Additional file 1 of Comprehensive clinical evaluation of TomoEQA for patient-specific pre-treatment quality assurance in helical tomotherapy

Additional file 1. The results of additional measurements using the conventional QA for the cases that satisfied the criteria in the conventional QA method but failed in TomoEQA

Tunable Hypersonic Bandgap Formation in Anisotropic Crystals of Dumbbell Nanoparticles

Phononic materials exhibit mechanical properties that alter the propagation of acoustic waves and are widely useful for metamaterials. To fabricate acoustic materials with phononic bandgaps, colloidal nanoparticles and their assemblies allow access to various crystallinities in the submicrometer scale. We fabricated anisotropic crystals with dumbbell-shaped nanoparticles via field-directed self-assembly. Brillouin light spectroscopy detected the formation of direction-dependent hypersonic phononic bandgaps that scale with the lattice parameters. In addition, the local resonances of the constituent nanoparticles enable metamaterial behavior by opening hybridization gaps in disordered structures. Unexpectedly, this bandgap frequency is robust to changes in the dumbbell aspect ratio. Overall, this study provides a structure–property relationship for designing anisotropic phononic materials with targeted phononic bandgaps

Development of a Xeno-Free Autologous Culture System for Endothelial Progenitor Cells Derived from Human Umbilical Cord Blood

<div><p>Despite promising preclinical outcomes in animal models, a number of challenges remain for human clinical use. In particular, expanding a large number of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) in vitro in the absence of animal-derived products is the most critical hurdle remaining to be overcome to ensure the safety and efficiency of human therapy. To develop in vitro culture conditions for EPCs derived from human cord blood (hCB-EPCs), we isolated extracts (UCE) and collagen (UC-collagen) from umbilical cord tissue to replace their animal-derived counterparts. UC-collagen and UCE efficiently supported the attachment and proliferation of hCB-EPCs in a manner comparable to that of animal-derived collagen in the conventional culture system. Our developed autologous culture system maintained the typical characteristics of hCB-EPCs, as represented by the expression of EPC-associated surface markers. In addition, the therapeutic potential of hCB-EPCs was confirmed when the transplantation of hCB-EPCs cultured in this autologous culture system promoted limb salvage in a mouse model of hindlimb ischemia and was shown to contribute to attenuating muscle degeneration and fibrosis. We suggest that the umbilical cord represents a source for autologous biomaterials for the in vitro culture of hCB-EPCs. The main characteristics and therapeutic potential of hCB-EPCs were not compromised in developed autologous culture system. The absence of animal-derived products in our newly developed in vitro culture removes concerns associated with secondary contamination. Thus, we hope that this culture system accelerates the realization of therapeutic applications of autologous hCB-EPCs for human vascular diseases.</p></div

Improvement of blood flow in ischemic hindlimb post-transplantation of hCB-EPCs and histological analysis.

<p>(A) Representative laser Doppler imaging. Blood flow in an ultimately lost limb from the control group and a salvaged limb from the hCB-EPC-treated group. (B) Ratio of blood flow perfusion in the ischemic limb for each group (*p<0.05). (C) Histologic images of hematoxylin and eosin staining for the analysis of muscle degeneration; Masson's trichrome staining showed fibrosis in the ischemic region. (D) Engraftment of transplanted hCB-EPCs in ischemic regions.</p

Effects of UC-collagen and UCE for hCB-EPC culture.

<p>(A) Proliferation capacity of hCB-EPCs on UC-collagen and cultured in 5% FBS or varied concentrations of UCE (0.1, 0.5, and 1.0 mg/ml) (*#<0.05). (B) Attachment and proliferation capacity of 0.5 mg/ml UCE medium compared with 5% FBS medium on UC-collagen-coated plates as shown in optical microscopy images (10×). (C) Quantification of hCB-EPC proliferation at different passage numbers. (D) Measurement of hCB-EPC survival cultured in 0.5 mg/ml UCE- or 5% FBS-containing medium after a freeze-thaw cycle.</p

Phenotypic characterization and functional analysis of hCB-EPCs.

<p>(A) Cultured hCB-EPCs grown in 5% FBS or 0.5 mg/ml UCE medium showing endothelial-specific marker staining for PECAM and vWF. (B) FACS analysis of cultured hCB-EPCs for the expression of the endothelial markers CD34, CD31, and CD105; the mesenchymal marker CD90; and the hematopoietic maker CD45. (C) Capillary-like structures formed by hCB-EPCs in 5% FBS or 0.5 mg/ml UCE on Matrigel. (D) Acetylated LDL uptake and DAPI staining.</p

The attachment and proliferation of hCB-EPCs on UC-collagen.

<p>(A) Attached hCB-EPCs in the non-coated group, control group and UC-collagen (1, 25, and 50 µg/ml) groups imaged using optical microscopy (10×). (B) Quantification of attached hCB-EPCs. (C) The proliferation of hCB-EPCs on various collagen-coated plates (*p<0.05).</p

Overall strategy of the autologous culture system using human UC tissue and cord blood.

