The influence of carbon morphologies and concentrations on the rheology and electrical performance of screen-printed carbon pastes

Screen-printing inks containing various morphologies of carbon are used in the production of a variety of printed electronics applications. Particle morphology influences the rheology of the ink which will affect the deposition and therefore the electrical performance of a printed component. To assess the effect of both carbon morphology and concentration on print topography and conductivity, screen printable carbon inks with differing loading concentrations of graphite, carbon black and graphite nanoplatelets (GNPs) were formulated, printed and characterised, with rheological and novel print visualisation techniques used to elucidate the mechanisms responsible. Carbon morphology had significant effects on the packing of particles. The smaller carbon black particles had more interparticle interactions leading to better conductivities, but also higher ink viscosities and elasticities than the other morphologies. Increases in carbon concentration led to increases in film thickness and roughness for all morphologies. However, beyond a critical point further increases in carbon concentration led to agglomerations of particles, mesh marking and increases in surface roughness, preventing further improvements in the print conductivity. The optimal loading concentrations were identifiable using a custom-made screen-printing apparatus used with high speed imaging for all morphologies. Notable increases in filamentation during ink separation were found to occur with further increases in carbon concentration beyond the optimum. As this point could not be identified using shear rheology alone, this method combined with shear rheology could be used to optimise the carbon concentration of screen-printing inks, preventing the use of excess material which has no benefit on print quality and conductivity.

     

Prospects of manufacturing spiroid gears with small gear ratios

Forschung im Ingenieurwesen - Production of spiroid gears as alternatives to bevel and hypoid ones, when the gear ratio of the spiroid gear should be less than 10 (often less than 6) is...     

Disruption of 24-Hour Rhythm in Intraocular Pressure Correlates with Retinal Ganglion Cell Loss in Glaucoma

Parameters of 24-h rhythm in intraocular pressure (IOP) were assessed in patients with stable or advanced primary open-angle glaucoma (S-POAG/A-POAG) and referenced to the phase of “marker” circadian temperature rhythm of each patient. Body temperature and IOP were measured over a 72-h span in 115 participants (65 S-POAG and 50 A-POAG). Retinal Ganglion Cell (RGC) damage was assessed by high-definition optical coherence tomography. The 24-h IOP rhythm in A-POAG patients peaked during the night, opposite to the daytime phase position in S-POAG patients (p < 0.0001). The 24-h IOP phase correlated with RGC loss (p < 0.0001). The internal phase shift between IOP and body temperature gradually increased with POAG progression (p < 0.001). Angiotensin converting enzyme Alu-repeat deletion/insertion (ACE I/D) emerged as a candidate gene polymorphism, which may play a role in the alteration of the circadian IOP variability in advanced glaucoma. To conclude, a reliable estimation of the 24-h rhythm in IOP requires the degree of RGC damage to be assessed. In advanced POAG, the 24-h phase of IOP tended to occur during the night and correlated with RGC loss, being progressively delayed relative to the phase of temperature.     

Controlled Motion of a Spherical Robot with Feedback. I

In this paper, we develop a model of a controlled spherical robot with an axisymmetric pendulum-type actuator with a feedback system suppressing the pendulum’s oscillations at the final stage of motion. According to the proposed approach, the feedback depends on phase variables (the current position and velocities) and does not depend on the type of trajectory. We present integrals of motion and partial solutions, analyze their stability, and give examples of computer simulation of motion using feedback to illustrate compensation of the pendulum’s oscillations.     

An approach for a sustainable decision-making in product portfolio design of dairy supply chain in terms of environmental,economic and social criteria

Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy - The production of dairy products is related to water and energy costs and generation of large amounts of emissions of pollutants. Full sustainability...     

