Effect of Electric Fields on the Director Field and Shape of Nematic Tactoids

Tactoids are spindle shaped-droplets of a uniaxial nematic phase suspended in the co-existing isotropic phase. They are found in dispersions of a wide variety of elongated colloidal particles, including actin, fd virus, carbon nanotubes, vanadium peroxide and chitin nanocrystals. Recent experiments on tactoids of chitin nanocrystals in water show that electric fields can very strongly elongate tactoids even though the dielectric properties of the co-existing isotropic and nematic phases differ only subtly. We develop a model for partially bipolar tactoids, where the degree of bipolarness of the director field is free to adjust to optimize the sum of the elastic, surface and Coulomb energies of the system. By means of a combination of a scaling analysis and a numerical study, we investigate the elongation and director field's behavior of the tactoids as a function of their size, the strength of the electric field, the surface tension, anchoring strength, the elastic constants and the electric susceptibility anisotropy. We find that tactoids cannot elongate significantly due to an external electric field, unless the director field is bipolar or quasi bipolar and is somehow frozen in the field-free configuration. Presuming that this is the case, we find reasonable agreement with experimental data

Dynamics of elongation of nematic tactoids in an electric field

Nematic tactoids are spindle-shaped droplets of a nematic phase nucleated in the co-existing isotropic phase. According to equilibrium theory, their internal structure and shape are controlled by a balance between the elastic deformation of the director field, induced by the preferred anchoring of that director field to the interface, and the interfacial free energy. Recent experiments on tactoids of chitin nanocrystals dispersed in water show that electrical fields can very strongly elongate tactoids, at least if the tactoids are sufficiently large in volume. However, this observation contradicts the predictions of equilibrium theory as well as findings from Monte Carlo simulations that do not show this kind of extreme elongation to take place at all. To explain this, we put forward a relaxational model based on the Oseen-Frank free energy of elastic deformation of a director field coupled to an anisotropic surface free energy. In our model, we use two reaction coordinates to describe the director field and the extent of elongation of the droplets and evaluate the evolution of both as a function of time following the switching on of an electric field. Depending on the relative magnitude of the fundamental relaxation rates associated with the two reaction coordinates, we find that the aspect ratio of the drops may develop a large and very long-lived overshoot before eventually relaxing to the much smaller equilibrium value. In that case, the response of the curvature of the director field lags behind, explaining the experimental observations. Our theory describes the experimental data reasonably well

The Impacts of Low-Level Laser Therapy – A Complementary Treatment in the Management of Side Effects After Implant Surgery

Introduction: One of the most important medical applications of laser is low-level laser therapy (LLLT). In this method, laser radiation penetrates easily into the target tissue. The aim of this study was to investigate whether LLLT can reduce the side effects of advanced implant surgery.Methods: In this triple-blind clinical trial, 30 patients aged 25 to 65 years were selected for implant insertion and divided into two groups. In the laser group, immediately after the surgery, 72 hours and 1 week after the surgery, the surgical site was irradiated with an 830 nm laser. The dose required for the laser therapy was 5 J/cm2. The degree of pain, facial swelling and wound healing were analyzed using statistical methods.Results: Our results showed that at 12, 24, 48, and 72 hours after the surgery, the pain level was reduced in the laser group compared with the placebo group (P < 0.05). Swelling of the face was also significantly reduced 7 days after surgery in the laser group (P < 0.05). The investigation on the recovery conditions of the surgical site showed that on the 3rd, 7th and 14th days after the surgery, higher levels of wound healing have been achieved (P < 0.05).Conclusion: Our results suggest that laser, as a complementary therapy; can be used to reduce the severity and duration of pain. Also, laser can reduce facial swelling and accelerate wound healing

Biological activity (antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral and cytotoxic) of extract from Dysidea spp.

