An application of scanning electron microscopy combined with roentgen microanalysis (SEM-EDS) in canine urolithiasis

Urolithiasis is a common diagnostic and therapeutic problem in small-animal veterinary practice. The traditional diagnostic approach usually consists of clinical, radiological and ultrasonographic examination of the patient. The main diagnostic material is still urine sediment, ignoring the fact that presence of crystalluria is not always of pathological significance. In order to establish the most effective therapeutic and preventative strategies, especially in the case of multicomponent stone, it is crucial to define the exact elemental composition of the given stone including crystallization nidus chemical contents. In the course of the research, the usefulness of scanning electron microscopy combined with X-ray-dispersive spectrometry in analysis of canine mixed and compound stones was investigated. The obtained results indicated that the tested method allows one to trace the dynamics of the crystallization process, including crystallization nucleus detection, and concurrently and quantitatively assess the elemental composition of the given urinary concrement. Moreover, the conducted research showed epidemiological data of urolithiasis occurrence in a population of dogs coming from the southern part of Poland.     

Photoactive Electrodes Incorporating Electrosprayed Bacterial Reaction Centers

Highly efficient light absorption and charge separation within the photosystem and reaction center (RC) complexes of photosynthetic plants and bacteria are of great interest for solar cell and photo detector applications, since they offer almost unity quantum yield and expected ultimate power conversion efficiencies of more than 18% and 12%, respectively. In addition, the charge separated states created by these protein complexes are very long lived compared to conventional semiconductor solar cells. In this work, a novel technique is presented for the deposition of photosynthetic protein complexes, by electrospraying RCs of Rhodobacter sphaeroides onto highly ordered pyrolytic graphite (HOPG) electrodes. Remarkably, it is shown that the RCs not only survive exposure to the high electric fields but also yield peak photocurrent densities of up to 7 μA cm^?2, which is equal to the highest value reported to date.     

Minimum-energy broadcast and multicast in wireless networks: An integer programming approach and improved heuristic algorithms

Both integer programming models and heuristic algorithms have been proposed for finding minimum-energy broadcast and multicast trees in wireless ad hoc networks. Among heuristic algorithms, the broadcast/multicast incremental power (BIP/MIP) algorithm is most known. The theoretical performance of BIP/MIP has been quantified in several studies. To assess the empirical performance of BIP/MIP and other heuristic algorithms, it is necessary to compute an optimal tree or a very good lower bound of the optimum. In this paper, we present an integer programming approach as well as improved heuristic algorithms. Our integer programming approach comprises a novel integer model and a relaxation scheme. Unlike previously proposed models, the continuous relaxation of our model leads to a very sharp lower bound of the optimum. Our relaxation scheme allows for performance evaluation of heuristics without having to compute optimal trees. Our contributions to heuristic algorithms consist of the power-improving algorithm successive power adjustment (SPA), and improved time complexity of some previously suggested algorithms. We report extensive numerical experiments. Algorithm SPA finds better solutions in comparison to a host of other algorithms. Moreover, the integer programming approach shows that trees found by algorithm SPA are optimal or near-optimal.     

Porous Silicon Nanoparticles Embedded in Poly(lactic‐co‐glycolic acid) Nanofiber Scaffolds Deliver Neurotrophic Payloads to Enhance Neuronal Growth

Scaffolds made from biocompatible polymers provide physical cues to direct the extension of neurites and to encourage repair of damaged nerves. The inclusion of neurotrophic payloads in these scaffolds can substantially enhance regrowth and repair processes. However, many promising neurotrophic candidates are excluded from this approach due to incompatibilities with the polymer or with the polymer processing conditions. This work provides one solution to this problem by incorporating porous silicon nanoparticles (pSiNPs) that are preloaded with the therapeutic into a polymer scaffold during fabrication. The nanoparticle‐drug‐polymer hybrids are prepared in the form of oriented poly(lactic‐co‐glycolic acid) nanofiber scaffolds. Three different therapeutic payloads are tested: bpV(HOpic), a small molecule inhibitor of phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN); an RNA aptamer specific to tropomyosin‐related kinase receptor type B (TrkB); and the protein nerve growth factor (NGF). Each therapeutic is loaded using a loading chemistry that is optimized to slow the rate of release of these water‐soluble payloads. The drug‐loaded pSiNP‐nanofiber hybrids release approximately half of their TrkB aptamer, bpV(HOpic), or NGF payload in 2, 10, and >40 days, respectively. The nanofiber hybrids increase neurite extension relative to drug‐free control nanofibers in a dorsal root ganglion explant assay.     

