Paper capillary force driven hollow channel as a platform for multiphase flows bioassays

AbstractThis paper develops a simple, inexpensive, and portable diagnostic assays that may be useful in remote settings, and in particular, in less industrialized countries where simple assays are becoming increasingly important for detecting disease and monitoring health. In this assays, the paper capillary force is first used to transport complex fluids such as whole blood or colloidal suspensions that contain particulates in a new type channel - paper capillary driven hollow channel, which offset the disadvantages of current paper microfluidic technologies. To demonstrate the various applications of the paper capillary force driven hollow channel, several devices are design and made to complete the purpose of exhibiting laminar flow in a T-junction microchannel, sheath a core stream in a three-inlet channel and transportation whole blood

Physicochemical Properties and Lipophilicity of Polydatin-Lecithin Complex

Purpose: To investigate the physicochemical properties and lipophilicity of polydatin-lecithin complex.Methods: The complex of polydatin-lecithin was prepared by solvent method. The physicochemical properties of the complex were investigated by ultraviolet-visible spectrometry (UV), infrared spectrometry (IR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), x ray diffractometry (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Its solubility in n-octanol at 25 °C was examined by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).Results: The UV and IR spectra of the complex showed an additive effect of polydatin-lecithin, in which the characteristic absorption of their respective peaks were retained. DSC and XRD results suggest that the complex mainly showed the presence of lecithin with the characteristic peaks for polydatin absent, while SEM demonstrated that polydatin was dispersed in lecithin. HPLC analysis found that the solubility of polydatin in n-octanol at 25 °C was enhanced from 0.41 mg/mL to 21.98 mg/mL by complexing with lecithin, indicating that the lipophilicity of polydatin was significantly improved.Conclusion: Polydatin and lecithin in the complex are combined by non-covalent bonds, and did not form a new compound. The lipophilicity of polydatin increased to 21.98 mg/mL from 0.41 mg/mL as a result of complexation.Keywords: Polydatin, Lecithin, Complex, Physicochemical property, Lipophilicit

Region-based saliency estimation for 3D shape analysis and understanding

The detection of salient regions is an important pre-processing step for many 3D shape analysis and understanding tasks. This paper proposes a novel method for saliency detection in 3D free form shapes. Firstly, we smooth the surface normals by a bilateral filter. Such a method is capable of smoothing the surfaces and retaining the local details. Secondly, a novel method is proposed for the estimation of the saliency value of each vertex. To this end, two new features are defined: Retinex-based Importance Feature (RIF) and Relative Normal Distance (RND). They are based on the human visual perception characteristics and surface geometry respectively. Since the vertex based method cannot guarantee that the detected salient regions are semantically continuous and complete, we propose to refine such values based on surface patches. The detected saliency is finally used to guide the existing techniques for mesh simplification, interest point detection, and overlapping point cloud registration. The comparative studies based on real data from three publicly accessible databases show that the proposed method usually outperforms five selected state of the art ones both qualitatively and quantitatively for saliency detection and 3D shape analysis and understanding

Vanadium Contamination and Associated Health Risk of Farmland Soil near Smelters throughout China

Whereas there is broad consensus that smelting causes serious soil contamination during vanadium production, little is known about the vanadium content of soil near smelters and the associated health risk at continental scale. This study is the first to map the distribution of vanadium in farmland soil surrounding smelters throughout mainland China, and assess the associated health risk. Analysis of 76 samples indicated that the average vanadium content in such soil was 115.5 mg/kg - far higher than the 82 mg/kg background content in China (p < 0.05). Southwest China (198.0 mg/kg) and North China (158.3 mg/kg) possessed highest vanadium contents. Vanadium content was strongly related to longitude, altitude, and atmospheric temperature. The reducible fraction accounted for the largest percentages in vanadium speciation. The average Pollution Load Index for all samples was 1.51, denoting significant metal enrichment. The Children's hazard index was higher than unity, indicating elevated health risk. The relative contribution of vanadium to the total health risk ranged from 6.02% to 34.5%, while nickel and chromium were the two main contributors in most regions. This work may serve as a model providing an overview of continental vanadium contamination around smelters, and draw attention to their possible health risks

Chemical synthesis and characterization of zinc borohydride

AbstractMetal borohydrides have received increasing research interests on account of their high hydrogen storage capacities. In this paper, zinc borohydride Zn(BH4)2 was synthesized using NaBH4 and ZnCl2 in THF under room temperature for 72h, and the crystallographic constitution of the synthesized products were analyzed by XRD. The results showed that the major phase of the products was NaCl, alternatively, NaBH4 or ZnCl2 disappeared. This concluded the formation of Zn(BH4)2. Moreover, both experiment phenomena and fired products further confirmed the synthesis of Zn(BH4)2, which a XRD pattern of Zinc borohydride was obtained

Multimodal sentinel lymph node mapping with single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT)/computed tomography (CT) and photoacoustic tomography

The identification of cancer cells in the lymph nodes surrounding a tumor is important in establishing a prognosis. Optical detection techniques such as fluorescence and photoacoustic tomography (PAT) have been reported in preclinical studies for noninvasive sentinel lymph node (SLN) mapping. A method for validation of these techniques is needed for clinical trials. We report the use of a multimodal optical-radionuclear contrast agent as a validation tool for PAT in a preclinical model. Methylene blue (MB) was radiolabeled with ^(125)I for multimodal SLN mapping and used in conjunction with MB to assess the feasibility of multimodal SLN mapping in a rat model by PAT and single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT). MB provided sufficient contrast for identifying SLNs noninvasively with a PAT system adapted from a clinical ultrasound imaging system. The signal location was corroborated by SPECT using ^(125)I labeled MB. The translation of PAT into the clinic can be facilitated by a direct comparison with established imaging methods using a clinically relevant dual SPECT and photoacoustic imaging agent. The new high-resolution PAT is a promising technology for the sensitive and accurate SLN detection in cancer patients

Microbial Community Responses to Vanadium Distributions in Mining Geological Environments and Bioremediation Assessment

Vanadium mining activities can cause contamination of the surrounding geological environment. Vanadium may exist in multiple matrices due to its migration and transformation, forming interactive relationships; however, the connection between vanadium distributions in multiple matrices and microbial community responses remains largely unknown. Vanadium is a redox-sensitive metal that can be microbiologically reduced and immobilized. To date, bioremediation of vanadium-contaminated environments by indigenous microorganisms has rarely been evaluated. This paper reports a systematic investigation into vanadium distributions and microbial communities in soils, water, and sediment from Panzhihua, China. Large vanadium contents of 1130.1 ± 9.8 mg/kg and 0.13 ± 0.02 mg/L were found in surface soil and groundwater. Vanadium in surface water tended to precipitate. Microbial communities isolated from similar environments were alike due to similarity in matrix chemistry whereas communities were distinct when compared to different matrices, with lower richness and diversity in groundwater. Proteobacteria was distributed widely and dominated microbial communities within groundwater. Redundancy analysis shows that vanadium and nutrients significantly affected metal-tolerant bacteria. Long-term cultivation (240 days) suggests the possibility of vanadium bioremediation by indigenous microorganisms, within acid-soluble fraction. This active fraction can potentially release mobile vanadium with shifted redox conditions. Vanadium (V) was bio-reduced to less toxic, mobile vanadium (IV) primarily by enriched Bacillus and Thauera. This study reveals the biogeochemical fate of vanadium in regional geological environments and suggests a bioremediation pathway via native vanadium-reducing microbes