Bioanalytical chemistry of cytokines – A review

Cytokines are bioactive proteins produced by many different cells of the immune system. Due to their role in different inflammatory disease states and maintaining homeostasis, there is enormous clinical interest in the quantitation of cytokines. The typical standard methods for quantitation of cytokines are immunoassay-based techniques including enzyme-linked immusorbent assays (ELISA) and bead-based immunoassays read by either standard or modified flow cytometers. A review of recent developments in analytical methods for measurements of cytokine proteins is provided. This review briefly covers cytokine biology and the analysis challenges associated with measurement of these biomarker proteins for understanding both health and disease. New techniques applied to immunoassay-based assays are presented along with the uses of aptamers, electrochemistry, mass spectrometry, optical resonator-based methods. Methods used for elucidating the release of cytokines from single cells as well as in vivo collection methods are described.     

Analytical potential of a laser ablation–glow discharge–optical emission spectrometry system for the analysis of conducting and insulating materials

The analytical capabilities of a glow discharge (GD) as a secondary source for excitation/ionization of the material provided by laser ablation (LA) have been compared to conventional laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS). In LA–GD both sources can be independently adjusted to optimize the sampling process and then its subsequent excitation. This could involve a number of analytical performance advantages, such as reduced matrix dependence, greater precision and sensitivity than those encountered in LIBS. For such purpose, an ablation chamber design including two electrodes to generate the GD discharge has been built and assayed. A comparison between LIBS and LA–GD–OES has been carried out, both, under reduced argon and helium atmospheres. Different sets of samples (conducting reference materials, glass and fluorine pellets) have been used to evaluate the novel coupled technique. The LA–GD coupled system has shown to provide lower detection limits. In addition, best linear correlations between intensities and concentrations and lower matrix effects have also been found using the coupled system. Moreover, special advantages of the LA–GD–OES have also been demonstrated for the analysis of fluorine.     

Label-free immunosensor for monitoring vitellogenin as a biomarker for exogenous oestrogen compounds in amphibian species

A label-free, optical waveguide lightmode spectroscopy based immunosensor was developed for frog (Bombina orientalis) vitellogenin (Vtg) determination in biological samples as a biomarker for exogenous oestrogen compounds. Antibody against Vtg was produced in rabbits immunised with purified lipovitellin (Lpv), a precursor of Vtg, from the homogenised ovary of oriental fire-bellied toads (B. orientalis). The purified protein and Lpv/Vtg-specific serum were applied in both competitive and direct immunoassay formats using optical waveguide lightmode spectroscopy immunosensor. When measuring Vtg in direct manner, the Lpv antibody (1.76 µg mL^?1) was immobilised on the sensor surface, and the linear measuring range for Vtg was 0.1–10 µg mL^?1. During the competitive measurement, 100 ng mL^?1 Lpv was applied for the immobilisation. The linear measuring range for Vtg was 0.5–50 ng mL^?1. We studied the relative substrate specificity of the antibody, and it was concluded that the method is suitable for the sensitive and selective determination of Vtg levels in toads. Heart, liver and gonad samples from male animals were spiked with Vtg and were analysed using the newly developed method, and female toads and spawn samples were tested and compared to the calibration curve obtained by the spiked samples.     

Six‐wave mixing induced by free‐carrier plasma in silicon nanowire waveguides

Nonlinear wave mixing in mesoscopic silicon structures is a fundamental nonlinear process with broad impact and applications. Silicon nanowire waveguides, in particular, have large third‐order Kerr nonlinearity, enabling salient and abundant four‐wave‐mixing dynamics and functionalities. Besides the Kerr effect, in silicon waveguides two‐photon absorption generates high free‐carrier densities, with corresponding fifth‐order nonlinearity in the forms of free‐carrier dispersion and free‐carrier absorption. However, whether these fifth‐order free‐carrier nonlinear effects can lead to six‐wave‐mixing dynamics still remains an open question until now. Here we report the demonstration of free‐carrier‐induced six‐wave mixing in silicon nanowires. Unique features, including inverse detuning dependence of six‐wave‐mixing efficiency and its higher sensitivity to pump power, are originally observed and verified by analytical prediction and numerical modeling. Additionally, asymmetric sideband generation is observed for different laser detunings, resulting from the phase‐sensitive interactions between free‐carrier six‐wave‐mixing and Kerr four‐wave‐mixing dynamics. These discoveries provide a new path for nonlinear multi‐wave interactions in nanoscale platforms.

