Influence of Refractive Index Differences on the Signal Strength for Raman-Spectroscopic Measurements of Double Emulsion Droplets

Double emulsions show great potential for encapsulating active substances and protecting them against external influences. However, they tend to become unstable during storage. Research on double emulsions, therefore, focuses on maintaining their microstructure during their shelf life. Optical measurement methods, such as Raman spectroscopy, have hardly been used to date to analyze the microstructure of double emulsions, mainly due to multiple scattering effects. This study investigates the influence of refractive index matching of double emulsion phases by measuring the Raman signal strength of the inner water phase for different refractive index combinations. Ammonium nitrate and glycerol are added to the inner and outer water phase, respectively, to change the refractive indices of both phases. Additionally, polyvinyl alcohol serves as an emulsifier in the outer water phase. The oil phase consists of silicone oil and Dowsil Resin XR 0497 as the emulsifier. The refractive index of the oil phase is kept constant. For individual phase boundaries of single droplets, the refractive index matching plays a minor role. However, if there are many droplets with correspondingly numerous phase boundaries, which leads to multiple scattering during the measurement, the matching has a significant influence on the signal strength of the inner phase. When measuring double emulsions, the phases should always be matched, as this results in higher signals and improves the sensitivity of the measurement

Improving the Efficiency of FP-LAPW Calculations

The full-potential linearized augmented-plane wave (FP-LAPW) method is well known to enable most accurate calculations of the electronic structure and magnetic properties of crystals and surfaces. The implementation of atomic forces has greatly increased it's applicability, but it is still generally believed that FP-LAPW calculations require substantial higher computational effort compared to the pseudopotential plane wave (PPW) based methods. In the present paper we analyse the FP-LAPW method from a computational point of view. Starting from an existing implementation (WIEN95 code), we identified the time consuming parts and show how some of them can be formulated more efficiently. In this context also the hardware architecture plays a crucial role. The remaining computational effort is mainly determined by the setup and diagonalization of the Hamiltonian matrix. For the latter, two different iterative schemes are compared. The speed-up gained by these optimizations is compared to the runtime of the ``original'' version of the code, and the PPW approach. We expect that the strategies described here, can also be used to speed up other computer codes, where similar tasks must be performed.Comment: 20 pages, 3 figures. Appears in Comp. Phys. Com. Other related publications can be found at http://www.rz-berlin.mpg.de/th/paper.htm

Measurement of the Filling Degree and Droplet Size of Individual Double Emulsion Droplets Using Raman Technologies

Double emulsions arouse great interest in various industries due to their ability to encapsulate value-adding ingredients. However, they tend to be unstable due to their complex structure. Several measurement techniques have already been developed to study and monitor the stability of double emulsions. Especially for the measurement of the filling degree of double emulsions, so far there is no reliable method available. In this paper, a measurement system is presented that can measure the filling degree of water-in-oil-in-water (W/O/W) double emulsions by both spectrometrical and photometrical means. The method is based on the Raman effect and does not require any sample preparation, and the measurement has no negative influence on the double emulsion. It is shown that both spectrometric and photometric Raman techniques can reliably distinguish between double emulsions with filling degrees that have a 0.5% difference. Additionally, oil droplet sizes can be photometrically measured. Furthermore, the measurement system can be integrated into both inline and online emulsification processes

Monitoring of Osmotic Swelling Induced Filling Degree Changes in WOW Double Emulsions Using Raman Technologies

Due to their nested structure, double emulsions have the potential to encapsulate value-adding substances until their application, making them of interest to various industries. However, the complex, nested structure negatively affects the stability of double emulsions. Still, there is a lack of suitable measurement technology to fundamentally understand the cause of the instability mechanisms taking place. This study presents a novel measurement method to continuously track filling degree changes due to water diffusion in a water-in-oil-in-water (W1/O/W2) double emulsion droplet. The measurement method is based on the Raman effect and provides both photometric and spectrometric data. No sample preparation is required, and the measurement does not affect the double emulsion droplet

Impact of differentiated macrophage-like cells on the transcriptional toxicity profile of cuo nanoparticles in co-cultured lung epithelial cells

To mimic more realistic lung tissue conditions, co-cultures of epithelial and immune cells are one comparatively easy-to-use option. To reveal the impact of immune cells on the mode of action (MoA) of CuO nanoparticles (NP) on epithelial cells, A549 cells as a model for epithelial cells have been cultured with or without differentiated THP-1 cells, as a model for macrophages. After 24 h of submerged incubation, cytotoxicity and transcriptional toxicity profiles were obtained and compared between the cell culture systems. Dose-dependent cytotoxicity was apparent starting from 8.0 µg/cm$^{2}$ CuO NP. With regard to gene expression profiles, no differences between the cell models were observed concerning metal homeostasis, oxidative stress, and DNA damage, confirming the known MoA of CuO NP, i.e., endocytotic particle uptake, intracellular particle dissolution within lysosomes with subsequent metal ion deliberation, increased oxidative stress, and genotoxicity. However, applying a co-culture of epithelial and macrophage-like cells, CuO NP additionally provoked a pro-inflammatory response involving NLRP3 inflammasome and pro-inflammatory transcription factor activation. This study demonstrates that the application of this easy-to-use advanced in vitro model is able to extend the detection of cellular effects provoked by nanomaterials by an immunological response and emphasizes the use of such models to address a more comprehensive MoA

