Online 3-D tracking of suspension living cells imaged with phase-contrast microscopy

Neural stem cells/neural progenitors (NSCs/NPs) are cells that give rise to the main cell types of the nervous system: oligodendrocytes, neurons, and astrocytes. Studying NSCs/NPs with time-lapse microscopy is critical to the understanding of the biology of these cells. However, NSCs/NPs are very sensitive to phototoxic damage, and therefore, fluorescent dyes cannot be used to follow these cells. Also, since in most of NSC/NP-related experiments, a large number of cells neesd to be monitored. Consequently, the acquisition of a huge amount of images is required. An additional difficulty is related to our original suspension living, tracking objective, behavior much closer to the natural, in vivo, way of development of the cells. Indeed, unlike adherent cells, suspension cells float freely in a liquid solution, thus, making their dynamics very different from that of adherent cells. As a result, existing visual tracking algorithms that have primarily been developed to track adherent cells are no longer adequate to tackle living cells in suspension. This paper presents a novel automated 3-D visual tracking of suspension living cells for time-lapse image acquisition using phase-contrast microscopy. This new tracking method can potentially strongly impact on current 3-D video microscopy methods, paving the way for innovative analysis of NSCs/NPs and as a result, on the study of neurodegenerative diseases.     

Crystallization analysis fractionation of poly(ethylene-co-styrene) produced by metallocene catalysts

Ethylene homo polymer and ethylene–styrene copolymers were synthesized using Cp₂ZrCl₂ (1)/methyl aluminoxane (MAO) and rac-silylene-bis (indenyl) zirconium dichloride (2)/MAO catalyst systems by varying styrene concentration and reaction conditions. Crystallization analysis fractionation (CRYSTAF), DSC, FTIR and ¹H NMR spectroscopy were used for characterizing the synthesized polymers. Interestingly, styrene was able to increase the activity of 1/MAO and 2/MAO catalyst systems at low concentrations, but at higher concentrations the activity decreases. The 1/MAO system at low and high pressure was unable to incorporate styrene, and the final product was pure polyethylene. On the other hand, with 2/MAO polymerization of ethylene and styrene yielded copolymer containing both styrene and ethylene. Results obtained from CRYSTAF and DSC reveal that on using 1/MAO system at high pressure, the resulting polymer in the presence of styrene has similar crystallinity as the polymer produced without styrene. Using both 1/MAO at low pressure and 2/MAO leads to decrease in crystallinity with increase in styrene concentration, even though the former does not incorporate styrene.     

Friction and wear behaviour of electron beam modified PTFE filled EPDM compounds

The friction and wear of non-modified and electron beam modified polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) filled ethylene–propylene–diene–monomer (EPDM) rubber investigated with the help of pin on disk tribometer showed different behaviour during the sliding contact with hard spherical steel-ball. The friction coefficient (μ) and specific wear rate (k) of modified PTFE filled EPDM increased with an absorbed dose of PTFE powder while non-modified PTFE filled EPDM showed the lowest μ and k values. This variation in friction and wear behaviour of PTFE filled EPDM compounds is caused by the influence of radiation induced chemical changes in PTFE powder on the radical initiated peroxide crosslinking. It results from the lower crosslinking efficiency and consequently in the deterioration of the bulk properties. The electron modification of PTFE powder reduces the hardness (modulus) and increases the energy dissipation (tan delta) of compounds. Beside other factors, these variations in bulk properties have been shown to have deleterious effects on the friction and wear properties of electron beam modified PTFE filled EPDM.     

Laser Cutting of Holes in Inconel 803 Alloy and Analysis of Thermal Stress Field

Laser circular cutting of Inconel 803 alloy is carried out. Temperature and stress fields are predicted in the cutting section using ABAQUS finite element code mimicking the experimental conditions. To examine the influence of the hole diameter size on the thermal stress field developed in the cutting section, 2?mm and 10?mm hole diameters are considered in the experiments and analysis. Temperature predictions are validated through the thermocouple data. Morphological and elemental changes in the cutting section are examined incorporating the analytical tools. It is found that laser cut holes are free from large size asperities such as cracks and excessive sideways burnings. However, few small dross attachments are observed at the kerf exit for the small diameter (2?mm) hole. The maximum temperature is higher for small diameter hole than that of the large diameter hole (10?mm) prior to cutting ceases, which is attributed to heat transfer rates from kerf site to its neighborhood. von Mises stress remains low in the region where temperature remains high in the cooling period. This is associated with the elastic modulus of the substrate material, which reduces with increasing temperature. von Mises stress becomes almost same for small and large diameter holes after the cooling period ends and it is in the order of 0.45?GPa.     

