A Guide to Polysaccharide-Based Hydrogel Bioinks for 3D Bioprinting Applications

Three-dimensional (3D) bioprinting is an innovative technology in the biomedical field, allowing the fabrication of living constructs through an approach of layer-by-layer deposition of cell-laden inks, the so-called bioinks. An ideal bioink should possess proper mechanical, rheological, chemical, and biological characteristics to ensure high cell viability and the production of tissue constructs with dimensional stability and shape fidelity. Among the several types of bioinks, hydrogels are extremely appealing as they have many similarities with the extracellular matrix, providing a highly hydrated environment for cell proliferation and tunability in terms of mechanical and rheological properties. Hydrogels derived from natural polymers, and polysaccharides, in particular, are an excellent platform to mimic the extracellular matrix, given their low cytotoxicity, high hydrophilicity, and diversity of structures. In fact, polysaccharide-based hydrogels are trendy materials for 3D bioprinting since they are abundant and combine adequate physicochemical and biomimetic features for the development of novel bioinks. Thus, this review portrays the most relevant advances in polysaccharide-based hydrogel bioinks for 3D bioprinting, focusing on the last five years, with emphasis on their properties, advantages, and limitations, considering polysaccharide families classified according to their source, namely from seaweed, higher plants, microbial, and animal (particularly crustaceans) origin.     

Effects of Low-Intensity and Long-Term Aerobic Exercise on the Psoas Muscle of mdx Mice: An Experimental Model of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy

Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is a muscle disease characterized by the absence of the protein dystrophin, which causes a loss of sarcolemma integrity, determining recurrent muscle injuries, decrease in muscle function, and progressive degeneration. Currently, there is a need for therapeutic treatments to improve the quality of life of DMD patients. Here, we investigated the effects of a low-intensity aerobic training (37 sessions) on satellite cells, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma coactivator (PGC)-1α protein (PGC-1α), and different types of fibers of the psoas muscle from mdx mice (DMD experimental model). Wildtype and mdx mice were randomly divided into sedentary and trained groups (n = 24). Trained animals were subjected to 37 sessions of low-intensity running on a motorized treadmill. Subsequently, the psoas muscle was excised and analyzed by immunofluorescence for dystrophin, satellite cells, myosin heavy chain (MHC), and PGC-1α content. The minimal Feret’s diameters of the fibers were measured, and light microscopy was applied to observe general morphological features of the muscles. The training (37 sessions) improved morphological features in muscles from mdx mice and caused an increase in the number of quiescent/activated satellite cells. It also increased the content of PGC-1α in the mdx group. We concluded that low-intensity aerobic exercise (37 sessions) was able to reverse deleterious changes determined by DMD.     

Evaluation of a chemical munition dumpsite in the Baltic Sea based on geophysical and chemical investigations

This paper discusses the results of geophysical and chemical investigations carried out in a chemical munition dumpsite in the southern Baltic Sea, east of the island of Bornholm. After WW2 over 32,000 tons of chemical war material was dumped here including shells and bombs as well as small drums and containers. The geophysical investigations combined very-high-resolution seismics and gradiometric measurements. The results indicate the presence of a large number of objects buried just below the seafloor. The size of the objects and their distribution, with a marked increase in density towards the center of the dumpsite, suggests that we are dealing with dumped war material. Sediment and near-bottom water samples, taken within the dumpsite and in the surrounding area, were analysed for the presence of various chemical warfare agents (CWA) including Adamsite, Clark, sulphur mustard, tabun, chlorobenzene and arsine oil. The results indicate a widespread contamination that reaches far beyond the dumpsite boundary. CWA degradation products were found in most of the sediment samples. The contamination was mostly related to arsenic containing compounds; only one sample indicated the presence of sulfur mustard. Although the correlation between detected objects and CWA concentrations is not always straightforward, the overall results suggest that a lot of the dumped war material is leaking and that over the years the contamination has reached the seafloor sediments.     

