Electrical properties of breast cancer cells from impedance measurement of cell suspensions

Impedance spectroscopy of biological cells has been used to monitor cell status, e.g. cell proliferation, viability, etc. It is also a fundamental method for the study of the electrical properties of cells which has been utilised for cell identification in investigations of cell behaviour in the presence of an applied electric field, e.g. electroporation. There are two standard methods for impedance measurement on cells. The use of microelectrodes for single cell impedance measurement is one method to realise the measurement, but the variations between individual cells introduce significant measurement errors. Another method to measure electrical properties is by the measurement of cell suspensions, i.e. a group of cells within a culture medium or buffer. This paper presents an investigation of the impedance of normal and cancerous breast cells in suspension using the Maxwell-Wagner mixture theory to analyse the results and extract the electrical parameters of a single cell. The results show that normal and different stages of cancer breast cells can be distinguished by the conductivity presented by each cell. © 2010 IOP Publishing Ltd

House-dust mite species in Bloemfontein, South Africa

House-dust mites (HDMs) are an important source of allergens that are reputed to act as a trigger for atopic disease. Climatic conditions in parts of South Africa are not suitable for their proliferation, and there is doubt whether they occur on the Highveld. We studied whether HDMs occur in homes in Bloemfontein, Free State.Methods. Ten houses were sampled over a 1-year period. Dust was collected monthly or quarterly from a mattress, a bedroom floor and the living room floor of each house and examined for the presence of HDMs. Climate data were collected during the same period and a questionnaire was completed by home-owners to gather data on indoor factorsthat could influence mite proliferation.Results. HDMs were regularly found in 3 houses (30%). Dermatophagoides farinae was the dominant species (97.5%).The highest numbers were found in winter, when climatic conditions were the least favourable. Climatic conditions never met the requirements for active proliferation of the mites. Indoor factors that may have promoted mite proliferation in some houses were artificial heating (especially under-floor heating), en-suite bathrooms and lack of adequate ventilation during the winter months.Conclusion. HDMs do occur in central South Africa, owing to amicroclimate created indoors. Adequate ventilation, to reduceindoor humidity, should suffice to reduce mite numbers andprevent atopic symptoms induced by them

Process development and pilot-plant production of silane polymers of diols Annual summary report, 22 Apr. 1966 - 22 Apr. 1967

Preparation of cross-linkable linear high molecular weight polyaryloxysilane

Neutron capture rates and r-process nucleosynthesis

Simulations of r-process nucleosynthesis require nuclear physics information for thousands of neutron-rich nuclear species from the line of stability to the neutron drip line. While arguably the most important pieces of nuclear data for the r-process are the masses and beta decay rates, individual neutron capture rates can also be of key importance in setting the final r-process abundance pattern. Here we consider the influence of neutron capture rates in forming the A~80 and rare earth peaks.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, appears in the Proceedings of the 14th International Symposium on Capture Gamma-Ray Spectroscopy and Related Topic

Mid-infrared quantum optics in silicon

Applied quantum optics stands to revolutionise many aspects of information technology, provided performance can be maintained when scaled up. Silicon quantum photonics satisfies the scaling requirements of miniaturisation and manufacturability, but at 1.55 $\mu$m it suffers from unacceptable linear and nonlinear loss. Here we show that, by translating silicon quantum photonics to the mid-infrared, a new quantum optics platform is created which can simultaneously maximise manufacturability and miniaturisation, while minimising loss. We demonstrate the necessary platform components: photon-pair generation, single-photon detection, and high-visibility quantum interference, all at wavelengths beyond 2 $\mu$m. Across various regimes, we observe a maximum net coincidence rate of 448 $\pm$ 12 Hz, a coincidence-to-accidental ratio of 25.7 $\pm$ 1.1, and, a net two photon quantum interference visibility of 0.993 $\pm$ 0.017. Mid-infrared silicon quantum photonics will bring new quantum applications within reach.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures; revised figures, updated discussion in section 3, typos corrected, added referenc

Evidence for hard chiral logarithms in quenched lattice QCD

We present the first direct evidence that quenched QCD differs from full QCD in the chiral ($m_q \rightarrow 0$) limit, as predicted by chiral perturbation theory, from our quenched lattice QCD simulations at $\beta = 6/g^2 = 6.0$. We measured the spectrum of light hadrons on $16^3 \times 64$, $24^3 \times 64$ and $32^3 \times 64$, using staggered quarks of masses $m_q=0.01$, $m_q=0.005$ and $m_q=0.0025$. The pion masses showed clear evidence for logarithmic violations of the PCAC relation $m_{\pi}^2 \propto m_q$, as predicted by quenched chiral perturbation theory. The dependence on spatial lattice volume precludes this being a finite size effect. No evidence was seen for such chiral logarithms in the behaviour of the chiral condensate $\langle\bar{\psi}\psi\rangle$.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures, uuencoded compressed postscript fil

Quantum Memory with a controlled homogeneous splitting

We propose a quantum memory protocol where a input light field can be stored onto and released from a single ground state atomic ensemble by controlling dynamically the strength of an external static and homogeneous field. The technique relies on the adiabatic following of a polaritonic excitation onto a state for which the forward collective radiative emission is forbidden. The resemblance with the archetypal Electromagnetically-Induced-Transparency (EIT) is only formal because no ground state coherence based slow-light propagation is considered here. As compared to the other grand category of protocols derived from the photon-echo technique, our approach only involves a homogeneous static field. We discuss two physical situations where the effect can be observed, and show that in the limit where the excited state lifetime is longer than the storage time, the protocols are perfectly efficient and noise-free. We compare the technique to other quantum memories, and propose atomic systems where the experiment can be realized.Comment: submitted to New Journal of Physics, Focus on Quantum Memor

Comparison of soil moisture fields estimated by catchment modelling and remote sensing: a case study in South Africa

International audienceThe paper compares two independent approaches to estimate soil moisture at the regional scale over a 4625 km2 catchment (Liebenbergsvlei, South Africa). The first estimate is derived from a physically-based hydrological model (TOPKAPI). The second estimate is derived from the scatterometer on board on the European Remote Sensing satellite (ERS). Results show a very good correspondence between the modelled and remotely sensed soil moisture, illustrated over two selected seasons of 8 months by regression R2 coefficients lying between 0.78 and 0.92. Such a close similarity between these two different, independent approaches is very promising for (i) remote sensing in general (ii) the use of hydrological models to back-calculate and disaggregate the satellite soil moisture estimate and (iii) for hydrological models to assimilate the remotely sensed soil moisture

Comparison of X-ray and gamma-ray dose-response curves for pink somatic mutations in Tradescantia clone 02

Microdosimetric data indicate that the mean specific energy,zeta, produced by individual charged particles from X rays and gamma rays is different for the two radiation qualities by nearly a factor of two. In order to test whether this influences the initial, linear component in the dose-effect relations, a comparison was made between dose-response curves for pink somatic mutations inTradescantia clone 02 stamen hairs following X and gamma irradiations. Absorbed doses ranged from 2.66 to 300 rad. The results are in agreement with predictions made on the basis of microdosimetric data. At low doses gamma rays are substantially less effective than X rays. The RBE of gamma rays vs. X rays at low doses was approximately 0.6, a value lower than those usually reported in other experimental systems