Publications

This paper is aimed to develop ultrananoporous polarized hydroxyapatite (HAp) catalyst and evaluate its per-formance in transforming CO2 into useable ethanol considering three different scenarios: 1) a batch reaction using a mixture of CO2 and CH4 as feeding gas; 2) a batch reaction using as reactant exhaust gases captured from the fumes of diesel vehicles; and 3) a continuous flow reaction using pure CO2 as feeding gas. Ultrananoporous HAp scaffolds were prepared using a four-step process: 1) as prepared HAp powder was mixed with 60% wt. of a commercial hydrogel at low-temperature; 2) the resulting paste was shaped at low temperature to reduce the adhesion between the metallic tools and the mixture, enhancing the homogeneity of the sample; 3) the shaped paste was calcined in air by applying 1000 oC during 2 h to eliminate the hydrogel; and 4) an external DC electric field of 3 kV/cm was imposed at 1000 oC during 1 h to the calcined scaffold. The resulting polarized scaffolds both ultrananoporosity and catalytic activation. Thus, the mass: volume ratio of the ultrananoporous catalyst was much lower than that of conventional HAp catalyst (718 vs 5093 g/L. Furthermore, the ethanol yield was much higher (up to a factor of x21.4) for the ultrananoporous catalyst than for the compact one, allowing us to conclude that ultrananoporous polarized HAp catalyst is a promising technology for transforming CO2 into valuable chemical products from highly polluted gases, especially those coming from road, sea and air transport.

JTD Keywords: A: ceramics, Air pollution, Automotives, Batch reactions, Calcination, Carbon, Carbon dioxide, Co2 fixation, Co2 reduction, Desig, Electric fields, Environmental process, Ethanol, Exhaust gases, Feeding gas, Fumes, Hydrogels, Hydroxyapatite, Lows-temperatures, Nano-catalyst, Nanocatalysts, Polarized catalys, Polarized catalyst, Scaffolds, Temperature, ]+ catalyst

JTD Keywords: copper, emissions, ethanol productions, greenhouse gases, solar energy, sustainable catalysts, Environmental pollution, Reduction

Hydrogels have been recently proposed as suitable materials to generate reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (RONS) upon gas-plasma treatment, and postulated as promising alternatives to conventional cancer therapies. Acting as delivery vehicles that allow a controlled release of RONS to the diseased site, plasma-treated hydrogels can overcome some of the limitations presented by plasma-treated liquids in in vivo therapies. In this work, we optimized the composition of a methylcellulose (MC) hydrogel to confer it with the ability to form a gel at physiological temperatures while remaining in the liquid phase at room temperature to allow gas-plasma treatment with suitable formation of plasma-generated RONS. MC hydrogels demonstrated the capacity for generation, prolonged storage and release of RONS. This release induced cytotoxic effects on the osteosarcoma cancer cell line MG-63, reducing its cell viability in a dose-response manner. These promising results postulate plasma-treated thermosensitive hydrogels as good candidates to provide local anticancer therapies.

JTD Keywords: Case-control studies, Cellulose, Hydrogels, Methylcellulose, Phase-separation, Plasma gases, Reactive oxygen species, Stability, Substituent, Temperature, Thermoreversible gelation

The impact of diet and digestive disorders in flatus composition remains largely unexplored. This is partially due to the lack of standardized sampling collection methods, and the easy atmospheric contamination. This paper describes a method to quantitatively determine the major gases in flatus and their application in a nutritional intervention. We describe how to direct sample flatus into Tedlar bags, and simultaneous analysis by gas chromatography–thermal conductivity detection (GC–TCD). Results are analyzed by univariate hypothesis testing and by multilevel principal component analysis. The reported methodology allows simultaneous determination of the five major gases with root mean measurement errors of 0.8% for oxygen (O2), 0.9% for nitrogen (N2), 0.14% for carbon dioxide (CO2), 0.11% for methane (CH4), and 0.26% for hydrogen (H2). The atmospheric contamination was limited to 0.86 (95% CI: [0.7–1.0])% for oxygen and 3.4 (95% CI: [1.4–5.3])% for nitrogen. As an illustration, the method has been successfully applied to measure the response to a nutritional intervention in a reduced crossover study in healthy subjects. © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

