Tailoring the properties of deposited thin coating and print features in flexography by application of UV-ozone treatment

Printed functional materials are a rapidly growing area of interest for low-cost high-speed device manufacture with flexographic printing seen as a route to achieving this. The relationship between surface tension of the ink and surface free energy (SFE) of the photopolymer plate is a key for optimum performance. However, traditional methods of surface tension modification of the ink/coating often cannot be employed for functional inks. In this research, rapid, permanent modification of flexographic printing plate’s SFE is achieved through controlled UV-ozone treatment, and the effects of the treatment on the polar and dispersive component of SFE are analyzed by Fourier transform infrared attenuated total reflectance spectroscopy, swelling experiments, and roughness measurements. Printing trials using the modified printing plates reveal improved print uniformity and control of deposited ink layer thickness, as well as improved print features—particularly track and pad junctions which can be problematic for printed electronic applications. The ability to rapidly tailor printing plate SFE is of benefit to all volume printing applications. Furthermore, it is of critical importance for functional printing and printed electronics where surface tension of the ink is determined by the functional material and chemical modification is not possible or desirable.     

Borcalein: a Carborane-Based Analogue of Baicalein with 12-Lipoxygenase-Independent Toxicity

12-Lipoxygenase is crucial for tumour angiogenesis. 5,6,7-Trihydroxy-2-phenyl-4H-1-benzopyran-4-one (baicalein) is a suitable inhibitor for this enzyme but is rapidly metabolised in vivo. Thus, an improvement of the metabolic stability is necessary to enhance the therapeutic efficiency. An emerging approach to enhance metabolic stability of carbon-based pharmaceuticals is the use of metabolically stable, non-toxic boron clusters, such as dicarba-closo-dodecaborane(12)s (carboranes) as phenyl mimetics. Therefore, the unsubstituted phenyl ring of baicalein was replaced by meta-carborane, resulting in borcalein, the carborane analogue of baicalein. This substitution resulted in a decreased inhibitory activity toward 12-lipoxygenase, but led to increased toxicity in melanoma (A375, B16, B16F10) and colon cancer cell lines (SW480, HCT116, CT26CL25) with decreased tumour selectivity in comparison to baicalein. Surprisingly, borcalein displays a different mechanism of cytotoxicity with increased intracellular production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), reactive nitrogen species (RNS) and nitric oxide (NO).     

Composites of poly(vinyl acetate) filled with calcium carbonate: Microscopy,diffractometry and thermophysical properties

Calcium carbonate (CaCO₃) is used as filler in poly(vinyl acetate)(PVAc) composites to enhance the mechanical properties. The filler is often commercially surface treated with stearic acid to optimize the interfacial bonding and wetting. The effects of the interface on properties were studied using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of films with initial and deformed morphologies. Plasticizing additives cause a significant change in the appearance of the films and a reduction in the glass transition temperature of the matrix from 40°C to ≈ 18°C, which was not altered by further addition of the filler. A PVAc composite fracture surface shows the particles adhering well to the matrix, suggesting good adhesion and reinforcement. The SEM study is complemented by WAXD, SEM/X-SEM, XPS, and thermal analysis.     

Hydrogen storage properties of sumanene

Numerous studies associated with carbon-based materials have shown excellent results for the adsorption of important molecules. Bearing in mind that hydrogen is important as an energy source in this paper we investigated the adsorption properties of sumanene toward hydrogen molecules. We used a theoretical and computational approach in the framework of density functional theory. Frontier molecular orbitals, HOMO and LUMO, are visualized and molecular electrostatic potential surfaces are created, in order to locate adsorption places. We determined H₂ adsorption binding energies, for which we obtained the applicable results. The adsorption properties of sumanene molecules toward hydrogen molecules were discussed through analysis of the density of states, partial density of states and overlap population density of states. Our results indicate that the sumanene can be very useful in the practical application for storage of hydrogen, which is the basis for its successful energy implementation.     

Anticancer Potential of (Pentamethylcyclopentadienyl)chloridoiridium(III) Complexes Bearing κP and κP,κS‐Coordinated Ph2PCH2CH2CH2S(O)xPh (x=0–2) Ligands

Iridium(III) complexes of the type [Ir(η⁵‐C₅Me₅)Cl₂{Ph₂PCH₂CH₂CH₂S(O)_xPh‐κP}] (x=0–2; 1 – 3 ) and [Ir(η⁵‐C₅Me₅)Cl{Ph₂PCH₂CH₂CH₂S(O)_xPh‐κP,κS}][PF₆] (x=0–1; 4 and 5 ) with 3‐(diphenylphosphino)propyl phenyl sulfide, sulfoxide, and sulfone ligands Ph₂PCH₂CH₂CH₂S(O)_xPh were designed, synthesized, and characterized fully, including X‐ray diffraction analyses for complexes 3 and 4 . In vitro studies against human thyroid carcinoma (8505C), submandibular carcinoma (A253), breast adenocarcinoma (MCF‐7), colon adenocarcinoma (SW480), and melanoma (518A2) cell lines provided evidence for the high biological potential of the neutral and cationic iridium(III) complexes. Neutral iridium(III) complex 5 proved to be the most active, with IC₅₀ values up to about 0.1 μM , representing activities of up to one order of magnitude higher than cisplatin. Using 8505C cells, apoptosis was shown to be the main mechanism through which complex 5 exerts its tumoricidal action. The described iridium(III) complexes represent potential leads in the search for novel metal‐based anticancer agents.     

