Ultrafast optical power limiting in free-standing Pt–polyvinyl alcohol nanocomposite films synthesized in situ

Free-standing platinum–polyvinyl alcohol nanocomposite films have been prepared by a simple in situ method. By thermal annealing, Pt nanoparticles of different sizes and shapes have been obtained. Their optical nonlinearity is measured using ultrafast (100 fs) laser pulses at 404 nm, in the absorption wing region. A strong optical power limiting is found in the films. The timescale of this limiting action is ultrafast, as it happens within the incident laser pulsewidth. Experimental results and numerical simulation indicate that the sign of the nonlinearity can be controlled by varying the film composition and annealing temperature. Use of ultrashort laser pulses in the free-standing film configuration permits a direct and unambiguous determination of the electronic nonlinearity of the material, since accumulative effects occur at later times lying outside the sharp measurement window.     

A novel approach for the control of drug release rate through hydrogel membrane: II. Thermodynamic modeling of the partition control scheme

In advanced drug delivery systems, drug permeation rate is the key parameter that governs performance. Among the factors that influence the permeation rate, partition effect is presently given less attention. In the first part of this study [L. Shang, S. Zhang, H. Du, S S. Venkatraman, A novel approach for the control of drug release rate through hydrogel membrane. I. Effect of drug immobilization on drug release rate by copolymerization method. Eur. J. Pharm. Biopharm. 68 (2008) 715–723], a scheme was proposed to alter the drug release rate through controlling the partition behavior by immobilizing drug molecules in the membrane. It was hypothesized that the immobilized drug contributes to the total chemical potential of all drug molecules, resulting in a reduction in the partition coefficient. In this paper, the working mechanism of the control scheme is studied through thermodynamic modeling on the assumption that substances in the system are dependent upon one another (rather than independent as they are usually treated). Experimental results provide satisfactory verification of the model. With this model, drug permeation rate can be quantitatively tailored.     

Ionomer-silicates composite membranes: Permeability and conductivity studies

Polymer composite membranes based on sulphonated polymers, such as sulphonated poly(ether ketone) and sulphonated poly(ether ether ketone), and silicates were prepared and characterized for water/methanol permeabilities and proton conductivity studies. The study showed methanol and water permeability in the composite system decreased, with respect to the plain polymer/ionomer, with the increase in content of silicates. The permeability reduction in the composite membranes is discussed using models and theories. It was also found that the proton conductivity of the ionomer-composite membranes increased with the increase in total flux of the system, emphasising a good correlation between the total flux of the composite membranes and proton conductivity. The work clearly demonstrates that the same transport mechanism governs both methanol-water crossover and proton conductivity in these polymer electrolyte composite membranes.     

Portable flow-injection analyzer for nitrite and nitrate in natural water.

A portable flow-injection analyzer with solid-state spectrophotometric detection for the determination of nitrite and nitrate is described. It utilizes the Griess-Saltzman reaction. The instrument comprises a two-channel peristaltic pump, two six-port injection valves and a mini cadmium column between them. The sample loops were connected serially. The detection limits of the method were less than 7 microg l(-1) for NO2- and 10 microg l(-1) for NO3-.     

Growth and characterization of Fe3+-doped bis(thiourea)zinc(II) chloride crystals

Fe3+-doping at ～10 mol% in aqueous medium during crystal growth by slow evaporation solution method in bis(thiourea)zinc(II) chloride (BTZC) leads to form a new compound C2H8Cl2N4S2Zn0.93Fe0.07 (BTZCF) which crystallizes in orthorhombic structure with centrosymmetric space group Pnma though the parent compound BTZC crystallizes in noncentrosymmetric structure with space group Pn2(1)a. The interesting feature observed in this new crystal is that though it crystallizes in centrosymmetric structure, it exhibits positive SHG result (weak signal), quite likely due to possible surface effects or internal stress. The calculated first-order hyperpolarizability is 1.457×10(-30) esu which is ～5.5 times that of urea. Fe3+-doping enhances the transmittance to a significant extent. Comparison of the thermal analysis results by DSC reveals the incorporation of dopant into the crystalline matrix. The high resolution XRD studies reveal that the crystalline quality is improved considerably when the doping level is reached to ～10 mol%.     

