The residual effect of C60 fullerene on biomechanical and biochemical markers of the muscle soleus fatigue development in rats. - In: Journal of nanomaterials, ISSN 1687-4129, Bd. 2023 (2023), e2237574, S. 1-11
Muscle fatigue as a defense body mechanism against overload is a result of the products of incomplete oxygen oxidation such as reactive oxygen species. Hence, C60 fullerene as a powerful nanoantioxidant can be used to speed up the muscle recovery process after fatigue. Here, the residual effect of C60 fullerene on the biomechanical and biochemical markers of the development of muscle soleus fatigue in rats for 2 days after 5 days of its application was studied. The known antioxidant N-acetylcysteine (NAC) was used as a comparison drug. The atomic force microscopy to determine the size distribution of C60 fullerenes in an aqueous solution, the tensiometry of skeletal muscles, and the biochemical analysis of their tissues and rat blood were used in this study. It was found that after the cessation of NAC injections, the value of the integrated muscle power is already slightly different from the control (5%-7%) on the first day, and on the second day, it does not significantly differ from the control. At the same time, after the cessation of C60 fullerene injections, its residual effect was 45%-50% on the first day, and 17%-23% of the control on the second one. A significant difference (more than 25%) between the pro- and antioxidant balance in the studied muscles and blood of rats after the application of C60 fullerene and NAС plays a key role in the long-term residual effect of C60 fullerene. This indicates prolonged kinetics of C60 fullerenes elimination from the body, which contributes to their long-term (at least 2 days) compensatory activation of the endogenous antioxidant system in response to muscle stimulation, which should be considered when developing new therapeutic agents based on these nanoparticles.
https://doi.org/10.1155/2023/2237574
Characterization of pores in polished low temperature co-fired glass-ceramic composites for optimization of their micromachining. - In: Surface topography, ISSN 2051-672X, Bd. 10 (2022), 4, 045026, S. 1-14
Pores are intrinsic defects of ceramic composites and influence their functional properties significantly. Their characterization is therefore a pivotal task in material and process optimization. It is demonstrated that polished section analysis allows for obtaining precise information on pore size, shape, area fraction, and homogeneous distribution. It is proven that laser scanning microscopy provides accurate height maps and is thus an appropriate technique for assessing surface features. Such data is used to compare areas with good and poor polishing results, and various surface parameters are evaluated in terms of their informative value and data processing effort. The material under investigation is a low temperature co-fired ceramic composite. Through statistical analysis of the data, the inclination angle was identified as an appropriate parameter to describe the polishing result. By using masked data, direct conclusions can be drawn about the leveling of load-bearing surface areas, which are crucial in photolithographic processing steps and bonding technology. A broad discussion of different defects based on the results contributes to a critical analysis of the potentials and obstacles of micromachining of low temperature cofired ceramic substrates.
https://doi.org/10.1088/2051-672X/aca2c7
Multiphysics simulation of fluid interface shapes in microfluidic systems driven by electrowetting on dielectrics. - In: Journal of applied physics, ISSN 1089-7550, Bd. 132 (2022), 22, S. 224702-1-224702-17
We present a highly efficient simulation method for the calculation of three-dimensional quasi-static interface shapes under the influence of electric fields. The method is especially useful for the simulation of microfluidic systems driven by electrowetting on dielectrics because it accounts automatically and inherently for the highly non-trivial interface shape in the vicinity of the triple-phase contact. In particular, the voltage independence of the local contact angle predicted based on analytical considerations is correctly reproduced in all our simulations. For the calculation of the shape of the interface, the geometry is triangulated and the mesh nodes are shifted until the system energy becomes minimal. The same mesh is also used to calculate the electric field using the boundary-element method. Therefore, only the surface of the geometry needs to be meshed, and no volume meshes are involved. The method can be used for the simulation of closed systems with a constant volume (e.g., droplet-based microfluidics) while preserving the volume very precisely as well as open systems (e.g., the liquid-air interface within micro-cavities or capillaries). Additional effects, such as the influence of gravitational forces, can easily be taken into account. In contrast to other efficient simulations, such as the volume-of-fluid, level-set, or phase-field methods, ideally, sharp interfaces are obtained. We calculate interface shapes for exemplary systems and compare with analytical as well as experimental results.
