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Now showing 1 - 10 of 57
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    Author Correction: A combination of electrochemistry and mass spectrometry to monitor the interaction of reactive species with supported lipid bilayers (Scientific Reports, (2020), 10, 1, (18683), 10.1038/s41598-020-75514-7)
    (London : Nature Publishing Group, 2021) Ravandeh, M.; Kahlert, H.; Jablonowski, H.; Lackmann, J.-W.; Striesow, J.; Agmo Hernández, V.; Wende, K.
    Correction to: Scientific Reports https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-75514-7, published online 29 October 2020
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    Mixed Ionic-Electronic Conductivity, Redox Behavior and Thermochemical Expansion of Mn-Substituted 5YSZ as an Interlayer Material for Reversible Solid Oxide Cells
    (Basel : MDPI, 2021) Natoli, Alejandro; Arias-Serrano, Blanca I.; Rodríguez-Castellón, Enrique; Żurawska, Agnieszka; Frade, Jorge R.; Yaremchenko, Aleksey. A.
    Manganese-substituted 5 mol.% yttria-stabilized zirconia (5YSZ) was explored as a prospective material for protective interlayers between electrolyte and oxygen electrodes in reversible solid oxide fuel/electrolysis cells. [(ZrO2)0.95(Y2O3)0.05]1−x[MnOy]x (x = 0.05, 0.10 and 0.15) ceramics with cubic fluorite structure were sintered in air at 1600 °C. The characterization included X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM)/energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), thermogravimetry and dilatometry in controlled atmospheres, electrical conductivity measurements, and determination of oxygen-ion transference numbers by the electromotive force (EMF) technique. Mn-substituted 5YSZ solid solutions exhibit variable oxygen nonstoichiometry with manganese cations in a mixed 2+/3+ oxidation state under oxidizing conditions. Substitution by manganese gradually increases the extent of oxygen content variation on thermal/redox cycling, chemical contribution to thermal expansion and dimensional changes on reduction. It also deteriorates oxygen-ionic conductivity and improves p-type electronic conductivity under oxidizing conditions, leading to a gradual transformation from predominantly ionic to prevailing electronic transport with increasing x. Mn2+/3+→Mn2+ transformation under reducing atmospheres is accompanied by the suppression of electronic transport and an increase in ionic conductivity. All Mn-substituted 5YSZ ceramics are solid electrolytes under reducing conditions. Prolonged treatments in reducing atmospheres, however, promote microstructural changes at the surface of bulk ceramics and Mn exsolution. Mn-substituted 5YSZ with 0.05 ≤ x < 0.10 is considered the most suitable for the interlayer application, due to the best combination of relevant factors, including oxygen content variations, levels of ionic/electronic conductivity and thermochemical expansion.
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    Quantification of the ozone and singlet delta oxygen produced in gas and liquid phases by a non-thermal atmospheric plasma with relevance for medical treatment
    ([London] : Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature, 2018-8-15) Jablonowski, Helena; Santos Sousa, Joao; Weltmann, Klaus-Dieter; Wende, Kristian; Reuter, Stephan
    In the field of plasma medicine, the identification of relevant reactive species in the liquid phase is highly important. To design the plasma generated species composition for a targeted therapeutic application, the point of origin of those species needs to be known. The dominant reactive oxygen species generated by the plasma used in this study are atomic oxygen, ozone, and singlet delta oxygen. The species density changes with the distance to the active plasma zone, and, hence, the oxidizing potential of this species cocktail can be tuned by altering the treatment distance. In both phases (gas and liquid), independent techniques have been used to determine the species concentration as a function of the distance. The surrounding gas composition and ambient conditions were controlled between pure nitrogen and air-like by using a curtain gas device. In the gas phase, in contrast to the ozone density, the singlet delta oxygen density showed to be more sensitive to the distance. Additionally, by changing the surrounding gas, admixing or not molecular oxygen, the dynamics of ozone and singlet delta oxygen behave differently. Through an analysis of the reactive species development for the varied experimental parameters, the importance of several reaction pathways for the proceeding reactions was evaluated and some were eventually excluded.
