| 1. |
- Sepehri, Sobhan, 1986, et al.
(author)
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Volume-amplified magnetic bioassay integrated with microfluidic sample handling and high-Tc SQUID magnetic readout
- 2018
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In: APL Bioengineering. - : AIP Publishing. - 2473-2877. ; 2:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- A bioassay based on a high-Tc superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) reading out functionalized magnetic nanoparticles (fMNPs) in a prototype microfluidic platform is presented. The target molecule recognition is based on volume amplification using padlock-probe-ligation followed by rolling circle amplification (RCA). The MNPs are functionalized with single-stranded oligonucleotides, which give a specific binding of the MNPs to the large RCA coil product, resulting in a large change in the amplitude of the imaginary part of the ac magnetic susceptibility. The RCA products from amplification of synthetic Vibrio cholera target DNA were investigated using our SQUID ac susceptibility system in microfluidic channel with an equivalent sample volume of 3 μl. From extrapolation of the linear dependence of the SQUID signal versus concentration of the RCA coils, it is found that the projected limit of detection for our system is about 1.0 e5 RCA coils (0.2e−18 mol), which is equivalent to 66 fM in the 3 μl sample volume. This ultra-high magnetic sensitivity and integration with microfluidic sample handling are critical steps towards magnetic bioassays for rapid detection of DNA and RNA targets at the point of care.
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| 2. |
- Zambrano, Jesús, et al.
(author)
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Optimal steady-state design of zone volumes of bioreactors with Monod growth kinetics
- 2015
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In: Biochemical Engineering Journal. - : Elsevier BV. - 1369-703X .- 1873-295X. ; 100, s. 59-66
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This paper deals with steady-state analysis and design of bioreactors consisting of a number of completely stirred tank reactors (CSTRs) in series. The study is confined to one consumed (substrate) and one consuming constituent (biomass). The specific microbial growth rate is assumed to be described by Monod kinetics. The death of biomass is assumed to be negligible. Two optimal design problems for a large number of CSTRs in series are studied: to minimize the effluent substrate concentration for a given total volume, and to minimize the total volume for a given effluent substrate concentration. As an appealing alternative to solve these problems numerically, it is proposed to consider the asymptotic case where the number of CSTRs tends to infinity. This is shown to correspond to one CSTR in series with a plug flow reactor (PFR). A CSTR with a sufficient large volume is needed to avoid wash-out of the biomass. The main result is that both design problems for the CSTR + PFR configuration have the same solution with respect to the optimal volume of the CSTR, which is given as an explicit function of the incoming substrate concentration, the volumetric flow rate and the coefficients of the Monod growth rate function. Numerical results indicate that the plug flow approach may be used as a feasible design procedure even for a reasonably low number of CSTRs in series.
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| 3. |
- Öhman, Sebastian, 1991-, et al.
(author)
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Selective kinetic growth and role of local coordination in forming Al2TiO5-based coatings at lower temperatures
- 2021
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In: Materials Advances. - : Royal Society of Chemistry. - 2633-5409. ; 2:17, s. 5737-5751
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Negative thermal expansion is an elusive property found among certain materials, whose potential applications have remained limited due to the many challenges faced in their synthesis. Herein, we report the successful formation of aluminium titanate-based coatings (Al2TiO5), a material renowned for its low-to-negative thermal expansion, by the co-deposition of aluminium-isopropoxide and titanium-isopropoxide in a hot-wall chemical vapour deposition instrument. While coatings grown at 450 °C were amorphous as-deposited, a short-range order into the Al2TiO5-phase was found and analysed by using Raman spectroscopy. Upon subsequent annealing at 700 °C for 3 hours, crystalline coatings were achieved without forming any binary phases. The selective synthesis of the Al2TiO5 phase is ascribed to the precursors’ inherent chemical similarities, resulting in a kinetic targeting of this phase and a short-range homogeneity, entailing its preferred crystallisation. The role of local coordination is expressed by demonstrating the formation of intergrowth phases ascribed to lower coordinating interstices in the compound. Both the formation and crystallisation temperatures reported herein, as well as the timescales needed for the synthesises, are considerably lower than any conventional adopted solid-state techniques used so far to attain the Al2TiO5 phase.
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| 4. |
- Shu, Rui, 1990-, et al.
