Morphological evaluation of bioartificial hydrogels as potential tissue engineering scaffolds

Poly(vinyl alcohol) hydrogels prepared by freeze-thawing procedure represent synthetic systems widely investigated as non-biodegradable scaffolds for tissue regeneration. In order to improve the biocompatibility properties of pure poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) hydrogels, blends of PVA with different biological macromolecules, such hyaluronic acid, dextran, and gelatin were prepared and used to produce bioartificial hydrogels. The porosity characteristics of these hydrogels were investigated by scanning electron microscopy and mercury intrusion porosimetry. The morphology of bioartificial hydrogels was evaluated and compared with that of pure PVA hydrogels. In particular the effect exerted by each biological component on pore size and distribution was investigated. The obtained results indicate that when a natural macromolecule is added to PVA the internal structure of the material changes. A small amount of biopolymer induces the structural elements of PVA matrix to take on a well evident lamellar appearance and an apparent preferential orientation. Comparing the results of SEM and mercury intrusion porosimetry it was concluded that hydrogels containing 20% of biological component have the most regular structure and at the same time the lowest total porosity. On the contrary samples with the highest content of natural polymer (40%) show the less regular structure and the highest total porosity.     

Volatile organic compounds in rural atmospheres of central Portugal

Atmospheric concentrations of volatile organic compounds were measured at two rural sites in central Portugal. The sites were chosen to be in line with the summer northwesterly sea breezes in order to study the evolution of the chemical composition of air masses during transport to inland areas. The most abundant non-oxygenated hydrocarbon in the ambient air was isoprene and the monoterpenes alpha-pinene, beta-pinene and 1,8 cineol. The maximum isoprene levels (6-7 ppb) were recorded at the most inland site, suggesting an enrichment of coastal air masses with biogenic emissions during transport over eucalyptus forests. Formaldehyde was the most prominent carbonyl compound in the atmosphere but acetaldehyde and acrolein were also abundant. Concentrations of carbonyl compounds had a tendency to be higher inland, particularly for glyoxal, methyl glyoxal, methyl vinyl ketone, metacrolein and pentanal. The observed increases indicate that carbonyls were produced by photochemical oxidation of biogenic hydrocarbons in aged air masses with coastal origin. Isoprene, monoterpenes and various carbonyls exhibited pronounced diurnal variations, which are explained on the basis of emissions from vegetation, oxidation pathways of biogenic hydrocarbons and meteorological conditions.     

Distributed Databases for the development of Mechanisms Topology

In this paper different types of data structures for database modeling are reviewed in order to suggest the one which most suits the needs of a database management system dedicated to the study of the mechanical systems. Topology is proposed as the classification criterion, this inspiration being due to the separation of the concepts of structure and function, as proposed for the first time by Freudenstein and Maki [Environ. Planning B 6 (1979) 375–391]. An example of a local database is herein presented and, finally, the adopted codes are briefly commented upon which, on the base of the evaluation of the power of the adjacency matrices, identify the kinematic chains (KCs) and mechanisms.     

A brief note on the concept of planarity for kinematic chains

In this note the concept of planarity is briefly reviewed with the aim of suggesting a unified interpretation of this word as an attribute of the concept of kinematic chain. The lack of a correct and unambiguous meaning of the concept of planar kinematic chain may cause serious misunderstandings nowadays, as in the reported example.     

Universals and cultural differences in the judgments of facial expressions of emotion.

We present here new evidence of cross-cultural agreement in the judgment of facial expression. Subjects in 10 cultures performed a more complex judgment task than has been used in previous cross-cultural studies. Instead of limiting the subjects to selecting only one emotion term for each expression, this task allowed them to indicate that multiple emotions were evident and the intensity of each emotion. Agreement was very high across cultures about which emotion was the most intense. The 10 cultures also agreed about the second most intense emotion signaled by an expression and about the relative intensity among expressions of the same emotion. However, cultural differences were found in judgments of the absolute level of emotional intensity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Higher Alcohol Synthesis

It has been known for many years that it is possible to produce mixtures of methanol and higher alcohols from synthesis gas by alkali promotion of the methanol synthesis catalysts and by appropriate modification of the reaction conditions [l]. From 1927 to 1945 plants were in operation in the United States and Germany, that were dismantled with the coming of different feedstocks and the necessity of obtaining pure alcohols for chemical use. In the last decade the chemical and petroleum industry has shown a renewed and growing interest in the use of mixtures of methanol and higher aliphatic alcohols. The original goal in the late '70s was mainly to reduce oil dependence by producing synthetic components for gasoline blends. More recently the trend to lead phase-down due to environmental protection has focused the attention on the product performances of such alcohol mixtures as high octane blending stock for gasoline. It has been shown that the addition of higher alcohols to methanol increases the water tolerance in respect to phase separation, reduces the fuel volatility and the vapor lock tendency, and also results in higher volumetric heating values.     

A New Prototype Two‐Phase (TiNi)–(β‐W) SMA System with Tailorable Thermal Hysteresis

The Ti–Ni–W two‐phase shape memory alloy (SMA) thin film system is presented as a prototype for new SMAs with tailorable thermal transformation hysteresis (ΔT). The concept is to combine the SMA TiNi with almost insoluble W to create the two‐phase system (TiNi)–(β‐W). This system behaves like a pseudobinary TiNi system. Phase transformation behavior for compositions above the solubility limit of W in TiNi exhibit a B2–R phase transformation with characteristically small ΔT. Moreover, ΔT is dependent on the amount of W and it can be tailored to zero and even negative. This phenomenon is rationalized as being due to the mechanical interaction between the phases B2‐TiNi and β‐W. The presented results are very promising for the development of high‐speed Ti–Ni‐based SMA actuators.     

A new sequential experimental design procedure for discriminating among rival models

A new procedure to be used in the sequential design of experiments for discriminating among rival models is presented. The procedure consists of a new design criterion and a model adequacy test based on statistical principles. The method is illustrated with examples and compared to previous methods.