Hydrothermal liquefaction of biomass: A review of subcritical water technologies

This article reviews the hydrothermal liquefaction of biomass with the aim of describing the current status of the technology. Hydrothermal liquefaction is a medium-temperature, high-pressure thermochemical process, which produces a liquid product, often called bio-oil or bi-crude. During the hydrothermal liquefaction process, the macromolecules of the biomass are first hydrolyzed and/or degraded into smaller molecules. Many of the produced molecules are unstable and reactive and can recombine into larger ones. During this process, a substantial part of the oxygen in the biomass is removed by dehydration or decarboxylation. The chemical properties of bio-oil are highly dependent of the biomass substrate composition. Biomass constitutes of various components such as protein; carbohydrates, lignin and fat, and each of them produce distinct spectra of compounds during hydrothermal liquefaction. In spite of the potential for hydrothermal production of renewable fuels, only a few hydrothermal technologies have so far gone beyond lab- or bench-scale.     

Diversity and Taxonomic Distribution of Endophytic Bacterial Community in the Rice Plant and Its Prospective

Endophytic bacterial communities are beneficial communities for host plants that exist inside the surfaces of plant tissues, and their application improves plant growth. They benefit directly from the host plant by enhancing the nutrient amount of the plant’s intake and influencing the phytohormones, which are responsible for growth promotion and stress. Endophytic bacteria play an important role in plant-growth promotion (PGP) by regulating the indirect mechanism targeting pest and pathogens through hydrolytic enzymes, antibiotics, biocontrol potential, and nutrient restriction for pathogens. To attain these benefits, firstly bacterial communities must be colonized by plant tissues. The nature of colonization can be achieved by using a set of traits, including attachment behavior and motility speed, degradation of plant polymers, and plant defense evasion. The diversity of bacterial endophytes colonization depends on various factors, such as plants’ relationship with environmental factors. Generally, each endophytic bacteria has a wide host range, and they are used as bio-inoculants in the form of synthetic applications for sustainable agriculture systems and to protect the environment from chemical hazards. This review discusses and explores the taxonomic distribution of endophytic bacteria associated with different genotypes of rice plants and their origin, movement, and mechanism of PGP. In addition, this review accentuates compressive meta data of endophytic bacteria communities associated with different genotypes of rice plants, retrieves their plant-growth-promoting properties and their antagonism against plant pathogens, and discusses the indication of endophytic bacterial flora in rice plant tissues using various methods. The future direction deepens the study of novel endophytic bacterial communities and their identification from rice plants through innovative techniques and their application for sustainable agriculture systems.     

Multi-Objective Optimization of Micro Pin-Fin Arrays for Cooling of High Heat Flux Electronics with a Hot Spot

ABSTRACT

This article presents fully three-dimensional conjugate heat transfer analysis and a multi-objective, constrained optimization to find sizes of pin-fins, inlet water pressure, and average speed for arrays of micro pin-fins used in the forced convection cooling of an integrated circuit with a uniformly heated 4 × 3 mm footprint and a centrally located 0.5 × 0.5 mm hot spot. Sizes of micro pin-fins having cross sections shaped as circles, symmetric airfoils, and symmetric convex lenses are optimized to completely remove heat due to a steady, uniform heat flux of 500 W cm^?2 imposed over the entire footprint (background heat flux) and a steady, uniform heat flux of 2000 W cm^?2 imposed on the hot spot area only (hot spot heat flux). The two simultaneous objectives are to minimize maximum substrate temperature and minimize pumping power, while keeping the maximum temperature constrained below 85°C and removing all of input thermal energy by convection. The design variables are the inlet average velocity and size of the pin-fins. A response surface is generated for each of the objectives and coupled with a genetic algorithm to arrive at a Pareto frontier of the best trade-off solutions. Numerical results show that, for a specified maximum temperature, optimized arrays with pin-fins having symmetric convex lens shapes create the lowest pressure drop, followed by the symmetric airfoil and circular cross-section pin-fins. An a posteriori three-dimensional stress–deformation analysis incorporating hydrodynamic and thermal loads shows that Von-Mises stress for each pin-fin array is significantly below the yield strength of silicon, thus, confirming structural integrity of such arrays of micro pin-fins.     

Mechanical Properties of the Modified Denture Base Materials and Polymerization Methods: A Systematic Review

Amidst growing technological advancements, newer denture base materials and polymerization methods have been introduced. During fabrication, certain mechanical properties are vital for the clinical longevity of the denture base. This systematic review aimed to explore the effect of newer denture base materials and/or polymerization methods on the mechanical properties of the denture base. An electronic database search of English peer-reviewed published papers was conducted using related keywords from 1 January 2011, up until 31 December 2021. This systematic review was based on guidelines proposed by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). The search identified 579 papers. However, the inclusion criteria recognized 22 papers for eligibility. The risk of bias was moderate in all studies except in two where it was observed as low. Heat cure polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) and compression moulding using a water bath is still a widely used base material and polymerization technique, respectively. However, chemically modified PMMA using monomers, oligomers, copolymers and cross-linking agents may have a promising result. Although chemically modified PMMA resin might enhance the mechanical properties of denture base material, no clear inferences can be drawn about the superiority of any polymerization method other than the conventional compression moulding technique.