(author)
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Effect of nitrogen content on microstructure and corrosion resistance of sputter-deposited multicomponent (TiNbZrTa)Nx films
- 2020
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In: Surface & Coatings Technology. - LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND : Elsevier BV. - 0257-8972 .- 1879-3347. ; 404
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Multicomponent (TiNbZrTa)Nx films were deposited on Si(100) substrates at room temperature using magnetron sputtering with a nitrogen flow ratio fN [fN = N2/(Ar + N2)], which was varied from 0 to 30.8%. The nitrogen content in the films varied between 0 and 45.2 at.%, i.e., x = 0 to 0.83. The microstructure was characterized by X-ray diffraction and electron microscopy. The metallic TiNbZrTa film comprised a dominant bcc solid-solution phase, whereas a single NaCl-type face-centred cubic structure was observed in all nitrogen-containing films (TiNbZrTa)Nx. The mechanical, electrical, and electrochemical properties of these films varied with nitrogen content. The maximum hardness was achieved at 22.1 ± 0.3 GPa when N = 43.0 at.%. The resistivities increased from 95 to 424 μΩcm with increasing nitrogen content. A detailed study of the variation of morphology and chemical bonding with nitrogen content was performed and the corrosion resistance of the TiNbZrTa nitride films was explored in 0.1 M H2SO4. While all the films had excellent corrosion resistances at potentials up to 2.0 V vs. Ag/AgCl, the metallic film and the films with low nitrogen contents (x < 0.60) exhibited an almost stable current plateau up to 4.0 V vs. Ag/AgCl. For the films with higher nitrogen contents (x ≥ 0.68), the current plateau was retained up to 2.0 V vs. Ag/AgCl, above which a higher nitrogen content resulted in a higher current. The decrease in the corrosion resistance at these high potentials indicate the presence of a potential-dependent activation effect resulting in an increased oxidation rate of the nitrides (present under the passive oxide film) yielding a release of nitrogen from the films. TEM results indicate that the oxide layer formed after this corrosion measurement was thick and porous for the film with x = 0.76, in very good agreement with the increased corrosion rate for this film. The results demonstrate that an increased nitrogen content in (TiNbZrTa)Nx system improves their mechanical properties with retained high corrosion resistance at potentials up to 2.0 V vs. Ag/AgCl in 0.1 M H2SO4. At even higher potentials, however, the corrosion resistance decreases with increasing nitrogen concentration for films with sufficiently high nitrogen contents (i.e. x ≥ 0.68).
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| 5. |
- Samuelsson, Oscar, et al.
(author)
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Fault signatures and bias progression in dissolved oxygen sensors
- 2018
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In: Water Science and Technology. - : IWA Publishing. - 0273-1223 .- 1996-9732. ; 78:5, s. 1034-1044
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Biofilm fouling is known to impact the data quality of sensors, but little is known about the exact effects. We studied the effects of artificial and real biofilm fouling on dissolved oxygen (DO) sensors in full-scale water resource recovery facilities, and how this can automatically be detected. Biofilm fouling resulted in different drift direction and bias magnitudes for optical (OPT) and electrochemical (MEC) DO sensors. The OPT-sensor was more affected by biofilm fouling compared to the MEC-sensor, especially during summer conditions. A bias of 1 mg/L was detected by analysing the impulse response (IR) of the automatic air cleaning system in the DO sensor. The IR is an effect of a temporal increase in DO concentration during the automatic air cleaning. The IRs received distinct pattern changes that were matched with faults including: biofilm fouling, disturbances in the air supply to the cleaning system, and damaged sensor membrane, which can be used for fault diagnosis. The results highlight the importance of a condition-based sensor maintenance schedule in contrast to fixed cleaning intervals. Further, the results stress the importance of understanding and detecting bias due to biofilm fouling, in order to maintain a robust and resource-efficient process control.
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| 6. |
- Shu, Rui, et al.
(author)
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Microstructure and mechanical, electrical, and electrochemical properties of sputter-deposited multicomponent (TiNbZrTa)N-x coatings
- 2020
-
In: Surface & Coatings Technology. - : ELSEVIER SCIENCE SA. - 0257-8972 .- 1879-3347. ; 389
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- A series of (TiNbZrTa)Nx coatings with a thickness of similar to 1.1 mu m were deposited using reactive magnetron sputtering with segmented targets. The deposition temperature was varied from room temperature to 700 degrees C resulting in coatings with different microstructures. The coatings were characterized by electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, compositional analysis, and X-ray diffraction. Effects of the deposition temperature on the electrical, mechanical and corrosion properties were studied with four-point probe, nanoindentation and potentiodynamic polarization measurements, respectively. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analyses reveal a gradual change in the chemical state of all elements with increasing growth temperature from nitridic at room temperature to metallic at 700 degrees C. A NaCl-type structure with (001) preferred orientation was observed in the coating deposited at 400 degrees C, while an hcp structure was found for the coatings deposited above 400 degrees C. The resistivities of the TiNbZrTa nitride coatings were found to be around 200 mu Ocm. In 0.1 M H2SO4 aqueous solution, a corrosion current density of 2.8 x 10(-8) A/cm(2) and a passive behaviour up to 1.5 V vs. Ag/AgCl were found for the most corrosion resistant coating. The latter corrosion current is about two orders of magnitude lower than that found for a reference hyper-duplex stainless steel.
