Investigation of Upconversion, downshifting and quantum –cutting behavior of Eu3+, Yb3+, Bi3+ co-doped LaNbO4 phosphor as a spectral conversion material

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dwivedi, A.; Mishra, K.; Rai, S. B.

2018-06-01

This work presents the spectral conversion characteristics [upconversion (UC), downshifting (DS) and quantum–cutting (QC) optical processes] of Eu3+, Yb3+ and Bi3+ co-doped LaNbO4 (LBO) phosphor samples synthesized by solid state reaction technique. The crystal structure and the pure phase formation have been confirmed by x-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements. The surface morphology and particle size are studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The rarely observed intense red UC emission from Eu3+ ion has been successfully obtained in Eu3+/Yb3+ co-doped LaNbO4 phosphor (on excitation with 980 nm) by optimizing the concentrations of Eu3+ and Yb3+ ions. The downshifting (DS) behavior has been studied by photoluminescence (PL) measurements on excitation with 265 nm wavelength from a Xe lamp source. A broad blue emission in the region 300–550 nm with its maximum ∼415 nm due to charge transfer band (CTB) of the host and large number of sharp peaks due to f-f transitions of Eu3+ ion have been observed. The energy transfer has been observed from (NbO4)3‑ to Eu3+ ion and the fluorescence emission has been optimized by varying the concentration of Eu3+ ion. An intense red emission has also been observed corresponding to 5D0 → 7F2 transition of Eu3+ ion at 611 nm in LBO: 0.09Eu3+ phosphor on excitation with 394 nm. The luminescence properties of Eu3+ ion are enhanced further through the sensitization effect of Bi3+ ion. The near infra-red (NIR) quantum cutting (QC) behavior due to Yb3+ ion has been monitored on excitation with 265 as well as 394 nm. The NIR QC is observed due to 2F5/2 → 2F7/2 transition of Yb3+ ion via co-operative energy transfer (CET) process from (NbO4)3‑ as well as Eu3+ ions to Yb3+ ion. This multimodal behavior (UC, DS and QC) makes this a promising phosphor material for multi-purpose spectral converter.

System-level analysis and design for RGB-NIR CMOS camera

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Geelen, Bert; Spooren, Nick; Tack, Klaas; Lambrechts, Andy; Jayapala, Murali

2017-02-01

This paper presents system-level analysis of a sensor capable of simultaneously acquiring both standard absorption based RGB color channels (400-700nm, 75nm FWHM), as well as an additional NIR channel (central wavelength: 808 nm, FWHM: 30nm collimated light). Parallel acquisition of RGB and NIR info on the same CMOS image sensor is enabled by monolithic pixel-level integration of both a NIR pass thin film filter and NIR blocking filters for the RGB channels. This overcomes the need for a standard camera-level NIR blocking filter to remove the NIR leakage present in standard RGB absorption filters from 700-1000nm. Such a camera-level NIR blocking filter would inhibit the acquisition of the NIR channel on the same sensor. Thin film filters do not operate in isolation. Rather, their performance is influenced by the system context in which they operate. The spectral distribution of light arriving at the photo diode is shaped a.o. by the illumination spectral profile, optical component transmission characteristics and sensor quantum efficiency. For example, knowledge of a low quantum efficiency (QE) of the CMOS image sensor above 800nm may reduce the filter's blocking requirements and simplify the filter structure. Similarly, knowledge of the incoming light angularity as set by the objective lens' F/# and exit pupil location may be taken into account during the thin film's optimization. This paper demonstrates how knowledge of the application context can facilitate filter design and relax design trade-offs and presents experimental results.

Optical+NIR Quasar Selection with the SDSS and UKIDSS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mehta, Sajjan S.; Mahon, R. G.; Richards, G. T.; Hewett, P. C.

2010-01-01

We present the details of an optical+near-IR quasar selection technique, which utilizes near-IR data from the UKIDSS Large Area Survey and the optical data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey in the SDSS's deep "Stripe 82" region, which covers over 200 deg2. Our selection methods primarily consist of isolating potential candidates in giK and gJK color space, in which there exists a significant separation of the stellar locus from the quasar locus. Additionally, we discuss secondary techniques such as comparison of catalog magnitudes with aperture photometry, analysis of SDSS and UKIDSS morphological type classifications, and flag cuts. Our primary color-cut selections include most quasars with redshifts below 3.4, significantly increasing the completeness both to dust reddened quasars and quasars with redshifts z 2.7 in the SDSS footprint. A simple color cut in the UKIDSS LAS Stripe 82 regions reveals 4200 quasar candidates down to K=18. These NIR selections have been used to contribute to the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS), which is one of the four surveys of the SDSS-III collaboration. We additionally intend to use our NIR techniques to perform an 8-dimensional optical+NIR Bayesian selection of quasars for the AAOmege UKIDSS SDSS (AUS) survey.

