Study of the effect of alcohol on single human red blood cells using near-infrared laser tweezers Raman spectroscopy

The effect of alcohol solution on single human red blood Cells (RBCs) was investigated using near-infrared laser tweezers Raman spectroscopy (LTRS). In our system, a low-power diode laser at 785 nm was applied for the trapping of a living cell and the excitation of its Raman spectrum. Such a design could simultaneously reduce the photo-damage to the cell and suppress the interference from the fluorescence on the Raman signal. The denaturation process of single RBCs in 20% alcohol solution was investigated by detecting the time evolution of the Raman spectra at the single-cell level. The vitality of RBCs was characterized by the Raman band at 752 cm(-1), which corresponds to the porphyrin breathing mode. We found that the intensity of this band decreased by 34.1% over a period of 25 min after the administration of alcohol. In a further study of the dependence of denaturation on alcohol concentration, we discovered that the decrease in the intensity of the 752 cm(-1) band became more rapid and more prominent as the alcohol concentration increased. The present LTRS technique may have several potential applications in cell biology and medicine, including probing dynamic cellular processes at the single cell level and diagnosing cell disorders in real time. Copyright (c) 2005 John Wiley T Sons, Ltd.

Kinetics and Force Dependence of P-selectin/PSGL-1 Interactions Measured by AFM

Leukocytes roll along the endothelium of postcapillary venules in response to inflammatory and thrombotic processes. The rolling under hydrodynamic shear forces is a first step in directing leukocytes out of the blood stream into sites of inflammation and is mediated by the selectins, a family of extended, modular, and calcium-dependent lectin receptors. The interactions between P-, E-or L-selectins and their count.

Depth dependence of nanohardness in a CuAlNi single crystal shape memory alloy

Instrumented nanoindentation was employed to study the depth dependence of nanohardness in a CuAlNi single crystal shape memory alloy that exhibits shape memory effect (SME). A Berkovich indenter and a cube comer indenter were used in this study, and the

Dependence of collision frequency on distance between two hard-sphere particles estimated by computer simulation

A Monte Carlo simulation is performed to study the dependence of collision frequency on interparticle distance for a system composed of two hard-sphere particles. The simulation quantitatively shows that the collision frequency drops down sharply as the distance between two particles increases. This characteristic provides a useful evidence for the collision-reaction dynamics of aggregation process for the two-particle system described in the other reference.

Strain Rate Dependence of Plastic Flow in Ce-based Bulk Metallic Glass During Nanoindentation

The strain rate dependence of plastic deformation of Ce60Al15CU10Ni15 bulk metallic glass was studied by nanoindentation. Even though the ratio of room temperature to the glass transition temperature was very high (0.72) for this alloy, the plastic deformation was dominated by shear banding under nanoindentation. The alloy exhibited a critical loading rate dependent serrated flow feature. That is, with increasing loading rate, the alloy exhibited a transition from less prominent serrated flow to pronounced serrated flow during continuous loading but from serrated to smoother flow during stepped loading.

Revelation of a Functional Dependence of the Sum of Two Uniaxial Strengths/Hardness on Elastic Work/Total Work of Indentation

Dimensional and finite element analyses were used to analyze the relationship between the mechanical properties and instrumented indentation response of materials. Results revealed the existence of a functional dependence of (engineering yield strength sigma(E,y) + engineering tensile strength sigma(E,b))/Oliver & Pharr hardness on the ratio of reversible elastic work to total work obtained from an indentation test. The relationship links up the Oliver & Pharr hardness with the material strengths, although the Oliver & Pharr hardness may deviate from the true hardness when sinking in or piling up occurs. The functional relationship can further be used to estimate the SUM sigma(E,y) + sigma(E,b) according to the data of an instrumented indentation test. The sigma(E,y) + sigma(E,b) value better reflects the strength of a material compared to the hardness value alone. The method was shown to be effective when applied to aluminum alloys. The relationship can further be used to estimate the fatigue limits, which are usually obtained from macroscopic fatigue tests in different modes.

Temperature Dependence of the Tribological Properties of Laser Re-Melted Al-Cu-Fe Quasicrystalline Plasma Sprayed Coatings

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of temperature on tribological properties of plasma-sprayed Al-Cu-Fe quasicrystal (QC) coating after laser re-melting treatment. The laser treatment resulted in a more uniform, denser and harder microstructure than that of the as-sprayed coatings. Tribological experiments on the coatings were conducted under reciprocating motion at high frequency in the temperature range from 25 to 650 degreesC. Remarkable influence of temperature on the friction behavior of the coating was recorded and analyzed. Microstructural analysis indicated that the wear mechanisms of the re-melted QC coatings changed from abrasive wear at room temperature, to adhesive wear at 400 degreesC and severe adhesive wear at 650 degreesC owing to the material transfer of the counterpart ball. It was also observed that the ratio of the icosahedral (i)-phase to beta-Al-50(Fe,CU)(50) phase in the coating was higher after test at 400 'C than that at 650 'C. The variation of the ratio UP of coating and of the property of the counterpart ball and coating with the temperature are the two main factors influencing the wear mechanisms and value of the friction coefficient.

Analysis of Kic and its temperature dependence of metals by a simplified dislocation model

The relative Kic values of metals are calculated with a simplified dislocation model. It is found that the ratio of KIIc to KIc and the temperature dependence of fracture toughness of some metals estimated with this model are consistent with the experimental results.

Phase dependence of electron acceleration in a tightly focused laser beam

Electron acceleration using a tightly focused ultraintensity laser beam is investigated numerically and strong phase dependence is found. The acceleration is periodic to the variety of the initial laser field phase, and the accelerated electrons are emitted in pulses of which the full width is the half period of the laser field. When a 10 PW intense laser beam is used, the electron with energy less than 1 Mev can be accelerated up to energies about 1.4 GeV. The optimal initial condition for electron acceleration is found. (C) 2005 American Institute of Physics.

Laser intensity dependence of high-order harmonic generation from aligned CO2 molecules

We investigate experimentally the high-order harmonic generation from aligned CO2 molecules and demonstrate that the modulation inversion of the harmonic yield with respect to molecular alignment can be altered dramatically by fine-tuning the intensity of the driving laser pulse for harmonic generation. The results can be modeled by employing the strong field approximation including a ground state depletion factor. The laser intensity is thus proved to be a parameter that can control the high-harmonic emission from aligned molecules.

Carrier-envelope phase dependence of few-cycle ultrashort laser pulse propagation in a polar molecule medium

We theoretically investigate carrier-envelope phase dependence of few-cycle ultrashort laser pulse propagation in a polar molecule medium. Our results show that a soliton pulse can be generated during the two-photon resonant propagation of few-cycle pulse in the polar molecule medium. Moreover, the main features of the soliton pulse, such as pulse duration and intensity, depend crucially on the carrier-envelope phase of the incident pulse, which could be utilized to determine the carrier-envelope phase of a few-cycle ultrashort laser pulse from a mode-locked oscillator.