<p>Overall strategy of the autologous culture system using human UC tissue and cord blood.</p

Linear Viscoelastic Properties of Putative Cyclic Polymers Synthesized by Reversible Radical Recombination Polymerization (R3P)

Linear viscoelastic properties in both melt and solution states are reported for a series of poly(3,6-dioxa-1,8-octanedithiol) (polyDODT) made by reversible radical recombination polymerization (R3P) under conditions designed to produce linear (LDODT), cyclic (RDODT), and linear–cyclic mixtures (LRDODT). PolyDODT is amorphous (Tg < −50 °C) and highly flexible (entanglement molecular weight Me,lin ≈ 1850 g/mol for LDODT). PolyDODT’s low Tg and low Me,lin enable characterization over a wide dynamic range and a wide range of dimensionless weight-average molecular weight Zw = Mw/Me,lin. Measurements at temperatures from −57 to 100 °C provide up to 18 decades of reduced frequency, which is necessary to characterize RDODT melts with Zw from 23 to 300. The two highest-molecular-weight polymers in the present RDODT series have such high Mw (406k and 556k g/mol) that mass spectrometry, NMR spectroscopy, and even chemical assays for chain ends are unable to rule out up to 2 mol % of linear contaminant. By studying the samples in solution (using dilution to reduce Zw), we could compare their dynamics with those of previously established high-purity polystyrene (PS) rings (limited to Zw ≤ 13.6). RDODT solutions with Zw < 15 (concentrations G* that accord with LCCC-purified PS rings in terms of the frequency dependence (including the absence of a plateau), the progression of shapes of G* as a function of Zw, and the linear scaling of their zero-shear viscosity η0 with Mw. The shape of G* as a function of Zw for solutions of RDODT-406k and -556k also accords with lower Mw RDODT melts (which have ≤1.3 mol % of linear contaminant). Thus, the measurement of the linear viscoelastic properties of appropriate concentrations of high Mw (>200k g/mol) putative cyclic polymers, in which linear chains evade spectroscopic detection, may provide an alternative means (though not fully proven) of validation of sample purity. When Zw > 15 (including all seven RDODT melts and eight of their solutions), G* has a rubbery plateau. This suggests that the onset of entanglement-like behavior in rings requires 4–5-fold greater Zw than is required for linear chains. Further, the plateau moduli of RDODT samples are indistinguishable from GNo of the corresponding LDODT (melt or matched-concentration solutions). In entangled linear polymers, the observation that GNo is independent of Zw follows from limitations on lateral fluctuations due to neighboring chains becoming independent of position along a given chain. The present results for RDODT suggest that this holds for sufficiently long endless chains, too. While the RDODTs have the same GNo as entangled LDODTs, when Zw > 60, the terminal relaxation, if reached at all, of RDODT extends to orders of magnitude lower frequency than an entangled linear polymer of the same Zw. Consequently, the viscosity of RDODT with Zw > 60 increases with Zw much more strongly than the 3.4 power observed for entangled linear polymers. Finally, these novel polymers, with a disulfide-linked backbone and broad relaxation time distribution, may prove important in relation to biodegradable elastomers and materials with exceptional low-frequency dissipation, extending at least 12 decades below the onset of the rubbery plateau

High-Performance, Solution-Processed, Embedded Multiscale Metallic Transparent Conductors

High-performance multiscale metallic transparent conductors (TCs) are demonstrated by incorporating Ag nanowire (NW) networks into microscale Ag grid structures. Highly conductive Ag grids are fabricated via direct imprinting of an Ag ion ink using a reservoir-assisted mold. In this mold, a macroscale cavity, called the “reservoir”, is designed to connect to a grid-patterned cavity. The reservoir has a large cavity volume, which reduces unwanted residual layers within the grid spacings by introducing a thinner liquid film. The reservoir undergoes a large volume reduction during mold deformation, which improves ink filling within the grid-patterned cavity through deformation-induced ink injection. The multiscale metallic TCs show a sheet resistance (<i>R</i>_s) of <1.5 Ω/sq and a transmittance (<i>T</i>) of 86% at 550 nm, superior to the corresponding values of Ag NW networks (<i>R</i>_s of 15.6 Ω/sq at a similar <i>T</i>). We estimate the <i>R</i>_s–<i>T</i> performances of the Ag grids using geometrical calculations and demonstrate that their integration can enhance the opto-electrical properties of the Ag NW networks. Multiscale metallic TCs are successfully transferred and embedded into a transparent, flexible, and UV-curable polymer matrix. The embedded multiscale metallic TCs show reasonable electromechanical and chemical stability. The utility of these TCs is demonstrated by fabricating flexible organic solar cells