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    Internal Crack Initiation and Growth Starting from Artificially Generated Defects in Additively Manufactured Ti6Al4V Specimen in the VHCF Regime
    (Basel : MDPI, 2021) Wickmann, Carsten; Benz, Christopher; Heyer, Horst; Witte-Bodnar, Kerstin; Schäfer, Jan; Sander, Manuela
    The aim of the present work was to investigate the ‘fine granular area’ (FGA) formation based on artificially generated internal defects in additively manufactured Ti6Al4V specimens in the early stage of fatigue crack growth in the ‘very high cycle fatigue’ (VHCF) regime. Fatigue tests were performed with constant amplitude at pure tension-compression loading (R = −1) using an ultrasonic fatigue testing setup. Failed specimens were investigated using optical microscopy, high-resolution ‘scanning electron microscopy’ (SEM), and ‘focused ion beam’ (FIB) techniques. Further, the paper introduces alternative proposals to identify the FGA layer beneath the fracture surfaces in terms of the ‘cross section polishing’ (CSP) technique and metallic grindings with special attention paid to the crack origin, the surrounding microstructure, and the expansion of the nanograin layer beneath the fracture surface. Different existing fracture mechanical approaches were applied to evaluate if an FGA formation is possible. Moreover, the results were discussed in comparison to the experimental findings.
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    Tumor cytotoxicity and immunogenicity of a novel V-jet neon plasma source compared to the kINPen
    (London : Nature Publishing Group, 2021) Miebach, Lea; Freund, Eric; Horn, Stefan; Niessner, Felix; Sagwal, Sanjeev Kumar; von Woedtke, Thomas; Emmert, Steffen; Weltmann, Klaus-Dieter; Clemen, Ramona; Schmidt, Anke; Gerling, Torsten; Bekeschus, Sander
    Recent research indicated the potential of cold physical plasma in cancer therapy. The plethora of plasma-derived reactive oxygen and nitrogen species (ROS/RNS) mediate diverse antitumor effects after eliciting oxidative stress in cancer cells. We aimed at exploiting this principle using a newly designed dual-jet neon plasma source (Vjet) to treat colorectal cancer cells. A treatment time-dependent ROS/RNS generation induced oxidation, growth retardation, and cell death within 3D tumor spheroids were found. In TUM-CAM, a semi in vivo model, the Vjet markedly reduced vascularized tumors' growth, but an increase of tumor cell immunogenicity or uptake by dendritic cells was not observed. By comparison, the argon-driven single jet kINPen, known to mediate anticancer effects in vitro, in vivo, and in patients, generated less ROS/RNS and terminal cell death in spheroids. In the TUM-CAM model, however, the kINPen was equivalently effective and induced a stronger expression of immunogenic cancer cell death (ICD) markers, leading to increased phagocytosis of kINPen but not Vjet plasma-treated tumor cells by dendritic cells. Moreover, the Vjet was characterized according to the requirements of the DIN-SPEC 91315. Our results highlight the plasma device-specific action on cancer cells for evaluating optimal discharges for plasma cancer treatment.
