Papers by Mirela Teodorescu
The focus of this paper is to make a comparison between five different types of conductive, heata... more The focus of this paper is to make a comparison between five different types of conductive, heatable samples. These samples have been produced according to the five most important implementation techniques developed so far, which are knitting, weaving, embroidery, printing and nonwoven padding-and their purpose is to help decide which conductive option best accommodates a heating application. This study was divided into four major steps: choosing the adequate materials, swatch production, conductivity measurements and heating behaviour assessment. The first three methods use electro conductive wires as heating elements, the fourth uses conductive ink and the fifth uses carbon black coating. For all of them, resistance, current and heat distribution was measured. The results show that the best options for the development of a wearable textile heating system are the printed and the knitted techniques, as their mechanical strength and elasticity, is sufficiently high and the fabric/substrate structure allows the insertion/deposition of different types of heating elements.
Journal of Applied Mathematics, 2013
A new topic in the analyses of complex systems dynamics, considering that the movements of comple... more A new topic in the analyses of complex systems dynamics, considering that the movements of complex system entities take place on continuum but nondifferentiable curves, is proposed. In this way, some properties of complex systems (barotropic-type behaviour, self-similarity behaviour, chaoticity through turbulence and stochasticization, etc.) are controlled through nondifferentiability of motion curves. These behaviours can simulate the standard properties of the complex systems (emergence, self-organization, adaptability, etc.).
Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering
Over the last year, SARS-CoV-2 caused the infection of more than 80 million people and about 1.8 ... more Over the last year, SARS-CoV-2 caused the infection of more than 80 million people and about 1.8 million deaths. Since the emergence of the first cases in China, this virus has been the focal point of the scientific community and represented the main subject of a large number of research publications. It has been observed that the symptomatology is broad, varying from asymptomatic/mild manifestations to more severe stages of illness, in some cases leading to multi-organ failure and death. Although WHO announced PHEIC since January 30, and invited the researchers to quickly find solutions for diagnosis, monitoring, and treatment, there are currently no COVID-19 specific therapeutic drugs or vaccines clinically approved. This led to losses on multiple levels, such as: high number of deaths, health/financial crisis, job loss, school closures, etc. For these reasons, there is an urgent need to properly understand all aspects regarding this virus in order to successfully develop strategi...
Journal of Polymer Research
Tremendous efforts are being made around the world to develop efficient ways to prevent/treat the... more Tremendous efforts are being made around the world to develop efficient ways to prevent/treat the novel β-coronavirus disease (COVID-19) caused by SARS-CoV-2. There are currently many studies and clinical trials (either based on computational predictions or clinical experiences), in progress, focusing on finding relevant protein targets and medications anti-COVID-19. In the present study, we report a hydrogel drug delivery system based on Laponite® RD (Lap) entrapped in a poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) matrix obtained by freezing/thawing method. The PVA/Lap hydrogels were characterized in terms of their morphological, rheological, and swelling properties. Moreover, in vitro drug delivery investigations were performed with a promising drug, Rifampicin (Rif). Rif is an antitubercular drug and was selected for this study in order to demonstrate its efficacy as an anti-COVID-19 repurposed drug. In vitro studies were supplemented by in silico molecular docking simulations of Rif capacity of inhibition against SARS-CoV-2 target protein 3-chymotrypsin-like protease (3CL pro). The results obtained in this study are encouraging and we propose the Rif loaded PVA/Lap hydrogels as promising drug delivery systems for COVID-19 treatment, promoting a synergistic therapeutic effect by dual targeting of viral 3CL pro and S proteins.
Aqueous solutions of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)/poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP) mixtures containing u... more Aqueous solutions of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)/poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP) mixtures containing up to 10% PVP were submitted to repeated freezing/thawing cycles in order to prepare physical hydrogels for potential biomedical applications. Porous structure of the PVA/PVP lyophilized samples and their morphology in cross-section and surface were evaluated by scanning electron microscopy and discussed as a function of PVP content. The interactions between polymer chains and the crystallinity of PVA/PVP lyophilized samples were investigated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and wide-angle X-ray diffraction technique, respectively. The addition of PVP determines the decrease of PVA/PVP samples crystallinity. Swelling behavior of the obtained hydrogels was discussed in accordance with their density and porosity. In addition, the effect of the cryogenic treatment and the PVP concentration on the polymer mass loss after the swelling test was investigated. The rheological investigat...
Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects
Journal of Polymer Research, 2016
Journal of Textiles, 2014
Biomimetics is a new research field that deals with extraction and imitation of functional princi... more Biomimetics is a new research field that deals with extraction and imitation of functional principles of nature and applying them in engineering. Due to the perfection of structures and mechanisms found in the natural world, scientists came to the conclusion that these may constitute reliable sources of inspiration and viable solutions for technological problems they face today. Industrial applications have rapidly developed. Trying to synthesize all information about this extremely large field, with branches in biology, physics, chemistry, and engineering, soon I realised that an exhaustive study is merely a utopia. Despite all that, the beauty and perfection of “inspiration sources” which led to the fabrication of many biomimetic prototypes encouraged me to approach with thrill and enthusiasm this fascinating domain, not in general, but in a more specific field, the textile field. After a brief introduction to Biomimetics and a historical review of it, there are presented some of ...
Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and poly(N-vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP) are two polymers possessing non-carc... more Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and poly(N-vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP) are two polymers possessing non-carcinogenic, non-toxic, excellent transparency, film-forming capacity, biocompatible and bioadhesive characteristics. Rheological behaviour of PVA and PVP aqueous solutions was investigated at 37 ºC as a function of PVA/PVP mixture composition. At high PVA content, the evolution of the viscoelastic parameters is influenced by solution composition. By increasing PVA content, the viscoelastic parameters evolve in time. The viscoelastic moduli reach a constant value after a period of time which is dependent on PVA content and for these systems G’ becomes higher than G’’. Physical hydrogels were prepared by freezing-thawing method and their properties were followed as a function of polymer composition, the number of freezing-thawing cycles, and aging time at 37 ºC. Study of this kind of hydrogels is of great importance due to their ease of preparation and interesting properties which make them ...
Metalurgia international
Thin films of polyamide 6 are deposited by spin-coating method with different solution concentrat... more Thin films of polyamide 6 are deposited by spin-coating method with different solution concentrations and at different rotation speeds. Films are then studied using scanning electron microscopy and spectrophotometer analysis in order to highlight the influence of varying working parameters in morphology and colours reflected by thin films.
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Papers by Mirela Teodorescu