3D-printed micro bubble column reactor with integrated microsensors for biotechnological applications: from design to evaluation

With the technological advances in 3D printing technology, which are associated with ever-increasing printing resolution, additive manufacturing is now increasingly being used for rapid manufacturing of complex devices including microsystems development for laboratory applications. Personalized experimental devices or entire bioreactors of high complexity can be manufactured within few hours from start to finish. This study presents a customized 3D-printed micro bubble column reactor (3D-µBCR), which can be used for the cultivation of microorganisms (e.g., Saccharomyces cerevisiae) and allows online-monitoring of process parameters through integrated microsensor technology. The modular 3D-µBCR achieves rapid homogenization in less than 1 s and high oxygen transfer with kLa values up to 788 h-1 and is able to monitor biomass, pH, and DOT in the fluid phase, as well as CO2 and O2 in the gas phase. By extensive comparison of different reactor designs, the influence of the geometry on the resulting hydrodynamics was investigated. In order to quantify local flow patterns in the fluid, a three-dimensional and transient multiphase Computational Fluid Dynamics model was successfully developed and applied. The presented 3D-µBCR shows enormous potential for experimental parallelization and enables a high level of flexibility in reactor design, which can support versatile process development

3D-printed micro bubble column reactor with integrated microsensors for biotechnological applications: From design to evaluation

With the technological advances in 3D printing technology, which are associated with ever-increasing printing resolution, additive manufacturing is now increasingly being used for rapid manufacturing of complex devices including microsystems development for laboratory applications. Personalized experimental devices or entire bioreactors of high complexity can be manufactured within few hours from start to finish. This study presents a customized 3D-printed micro bubble column reactor (3D-µBCR), which can be used for the cultivation of microorganisms (e.g., Saccharomyces cerevisiae) and allows online-monitoring of process parameters through integrated microsensor technology. The modular 3D-µBCR achieves rapid homogenization in less than 1 s and high oxygen transfer with kLa values up to 788 h−1 and is able to monitor biomass, pH, and DOT in the fluid phase, as well as CO2 and O2 in the gas phase. By extensive comparison of different reactor designs, the influence of the geometry on the resulting hydrodynamics was investigated. In order to quantify local flow patterns in the fluid, a three-dimensional and transient multiphase Computational Fluid Dynamics model was successfully developed and applied. The presented 3D-µBCR shows enormous potential for experimental parallelization and enables a high level of flexibility in reactor design, which can support versatile process development. © 2021, The Author(s)

Mobility in a Globalised World 2017

The term mobility has different meanings in the following science disciplines. In economics, mobility is the ability of an individual or a group to improve their eco-nomic status in relation to income and wealth within their lifetime or between gen-erations. In information systems and computer science, mobility is used for the concept of mobile computing, in which a computer is transported by a person dur-ing normal use. Logistics creates by the design of logistics networks the infrastruc-ture for the mobility of people and goods. Electric mobility is one of today’s solu-tions from an engineering perspective to reduce the need of energy resources and environmental impact. Moreover, for urban planning, mobility is the crunch ques-tion about how to optimise the different needs for mobility and how to link differ-ent transportation systems. In this publication we collected the ideas of practitioners, researchers, and gov-ernment officials regarding the different modes of mobility in a globalised world, focusing on both domestic and international issues

Giant pressure dependence and dimensional crossover in a metal-organic Heisenberg antiferromagnet

Square-lattice Heisenberg antiferromagnets with magnetic exchange couplings of the order of a few Kelvin can be realized in metal-organic materials. Here, we report on high-precision susceptibility measurements of the quasi-two-dimensional square-lattice Heisenberg antiferromagnet (CuF2(H2O)2)2-pyrazine in high magnetic fields and at high pressures using a tunnel diode oscillator. A continuous change of the magnetic exchange couplings by a factor of 3.3 is observed upon application of external pressure. This change causes a dimensional crossover of the magnetic properties from quasi-two dimensions via three dimensions to quasi-one dimension. The pressure-dependence of the characteristic microscopic magnetic energy scales and magnetic response are computed by combining first principle calculations using spin-polarized density functional theory and Quantum Monte Carlo simulations. The giant pressure effect together with the computational benchmarks enable the design and control of magnetic properties in a diverse class of metalorganic materials over a large range of energy scales and dimensionalities

Glioma patients in outpatient care-optimization of psychosocial care in neuro-oncological patients (GLIOPT): Protocol for a cluster randomized controlled trial

Background Patients with high-grade gliomas (HGG) often suffer from high distress and require psychosocial support. However, due to neurological and neurocognitive deficits, adequate assessment of distress and support needs remains challenging in clinical practice. The objective of the present study is to investigate whether a systematic implementation of signaling questions into the routine outpatient consultation will be helpful to bridge this gap. Methods/design This is a multicenter cluster randomized study with two arms. Randomization is done on a cluster level with 13 hospitals providing regular neuro-oncological outpatient services conducted by neurologists and/or neurosurgeons. The intervention will include an assessment of psychosocial distress of patients in doctor-patient conversation compared to assessment of psychosocial distress via questionnaire (control, standard of care). In total, 616 HGG patients will be enrolled. The outcome will be the number of HGG patients with increased psychosocial distress who receive professional support from psychosocial services. Secondary endpoints are inter alia number of patients reporting psychosocial distress and unmet needs detected correctly by the respective method; quality of life; psychological well-being and burden of the patients before and after doctor-patient consultation; as well as the length of the doctor-patient consultation. Discussion Patients with HGG are confronted with an oncological diagnosis and at the same time with high symptom burden. This often leads to distress, which is not always adequately recognized and treated. So far, only a limited number of adequate instruments are available to assess HGG patient's distress. Yet, an adequate care and support network might facilitate the course of the disease and tumor therapies for patients. Our hypothesis is that an assessment conducted directly by attending doctors and in which the doctors talk to patients with HGG will be more effective than an assessment via a questionnaire, leading to better identifying patients in need of support. This may lead to an improvement of health care in these patients. Further, this method might be implemented also in other brain tumor patients (e.g., patients with brain metastases)