Potential Anti-Inflammatory and Chondroprotective Effect of Luzula sylvatica

(1) Interest in the Juncaceae family has risen as some members have shown anti-inflammatory properties and interesting compounds. In this regard, we decided to investigate the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of Luzula sylvatica, a Juncaceae not yet extensively studied, in the context of osteoarthritis. (2) The Luzula sylvatica Ethanol extract (LS-E) was used to test the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) by leucocytes, the IL1β and PGE2 production by peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), the production of EP4, and the activation of NFκB in THP-1, as well as the IL1β-activated normal human knee articular chondrocytes (NHAC-Kn) gene expression, grown in monolayers or maintained in alginate beads. (3) Organic acids, caffeoylquinic acids, quercetin and luteolin, compounds frequently found in this family were identified. The LS-E exhibited inhibited ROS formation. The LS-E did not affect NFκB activation and IL1β secretion but dampened the secretion of PGE2 by PBMCs and the presence of EP4 in THP-1. It also modulated the expression of NHAC-Kn in both models and inhibited the expression of several proteases and inflammatory mediators. (4) Luzula sylvatica might supply interesting antioxidant protection against cartilage damages and lessen joint inflammation, notably by decreasing PGE2 secretion in the synovial fluid. Moreover, it could act directly on chondrocytes by decreasing the expression of proteases and, thus, preventing the degradation of the extracellular matrix.     

Automatic Stress Classification With Pupil Diameter Analysis

This article proposes a method based on wavelet transform and neural networks for relating pupillary behavior to psychological stress. The proposed method was tested by recording pupil diameter and electrodermal activity during a simulated driving task. Self-report measures were also collected. Participants performed a baseline run with the driving task only, followed by three stress runs where they were required to perform the driving task along with sound alerts, the presence of two human evaluators, and both. Self-reports and pupil diameter successfully indexed stress manipulation, and significant correlations were found between these measures. However, electrodermal activity did not vary accordingly. After training, the four-way parallel neural network classifier could guess whether a given unknown pupil diameter signal came from one of the four experimental trials with 79.2% precision. The present study shows that pupil diameter signal has good discriminating power for stress detection.     

Experimental study of the fiber orientations in single and multi-ply continuous filament yarns

Abstract

A detailed identification, using X-ray microtomography, of the filament trajectories within twisted single and multi-ply continuous filament yarns is presented in this article, to accurately determine the distributions of orientations of filaments which govern the mechanical behavior of those yarns and the mechanisms of failure. The resolution of the images obtained by means of the X-ray microtomography experimental setup associated to the capabilities of an in-house developed image processing software allowed the reconstruction of the trajectories of almost all filaments within different yarn specimens. Various structural information are derived from these trajectories, dealing in particular with the orientation of individual segments of filaments with respect either to the ply trajectory or to the yarn axis. Compared to orientation distributions provided by different analytical models available in the literature, those resulting from reconstructed trajectories show similar global trends, while providing more details in peripheral regions and regions close to contact zones between plies. Maps of radial and spatial distributions of orientations provide a comprehensive representation of how filaments are oriented within the plies, which gives valuable insight into the inner structural arrangement of fibers which is one of the sources of nonlinearities in the mechanical behavior of filament yarns.     

Solar energy desalination for arid coastal regions: development of a humidification–dehumidification seawater greenhouse

The long-term aim of our research is to develop humidification–dehumidification desalination technology for farms in arid coastal regions that are suffering from salt-infected soils and shortages of potable groundwater. The specific aim of our current study was to determine the influence of greenhouse-related parameters on a process, called Seawater Greenhouse, which combines fresh water production with growth of crops in a greenhouse system. A thermodynamic model was used based on heat and mass balances. The dimension of the greenhouse had the greatest overall effect on the water production and energy consumption. A wide shallow greenhouse, 200 m wide by 50 m deep gave 125 m³ d⁻¹ of fresh water. This was greater than a factor of two compared to the worst-case scenario with the same area (50 m wide by 200 m deep), which gave 58 m³ d⁻¹. Low power consumption went hand-in-hand with high efficiency. The wide shallow greenhouse consumed 1.16 kW h m⁻³, while the narrow deep structure consumed 5.02 kW h m⁻³. Analysis of the local climate indicated that the structure should be built facing the NE direction. We are also in the process of building a commercial size Seawater Greenhouse at a site by the sea. The aim is to demonstrate the technology to local farmers and companies in the Arabian Gulf. The system will allow for the reclamation of salt-infected land by not relying, at all, on groundwater resources.     