Biomimetic gels with chemical and physical interpenetrating networks

This study aimed to create and to characterize the functional properties of gels with semi‐interpenetrating network (semi‐IPN) with focus on possible use of these composites in biomedical engineering. Polyacrylamide as a synthetic biocompatible polymer was chosen for the chemical network. The physical network comprised the gel‐forming polysaccharides xanthan gum or gellan gum. Gels were synthesized by radical polymerization of acrylamide in aqueous solutions of polysaccharides. Mechanical and electrical properties of gels with 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8 and 1.0 wt% content of polysaccharide were investigated. It was found that the inclusion of a small amount of xanthan or gellan into the polymeric network of a polyacrylamide gel significantly shifts the gel electrical potential towards the rest potential of living cells and Young's modulus towards the elasticity limits of biological soft tissues like non‐activated muscles. From the viewpoint of biomedical applications, the main advantage of the proposed composites is that the semi‐IPN structure provides a nonlinear dependence of gel tension on gel deformation, which mimics the elasticity of natural tissues. This feature opens the possibility for the promising use of the proposed gels for musculoskeletal minibioimplants or scaffolds for tissue engineering. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry     

Water diffusion in Zr-containing fiberglass materials at room temperature

Diffusion of water into Zr-containing silica fiberglass materials was studied at room temperature by infrared spectroscopy. Several types of experiments were performed: (a) rehydration with H₂O of fiberglass materials previously calcined in air at 450°C and under vacuum at 180°C; (b) isotopic experiments for uncalcined fiberglass materials using D₂O with and without the presence of sodium. Water diffusion coefficients were determined in each case. It was suggested that the transfer of the protons and water molecules occurred by different mechanisms: the protons diffused through the hydroxyl groups via the relay mechanism like in liquid water, whereas water diffused more slowly in the form of molecular water.     

Impact and Friction Sensitivity of Energetic Materials:Methodical Evaluation of Technological Safety Features

Key methods developed and used in the USSR and in the Russian Federation to determine the impact and friction sensitivity of energetic materials and explosives have been discussed.Experimental methodologies and instruments that underlie the assessment of their production and handling safety have been described.Studies of a large number of compounds have revealed relationships between their sensitivity parameters and structure of individual compounds and compositions.The range of change of physical and chemical characteristics for the compounds we examined covers the entire region of their existence.Theoretical methodology and equations have been formulated to estimate the impact and friction sensitivity parameters of energetic materials and to evaluate the technological safety in use.The developed methodology is characterized by high-accuracy calculations and prediction of sensitivity parameters.     

白鬼笔蘑菇菌丝体多糖：免疫调节和伤口愈合特性（英文）

白鬼笔蘑菇在亚洲和北欧是一种传统的民间医药。本文综述了我们人工培养白鬼笔菌丝体的研究成果,以及从白鬼笔菌丝体中分离出的多糖的生物活性数据。对白鬼笔新菌株菌丝体的培养形态特征和生理生化特性进行了研究。经过优化培养基的营养物构成和培养条件能够使菌体生物量提高1.3倍,多糖含量提高1.5～1.7倍。从该菌丝体中分离的多糖在体外和在体内(链脲佐菌素诱导的糖尿病大鼠)均具有免疫调节作用。与原始软膏相比,含有10%白鬼笔多糖的软膏,能促进实验大鼠的皮肤创面愈合,促进肉芽组织的上皮形成、收缩和生长。综上所述,白鬼笔菌丝体多糖有望成为开发功能性食品以及新型治疗和预防药物的原材料。     

Mutation of the protein-O-mannosyltransferase enhances secretion of the human urokinase-type plasminogen activator in Hansenula polymorpha

Human urokinase-type plasminogen activator (uPA) is poorly secreted and aggregates in the endoplasmic reticulum of yeast cells due to inefficient folding. A screen for Hansenula polymorpha mutants with improved uPA secretion revealed a gene encoding a homologue of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae protein-O-mannosyltransferase Pmt1p. Expression of the H. polymorpha PMT1 gene (HpPMT1) abolished temperature sensitivity of the S. cerevisiae pmt1 pmt2 double mutant. As in S. cerevisiae, inactivation of the HpPMT1 gene affected electrophoretic mobility of the O-glycosylated protein, extracellular chitinase. In contrast to S. cerevisiae, disruption of HpPMT1 alone caused temperature sensitivity. Inactivation of the HpPMT1 gene decreased intracellular aggregation of uPA, suggesting that enhanced secretion of uPA was due to improvement of its folding in the endoplasmic reticulum. Unlike most of the endoplasmic reticulum membrane proteins, HpPmt1p possesses the C-terminal KDEL retention signal.