Biochip fluorescence detection system with spatial and spectral separation

A novel optical arrangement for fluorescence detection that employs spatial separation as well as spectral filter to increase the signal to noise ratio is proposed. Using a prism and two mirrors, the elliptical laser beam of a laser diode, as an excitation light, is homogenized and the transmitted excitation light is separated from the fluorescence not to reach the collecting optics. Uncooled CCD can capture the fluorescence image of up to 40 fluorescently-labeled protein patterns without scanning or mechanical translation. This paper presents the simulation, construction and measurement results of the developed optical system. The measurements show that the combination of prism and mirrors converts the excitation light from the laser diode to uniform illumination on the specimen, and provides the separation between excitation and fluorescence light to give high signal to noise ratio. It is also possible to assay various protein concentrations ranging from 1000 to 10 ng/ml reliably. We believe that the proposed fluorescence detection system can be used to build a commercially valuable, low cost, hand-held or miniature fast detection device for point-of-care applications.     

Development of novel flexible black silicon

We report a new type of black silicon: flexible black silicon. A silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafer is irradiated by automatically scanning a femtosecond laser and then split by etching out the SOI silica middle layer. Large-area, uniform micro spikes on the surface of a very thin flexible silicon layer are obtained. The black silicon shows good flexibility and optical properties. The absorption spectrum of the flexible black silicon is as high as 97% in the visible and insensitive to the change of the incident angle of the light, which makes it a potential good candidate as an absorber for the solar-thermo generator.     

A Note on Maximal Properties of Some Subsemigroups of Finite Order-Preserving Transformation Semigroups

Both maximal idempotent-generated subsemigroups and maximal idempotent-generated regular subsemigroups of O _n were studied by Yang [10 Yang , X. , Lu , C. ( 2000 ). Maximal properties of some subsemigroups in finite order-preserving transformation semigroups . Communications in Algebra 28 : 3125 – 3135 .[Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]]. The purpose of this article is to simplify the results of Yang [10 Yang , X. , Lu , C. ( 2000 ). Maximal properties of some subsemigroups in finite order-preserving transformation semigroups . Communications in Algebra 28 : 3125 – 3135 .[Taylor &; Francis Online], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]].     

Pressure-tunable guided-mode resonance sensor for single-wavelength characterization

A method of tuning a one-dimensional guided-mode resonance grating through the use of an air-pressure-responsive membrane is demonstrated here using finite-element method simulation. The device consists of a titanium dioxide (TiO(2)) grating structure embedded in a flexible polydimethylsiloxane membrane. This grating has a resonant response to TM-polarized light at a wavelength dependent upon the refractive index of the surrounding medium. By varying the pressure by 5500 Pa, lateral strain may be applied to the grating; this allows resonances to be produced for medium refractive indices ranging from 1.33 to 1.50 for a fixed-wavelength 850 nm light source.     

Structures,microstructures, physical and chemical properties of different rice grains

Herein, we demonstrated a well-rounded exploration of the universal structures, microstructures and physical properties of different rice grains. We show that these rice grains are nanocrystalline in nature, have the standard pattern of type A rice crystalline, and can be attributed to the hexagonal crystal structure with space group of P6. These rice grains have uneven surfaces, clusters of the granules, or schistose structure. Carbon, nitrogen and oxygen elements are presented in the rice grains. No significant difference is observed in FTIR spectra in these rice grains, indicating the fundamental chemical structures of these rice grains are analogical. Their microstructural and physical properties were investigated in detail. Moreover, chemical properties (e.g. thermal stability) of the rice grains were explored. This research provides an in-depth understanding on the physical and structural properties on the atomic and molecular level, as well as guidance for food and industry applications.     

石墨炉原子吸收光谱法测定催化有机残液中的微量铑

硝酸于聚四氟乙烯闷罐中消解样品 ,石墨炉原子吸收光谱法测定催化有机残液中的微量铑 ,相对标准偏差为 6 .2 %,回收率为 96 .5 %— 1 0 5 .4 %。方法简便、快速 ,分析结果令人满意。     

A Study of the Intrinsic Autofluorescence of Poly (ethylene glycol)-co-(<Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">L</Emphasis></Subscript>-Lactic acid) Diacrylate

Poly (ethylene glycol)-co-( _L -Lactic acid) diacrylate (PEG-PLLA-DA) copolymers have been extensively investigated for a number of applications in medicine. PEG-PLLA-DA is biodegradable and the human body can process its degradation products. In this study, we describe the autofluorescence of PEG-PLLA-DA copolymers and compared it to the fluorescence of poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEG-DA) and the precursor molecules used for their synthesis. In addition, we examined the influence of pH on the fluorescence spectra. We found that PEG-PLLA-DA exhibits higher fluorescence than PEG-DA and all reagents involved in the synthesis of PEG-PLLA-DA. The fluorescence of PEG-PLLA-DA was affected by pH with fluorescence decreasing at high pH values. At high pH, PEG-PLLA-DA could not polymerize into hydrogels and exhibited a dramatic decrease in autofluorescence, suggesting that hydrolysis of the ester bond affected its autofluorescence. At low pH, PEG-PLLA-DA exhibited higher fluorescence and it was able to form crosslinked hydrogels. The autofluorescence of PEG-PLLA-DA could be exploited to monitor polymer degradation and material structure without the need to introduce exogenous fluorescent probes. The origin of fluorescence is not clear at this point in time but it appears to result from a synergetic effect of both lactate units and diacrylate groups in the PEG-PLLA-DA backbone. The observed autofluorescence of PEG-PLLA-DA persists after reaction of the acrylate groups in the polymerization reaction. This autofluorescence is advantageous because it could assist in the study of polymers used for drug delivery and tissue engineering applications.     

Efficient prediction of the quality factors of micromechanical resonators

A high quality factor (Q-factor) is one of the major requirements of high-performance resonators. An understanding of the dissipation mechanism is crucial for maximizing the quality factor by reducing the energy loss. Thermoelastic damping has been well-known as the important intrinsic dissipation that affects the quality factor of micro-resonators. In this study, a finite element formulation based on the weak form of fully coupled thermoelastic problems is suggested. The coupled thermoelastic equation usually leads to a large-size complex eigenvalue problem, which is very massive and time-consuming to solve. Therefore, we also applied the model order reduction (MOR) scheme to this coupled multiphysical problem in order to achieve computational efficiency. The present approach is validated by comparing the numerical results and analytical solutions.