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The Emergence of Order in Space
Published in Pier Luigi Gentili, Untangling Complex Systems, 2018
The mechanochemical patterning is responsible for cell polarity (Goehring and Grill 2013). Cell polarity is the asymmetric organization of a cell. Cell polarity is crucial for certain cellular functions, such as cell migration, directional cell growth, and asymmetric cell division. It is also relevant in the formation of tissues. For example, epithelial cells are examples of polarized cells that feature distinct apical and basal plasma membrane domains (see Figure 9.14). The apical-basal polarity drives the opposing surfaces of the cell to acquire distinct functions and chemical components. There is also planar cell polarity that aligns cells and cellular structures such as hairs and bristles within the epithelial plane. Cell polarity is so fundamental that it is ubiquitous among living beings: it is present not only in animals and plants, but also in fungi, prokaryotes, protozoa, and even archaebacteria.
Making electric vehicle batteries safer through better inspection using artificial intelligence and cobots
Published in International Journal of Production Research, 2023
In this study, we address this need by using the digital twin method to design, simulate, and validate an automated robotic inspection system to detect defects in EVBMs. Our proposed inspection system uses machine vision for automated detection of EVBM defects. The system was simulated to detect some of the most common EVBM defects, such as missing cells, missing or defective cell connections, missing terminals, correct cell polarity, and total cell count. AI error proofing techniques were used, which accurately detected defects in a fraction of the time required by human operators. In sum, our analysis found that the inspection of EVBMs is highly amenable to automation, with the exception of manual inspection steps for some types of defects. Specifically, checks such as snugness of fit of wires that require the dexterity, versatility, and sensitivity of the human hand, as well as coordination of multiple senses, remain difficult to automate. We have solved for this problem in our proposed system by using a cobot instead of a robot, allowing concurrent inspection of difficult to automate checks by a human operator.
Construction of polysaccharide scaffold-based perfusion bioreactor supporting liver cell aggregates for drug screening
Published in Journal of Biomaterials Science, Polymer Edition, 2022
Lei Cao, Huicun Zhao, Mengyuan Qian, Chuxiao Shao, Yan Zhang, Jun Yang
Establishment and maintenance of cell polarity is essential for drug metabolism of liver cells [62]. The liver cells in 2 D static, collagen-sandwich, 3 D static, and 3 D dynamic groups were cultured for 5 days, then the mRNA expressions of hepatobiliary transporters (sinusoidal transporters: Oatp2, Ntcp, Mrp3, and canalicular transporters: Bsep, Mrp2) were evaluated by real-time PCR. As shown in Figure 5A, the expression levels of the hepatobiliary transporters in the 3 D static group were up-regulated compared with that in the collagen-sandwich group. Meanwhile, the hepatocytes had the strongest ability to express these transporters in the 3 D dynamic group. The restoration and maintenance of hepatocyte polarity are important not only for endogenous substances uptake and excretion but also for the protection of hepatocytes from toxic metabolites or xenobiotics [63]. It was reported that OATP2 and MRP2 were involved in xenobiotic clearance, which was a necessary step before phase I metabolism [53], and some drugs (such as rosuvastatin and ranolazine) were transported by NTCP and Bsep [64, 65]. These elevated transporters could greatly enhance the ability of hepatocytes to pump out toxins and reduce the intracellular toxin level jeopardizing the metabolic enzymes, which would benefit the survival of hepatocytes cultured in vitro.
Magnetic stimulation of the angiogenic potential of mesenchymal stromal cells in vascular tissue engineering
Published in Science and Technology of Advanced Materials, 2021
Ana C. Manjua, Joaquim M. S. Cabral, Carla A. M. Portugal, Frederico Castelo Ferreira
The effect of magnetic field on MSCs migration was observed in the scratch assay, leading to a faster repair of wounds created within the monolayer. Partially, this effect can be explained by the trophic and immunomodulatory properties of MSCs, which play an important role in tissue regeneration [52]. These properties identify MSCs as sensors of the inflammatory microenvironment through cell-to-cell contact and regulatory molecule secretion, including growth factors, chemokines, cytokines and extracellular vesicles [53]. Still, we observed a significantly faster response to wound healing when using magnetic stimulation. In adipose-derived stem cells, the magnetic effect also results in restoring cell polarity, interfering with different types of mechanoreceptors such as integrins. The overexpression of such molecules has been shown to mediate shear-stress and induce cell migration [50,54,55]. It was also reported that static magnetic fields enhanced the secretion of anti-inflammatory cytokines (IL-10), while controlling the secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-6, IL-8 or TNF-alpha) to exert its anti-inflammatory properties [56].