Optimum design of magnetic field environment for axonal growth control in nerve cell regeneration process using electromagnetic field analyses

In this study, an optimum magnetic field environment for the nerve axonal extension and control of axonal growth direction in the nerve cell generation process was searched by using electromagnetic finite element analyses. Recently, the developments of 3D-scaffold structures employing biodegradable polymers have been an attracting attention for the clinical treatments of damaged nerve tissues. The magnetic stimulation is introduced to accelerate the regeneration speed of nerve axon inside the 3D-scaffold. According to experimental observation of Blackman, C.F. and his research group (1993) [1], it was found that 50 Hz AC magnetic field has promoted the regeneration of axonal extension in the case of pheochromocytoma cells (PC12). They identified the optimum configuration of the coil and the threshold value of driving current for the initiation of PC12 axon growth. However, they did not evaluate analytically the magnetic flux density and the magnetic field in the cell culture liquid for the PC12 axon growth initiation. Therefore, at first we employed the electromagnetic finite element analyses (FEA) to evaluate the magnetic flux density in the case of Blackman’s experiment. Simultaneously, we identified the relative magnetic permeability of Dulbecco’s Modified Eagle Medium (DMEM) as 1.01 at 50 Hz. Finally, we obtained the value of magnetic flux density inside DMEM as 4.2 T. Next, we try to design the configuration of Helmholtz coil, which can generate an optimum magnetic field to stimulate most effectively for PC12 axon extension. It is confirmed that the magnetic field gradient affect the extensional speed of PC12 axon, which can be achieved by setup the one peripheral coil and two coils at the center. We found an optimum configuration of Helmholtz coil to generate the magnetic field environment and fabricate an experimental bioreactor for PC12 cell culture. We examined the effectiveness of magnetic stimulation for PC12 nerve axon’s extension quantitatively. Further, we try to find the relationship between the magnetic field gradient and the direction of nerve axon’s extension

Spin Squeezing via One-Axis Twisting with Coherent Light

We propose a new method of spin squeezing of atomic spin, based on the interactions between atoms and off-resonant light which are known as paramagnetic Faraday rotation and fictitious magnetic field of light. Since the projection process, squeezed light, or special interactions among the atoms are not required in this method, it can be widely applied to many systems. The attainable range of the squeezing parameter is S^{-2/5}, where S is the total spin, which is limited by additional fluctuations imposed by coherent light and the spherical nature of the spin distribution.Comment: 4 pages,6 figure

Wet-oxidation waste management system for CELSS

A wet oxidation system will be useful in the Closed Ecological Life Support System (CELSS) as a facility to treat organic wastes and to redistribute inorganic compounds and elements. However at rather higher temperatures needed in this reaction, for instance, at 260 deg C, only 80% of organic in a raw material can be oxidized, and 20% of it will remain in the liquid mainly as acetic acid, which is virtually noncombustible. Furthermore, nitrogen is transformed to ammonium ions which normally cannot be absorbed by plants. To resolve these problems, it becomes necessary to use catalysts. Noble metals such as Ru, Rh and so on have proved to be partially effective as these catalysts. That is, oxidation does not occur completely, and the unexpected denitrification, instead of the expected nitrification, occurs. So, it is essential to develop the catalysts which are able to realize the complete oxidation and the nitrification