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| 7. |
- Bayat, Narges, et al.
(author)
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Vascular toxicity of ultra-small TiO2 nanoparticles and single walled carbon nanotubes in vitro and in vivo
- 2015
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In: Biomaterials. - : Elsevier BV. - 0142-9612 .- 1878-5905. ; 63, s. 1-13
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Ultra-small nanoparticles (USNPs) at 1-3 nm are a subset of nanoparticles (NPs) that exhibit intermediate physicochemical properties between molecular dispersions and larger NPs. Despite interest in their utilization in applications such as theranostics, limited data about their toxicity exist. Here the effect of TiO2-USNPs on endothelial cells in vitro, and zebrafish embryos in vivo, was studied and compared to larger TiO2-NPs (30 nm) and to single walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs). In vitro exposure showed that TiO2-USNPs were neither cytotoxic, nor had oxidative ability, nevertheless were genotoxic. In vivo experiment in early developing zebrafish embryos in water at high concentrations of TiO2-USNPs caused mortality possibly by acidifying the water and caused malformations in the form of pericardial edema when injected. Myo1C involved in glomerular development of zebrafish embryos was upregulated in embryos exposed to TiO2-USNPs. They also exhibited anti-angiogenic effects both in vitro and in vivo plus decreased nitric oxide concentration. The larger TiO2-NPs were genotoxic but not cytotoxic. SWCNTs were cytotoxic in vitro and had the highest oxidative ability. Neither of these NPs had significant effects in vivo. To our knowledge this is the first study evaluating the effects of TiO2-USNPs on vascular toxicity in vitro and in vivo and this strategy could unravel USNPs potential applications.
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| 8. |
- Chen, Dongliang, et al.
(author)
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The Scanner of Heterogeneous Traffic Flow in Smart Cities by an Updating Model of Connected and Automated Vehicles
- 2022
-
In: IEEE transactions on intelligent transportation systems (Print). - : IEEE. - 1524-9050 .- 1558-0016. ; 23:12, s. 25361-25370
-
Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The problems of traditional traffic flow detection and calculation methods include limited traffic scenes, high system costs, and lower efficiency over detecting and calculating. Therefore, in this paper, we presented the updating Connected and Automated Vehicles (CAVs) model as the scanner of heterogeneous traffic flow, which uses various sensors to detect the characteristics of traffic flow in several traffic scenes on the roads. The model contains the hardware platform, software algorithm of CAV, and the analysis of traffic flow detection and simulation by Flow Project, where the driving of vehicles is mainly controlled by Reinforcement Learning (RL). Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed model and the corresponding swarm intelligence strategy is evaluated through simulation experiments. The results showed that the traffic flow scanning, tracking, and data recording performed continuously by CAVs are effective. The increase in the penetration rate of CAVs in the overall traffic flow has a significant effect on vehicle detection and identification. In addition, the vehicle occlusion rate is independent of the CAV lane position in all cases. The complete street scanner is a new technology that realizes the perception of the human settlement environment with the help of the Internet of Vehicles based on 5G communications and sensors. Although there are some shortcomings in the experiment, it still provides an experimental reference for the development of smart vehicles.
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| 9. |
- Jafri, Syed Hassan Mujtaba, et al.
(author)
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Conductivity engineering of graphene by defect formation
- 2010
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In: Journal of Physics D. - : IOP Publishing. - 0022-3727 .- 1361-6463. ; 43:4, s. 045404-
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Transport measurements have revealed several exotic electronic properties of graphene. The possibility to influence the electronic structure and hence control the conductivity by adsorption or doping with adatoms is crucial in view of electronics applications. Here, we show that in contrast to expectation, the conductivity of graphene increases with increasing concentration of vacancy defects, by more than one order of magnitude. We obtain a pronounced enhancement of the conductivity after insertion of defects by both quantum mechanical transport calculations as well as experimental studies of carbon nano-sheets. Our finding is attributed to the defect induced mid-gap states, which create a region exhibiting metallic behaviour around the vacancy defects. The modification of the conductivity of graphene by the implementation of stable defects is crucial for the creation of electronic junctions in graphene-based electronics devices.
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| 10. |
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