Phase-transition-like properties of double-beam optical tweezers

We report on double-beam optical tweezers that undergo previously unknown phase-transition-like behavior resulting in the formation of more optical traps than the number of beams used to create them. We classify the optical force fields which produce multiple traps for a double-beam system including the critical behavior. This effect is demonstrated experimentally in orthogonally polarized (noninterfering) dual-beam optical tweezers for a silica particle of 2.32 μm diameter. Phase transitions of multiple beam trapping systems have implications for hopping rates between traps and detection of forces between biomolecules using dual-beam optical tweezers. It is an example of a novel dynamic system with multiple states where force fields undergo a series of sign inversions as a function of parameters such as size and beam separation.     

Photoabsorption in sodium clusters on the basis of time-dependent density-functional theory

The photoabsorption spectra of a continuous series of Na(n) clusters (n相似文献   

Lysosomal signaling enhances mitochondria-mediated photodynamic therapy in A431 cancer cells: role of iron

In photodynamic therapy (PDT), light activates a photosensitizer added to a tissue, resulting in singlet oxygen formation and cell death. The photosensitizer phthalocyanine 4 (Pc 4) localizes primarily to mitochondrial membranes in cancer cells, resulting in mitochondria-mediated cell death. The aim of this study was to determine how lysosomes contribute to PDT-induced cell killing by mitochondria-targeted photosensitizers such as Pc 4. We monitored cell killing of A431 cells after Pc 4-PDT in the presence and absence of bafilomycin, an inhibitor of the vacuolar proton pump of lysosomes and endosomes. Bafilomycin was not toxic by itself, but greatly enhanced Pc 4-PDT-induced cell killing. To investigate whether iron loading of lysosomes affects bafilomycin-induced killing, cells were incubated with ammonium ferric citrate (30 μM) for 30 h prior to PDT. Ammonium ferric citrate enhanced Pc 4 plus bafilomycin-induced cell killing without having toxicity by itself. Iron chelators (desferrioxamine and starch-desferrioxamine) and the inhibitor of the mitochondrial calcium (and ferrous iron) uniporter, Ru360, protected against Pc 4 plus bafilomycin toxicity. These results support the conclusion that chelatable iron stored in the lysosomes enhances the efficacy of bafilomycin-mediated PDT and that lysosomal disruption augments PDT with Pc 4.     

Optical force field mapping in microdevices

We present a method for characterizing microscopic optical force fields. Two dimensional vector force maps are generated by measuring the optical force applied to a probe particle for a grid of particle positions. The method is used to map out the force field created by the beam from a lensed fiber inside a liquid filled microdevice. We find transverse gradient forces and axial scattering forces on the order of 2 pN per 10 mW laser power which are constant over a considerable axial range (>35 microm). These findings suggest future useful applications of lensed fibers for particle guiding/sorting. The propulsion of a small particle at a constant velocity of 200 microm s(-1) is shown.     

Meet and join matrices in the poset of exponential divisors

It is well-known that (ℤ₊, |) = (ℤ₊, GCD, LCM) is a lattice, where | is the usual divisibility relation and GCD and LCM stand for the greatest common divisor and the least common multiple of positive integers. The number $ d = \prod\nolimits_{k = 1}^r {p_k^{d^{(k)} } } $ d = \prod\nolimits_{k = 1}^r {p_k^{d^{(k)} } } is said to be an exponential divisor or an e-divisor of $ n = \prod\nolimits_{k = 1}^r {p_k^{n^{(k)} } } $ n = \prod\nolimits_{k = 1}^r {p_k^{n^{(k)} } } (n > 1), written as d | _e n, if d ^(k) for all prime divisors p _k of n. It is easy to see that (ℤ₊\{1}, | _e is a poset under the exponential divisibility relation but not a lattice, since the greatest common exponential divisor (GCED) and the least common exponential multiple (LCEM) do not always exist.