Monitoring Reversible Tight Junction Modulation with a Current‐Driven Organic Electrochemical Transistor

AbstractThe barrier functionality of a cell layer regulates the passage of nutrients into the blood. Modulating the barrier functionality by external chemical agents like poly‐l‐lysine (PLL) is crucial for drug delivery. The ability of a cell layer to impede the passage of ions through it and therefore to act as a barrier, can be assessed electrically by measuring the resistance across the cell layer. Here, an organic electrochemical transistor (OECT) is used in a current‐driven configuration for the evaluation of reversible modulation of tight junctions in Caco‐2 cells over time. Exposure to low and medium concentrations of PLL initiates reversible modulation, whereas a too high concentration induces an irreversible barrier disruption due to nonfunctional tight junction proteins. The results demonstrate the suitability of OECTs to in situ monitor temporal barrier modulation and recovery, which can offer valuable information for drug delivery applications

Current-Driven Organic Electrochemical Transistors for Monitoring Cell Layer Integrity with Enhanced Sensitivity

AbstractIn this progress report an overview is given on the use of the organic electrochemical transistor (OECT) as a biosensor for impedance sensing of cell layers. The transient OECT current can be used to detect changes in the impedance of the cell layer, as shown by Jimison et al. To circumvent the application of a high gate bias and preventing electrolysis of the electrolyte, in case of small impedance variations, an alternative measuring technique based on an OECT in a current‐driven configuration is developed. The ion‐sensitivity is larger than 1200 mV V‐1dec‐1 at low operating voltage. It can be even further enhanced using an OECT based complementary amplifier, which consists of a p‐type and an n‐type OECT connected in series, as known from digital electronics. The monitoring of cell layer integrity and irreversible disruption of barrier function with the current‐driven OECT is demonstrated for an epithelial Caco‐2 cell layer, showing the enhanced ion‐sensitivity as compared to the standard OECT configuration. As a state‐of‐the‐art application of the current‐driven OECT, the in situ monitoring of reversible tight junction modulation under the effect of drug additives, like poly‐l‐lysine, is discussed. This shows its potential for in vitro and even in vivo toxicological and drug delivery studies

Michelson interferometer with diffractively-coupled arm resonators in second-order Littrow configuration

Michelson-type laser-interferometric gravitational-wave (GW) observatories employ very high light powers as well as transmissively- coupled Fabry-Perot arm resonators in order to realize high measurement sensitivities. Due to the absorption in the transmissive optics, high powers lead to thermal lensing and hence to thermal distortions of the laser beam profile, which sets a limit on the maximal light power employable in GW observatories. Here, we propose and realize a Michelson-type laser interferometer with arm resonators whose coupling components are all-reflective second-order Littrow gratings. In principle such gratings allow high finesse values of the resonators but avoid bulk transmission of the laser light and thus the corresponding thermal beam distortion. The gratings used have three diffraction orders, which leads to the creation of a second signal port. We theoretically analyze the signal response of the proposed topology and show that it is equivalent to a conventional Michelson-type interferometer. In our proof-of-principle experiment we generated phase-modulation signals inside the arm resonators and detected them simultaneously at the two signal ports. The sum signal was shown to be equivalent to a single-output-port Michelson interferometer with transmissively-coupled arm cavities, taking into account optical loss. The proposed and demonstrated topology is a possible approach for future all-reflective GW observatory designs

Metal-Free Intermolecular C–H Borylation of N-Heterocycles at B–B Multiple Bonds

Carbene-stabilized diborynes of the form LBBL (L = NHC or CAAC) induce rapid, high yielding, intermolecular ortho-C–H borylation at N-heterocycles at room temperature. A simple pyridyldiborene is formed when an NHC-stabilized diboryne is combined with pyridine, while a CAAC-stabilized diboryne leads to activation of two pyridine molecules to give a tricyclic alkylideneborane, which can be forced to undergo a further H-shift resulting in a zwitterionic, doubly benzo-fused 1,3,2,5-diazadiborinine by heating. Use of the extended N-heteroaromatic quinoline leads to a borylmethyleneborane under mild conditions via an unprecedented boron-carbon exchange process

