scholarly journals IceMole: a maneuverable probe for clean in situ analysis and sampling of subsurface ice and subglacial aquatic ecosystems

2014 ◽  
Vol 55 (65) ◽  
pp. 14-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernd Dachwald ◽  
Jill Mikucki ◽  
Slawek Tulaczyk ◽  
Ilya Digel ◽  
Clemens Espe ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Aquatic Ecosystems ◽  
Side Wall ◽  
In Situ Analysis ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Glacial Ice ◽  
Brine Sample ◽  
Significant Interest ◽  
Novel Concept ◽  
Subglacial Environments

AbstractThere is significant interest in sampling subglacial environments for geobiological studies, but they are difficult to access. Existing ice-drilling technologies make it cumbersome to maintain microbiologically clean access for sample acquisition and environmental stewardship of potentially fragile subglacial aquatic ecosystems. The IceMole is a maneuverable subsurface ice probe for clean in situ analysis and sampling of glacial ice and subglacial materials. The design is based on the novel concept of combining melting and mechanical propulsion. It can change melting direction by differential heating of the melting head and optional side-wall heaters. The first two prototypes were successfully tested between 2010 and 2012 on glaciers in Switzerland and Iceland. They demonstrated downward, horizontal and upward melting, as well as curve driving and dirt layer penetration. A more advanced probe is currently under development as part of the Enceladus Explorer (EnEx) project. It offers systems for obstacle avoidance, target detection, and navigation in ice. For the EnEx-IceMole, we will pay particular attention to clean protocols for the sampling of subglacial materials for biogeochemical analysis. We plan to use this probe for clean access into a unique subglacial aquatic environment at Blood Falls, Antarctica, with return of a subglacial brine sample.

scholarly journals A Polymer for Application as a Matrix Phase in a Concept of In Situ Curable Bioresorbable Bioactive Load-Bearing Continuous Fiber Reinforced Composite Fracture Fixation Plates

Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (5) ◽  
pp. 1256
Author(s):  
Artem Plyusnin ◽  
Jingwei He ◽  
Cindy Elschner ◽  
Miho Nakamura ◽  
Julia Kulkova ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mechanical Properties ◽  
Fracture Fixation ◽  
Matrix Material ◽  
Matrix Phase ◽  
Morphological Development ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Load Bearing ◽  
The Matrix ◽  
Novel Concept

The use of bioresorbable fracture fixation plates made of aliphatic polyesters have good potential due to good biocompatibility, reduced risk of stress-shielding, and eliminated need for plate removal. However, polyesters are ductile, and their handling properties are limited. We suggested an alternative, PLAMA (PolyLActide functionalized with diMethAcrylate), for the use as the matrix phase for the novel concept of the in situ curable bioresorbable load-bearing composite plate to reduce the limitations of conventional polyesters. The purpose was to obtain a preliminary understanding of the chemical and physical properties and the biological safety of PLAMA from the prospective of the novel concept. Modifications with different molecular masses (PLAMA-500 and PLAMA-1000) were synthesized. The efficiency of curing was assessed by the degree of convergence (DC). The mechanical properties were obtained by tensile test and thermomechanical analysis. The bioresorbability was investigated by immersion in simulated body fluid. The biocompatibility was studied in cell morphology and viability tests. PLAMA-500 showed better DC and mechanical properties, and slower bioresorbability than PLAMA-1000. Both did not prevent proliferation and normal morphological development of cells. We concluded that PLAMA-500 has potential for the use as the matrix material for bioresorbable load-bearing composite fracture fixation plates.

In Situ Analysis and Visualization with CREATE-AVTMHelios

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew C. Bauer ◽  
James R. Forsythe ◽  
Jay Sitaraman ◽  
Andrew M. Wissink ◽  
Buvaneswari Jayaraman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
In Situ Analysis

scholarly journals Influence of protein (human galectin-3) design on aspects of lectin activity

2020 ◽  
Vol 154 (2) ◽  
pp. 135-153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabriel García Caballero ◽  
Donella Beckwith ◽  
Nadezhda V. Shilova ◽  
Adele Gabba ◽  
Tanja J. Kutzner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Protein Design ◽  
Full Range ◽  
Biological Information ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Modular Assembly ◽  
Binding Partners ◽  
Galectin 3 ◽  
Potential Applications ◽  
Similar Affinity

Abstract The concept of biomedical significance of the functional pairing between tissue lectins and their glycoconjugate counterreceptors has reached the mainstream of research on the flow of biological information. A major challenge now is to identify the principles of structure–activity relationships that underlie specificity of recognition and the ensuing post-binding processes. Toward this end, we focus on a distinct feature on the side of the lectin, i.e. its architecture to present the carbohydrate recognition domain (CRD). Working with a multifunctional human lectin, i.e. galectin-3, as model, its CRD is used in protein engineering to build variants with different modular assembly. Hereby, it becomes possible to compare activity features of the natural design, i.e. CRD attached to an N-terminal tail, with those of homo- and heterodimers and the tail-free protein. Thermodynamics of binding disaccharides proved full activity of all proteins at very similar affinity. The following glycan array testing revealed maintained preferential contact formation with N-acetyllactosamine oligomers and histo-blood group ABH epitopes irrespective of variant design. The study of carbohydrate-inhibitable binding of the test panel disclosed up to qualitative cell-type-dependent differences in sections of fixed murine epididymis and especially jejunum. By probing topological aspects of binding, the susceptibility to inhibition by a tetravalent glycocluster was markedly different for the wild-type vs the homodimeric variant proteins. The results teach the salient lesson that protein design matters: the type of CRD presentation can have a profound bearing on whether basically suited oligosaccharides, which for example tested positively in an array, will become binding partners in situ. When lectin-glycoconjugate aggregates (lattices) are formed, their structural organization will depend on this parameter. Further testing (ga)lectin variants will thus be instrumental (i) to define the full range of impact of altering protein assembly and (ii) to explain why certain types of design have been favored during the course of evolution, besides opening biomedical perspectives for potential applications of the novel galectin forms.

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