Cooperative and FRET‐Assisted Brightness Enhancement in Oligo(phenylene ethynylene): Quantum Dot Organic–Inorganic Nanohybrids

Herein, we combine the ideas of concerted emission from fluorophore ensembles and its further amplification through FRET in an organic–inorganic hybrid approach. Spherical and highly fluorescent organic nanoparticles (FONPs, Φ_f=0.38), prepared by the self‐assembly of oligo(phenylene ethynylene) (OPE) molecules, were selected as a potential donor material. This organic core was then decorated with a shell of fluorescent CdSe/ZnS core–shell quantum dots (QDs; <d>?5.5 nm, Φ_f=0.27) with the aid of a bifunctional ligand, mercaptopropionic acid. Its high extinction coefficient (?≈4.1×10⁵ m ^?1 cm^?1) and good spectral match with the emission of the FONPs (J(λ)≈4.08×10¹⁶ m ^?1 cm^?1 nm⁴) made them a better acceptor candidate to constitute an efficient FRET pair (Φ_FRET=0.8). As a result, the QD fluorescence intensity was enhanced by more than twofold. The fundamental calculations carried out indicated an improvement in all the FRET parameters as the number of QDs around the FONPs was increased. This, together with the localization of multiple QDs in a nanometric dimension (volume≈1.8×10⁶ nm³), gave highly bright reddish luminescent hybrid particles as visualized under a fluorescence microscope.     

Superior corrosion protection and in vitro biocompatibility of Na-HAp/CS composite coating on PoPD-coated 316L SS

The synthesis and development of sodium (Na)-substituted hydroxyapatite (HAp)/chitosan (CS) composite using poly (O-phenylenediamine) (PoPD) coating on 316L SS substrate for improving bioactivity and corrosion protection was studied. The surface of Na-HAp/CS/PoPD bilayer coatings on 316L SS substrate was characterized by diverse analytical techniques. The open circuit potential (OCP) measurement, potentiodynamic polarization, and impedance test revealed that the bilayer coating provides excellent protection to the substrate against the corrosion in the simulated body fluid (SBF) solution. This interior layer of the coating acts as a barrier against the release of metal ions from the substrate, which was confirmed by inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy. Besides, the mechanical properties of the coatings were analyzed. From the obtained results, the bilayer coating exhibited greater mechanical strength than the individual coating. An in vitro bioactivity of the coatings was assessed by immersion in the SBF solution at 7–28 days. The apatite formation of bilayer coatings on 316L SS substrate is found to be more bioactive compared with the Na-HAp, PoPD, and Na-HAp/CS. The in vitro biocompatibility test showed no adverse effects, which was proved by the enhanced biocompatibility of the bilayer coating on 316L SS.     

Recent development on peptide-based probes for multifunctional biomedical imaging

Peptide-based probes play prominent roles in biomedical research due to their promising properties such as high biocompatibility, fast excretion, favorable pharmacokinetics as well as easy and robust preparation. Considering the translation of imaging probes into clinical applications, peptide-based probes remain to be the most desirable and optimal candidates.     

聚三亚甲基碳酸酯的改性研究

聚三亚甲基碳酸酯具有良好的生物降解性能及生物相容性,是一种重要的生物降解医用高分子材料,在生物医用领域具有巨大的潜在应用。本文结合近几年的研究进展,综述了聚三亚甲基碳酸酯改性的三大类方法,详细介绍了聚三亚甲基碳酸酯的功能化方法与途径、讨论了聚三亚甲基碳酸酯与不同类别单体共聚改性的研究现状及性能变化,并总结了共混改性对聚三亚甲基碳酸酯性能的影响,最后介绍了改性后的聚三亚甲基碳酸酯在生物医用领域的应用。     

表面改性聚丙烯的血液相容性研究进展

聚丙烯具有价格低廉、无毒、易于加工等优点,使其在许多领域得到广泛的应用。但是聚丙烯自身有较强的疏水性,与血液相接触时,血浆蛋白会在材料表面大量吸附,诱发血小板的粘附和聚集,从而造成凝血和溶血的发生。在生物医用材料的应用过程中,血液相容性是限制材料能否长期应用的关键因素。本文综述了表面改性法提高聚丙烯血液相容性的研究现状、表面改性方法和常用的大分子单体,并分析了当前聚丙烯表面改性研究存在的问题,展望了具有良好血液相容性聚丙烯的发展前景。     

调制损耗对硅基MZI结构光调制器非线性特性的影响

针对基于马赫-曾德干涉仪结构的硅基光调制器中非线性电光响应的问题,采用包含PN结非线性调制损耗和非线性折射率变化的模型,通过数值仿真方法,研究了上下两臂对称和不对称两种情况下,调制损耗对硅基光调制器非线性的影响.对比考虑调制损耗和忽略调制损耗的模型,发现在常规大信号情况下,当光调制器偏置相位为0时,调制损耗使得三次谐波增强,四次谐波减弱;当光调制器偏置相位为π/2时,调制损耗使得二次和四次谐波增强;而在小信号情况下,三次和四次等高次谐波不明显,在光调制器偏置相位为0时,调制损耗在光调制器上下两臂不对称情况下增加了基频分量串扰;在光调制器偏置相位为π/2时,调制损耗的影响主要表现为增加了二次谐波分量.     