Comparing α-Quartz-Induced Cytotoxicity and Interleukin-8 Release in Pulmonary Mono- and Co-Cultures Exposed under Submerged and Air-Liquid Interface Conditions

The occupational exposure to particles such as crystalline quartz and its impact on the respiratory tract have been studied extensively in recent years. For hazard assessment, the development of physiologically more relevant in-vitro models, i.e., air-liquid interface (ALI) cell cultures, has greatly progressed. Within this study, pulmonary culture models employing A549 and differentiated THP-1 cells as mono-and co-cultures were investigated. The different cultures were exposed to α-quartz particles (Min-U-Sil5) with doses ranging from 15 to 66 µg/cm(2) under submerged and ALI conditions and cytotoxicity as well as cytokine release were analyzed. No cytotoxicity was observed after ALI exposure. Contrarily, Min-U-Sil5 was cytotoxic at the highest dose in both submerged mono- and co-cultures. A concentration-dependent release of interleukin-8 was shown for both exposure types, which was overall stronger in co-cultures. Our findings showed considerable differences in the toxicological responses between ALI and submerged exposure and between mono- and co-cultures. A substantial influence of the presence or absence of serum in cell culture media was noted as well. Within this study, the submerged culture was revealed to be more sensitive. This shows the importance of considering different culture and exposure models and highlights the relevance of communication between different cell types for toxicological investigations

Gene Expression Profiling of Mono- and Co-Culture Models of the Respiratory Tract Exposed to Crystalline Quartz under Submerged and Air-Liquid Interface Conditions

In vitro lung cell models like air-liquid interface (ALI) and 3D cell cultures have advanced greatly in recent years, being especially valuable for testing advanced materials (e.g., nanomaterials, fibrous substances) when considering inhalative exposure. Within this study, we established submerged and ALI cell culture models utilizing A549 cells as mono-cultures and co-cultures with differentiated THP-1 (dTHP-1), as well as mono-cultures of dTHP-1. After ALI and submerged exposures towards α-quartz particles (Min-U-Sil5), with depositions ranging from 15 to 60 µg/cm(2), comparison was made with respect to their transcriptional cellular responses employing high-throughput RT-qPCR. A significant dose- and time-dependent induction of genes coding for inflammatory proteins, e.g., IL-1A, IL-1B, IL-6, IL-8, and CCL22, as well as genes associated with oxidative stress response such as SOD2, was observed, even more pronounced in co-cultures. Changes in the expression of similar genes were more pronounced under submerged conditions when compared to ALI exposure in the case of A549 mono-cultures. Hereby, the activation of the NF-κB signaling pathway and the NLRP3 inflammasome seem to play an important role. Regarding genotoxicity, neither DNA strand breaks in ALI cultivated cells nor a transcriptional response to DNA damage were observed. Altogether, the toxicological responses depended considerably on the cell culture model and exposure scenario, relevant to be considered to improve toxicological risk assessment

Energiepflanzenanbau – Wirkungen auf Humusbilanz und Stickstoffhaushalt

Bei der Bewertung der Folgewirkungen des Energiepflanzenanbaus auf Boden und Umwelt ist zwischen den Effekten zu unterscheiden, die von Änderungen in der Landnutzung allgemein bzw. von speziellen Verfahren des Anbaus von Energiepflanzen hervorgerufen werden. Nur die systemimmanenten Effekte des Energiepflanzenanbaus können durch die Verfahrensgestaltung des Selben beeinflusst oder gesteuert werden. Ein wesentliches Element welches den Energiepflanzenanbau vom Anbau traditioneller Marktfrüchte unterscheidet, ist die Rückführung von Gärresten. In diesem Artikel wird daher die Wirkung des Anbaus von Energiepflanzen und die Rückführung von Gärresten auf die Umweltindikatoren Humusbilanz und Stickstoffhaushalt näher untersucht werden. Die Humusbilanzen typischer Energiepflanzenfruchtfolgen sind ohne Ausbringung von Gärresten negativ. Mit Ausbringung von Gärresten sind ausgeglichene Humusbilanzen möglich. Dabei besteht für die Humifizierungs-Faktoren von Gärresten noch Forschungsbedarf. Mit Gärresten kann der Nährstoffkreislauf von Betrieben stärker geschlossen werden. Auf Grund des hohen Mineraldüngeräquivalents kann Mineraldünger gut substituiert werden. Für die Nährstoffe Phosphor, Kalium und Magnesium sind auf dem Nutzungsweg Erntegut–Biogasanlage–Gärrest–Boden keine Verluste zu berücksichtigen. Bei Stickstoff sind nach Berücksichtigung von Verlusten etwa 50 % des Stickstoffs aus dem Erntegut im Boden mineraldüngeräquivalent zur Verfügung

Solvatochromic covalent organic frameworks.

Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) are an emerging class of highly tuneable crystalline, porous materials. Here we report the first COFs that change their electronic structure reversibly depending on the surrounding atmosphere. These COFs can act as solid-state supramolecular solvatochromic sensors that show a strong colour change when exposed to humidity or solvent vapours, dependent on vapour concentration and solvent polarity. The excellent accessibility of the pores in vertically oriented films results in ultrafast response times below 200 ms, outperforming commercially available humidity sensors by more than an order of magnitude. Employing a solvatochromic COF film as a vapour-sensitive light filter, we demonstrate a fast humidity sensor with full reversibility and stability over at least 4000 cycles. Considering their immense chemical diversity and modular design, COFs with fine-tuned solvatochromic properties could broaden the range of possible applications for these materials in sensing and optoelectronics