A novel near-infrared nanomaterial with high quantum efficiency and its applications in real time in vivo imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cui, X. X.; Fan, Q.; Shi, S. J.; Wen, W. H.; Chen, D. F.; Guo, H. T.; Xu, Y. T.; Gao, F.; Nie, R. Z.; Ford, Harold D.; Tang, Gordon H.; Hou, C. Q.; Peng, B.

2018-05-01

Fluorescence imaging signal is severely limited by the quantum efficiency and emission wavelength. To overcome these challenges, novel NIR-emitting K5NdLi2F10 nanoparticles under NIR excitation was introduced as fluorescence imaging probe for the first time. The photostability of K5NdLi2F10 nanoparticles in the water, phosphate buffer saline, fetal bovine serum and living mice was investigated. The fluorescence signal was detected with depths of 3.5 and 2.0 cm in phantom and pork tissue, respectively. Fluorescence spectrum with a significant signal-to-background ratio of 10:1 was captured in living mice. Moreover, clear NIR images were virtualized for the living mice after intravenous injection. The imaging ability of nanoparticles in tumor-beard mice were evaluated, the enrichment of K5NdLi2F10 nanoparticles in tumor site due to the enhanced permeability and retention effect was confirmed. The systematic studies of toxicity, bio-distribution and in-vivo dynamic imaging suggest that these materials give high biocompatibility and low toxicity. These NIR-emitting nanoparticles with high quantum efficiency, high penetration and low toxicity might facilitate tumor identification in deep tissues more sensitively.

A novel near-infrared nanomaterial with high quantum efficiency and its applications in real time in vivo imaging.

PubMed

Cui, X X; Fan, Q; Shi, S J; Wen, W H; Chen, D F; Guo, H T; Xu, Y T; Gao, F; Nie, R Z; Ford, Harold D; Tang, Gordon H; Hou, C Q; Peng, B

2018-05-18

Fluorescence imaging signal is severely limited by the quantum efficiency and emission wavelength. To overcome these challenges, novel NIR-emitting K 5 NdLi 2 F 10 nanoparticles under NIR excitation was introduced as fluorescence imaging probe for the first time. The photostability of K 5 NdLi 2 F 10 nanoparticles in the water, phosphate buffer saline, fetal bovine serum and living mice was investigated. The fluorescence signal was detected with depths of 3.5 and 2.0 cm in phantom and pork tissue, respectively. Fluorescence spectrum with a significant signal-to-background ratio of 10:1 was captured in living mice. Moreover, clear NIR images were virtualized for the living mice after intravenous injection. The imaging ability of nanoparticles in tumor-beard mice were evaluated, the enrichment of K 5 NdLi 2 F 10 nanoparticles in tumor site due to the enhanced permeability and retention effect was confirmed. The systematic studies of toxicity, bio-distribution and in-vivo dynamic imaging suggest that these materials give high biocompatibility and low toxicity. These NIR-emitting nanoparticles with high quantum efficiency, high penetration and low toxicity might facilitate tumor identification in deep tissues more sensitively.

Near-infrared (NIR) emitting conjugated polymers for biomedical applications (Presentation Recording)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Repenko, Tatjana; Kuehne, Alexander J. C.

2015-10-01

Fluorescent biomedical markers of today such as dye-infiltrated colloids, microgels and quantum dots suffer from fast bleaching, lack surface functionality (for targets or pharmaceutical agents) and potentially leach heavy metals in case of quantum dots (e.g. Cd). By contrast, conjugated polymer particles are non-cytotoxic, exhibit reduced bleaching, as the entire particle consists of fluorophore, they are hydrophobic and show high quantum yields. Consequently, conjugated polymer particles represent ideal materials for biological applications and imaging. However currently, conjugated polymer particles for biomedical imaging usually lack near-infrared (NIR) emission and are polydisperse. Fluorescent agents with emission in the NIR spectrum are interesting for biomedical applications due to their low photo-damage towards biological species and the ability of NIR radiation to penetrate deep into biological tissue.. I will present the development and synthesis of new conjugated polymers particles with fluorescence in the NIR spectral region for bio-imaging and clinical diagnosis. The particle synthesis proceeds in a one-step Pd or Ni-catalyzed dispersion polymerization of functional NIR emitters. The resulting monodisperse conjugated polymer particles are obtained as a dispersion in a non-hazardous solvent. Different sizes in the sub-micrometer range with a narrow size distribution can be produced. Furthermore biological recognition motifs can be easily attached to the conjugated polymers via thiol-yne click-chemistry providing specific tumor targeting without quenching of the fluorescence. References [1] Kuehne AJC, Gather MC, Sprakel J., Nature Commun. 2012, 3, 1088. [2] Repenko T, Fokong S, De Laporte L, Go D, Kiessling F, Lammers T, Kuehne AJC.,Chem Commun 2015, accepted.