Delay sensing for long-term variations and defects monitoring in safety–critical applications

The impact of parametric variations on digital circuit performance is increasing in nanometer Integrated Circuits (IC), namely of Process, power supply Voltage and Temperature (PVT) variations. Moreover, circuit aging also impacts circuit performance, especially due to Negative Bias Temperature Instability (NBTI) effect. A growing number of physical defects manifest themselves as delay faults (at production, or during product lifetime). On-chip, on-line delay monitoring, as a circuit failure prediction technique, can be an attractive solution to guarantee correct operation in safety–critical applications. Safe operation can be monitored, by predictive delay fault detection. A delay monitoring methodology and a novel delay sensor (to be selectively inserted in key locations in the design and to be activated according to user’s requirements) is proposed, and a 65 nm design is presented. The proposed sensor is programmable, allowing delay monitoring for a wide range of delay values, and has been optimized to exhibit low sensitivity to PVT and aging-induced variations. Two MOSFET models—BPTM and ST—have been used. As abnormal delays can be monitored, regardless of their origin, both parametric variations and physical defects impact on circuit performance can be identified. Simulation results show that the sensor is effective in identifying such abnormal delays, due to NBTI-induced aging and to resistive open defects.     

All-Optical Vestigial Sideband Generation Using a Semiconductor Optical Amplifier

An all-optical setup to generate vestigial sideband signals based on self-phase modulation in a semiconductor optical amplifier is experimentally demonstrated at 10 Gb/s. Sideband suppressions higher than 15 dB are reported with improved eye opening. Wavelength-independent operation over 26 nm is demonstrated. Increased chromatic dispersion tolerance is verified: a receiver sensitivity penalty of 5.3 dB, relative to back-to-back, is obtained after transmission over 2720 ps/nm; whereas conventional double sideband is penalized by 4.0 dB after 1360 ps/nm     

Air Processing of Thick and Semitransparent Laminated Polymer:Non-Fullerene Acceptor Blends Introduces Asymmetric Current–Voltage Characteristics

Non-fullerene acceptors have recently revolutionized indoor organic photovoltaics (OPVs) with power conversion efficiencies exceeding 30% in laboratory scale. Nevertheless, transferring their superior performance to larger-scale prototyping, i.e., air-processing via roll-to-roll compatible techniques, still shows severe challenges. Herein, the industrial potential of the PM6:IO4Cl blend, which is one of the most successful indoor OPV photoactive layers (PALs), is thoroughly investigated. The corresponding thick and semitransparent laminated devices are fabricated entirely in air, by blade and slot-die coating. Their current–voltage (J–V) characteristics show anomalous features depending on the illumination side, with the cathode side generally outperforming the anode counterpart. Electrical and optical modeling reveal that a plausible cause of such a phenomenon is a dead layer that forms at the PAL/anode contact interface that does not contribute to the photocurrent. Said layer becomes undetectable when the PALs are made thin enough (<35 nm each) leading to symmetric J–V curves and improved light utilization efficiency. By screening the photovoltaic performance of multiple donor:acceptor blends, certain all-polymer and polymer:fullerene PALs are identified as adequately symmetric candidates for thick device up-scaling. Finally, ternary blends based on PM6:IO4Cl:fullerene may constitute a viable route to mitigate the electrical asymmetry detected on conventional binary blends.     

Metrics and Criteria for Quality Assessment of Testable Hw/Sw Systems Architectures

The purpose of this paper is to present a novel methodology for assessing the quality of architecture solutions of hw/sw systems, with particular emphasis on testability. Criteria and metrics for quality assessment are proposed and used to assist the design team in selecting a best-fitted architecture that satisfies not only functional requirements, but also test requirements. The methodology makes use of object-oriented modeling techniques. Near-optimum clustering of methods and attributes into objects is carried out, in such a way that objects with moderate complexity, low coupling and high functional autonomy, result. The main features of the methodology are ascertained through a case study.