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    Radiobiological effects of wound fluid on breast cancer cell lines and human-derived tumor spheroids in 2D and microfluidic culture
    ([London] : Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature, 2022) Jeibouei, Shabnam; Hojat, Ali; Mostafavi, Ebrahim; Aref, Amir Reza; Kalbasi, Alireza; Niazi, Vahid; Ajoudanian, Mohammad; Mohammadi, Farzaneh; Saadati, Fariba; Javadi, Seyed Mohammadreza; Shams, Forough; Moghaddam, Maryam; Karami, Farshid; Sharifi, Kazem; Moradian, Farid; Akbari, Mohammad Esmaeil; Zali, Hakimeh
    Intraoperative radiotherapy (IORT) could abrogate cancer recurrences, but the underlying mechanisms are unclear. To clarify the effects of IORT-induced wound fluid on tumor progression, we treated breast cancer cell lines and human-derived tumor spheroids in 2D and microfluidic cell culture systems, respectively. The viability, migration, and invasion of the cells under treatment of IORT-induced wound fluid (WF-RT) and the cells under surgery-induced wound fluid (WF) were compared. Our findings showed that cell viability was increased in spheroids under both WF treatments, whereas viability of the cell lines depended on the type of cells and incubation times. Both WFs significantly increased sub-G1 and arrested the cells in G0/G1 phases associated with increased P16 and P21 expression levels. The expression level of Caspase 3 in both cell culture systems and for both WF-treated groups was significantly increased. Furthermore, our results revealed that although the migration was increased in both systems of WF-treated cells compared to cell culture media-treated cells, E-cadherin expression was significantly increased only in the WF-RT group. In conclusion, WF-RT could not effectively inhibit tumor progression in an ex vivo tumor-on-chip model. Moreover, our data suggest that a microfluidic system could be a suitable 3D system to mimic in vivo tumor conditions than 2D cell culture.
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    Physical plasma-treated saline promotes an immunogenic phenotype in CT26 colon cancer cells in vitro and in vivo
    ([London] : Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature, 2019) Freund, Eric; Liedtke, Kim Rouven; van der Linde, Julia; Metelmann, Hans-Robert; Heidecke, Claus-Dieter; Partecke, Lars-Ivo; Bekeschus, Sander
    Metastatic colorectal cancer is the fourth most common cause of cancer death. Current options in palliation such as hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC) present severe side effects. Recent research efforts suggested the therapeutic use of oxidant-enriched liquid using cold physical plasma. To investigate a clinically accepted treatment regimen, we assessed the antitumor capacity of plasma-treated saline solution. In response to such liquid, CT26 murine colon cancer cells were readily oxidized and showed cell growth with subsequent apoptosis, cell cycle arrest, and upregulation of immunogenic cell death (ICD) markers in vitro. This was accompanied by marked morphological changes with re-arrangement of actin fibers and reduced motility. Induction of an epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition phenotype was not observed. Key results were confirmed in MC38 colon and PDA6606 pancreatic cancer cells. Compared to plasma-treated saline, hydrogen peroxide was inferiorly toxic in 3D tumor spheroids but of similar efficacy in 2D models. In vivo, plasma-treated saline decreased tumor burden in Balb/C mice. This was concomitant with elevated numbers of intratumoral macrophages and increased T cell activation following incubation with CT26 cells ex vivo. Being a potential adjuvant for HIPEC therapy, our results suggest oxidizing saline solutions to inactivate colon cancer cells while potentially stimulating antitumor immune responses.
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    Chemical fingerprints of cold physical plasmas – an experimental and computational study using cysteine as tracer compound
    ([London] : Macmillan Publishers Limited, part of Springer Nature, 2018-5-16) Lackmann, J.-W.; Wende, K.; Verlackt, C.; Golda, J.; Volzke, J.; Kogelheide, F.; Held, J.; Bekeschus, S.; Bogaerts, A.; Schulz-von der Gathen, V.; Stapelmann, K.
    Reactive oxygen and nitrogen species released by cold physical plasma are being proposed as effectors in various clinical conditions connected to inflammatory processes. As these plasmas can be tailored in a wide range, models to compare and control their biochemical footprint are desired to infer on the molecular mechanisms underlying the observed effects and to enable the discrimination between different plasma sources. Here, an improved model to trace short-lived reactive species is presented. Using FTIR, high-resolution mass spectrometry, and molecular dynamics computational simulation, covalent modifications of cysteine treated with different plasmas were deciphered and the respective product pattern used to generate a fingerprint of each plasma source. Such, our experimental model allows a fast and reliable grading of the chemical potential of plasmas used for medical purposes. Major reaction products were identified to be cysteine sulfonic acid, cystine, and cysteine fragments. Less-abundant products, such as oxidized cystine derivatives or S-nitrosylated cysteines, were unique to different plasma sources or operating conditions. The data collected point at hydroxyl radicals, atomic O, and singlet oxygen as major contributing species that enable an impact on cellular thiol groups when applying cold plasma in vitro or in vivo.
