Optical studies of two dimensional gratings in fused silica, GE 124, and Foturan glasses fabricated using femtosecond laser pulses

Herein we present results on the femtosecond laser direct writing and optical characterization studies of two dimensional gratings in fused silica, GE 124, and Foturan^™ glasses. Varieties of structures were achieved with varying input energy and spatial orientation of the samples. Various characterization techniques including fluorescence spectroscopy, micro-Raman spectroscopy, and laser confocal microscopy were employed to analyze the structural and physical modifications at the focal volume resulting in change of refractive index. Diffraction efficiencies of 9–12% were observed from the grating structures. A broad-band emission was observed in the laser-modified region of the Foturan glass. The obtained results are analyzed in the light of recent work in similar glasses and exploring the applications of such structures in the fields of photonics.     

Nondestructive elemental depth profiling of Japanese lacquerware ‘Tamamushi‐nuri’ by confocal 3D‐XRF analysis in comparison with micro GE‐XRF

We have applied recently two XRF (micro x‐ray fluorescence) methods [micro‐Grazing Exit XRF (GE‐XRF) and confocal 3D‐XRF] to Japanese lacquerware ‘Tamamushi‐nuri.’ A laboratory grazing‐exit XRF (GE‐XRF) instrument was developed in combination with a micro‐XRF setup. A micro x‐ray beam was produced by a single capillary and a pinhole aperture. Elemental x‐ray images (2D images) obtained at different analyzing depths by micro GE‐XRF have been reported. However, it was difficult to directly obtain depth‐selective x‐ray spectra and 2D images. A 3D XRF instrument using two independent polycapillary x‐ray lenses and two x‐ray sources (Cr and Mo targets) was also applied to the same sample. 2D XRF images of a Japanese lacquerware showed specific distributions of elements at the different depths, indicating that ‘Tamamushi‐nuri’ lacquerware has a layered structure. The merits and disadvantages of both the micro GE‐XRF and confocal micro XRF methods are discussed. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

非对称损失函数下Burr Ⅻ型分布可靠性指标的Bayes估计

本文研究了R=P(Y＜X)在两种非对称损失函数下的Bayes估计问题,其中随机变量X和Y相互独立且服从不同的Burr XII型分布.利用Lindley近似方法,获得了Bayes估计的显式近似表达式,通过随机模拟比较了不同损失函数下的Bayes估计的性质.     

Electrospinning of Hyaluronic Acid (HA) and HA/Gelatin Blends

Summary: In the present study, electrospinning of hyaluronic acid (HA) and hyaluronic acid/gelatin (HA‐GE) blends in N,N‐dimethylformamide (DMF)/water‐mixed solvents have been investigated. When the volume ratio of DMF to water was in the range of 1.5–0.5, HA solutions could be electrospun into fibrous membranes successfully. The average diameter of HA fibers was about 200 nm. The HA‐GE composite nanofibrous membranes with varied HA/GE weight ratio in the range of 100/20–100/100 have also been successfully fabricated. The average diameter of HA‐GE fibers was in the range of 190–500 nm. The decrease in surface tension could promote fiber formation. Thus, an introduction of DMF that could decrease the surface tension distinctively, without significant change or increase in viscosity of the solution, could bypass the use of blowing‐assisted electrospinning. Our postulated picture is that the lower surface tension could help the ejection of stream with relatively high viscosity and reduce or prevent the droplet formation during the spinning process.

HA/GE (100/80) nanofibrous membrane produced by electrospinning.     

磁性Fe3O4/石墨烯Photo-Fenton催化剂的制备及其催化活性

采用共沉淀法制备磁性Fe3O4/GE(石墨烯)催化剂,实现Fe3O4纳米颗粒生长和氧化石墨烯还原同步进行,采用FTIR、XRD、TEM及低温氮吸附-脱附等对Fe3O4/GE纳米催化剂的物相、颗粒粒径及比表面积进行了表征。在H2O2存在条件下,以亚甲基蓝为目标降解物,考察了在模拟太阳光下Fe3O4/GE的催化活性,当氧化石墨烯与Fe3O4的质量比为1∶10时,经过2 h催化反应,在pH=6条件下,对亚甲基蓝的降解率达到98.7%,经过10次循环使用后对染料溶液的降解率仍保持在95.7%以上,明显优于纯的Fe3O4。     

基于区间数据最大似然估计的新方法

In this paper, we study the two-parameter maximum likelihood estimation (MLE)problem for the GE distribution with consideration of interval data. In the presence of interval data, the analytical forms for the restricted MLE of the parameters of GE distribution do not exist. Since interval data is kind of incomplete data, the EM algorithm can be applied to compute the MLEs of the parameters. However the EM algorithm could be less effective.To improve effectiveness, an equivalent lifetime method is employed. The two methods are discussed via simulation studies.     

