Overview of CMC activities: From high temperature characterization to applications

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Comparison of 3 handling techniques for endoscopic gastric and duodenal biopsies:a prospective study in dogs and cats

BACKGROUND: Limited evidence exists in the literature regarding whether a specific mount is preferable to use for processing endoscopically obtained gastrointestinal biopsy specimens. HYPOTHESIS/OBJECTIVES: To compare 3 methods of handling endoscopically obtained gastrointestinal biopsy specimens from collection to laboratory processing and to determine if any technique produced superior results. ANIMALS: Twenty‐three dogs and cats presented for gastrointestinal signs. METHODS: Prospective study of dogs and cats presented with gastrointestinal signs to a veterinary teaching referral hospital which underwent upper gastrointestinal endoscopy. Biopsy specimens were taken from the stomach and duodenum and submitted to the laboratory using 3 techniques: mounted on a cucumber slice, mounted on a moisturized synthetic foam sponge, and floating free in formalin. The techniques were compared with regard to the specimens' width, orientation, presence of artifacts, and pathologist's confidence in diagnosis. RESULTS: Twenty‐three patients were included, with a total of 528 biopsies collected. Specimens on cucumber slice and on sponge were significantly wider (P < .001 and P = .001, respectively) compared to those floating free in formalin (mean width of 3.81 versus 3.31 and 2.52 mm, respectively). However, specimens on synthetic sponge had significantly fewer artifacts compared to those on cucumber slice (P = .05) and those floating free in formalin (P = .02). Confidence in the diagnosis also was superior with the sponge technique over floating free specimens (P = .002). CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE: The use of mounted gastrointestinal biopsy specimens was superior over the use of specimens floating free in formalin. This technique improved the quality of the specimens and the pathologist's confidence in their histopathologic interpretation

Dynamic Structural Change of Plant Epidermal Cell Walls under Strain

The molecular foundations of epidermal cell wall mechanics are critical for understanding structure-function relationships of primary cell walls in plants and facilitating the design of bioinspired materials. To uncover the molecular mechanisms regulating the high extensibility and strength of the cell wall, the onion epidermal wall is stretched uniaxially to various strains and cell wall structures from mesoscale to atomic scale are characterized. Upon longitudinal stretching to high strain, epidermal walls contract in the transverse direction, resulting in a reduced area. Atomic force microscopy shows that cellulose microfibrils exhibit orientation-dependent rearrangements at high strains: longitudinal microfibrils are straightened out and become highly ordered, while transverse microfibrils curve and kink. Small-angle X-ray scattering detects a 7.4&nbsp;nm spacing aligned along the stretch direction at high strain, which is attributed to distances between individual cellulose microfibrils. Furthermore, wide-angle X-ray scattering reveals a widening of (004) lattice spacing and contraction of (200) lattice spacing in longitudinally aligned cellulose microfibrils at high strain, which implies longitudinal stretching of the cellulose crystal. These findings provide molecular insights into the ability of the wall to bear additional load after yielding: the aggregation of longitudinal microfibrils impedes sliding and enables further stretching of the cellulose to bear increased loads

Advances in the deposition of ceramics by soft chemistry process : example of rare- earth silicate coatings

The dip-coating process consists in immersing a sample to be coated in the liquid medium and then removing it at a controlled speed in order to obtain a film of regular thickness, as shown in Figure 1a). Dip-coating technique is now used in many industrial fields (biomedical, transportation, optics…). It is a very simple, and easy process to implement for the deposition and shaping of different natures of coatings (ceramic, metallic and polymer). In the case of ceramic coatings, after the dip-coating operation, the layers undergo a sintering post-treatment leading to the consolidation and/or the densification of the deposit. The corresponding mechanisms need a rigorous control of many parameters. The parameters involved in the dip-coating process are related to the medium and to the process. Concerning the medium, the dispersion medium nature, the particles concentration, viscosity, and stability are the main ones. The stability of the suspension is a first-order parameter and a preliminary formulation work has been carried out to cope with it. Moreover, parameters relative to the fabrication process such as the number of layers and the thermal profile (intermediary and final temperatures), will also be key factors to be taken into account in the formation of homogeneous and reproducible coatings by dip-coating.This work highlights the influence of these various parameters in the case of rare earth silicates based coatings. The various experiments were carried out in correlation to the coatings quality and microstructure. Homogeneous and conformal ceramic coatings of few tens of micrometers thick, as shown in Figure 1b), were obtained. A multi-layers deposit in a sol loaded at 40% mass generally allows to reach the desired thickness. With these experiments relationship between dip-coating parameters and coatings microstructure and morphology can be established. Please click Additional Files below to see the full abstract

Implementing EEG hyperscanning setups.

Hyperscanning refers to obtaining simultaneous neural recordings from more than one person (Montage et al., 2002 [1]), that can be used to study interactive situations. In particular, hyperscanning with Electroencephalography (EEG) is becoming increasingly popular since it allows researchers to explore the interactive brain with a high temporal resolution. Notably, there is a 40-year gap between the first instance that simultaneous measurement of EEG activity was mentioned in the literature (Duane and Behrendt, 1965 [2]), and the first actual description of an EEG hyperscanning setup being implemented (Babiloni et al., 2006 [3]). To date, specific EEG hyperscanning devices have not yet been developed and EEG hyperscanning setups are not usually described with sufficient detail to be easily reproduced. Here, we offer a step-by-step description of solutions to many of these technological challenges. Specifically, we describe and provide customized implementations of EEG hyperscanning setups using hardware and software from different companies: Brain Products, ANT, EGI, and BioSemi. •Necessary details to set up a functioning EEG hyperscanning protocol are provided.•The setups allow independent measures and measures of synchronization between the signals of two different brains.•Individual electrical Ground and Reference is obtained in all discussed systems

Measuring calcium content in plants using NEXAFS spectroscopy

Calcium is important for the growth and development of plants. It serves crucial functions in cell wall and cell membrane structure and serves as a secondary messenger in signaling pathways relevant to nutrient and immunity responses. Thus, measuring calcium levels in plants is important for studies of plant biology and for technology development in food, agriculture, energy, and forest industries. Often, calcium in plants has been measured through techniques such as atomic absorption spectrophotometry (AAS), inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), and electrophysiology. These techniques, however, require large sample sizes, chemical extraction of samples or have limited spatial resolution. Here, we used near-edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) spectroscopy at the calcium L- and K-edges to measure the calcium to carbon mass ratio with spatial resolution in plant samples without requiring chemical extraction or large sample sizes. We demonstrate that the integrated absorbance at the calcium L-edge and the edge jump in the fluorescence yield at the calcium K-edge can be used to quantify the calcium content as the calcium mass fraction, and validate this approach with onion epidermal peels and ICP-MS. We also used NEXAFS to estimate the calcium mass ratio in hypocotyls of a model plant, Arabidopsis thaliana, which has a cell wall composition that is similar to that of onion epidermal peels. These results show that NEXAFS spectroscopy performed at the calcium edge provides an approach to quantify calcium levels within plants, which is crucial for understanding plant physiology and advancing plant-based materials