Synthesis of Co/MFe2O4 (M=Fe, Mn) core/shell nanocomposite particles

Monodispersed cobalt nanoparticles (NPs) with controllable size (8–14 nm) have been synthesized using thermal decomposition of dicobaltoctacarbonyl in organic solvent. The as-synthesized high magnetic moment (125 emu/g) Co NPs are dispersible in various organic solvents, and can be easily transferred into aqueous phase by surface modification using phospholipids. However, the modified hydrophilic Co NPs are not stable as they are quickly oxidized, agglomerated in buffer. Co NPs are stabilized by coating the MFe₂O₄ (M=Fe, Mn) ferrite shell. Core/shell structured bimagnetic Co/MFe₂O₄ nanocomposites are prepared with tunable shell thickness (1–5 nm). The Co/MFe₂O₄ nanocomposites retain the high magnetic moment density from the Co core, while gaining chemical and magnetic stability from the ferrite shell. Compared to Co NPs, the nanocomposites show much enhanced stability in buffer solution at elevated temperatures, making them promising for biomedical applications.     

Subsurface sensing of biomedical tissues using a miniaturized Raman probe: study of thin-layered model samples

A ball lens hollow-fiber Raman probe (BHRP) is a powerful tool for in vivo nondestructive subsurface analysis of biomedical tissues in a living body. It has confocal-like optical properties, but its collection volume is rather large in comparison with that of a conventional confocal Raman system. Therefore, the obtained Raman spectra have contributions from the upper and lower layers at different rates depending on the thickness of the upper layer when the measurement point is close to the boundary surface of the two layers. In the present study, we describe a methodology to extract quantitative information about the thickness of the subsurface layer structure by using a BHRP combined with the partial least-square regression (PLSR) analysis. The simulation study indicates that distribution of the collection efficiency in the collection volume of the BHRP is similar to a Gaussian distribution. The empirical study suggests that the PLSR model built with only a principal component (PC) 1 based on the linearized depth data gives good prediction.     

Application of multivariate data-analysis techniques to biomedical diagnostics based on mid-infrared spectroscopy

The objective of this contribution is to review the application of advanced multivariate data-analysis techniques in the field of mid-infrared (MIR) spectroscopic biomedical diagnosis. MIR spectroscopy is a powerful chemical analysis tool for detecting biomedically relevant constituents such as DNA/RNA, proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, etc., and even diseases or disease progression that may induce changes in the chemical composition or structure of biological systems including cells, tissues, and bio-fluids. However, MIR spectra of multiple constituents are usually characterized by strongly overlapping spectral features reflecting the complexity of biological samples. Consequently, MIR spectra of biological samples are frequently difficult to interpret by simple data-analysis techniques. Hence, with increasing complexity of the sample matrix more sophisticated mathematical and statistical data analysis routines are required for deconvoluting spectroscopic data and for providing useful results from information-rich spectroscopic signals. A large body of work relates to the combination of multivariate data-analysis techniques with MIR spectroscopy, and has been applied by a variety of research groups to biomedically relevant areas such as cancer detection and analysis, artery diseases, biomarkers, and other pathologies. The reported results indeed reveal a promising perspective for more widespread application of multivariate data analysis in assisting MIR spectroscopy as a screening or diagnostic tool in biomedical research and clinical studies. While the authors do not mean to ignore any relevant contributions to biomedical analysis across the entire electromagnetic spectrum, they confine the discussion in this contribution to the mid-infrared spectral range as a potentially very useful, yet underutilized frequency region. Selected representative examples without claiming completeness will demonstrate a range of biomedical diagnostic applications with particular emphasis on the advantageous interaction between multivariate data analysis and MIR spectroscopy.     

基于硅基光子器件的Fano共振研究进展

硅基光子技术的发展为新型微纳光学功能器件和片上系统提供了高可靠、高精度的实现手段.采用硅基光子技术构建的具有连续(准连续)模式微腔与离散模式的微腔耦合产生的Fano共振现象得到了广泛关注.Fano共振光谱在共振波长附近具有不对称且尖锐的谐振峰,传输光的强度在共振波长附近从0突变为1,该机制可显著提高硅基光开关、探测器、传感器,以及光非互易性全光信号处理的性能.本综述分析了Fano共振的一般数学表述,总结了当前硅基光子微腔耦合产生Fano共振的理论模型研究现状,讨论了不同类型硅光器件实现Fano共振的方法,比较各种方案优劣及适用场合,梳理了Fano共振在全光信号处理方面的应用研究情况.最后探讨存在的一些问题及未来可能的相关研究方向.