Search results for "Note"

Mass transfer in ducts with transpiring walls

2019

Abstract The problem of mass transfer in ducts with transpiring walls is analysed: the concepts of “solvent” and “solute” fluxes are introduced, all possible sign combinations for these fluxes are considered, and relevant examples from membrane processes such as electrodialysis, reverse osmosis and filtration are identified. Besides the dimensionless numbers commonly defined in studying flow and mass transfer problems, new dimensionless quantities appropriate to transpiration problems are introduced, and their limiting values, associated with “drying”, “desalting” and “saturation” conditions, are identified. A simple model predicting the Sherwood number Sh under all possible flux sign combi…

Sun radiation and temperature impact at different periods of the year on the photooxidation of polyethylene films

2017

Analysis of the IR spectra of weathered films exposed at different periods of the year reveals that, the main regions of the IR spectrum affected by solar irradiation and temperature variation are the complex carbonyls and unsaturations composite absorption bands. Their respective kinetics vary in different manner according to the period at which the exposure is started. Curve fitting has been performed to refine the analysis of the IR spectra and to identify all the chemical species constituting the complex absorption bands. The analysis of the results let appears that whatever the exposure period of the year is, it does not affect the type of developing products, but it has strong effect …

Anodic Alumina Membranes: From Electrochemical Growth to Use as Template for Fabrication of Nanostructured Electrodes

2022

The great success of anodic alumina membranes is due to their morphological features coupled to both thermal and chemical stability. The electrochemical fabrication allows accurate control of the porous structure: in fact, the membrane morphological characteristics (pore length, pore diameter and cell density) can be controlled by adjusting the anodizing parameters (bath, temperature, voltage and time). This article deals with both the fabrication and use of anodic alumina membranes. In particular, we will show the specific role of the addition of aluminum ions to phosphoric acid-based anodizing solution in modifying the morphology of anodic alumina membranes. Anodic alumina membranes were …

Engineering Polymer Microparticles by Droplet Microfluidics

2013

Capillary-based flow-focusing and co-flow microsystems were developed to produce sphere-like polymer microparticles of adjustable sizes in the range of 50 to 600 μm with a narrow size distribution (CV < 5%) and different morphologies (core-shell, janus, and capsules). Rod-like particles whose length was conveniently adjusted between 400 μm and few millimeters were also produced using the same microsystems. Influence of operating conditions (flow rate of the different fluid, microsystem characteristic dimensions, and design) as well as material parameters (viscosity of the different fluids and surface tension) was investigated. Empirical relationships were thus derived from experimental data…

Probing ensemble polymorphism and single aggregate structural heterogeneity in insulin amyloid self-assembly.

2020

Ensembles of protein aggregates are characterized by a nano- and micro-scale heterogeneity of the species. This diversity translates into a variety of effects that protein aggregates may have in biological systems, both in connection to neurodegenerative diseases and immunogenic risk of protein drug products. Moreover, this naturally occurring variety offers unique opportunities in the field of protein-based biomaterials. In the above-mentioned fields, the isolation and structural analysis of the different amyloid types within the same ensemble remain a priority, still representing a significant experimental challenge. Here we address such complexity in the case of insulin for its relevance…

Phasor-FLIM analysis of Thioflavin T self-quenching in Concanavalin amyloid fibrils

2020

The formation of amyloid structures has traditionally been related to human neurodegenerative pathologies and, in recent years, the interest in these highly stable nanostructures was extended to biomaterial sciences. A common method to monitor amyloid growth is the analysis of Thioflavin T fluorescence. The use of this highly selective dye, diffused worldwide, allows mechanistic studies of supramolecular assemblies also giving back important insight on the structure of these aggregates. Here we present experimental evidence of self-quenching effect of Thioflavin T in presence of amyloid fibrils. A significant reduction of fluorescence lifetime of this dye which is not related to the propert…

Monitoring Human Neutrophil Differentiation by Digital Holographic Microscopy

2021

We report on the usefulness of digital holographic microscopy (DHM) for the assessment of human neutrophil differentiation from myeloid cells. The cell and nuclear regions have been designated by image segmentation of the optical phase function, and the changes of the cell nucleus morphology in relation to the whole cell morphology have been examined during the process of granulocytic differentiation into mature neutrophils in PLB-985 cell line. Nucleus phase volume and circularity and the ratios between the nucleus and the cell projected area and volume provide a reliable set of parameters to characterize the maturation process. As control, cell differentiation has been monitored in parall…

Nanohybrid for Photodynamic Therapy and Fluorescence Imaging Tracking without Therapy

2018

Theranostic upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) are ideal candidates for personalized medicine. We present a smart, easy-to-prepare nanohybrid (NH) suitable for NIR-theragnosis and imaging tracking without triggering therapy simultaneously. The photophysical features of each component have been carefully selected in order to maximize the capabilities for theragnosis, in particular, the upconversion emission and the photosensitizer absorption. In addition, NH presents a fluorescent marker with one-photon absorption in the green and two-photon absorption cross-section at NIR wavelengths where the UCNP does not absorb, thus enabling innocuous tracking. Thus, the NH consists of NaYF4:Yb, Er, Tm …

2014

This study was performed to explore the feasibility of tracing nanoparticles for drug transport in the healthy rat brain with a clinical MRI scanner. Phantom studies were performed to assess the R1 ( =  1/T1) relaxivity of different magnetically labeled nanoparticle (MLNP) formulations that were based on biodegradable human serum albumin and that were labeled with magnetite of different size. In vivo MRI measurements in 26 rats were done at 3T to study the effect and dynamics of MLNP uptake in the rat brain and body. In the brain, MLNPs induced T1 changes were quantitatively assessed by T1 relaxation time mapping in vivo and compared to post-mortem results from fluorescence imaging. Followi…

Anti-angiogenic drug loaded liposomes: Nanotherapy for early atherosclerotic lesions in mice.

2018

Este artículo se encuentra disponible en la página web de la revista en la siguiente URL: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0190540 También participan en la elaboración de este artículo científico: Aracely Calatayud-Pascual, Alicia López-Castellano, Elena P. Albelda, Enrique García-España, Luis Martí-Bonmatí, Juan C. Frias y M. Teresa Albelda. Fumagillin-loaded liposomes were injected into ApoE-KO mice. The animals were divided into several groups to test the efficacy of this anti-angiogenic drug for early treatment of atherosclerotic lesions. Statistical analysis of the lesions revealed a decrease in the lesion size after 5 weeks of treatment.