Development of a Fluorescent Enzyme-Linked DNA Aptamer-Magnetic Bead Sandwich Assay and Portable Fluorometer for Sensitive and Rapid Leishmania Detection in Sandflies

A fluorescent peroxidase-linked DNA aptamer-magnetic bead sandwich assay is described which detects as little as 100 ng of soluble protein extracted from Leishmania major promastigotes with a high molarity chaotropic salt. Lessons learned during development of the assay are described and elucidate the pros and cons of using fluorescent dyes or nanoparticles and quantum dots versus a more consistent peroxidase-linked Amplex Ultra Red (AUR; similar to resazurin) fluorescence version of the assay. While all versions of the assays were highly sensitive, the AUR-based version exhibited lower variability between tests. We hypothesize that the AUR version of this assay is more consistent, especially at low analyte levels, because the fluorescent product of AUR is liberated into bulk solution and readily detectable while fluorophores attached to the reporter aptamer might occasionally be hidden behind magnetic beads near the detection limit. Conversely, fluorophores could be quenched by nearby beads or other proximal fluorophores on the high end of analyte concentration, if packed into a small area after magnetic collection when an enzyme-linked system is not used. A highly portable and rechargeable battery-operated fluorometer with on board computer and color touchscreen is also described which can be used for rapid (<1 h) and sensitive detection of Leishmania promastigote protein extracts (～100 ng per sample) in buffer or sandfly homogenates for mapping of L. major parasite geographic distributions in wild sandfly populations.     

Application of magnetic nanoparticles in full-automated chemiluminescent enzyme immunoassay

The magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) Therma-Max™ were used as a carrier to develop an automated sandwich chemiluminescent enzyme immunoassay (CLEIA) to detect thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) in a sensitive and specific way. The Therma-Max™ particles allow for automation because, unlike magnetic microspheres, they are completely dispersed in aqueous solution and allow for accurate automatic handling. Signal intensities detected with MNPs were 8-fold higher than those found with conventional micron-sized magnetic particles. A reproducibility study suggests that these particles allow for a stable detection method, as the coefficient of variation (CV) is less than 6% (n=10).     

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering substrates of high-density and high-homogeneity hot spots by magneto-metal nanoprobe assembling

Binary naoparticles composed of a superparamagnetic Fe(3)O(4) core and an Au nanoshell were prepared via a high-temperature hydrolysis reaction followed by seed-mediated growth. The nanoprobes render simultaneous dual functions of both fast magnetic response and local surface plasmon resonance. Using these nanoprobes, analyte molecules can be easily biologically captured, magnetically concentrated, and analyzed by surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). Particularly, the complex particles were assembled under magnetic force direction into a SERS substrate. It was found to possess both a high enhancement factor (10(6)) and high homogeneity of "hot spot" distribution (fluctuation less than 20% for a 1 μm(2) area) with 4-aminothiophenol as the analyte.     

Observation of molecular migration in porous media using 2D exchange spectroscopy in the inhomogeneous magnetic field

We present a new method for observing fluid diffusion in a porous medium. The method employs 2D exchange spectroscopy for molecules diffusing in the presence of local magnetic field inhomogeneities, in our case distilled water in various sized glass bead packs. Our experiment involves an acquisition and evolution time domain with the two Fourier domains corresponding to the spectral distribution of local fields. We show that exchange in the internal magnetic field can be seen in a 2D spectrum with a characteristic time on the order of that required to diffuse 0.15 sphere diameters with similar behavior found for computer simulations. The method is potentially useful for studying the internal migrations in more complicated systems such as sandstones or other porous media.     

Micro-vibration suppression of equipment supported on a floor incorporating magneto-rheological elastomer core

In this study, magneto-rheological elastomers (MREs) are adopted to construct a smart sandwich beam for micro-vibration control of equipment. The micro-vibration response of a smart sandwich beam with MRE core which supports mass-concentrated equipment under stochastic support-motion excitations is investigated to evaluate the vibration suppression capability. The dynamic behavior of MREs as a smart viscoelastic material is characterized by a complex modulus dependent on vibration frequency and controllable by external magnetic fields. A frequency-domain solution method for the stochastic micro-vibration response of the smart sandwich beam supporting mass-concentrated equipment is developed based on the Galerkin method and random vibration theory. First, the displacements of the beam are expanded as series of spatial harmonic functions and the Galerkin method is applied to convert the partial differential equations of motion into ordinary differential equations. With these equations, the frequency-response function matrix of the beam–mass system and the expression of the velocity response spectrum are then obtained, with which the root-mean-square (rms) velocity response in terms of the one-third octave frequency band can be calculated. Finally, the optimization problem of the complex modulus of the MRE core is defined by minimizing the velocity response spectrum and the rms velocity response of the sandwich beam, through altering the applied magnetic fields. Numerical results are given to illustrate the influence of MRE parameters on the rms velocity response and the response reduction capacity of the smart sandwich beam. The proposed method is also applicable to response analysis of a sandwich beam with arbitrary core characterized by a complex shear modulus and subject to arbitrary stochastic excitations described by a power spectral density function, and is valid for a wide frequency range.     