Bitumen fluxing properties of a new class of sustainable solvents: The isosorbide di-alkyl ethers

The performances of new bio-sourced solvents, the short chain mono- and di-alkyl isosorbide ethers, have been determined and compared to benchmark bitumen fluxes. The influences of fluxes and temperature on the Newtonian viscosity have been assessed. The various fluxes appear to impact also on the visco-elastic behaviour of paving bitumen and dimethyl isosorbide ether (DMI) exhibits good fluxing properties. This bio-sourced solvent has also the property to be fully miscible with water. The bitumen hardness recovery can consequently occur from two different phenomena: evaporation and diffusion from the bitumen to water, making this solvent an appropriate bitumen flux for rainy seasons.     

Confinement Effects on the Structure of Entropy-Induced Supercrystals

Depletion-induced self-assembly is routinely used to separate plasmonic nanoparticles (NPs) of different shapes, but less often for its ability to create supercrystals (SCs) in suspension. Therefore, these plasmonic assemblies have not yet reached a high level of maturity and their in-depth characterization by a combination of in situ techniques is still very much needed. In this work, gold triangles (AuNTs) and silver nanorods (AgNRs) are assembled by depletion-induced self-assembly. Small Angle X-ray Scattering (SAXS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis shows that the AuNTs and AgNRs form 3D and 2D hexagonal lattices in bulk, respectively. The colloidal crystals are also imaged by in situ Liquid-Cell Transmission Electron Microscopy. Under confinement, the affinity of the NPs for the liquid cell windows reduces their ability to stack perpendicularly to the membrane and lead to SCs with a lower dimensionality than their bulk counterparts. Moreover, extended beam irradiation leads to disassembly of the lattices, which is well described by a model accounting for the desorption kinetics highlighting the key role of the NP-membrane interaction in the structural properties of SCs in the liquid-cell. The results shed light on the reconfigurability of NP superlattices obtained by depletion-induced self-assembly, which can rearrange under confinement.     

Effect of Carbonaceous Residues on the Blast Furnace Operation Efficiency by PC Injection

Efficiency of pulverized coal (PC) injection determines the coke rate and, consequently, the environmental effect, and depends significantly on its conversion. At high injection rates over 200 kg t_HM⁻¹, a significant part of coal residues, named char, leave the raceway. Char properties and behavior are of great importance in view of their possible consumption outside the raceway. This study continues the investigations of previous works reported in 2020, and comprises numerous laboratory, analytical tests and simulations performed at RWTH Aachen University, as well as industrial measurements. First, the article focuses on the char formation and the temperature development in the raceway while injecting PC. In addition, the effect of alkali on the char reactivity is proven. Next, the effect of injected PC on the pressure drop and permeability in different blast furnace (BF) zones is examined. Also, the char effect on liquid products and the dripping zone is studied. Hot-metal carburization, dynamic and static holdups in the dripping zone, and slag characteristics are investigated. Further available carbonaceous residues in the BF, such as coke fines and soot, are investigated to reveal their competitive consumption. Finally, a method for identification and quantification of carbon phases in BF dust is developed.     

Guaranteed master for interval-based cosimulation

Software and Systems Modeling - In this paper, we tackle the problem of guaranteed simulation of cyber-physical systems, an important model for current engineering systems. Their is always...     

Influence of lignin's pH on polyurethane flexible foam formation and how to control it

Low pH of commercial lignins has a catastrophic impact on the polyurethane foaming reactions. Experiments were performed with 10 wt% of lignin with various pHs in polyols. Virgin lignin (pH 2.5, 35% moisture) has the most negative impact as it reduces the initial foam rising rate by 85% and the foam's final height by 35% as compared to the reference foam, lignin free. Drying of this lignin at 80°C for 12 h can reduce this impact while alkaline treatment to bring the lignin's pH to 6.6 almost cancel it. As revealed by in situ dielectric constant measurements, both reactions, gelling via polymerization and blowing via CO₂ degassing, are impacted. In situ Fourier transform infrared analysis of the foaming process demonstrated that blowing reaction is the most pH sensitive. Two methods to counter the pH influence by pH modification were tested and provide interesting results but also significant drawbacks limiting their applicability.