https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0110149
Hamiltonicity of graphs perturbed by a random regular graph. - In: Random structures & algorithms, ISSN 1098-2418, Bd. 0 (2022), 0, S. 1-30
https://doi.org/10.1002/rsa.21122
Progrediente pigmentierte Fundusläsion nach 23 Jahren - therapieren oder beobachten?. - In: Die Ophthalmologie, ISSN 2731-7218, Bd. 0 (2022), 0, S. 1-6
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00347-022-01729-w
C60 fullerene attenuates muscle force reduction in a rat during fatigue development. - In: Heliyon, ISSN 2405-8440, Bd. 8 (2022), 12, e12449, S. 1-9
C60 fullerene (C60) as a nanocarbon particle, compatible with biological structures, capable of penetrating through cell membranes and effectively scavenging free radicals, is widely used in biomedicine. A protective effect of C60 on the biomechanics of fast (m. gastrocnemius) and slow (m. soleus) muscle contraction in rats and the pro- and antioxidant balance of muscle tissue during the development of muscle fatigue was studied compared to the same effect of the known antioxidant N-acetylcysteine (NAC). C60 and NAC were administered intraperitoneally at doses of 1 and 150 mg kg−1, respectively, daily for 5 days and 1 h before the start of the experiment. The following quantitative markers of muscle fatigue were used: the force of muscle contraction, the level of accumulation of secondary products of lipid peroxidation (TBARS) and the oxygen metabolite H2O2, the activity of first-line antioxidant defense enzymes (superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT)), and the condition of the glutathione system (reduced glutathione (GSH) content and the activity of the glutathione peroxidase (GPx) enzyme). The analysis of the muscle contraction force dynamics in rats against the background of induced muscle fatigue showed, that the effect of C60, 1 h after drug administration, was (15-17)% more effective on fast muscles than on slow muscles. A further slight increase in the effect of C60 was revealed after 2 h of drug injection, (7-9)% in the case of m. gastrocnemius and (5-6)% in the case of m. soleus. An increase in the effect of using C60 occurred within 4 days (the difference between 4 and 5 days did not exceed (3-5)%) and exceeded the effect of NAC by (32-34)%. The analysis of biochemical parameters in rat muscle tissues showed that long-term application of C60 contributed to their decrease by (10-30)% and (5-20)% in fast and slow muscles, respectively, on the 5th day of the experiment. At the same time, the protective effect of C60 was higher compared to NAC by (28-44)%. The obtained results indicate the prospect of using C60 as a potential protective nano agent to improve the efficiency of skeletal muscle function by modifying the reactive oxygen species-dependent mechanisms that play an important role in the processes of muscle fatigue development.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e12449
Methodology for virtual prediction of vehicle-related particle emissions and their influence on ambient PM10 in an urban environment. - In: Atmosphere, ISSN 2073-4433, Bd. 13 (2022), 11, 1924, S. 1-14
As a result of rising environmental awareness, vehicle-related emissions such as particulate matter are subject to increasing criticism. The air pollution in urban areas is especially linked to health risks. The connection between vehicle-related particle emissions and ambient air quality is highly complex. Therefore, a methodology is presented to evaluate the influence of different vehicle-related sources such as exhaust particles, brake wear and tire and road wear particles (TRWP) on ambient particulate matter (PM). In a first step, particle measurements were conducted based on field trials with an instrumented vehicle to determine the main influence parameters for each emission source. Afterwards, a simplified approach for a qualitative prediction of vehicle-related particle emissions is derived. In a next step, a virtual inner-city scenario is set up. This includes a vehicle simulation environment for predicting the local emission hot spots as well as a computational fluid dynamics model (CFD) to account for particle dispersion in the environment. This methodology allows for the investigation of emissions pathways from the point of generation up to the point of their emission potential.
