scholarly journals Quick liquid packaging: Encasing water silhouettes by three-dimensional polymer membranes

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (5) ◽  
pp. eaat5189 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Coppola ◽  
Giuseppe Nasti ◽  
Veronica Vespini ◽  
Laura Mecozzi ◽  
Rachele Castaldo ◽  
...  

One of the most important substances on Earth is water. It is an essential medium for living microorganisms and for many technological and industrial processes. Confining water in an enclosed compartment without manipulating it or by using rigid containers can be very attractive, even more if the container is biocompatible and biodegradable. Here, we propose a water-based bottom-up approach for facile encasing of short-lived water silhouettes by a custom-made adaptive suit. A biocompatible polymer self-assembling with unprecedented degree of freedom over the water surface directly produces a thin membrane. The polymer film could be the external container of a liquid core or a free-standing layer with personalized design. The membranes produced have been characterized in terms of physical properties, morphology and proposed for various applications from nano- to macroscale. The process appears not to harm cells and microorganisms, opening the way to a breakthrough approach for organ-on-chip and lab-in-a-drop experiments.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephan Förster ◽  
Jürgen Groll ◽  
Benjamin Reineke ◽  
Stephan Hauschild ◽  
Ilona Paulus ◽  
...  

Bioprinting has evolved into a thriving technology for the fabrication of cell-laden scaffolds. Bioinks are the most critical component for bioprinting. Recently, microgels have been introduced as a very promising bioink enabling cell protection and the control of the cellular microenvironment. However, their microfluidic fabrication inherently seemed to be a limitation. Here we introduce a direct coupling of microfluidics and 3D-printing for the microfluidic production of cell-laden microgels with direct in-flow bioprinting into stable scaffolds. The methodology enables the continuous on-chip encapsulation of cells into monodisperse microdroplets with subsequent in-flow cross-linking to produce cell-laden microgels, which after exiting a microtubing are automatically jammed into thin continuous microgel filaments. The integration into a 3D printhead allows direct in-flow printing of the filaments into free-standing three-dimensional scaffolds. The method is demonstrated for different cross-linking methods and cell lines. With this advancement, microfluidics is no longer a bottleneck for biofabrication. <br>


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephan Förster ◽  
Jürgen Groll ◽  
Benjamin Reineke ◽  
Stephan Hauschild ◽  
Ilona Paulus ◽  
...  

Bioprinting has evolved into a thriving technology for the fabrication of cell-laden scaffolds. Bioinks are the most critical component for bioprinting. Recently, microgels have been introduced as a very promising bioink enabling cell protection and the control of the cellular microenvironment. However, their microfluidic fabrication inherently seemed to be a limitation. Here we introduce a direct coupling of microfluidics and 3D-printing for the microfluidic production of cell-laden microgels with direct in-flow bioprinting into stable scaffolds. The methodology enables the continuous on-chip encapsulation of cells into monodisperse microdroplets with subsequent in-flow cross-linking to produce cell-laden microgels, which after exiting a microtubing are automatically jammed into thin continuous microgel filaments. The integration into a 3D printhead allows direct in-flow printing of the filaments into free-standing three-dimensional scaffolds. The method is demonstrated for different cross-linking methods and cell lines. With this advancement, microfluidics is no longer a bottleneck for biofabrication. <br>


Author(s):  
Preecha Yupapin ◽  
Amiri I. S. ◽  
Ali J. ◽  
Ponsuwancharoen N. ◽  
Youplao P.

The sequence of the human brain can be configured by the originated strongly coupling fields to a pair of the ionic substances(bio-cells) within the microtubules. From which the dipole oscillation begins and transports by the strong trapped force, which is known as a tweezer. The tweezers are the trapped polaritons, which are the electrical charges with information. They will be collected on the brain surface and transport via the liquid core guide wave, which is the mixture of blood content and water. The oscillation frequency is called the Rabi frequency, is formed by the two-level atom system. Our aim will manipulate the Rabi oscillation by an on-chip device, where the quantum outputs may help to form the realistic human brain function for humanoid robotic applications.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shanshan Chen ◽  
Zhiguang Liu ◽  
Huifeng Du ◽  
Chengchun Tang ◽  
Chang-Yin Ji ◽  
...  

AbstractKirigami, with facile and automated fashion of three-dimensional (3D) transformations, offers an unconventional approach for realizing cutting-edge optical nano-electromechanical systems. Here, we demonstrate an on-chip and electromechanically reconfigurable nano-kirigami with optical functionalities. The nano-electromechanical system is built on an Au/SiO2/Si substrate and operated via attractive electrostatic forces between the top gold nanostructure and bottom silicon substrate. Large-range nano-kirigami like 3D deformations are clearly observed and reversibly engineered, with scalable pitch size down to 0.975 μm. Broadband nonresonant and narrowband resonant optical reconfigurations are achieved at visible and near-infrared wavelengths, respectively, with a high modulation contrast up to 494%. On-chip modulation of optical helicity is further demonstrated in submicron nano-kirigami at near-infrared wavelengths. Such small-size and high-contrast reconfigurable optical nano-kirigami provides advanced methodologies and platforms for versatile on-chip manipulation of light at nanoscale.


