Spectroscopy of Laser Plumes for Atto‐Mole and ng/g Elemental Analysis

Abstract

Two all‐optical analytical techniques are reviewed. Both are capable of highly sensitive multi‐element analysis. One is by means of resonance‐enhanced plasma spectroscopy. It minimizes the continuum background associated with laser‐induced plasmas. Relative to laser‐induced breakdown spectroscopy, the signal‐to‐noise ratio is improved by orders of magnitude, thus allowing the quantitation of sodium and potassium at the single blood cell level. The other technique utilizes laser‐excited atomic fluorescence. It has been traditionally handicapped by its one wavelength–one transition specificity. We showed, however, that numerous elements could be induced to fluoresce at a single excitation wavelength of 193 nm provided that the analytes were imbedded in dense plumes, such as those produced by pulsed laser ablation. This method eliminates the continuum plasma background and sub‐ppb sensitivity was demonstrated in the analysis of aqueous lead colloids.     

Novel Variable PDL Emulator Based on LiNbO3 Modulator

We propose and demonstrate a novel variable PDL emulator based on a LiNbO3 modulator. The proposed emulator could vary the PDL values simply by adjusting the bias voltage of modulator. The results show that the proposed PDL emulator could generate a wide range of PDL values (0 ～ 35 dB). The generated PDL value could be maintained within ± 0.02 dB for ＞70 minutes. The wavelength dependency was about 0.03 dB in the range of 1520nm ～ 1590 nm.     

Exact dynamic and static stiffness matrices of shear deformable thin-walled beam-columns

Total potential energy of non-symmetric thin-walled beam-columns in the general form is presented by introducing the displacement field based on semitangential rotations and deriving transformation equations between displacement and force parameters defined at the arbitrary axis and the centroid-shear center axis, respectively. Next, governing equations and force-deformation relations are derived from the total potential energy for a shear-deformable, uniform beam element and a system of linear eigenproblem with non-symmetric matrices is constructed based on 14 displacement parameters. And then explicit expressions for displacement parameters are derived and exact dynamic stiffness matrices are determined using force-deformatin relationships. In addition, the modified numerical method to eliminate multiple zero eigenvalues and to evaluate the exact static stiffness matrix is developed for spatial stability analysis. Finally, in order to demonstrate the validity and the accuracy of this study, the spatially coupled natural frequencies and buckling loads are evaluated and compared with analytical solutions or results analyzed by thin-walled beam elements and ABAQUS's shell elements.     

Finite time blowup of the <Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis>-harmonic flow on <Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis>-manifolds

In this paper, we generalize the no-neck result of Qing and Tian (in Commun Pure Appl Math 50:295–310, 1997) to show that there is no neck during blowing up for the n-harmonic flow as \(t\rightarrow \infty \). As an application of the no-neck result, we settle a conjecture of Hungerbühler (in Ann Scuola Norm Sup Pisa Cl Sci 4:593–631, 1997) by constructing an example to show that the n-harmonic map flow on an n-dimensional Riemannian manifold blows up in finite time for \(n\ge 3\).     

Improved dimensional stability of Nafion membrane modified using a layer by layer self-assembly of biophilic polymers

The modification of perfluorinated proton exchange membranes (e.g. Nafion) utilizing a layer by layer (LbL) electrostatic assembly of oppositely charged biophilic polymers such as poly-l-lysine as positive layer and dsDNA as a negative layer is developed to protect the interface between the catalyst layer and the membrane in a low temperature fuel cell. Various physicochemical measurements including water uptake, proton conductivity and surface tension were investigated for both the as-received Nafion and the biopolymeric LbL modified Nafion. The smaller water contact angle and the less swelling characteristics of the biopolymer modified Nafion membrane was founded compared to that of as-received Nafion. This clearly indicates that the more hydrophilic surface of biopolymeric layers on Nafion plays an important role in the enhanced dimensional stability. In addition, a potential hypothesis explaining the higher proton conductivity from the LbL biopolymeric film coated Nafion is suggested.     

