Two-dimensional cell parameters measurement of nematic liquid crystal using optical interferometry and Fourier transform fringe analysis technique

We report a method for the measurement of nematic liquid crystal (NLC) cell parameters i.e., switching voltage, birefringence, retardation, dielectric anisotropy, average tilt angle and change in refractive index with applied DC voltage to LC material. The proposed method is based on optical interferometry and Fourier transform fringe analysis technique, in which we obtain 2-dimensional (2D) phase map of the interferograms as a function of applied voltage. Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) was used for the study of cell parameters and interferograms were recorded at different applied DC voltages to NLC cell using CCD camera. From the phase map, 2D-refractive index distribution of the LC cell with applied voltage was reconstructed. Analytical equations are derived based on optical interferometry and then solved to obtain cell parameters. The present method is fast and can give 2D-cell parameters from only two quick interferograms.     

Influence of cell packing by centrifugation on 40-MHz ultrasound backscatter

High-frequency ultrasound (HFUS) signals backscattered from RBL-2H3 cell pellets prepared under different centrifugal forces were analyzed to investigate the packing effect of cell aggregates. The measurements were performed in a pulse-echo setup with a 40-MHz transducer. The changes of ultrasound signals from cell pellet in backscattered power, statistical parameter, and pellet thickness were monitored after centrifugation at between 100g and 1600g. Experimental results showed that the HFUS backscattered power from cell pellets was inversely proportional to centrifugal force and increased to a plateau within 1-2 h after centrifugation. The initial thickness of cell pellets decreased with higher centrifugal force, but the changes in thickness and time that took to reach a plateau increased at higher centrifugal force. The envelope statistics of backscattered signals with Nakagami distribution indicates that the centrifugal force and elapsed time after centrifugation affected the backscattering characteristics. The present study suggests that centrifugal force and data acquisition time after cell pellet formation should be considered in in vitro cell packing method with centrifugation to emulate the tissue in vivo.     

The use of acoustic radiation forces to position particles within fluid droplets

Handling of micrometer sizes particles, such as biological cells or coated beads, plays a relevant role in the field of life science. A number of devices have been presented in the last years, in which acoustic forces generated by coupling the vibration of a solid structure excited by a piezoelectric transducer to the particle suspension are used to collect particles in lines or position them in clumps on a grid. Following the trend of lab-on-a-chip devices, efforts have been made to shrink the size of such systems, aiming at less reagent consumption and shorter reaction times. The majority of these systems consist of closed fluid filled volumes, typically channels. Here the use of an open fluid volume, a droplet, is examined. By exciting resonances into the droplet positioned on a surface, particles can be gathered into a line, two parallel lines or, as the frequency of excitation is increased, into more complex patterns. Such a concentration process will have useful applications in improved detection sensitivity of low concentration particulate solutions.     

Magnetic ordering in (110) Eu films in an applied magnetic field

Below its ordering temperature (T _N = 90 K), bulk bcc Eu has a helical magnetic state with propagation vectors along the three equivalent 〈100〉 directions. In contrast, epitaxial (110)Eu films exhibit a unique magnetic ordering: the domain with a magnetic helix propagating along the in-plane [001] direction vanishes on cooling, at the expense of other domains with helices propagating along [100] and [010]. This paper is devoted to the study of the stability of the magnetic domains in an external magnetic field using neutron scattering experiments and macroscopic magnetization measurements. The helix propagating along the [001] direction can be restored by the application of an external field along this direction. On the contrary, when a magnetic field is applied along an intermediate direction, specifically [10], the domain with a helix propagating along [001] is suppressed. Both effects depend on the film thickness. They are explained if one considers that, because of the low magnetic anisotropy of Eu, a helix with a propagation vector parallel to (or close to) the applied magnetic field is energetically more favourable than cycloidal structures with unchanged propagation vectors. Finally, the amplitudes of the propagation vectors and their directions (that are modified in films compared to bulk) do not vary under magnetic field.     

双光子激发荧光成像技术对小鼠植入前胚胎的实时观测

双光子激发的蓝移效应可使利用同一束超快激光同时激发多种不同荧光特性的生物荧光染料的设想得以实现。选取锁模飞秒掺钛蓝宝石(Ti-sapphire)激光器输出的730nm激光,分别激发Hoechst33342,Fluo-4,PI和Indo-1四种常用生物荧光染料,分别利用(455±15)nm,(540±15)nm,(580±16)nm和(500±15)nm四种滤光片获得特异性荧光图像。结合双光子激发荧光成像技术穿透深,光损伤小,信噪比好等优势,选取合适的荧光染料组,应用单束激光激发、双染双通道成像方法,对小鼠植入前胚胎内细胞中的钙信号和染色体进行三维、四维实时成像,为探究小鼠植入前胚胎发育规律提供一种全新的多参数观测手段。     

Investigation on cell biocompatible behaviors of polyaniline film fabricated via electroless surface polymerization

Considering for the potential application in tissue engineering, polyaniline (PANi) film was fabricated via a two-step route: a self-assembled monolayer of C₆H₅NHC₃H₆Si(OMe)₃ was firstly formed on the single-crystal Si substrate; the conducting PANi film was then prepared through electroless surface polymerization of the aniline molecules on the aniline monolayer-bearing silane surface in an acidic aqueous solution. The formation of PANi film on Si surface was confirmed by characterizations of X-ray photoelectron spectroscope (XPS) and specular reflectance Fourier transform infrared (SR-FTIR) spectrum, etc. At last, the proliferation behaviors of PC-12 cells on the PANi film surface were studied by the [3-(4,5-dimethyldiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide] (MTT) colorimetric assays, acridine orange fluorometric staining, and scanning electron microscope (SEM) observation, etc. The results demonstrate that the as-prepared PANi film provides high ability for cell proliferation, exhibiting promising potentials as surface coating to cultivate neuronal cells for applications in the tissue engineering.     