Biofunctionalization of polyelectrolyte microcapsules with biotinylated polyethylene glycol-grafted liposomes

Hollow polyelectrolyte microcapsules (PEMC) are prepared using layer-by-layer self-assembly of polyelectrolytes on melamine formaldehyde templates, followed by template dissolution, and subsequent coating with biotinylated polyethylene glycol-grafted liposomes. These potential site-specific carrier systems show a high specificity for NeutrAvidin binding and a strong resistance against unspecific protein binding. It is concluded that this design with NeutrAvidin as the outermost layer of such capsules provides an ideal platform for the biofunctionalization of PEMC as drug delivery systems or as artificial cell-like structures for biomimetic studies.     

Electrical cell-substrate impedance sensing as a non-invasive tool for cancer cell study

Cell-substrate interactions are investigated in a number of studies for drug targets including angiogenesis, arteriosclerosis, chronic inflammatory diseases and carcinogenesis. One characteristic of malignant cancerous cells is their ability to invade tissue. Cell adhesion and cytoskeletal activity have served as valuable indicators for understanding the cancer cell behaviours, such as proliferation, migration and invasion. This review focuses on bio-impedance based measurement for monitoring the behaviours in real time and without using labels. Electric cell-substrate impedance sensing (ECIS) provides rich information about cell-substrate interactions, cell-cell communication and cell adhesion. High sensitivity of the ECIS method allows for observing events down to single-cell level and achieving nanoscale resolution of cell-substrate distances. Recently, its miniaturization and integration with fluorescent detection techniques have been highlighted as a new tool to deliver a high-content platform for anticancer drug development.     

Application of photogrammetry to surface flow visualization

The construction of three-dimensional surface flow fields is an extremely difficult task owing largely to the fragmented information available in the form of 2D images. Here, the method of photogrammetric resection based on a comprehensive camera model has been used to map oil flow visualization images on to the surface grid of the model. The data exported in the VRML format allow for user interaction in a manner not possible with 2D images. The technique is demonstrated here using the surface oil flow visualization images of a simplified landing gear model at low speed in a conventional wind tunnel without any specialized rigs for photogrammetry. The results are not limited to low-speed regimes and show that this technique can have significant impact on understanding the flow physics associated with the surface flow topology of highly three-dimensional separated flows on complex models.     

Catalysis and mechanistic studies of ruthenium and osmium on synthesis of anthranilic acids

Ruthenium, osmium and ruthenium + osmium catalyzed synthetic methodology was developed for the synthesis of anthranilic acids from indoles in good to excellent yields using bromamine‐B in alkaline acetonitrile–water (1:1) at 313 K. Detailed catalysis studies of ruthenium, osmium and the mixture of both were carried out for the synthetic reactions. The positive synergistic catalytic activity of Ru(III) + Os(VIII) was observed to a large extent with the activity greater than the sum of their separate catalytic activities. Detailed kinetic and mechanistic investigations for each catalyzed reactions were carried out. The kinetic pattern and mechanistic picture of each catalyzed reaction were found to be different for each catalyst and to obey the underlying rate laws: where, x, y < 1. The reactions were studied at different temperatures and the activation parameters were evaluated for each catalyzed reaction. Under the identical set of experimental conditions, the kinetics of all the three catalyzed reactions were compared with uncatalyzed reactions, revealing that the catalyzed reactions were 6‐ to 42‐fold faster. The catalytic efficiency of aforementioned catalysts followed the order: Ru(III) + Os(VIII) > Os(VIII) > Ru(III). This trend may be attributed to the different d‐electronic configuration of the catalysts. The proposed mechanisms and the rigorous kinetic models derived give results that fit well with the experimental data in each catalyzed reaction. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.