JTD Keywords: breath, colonic microbiota, diet effect on flatus, disorders, evacuation, excretion, flatulence, hydrogen gas, major flatus gas components, multilevel principal component analysis, rectal gas collection, systems, volume, Atmospheric contamination, Carbon dioxide, Conductivity detection, Diet effect on flatus, Gas chromatography, Gas collections, Gas component, Gases, Major flatus gas component, Major flatus gas components, Multilevel principal component analyse, Multilevel principal component analysis, Multilevels, Nitrogen, Nutrition, Oxygen, Principal component analysis, Principal-component analysis, Rectal gas collection, Volatile organic-compounds

Under intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), abnormal attainment of the nutrients and oxygen by the fetus restricts the normal evolution of the prenatal causing in many cases high morbidity being one of the top-ten causes of neonatal death. The current gold standards in hospitals to detect this relevant problem is the clinical observation by echography, cardiotocography and Doppler. These qualitative techniques are not conclusive and requires risky invasive fetal scalp blood testing and/or amniocentesis. We developed micro-implantable multiparametric electrochemical sensors for measuring ischemia in real time in fetal tissue and vascular. This implantable technology is designed to continuous monitoring for an early detection of ischemia to avoid potential fetal injury. Two miniaturized electrochemical sensors were developed based on oxygen and pH detection. The sensors were optimized in vitro under controlled concentration, to assess the selectivity and sensitivity required. The sensors were then validated in vivo in the ewe fetus model, by means of their insertion in the muscle leg and inside the iliac artery of the fetus. Ischemia was achieved by gradually obstructing the umbilical cord to regulate the amount of blood reaching the fetus. An important challenge in fetal monitoring is the detection of low levels of oxygen and pH changes under ischemic conditions, requiring high sensitivity sensors. Significant differences were observed in both; pH and pO(2) sensors under changes from normoxia to hypoxia states in the fetus tissue and vascular with both sensors. Herein, we demonstrate the feasibility of the developed sensors for future fetal monitoring in medical applications.

JTD Keywords: electrochemical biosensor, implantable sensor, in vivo validation, ischemia detection, tissue and vascular monitoring, Animal experiment, Animal model, Animal tissue, Article, Blood-gases, Brain, Classification, Controlled study, Diagnosis, Doppler, Early diagnosis, Electrochemical analysis, Electrochemical biosensor, Ewe, Feasibility study, Female, Fetus, Fetus disease, Fetus monitoring, Gestational age, Hypoxemia, Iliac artery, Implantable sensor, In vivo validation, Intrauterine growth restriction, Intrauterine growth retardation, Ischemia detection, Leg muscle, Management, Nonhuman, Oxygen consumption, Ph, Ph and oxygen detection, Ph measurement, Process optimization, Sheep, Tissue and vascular monitoring, Umbilical-cord occlusion

Cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) is a potential anticancer therapy. CAP has cytotoxic effects when applied either directly to cancer cell cultures or indirectly through plasma-conditioned liquids. This protocol describes how to treat adherent cultures of human cancer cell lines with CAP or plasma-conditioned medium and determine cell viability following treatment. The protocol also includes details on how to quantify the reactive oxygen and nitrogen species present in medium following CAP treatment, using chemical probes using UV-visible or fluorescence spectroscopy. CAP treatment takes ~30 min, and 3 h are required to complete quantification of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species. By providing a standardized protocol for evaluation of the effects of CAP and plasma-conditioned medium, we hope to facilitate the comparison and interpretation of results seen across different laboratories. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.

JTD Keywords: bacteria, decontamination, jet, skin, surface, Cell line, tumor, Humans, Neoplasms, Physical plasma, Plasma gases