https://doi.org/10.3390/atmos13111924
Optical detection of void formation mechanisms during impregnation of composites by UV-reactive resin systems. - In: Journal of composites science, ISSN 2504-477X, Bd. 6 (2022), 11, 351, S. 1-15
During the impregnation of reinforcement fabrics in liquid composite molding processes, the flow within fiber bundles and the channels between the fiber bundles usually advances at different velocities. This so-called “dual-scale flow” results in void formation inside the composite material and has a negative effect on its mechanical properties. Semi-empirical models can be applied to calculate the extent of the dual-scale flow. In this study, a methodology is presented that stops the impregnation of reinforcement fabrics at different filling levels by using a photo-reactive resin system. By means of optical evaluation, the theoretical calculation models of the dual-scale flow are validated metrologically. The results show increasingly distinct dual-scale flow effects with increasing pressure gradients. The methodology enables the measurability of microscopic differences in flow front progression to validate renowned theoretical models and compare simulations to measurements of applied injection processes.
https://doi.org/10.3390/jcs6110351
Digital media in intergenerational communication: status quo and future scenarios for the grandparent-grandchild relationship. - In: Universal access in the information society, ISSN 1615-5297, Bd. 0 (2022), 0, insges. 16 S.
Communication technologies play an important role in maintaining the grandparent-grandchild (GP-GC) relationship. Based on Media Richness Theory, this study investigates the frequency of use (RQ1) and perceived quality (RQ2) of established media as well as the potential use of selected innovative media (RQ3) in GP-GC relationships with a particular focus on digital media. A cross-sectional online survey and vignette experiment were conducted in February 2021 among N = 286 university students in Germany (mean age 23 years, 57% female) who reported on the direct and mediated communication with their grandparents. In addition to face-to-face interactions, non-digital and digital established media (such as telephone, texting, video conferencing) and innovative digital media, namely augmented reality (AR)-based and social robot-based communication technologies, were covered. Face-to-face and phone communication occurred most frequently in GP-GC relationships: 85% of participants reported them taking place at least a few times per year (RQ1). Non-digital established media were associated with higher perceived communication quality than digital established media (RQ2). Innovative digital media received less favorable quality evaluations than established media. Participants expressed doubts regarding the technology competence of their grandparents, but still met innovative media with high expectations regarding improved communication quality (RQ3). Richer media, such as video conferencing or AR, do not automatically lead to better perceived communication quality, while leaner media, such as letters or text messages, can provide rich communication experiences. More research is needed to fully understand and systematically improve the utility, usability, and joy of use of different digital communication technologies employed in GP-GC relationships.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10209-022-00957-w
Hollow platinum-gold and palladium-gold nanoparticles: synthesis and characterization of composition-structure relationship. - In: Journal of nanoparticle research, ISSN 1572-896X, Bd. 24 (2022), 12, 245, insges. 15 S.
Hollow palladium-gold (PdAu) and platinum-gold (PtAu) alloy nanoparticles (NPs) were synthesized through galvanic replacement reactions. PdAu NPs denoted PdAu-99.99 and PdAu-98 were produced using palladium precursors with different purity degree: Na2PdCl4 ≥ 99.99% and Na2PdCl4 98%, respectively. The effect of the addition time of the gold palladium precursor solution on the size of the generated NPs was evaluated. Two types of particles, with a rough and a smooth surface, were identified in the suspensions of PtAu and PdAu NPs by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM). The atomic percentage of gold, platinum, palladium, and cobalt (atomic %) in the nanoparticles was determined by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). PtAu NPs (26-42 nm) contain Pt (41 at%), Au (36 at%), and Co (23 at%). Two groups of hollow palladium gold NPs (30-50 nm) with a different residual cobalt content were produced. PdAu-99.99 NPs consisted of Pd (68 at%), Au (26 at%), and Co (6 at%), whereas PdAu-98 NPs were composed of Pd (70 at%), Au (22 at%), and Co (8 at%). The hollow structure of the NPs was confirmed by EDX line scanning. Selected area electron diffraction analysis (SAED) revealed the formation of PtAu and PdAu alloys and it was used in estimating the lattice parameters, too.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-022-05619-9