Plasma Induced DNA Damage: Comparison with the Effects Of Ionizing Radiation And Establishing Effective Treatment Doses

Atmospheric pressure plasma sources such as the plasma needle are being used for wound and chronic wound healing, cancer cell removal, stem cell manipulations, in dermatology, surgery, dentistry, etc. [1,2]. In our previous work we have optimized plasma needle parameters to efficiently sterilize E. Coli and S. Aureus in planktonic samples without causing damage to the peripheral blood mesenchymal stem cells used as a model for surrounding tissue [3]. Plasma treatments of human periodontal ligament mesenchymal stem cells have led to a promotion of osteogenic differentiation without affecting cell viability [4]. These results can be important for dentistry, especially for possible support or alternative to conventional regenerative procedures, such as guided tissue regeneration, the use of bone replacement grafts, and application of exogenous growth factors or proteins. Besides the promising short term effects of atmospheric non-thermal plasma on cells, it is necessary to study the long term effects, like for example DNA damage in order to prevent undesirable effects

Destruction of chemical warfare surrogates using a portable atmospheric pressure plasma jet

Today’s reality is connected with mitigation of threats from the new chemical and biological warfare agents. A novel investigation of cold plasmas in contact with liquids presented in this paper demonstrated that the chemically reactive environment produced by atmospheric pressure plasma jet (APPJ) is potentially capable of rapid destruction of chemical warfare agents in a broad spectrum. The decontamination of three different chemical warfare agent surrogates dissolved in liquid is investigated by using an easily transportable APPJ. The jet is powered by a kHz signal source connected to a low-voltage DC source and with He as working gas. The detailed investigation of electrical properties is performed for various plasmas at different distances from the sample. The measurements of plasma properties in situ are supported by the optical spectrometry measurements, whereas the high performance liquid chromatography measurements before and after the treatment of aqueous solutions of Malathion, Fenitrothion and Dimethyl Methylphosphonate. These solutions are used to evaluate destruction and its efficiency for specific neural agent simulants. The particular removal rates are found to be from 56% up to 96% during 10 min treatment. The data obtained provide basis to evaluate APPJ’s efficiency at different operating conditions. The presented results are promising and could be improved with different operating conditions and optimization of the decontamination process

The impact of educational reform and categorization of scientific journals and scientists on physics in Serbia

The trend of the increasing participation and importance of female physicists in Serbia continues. Many women have taken leading position in research and faculty governance and are contributing significantly to educational reform and the improvement of physics education in the primary and secondary schools

Low pressure RF capacitively coupled plasma reactor for modification of seeds, polymers and textile fabrics

Plasma reactor operating at low pressures (0.2-1 Torr) at 13.56 MHz has been developed with an idea to optimize the treatment of polymers, biological and textile materials. The reactor proved very effective in treatment of polymer surfaces and wool fabrics in order to improve wettability, efficiency of dyeing and printing as well as to reduce the felting shrinkage. It also gave good results in improving germination of seeds. The basic conditions that the reactor has to satisfy are: the energy of ions that hit the surface has to be low and the reactor should be efficient in production of active radicals. Two systems with different geometries were studied, both capacitively coupled plasma reactors operating at 13.56 MHz. Cylindrical geometry was selected in order to minimize the energy of ions reaching the surface. Modeling of the discharge was performed with an aim to verify the energy distribution function of ions. As a critical diagnostic test of the system, voltage and current probes were developed to check the operation mode of the discharge. Oxygen, air and argon were used with different results

Environmental impact of plasma application to textiles

Plasma technology is currently implemented in a wide range of industrial processes due to high efficiency, low environmental impact and simplicity. Low-temperature plasma treatment can be an alternative to traditional wet processes in textile preparation and finishing, causing modification of the fibre surface, which is mainly responsible for the material end-use properties i.e. wettability, dyeability, printability, shrinking, pilling etc. Appropriate choice of gas and control of plasma operation conditions provide a variety of effects on textiles (improvement of dyeability, printability and colour fastness, improvement of adhesion properties of coated fabrics, increase in hydrophobicity and water resistance, etc.). However, in spite of extraordinary efficiency, multifunctionality and simplicity, low-temperature plasma treatments still cannot replace all wet finishing processes, though they can be viable pretreatments that offer plenty of environmental and economical benefits

Apoptosis time window induced by cold atmospheric plasma: Comparison with ionizing radiation

In this study we evaluate apoptosis time window of primary fibroblasts treated with cold atmospheric plasma (CAP), power range 0.4-1.4 W, for 30 sec, using γ-H2AX phosphorylation assay and flow cytometry. In contrast to irradiation where maximum of γ-H2AX foci appeared 30 min after irradiation and apoptosis 24 h later irrespective of radiation dose, treatment with CAP (power of 0.4 and 0.6) induces maximum of γ-H2AX foci 2 h after treatment. Apoptosis occurred in a power-dependent manner, with time shift of 2-3 h. Besides power-dependent time shift in apoptosis induction, apoptosis time window is the same and lasts for 2 h. © 2019, Indian Academy of Sciences

Biological effectiveness of plasma and electromagnetic field seeds treatments against plant pathogenic bacteria and fungi

An influence of RF air plasma and RF electromagnetic field pre-sowing treatments on germination and level of fungal and bacterial infection of seeds of some important agricultural plants has been studied. Two plasma systems (plan-parallel and cylindrical) were used for treatment. It is shown that the treatments provide a fungicidal and bactericidal effects and positively influenced seeds germination. The modification of seed coat surface structure is investigated with scanning electron microscopy

Biological effectiveness of plasma and electromagnetic field seeds treatments against plant pathogenic bacteria and fungi

An influence of RF air plasma and RF electromagnetic field pre-sowing treatments on germination and level of fungal and bacterial infection of seeds of some important agricultural plants has been studied. Two plasma systems (plan-parallel and cylindrical) were used for treatment. It is shown that the treatments provide a fungicidal and bactericidal effects and positively influenced seeds germination. The modification of seed coat surface structure is investigated with scanning electron microscopy