Pillar (Ukraine)

The article highlights a theoretical study based on educational experience and modern challenges of teaching natural sciences in the context of secondary education reform. Natural sciences play a major role in shaping students’ worldviews and their understanding of the modern scientific picture of the world. Modern education in Ukraine is in a difficult period of transformation, which requires the development of innovative teaching methods and techniques. Traditional approaches to lesson construction, which still prevail in the training of future teachers of natural sciences, do not always provide a sufficient level of subject competence for both future teachers and students. Analyzing the literature and surveying teachers, we see the need to introduce a specialized information educational environment—an educational mobile application. The results of observations and analysis of the literature showed that the effectiveness of using a mobile application contributes to better and more effective achievement of educational goals and ensures better integration of information and communication technologies into the educational process. This use of modern technologies can create conditions for a harmonious combination of traditional teaching methods with modern digital educational resources.

Abstract Landslides are an example of an unpredictable geologic hazard with the potential for catastrophic consequence to buried pipelines. Once identified, landslide instrumentation and associated monitoring programs are typically developed and implemented to better manage landslide-related threats for infrastructure including buried pipelines. Often this has included the use of inclinometer casing installed into boreholes advanced using a drill rig. This paper will present the results of prototype testing of an instrument, called Slip Stick, intended to provide inclinometer grade deformation information and can be installed using simple handheld methods without the need to mobilize heavy equipment. Traditional inclinometers and similar technologies are the current best practices for in situ monitoring of ground movement. These monitoring techniques inform operators of both the depth of the failure plane and the estimated magnitude of soil movement. This data is used to provide warnings of potential stresses on pipelines as well as information to enable effective landslide mitigation practices. The Slip Stick will enable agile implementation of deterministic in situ monitoring that supports landslide-related risk reduction for buried pipelines. A persistent challenge when installing traditional inclinometers for subsurface ground movement monitoring is being able to rapidly deploy new instrumentation, commonly in hazardous locations and in steep terrain. Often regulatory permitting, landowner agreements, and improved access infrastructure are a prerequisite to mobilization of drill rigs and associated equipment required for installation. Inclinometer monitoring technologies also require specialized casings installed within boreholes. Implementation of these monitoring technologies can be an expensive and time-consuming endeavor. The Slip Stick instrument is installed directly in the overburden and includes a chain of sensors that measure tilt between individual segments. Like inclinometers, data collected by the Slip Stick can be used to better understand if ground movement has engaged a pipeline and provide engineering information for potential mitigation solutions. An overview of the Slip Stick installation processes is highlighted to illustrate the potential cost savings of the Slip Stick casing-less instrumentation as compared to traditional inclinometers. The product was also developed to support both a telemetry system for near-real time remote monitoring, as well as data stored on site with a data logger. Results of ground movement are calculated from measured tilt and presented graphically to develop a profile of the Slip Stick by resolving tilt between individual sensor segments, similar to standard inclinometer profiles. Results from lab-based testing illustrating both the ability to withstand environmental conditions of a casing-less installation as well as a direct comparison of movement profiles are presented. Early stages of field-based testing and the 2024 development plan for preproduction research and development, highly accelerated life testing, and extensive field pilot installations are outlined in this paper.

Submicron-precision particle characterization is crucial for counting, sizing and identifying a variety of biological particles, such as bacteria and apoptotic bodies. Microfluidic impedance cytometry has been attractive in current research for microparticle characterization due to its advantages of label-free detection, ease of miniaturization and affordability. However, conventional electrode configurations of three electrodes and floating electrodes have not yet demonstrated the capability of probing submicron particles or microparticles with a submicron size difference. In this study, we present a label-free high-throughput (∼800 particles per second) impedance-based microfluidic flow cytometry system integrated with a novel design of a double differential electrode configuration, enabling submicron particle detection (down to 0.4 μm) with a minimum size resolution of 200 nm. The signal-to-noise ratio has been boosted from 13.98 dB to 32.64 dB compared to a typical three-electrode configuration. With the proposed microfluidic impedance cytometry, we have shown results of sizing microparticles that accurately correlate with manufacturers' datasheets (R2 = 0.99938). It also shows that population ratios of differently sized beads in mixture samples are consistent with the results given by commercial fluorescence-based flow cytometry (within ∼1% difference). This work provides a label-free approach with submicron precision for sizing and counting microscale and submicron particles, and a new avenue of designing electrode configurations with a feature of suppressing the electrical noise for accomplishing a high signal-to-noise ratio in a wide range of frequencies. This novel double differential impedance sensing system paves a new pathway for real-time analysis and accurate particle screening in pathological and pharmacological research.

Gel electrolytes are promising candidates for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) and other devices, but the ways to obtain stable gels always result in sacrifice of their ionic conductivity. This contradiction seriously limits the practical application of gel electrolytes. Herein, a new design strategy using rich carboxylic group-modified silica nanoparticles (COOH-SiO2) with a branched, well-organized framework to develop ionic liquid-based gel electrolytes possessing high conductivity is demonstrated. The branched network of COOH-SiO2 and the strong interaction in electrolytes result in the effective solidification of ionic liquids. Moreover, adding COOH-SiO2 to ionic liquid electrolytes contributes to salt dissociation, decreases the activation energy, and improves the charge transport and recombination characteristics at the electrolyte/electrode interface. DSSCs fabricated with COOH-SiO2 nanoparticles deliver a higher short-circuit photocurrent density (Jsc) than the reference cell. A maximum efficiency of 8.02% with the highest Jsc value of 16.60 mA cm-2 is obtained for solar cells containing 6 wt% COOH-SiO2.

