Particle separation in microfluidics using different modal ultrasonic standing waves

Microfluidic technology has great advantages in the precise manipulation of micro and nano particles, and the separation of micro and nano particles based on ultrasonic standing waves has attracted much attention for its high efficiency and simplicity of structure. This paper proposes a device that uses three modes of ultrasonic standing waves to continuously separate particles with positive acoustic contrast factor in microfluidics. Three modes of acoustic standing waves are used simultaneously in different parts of the microchannel. According to the different acoustic radiation force received by the particles, the particles are finally separated to the pressure node lines on both sides and the center of the microchannel. In this separation method, initial hydrodynamic focusing and satisfying various equilibrium constraints during the separation process are the key. Through numerical simulation, the resonance frequency of the interdigital transducer, the distribution of sound pressure in the liquid, and the relationship between the interdigital electrode voltage and the output sound pressure are obtained. Finally, the entire separation process in the microchannel was simulated, and the separation of the two particles was successfully achieved. This work has laid a certain theoretical foundation for the rapid diagnosis of diseases in practical applications.     

Control of the dynamics of a boiling vapour bubble using pressure-modulated high intensity focused ultrasound without the shock scattering effect: A first proof-of-concept study

Boiling histotripsy is a promising High-Intensity Focused Ultrasound (HIFU) technique that can be used to induce mechanical tissue fractionation at the HIFU focus via cavitation. Two different types of cavitation produced during boiling histotripsy exposure can contribute towards mechanical tissue destruction: (1) a boiling vapour bubble at the HIFU focus and (2) cavitation clouds in between the boiling bubble and the HIFU source. Control of the extent and degree of mechanical damage produced by boiling histotripsy is necessary when treating a solid tumour adjacent to normal tissue or major blood vessels. This is, however, difficult to achieve with boiling histotripsy due to the stochastic formation of the shock scattering-induced inertial cavitation clouds. In the present study, a new histotripsy method termed pressure-modulated shockwave histotripsy is proposed as an alternative to or in addition to boiling histotripsy without inducing the shock scattering effect. The proposed concept is (a) to generate a boiling vapour bubble via localised shockwave heating and (b) subsequently control its extent and lifetime through manipulating peak pressure magnitudes and a HIFU pulse length. To demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed method, bubble dynamics induced at the HIFU focus in an optically transparent liver tissue phantom were investigated using a high speed camera and a passive cavitation detection systems under a single 10, 50 or 100 ms-long 2, 3.5 or 5 MHz pressure-modulated HIFU pulse with varying peak positive and negative pressure amplitudes from 5 to 89 MPa and −3.7 to −14.6 MPa at the focus. Furthermore, a numerical simulation of 2D nonlinear wave propagation with the presence of a boiling bubble at the focus of a HIFU field was conducted by numerically solving the generalised Westervelt equation. The high speed camera experimental results showed that, with the proposed pressure-modulated shockwave histotripsy, boiling bubbles generated by shockwave heating merged together, forming a larger bubble (of the order of a few hundred micron) at the HIFU focus. This coalesced boiling bubble then persisted and maintained within the HIFU focal zone until the end of the exposure (10, 50, or 100 ms). Furthermore, and most importantly, no violent cavitation clouds which typically appear in boiling histotripsy occurred during the proposed histotripsy excitation (i.e. no shock scattering effect). This was likely because that the peak negative pressure magnitude of the backscattered acoustic field by the boiling bubble was below the cavitation cloud intrinsic threshold. The size of the coalesced boiling bubble gradually increased with the peak pressure magnitudes. In addition, with the proposed method, an oval shaped lesion with a length of 0.6 mm and a width of 0.1 mm appeared at the HIFU focus in the tissue phantom, whereas a larger lesion in the form of a tadpole (length: 2.7 mm, width: 0.3 mm) was produced by boiling histotripsy. Taken together, these results suggest that the proposed pressure-modulated shockwave histotripsy could potentially be used to induce a more spatially localised tissue destruction with a desired degree of mechanical damage through controlling the size and lifetime of a boiling bubble without the shock scattering effect.     

Setup of a dipole trap for all-optical trapping

Micromotion induced by the radio-frequency field contributes greatly to the systematic frequency shifts of optical frequency standards. Although different strategies for mitigating this effect have been proposed, trapping ions optically has the potential to provide a generic solution to the elimination of micromotion. This could be achieved by trapping a single ion in the dipole trap composed of a highpower laser field. Here, we present the setup of the dipole trap composed of a 532 nm laser at a power of 10 W aiming to optically trap a single ~(40)Ca~+ and we observe an AC-Stark shift of the fluorescence spectrum line of ～22 MHz caused by the 532 nm dipole beam. The beam waist of the dipole laser is several microns, which would provide a dipole potential strong enough for all-optical trapping of a single ~(40)Ca~+ ion.     

Novel Synthesis of N‐Methyl Spiropyrrolidines by 1,3‐Dipolar Cycloaddition Reaction of Azomethine Ylides

A series of novel N‐methyl spiropyrrolidines have been synthesized in good yield by the cycloaddition reaction of azomethine ylides generated by a decarboxylative route from sarcosine and paraformaldehyde with conformationally locked s‐trans enone functionality present in the (E)‐3‐arylidene‐4‐chromanone as dipolarophiles. The structure of the title compound was established by spectroscopic techniques.     

Stark Hole-Burning Spectroscopy of Cresylviolet Perchlorate in Amorphous Hosts

Stark hole-burning spectroscopy is used to investigate the effective dipole moment change of cresylviolet perchlorate (CVP) in various glass and polymer hosts such as ethanol:methanol (EM), polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), poly (2-hydroxyethyl) methacrylate (PHEMA), polyvinylbutyral (PVB), and formamide. The strong correlation between effective dipole moment change of the guest molecule and the holeburning efficiencies of the host matrices illustrates the sensitivity of the dipole moment change as a direct measure of guest-host interactions. Hole-burning is found to be more efficient as the dipole induced reaction field increases. This relationship is discussed in terms of the unusual hole-burning mechanism suggested for this molecule. The effective dipole moment change of cresylviolet perchlorate ranges from 0.14 to 0.59 Debye.     

Chemical Shift and Its Uses as an Electronic Parameter in Structure-Activity Correlations

Apparent correlations are found between the N-H chemical shifts of congeneric series of compounds and the dipole moments of the molecules, such as lactams and thiolactams, cyclic ureas and thioureas. When there is a high degree of correlation, either the N-H chemical shift or the dipole moment of the molecule can be used as an electronic parameter in correlating the biological activity with the chemical structure. In a series of substituted salicylaldehydes the Hammett σ constant gives better correlation with the biological activity than the O-H chemical shift. This is probably due to the anisotropic effect of the substituent besides the electronic effect. Other factors affecting the N-H chemical shift, e.g. intramolecular hydrogen-bonding of nitrosoureas and the deshielding effect of a benzene ring, in o-phenyleneureas are also presented. In spite of the limitations, the chemical shifts of many compounds can be obtained very easily, therefore, their uses in structure-activity correlations deserve further investigation.     

Plasmonic protection of the hot‐electron energy

In the Letter by K. Kempa, the definitions of two auxiliary constants in Eqs. (10) and (11) were incorrectly given by the author. He now wishes to correct these equations. (© 2013 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)