Tunable nano Peltier cooling device from geometric effects using a single graphene nanoribbon

Based on the phenomenon of curvature-induced doping in graphene we propose a class of Peltier cooling devices, produced by geometrical effects, without gating. We show how a graphene nanorib- bon laid on an array of curved nano cylinders can be used to create a targeted and tunable cooling device. Using two different approaches, the Nonequilibrium Green＇s Function （NEGF） method and experimental inputs, we predict that the cooling kW/cm2, on par with the best known techniques power of such a device can approach the order of using standard superlattice structures. The structure proposed here helps pave the way toward designing graphene electronics which use geometry rather than gating to control devices.     

Assessment of spatial BOLD sensitivity variations in fMRI using gradient-echo field maps

Clinical blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is becoming increasingly valuable in, e.g., presurgical planning, but the commonly used gradient-echo echo-planar imaging (GE-EPI) technique is sometimes hampered by macroscopic field inhomogeneities. This can affect the degree of signal change that will occur in the GE-EPI images as a response to neural activation and the subsequent blood oxygenation changes, i.e., the BOLD sensitivity (BS). In this study, quantitative BS maps were calculated directly from gradient-echo field maps obtainable on most clinical scanners. In order to validate the accuracy of the calculated BS-maps, known shim gradients were applied and field maps and GE-EPI images of a phantom were acquired. Measured GE-EPI image intensity was then compared with the calculated (predicted) image intensity (pII) which was obtained from the field maps using theoretical expressions for image-intensity loss. The validated expressions for pII were used to calculate the corresponding predicted BOLD sensitivity (pBS) maps in healthy volunteers. Since the field map is assumed to be valid throughout an entire fMRI experiment, the influence of subject motion on the pBS maps was also assessed. To demonstrate the usefulness of such maps, pBS was investigated for clinically important functional areas including hippocampus, Broca's area and primary motor cortex. A systematic left/right pBS difference was observed in Broca's area and in the hippocampus, most likely due to magnetic field inhomogeneity of the particular MRI-system used in this study. For all subjects, the hippocampus showed pBS values above unity with a clear anterior–posterior gradient and with an abrupt drop to zero pBS in the anterior parts of hippocampus. It is concluded that GE field maps can be used to accurately predict BOLD sensitivity and that this parameter is useful to assess spatial variations which will influence fMRI experiments.     

一维抛物型方程一种新的边值问题的解法

在建立目标一维热红外温度模型时,提出了热传导方程的一个新的边值问题;通过比较,选择了GE差分格式,求解方程,并进行了稳定性分析;采用虚拟网格点法处理边界条件,得出了GE格式的完整形式;计算实例表明,分组显示方法更适合此类边值问题的实际计算.     

Antibody-based surfaces: rapid characterization using two complementary colorimetric assays

Finding a general solution for optimizing the grafting of antibody on solid surfaces is difficult due to the variety of material, grafting principles and chemistries or surface formats available (beads, microplates, fibers, etc.). Pre-screening methods able to assess grafting efficiency (GE) and specific activity (SA) are required. In this context, we present here two colorimetric assays that can be used on a wide variety of surface format, chemistry, etc. The first one, ADECA (Amino Density Estimation by Colorimetric Assay) allows a rapid estimation of grafted antibodies and allows calculating the GE. The second one, A₂HRP (Antibody Anti-HorseRadish Peroxidase) provides a measure of the amount of active antibody, which, combined to ADECA, is used to determine the SA of grafted antibody. Analytical parameters (limit of detection, repeatability, linearity, etc.) of these two colorimetric assays are presented. Using two commercially available microplates, we demonstrated that, when used in parallel, these rapid and sensitive methods are well adapted to pre-screening of antibody grafting performances.