Surface morphological evolutions on single crystal films by strong anisotropic drift-diffusion under the capillary and electromigration forces

The morphological evolution of voids at the unpassivated surfaces and the sidewalls of the single crystal metallic films are investigated via computer simulations by using the novel mathematical model developed by Ogurtani relying on the fundamental postulates of irreversible thermodynamics. The effects of the drift-diffusion anisotropy on the development of the surface morphological scenarios are fully explored under the action of the electromigration (EM) and capillary forces (CF), utilizing numerous combination of the surface textures and the directions of the applied electric field. The interconnect failure time due to the EM induced wedge shape internal voids and the incubation time of the oscillatory surface waves, under the severe instability regimes, are deduced by the novel renormalization procedures applied on the outputs of the computer simulation experiments.Comment: 41 pages, 18 figures. related simulation movies utilizing numerous combination of the surface texture, see http://www.csl.mete.metu.edu.tr/aytac/thesis/movies/index.ht

Versatile and scalable fabrication method for laser-generated focused ultrasound transducers

A versatile and scalable fabrication method for laser-generated focused ultrasound transducers is proposed. The method is based on stamping a coated negative mold onto polydimethylsiloxane, and it can be adapted to include different optical absorbers that are directly transferred or synthesized in situ. Transducers with a range of sizes down to 3 mm in diameter are presented, incorporating two carbonaceous (multiwalled carbon nanoparticles and candle soot nanoparticles) and one plasmonic (gold nanoparticles) optically absorbing component. The fabricated transducers operate at central frequencies in the vicinity of 10 MHz with bandwidths in the range of 15–20 MHz. A transducer with a diameter of 5 mm was found to generate a positive peak pressure greater than 35 MPa in the focal zone with a tight focal spot of 150 μm in lateral width. Ultrasound cavitation on the tip of an optical fiber was demonstrated in water for a transducer with a diameter as small as 3 mm

Salient point region covariance descriptor for target tracking

Cataloged from PDF version of article.Features extracted at salient points are used to construct a region covariance descriptor (RCD) for target tracking. In the classical approach, the RCD is computed by using the features at each pixel location, which increases the computational cost in many cases. This approach is redundant because image statistics do not change significantly between neighboring image pixels. Furthermore, this redundancy may decrease tracking accuracy while tracking large targets because statistics of flat regions dominate region covariance matrix. In the proposed approach, salient points are extracted via the Shi and Tomasi’s minimum eigenvalue method over a Hessian matrix, and the RCD features extracted only at these salient points are used in target tracking. Experimental results indicate that the salient point RCD scheme provides comparable and even better tracking results compared to a classical RCD-based approach, scale-invariant feature transform, and speeded-up robust features-based trackers while providing a computationally more efficient structure. © 2013 Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE) [DOI: 10 .1117/1.OE.52.2.027207

Modelling and measurement of laser-generated focused ultrasound: Can interventional transducers achieve therapeutic effects?

Laser-generated focused ultrasound (LGFU) transducers used for ultrasound therapy commonly have large diameters (6–15 mm), but smaller lateral dimensions (<4 mm) are required for interventional applications. To address the question of whether miniaturized LGFU transducers could generate sufficient pressure at the focus to enable therapeutic effects, a modelling and measurement study is performed. Measurements are carried out for both linear and nonlinear propagation for various illumination schemes and compared with the model. The model comprises several innovations. First, the model allows for radially varying acoustic input distributions on the surface of the LGFU transducer, which arise from the excitation light impinging on the curved transducer surfaces. This realistic representation of the source prevents the overestimation of the achievable pressures (shown here to be as high as 1.8 times). Second, an alternative inverse Gaussian illumination paradigm is proposed to achieve higher pressures; a 35% increase is observed in the measurements. Simulations show that LGFU transducers as small as 3.5 mm could generate sufficient peak negative pressures at the focus to exceed the cavitation threshold in water and blood. Transducers of this scale could be integrated with interventional devices, thereby opening new opportunities for therapeutic applications from inside the body

Quercetin/β-cyclodextrin inclusion complex embedded nanofibres: Slow release and high solubility