Bioinspired Scaffolds with Varying Pore Architectures and Mechanical Properties

Scaffolds with potential biological applications having a variety of microstructural and mechanical properties can be fabricated by freezing colloidal solutions into porous solids. In this work, the structural and mechanical properties of TiO₂ freeze cast with different soluble additives, including polyethylene glycol, NaOH or HCl, and isopropanol alcohol, are characterized to determine the effects of slurry viscosity, pH, and alcohol concentration on the freezing process. TiO₂ powders mixed with water and these different additives are directionally frozen in a mold, then sublimated and sintered to create the porous scaffolds. The different scaffolds are characterized to compare the compressive strength, modulus, porosity, and pore morphology. For all scaffolds, the overall porosity remains constant (80–85%). By changing the concentration of each additive, the lamellar thickness, pore area, and aspect ratio vary significantly, showing inverse relationships to both the compressive strength and modulus. The strength is predicted from the pore aspect ratio of the scaffolds when subjected to compressive loading with the primary failure mode identified as Euler buckling. TiO₂ scaffolds freeze cast with different soluble additives are suitable for biomedical applications, such as bone replacements, requiring high porosity and specific pore morphologies.     

分段显示器成就各式智能面板

电子纸（EPD）技术有一些瑕疵．缺乏市场成熟性。电子纸用户是少数,围绕EPD的生态体系和下层基础构建还在发展中,比如LCD显示器拥有众多的标准驱动电路支持,但可以设想,EPD的瑕疵会随着市场的发展而淡化。EPD的其它缺陷还包括有电压要求：即高压驱动（〉10V）,尽管驱动电流非曾低。随着时间推移EPD比其它显示媒介缩短了响应时间。当然,尽管存在这些缺点,但都会在：降来得到改正,EPD为各种创新应用提供了独到的方案。分段式EPD凭据其超薄、不规謦性、柔韧性能,可为各种类型的显示器提供高对比显示,通过运用低功耗电子系统来匹配低功耗图形显示,设计师可以实现产品便携和长寿电池的双重性能。     

Lubricant‐Infused Nanoparticulate Coatings Assembled by Layer‐by‐Layer Deposition

Omniphobic coatings are designed to repel a wide range of liquids without leaving stains on the surface. A practical coating should exhibit stable repellency, show no interference with color or transparency of the underlying substrate and, ideally, be deposited in a simple process on arbitrarily shaped surfaces. We use layer‐by‐layer (LbL) deposition of negatively charged silica nanoparticles and positively charged polyelectrolytes to create nanoscale surface structures that are further surface‐functionalized with fluorinated silanes and infiltrated with fluorinated oil, forming a smooth, highly repellent coating on surfaces of different materials and shapes. We show that four or more LbL cycles introduce sufficient surface roughness to effectively immobilize the lubricant into the nanoporous coating and provide a stable liquid interface that repels water, low‐surface‐tension liquids and complex fluids. The absence of hierarchical structures and the small size of the silica nanoparticles enables complete transparency of the coating, with light transmittance exceeding that of normal glass. The coating is mechanically robust, maintains its repellency after exposure to continuous flow for several days and prevents adsorption of streptavidin as a model protein. The LbL process is conceptually simple, of low cost, environmentally benign, scalable, automatable and therefore may present an efficient synthetic route to non‐fouling materials.     

Moldless Printing of Silicone Lenses with Embedded Nanostructured Optical Filters

In this work, both light‐shaping and image magnification features are integrated into a single lens element using a moldless procedure that takes advantage of the physical and optical properties of mesoporous silicon (PSi) photonic crystal nanostructures. Casting of a liquid poly(dimethylsiloxane) pre‐polymer solution onto a PSi film generates a droplet with a contact angle that is readily controlled by the silicon nanostructure, and adhesion of the cured polymer to the PSi photonic crystal allows preparation of lightweight (10 mg) freestanding lenses (4.7 mm focal length) with an embedded optical component (e.g., optical rugate filter, resonant cavity, and distributed Bragg reflector). The fabrication process shows excellent reliability (yield 95%) and low cost and the lens is expected to have implications in a wide range of applications. As a proof‐of‐concept, using a single monolithic lens/filter element it is demonstrated: fluorescence imaging of isolated human cancer cells with rejection of the blue excitation light, through a lens that is self‐adhered to a commercial smartphone; shaping of the emission spectrum of a white light emitting diode to tune the color from red through blue; and selection of a narrow wavelength band (bandwidth 5 nm) from a fluorescent molecular probe.