Filtration of submicron particles by spheres in HGMS

We present a theory for the diffusive capture of submicron-size magnetic particles by a sphere assemblage operating as a high-gradient magnetic separator. The carrier fluid is modeled in the laminar flow approximation. With the restriction to large Peclet numbers and relatively weak magnetic fields (up to several kOe), approximate analytical methods are introduced and applied to study the single sphere capture efficiency as a function of magnetic field strength, flow rate, and particle size. Although sphere efficiency increases in stronger fields, there is no indication of the high-field saturation which marked our between diffusion enhancement and the magnetic force is observed.     

Synthesis and microwave magnetic properties of a-Fe/ferrite composites with sandwich structure

A new kind of a-Fe/ferrite composites with sandwich structure was realized by chemical reduction method, where the as-prepared W-type barium hexaferrite flake particles were subjected to a reduction treatment in hydrogen atmosphere at different temperatures. X-ray diffractometer reveals that a-Fe/Co particles precipitate in the ferrite matrix, when the reduction temperature is higher than 230 °C. With the temperature increased, the particles morphology changed into sandwich structure in hexagonal flake particles and the barium hexaferrite phase was decomposed gradually, when were completely decomposed at T=450 °C. Results show that the composites particles with sandwich structure (T=270 °C) have higher microwave complex permeability than the others.     

Dynamic analysis of magnetorheological elastomer-based sandwich beam with conductive skins under various boundary conditions

The dynamic analysis of a three-layered symmetric sandwich beam with magnetorheological elastomer (MRE) embedded viscoelastic core and conductive skins subjected to a periodic axial load have been carried out under various boundary conditions. As the skins of the sandwich beam are conductive, magnetic loads are applied to the skins during vibration. Due to the field-dependent shear modulus of MRE material, the stiffness of the MRE embedded sandwich beam can be changed by the application of magnetic fields. Using extended Hamilton’s principle along with generalized Galarkin’s method the governing equation of motion has been derived. The free vibration analysis of the system has been carried out and the results are compared with the published experimental and analytical results which are found to be in good agreement. The parametric instability regions of the sandwich beam have been determined for various boundary conditions. Here, recently developed magnetorheological elastomer based on natural rubber containing iron particles and carbon blacks have been used. The effects of magnetic field, length of MRE patch, core thickness, percentage of iron particles and carbon blacks on the regions of parametric instability for first three modes of vibration have been studied. These results have been compared with the parametric instability regions of the sandwich beam with fully viscoelastic core to show the passive and active vibration reduction of these structures using MRE and magnetic field. Also, the results are compared with those obtained using higher order theory.     

磁性液体中非磁性小球与磁性纳米颗粒的相互作用及磁组装

利用磁性液体与聚苯乙烯小球溶液混合得到的复合磁性液体, 研究了聚苯乙烯小球和磁性纳米颗粒在外加磁场作用下的动力学过程. 实验结果表明, 当外加磁场的方向平行于样品平面时, 聚苯乙烯小球在沿着磁场的方向上表现出相互吸引而形成链状结构, 其动力学过程可分为聚苯乙烯小球被反磁化产生相互吸引而形成短链的快过程以及短链间相互吸引形成长链的慢过程; 当外加磁场的方向垂直于样品平面时, 相邻聚苯乙烯小球表现出排斥的相互作用而形成短程有序的二维结构, 当磁场强度增加到一定的阈值时, 聚苯乙烯小球和磁性纳米颗粒形成的团簇会产生相互吸引而组装成复合式的花瓣结构. 关键词： 磁性液体 磁组装 非磁性颗粒     

Modelling of isotropic double negative media for microwave applications

A composite medium consisting of two sublattices of dielectric spherical particles of high permittivity and different radii embedded in a dielectric matrix of smaller permittivity are considered. It has been shown that such a composite medium reveals properties of an isotropic double negative media (DNG) in a limited frequency range, when resonance oscillations of H_III mode in one kind of particles and E_III mode in another kind of particles are excited simultaneously. The E_III resonance and the H_III resonance give rise to the magnetic dipole momentum and the electric dipole momentum correspondingly. Averaging the magnetic momentum and the electric momentum over the cells belonging to the appropriate spherical particles gives the negative permittivity and permeability. The model of diffraction of a plane electromagnetic wave on a dielectric sphere is presented and compared with the mixing rule based consideration. The results obtained are rather close. Distribution of the electromagnetic wave outside the sphere is calculated. Influence of the dispersion of the sphere size and the dielectric permittivity on the effective parameters of the DNG material is estimated.     

On the structures of some light scattering theories depending on whether or not the Bromwich formulation may be used,e.g. spherical versus spheroidal coordinates

The generalized Lorenz–Mie theories for a homogeneous sphere (interaction between an electromagnetic arbitrary shaped beam and a sphere defined by its diameter and its complex refractive index), and for other particles as well (such as cylindrical particles, with circular or elliptical cross-sections) have been developed by using the Bromwich method. Conversely, this method cannot be used for spheroidal particles. Whether it is possible or not to use the Bromwich method implies a certain number of consequences concerning (i) the definition of TM- and TE-waves, (ii) the definition of genuine beam shape coefficients to describe the beam, (iii) the possibility of developing a localized beam model to describe the illuminating beam. These three issues may be enlightened by referring to the properties of the Bromwich method.     