Assessment of bone calcium and phosphorus content using micro X‐ray fluorescence spectrometry (μ‐EDXRF): effects of long‐term cadmium poisoning

This study assesses whether the concentrations of biologically important elements in bones are altered by long‐term consumption of cadmium (Cd)‐contaminated water. Heavy metal poisoning has significant impact on humans, and pollutants such as Cd are often found at high concentrations in waterways. Twelve Sprague Dawley rats consumed water with 50 p.p.m. Cd (Cd group), and another 12 consumed normal water (control group). Six subjects from each group were sacrificed after 2 weeks and the others after 4 weeks. Spectra were acquired from the femur by using the EDAX Eagle III micro‐XRF setup, and quantitative calculations were performed by using the fundamental parameter method to determine the concentrations of elements. A bone calcium/phosphorus concentration ratio (Ca/P) of 2.07 ± 0.001 is observed in the spectra from control subjects after 2 weeks and 2.07 ± 0.001 after 4 weeks. In Cd subjects, Ca/P after 2 weeks is 2.04 ± 0.001 and after 4 weeks is 1.97 ± 0.003. Statistically significant differences are obtained when comparing controls with Cd subjects at both time points and when comparing Cd subjects at both time points. Cadmium poisoning significantly affects bone Ca and P concentrations, increasing the likelihood of osteoporosis and other bone diseases. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Radicals in skew polynomial and skew Laurent polynomial rings

We provide a general procedure for characterizing radical-like functions of skew polynomial and skew Laurent polynomial rings under grading hypotheses. In particular, we are able to completely characterize the Wedderburn and Levitzki radicals of skew polynomial and skew Laurent polynomial rings in terms of ideals in the coefficient ring. We also introduce the T-nilpotent radideals, and perform similar characterizations.     

Theranostic Iron@Gold Core–Shell Nanoparticles for Simultaneous Hyperthermia‐Chemotherapy upon Photo‐Stimulation

The challenges of nanoparticles, such as size‐dependent toxicity, nonbiocompatibility, or inability to undergo functionalization for drug conjugation, limit their biomedical application in more than one domain. Oval‐shaped iron@gold core–shell (oFe@Au) magnetic nanoparticles are engineered and their applications in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), optical coherence tomography (OCT), and controlled drug release, are explored via photo stimulation‐generated hyperthermia. The oFe@Au nanoparticles have a size of 42.57 ± 5.99 nm and consist of 10.76 and 89.24 atomic % of Fe and Au, respectively. Upon photo‐stimulation for 10 and 15 minutes, the levels of cancer cell death induced by methotrexate‐conjugated oFe@Au nanoparticles are sixfold and fourfold higher, respectively, than oFe@Au nanoparticles alone. MRI and OCT confirm the application of these nanoparticles as a contrast agent. Finally, results of in vivo experiments reveal that the temperature is elevated by 13.2 °C, when oFe@Au nanoparticles are irradiated with a 167 mW cm^?2 808 nm laser, which results in a significant reduction in tumor volume and scab formation after 7 days, followed by complete disappearance after 14 days. The ability of these nanoparticles to generate heat upon photo‐stimulation also opens new doors for studying hyperthermia‐mediated controlled drug release for cancer therapy. Applications include biomedical engineering, cancer therapy, and theranostics fields.     

Efficient Krylov subspace methods for uncertainty quantification in large Bayesian linear inverse problems

Uncertainty quantification for linear inverse problems remains a challenging task, especially for problems with a very large number of unknown parameters (e.g., dynamic inverse problems) and for problems where computation of the square root and inverse of the prior covariance matrix are not feasible. This work exploits Krylov subspace methods to develop and analyze new techniques for large‐scale uncertainty quantification in inverse problems. In this work, we assume that generalized Golub‐Kahan‐based methods have been used to compute an estimate of the solution, and we describe efficient methods to explore the posterior distribution. In particular, we use the generalized Golub‐Kahan bidiagonalization to derive an approximation of the posterior covariance matrix, and we provide theoretical results that quantify the accuracy of the approximate posterior covariance matrix and of the resulting posterior distribution. Then, we describe efficient methods that use the approximation to compute measures of uncertainty, including the Kullback‐Liebler divergence. We present two methods that use the preconditioned Lanczos algorithm to efficiently generate samples from the posterior distribution. Numerical examples from dynamic photoacoustic tomography demonstrate the effectiveness of the described approaches.