Advanced optical tweezers for the study of cellular and molecular biomechanics

Optical tweezers are an important tool for studying cellular and molecular biomechanics. We present a robust optical tweezers device with advanced features including: multiple optical traps, acousto-optic trap steering, and back focal plane interferometry position detection. We integrate these features into an upright microscope, with no compromise to its capabilities (differential interference contrast microscopy, fluorescence microscopy, etc.). Acousto-optic deflectors (AODs) steer each beam and can create multiple time-shared traps. Position detection, force calibrations and AOD performance are presented. The system can detect subnanometer displacements and forces below 0.1 pN.     

A network of electronic neural oscillators reproduces the dynamics of the periodically forced pyloric pacemaker group

Low-dimensional oscillators are a valuable model for the neuronal activity of isolated neurons. When coupled, the self-sustained oscillations of individual free oscillators are replaced by a collective network dynamics. Here, dynamical features of such a network, consisting of three electronic implementations of the Hindmarsh-Rose mathematical model of bursting neurons, are compared to those of a biological neural motor system, specifically the pyloric CPG of the crustacean stomatogastric nervous system. We demonstrate that the network of electronic neurons exhibits realistic synchronized bursting behavior comparable to the biological system. Dynamical properties were analyzed by injecting sinusoidal currents into one of the oscillators. The temporal bursting structure of the electronic neurons in response to periodic stimulation is shown to bear a remarkable resemblance to that observed in the corresponding biological network. These findings provide strong evidence that coupled nonlinear oscillators realistically reproduce the network dynamics experimentally observed in assemblies of several neurons.     

Air classification of pea flour–analytical studies

The pea-milling and subsequent air classification of whole peas was investigated on laboratory scale equipment. Two approximately linear but divergent calibration graphs were constructed for the air classifier based on two different definitions of particle size cut-point. At high classifying speed (11 000 rev min^?1) a fine fraction or protein concentrate was produced containing 55.1% protein (cf. 22% in original flour) although this represented only 29% of the total protein. The yield of protein in the fine fraction could be increased by using a three-stage milling and classifying procedure, although the actual protein content of the concentrate remained more or less the same. This procedure also had the effect of reducing protein contamination of the starch (coarse) fraction. Other effects of air classifying observed included the concentration of the lipid component into the fine fraction and the rough fractionation of the fibre constituent between the coarse (testa) and fine (cell wall material) fractions. Various aspects and problems associated with the use of air classification for the preparation of pea protein concentrates are discussed.     

Switchable Faraday shielding with application to reducing the pain of internal cardiac defibrillation while permitting external defibrillation

Switchable Faraday shielding is desirable in situations where electric field shielding is required at certain times and undesirable at other times. In this study, electrostatic finite element modeling was used to assess the effect of different shield geometries on the leakage of an internally applied field and penetration of an externally applied field. "Switching OFF" the shield by electrically disconnecting shield faces from each other was shown to significantly increase external field penetration. Applying this model to defibrillation, we looked at the effect of spacing and size of shield panels to maximize the ability to deliver an external defibrillation shock to the heart when shield panels are disconnected while providing acceptably low leakage of internal defibrillation shocks to avoid painful skeletal muscle capture when shield panels are connected. This analysis may be useful for designing internal defibrillator electrodes that preserve the efficacy of internal and external defibrillation while avoiding the significant morbidity associated with painful defibrillator shocks. Similar analysis could also guide optimizing the switchable Faraday shielding concept for other applications.     

Fusion of magnetometer and gradiometer sensors of MEG in the presence of multiplicative error

Novel neuroimaging techniques have provided unprecedented information on the structure and function of the living human brain. Multimodal fusion of data from different sensors promises to radically improve this understanding, yet optimal methods have not been developed. Here, we demonstrate a novel method for combining multichannel signals. We show how this method can be used to fuse signals from the magnetometer and gradiometer sensors used in magnetoencephalography (MEG), and through extensive experiments using simulation, head phantom and real MEG data, show that it is both robust and accurate. This new approach works by assuming that the lead fields have multiplicative error. The criterion to estimate the error is given within a spatial filter framework such that the estimated power is minimized in the worst case scenario. The method is compared to, and found better than, existing approaches. The closed-form solution and the conditions under which the multiplicative error can be optimally estimated are provided. This novel approach can also be employed for multimodal fusion of other multichannel signals such as MEG and EEG. Although the multiplicative error is estimated based on beamforming, other methods for source analysis can equally be used after the lead-field modification.     

The sodium,potassium and chloride contents of some feedingstuffs used in British poultry diets

The sodium, potassium and chloride contents of feedingstuffs used in practical and purified diets are reported. The sodium contents of some cereals and cereal by products are considerably lower than those in the literature.     