磁化铁氧体材料电磁散射递推卷积-时域有限差分方法分析

根据递推卷积原理，将磁化铁氧体材料的频域磁导率过渡到时域，通过引入时域复数磁化率张量和时域复数磁感应强度矢量，提出了磁化铁氧体材料电磁散射的三维时域有限差分方法.为了验证该方法，用它计算了磁化铁氧体球的后向雷达散射截面，与文献结果符合很好.计算结果表明，该方法是分析磁化铁氧体材料电磁散射一种可行的方法. 关键词： 递推卷积 磁化铁氧体 电磁散射 时域有限差分方法     

Dynamic simulations of the dipolar driven demagnetization process of magnetic multi-core nanoparticles

In this work, we investigate dynamically the dipolar driven demagnetization process of magnetic multi-core particles by solving the Landau-Lifshitz equation for single-domain particles distributed on a three-dimensional sphere. We analyze the relaxation time in respect to different geometry and material parameters. Further we show that the demagnetization times differ from the behaviour of a single magnetic sphere in the case of low damping. To explain these dynamics nanoparticular systems of different dimensions are investigated. We show that deviations can be attributed to a confinement of the relaxation dynamics to a lower dimensional submanifold of the k-space.     

电各向异性色散介质电磁散射的三维递推卷积-时域有限差分方法分析

根据递推卷积原理，将磁化等离子体的频域介电系数过渡到时域，通过引入时域复数极化率张量和时域复数电位移矢量，得到了磁化等离子体的三维时域有限差分方法迭代式. 为了验证该方法，用它计算了非磁等离子体球的后向雷达散射截面，与移位算子法结果符合很好. 应用该方法计算和分析了磁化等离子体球的电磁波散射，发现其后向散射时域波形明显出现了交叉极化分量. 关键词： 递推卷积 磁化等离子体 电磁散射 时域有限差分方法     

Thermosensitive magnetic polymer particles as contactless controllable drug carriers

Spherically shaped thermosensitive micro and nanoparticles based on N-isopropylacrylamide were synthesized using a novel inverse suspension polymerization technique which enables a bead formation within minutes. In addition to the rapidity, the suspension procedure provides an effective platform for the encapsulation of magnetic colloids and simultaneous drug analogous substances. The presence of the magnetic colloids allows an inductive heating of the particles using an alternating magnetic field above the polymer transition temperature (>35 °C). This results in a pronounced de-swelling accompanied by a release of the encapsulated substances. The potential of this technology for a new contactless controllable drug releasing approach is exemplarily demonstrated using rhodamine B and methylene blue as drug analogous substances.     

On the mechanism of own rotation of dust particles

We analyze the physical reason for own rotation of dust particles. We propose from analysis of literature data and our previous studies that own rotation of dust particles is due to azimuth-symmetric flow of ions to the particle surface, which is associated with a nonuniform distribution of the surface charge. This assumption is in conformity with the results of experiments in which the plasma flow is changed by introducing particles in the horizontal plane (horizontal cluster) and particles aligned along the discharge current (vertical cluster) and with the observation of the rotation threshold for the discharge current and the magnetic field. The experiments are performed with spherical particles using the coordinate tracing method. Our results make it possible to construct a model of spinning of charged dust tops for describing magnetic properties of a complex plasma.     

Self-organizing magnetic beads for biomedical applications

In the field of biomedicine magnetic beads are used for drug delivery and to treat hyperthermia. Here we propose to use self-organized bead structures to isolate circulating tumor cells using lab-on-chip technologies. Typically blood flows past microposts functionalized with antibodies for circulating tumor cells. Creating these microposts with interacting magnetic beads makes it possible to tune the geometry in size, position and shape. We developed a simulation tool that combines micromagnetics and discrete particle dynamics, in order to design micropost arrays made of interacting beads. The simulation takes into account the viscous drag of the blood flow, magnetostatic interactions between the magnetic beads and gradient forces from external aligned magnets. We developed a particle-particle particle-mesh method for effective computation of the magnetic force and torque acting on the particles.     

DNA‐Mediated Stabilization of Self‐Assembling Bead Monolayers for Microfluidic Applications

Forming ordered 2D or 3D arrays of colloidal particles on the micro‐ or nanometer scale in a bottom‐up process is a challenging task. In previous works by various groups, hybridization between DNA strands localized on the particle surface is used to create crystalline arrays. However, this method requires an annealing process with a duration of one day or more and usually yields agglomerates of only a few dozen particles. In this work, a method for the rapid formation of highly‐ordered 2D agglomerates of superparamagnetic microparticles (beads) is presented. Dipolar coupling between the beads under the influence of a rotating magnetic field leads to the formation of a dense monolayer. The monolayer is then stabilized through DNA hybridization between DNA strands immobilized on the bead surface and a linker strand in solution. The whole self‐assembly process requires less than an hour and is therefore significantly faster than comparable methods.