Metallfreie intermolekulare C-H-Borylierung von N-Heterocyclen an B-B-Mehrfachbindungen

Carbenstabilisierte Diborine der Form LBBL (L=N-heterocyclisches Carben (NHC) oder cyclisches Alkyl(amino)carben (CAAC)) induzieren bei Raumtemperatur eine schnelle, ertragreiche, intermolekulare ortho-C-H-Borylierung an N-Heterocyclen. Ein einfaches Pyridyldiboren wird gebildet, wenn ein NHC-stabilisiertes Diborin mit Pyridin kombiniert wird, während ein CAAC-stabilisiertes Diborin zur Aktivierung von zwei Pyridinmolekülen führt, um ein tricyclisches Alkylidenboran zu bilden, das durch Erhitzen zu einem zwitterionischen, zweifach benzokondensierten 1,3,2,5-Diazadiborinin mittels einer weiteren H-Verschiebung umgelagert werden kann. Die Verwendung des verlängerten N-heteroaromatischen Chinolins führt unter milden Bedingungen über einen bisher unbekannten Bor-Kohlenstoff-Austauschprozess zu einem Borylmethylenboran

Comprehensive study on the formation of grain boundary serrations in additively manufactured Haynes 230 alloy

Recently, grain boundary serrations have been introduced in conventionally processed Haynes 230 through a slow-cooling heat treatment. The aim of this work was to utilize these heat treatments to introduce serrations in additively manufactured (Laser Metal Deposition) Haynes 230. Contrary to expectations, serrations already formed during the fast-cooling of the Laser Metal Deposition process. Electron Backscatter Diffraction was used to elucidate the underlying phenomenon for the emergence of serrations during fast-cooling. As a result, a hypothesis regarding a new mechanism responsible for the formation of grain boundary serrations was formulated. Additionally, specific characteristics of the Laser Metal Deposition process have been identified. This includes a columnar-to-equiaxed transition (CET) for slower feed rates, leading to smaller grains despite lower cooling rates; the observation of an abrupt increase in grain growth for a raised solution annealing temperature; the fact that serrations hinder uncontrolled grain growth and finally that the LMD-process leads to a finer carbide morphology compared to conventional manufacturing methods, potentially leading to an increased precipitation strengthening effect

Stepwise and selective synthesis of chelating, multimetallic and mixed-metal π-diborene complexes

The reaction of a pyridyl-substituted, doubly Lewis base-stabilised diborene with different amounts of copper(I) precursors led to the formation of the first chelating π-diborene complexes, the first π-diborene complexes in which metals are bound to both faces of the B=B bond, and the first mixed-metal π-diborene species

Added value by hybrid additive manufacturing and advanced manufacturing approaches

In order to lead to a competitive advantage there is the need to carefully consider the pros and cons of state of the art manufacturing techniques. This is frequently carried out in a competitive manner but can also be done in a complementary way. This complementary approach is often used for the processing of difficult-to-machine materials with particular regard to high tech parts or components. Hybrid machining processes (HMPs) or - more general – advanced machining processes (AMPs) can be brought to the point that the results would not be possible with the individual constituent processes in isolation. Hence, the controlled interaction of process mechanisms and/or energy sources is frequently applied for a significant increase of the process performance and will be addressed within the present paper. A via Electron Beam Melting (EBM) manufactured gamma titanium aluminide (γ-TiAl) nozzle is extended and adapted. This is done via hybrid Laser Metal Deposition (LMD). The presented approach considers critical impacts like processing temperatures, temperature gradients and solidification conditions with particular regard to crucial material properties like the phenomena of lamellar interface cracking. Furthermore, selected destructive and non-destructive testing is performed in order to prove the material properties. Finally, the results will be evaluated. This will also be done in the perspective of other applications