黄土区金盏菊幼苗根部细胞壁对Pb/Cd复合胁迫响应的FTIR和Raman光谱

植物修复法是新兴的重金属污染土壤修复手段,也是未来极富应用潜力的主流技术之一。植物根部细胞壁作为重金属/土壤/植物相的交界面,天然地成为修复效能调控过程的关键部位和信号通道。植物细胞壁与重金属离子的作用行为具有物理化学和生理生化的双重属性,但以光谱技术为切入点,原位解析植物根部细胞壁对土壤重金属离子的响应关系还不多见。以黄土区修复植物金盏菊幼苗为研究对象,分析Pb/Cd复合胁迫对其根部细胞壁形貌的影响,借助X射线荧光光谱(XRF)、X射线衍射(XRD)、傅里叶变换红外光谱(FTIR)和拉曼光谱(Raman)揭示细胞壁对Pb/Cd胁迫的响应信号。结果发现:Pb/Cd胁迫导致金盏菊根部细胞壁弯曲萎缩,表面分布若干点状深色沉积物颗粒;XRF证实细胞壁Pb/Xd含量增加,但XRD图谱没有发现典型Pb/Xd结晶峰。FTIP图谱中—OH振动峰定位于3 416 cm~(-1)处,表明Pb/Cd离子与—OH间可能存在配位键合;1 701和1 593 cm~(-1)处的特征峰分别移动到1 736和1 618 cm~(-1),说明Pb/Cd胁迫改变了金盏菊根部细胞壁蛋白质结构属性。Raman光谱中2 960 cm~(-1)附近峰强增加,暗示Pb/Cd胁迫影响了细胞壁纤维素分子排列方向。可以认为,细胞壁组分(果胶、蛋白质、纤维素等)和典型官能团(—OH,N—H,C=O等)对于减缓Pb/Cd胁迫引起的金盏菊根部细胞壁毒害效应贡献较大。     

A cell functional minimization scheme for parabolic problem

We are interested in a robust and accurate finite volume scheme for 2-D parabolic problems derived from the cell functional minimization approach. The scheme has a local stencil, is locally conservative, treats discontinuity rigorously and leads to a symmetric positive definite linear system. Since the scheme has both cell centered unknowns and cell edge unknowns, the computational cost is an issue and a parallel algorithm is then suggested based on nonoverlapping domain decomposition approach. The interface condition is of the Dirichlet–Robin type and has a parameter λ. By choosing this parameter properly, the convergence of the iteration process could be sped up. Numerical results for linear and nonlinear problems demonstrate the good performance of the cell functional minimization scheme and its parallel version on distorted meshes.     

Physiochemical and cytotoxicity study of TPGS stabilized nanoemulsion designed by ultrasonication method

The main aim of the present work was to prepare TPGS stabilized D-α-Tocopherol, lemon oil, tween-80, and water nanoemulsion by low cost and highly effective sonication method. The prepared nanoemulsion showed good stability for 60 days at variable temperature conditions i.e. 4, 25 and 37 °C. The tolerance of the prepared nanoemulsion to salt (50 mM–500 mM) and pH (pH 2–pH 7.4) was also studied. The morphology and droplet size of pure and quinine loaded nanoemulsion was characterized with transmission electron microscopy. The prepared formulation was transparent and the obtained average particle size ranged between 25 nm and 35 nm. The nanoemulsion was found to be non toxic. The cell viability study of pure nanoemulsion carried out on Hep G2 cells revealed that the cell viability was 100%. The formulation further exhibited high quinine loading and release capacity with cumulative release up to 76 ± 2% and 65 ± 2% at pH 7.4 and pH 5.5 respectively. The interaction between quinine and vitamins (riboflavin, thiamine and biotin) was also carried out (aqueous medium). The study revealed that riboflavin had strong interaction with quinine and vitamins vis-à-vis thiamine and biotin.     

Angular reconstruction of a lead scintillating-fiber sandwiched electromagnetic calorimeter

The Neighbor Cell Deposited Energy Ratio （NCDER） is a new method that is proposed to reconstruct incidence position in a single layer for a 3-dimensional imaging electromagnetic calorimeter （ECAL）. This method was applied to reconstruct the ECAL test beam data for the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer-02 （AMS-02）. The results show that this method can achieve an angular resolution of 7.36±0.08°/√E＋0.28±0.02° in the determination of the photon＇s direction, which is much more precise than that obtained with the commonly-adopted Center of Gravity （COG） method （8.4±0.1°/E＋0.8±0.3°）. Furthermore, since it uses only the properties of electromagnetic showers, this new method could also be used for other type of fine grain sampling calorimeters.