The effects of washing a collagen sample prior to TEM examination

Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) is an important analysis technique to visualize (bio)macromolecules and their assemblies, including collagen fibers. Many protocols for TEM sample preparation of collagen involve one or more washing steps to remove excess salts from the dispersion that could hamper analysis when dried on a TEM grid. Such protocols are not standardized and washing times as well as washing solvents vary from procedure to procedure, with each research group typically having their own protocol. Here, we investigate the influence of washing with water, ethanol, but also methanol and 2-propanol, for both mineralized and unmineralized collagen samples via a protocol based on centrifugation. Washing with water maintains the hydrated collagen structure and the characteristic banding pattern can be clearly observed. Conversely, washing with ethanol results in dehydration of the fibrils, often leading to aggregation of the fibers and a less obvious banding pattern, already within 1 min of ethanol exposure. As we show, this process is fully reversible. Similar observations were made for methanol and propanol. Based on these results, a standardized washing protocol for collagenous samples is proposed.     

Industry 4.0: a supply chain innovation perspective

The Fourth Industrial Revolution – also known as Industry 4.0 (i4.0) – comprises the digitalisation of the industrial sector. This paper uses the theoretical lens of supply chain innovation (SCI) to investigate the implications of i4.0 on supply chain management. For these purposes, the method of structured content analysis is applied to more than 200 use cases of i4.0-enabled SCI introduced by both established and startup companies. i4.0-enabled SCI manifests along three dimensions: process, technology, and business architecture. The key findings of this study can be summarised as follows: first, i4.0-enabled SCI extends the initial focus on productivity improvements in SC processes towards scalability and flexibility. Second, extant i4.0 solutions rely mostly on analytics and smart things while omitting smart people technology and the human-centric approach associated with the i4.0 paradigm. Third, established companies adopt i4.0 merely to sustain their existing business architectures while startup companies radically change their operating models, relying heavily on data analytics and the platform economy. Consequently, established companies pursue a problem-driven, engineering-based approach to SCI while startup companies follow an ‘asset-light’, business-driven approach. Lastly, there are two distinct approaches to digitalising operational SC processes: platform-based crowdsourcing of standard processes and on-demand provision of customised services.     

Shape Factor Effect on Inclusion Sedimentation in Aluminum Melts

Metallurgical and Materials Transactions B - The quality requirements of aluminum products are steadily increasing, and the presence of non-metallic inclusions have a large impact on the quality of...     

Defining Dry Eye from a Clinical Perspective

Over the past decades, the number of patients with dry eye disease (DED) has increased dramatically. The incidence of DED is higher in Asia than in Europe and North America, suggesting the involvement of cultural or racial factors in DED etiology. Although many definitions of DED have been used, discrepancies exist between the various definitions of dry eye disease (DED) used across the globe. This article presents a clinical consensus on the definition of DED, as formulated in four meetings with global DED experts. The proposed new definition is as follows: “Dry eye is a multifactorial disease characterized by a persistently unstable and/or deficient tear film (TF) causing discomfort and/or visual impairment, accompanied by variable degrees of ocular surface epitheliopathy, inflammation and neurosensory abnormalities.” The key criteria for the diagnosis of DED are unstable TF, inflammation, ocular discomfort and visual impairment. This definition also recommends the assessment of ocular surface epitheliopathy and neurosensory abnormalities in each patient with suspected DED. It is easily applicable in clinical practice and should help practitioners diagnose DED consistently. This consensus definition of DED should also help to guide research and clinical trials that, to date, have been hampered by the lack of an established surrogate endpoint.     

Introduction of a nonlinearity measure for principal component models

Although principal component analysis (PCA) is an important tool in standard multivariate data analysis, little interest has been devoted to assessing whether the underlying relationship within a given variable set can be described by a linear PCA model or whether nonlinear PCA must be utilized. This paper addresses this deficiency by introducing a nonlinearity measure for principal component models. The measure is based on the following two principles: (i) the range of recorded process operation is divided into smaller regions; and (ii) accuracy bounds are determined for the sum of the discarded eigenvalues. If this sum is within the accuracy bounds for each region, the process is assumed to be linear and vice versa. This procedure is automated through the use of cross-validation. Finally, the paper shows the utility of the new nonlinearity measure using two simulation studies and with data from an industrial melter process.     

Cr-Mo solid solutions forced by high-energy ball milling

Mixtures of Cr and Mo elemental powders, with the nominal compositions Cr₂₅Mo₇₅, Cr₅₀Mo₅₀, and Cr₇₅Mo₂₅, are processed by high-energy ball milling at ambient temperature. Milling is observed to force the mixing of the immiscible bcc elements Cr and Mo into solid solutions. The lattice parameter of these solid solutions, measured by X-ray diffraction (XRD), displays the expected positive deviation from Vegard’s law. These deviations are compared to the ones predicted by Eshelby’s inclusion model for dilute alloys. The conventional Williamson-Hall approach is shown to fail to determine the grain size in as-milled samples, probably due to the high density of dislocations. Annealing at 700 °C for 10 hours under argon leads to a large reduction in structural defect density, without inducing any significant decomposition. The mixing measured in Cr-Mo is discussed in the broader context of the mechanical mixing forced by ball milling in moderately immiscible systems.     

Interdiffusion behavior of Hg in HgTe/CdTe superlattices grown on Cd0.96Zn0.04 Te (211)B substrates by molecular beam epitaxy

Double-crystal x-ray rocking curve (DCRC) and secondary-ion mass-spectroscopy (SIMS) measurements have been performed to investigate the effect of rapid thermal annealing on the interdiffusion behavior of Hg in HgTe/CdTe superlattices grown on Cd_0.96Zn_0.04Te (211)B substrates by molecular beam epitaxy. The sharp satellite peaks of the DCRC measurements on a 100-period HgTe/CdTe (100Å/100Å) superlattice show a periodic arrangement of the superlattice with high-quality interfaces. The negative direction of the entropy change obtained from the diffusion coefficients as a function of the reciprocal of the temperature after RTA indicates that the Hg diffusion for the annealed HgTe/CdTe superlattice is caused by an interstitial mechanism. The Cd and the Hg concentration profiles near the annealed HgTe/CdTe superlattice interfaces, as measured by SIMS, show a nonlinear behavior for Hg, originating from the interstitial diffusion mechanism of the Hg composition. These results indicate that a nonlinear interdiffusion behavior is dominant for HgTe/CdTe superlattices annealed at 190°C and that the rectangular shape of HgTe/CdTe superlattices may change to a parabolic shape because of the intermixing of Hg and Cd due to the thermal treatment.     

A superconducting X-ray spectrometer with a tantalum absorber andlateral trapping

We report the development of Nb-Ta-Al-Al₂O₃-Al superconducting tunnel junction structures for high energy resolution and high efficiency X-ray detection. These devices utilize a Ta X-ray absorber with superconductor “bandgap engineered” quasiparticle trapping to improve charge collection. Experimental results at 0.3 K are presented, showing energy resolution of 102 eV full-width-half-maximum for 6 keV X-rays. Collected charge is in excess of 5×10⁶ electrons. The absorption efficiency is better than 35%. Devices thermally cycle with no change in characteristics