Blind identification of an autoregressive system using a nonlineardynamical approach

The problem of identifying an autoregressive (AR) system with arbitrary driven noise is considered here. Using an abstract dynamical system to represent both chaotic and stochastic processes in a unified framework, a dynamic-based complexity measure called phase space volume (PSV), which has its origins in chaos theory, can be applied to identify an AR model in chaotic as well as stochastic noise environments. It is shown that the PSV of the output signal of an inverse filter applied to identify an AR model is always larger than the PSV of the input signal of the AR model. Therefore, by minimizing the PSV of the inverse filter output, one can estimate the coefficients and the order of the AR system. A major advantage of this minimum-phase space volume (MPSV) identification technique is that it works like a universal estimator that does not require precise statistical information about the AR input signal. Because the theoretical PSV is so difficult to compute, two approximations of PSV are also considered: the e-PSV and nearest neighbor PSV. Both approximations are shown to approach the ideal PSV asymptotically. The identification performance based on these two approximations are evaluated using Monte Carlo simulations. Both approximations are found to generate relatively good results in identifying an AR system in various noise environments, including chaotic, non-Gaussian, and colored noise     

Drawing of optical fiber with internal codrawn wire and conductive coating and electrooptic modulation demonstration

One hundred twenty meters of fiber with an internal codrawn wire and electrically conductive coating was successfully fabricated for the first time. The integration of the conductive coating and wire was all performed during the fiber draw stage, in a process that enabled arbitrarily long lengths of fiber to be made. The wire combined with the conductive coating enables a strong electric field to be formed across the optical core. Such a fiber is ideal for thermally poling long lengths and for nonlinear device applications such as optical switches and modulators.     

Charge Generation and Photovoltaic Operation of Solid‐State Dye‐Sensitized Solar Cells Incorporating a High Extinction Coefficient Indolene‐Based Sensitizer

An investigation of the function of an indolene‐based organic dye, termed D149, incorporated in to solid‐state dye‐sensitized solar cells using 2,2′,7,7′‐tetrakis(N,N‐di‐p‐methoxypheny‐amine)‐9,9′‐spirobifluorene (spiro‐OMeTAD) as the hole transport material is reported. Solar cell performance characteristics are unprecedented under low light levels, with the solar cells delivering up to 70% incident photon‐to‐current efficiency (IPCE) and over 6% power conversion efficiency, as measured under simulated air mass (AM) 1.5 sun light at 1 and 10 mW cm^?2. However, a considerable nonlinearity in the photocurrent as intensities approach “full sun” conditions is observed and the devices deliver up to 4.2% power conversion efficiency under simulated sun light of 100 mW cm^?2. The influence of dye‐loading upon solar cell operation is investigated and the thin films are probed via photoinduced absorption (PIA) spectroscopy, time‐correlated single‐photon counting (TCSPC), and photoluminescence quantum efficiency (PLQE) measurements in order to deduce the cause for the non ideal solar cell performance. The data suggest that electron transfer from the photoexcited sensitizer into the TiO₂ is only between 10 to 50% efficient and that ionization of the photo excited dye via hole transfer directly to spiro‐OMeTAD dominates the charge generation process. A persistent dye bleaching signal is also observed, and assigned to a remarkably high density of electrons “trapped” within the dye phase, equivalent to 1.8 × 10¹⁷ cm^?3 under full sun illumination. it is believed that this localized space charge build‐up upon the sensitizer is responsible for the non‐linearity of photocurrent with intensity and nonoptimum solar cell performance under full sun conditions.     

Naltrexone blocks RFR‐induced DNA double strand breaks in rat brain cells

Previous research in our laboratory has shown that various effects of radiofrequency electromagnetic radiation (RFR) exposure on the nervous system are mediated by endogenous opioids in the brain. We have also found that acute exposure to RFR induced DNA strand breaks in brain cells of the rat. The present experiment was carried out to investigate whether endogenous opioids are also involved in RFRinduced DNA strand breaks. Rats were treated with the opioid antagonist naltrexone (1 mg/kg, IP) immediately before and after exposure to 2450 MHz pulsed (2 µs pulses, 500 pps) RFR at a power density of 2 mW/cm² (average whole body specific absorption rate of 1.2 W/kg) for 2 hours. DNA double strand breaks were assayed in brain cells at 4 hours after exposure using a microgel electrophoresis assay. Results showed that the RFR exposure significantly increased DNA double strand breaks in brain cells of the rat, and the effect was partially blocked by treatment with naltrexone. Thus, these data indicate that endogenous opioids play a mediating role in RFRinduced DNA strand breaks in brain cells of the rat.