     

基于铕取代多金属氧簇的手性发光液晶材料

The incorporation of europium-substituted polyoxometalate (PM) into chiral amphiphiles is attractive for the fabrication of multifunctional chiral luminescent liquid crystalline materials. Chiral amphiphiles acted as good promoters to trigger the achiral PM to show induced supramolecular chirality through electrostatic interactions, as illustrated by circular dichroism (CD) spectra. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), polarized optical microscopy (POM), and temperature-dependent X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis confirmed that the organic/inorganic hybrid polyoxometalate complex exhibited thermotropic mesomorphic behaviors. In a cast film, the complex displayed intrinsic luminescence that could be adjusted by accurately controlling the temperature. The electrostatic encapsulation of PM with chiral mesomorphic promoters provides an effective method for constructing PM-based chiral luminescent liquid crystalline materials.     

g-C3N4/SnS2 Heterostructure: a Promising Water Splitting Photocatalyst

Graphite-like carbon nitride (g-C₃N₄) based heterostrutures has attracted intensive attention due to their prominent photocatalytic performance. Here, we explore the g-C₃N₄/SnS₂ coupling effect on the electronic structures and optical absorption of the proposed g-C₃N₄/SnS₂ heterostructure through performing extensive hybrid functional calculations. The obtained geometric structure, band structures, band edge positions and optical absorptions clearly reveal that the g-C₃N₄ monolayer weakly couples to SnS₂ sheet, and forms a typical van der Waals heterojunction. The g-C₃N₄/SnS₂ heterostructure can effectively harvest visible light, and its valence band maximum and conduction band minimum locate in energetically favorable positions for both water oxidation and reduction reactions. Remarkably, the charge transfer from the g-C₃N₄ monolayer to SnS₂ sheet leads to the built-in interface polarized electric field, which is desirable for the photogenerated carrier separation. The built-in interface polarized electric field as well as the nice band edge alignment implys that the g-C₃N₄/SnS₂ heterostructure is a promising g-C₃N₄ based water splitting photocatalyst with good performance.     

Recent progresses on solution-processed silver nanowire based transparent conducting electrodes for organic solar cells

Organic photovoltaics (OPVs) are considered as a future alternative for conventional silicon based solar cells, owing to their low cost, ease of production and high-throughput. The transparent conducting electrode (TCE) is a fundamental component of OPVs. Traditionally, indium tin oxide (ITO) has been mainly utilized as a TCE in OPV applications due to its relatively high transparency and low sheet resistance. However, increasing demand for the optoelectronic devices has led to large fluctuations in ITO prices in the past decade and ITO is known to account more than 50% of the total cost of OPV devices. Thus, it is believed that development of solution-processable alternative materials is of great importance in reducing the cost of OPVs. Numerous materials, including silver nanowires, carbon nanotubes, graphene and conducting polymers, have been offered as replacements for ITO. This article reviews recent progress on fabrication of TCE via solution based coating techniques of silver nanowires (Ag NWs). In addition, performance of the Ag NWs based TCE in OPVs is summarized. Finally, we explore the future outlook for Ag NWs based TCE at the end of the review.     

光纤传感器测量FRP加固结构的损伤

A distributed fiber optic sensor is developed for condition monitoring of civil infrastructure sys-tems. The fiber optic sensor is especially useful in applications involving structures strengthened by fiberreinforced polymer (FRP) composites. The sensor principles are simple and therefore, practical for detec-tion of cracks, debonding and deformation measurements. Structural monitoring capability of the sensor     

Propagation of Normal Axisymmetric Waves in Compliant Elastic Cylinders Filled with and Immersed in a Fluid

The paper studies the relationship between the physical characteristics of a cylinder and the properties of normal axisymmetric waves in elastic–liquid waveguides. The cylinder is made of a compliant material in which the velocity of shear waves is less than the sonic velocity in a perfect compressible liquid. The complete system of dynamic elasticity equations and the wave equation are used to describe the wave fields in the elastic cylinder and fluid, respectively. This approach allows obtaining the dispersion characteristics of coupled normal waves in compound waveguides over wide ranges of frequencies and wavelengths. The curves of real, imaginary, and complex wave numbers versus frequency are plotted for specific pairs of waveguide materials. Computations are carried out for a thick-walled cylinder filled with a fluid and immersed in either vacuum or a fluid. It is found out that compliant and rigid materials of the cylinder affect differently the wave interaction process in elastic–liquid waveguides     

Optical coherence tomography based particle image velocimetry (OCT-PIV) of polymer flows

The measurement of spatially resolved velocity distributions is crucial for modelling flow and for understanding properties of materials produced in extrusion processes. Traditional methods for flow visualization such as particle image velocimetry (PIV) rely on optically transparent media and cannot be applied to turbid polymer melts. Here we present optical coherence tomography as an imaging technique for PIV data processing that allows for measuring a sequence of time resolved images even in turbid media. Time-resolved OCT images of a glass-fibre polymer compound were acquired during an extrusion process in a slit die. The images are post-processed by ensemble cross-correlation to calculate spatially resolved velocity vector fields. The results compared well with velocity data obtained by Doppler-OCT. Overall, this new technique (OCT-PIV) represents an important extension of PIV to turbid materials by the use of OCT.