Electrospinning of polyacrylic acid (PAA) nanofibres (NF) incorporating β-cyclodextrin inclusion complex (β-CD-IC) of quercetin (QU) was performed. Here, β-CD was used as not only the crosslinking agent for PAA nanofibres but also as a host molecule for inclusion of QU. The phase solubility test showed enhanced solubility of QU due to the inclusion complexation; in addition, the stoichiometry of QU/β-CD-IC was determined to be 1:1. Computational modelling studies confirmed that 1:1 and 1:2 complex formation are desirable; 1:1 complex formation was chosen to have higher weight loading of QU. SEM images showed that PAA/QU/β-CD-IC-NF were bead-free and uniform. XRD indicated that PAA/QU/β-CD-IC-NF were amorphous in nature without the crystalline peaks of QU. Comparative results revealed that the release profile of QU from PAA/QU/β-CD-IC-NF was much slower but greater in total than from PAA/QU/β-CD-IC-film. Moreover, high antioxidant activity and photostability of QU was achieved in PAA/QU/β-CD-IC-NF. © 2015 Elsevier Ltd

Encapsulation of gallic acid/cyclodextrin inclusion complex in electrospun polylactic acid nanofibers: Release behavior and antioxidant activity of gallic acid

Cyclodextrin-inclusion complexes (CD-ICs) possess great prominence in food and pharmaceutical industries due to their enhanced ability for stabilization of active compounds during processing, storage and usage. Here, CD-IC of gallic acid (GA) with hydroxypropyl-beta-cyclodextrin (GA/HPβCD-IC) was prepared and then incorporated into polylactic acid (PLA) nanofibers (PLA/GA/HPβCD-IC-NF) using electrospinning technique to observe the effect of CD-ICs in the release behavior of GA into three different mediums (water, 10% ethanol and 95% ethanol). The GA incorporated PLA nanofibers (PLA/GA-NFs) were served as control. Phase solubility studies showed an enhanced solubility of GA with increasing amount of HPβCD. The detailed characterization techniques (XRD, TGA and 1H-NMR) confirmed the formation of inclusion complex between GA and HPβCD. Computational modeling studies indicated that the GA made an efficient complex with HPβCD at 1:1 either in vacuum or aqueous system. SEM images revealed the bead-free and uniform morphology of PLA/GA/HPβCD-IC-NF. The release studies of GA from PLA/GA/HPβCD-IC-NF and PLA/GA-NF were carried out in water, 10% ethanol and 95% ethanol, and the findings revealed that PLA/GA/HPβCD-IC-NF has released much more amount of GA in water and 10% ethanol system when compared to PLA/GA-NF. In addition, GA was released slowly from PLA/GA/HPβCD-IC-NF into 95% ethanol when compared to PLA/GA-NF. It was also observed that electrospinning process had no negative effect on the antioxidant activity of GA when GA was incorporated in PLA nanofibers. © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

Development of a Fiber Laser with Independently Adjustable Properties for Optical Resolution Photoacoustic Microscopy

Photoacoustic imaging is based on the detection of generated acoustic waves through thermal expansion of tissue illuminated by short laser pulses. Fiber lasers as an excitation source for photoacoustic imaging have recently been preferred for their high repetition frequencies. Here, we report a unique fiber laser developed specifically for multiwavelength photoacoustic microscopy system. The laser is custom-made for maximum flexibility in adjustment of its parameters; pulse duration (5–10 ns), pulse energy (up to 10 μJ) and repetition frequency (up to 1 MHz) independently from each other and covers a broad spectral region from 450 to 1100 nm and also can emit wavelengths of 532, 355, and 266 nm. The laser system consists of a master oscillator power amplifier, seeding two stages; supercontinuum and harmonic generation units. The laser is outstanding since the oscillator, amplifier and supercontinuum generation parts are all-fiber integrated with custom-developed electronics and software. To demonstrate the feasibility of the system, the images of several elements of standardized resolution test chart are acquired at multiple wavelengths. The lateral resolution of optical resolution photoacoustic microscopy system is determined as 2.68 μm. The developed system may pave the way for spectroscopic photoacoustic microscopy applications via widely tunable fiber laser technologies