Cell barrier function is, on the one hand, of outmost importance in our lungs, as the respiratory tract is exposed to a hostile environment from both sites: the airways and the vasculature. On the other hand, however, an efficient gas exchange of oxygen (O 2) and CO 2 is only possible through a very thin alveolo-capillary membrane. On the vascular site, endothelial cells form a natural barrier, while in the airways epithelial cells are most important for protection of the lung tissues. Moreover, fibroblasts, by transforming to myofibroblasts, are essential for wound closure after mechanical and chemical microinjuries in the respiratory tract. Along this line, loss of cell resistance in vascular endothelial and lung epithelial cells enhances invasion of pathogens (e.g. SARS-CoV-2) and results in pulmonary edema formation, while increasing barrier function of pulmonary (myo)fibroblasts blocks gas exchange in patients with pulmonary fibrosis (PF). Therefore, electrical cell-substrate impedance sensing (ECIS)-based quantification of changes in cell barrier function in lung endothelial and epithelial cells as well as fibroblasts after application of harmful triggers (e.g. hypoxia, receptor agonists and toxicants) is a convenient and state-of-the-art technique. After isolation of primary cells from mouse models and human tissues, changes in cell resistance can be detected in real time. By using lung cells from gene-deficient mouse models, micro (mi) RNAs or the small-interfering (si) RNA technology essential proteins for cell adhesion e.g. ion channels of the transient receptor potential (TRP) family are identified in comparison to wild type control cells. In the future, these proteins may be useful as drug targets for novel therapeutic options in patients with lung edema or pulmonary fibrosis.

In this research, we introduce the Finite Pointset Method (FPM) as an innovative approach for approximating transient linear bio-thermoelasticity in skin tissues, addressing the complex interplay between thermal and elastic effects under three distinct shock conditions. Our study demonstrates significant potential for clinical applications, providing a framework for precise measurement and optimization of therapeutic parameters. Through a comprehensive parametric analysis, we explore temperature distribution and displacement profiles within tissue, emphasizing the impact of coupling parameters and perfusion rates. Notably, our findings reveal the cooling effects induced by perfusion under both coupled and uncoupled scenarios and highlight the variability of thermal responses based on the coupling parameter. This research contributes to the interdisciplinary field of biomedical engineering, offering novel insights into haemodynamics problems using FPM and paving the way for advancements in medical technology and therapeutic strategies.

Heptamethine based cyanines, namely 1,3,-trimethyl-2-(2-2[2-phenylsulfanyl-3-[2-(1,3,3-trimethyl-1,3,3-trithyl-1,3-dihydro-indol-2-ylidene)-ethylidene]cyclohex-1-enyl]vinyl)-3H-indolium chloride ( S1) and 2-[2-(2-chloro-[2-[1,1-dimethyl-7-sulfo-3-(4-sulfobutyl)-1,3-dihydro-benzo[e]indol-2-ylidene]-ethylidene]cyclopent-1-enyl]vinyl]-1,1-dimethyl-7-sulfo-3-(4-sulfobutyl)-1Hbenzo[e]indolium hydroxide, inner salt, triethylammonium salt ( S2), efficiently result in physical drying of an aqueous dispersion comprising a polyurethane binder. S2 possesses a water solubility of 40 g/L. A high-intensity NIR-LED emitting at 820 nm with an intensity of 1 W/cm 2 served as light source. The cyanine converted the light absorbed into heat by internal conversion needing less drying time compared to conventional drying. Water content after film formation showed less then 1%. In the second step, UV exposure with a LED emitting at 395 nm resulted in formation of semi-interpenetrating polymer networks by crosslinking of the multifunctional (meth)acrylate operating as reactive diluent. TPO-L served as effective UV-photoinitiator. Furthermore, the UV-exposure together with Norrish Type I and Type II photoinitator systems results in a very efficient bleaching of the green physical dried film. This contribution shows for the first time a new photonic hybrid technique describing successful replacement of an oven-based process by a photonic based step that generates heat needed for drying.

Silicon epitaxy is an essential building block in the manufacturing of complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) devices. Accurate determination of epitaxial layer thickness is indispensable for a uniform and reproducible process. In this paper, we compare thickness values of the transition zone in silicon epitaxial wafers obtained by two of Semilab’s production-compatible electrical and optical characterization techniques: Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) reflectometry and spreading resistance profiling (SRP). We demonstrate a high correlation between transition zone thicknesses obtained from the optical modelling of FTIR reflectance spectra and SRP profiles. The dependance of transition zone thickness change on the high-temperature annealing steps is also examined. FTIR reflectometry thus offers a quick, contactless alternative for obtaining structural parameters of an epitaxial layer, and these values can be well matched to those given by SRP.

