Discrimination of breast cancer by measuring prostate-specific antigen levels in women's serum

Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) has been reported to be a potential biomarker of breast cancer. Serum PSA of normal women is around 1 pg/mL, which is usually undetectable by current assay methods; thus an ultrasensitive measurement of PSA expression in women's serum is necessary to distinguish normal from malignant breast diseases. To enhance the sensitivity of conventional immunoassay technology for the detection of PSA in sera, we adopted a localized surface plasmon coupled fluorescence fiber-optic biosensor, which combines a sandwich immunoassay with the localized surface plasmon technique. The concentration of total PSA (t-PSA) (from 0.1 to 1000 pg/mL) in phosphate-buffered saline solution and the normalized fluorescence signal exhibit a linear relationship where the correlation coefficient is 0.9574. In addition, the concentration of additional t-PSA in 10-fold-diluted healthly women's serum across a similar range was measured. The correlation coefficient for this measurement is 0.9142. In clinical serum samples, moreover, the experimental results of t-PSA detection show that both the mean value and median of normalized fluorescence signals in the breast cancer group (155.2 and 145.7, respectively) are higher than those in the noncancer group (46.6 and 37.1, respectively). We also examined the receiver operating characteristic curve for t-PSA, and the area under the curve (AUC) is estimated to be 0.9063, the AUC being used to measure the performance of a test to correctly identify diseased and nondiseased subjects.     

Localized CO2 laser annealing induced dehydrogenation/ablation and optical refinement of silicon-rich silicon dioxide film with embedded si nanocrystals

CO2 laser annealing induced effects of dehydrogenation, Si nanocrystal precipitation, ablation, and optical refinement in PECVD grown SiO1.25 film are investigated. Dehydrogenation shrinks SiO1.25 thickness by 40 nm after annealing at laser intensity (Plaser) of 4 kW/cm(2) for 1.4 ms. As Plaser increases to 6 kW/cm(2), the photoluminescence (PL) red-shifts to 806 nm due to the size enlargement of Si nanocrystals, while a reduced optical bandgap energy from 3.3 to 2.43 eV and an enlarged refractive index from 1.57 to 1.87 are also observed. Transmission electron microscopy analysis reveals that the randomly oriented Si nanocrystals exhibit an average diameter of 5.3 nm and a volume density of 1.9 x 10(18) cm(-3). CO2 Laser ablation initiates at intensity higher than 7 kW/cm(2), which introduces numerous structural defects with a strong PL at 410 nm. Such an ablation inevitably leads to a blue-shifted optical bandgap energy from 2.43 to 2.76 eV as Plaser enlarges from 6 to 12 kW/cm(2) are concluded.     

Prediction of protein structural classes by support vector machines

In this paper, we apply a new machine learning method which is called support vector machine to approach the prediction of protein structural class. The support vector machine method is performed based on the database derived from SCOP which is based upon domains of known structure and the evolutionary relationships and the principles that govern their 3D structure. As a result, high rates of both self-consistency and jackknife test are obtained. This indicates that the structural class of a protein inconsiderably correlated with its amino and composition, and the support vector machine can be referred as a powerful computational tool for predicting the structural classes of proteins.     

Removal of COD from laundry wastewater by electrocoagulation/electroflotation

The removal efficiency of COD in the treatment of simulated laundry wastewater using electrocoagulation/electroflotation technology is described. The experimental results showed that the removal efficiency was better, reaching to about 62%, when applying ultrasound to the electrocoagulation cell. The solution pH approached neutrality in all experimental runs. The optimal removal efficiency of COD was obtained by using the applied voltage of 5V when considering the energy efficiency and the acceptable removal efficiency simultaneously. The Cl(-) concentration of less than 2500ppm had a positive effect on the removal efficiency. The performance of the monopolar connection of electrodes was better than that of the bipolar connection in this work. In addition, the removal efficiency of using Al electrodes was higher in comparison with using Fe electrodes in the study. The highest COD removal amount per joule was found to be 999mgdm(-3)kWh(-1) while using two Al electrodes, although the removal efficiency increased with the number of Al plates.     

