Microfluidic colloidal island formation and erasure induced by surface acoustic wave radiation

Spatiotemporal patterns form in many nonlinear physicochemical or biological systems. Although unusual, microfluidic systems are no exception. We observe such patterns to form by colloids along the free surface of a drop beneath which surface acoustic waves propagate, and propose fundamental mechanisms to elucidate their formation. With increasing excitation amplitude, the colloids first assemble into concentric rings and then cluster into islands due to a combination of capillarity and surface acceleration. As the excitation is further increased, fluid streaming commences within the drop, inducing a transient metastable state in which the system alternates between colloidal island formation on the quiescent drop surface and subsequent erasure due to local vortex generation.     

Effects of creatine and β-guanidinopropionic acid and alterations in creatine transporter and creatine kinases expression in acute seizure and chronic epilepsy models

Background  

In order to confirm the roles of creatine (Cr) in epilepsy, we investigated the anti-convulsive effects of Cr, creatine transporter (CRT) and creatine kinases (CKs) against chemical-induced acute seizure activity and chronic epileptic seizure activity.     

Effects of poloxamer on the gelation of silk fibroin

The influence of the concentration of poloxamer 407, the pH and the temperature on the gelation of silk fibroin (SF) were studied. It was found that the gelation of SF occurred in the presence of poloxamer at pH value of 7.0 while gelation of SF itself did not occur. The gelation time of SF was shortened with increasing the poloxamer concentration and the temperature. The sol‐gel transition of SF became reversible with an addition of poloxamer. From infrared (IR) and circular‐dichroism (CD) spectroscopy measurements, it was found that a conformational change of the SF in the SF/poloxamer system from random coil to β‐structure was accelerated after forming a polymer complex with the poloxamer. The crystallinity of the poloxamer was reduced by SF from X‐ray diffraction measurements.