Bioinspired hybrid soft robots that combine living and synthetic components are an emerging field in the development of advanced actuators and other robotic platforms (i.e., swimmers, crawlers, and walkers). The integration of biological components offers unique characteristics that artificial materials cannot precisely replicate, such as adaptability and response to external stimuli. Here, we present a skeletal muscle–based swimming biobot with a three-dimensional (3D)–printed serpentine spring skeleton that provides mechanical integrity and self-stimulation during the cell maturation process. The restoring force inherent to the spring system allows a dynamic skeleton compliance upon spontaneous muscle contraction, leading to a cyclic mechanical stimulation process that improves the muscle force output without external stimuli. Optimization of the 3D-printed skeletons is carried out by studying the geometrical stiffnesses of different designs via finite element analysis. Upon electrical actuation of the muscle tissue, two types of motion mechanisms are experimentally observed: directional swimming when the biobot is at the liquid-air interface and coasting motion when it is near the bottom surface. The integrated compliant skeleton provides both the mechanical self-stimulation and the required asymmetry for directional motion, displaying its maximum velocity at 5 hertz (800 micrometers per second, 3 body lengths per second). This skeletal muscle–based biohybrid swimmer attains speeds comparable with those of cardiac-based biohybrid robots and outperforms other muscle-based swimmers. The integration of serpentine-like structures in hybrid robotic systems allows self-stimulation processes that could lead to higher force outputs in current and future biomimetic robotic platforms. Copyright © 2021 The Authors, some rights reserved;

JTD Keywords: actuators, design, fabrication, mechanics, mems, myotubes, platform, tissue, 3d printers, Agricultural robots, Biological components, Biomimetic processes, Electrical actuation, Geometrical stiffness, Intelligent robots, Liquefied gases, Liquid-air interface, Mechanical integrity, Mechanical stimulation, Muscle, Muscle contractions, Phase interfaces, Robotics, Serpentine, Springs (components), Threedimensional (3-d)

© 2020 The Author(s) The use of oxidative stress generated by Cold Atmospheric Plasma (CAP) in oncology is being recently studied as a novel potential anti-cancer therapy. However, the beneficial effects of CAP for treating osteosarcoma have mostly been demonstrated in 2-dimensional cultures of cells, which do not mimic the complexity of the 3-dimensional (3D) bone microenvironment. In order to evaluate the effects of CAP in a relevant context of the human disease, we developed a 3D tissue-engineered model of osteosarcoma using a bone-like scaffold made of collagen type I and hydroxyapatite nanoparticles. Human osteosarcoma cells cultured within the scaffold showed a high capacity to infiltrate and proliferate and to exhibit osteomimicry in vitro. As expected, we observed significantly different functional behaviors between monolayer and 3D cultures when treated with Cold Plasma-Activated Ringer's Solution (PAR). Our data reveal that the 3D environment not only protects cells from PAR-induced lethality by scavenging and diminishing the amount of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species generated by CAP, but also favours the stemness phenotype of osteosarcoma cells. This is the first study that demonstrates the negative effect of PAR on cancer stem-like cell subpopulations in a 3D biomimetic model of cancer. These findings will allow to suitably re-focus research on plasma-based therapies in future.

JTD Keywords: 3d tumor model, cancer stem-like cells, cold atmospheric plasma, osteosarcoma, oxidative stress, plasma activated liquids, reactive oxygen and nitrogen species, 3d tumor model, Bone neoplasms, Cancer stem-like cells, Cell line, tumor, Cold atmospheric plasma, Humans, Neoplastic stem cells, Osteosarcoma, Oxidative stress, Plasma activated liquids, Plasma gases, Reactive oxygen and nitrogen species, Tumor microenvironment

The use of an autonomous mobile robot to locate gas-leaks and air quality monitoring in indoor environments are promising tasks that will avoid risky human operations. However, these are challenging tasks due to the chaotic gas profile propagation originated by uncontrolled air flows. This paper proposes the localization of an acetone gas-leak in a 44 m-length indoor corridor with a mobile robot equipped with a PID sensor. This paper assesses the influence of the mobile robot velocity and the relative height of the PID sensor in the profile of the measurements. The results show weak influence of the robot velocity and strong influence of the relative height of the PID sensor. An estimate of the gas-leak location is also performed by computing the center of mass of the highest gas concentrations.

JTD Keywords: Gas source detection, LIDAR sensor, Mobile robot, PID sensor, SLAM, Acetone, Air quality, Gases, Indoor air pollution, Mobile robots, Robots, Air quality monitoring, Autonomous Mobile Robot, Gas sources, Indoor environment, Leak localization, LIDAR sensors, Profile propagation, SLAM, Ionization of gases