that NH₄Cl‐induced NHE activation preferentially occurs in the upper part of the crypt.     

Uptake and Release of Double‐Walled Carbon Nanotubes by Mammalian Cells

Efforts to develop carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as nano‐vehicles for precise and controlled drug and gene delivery, as well as markers for in vivo biomedical imaging, are currently hampered by uncertainties with regard to their cellular uptake, their fate in the body, and their safety. All of these processes are likely to be affected by the purity of CNT preparation, as well as the size and concentration of CNTs used, parameters that are often poorly controlled in biological experiments. It is demonstrated herein that under the experimental conditions of standard transfection methods, DWNTs are taken up by cultured cells but are then released after 24 h with no discernable stress response. The results support the potential therapeutic use of CNTs in many biomedical settings, such as cancer therapy.     

Super peer selection strategy in peer‐to‐peer networks based on learning automata

A super peer is a peer that has the highest capacity in comparison with other peers in the network. It is trying to reduce the load of the rest of the peers and improve network performance. Selecting a super peer in a peer‐to‐peer–based network is a very crucial challenge. As the ability of peers are very different, by considering capacity of each peer and selecting a proper role, we can use network components much more efficiently. Because of the dynamicity of these networks, comparative methods of selecting super peers is of special importance. Comparative selection is continuously trying to select proper super peer. In recent studies, learning automata was introduced as a powerful learning model to solve this issue. In most of the studies, learning automata with an S model is employed. In this article, another selection method of learning automata with a P model environment is presented and its capability for super peer selection is shown. Moreover, simulation results show that removing some of the super peers would result in better performance in terms of inversion time in the high level of super‐peer capacity, required time for selecting proper super peer, and super peer tolerance.     

Quality of service analysis and improvement with cross layer power allocation in multirelay networks

Quality of service (QoS) guarantee is the main performance metric for designing future wireless networks. For real time applications over wireless links, statistical delay QoS guarantee is the most important QoS metrics. The main goal of this paper is studying the effects of multi‐decode‐and‐forward‐relaying transmission on delay QoS guarantee and user satisfaction. For this end, we first propose an approach to simplify the analysis of statistical delay QoS guarantee by the use of a curve named QoS analysis curve. The QoS analysis curve of any system is based on its effective capacity (EC) function. So, we derive a closed‐form expression for the EC function of a multi‐decode‐and‐forward‐relay network to reduce the computational complexity of finding this quantity. After that, for improving the QoS guarantee performance of a multi‐decode‐and‐forward‐relaying system, the EC of the system is maximized by the use of power allocation (PA) technique. At first, an adaptive PA (APA) algorithm is proposed in which the source and relays PA policies are derived analytically. Although, the overhead of this algorithm is large, it significantly improves the statistical delay QoS guarantee performance. Then, for the systems that cannot tolerate the required large overhead of APA, a fixed PA scheme is presented, which is based on particle swarm optimization algorithm. There is a tradeoff between providing the delay QoS guarantee and the required overhead, in selecting APA or fixed PA schemes. The numerical results validate our analytical outcomes and evaluate our proposed algorithms.     

Performance Analysis of 3D Localization for a Launch Vehicle Using TOA,AOA, and TDOA

Wireless Personal Communications - In general, a ground telemetry station for a launch vehicle (LV) includes a tracking function only; therefore, position measurements for LV depend on received...