Magnetic nanoparticles have recently attracted attention for biochemical and medical applications like drug delivery and hyperthermia for a variety of reasons with most important being their stability, chemical compatibility, and suitable magnetic properties like moderate specific mass magnetization. Cobalt ferrites are a well-studied family of materials and the partial substitution of Fe 3+ cations by rare earth (RE) ones may be used to tune the magnetic properties. In the present work pure and substituted Co ferrite nanoparticles with nominal stoichiometry CoFe 2-xR xO 4 (R = Yb, Gd; x = 0.05, 0.1, 0.3) synthesized by the co-precipitation method are studied with 57Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy in order to determine the incorporation of RE ions in the spinel lattice. The fitting procedure was based on the standard spinel model using two sextets for the octahedral and the tetrahedral coordinated positions of Fe atoms. All isomer shift values were found within the typical range of high spin ferric ions while quadrupole splitting values strongly suggest that there is a substitution preference; RE ions replace iron ones in octahedral sites. The inversion parameter was found to decrease with RE content (lowest value about 0.534 for CoFe 1.90Yb 0.10O 4) and thermal treatment always results in changing the material towards normal spinel, while pure CoFe 2O 4 was inverse. Thermal treatment of substituted materials in ambient air at temperature range 1500-1700 K for 12 hours increase crystallite size and changes the degree of inversion.

Food touches every human and every other species in the world throughout daily life. Food is therefore the subject of extensive regulation nationally, internationally across trade agreements, and under some religious law as well. Nanotechnology has been applied to food since the late 20 th century with attendant implications for food quality, quantity, and distribution. Applications of nanotechnology impacting food “from field to fork” include: more effective formulation of fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides; nanosilver as an antibacterial in food handling and refrigeration; carbon nanotubes for secure and durable packaging Titanium dioxide to make food white, fluffy, and attractive to consumers; and nano-biosensors to detect temperature changes that might cause spoilage, thereby helping to prevent food loss. One nanoscale material in particular, Titanium Dioxide, has been subject to litigation and banned in Europe. By contrast, it is generally recognized as safe under USA laws, and has no specific federal limit if it consists of one percent or less of the total food involved. But, California’s assembly has also introduced legislation to ban this substance, and therefore the role of nanotechnology applied to food, shaping new laws and spawning litigation, is a hot new legal issue.

Photocatalytic coatings have the potential to contribute to the purification of water via an advanced oxidation process (AOP) [1]. A commonly used method for analyzing the mechanism of the photocatalytic performance of a given reactor type is to document the degradation behavior in a solution containing methylene blue. However, since methylene blue is rather unstable, the degradation results should be viewed critically. In this work, the degradation behavior of a test solution with methylene blue on quartz glass surfaces coated with photocatalytic titanium dioxide (TiO 2) of the anatase modification was investigated through a variety of different light sources. The coating was deposited by the reactive pulsed DC magnetron sputtering (MSIP-PVD) method described in [2], while the quartz glasses were coated with a 100 nm thick TiO 2 coating. The same glasses were used for all experiments with TiO 2. In the determination of the degradation rate, additional experiments were performed using pure quartz glass without any coating, which made it possible to examine the influence of different light sources on the degradation rate of methylene blue in general. Three different light sources, namely UV-A, UV-C, and simple fluorescent lamps were used in this study. The concentration of methylene blue was recorded by photo spectrometer in 10-minute increments throughout the experiment and the experiments were performed for 24 hours in all cases.

This work elucidates the control of integrating non-minimum phase system via series cascade scheme with fractional-order P.I. (Proportional–Integral) plus D (Derivative) controller. The traditional Internal Model Control (IMC) is adopted for inner loop controller design. The feedback D controller is synthesized with the outer loop process model, which shows the work’s universality. The outer loop controller is suggested in the IMC framework after accountability of fractional-filter and inverse response compensator. This combination is revealed to enhance performance without compromising the robustness. The Riemann sheet principle is explored to compute the stability of the suggested controller. The sensitivity analysis has asserted the robustness. More importantly, the optimal value of controller settings is achieved via the Teaching Learning Based Optimization (TLBO) algorithm. This TLBO algorithm uses an objective function that minimizes Integral Square Error (ISE). Two illustrative problems are utilized to examine the recommended control structure’s virtue.