Prediction of Pork Longissimus Lean Color Stability Using VIS/NIR

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Insufficient case-life is a costly problem facing pork processors. To assess Visible and Near-Infrared (VIS/NIR) spectroscopy as a technology to sort pork loins according to lean color stability, center-cut pork loins (n = 1208) were selected from the boning lines of four large-scale pork processor...

Quantum Max-flow/Min-cut

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cui, Shawn X.; Freedman, Michael H.; Sattath, Or; Stong, Richard; Minton, Greg

2016-06-01

The classical max-flow min-cut theorem describes transport through certain idealized classical networks. We consider the quantum analog for tensor networks. By associating an integral capacity to each edge and a tensor to each vertex in a flow network, we can also interpret it as a tensor network and, more specifically, as a linear map from the input space to the output space. The quantum max-flow is defined to be the maximal rank of this linear map over all choices of tensors. The quantum min-cut is defined to be the minimum product of the capacities of edges over all cuts of the tensor network. We show that unlike the classical case, the quantum max-flow=min-cut conjecture is not true in general. Under certain conditions, e.g., when the capacity on each edge is some power of a fixed integer, the quantum max-flow is proved to equal the quantum min-cut. However, concrete examples are also provided where the equality does not hold. We also found connections of quantum max-flow/min-cut with entropy of entanglement and the quantum satisfiability problem. We speculate that the phenomena revealed may be of interest both in spin systems in condensed matter and in quantum gravity.

Highly Luminescent Water-Dispersible NIR-Emitting Wurtzite CuInS2/ZnS Core/Shell Colloidal Quantum Dots

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

Copper indium sulfide (CIS) quantum dots (QDs) are attractive as labels for biomedical imaging, since they have large absorption coefficients across a broad spectral range, size- and composition-tunable photoluminescence from the visible to the near-infrared, and low toxicity. However, the application of NIR-emitting CIS QDs is still hindered by large size and shape dispersions and low photoluminescence quantum yields (PLQYs). In this work, we develop an efficient pathway to synthesize highly luminescent NIR-emitting wurtzite CIS/ZnS QDs, starting from template Cu2-xS nanocrystals (NCs), which are converted by topotactic partial Cu+ for In3+ exchange into CIS NCs. These NCs are subsequently used as cores for the overgrowth of ZnS shells (≤1 nm thick). The CIS/ZnS core/shell QDs exhibit PL tunability from the first to the second NIR window (750–1100 nm), with PLQYs ranging from 75% (at 820 nm) to 25% (at 1050 nm), and can be readily transferred to water upon exchange of the native ligands for mercaptoundecanoic acid. The resulting water-dispersible CIS/ZnS QDs possess good colloidal stability over at least 6 months and PLQYs ranging from 39% (at 820 nm) to 6% (at 1050 nm). These PLQYs are superior to those of commonly available water-soluble NIR-fluorophores (dyes and QDs), making the hydrophilic CIS/ZnS QDs developed in this work promising candidates for further application as NIR emitters in bioimaging. The hydrophobic CIS/ZnS QDs obtained immediately after the ZnS shelling are also attractive as fluorophores in luminescent solar concentrators. PMID:28638177

Lanthanide complexes with 2-(tosylamino)benzylidene-N-benzoylhydrazone, which exhibit high NIR emission.

PubMed

Utochnikova, V V; Kovalenko, A D; Burlov, A S; Marciniak, L; Ananyev, I V; Kalyakina, A S; Kurchavov, N A; Kuzmina, N P

2015-07-28

New NIR emitting materials were found among the lanthanide complexes with 2-(tosylamino)benzylidene-N-benzoylhydrazone. Complexes of Nd(3+), Er(3+) and Yb(3+), as well as Eu(3+), Gd(3+) and Lu(3+), were synthesized for the first time. Owing to the absence of vibration quenching the ytterbium complex was found to exhibit a photoluminescence quantum yield of 1.4%. Since the sensitization efficiency was calculated to be 55%, the losses in the quantum yield are probably due to Yb-Yb resonant energy transfer.

