Исследовательский стенд для микроплазменной поверхностной обработки материалов в условиях атмосферного давления

A research stand for microplasma treatment of object surfaces with the ability to move the discharge zone along the object using a program-controlled linear stepper motor has been developed. The design of the stand allows the use of different types of plasma generation systems, as well as processing with feeding of various gases such as air, nitrogen, oxygen, etc. into the discharge zone. The research bench is equipped with measuring equipment for monitoring the electrical and physical characteristics of the discharge (digital oscilloscopes, optical emission spectrometer, air ion meter, etc.). A microhardness tester, goniometer, interference microscope, tribometer, tensile testing machine, etc. can be used to further evaluate the quality and characteristics of the treated surfaces. Examples of the electrical characteristics of discharge devices tested as part of the research stand, optical emission spectroscopy of plasma, and results of measurements of the contact angle of treated objects surfaces are given.Разработан исследовательский стенд для микроплазменной обработки поверхностей объектов с возможностью перемещения зоны разряда вдоль объекта с использованием программно управляемого линейного шагового двигателя. Конструкция стенда позволяет применять разные типы систем плазмообразования, а также проводить обработку с подачей в зону разряда различных газов, таких как воздух, азот, кислород и т. д. Исследовательский стенд оснащен измерительным оборудованием для контроля электрических и физических характеристик разряда (цифровые осциллографы, оптический эмиссионный спектрометр, аэроионометр и др.). Для последующей оценки качества и характеристик обработанных поверхностей могут использоваться микротвердомер, гониометр, интерференционный микроскоп, трибометр, разрывная машина и т. д. Приведены примеры электрических характеристик разрядных устройств, апробированных в составе исследовательского стенда, оптической эмиссионной спектроскопии плазмы, результатов измерений краевого угла смачивания поверхностей обработанных объектов

Molecular MRI of Inflammation in Atherosclerosis

Inflammatory activity in atherosclerotic plaque is a risk factor for plaque rupture and atherothrombosis and may direct interventional therapy. Inflammatory activity can be evaluated at the (sub)cellular level using in vivo molecular MRI. This paper reviews recent progress in contrast-enhanced molecular MRI to visualize atherosclerotic plaque inflammation. Various MRI contrast agents, among others ultra-small particles of iron oxide, low-molecular-weight Gd-chelates, micelles, liposomes, and perfluorocarbon emulsions, have been used for in vivo visualization of various inflammation-related targets, such as macrophages, oxidized LDL, endothelial cell expression, plaque neovasculature, MMPs, apoptosis, and activated platelets/thrombus. An enzyme-activatable magnetic resonance contrast agent has been developed to study myeloperoxidase activity in inflamed plaques. Agents creating contrast based on the chemical exchange saturation transfer mechanism were used for thrombus imaging. Transfer of these molecular MRI techniques to the clinic will critically depend on the safety profiles of these newly developed magnetic resonance contrast agents

Gut mucosal DAMPs in IBD: From mechanisms to therapeutic implications

Endogenous damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) are released during tissue damage and have increasingly recognized roles in the etiology of many human diseases. The inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD), are immune-mediated conditions where high levels of DAMPs are observed. DAMPs such as calprotectin (S100A8/9) have an established clinical role as a biomarker in IBD. In this review, we use IBD as an archetypal common chronic inflammatory disease to focus on the conceptual and evidential importance of DAMPs in pathogenesis and why DAMPs represent an entirely new class of targets for clinical translation. </p

Research of the wettability angle of steel, glass and silicon plates after treatment with a low-freqency arc discharge

Проведен анализ изменения угла смачивания поверхности различных материалов (кремний, стекло, сталь) при разном времени обработки низкочастотной плазмой дугового разряда. Показано, что при обработке до 10 секунд угол смачивания поверхности разных материалов уменьшается до 3-4 раз. Обработка плазмой поверхности материалов более 10 секунд не приводит к существенному уменьшению угла смачивания. The analysis of changes in the angle of wettability of the surface of various materials (silicon, glass, steel) at different times of treatment with low-frequency arc discharge plasma is carried out. It is shown that when processing up to 10 seconds, the wettability angle of the surface of different materials decreases up to 3-4 times. Plasma treatment of the surface of materials for more than 10 seconds does not lead to a significant decrease in the angle of wetting

In Vivo Targeting Of Inflammation-Associated Myeloid-Related Protein 8/14 Via Gadolinium Immunonanoparticles