In this paper, an undulating soft fin is proposed for surge motions of an underwater robot inspired from the knife fish. The design, fabrication, and the control approach of the underwater robot are presented. The body length of the robot is 16 cm, and the fin length is 10 cm. A flapper mechanism which connects the servo motor and the soft fin excites oscillatory motions at the leading edge of the soft fin. The width of the fin along with the frequency and amplitude of the oscillatory flapping motion were varied to study their effects on free-swimming speed. As the width of the soft fin increases, the swimming speed increases. There exists an optimal frequency where a maximum speed is found. A maximum swimming speed of 0.625 BL/s (body lengths per second) is achieved for the considered range of parameters.

The current COVID-19 pandemic is causing diagnostic and risk stratification difficulties in Emergency Departments (ED) worldwide. Molecular tests are not sufficiently sensitive, and results are usually not available in time for decision making in the ED. Chest x-ray (CXR) is a poor diagnostic test for COVID-19, and computed tomography (CT), while sensitive, is impractical as a diagnostic test for all patients. Lung ultrasound (LUS) has an established role in the evaluation of acute respiratory failure and has been used during the COVID-19 outbreak as a decision support tool. LUS shows characteristic changes in viral pneumonitis, and while these changes are not specific for COVID-19, it may be a useful adjunct during the diagnostic process. It is quick to perform and repeat and may be done at the bedside. The authors believe that LUS can help to mitigate uncertainty in undifferentiated patients with respiratory symptoms. This review aims to provide guidance regarding indications for LUS, describe the typical sonographic abnormalities seen in patients with COVID-19 and provide recommendations around the logistics of performing LUS on patients with COVID-19 and managing the infection control risk of the procedure. The risk of anchoring bias during a pandemic and the need to consider alternative pathologies are emphasised throughout this review. LUS may be a useful point-of-care test for emergency care providers during the current COVID-19 pandemic if used within a strict framework that governs education, quality assurance and proctored scanning protocols.

Precisely controllable transport and rotation of microparticles and cells has great potential to enable new capabilities for single-cell level analysis. In this work, we present versatile ultrasonic microstreaming based manipulation that enables active and precise control of transport and rotation of individual microscale particles and biological cells in a microfluidic device. Two different types of ultrasonic microstreaming flow patterns can be produced by oscillating embedded microstructures in circular and rectilinear vibration modes, which have been validated by both numerical simulation and experimental observation. We have further showcased the ability to transport individual microparticles along the outlines of complex alphabet letters, demonstrating the versatility and simplicity of single-particle level manipulation with bulk vibration.

Self-assembly of droplets guided by microfluidic channels have potential applications ranging from high throughput assays to materials synthesis, but such demonstrations have been limited primarily to two-dimensional (2D) assembly of droplets in planar microfluidic devices. We demonstrated the use of three-dimensional (3D) microchannels to self-assemble droplets into ordered 2D and 3D arrays by designing microchannels with axial gradients in height and controlling the volume fraction of the droplets in the channel. In contrast to previous demonstrations, ordered 2D arrays of droplets were assembled at low volume fractions of the dispersed phase. Interestingly, we found that the self-assembly of droplets in microchannels was highly path dependent. The assembly of droplets was governed by transitions in the cross-sectional shapes of the microchannel, not the final geometry of the chamber for the assembly of droplet, which is a hitherto rarely explored phenomenon. The assembled droplets were used as templates for the fabrication of millimeter scale, anisotropic hydrogel fibers with ordered pore sizes (∼250 μm). These demonstrations suggested that 3D microchannels would be a viable platform for the manipulation of droplets, and applicable for the continuous synthesis of complex materials with 3D morphologies.

A MOF-derived Fe3O4/carbon/graphene ordered aerogel is synthesised as a Li–S battery electrode for ultrahigh rate performance with high sulfur loading.

Multi-organ perfusion systems offer the unique opportunity to mimic different physiological systemic interactions. However, existing multi-organ culture platforms have limited flexibility in specifying the culture conditions, device architectures, and fluidic connectivity simultaneously. Here, we report a modular microfluidic platform that addresses this limitation by enabling easy conversion of existing microfluidic devices into tissue and fluid control modules with self-aligning magnetic interconnects. This enables a 'stick-n-play' approach to assemble planar perfusion circuits that are amenable to both bioimaging-based and analytical measurements. A myriad of tissue culture and flow control TILE modules were successfully constructed with backward compatibility. Finally, we demonstrate applications in constructing recirculating multi-organ systems to emulate liver-mediated bioactivation of nutraceuticals and prodrugs to modulate their therapeutic efficacies in the context of atherosclerosis and cancer. This platform greatly facilitates the integration of existing organs-on-chip models to provide an intuitive and flexible way for users to configure different multi-organ perfusion systems.