Superswelling Microneedle Arrays for Dermal Interstitial Fluid (Prote)Omics

The noninvasive sampling of dermal interstitial fluid (ISF) for the monitoring of clinical biomarkers is a greatly appealing area of research. The identification of molecular biomarkers in biological fluids has been accelerated with -omics analyses but remains limited in ISF because of its time-consuming and complex extraction process. Here, the generation of microneedle (MN) patches made of superabsorbent acrylate-based hydrogels for the rapid sampling of dermal ISF is described to explore its proteome. In depth, iterative optimization allows the identification of novel acrylate-based compositions with the required chemical, mechanical, and biocompatibility properties allowing proteomic analysis of the extracted ISF for the first time after sampling with swelling MNs. The generated MN arrays show no cytotoxic effect, successfully cross the stratum corneum, and can collect up to 6 µL of dermal ISF in 10 min in vivo. Proteomics lead to the detection of 176 clinically relevant biomarkers in the collected samples validating the use of ISF as a relevant bodily fluid for disease monitoring and diagnostic. Importantly, it is discovered that extraction fingerprint is strongly dependent on the MNs chemistry, and thus specific biomarkers could be selectively extracted by tuning the composition of the patch, making the system versatile and specific.     

Workers’ rest allowance and smoothing of the workload in assembly lines

Ergonomic aspects have a crucial role in manual assembly systems. They impact on the workers’ health, final product quality and productivity. For these reasons, there is the necessity to integrate them into the assembly line balancing phase as, whereas, only time and cost variables are considered. In this study, human energy expenditures are considered as ergonomic aspects and we integrate them, for the first time, into the assembly line balancing problem type 2 through the rest allowance evaluation. We consider as an objective function the minimization of the smoothness index. Firstly, a new optimal method based on mixed integer linear programming and a new linearization methodology are proposed. Then, a heuristic approach is introduced. To complete the study, a computational experimentation is presented to validate the mathematical model and to compare the methodologies proposed in terms of computational time, complexity and solution. Additionally, we provide a detailed analysis of the impact that rest allowance evaluation can have on productivity comparing the results obtained, taking into account the rest allowance integration before, during and after the assembly balancing process.     

A self‐scalable load injection service

Load testing of applications is an important and costly activity for software provider companies. Classical solutions are very difficult to set up statically, and their cost is prohibitive in terms of both human and hardware resources. Virtualized cloud computing platforms provide new opportunities for stressing an application's scalability, by providing a large range of flexible and less expensive (pay‐per‐use model) computation units. On the basis of these advantages, load testing solutions could be provided on demand in the cloud. This paper describes a Benchmark‐as‐a‐Service solution that automatically scales the load injection platform and facilitates its setup according to load profiles. Our approach is based on: (i) virtualization of the benchmarking platform to create self‐scaling injectors; (ii) online calibration to characterize the injector's capacity and impact on the benched application; and (iii) a provisioning solution to appropriately scale the load injection platform ahead of time. We also report experiments on a benchmark illustrating the benefits of this system in terms of cost and resource reductions. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Graded evolution of anisotropic microstructure during sintering from crystal-oriented powder compact

Anisotropic sintering, including shrinkage and grain growth, was examined for c-axis-oriented (Sr,Ca)₂NaNb₅O₁₅ (SCNN) ceramics, which were prepared by colloidal processing under a magnetic field. In the c-axis-oriented SCNN powder compact, shrinkage and grain growth along the c-axis were higher than those along the a-axis. The anisotropic microstructural development was clearly associated with anisotropic sintering shrinkage. X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and energy back scattering diffraction showed that the grain growth of oriented particles by including random grains contribute to the development of the oriented microstructure. Finally, the highly crystal-oriented SCNN ceramics with a densified microstructure were obtained through anisotropic sintering. These results clearly showed the potential to develop a well-defined anisotropic microstructure during sintering by designing and controlling the particle packing structure in a powder compact.     

Pilot Plant Study of Simultaneous Sewage Sludge Digestion and Metal Leaching

This research is related to a preindustrial pilot scale study of the performance of the simultaneous sewage sludge digestion and metal leaching (SSDML) process for decontamination and stabilization of sewage sludge. Ten batch tests were carried out in two 4?m3 bioreactors under various conditions of operation. Results indicated that the addition of 1.0 to 1.5?g?S0/L, which is the equivalent of approximately 30 to 50?kg?S0 per tons dry sludge, is sufficient to obtain conditions of acidity (pH<2.5) and oxido-reduction potential greater than 500 mV necessary for an effective solubilization of toxic metals. The final average of metal solubilization in the output sludge during the SSDML process varied in the following ranges: 25–78% Cd, 9–32% Cr, 48–100% Cu, 77–99% Mn, 15–53% Ni, 12–47% Pb, and 66–100% Zn. The N, P, and K contents were also preserved in the decontaminated sludge. Moreover, the use of low concentrations of elemental sulfur makes it possible to obtain decontaminated sludge with a low total sulfur content (1.4–1.5% S) compatible with agricultural use. The suspended solids removal calculated for the SSDML process was slightly lower, (2.5±0.4)% volatile suspended solids per day, than those reached using standard aerobic digestion. Finally, the SSDML process was found to be effective in removing bad odors and in the destruction (99–100%) of indicator bacteria.     

The possibility of new high-transmission,high finesse,Perot-Fabry interferometers for far ir spectroscopy

Finesse as high as 260 and peak transmission close to 98% at frequencies around 30 cm^?1 are predicted at 10 K by coating the Perot-Fabry (PF) mirrors with a suitable thickness of High Tc (HTC) superconductor YBaCuO. In fact, Finesse will be limited by the lack of parallelism and the lack of perfect flatness of the mirrors to values around 100. These predictions are based upon phenomenological models for both the YBaCuO coating and the MgO support, i.e. from direct transmission measurements of MgO and YBaCuO in the Far IR, which had to be fitted by the models.