Multicriteria Optimization of Antennas in Time-Domain

An original approach to the time-domain multicriteria optimization of antennas is presented. For a given excitation pulse, the time-domain objective function takes the “time-domain impedance matching”, distortion of responses at the feeding point and in a desired radiating direction (with respect to the excitation pulse), and the radiated energy in the desired direction into account. The objective function is tested on the optimization of a bow-tie antenna using the particle swarm optimization. The proposed approach is suitable for the design of broadband antennas

Microfabrication of biocompatible constructs for live cell and bacteria studies

Microfabrication of biocompatible constructs for live cell and bacteria studies. ICTRNH 3rd International Congress of Translational Research in Human Nutritio

Critically evaluated rate coefficients for free-radical polymerization Part 6: Propagation rate coefficient of methacrylic acid in aqueous solution

Critically evaluated propagation rate coefficients, kp, for free-radical polymerization of methacrylic acid, MAA, in aqueous solution are presented. The underlying kp values are from two independent sources, which both used the IUPAC-recommended technique of pulsed-laser-initiated polymerization (PLP) in conjunction with molar mass distribution (MMD) analysis of the resulting polymer by size-exclusion chromatography (SEC). Different methods of measuring the MMD of the poly(MAA) samples have, however, been used: (i) direct analysis via aqueous-phase SEC and (ii) standard SEC with tetrahydrofuran as the eluent carried out on poly(methyl methacrylate) samples obtained by methylation of the poly(MAA) samples from PLP. Benchmark kp values for aqueous solutions containing 15 mass % MAA are presented for temperatures between 18 and 89 °C. The Arrhenius pre-exponential and activation energy of kp at 15 mass % MAA are 1.54 × 106 L mol-1 s-1 and 15.0 kJ mol-1, respectively. Also reported are critically evaluated kp values for 25 °C over the entire MAA concentration range from dilute aqueous solution to bulk polymerization

History, challenges and perspectives of cell microencapsulation

Cell microencapsulation continues to hold significant promise for biotechnology and medicine. The controlled, and continuous, delivery of therapeutic products to the host by immunoisolated cells is a potentially cost-effective method to treat a wide range of diseases. Although there are several issues that need to be addressed, including capsule manufacture, properties and performance, in the past few years, a stepwise analysis on the essential obstacles and limitations has brought the whole technology closer to a realistic proposal for clinical application. This paper summarizes the current situation in the cell encapsulation field and discusses the main events that have occurred along the way

Critically evaluated propagation rate coefficients in free-radical polymerizations: Part III. methacrylates with cyclic ester groups (IUPAC Technical Report)

Propagation rate coeffs. as a function of temp. are reported for bulk free-radical homopolymns. of oxiranylmethyl, cyclohexyl, and benzyl methacrylate at ambient pressure and low conversion. The data were obtained from expts. combining pulsed-laser initiated polymn. and size-exclusion chromatog. The data detd. from expts. carried out in independent labs. obey the consistency criteria established for this technique. The rate coeffs. for the three monomers are well represented by a single Arrhenius relation

Quantitative analysis of energy transfer between fluorescent proteins in CFP-GBP-YFP and its response to Ca2+

This article reports the full characterisation of the optical properties of a biosynthesised protein consisting of fused cyan fluorescent protein, glucose binding protein and yellow fluorescent protein. The cyan and yellow fluorescent proteins act as donors and acceptors for intramolecular fluorescence resonance energy transfer. Absorption, fluorescence, excitation and fluorescence decays of the compound protein were measured and compared with those of free fluorescent proteins. Signatures of energy transfer were identified in the spectral intensities and fluorescence decays. A model describing the fluorescence properties including energy transfer in terms of rate equations is presented and all relevant parameters are extracted from the measurements. The compound protein changes conformation on binding with calcium ions. This is reflected in a change of energy transfer efficiency between the fluorescent proteins. We track the conformational change and the kinetics of the calcium binding reaction from fluorescence intensity and decay measurements and interpret the results in light of the rate equation model. This visualisation of change in protein conformation has the potential to serve as an analytical tool in the study of protein structure changes in real time, in the development of biosensor proteins and in characterizing protein-drug interactions

Combined Electrostatic and Covalent Polymer Networks for Cell Microencapsulation

Two types of hydrogel microspheres have been developed. Fast ionotropic gelation of sodium alginate (Na-alg) in the presence of calcium ions was combined with slow covalent cross-linking of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) derivatives. For the first type, the fast obtainable Ca-alg hydrogel served as spherical matrix for the simultaneously occurring covalent cross-linking of multi-arm PEG derivative. A two-component interpenetrating network was formed in one step upon extruding the mixture of the two polymers into the gelation bath. For the second type, heterobifunctional PEG was grafted onto Na-alg prior to gelation. Upon extrusion of the polymer solution into the gelation bath, fast Ca-alg formation ensured the spherical shape and was accompanied by cross-linker-free covalent cross-linking of the PEG side chains. Thus, one-component hydrogel microspheres resulted. We present the physical properties of the hydrogel microspheres and demonstrate the feasibility of cell microencapsulation for both types of polymer networks