Fibroniq-UGent Nanofiber Consortium: from research to technology

FIBRONIQ-UGhent Nanofiber Consortium is a consortium of research groups inside the Ghent University that performs research with the aim of valorization of the results obtained. The main but not exclusive focus in FIBRONIQ is on electrospinning and nanofibrous structures. The consortium is headed by Prof. Paul Kiekens and leaded by Dr. Philippe Westbroek. Inside FIBRONIQ an inventive nanofibrous producing method, based on electrospinning principles, is developed and patented. FIBRONIQ aims at using this method to produce innovative structures and products containing such structures. On the one hand this will be achieved by the founding of a spin-off company, on the other hand by setting up cooperations with industrial companies. FIBRONIQ focuses on different applications fields, such as filtration, wound dressings, dental, intelligent textiles and pharmaceutical applications

Path integral approach to Darcy flow

We explore a path integral approach to Darcy flow through a stochastic permeable medium. In one dimension, Darcy's law can be solved exactly. We give a derivation of the path integral used to obtain the Darcy pressure statistics. We also outline the computational setup for the conventional finite-volume method and the implementation of a stochastic field generator. We provide a detailed user's guide to the calculation of path integrals on a lattice, including an explicit computational setup and corresponding pseudocode. The higher-dimensional form of Darcy's law lacks an analytic solution. We show that the simulated annealing algorithm provides a viable alternative to simulating a path integral for Darcy's law. We compare the results for the path integral and simulated annealing methods to those for the finite-volume method. All comparisons pass a Kolmogorov-Smirnov test at the 95% confidence level. We discuss log-normal and Gaussian fits to the pressure statistics. Finally, we make a number of suggestions for future work, such as the use of the renormalization group and the extension of Darcy's law to multiphase flow.Open Acces

User's guide to Monte Carlo methods for evaluating path integrals

We give an introduction to the calculation of path integrals on a lattice, with the quantum harmonic oscillator as an example. In addition to providing an explicit computational setup and corresponding pseudocode, we pay particular attention to the existence of autocorrelations and the calculation of reliable errors. The over-relaxation technique is presented as a way to counter strong autocorrelations. The simulation methods can be extended to compute observables for path integrals in other settings

Exosomes released from breast cancer carcinomas stimulate cell movement

For metastasis to occur cells must communicate with to their local environment to initiate growth and invasion. Exosomes have emerged as an important mediator of cell-to-cell signalling through the transfer of molecules such as mRNAs, microRNAs, and proteins between cells. Exosomes have been proposed to act as regulators of cancer progression. Here, we study the effect of exosomes on cell migration, an important step in metastasis. We performed cell migration assays, endocytosis assays, and exosome proteomic profiling on exosomes released from three breast cancer cell lines that model progressive stages of metastasis. Results from these experiments suggest: (1) exosomes promote cell migration and (2) the signal is stronger from exosomes isolated from cells with higher metastatic potentials; (3) exosomes are endocytosed at the same rate regardless of the cell type; (4) exosomes released from cells show differential enrichment of proteins with unique protein signatures of both identity and abundance. We conclude that breast cancer cells of increasing metastatic potential secrete exosomes with distinct protein signatures that proportionally increase cell movement and suggest that released exosomes could play an active role in metastasis