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    Non-thermal plasma-treated solution demonstrates antitumor activity against pancreatic cancer cells in vitro and in vivo
    ([London] : Macmillan Publishers Limited, 2017) Liedtke, Kim Rouven; Bekeschus, Sander; Kaeding, André; Hackbarth, Christine; Kuehn, Jens-Peter; Heidecke, Claus-Dieter; von Bernstorff, Wolfram; von Woedtke, Thomas; Partecke, Lars Ivo
    Pancreatic cancer is associated with a high mortality rate. In advanced stage, patients often experience peritoneal carcinomatosis. Using a syngeneic murine pancreatic cancer cell tumor model, the effect of non-thermal plasma (NTP) on peritoneal metastatic lesions was studied. NTP generates reactive species of several kinds which have been proven to be of relevance in cancer. In vitro, exposure to both plasma and plasma-treated solution significantly decreased cell viability and proliferation of 6606PDA cancer cells, whereas mouse fibroblasts were less affected. Repeated intraperitoneal treatment of NTP-conditioned medium decreased tumor growth in vivo as determined by magnetic resonance imaging, leading to reduced tumor mass and improved median survival (61 vs 52 days; p < 0.024). Tumor nodes treated by NTP-conditioned medium demonstrated large areas of apoptosis with strongly inhibited cell proliferation. Contemporaneously, no systemic effects were found. Apoptosis was neither present in the liver nor in the gut. Also, the concentration of different cytokines in splenocytes or blood plasma as well as the distribution of various hematological parameters remained unchanged following treatment with NTP-conditioned medium. These results suggest an anticancer role of NTP-treated solutions with little to no systemic side effects being present, making NTP-treated solutions a potential complementary therapeutic option for advanced tumors.
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    Development of Ni-Sr(V,Ti)O3-δ Fuel Electrodes for Solid Oxide Fuel Cells
    (Basel : MDPI, 2021) Serôdio Costa, Bernardo F.; Arias-Serrano, Blanca I.; Yaremchenko, Aleksey A.
    A series of strontium titanates-vanadates (STVN) with nominal cation composition Sr1-xTi1-y-zVyNizO3-δ (x = 0–0.04, y = 0.20–0.40 and z = 0.02–0.12) were prepared by a solid-state reaction route in 10% H2–N2 atmosphere and characterized under reducing conditions as potential fuel electrode materials for solid oxide fuel cells. Detailed phase evolution studies using XRD and SEM/EDS demonstrated that firing at temperatures as high as 1200◦C is required to eliminate undesirable secondary phases. Under such conditions, nickel tends to segregate as a metallic phase and is unlikely to incorporate into the perovskite lattice. Ceramic samples sintered at 1500◦C ex-hibited temperature-activated electrical conductivity that showed a weak p(O2 ) dependence and increased with vanadium content, reaching a maximum of ~17 S/cm at 1000◦C. STVN ceramics showed moderate thermal expansion coefficients (12.5–14.3 ppm/K at 25–1100◦C) compatible with that of yttria-stabilized zirconia (8YSZ). Porous STVN electrodes on 8YSZ solid electrolytes were fabricated at 1100◦C and studied using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy at 700–900◦C in an atmosphere of diluted humidified H2 under zero DC conditions. As-prepared STVN electrodes demonstrated comparatively poor electrochemical performance, which was attributed to insufficient intrinsic electrocatalytic activity and agglomeration of metallic nickel during the high-temperature synthetic procedure. Incorporation of an oxygen-ion-conducting Ce0.9Gd0.1O2-δ phase (20–30 wt.%) and nano-sized Ni as electrocatalyst (≥1 wt.%) into the porous electrode structure via infiltration re-sulted in a substantial improvement in electrochemical activity and reduction of electrode polarization resistance by 6–8 times at 900◦C and ≥ one order of magnitude at 800◦C.