An assessment of the science and technology of carbon nanotube-based fibers and composites

This paper examines the recent advancements in the science and technology of carbon nanotube (CNT)-based fibers and composites. The assessment is made according to the hierarchical structural levels of CNTs used in composites, ranging from 1-D to 2-D to 3-D. At the 1-D level, fibers composed of pure CNTs or CNTs embedded in a polymeric matrix produced by various techniques are reviewed. At the 2-D level, the focuses are on CNT-modified advanced fibers, CNT-modified interlaminar surfaces and highly oriented CNTs in planar form. At the 3-D level, we examine the mechanical and physical properties CNT/polymer composites, CNT-based damage sensing, and textile assemblies of CNTs. The opportunities and challenges in basic research at these hierarchical levels have been discussed.     

Bipolar Resistive Switching of Single Gold-in-Ga(2)O(3) Nanowire

We have fabricated single nanowire chips on gold-in-Ga(2)O(3) core-shell nanowires using the electron-beam lithography techniques and realized bipolar resistive switching characteristics having invariable set and reset voltages. We attribute the unique property of invariance to the built-in conduction path of gold core. This invariance allows us to fabricate many resistive switching cells with the same operating voltage by simple depositing repetitive metal electrodes along a single nanowire. Other characteristics of these core-shell resistive switching nanowires include comparable driving electric field with other thin film and nanowire devices and a remarkable on/off ratio more than 3 orders of magnitude at a low driving voltage of 2 V. A smaller but still impressive on/off ratio of 10 can be obtained at an even lower bias of 0.2 V. These characteristics of gold-in-Ga(2)O(3) core-shell nanowires make fabrication of future high-density resistive memory devices possible.     

Ion implantation of superhard ceramic cutting tools

Despite numerous reports of tool life increase by ion implantation in machining operations, ion implantation applications of cutting tools remain limited, especially for ceramic tools. Mechanisms of tool-life improvement by implantation are not clearly established due to complexity of both implantation and tool-wear processes. In an attempt to improve performance of cubic boron nitride (CBN) tools for hard machining by ion implantation, a literature survey of ion-implanted cutting tools was carried out with a focus on mechanisms of tool-wear reduction by ion implantation. Implantation and machining experiments were then conducted to investigate implantation effects on CBN tools in hard machining. A batch of CBN tools was implanted with nitrogen ions at 150 keV and 2.5×10¹⁷ ions/cm² and further used to cut 61 HRc AISI 52100 steel at different conditions. Results show that ion implantation has strong effects on partsurface finish, moderate effect on cutting forces, but an insignificant impact on tool wear. Friction coefficients, estimated from measured cutting forces, are possibly reduced by ion implantation, which may improve surface finish. However, surprisingly, 2-D orthogonal cutting to evaluate tribological loading in hard machining showed no difference on contact stresses and friction coefficients between implanted and nonimplanted CBN tools. This paper was presented at the 2nd International Surface Engineering Congress sponsored by ASM International, on September 15–17, 2003, in Indianapolis, Indiana.     

Elastic Response and Effect of Transverse Cracking in Woven Fabric Brittle Matrix Composites

This paper examines the linear elastic tensile and fracture behavior of biaxial plain weave SiC/SiC ceramic woven fabric composites. Iso-phase mode and random-phase mode have been adopted to simulate multilayer stacking and to predict the initial linear elastic constants. It has been found that both modes predict very close results. Porosities in the composite affect the stiffness significantly, while fiber undulation shows only minimal effect. The nonlinear stress-strain relation of the composite is due to transverse cracks, which initiate mainly from interyarn pores. In the second part of this paper, two methods, classical fracture mechanics and energy balance approach, have been used to examine the crack initiation and growth. A finite element method and a modified shear-lag method have been developed to evaluate the stress distribution in the yarn with transverse cracks. The composite stiffness reduction due to transverse cracking has been obtained by both the finite element and shear-lag methods. Strain energy release rates of the growth of transverse cracks have been studied by the crack-closure procedure, using finite element methods. Effects of the yarn size and crack position on the strain energy release rate have been quantified. It is concluded that thinner yarns lead to higher critical strains for transverse cracking.