2 research outputs found
PCL/Collagen/UA Composite Biomedical Dressing with Ordered Microfiberous Structure Fabricated by a 3D Near-Field Electrospinning Process
In this work, a functionalized polycaprolactone (PCL) composite fiber combining calf-type I collagen (CO) and natural drug usnic acid (UA) was prepared, in which UA was used as an antibacterial agent. Through 3D near-field electrospinning, the mixed solution was prepared into PCL/CO/UA composite fibers (PCUCF), which has a well-defined perfect arrangement structure. The influence of electrospinning process parameters on fiber diameter was investigated, the optimal electrospinning parameters were determined, and the electric field simulation was conducted to verify the optimal parameters. The addition of 20% collagen made the composite fiber have good hydrophilicity and water absorption property. In the presence of PCUCF, 1% UA content significantly inhibited the growth rate of Gram-positive and negative bacteria in the plate culture. The AC-PCUCF (after crosslinking PCUCF) prepared by crosslinking collagen with genipin showed stronger mechanical properties, water absorption property, thermal stability, and drug release performance. Cell proliferation experiments showed that PCUCF and AC-PCUCF had no cytotoxicity and could promote cell proliferation and adhesion. The results show that PCL/CO/UA composite fiber has potential application prospects in biomedical dressing
Coronal Heating as Determined by the Solar Flare Frequency Distribution Obtained by Aggregating Case Studies
Flare frequency distributions represent a key approach to addressing one of
the largest problems in solar and stellar physics: determining the mechanism
that counter-intuitively heats coronae to temperatures that are orders of
magnitude hotter than the corresponding photospheres. It is widely accepted
that the magnetic field is responsible for the heating, but there are two
competing mechanisms that could explain it: nanoflares or Alfv\'en waves. To
date, neither can be directly observed. Nanoflares are, by definition,
extremely small, but their aggregate energy release could represent a
substantial heating mechanism, presuming they are sufficiently abundant. One
way to test this presumption is via the flare frequency distribution, which
describes how often flares of various energies occur. If the slope of the power
law fitting the flare frequency distribution is above a critical threshold,
as established in prior literature, then there should be a
sufficient abundance of nanoflares to explain coronal heating. We performed
600 case studies of solar flares, made possible by an unprecedented number
of data analysts via three semesters of an undergraduate physics laboratory
course. This allowed us to include two crucial, but nontrivial, analysis
methods: pre-flare baseline subtraction and computation of the flare energy,
which requires determining flare start and stop times. We aggregated the
results of these analyses into a statistical study to determine that . This is below the critical threshold, suggesting that Alfv\'en
waves are an important driver of coronal heating.Comment: 1,002 authors, 14 pages, 4 figures, 3 tables, published by The
Astrophysical Journal on 2023-05-09, volume 948, page 7