Multi-response design of Nd:YAG laser drilling of Ni-based superalloy sheets using Taguchi��s quality loss function, multivariate statistical methods and artificial intelligence

This paper presents a hybrid design strategy for the determination of the optimum laser drilling parameters which simultaneously meets the requirements for seven quality characteristics (responses) of the holes produced during pulsed Nd:YAG laser drilling of a thin sheet of nickel-based superalloy Nimonic 263. The process was designed using two approaches based on the experimental data. In the first approach, the quality losses of seven correlated responses were uncorrelated into a set of components using the principal component analysis; then the grey relational analysis was applied to synthesise components into a synthetic performance measure. Since this approach considered only parameter values used in the experiment, the second approach was developed to find the global optimal parameters solution using an artificial neural network to model the relation between parameters and a synthetic performance measure, and a genetic algorithm to perform a search for the global optimum in a continual multidimensional space. The analysis of the application indicated that the proposed approaches gave a better result, in terms of the optimal parameter settings that yield the maximal synthetic performance measure, than several commonly used methods for multi-response process parameters design. The results demonstrated that the robust Nd:YAG laser drilling of Ni-based superalloy sheets was designed with respect to the requirements for seven quality characteristics of the drilled holes, by using the proposed strategy.     

In vitro selection for K562 cells with higher retrovirally mediated copy number of aldehyde dehydrogenase class-1 and higher resistance to 4-hydroperoxycyclophosphamide

Endothelin-1 (Et-1) has been implicated in the pathogenesis of pulmonary fibrosis with increased levels in the lung tissue of patients with pulmonary fibrosis and profibrotic effects in vitro. In this study we have investigated the temporal changes in lung Et-1 levels and immunohistochemical localization in relation to collagen deposition during the development of bleomycin-induced pulmonary fibrosis in rats. Lung Et-1 content doubled by 3 d following the intratracheal instillation of bleomycin, and continued to increase up to 7 d when values were about threefold greater than controls. Thereafter, the values for bleomycin-treated animals remained constant up to 21 d. There was no change in collagen content at 3 d but after 7 d there was a 25% increase and by 21 d levels were almost double those of the controls. In normal lung, Et-1 was predominantly associated with epithelial cells of conducting and nonconducting airways. Following bleomycin administration, intense staining of macrophages and conducting airway and alveolar epithelial cells was observed with marked staining of perivascular, peribronchiolar, and alveolar septal connective tissue, as well as the venular and arterial intima and media. These results demonstrate elevation of Et-1 levels prior to an increase in collagen content which, along with its localization within developing fibrotic lesions, provides further evidence of a profibrotic role for Et-1 in the pathogenesis of pulmonary fibrosis.     

Prolog/Rex inference engine

Abstract: Prolog/Rex supports the construction of knowledge-based systems, allowing frames (Prolog/Rex concepts) and rules to be combined, and providing language level support for hypothetical reasoning and assumption-based truth maintenance (Prolog/Rex viewpoint mechanism). To increase run-time performance during rule execution, Prolog/Rex provides two complementary rule compilation techniques: the simple indexing scheme and the heavily modified Rete expansion method. To improve the efficiency of the inference engine, we built an agenda-based rule manager that uses priority mechanism and/or heuristics embedded in meta-rules to control the rule firing order. Forward- and backward-chaining can be combined within the same program.     

Transmittance Measurements in Non-alternating Magnetic Field as Reliable Method for Determining of Heating Properties of Phosphate and Phosphonate Coated Fe3O4 Magnetic Nanoparticles

Different phosphates and phosphonates have shown excellent coating ability toward magnetic nanoparticles, improving their stability and biocompatibility which enables their biomedical application. The magnetic hyperthermia efficiency of phosphates (IDP and IHP) and phosphonates (MDP and HEDP) coated Fe₃O₄ magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) were evaluated in an alternating magnetic field. For a deeper understanding of hyperthermia, the behavior of investigated MNPs in the non-alternating magnetic field was monitored by measuring the transparency of the sample. To investigate their theranostic potential coated Fe₃O₄-MNPs were radiolabeled with radionuclide ¹⁷⁷Lu. Phosphate coated MNPs were radiolabeled in high radiolabeling yield (>?99%) while phosphonate coated MNPs reached maximum radiolabeling yield of 78%. Regardless lower radiolabeling yield both radiolabeled phosphonate MNPs may be further purified reaching radiochemical purity of more than 95%. In vitro stabile radiolabeled nanoparticles in saline and HSA were obtained. The high heating ability of phosphates and phosphonates coated MNPs as sine qua non for efficient in vivo hyperthermia treatment and satisfactory radiolabeling yield justifies their further research in order to develop new theranostic agents.