2021 ◽  
pp. 112067212110000
Author(s):  
Annabel LW Groot ◽  
Jelmer S Remmers ◽  
Roel JHM Kloos ◽  
Peerooz Saeed ◽  
Dyonne T Hartong

Purpose: Recurrent contracted sockets are complex situations where previous surgeries have failed, disabling the wear of an ocular prosthesis. A combined method of surgery and long-term fixation using custom-made, three-dimensional (3D) printed conformers is evaluated. Methods: Retrospective case series of nine patients with recurrent excessive socket contraction and inability to wear a prosthesis, caused by chemical burns ( n = 3), fireworks ( n = 3), trauma ( n = 2) and enucleation and radiotherapy at childhood due to optic nerve glioma ( n = 1) with three average previous socket surgeries (range 2–6). Treatment consisted of a buccal mucosal graft and personalized 3D-printed conformer designed to be fixated to the periosteum and tarsal plates for minimal 2 months. Primary outcome was the retention of an ocular prosthesis. Secondary outcome was the need for additional surgeries. Results: Outcomes were measured at final follow-up between 7 and 36 months postoperatively (mean 20 months). Eight cases were able to wear an ocular prosthesis after 2 months. Three cases initially treated for only the upper or only the lower fornix needed subsequent surgery for the opposite fornix for functional reasons. Two cases had later surgery for cosmetic improvement of upper eyelid position. Despite pre-existing lid abnormalities (scar, entropion, lash deficiency), cosmetic outcome was judged highly acceptable in six cases because of symmetric contour and volume, and reasonably acceptable in the remaining two. Conclusions: Buccal mucosal transplant fixated with a personalized 3D-designed conformer enables retention of a well-fitted ocular prosthesis in previously failed socket surgeries. Initial treatment of both upper and lower fornices is recommended to avoid subsequent surgeries for functional reasons.


Sensors ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (15) ◽  
pp. 4116
Author(s):  
Nighat Usman ◽  
Omar Alfandi ◽  
Saeeda Usman ◽  
Asad Masood Khattak ◽  
Muhammad Awais ◽  
...  

Nowadays, there is a growing trend in smart cities. Therefore, Terrestrial and Internet of Things (IoT) enabled Underwater Wireless Sensor Networks (TWSNs and IoT-UWSNs) are mostly used for observing and communicating via smart technologies. For the sake of collecting the desired information from the underwater environment, multiple acoustic sensors are deployed with limited resources, such as memory, battery, processing power, transmission range, etc. The replacement of resources for a particular node is not feasible due to the harsh underwater environment. Thus, the resources held by the node needs to be used efficiently to improve the lifetime of a network. In this paper, to support smart city vision, a terrestrial based “Away Cluster Head with Adaptive Clustering Habit” (ACH) 2 is examined in the specified three dimensional (3-D) region inside the water. Three different cases are considered, which are: single sink at the water surface, multiple sinks at water surface,, and sinks at both water surface and inside water. “Underwater (ACH) 2 ” (U-(ACH) 2 ) is evaluated in each case. We have used depth in our proposed U-(ACH) 2 to examine the performance of (ACH) 2 in the ocean environment. Moreover, a comparative analysis is performed with state of the art routing protocols, including: Depth-based Routing (DBR) and Energy Efficient Depth-based Routing (EEDBR) protocol. Among all of the scenarios followed by case 1 and case 3, the number of packets sent and received at sink node are maximum using DEEC-(ACH) 2 protocol. The packets drop ratio using TEEN-(ACH) 2 protocol is less when compared to other algorithms in all scenarios. Whereas, for dead nodes DEEC-(ACH) 2 , LEACH-(ACH) 2 , and SEP-(ACH) 2 protocols’ performance is different for every considered scenario. The simulation results shows that the proposed protocols outperform the existing ones.


Nanomaterials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 1304
Author(s):  
Raquel Fernández de Cabo ◽  
David González-Andrade ◽  
Pavel Cheben ◽  
Aitor V. Velasco

Efficient power splitting is a fundamental functionality in silicon photonic integrated circuits, but state-of-the-art power-division architectures are hampered by limited operational bandwidth, high sensitivity to fabrication errors or large footprints. In particular, traditional Y-junction power splitters suffer from fundamental mode losses due to limited fabrication resolution near the junction tip. In order to circumvent this limitation, we propose a new type of high-performance Y-junction power splitter that incorporates subwavelength metamaterials. Full three-dimensional simulations show a fundamental mode excess loss below 0.1 dB in an ultra-broad bandwidth of 300 nm (1400–1700 nm) when optimized for a fabrication resolution of 50 nm, and under 0.3 dB in a 350 nm extended bandwidth (1350–1700 nm) for a 100 nm resolution. Moreover, analysis of fabrication tolerances shows robust operation for the fundamental mode to etching errors up to ± 20 nm. A proof-of-concept device provides an initial validation of its operation principle, showing experimental excess losses lower than 0.2 dB in a 195 nm bandwidth for the best-case resolution scenario (i.e., 50 nm).


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