Sponges are the most primitive of the multicellular, These organisms don’t have any mechanical defense system, so their early appearance in evolution has given them alot of time for the development of advanced secondary metabolites as chemical defense system. Sponges have the potential to provide drugs from chemical components against diseases. In this investigation the sponge samples, which it is Dysidea spp. , were collected at depth of 15- 20 meter, from locations on the coastline of Island Hengam in Persian Gulf of Iran. For identifying natural components, methanolic and diethyletter were used as extraction solvents, after removal of the solvents, the GC/MS spectra of the fraction were obtained. Then in vitro cytotoxic, antimicrobial, antifungal and antiviral activities were identified. In vitro cytotoxity screening, by XTT assay, against KB/ C152 and HUT-78/ C185 cell line, was conducted in this study in 1 - 500 µg/ml . IC50 for diethyletter and methanolic extract was 200 µg/ml in HUT-78 , IC50 for diethyletter extract was 325µg/ml and methanolic extract 325µg/ml in KB. In vitro antimicrobial activity by Broth Dilution Methods against clinical gram-positives and gram negatives (Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus و subtilis Bacillus). The results conducted that the MIC values of methanol and diethyletter extract for Escherichia coli 20mg/ml, Bacillus subtilis 10mg/ml and 2mg/ml for Staphylococcus aureus. The MBC values of the diethyletter extracts for Bacillus subtilis 30 mg/ml) and S. aureus aureus 10mg/ml. In vitro antifungal activity by Broth Dilution Methods against clinical pathogens; Candida albicans and Aspergillus fumigatus. The results conducted that the aqueous extracts didn’t have any antifungal activities on pathogens, minimum inhibitor concentrations (MIC) of the diethyletter extract on C. albicans 0/75mg/ml, MFC 5 mg/ml and methanolic extract 0.5mg/ml and MFC 5 mg/ml on A. fumigatus In vitro antiviral activities by XTT assay against MT-2 cell line. The results conducted that IC50 for diethyletter extract 500µg/ml and methanolic extract 475 µg/ml

Relaxational dynamics of the T-number conversion of virus capsids

We extend a recently proposed kinetic theory of virus capsid assembly based on Model A kinetics and study the dynamics of the interconversion of virus capsids of different sizes triggered by a quench, that is, by sudden changes in the solution conditions. The work is inspired by in vitro experiments on functionalized coat proteins of the plant virus cowpea chlorotic mottle virus, which undergo a reversible transition between two different shell sizes (T = 1 and T = 3) upon changing the acidity and salinity of the solution. We find that the relaxation dynamics are governed by two time scales that, in almost all cases, can be identified as two distinct processes. Initially, the monomers and one of the two types of capsids respond to the quench. Subsequently, the monomer concentration remains essentially constant, and the conversion between the two capsid species completes. In the intermediate stages, a long-lived metastable steady state may present itself, where the thermodynamically less stable species predominate. We conclude that a Model A based relaxational model can reasonably describe the early and intermediate stages of the conversion experiments. However, it fails to provide a good representation of the time evolution of the state of assembly of the coat proteins in the very late stages of equilibration when one of the two species disappears from the solution. It appears that explicitly incorporating the nucleation barriers to assembly and disassembly is crucial for an accurate description of the experimental findings, at least under conditions where these barriers are sufficiently large.</p

Wireless and mobile systems in telemedicine

Background: It is necessary to deploy mobile and wireless systems in healthcare, because they have many benefits for healthcare systems. The objectives of this article were introducing various systems, applications, and standards of the wireless and mobile telemedicine. Material and Methods: This review study was conducted in 2010. To conduct the study, published articles in the years 2005 to 2012, in English with an emphasis on wireless and mobile technologies in health were studied. Search was done with key words include telemedicine, wireless health systems, health and telecommunications technology in databases including Pubmed, Science Direct, Google Scholar, Web of Sciences, Proquest. The collected data were analyzed. Results: Telemedicine system in the ambulance, telemedicine systems in space, telecardiology systems, EEG system, ultrasound system are some types of wireless and mobile systems in telemedicine. PDA-based mobile and wireless telemedicine application, based PDA drug application, and patient tracking application are some of wireless and mobile applications of telemedicine. The most important standards of wireless and mobile telemedicine are HL7, DICOM, SNOMed, and ICD-9-CM. Conclusion: There are many challenges in the wireless and mobile systems in telemedicine, despite the many benefits. Slow speed in sending pictures and video, lack of attention to the privacy in the design of these systems, environmental variables and the number of users during the day are some of these challenges. It is recommended to consider these challenges during the planning and designing of wireless and mobile systems in telemedicine