Moving queries over mobile objects are an important type of query in moving object database systems. In recent years, there have been quite a few works in this area. Due to the high frequency in location updates and the expensive cost of continuous query processing, server computation capacity and wireless communication bandwidth are the two limiting factors for large-scale deployment of moving object database systems. Many techniques have been proposed to address the server bottleneck including one using distributed servers. To address both scalability factors, distributed query processing techniques have been considered. These schemes enable moving objects to participate in query processing to substantially reduce the demand on server computation, and wireless communications associated with location updates. Most of these techniques, however, assume an open-space environment. Since Euclidean distance is different from network distance, techniques designed specifically for an open space cannot be easily adapted for a spatial network. In this paper, we present a distributed framework which can answer moving query over moving objects in a spatial network. To illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed framework, we study two representative moving queries, namely, moving range queries and moving k-nearest-neighbor queries. Detailed algorithms and communication mechanisms are presented. The simulation studies indicate that the proposed technique can significantly reduce server workload and wireless communication cost. © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2011

Ambient fine particulate matter and ozone exposures induce inflammation in epicardial and perirenal adipose tissues in rats fed a high fructose diet

Abstract Background Inflammation and oxidative stress play critical roles in the pathogenesis of inhaled air pollutant-mediated metabolic disease. Inflammation in the adipose tissues niches are widely believed to exert important effects on organ dysfunction. Recent data from both human and animal models suggest a role for inflammation and oxidative stress in epicardial adipose tissue (EAT) as a risk factor for the development of cardiovascular disease. We hypothesized that inhalational exposure to concentrated ambient fine particulates (CAPs) and ozone (O3) exaggerates inflammation and oxidative stress in EAT and perirenal adipose tissue (PAT). Methods Eight- week-old Male Sprague–Dawley rats were fed a normal diet (ND) or high fructose diet (HFr) for 8 weeks, and then exposed to ambient AIR, CAPs at a mean of 356 μg/m3, O3 at 0.485 ppm, or CAPs (441 μg/m3) + O3 (0.497 ppm) in Dearborn, MI, 8 hours/day, 5 days/week, for 9 days over 2 weeks. Results EAT and PAT showed whitish color in gross, and less mitochondria, higher mRNA expression of white adipose specific and lower brown adipose specific genes than in brown adipose tissues. Exposure to CAPs and O3 resulted in the increase of macrophage infiltration in both EAT and PAT of HFr groups. Proinflammatory genes of Tnf-α, Mcp-1 and leptin were significantly upregulated while IL-10 and adiponectin, known as antiinflammatory genes, were reduced after the exposures. CAPs and O3 exposures also induced an increase in inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) protein expression, and decrease in mitochondrial area in EAT and PAT. We also found significant increases in macrophages of HFr-O3 rats. The synergetic interaction of HFr and dirty air exposure on the inflammation was found in most of the experiments. Surprisingly, exposure to CAPs or O3 induced more significant inflammation and oxidative stress than co-exposure of CAPs and O3 in EAT and PAT. Conclusion EAT and PAT are both white adipose tissues. Short-term exposure to CAPs and O3, especially with high fructose diet, induced inflammation and oxidative stress in EAT and PAT in rats. These findings may provide a link between air-pollution exposure and accelerated susceptibility to cardiovascular disease and metabolic complications.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/115881/1/12989_2013_Article_268.pd

Research stand for microplasma surface treatment of materials at atmospheric pressure

Разработан исследовательский стенд для микроплазменной обработки поверхностей объектов с возможностью перемещения зоны разряда вдоль объекта с использованием программно-управляемого линейного шагового двигателя. Конструкция стенда позволяет применять разные типы систем плазмообразования, а также проводить обработку с подачей в зону разряда различных газов, таких как воздух, азот, кислород и т. д. Исследовательский стенд оснащен измерительным оборудованием для контроля электрических и физических характеристик разряда (цифровые осциллографы, оптический эмиссионный спектрометр, аэроионометр и др.). Для последующей оценки качества и характеристик обработанных поверхностей могут использоваться микротвердомер, гониометр, интерференционный микроскоп, трибометр, разрывная машина и т. д. Приведены примеры электрических характеристик разрядных устройств, апробированных в составе исследовательского стенда, оптической эмиссионной спектроскопии плазмы, результатов измерений краевого угла смачивания поверхностей обработанных объектов. A research stand for microplasma treatment of object surfaces with the ability to move the discharge zone along the object using a program-controlled linear stepper motor has been developed. The design of the stand allows the use of different types of plasma generation systems, as well as processing with feeding of various gases such as air, nitrogen, oxygen, etc. into the discharge zone. The research bench is equipped with measuring equipment for monitoring the electrical and physical characteristics of the discharge (digital oscilloscopes, optical emission spectrometer, air ion meter, etc.). A microhardness tester, goniometer, interference microscope, tribometer, tensile testing machine, etc. can be used to further evaluate the quality and characteristics of the treated surfaces. Examples of the electrical characteristics of discharge devices tested as part of the research stand, optical emission spectroscopy of plasma, and results of measurements of the contact angle of treated objects surfaces are given