Watching the Real-time Evolution of a Laser Modified Atom Using Attosecond Pulses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shivaram, Niranjan; Timmers, Henry; Tong, Xiao-Min; Sandhu, Arvinder

2011-10-01

In the presence of even moderately strong laser fields, atomic states are heavily modified and develop rich structure. Such a laser dressed atom can be described using the Floquet theory in which the laser dressed states called Floquet states are composed of different Fourier components. In this work we use XUV attosecond pulses to excite a He atom from its ground state to near-infrared (NIR) laser dressed Floquet states, which are ionized by the dressing laser field. Quantum interferences between Fourier components of these Floquet states lead to oscillations in He ion yield as a function of time-delay between the XUV and NIR pulses. From the ion yield signal we measure the quantum phase difference between transition matrix elements to two different Fourier components as a function of both time-delay (instantaneous NIR intensity) and NIR pulse peak intensity. These measurements along with information from time-dependent Schrodinger equation simulations enable us to observe the real-time evolution of the laser modified atom as the dominant Floquet state mediating the ionization changes from the 5p Floquet state to the 2p Floquet state with increasing NIR intensity.

Quantum Max-flow/Min-cut

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cui, Shawn X., E-mail: xingshan@math.ucsb.edu; Quantum Architectures and Computation Group, Microsoft Research, Redmond, Washington 98052; Freedman, Michael H., E-mail: michaelf@microsoft.com

2016-06-15

The classical max-flow min-cut theorem describes transport through certain idealized classical networks. We consider the quantum analog for tensor networks. By associating an integral capacity to each edge and a tensor to each vertex in a flow network, we can also interpret it as a tensor network and, more specifically, as a linear map from the input space to the output space. The quantum max-flow is defined to be the maximal rank of this linear map over all choices of tensors. The quantum min-cut is defined to be the minimum product of the capacities of edges over all cuts ofmore » the tensor network. We show that unlike the classical case, the quantum max-flow=min-cut conjecture is not true in general. Under certain conditions, e.g., when the capacity on each edge is some power of a fixed integer, the quantum max-flow is proved to equal the quantum min-cut. However, concrete examples are also provided where the equality does not hold. We also found connections of quantum max-flow/min-cut with entropy of entanglement and the quantum satisfiability problem. We speculate that the phenomena revealed may be of interest both in spin systems in condensed matter and in quantum gravity.« less

[Proximate analysis of straw by near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS)].

PubMed

Huang, Cai-jin; Han, Lu-jia; Liu, Xian; Yang, Zeng-ling

2009-04-01

Proximate analysis is one of the routine analysis procedures in utilization of straw for biomass energy use. The present paper studied the applicability of rapid proximate analysis of straw by near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) technology, in which the authors constructed the first NIRS models to predict volatile matter and fixed carbon contents of straw. NIRS models were developed using Foss 6500 spectrometer with spectra in the range of 1,108-2,492 nm to predict the contents of moisture, ash, volatile matter and fixed carbon in the directly cut straw samples; to predict ash, volatile matter and fixed carbon in the dried milled straw samples. For the models based on directly cut straw samples, the determination coefficient of independent validation (R2v) and standard error of prediction (SEP) were 0.92% and 0.76% for moisture, 0.94% and 0.84% for ash, 0.88% and 0.82% for volatile matter, and 0.75% and 0.65% for fixed carbon, respectively. For the models based on dried milled straw samples, the determination coefficient of independent validation (R2v) and standard error of prediction (SEP) were 0.98% and 0.54% for ash, 0.95% and 0.57% for volatile matter, and 0.78% and 0.61% for fixed carbon, respectively. It was concluded that NIRS models can predict accurately as an alternative analysis method, therefore rapid and simultaneous analysis of multicomponents can be achieved by NIRS technology, decreasing the cost of proximate analysis for straw.

Supersensitization of CdS quantum dots with a near-infrared organic dye: toward the design of panchromatic hybrid-sensitized solar cells.

PubMed

Choi, Hyunbong; Nicolaescu, Roxana; Paek, Sanghyun; Ko, Jaejung; Kamat, Prashant V

2011-11-22

The photoresponse of quantum dot solar cells (QDSCs) has been successfully extended to the near-IR (NIR) region by sensitizing nanostructured TiO(2)-CdS films with a squaraine dye (JK-216). CdS nanoparticles anchored on mesoscopic TiO(2) films obtained by successive ionic layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) exhibit limited absorption below 500 nm with a net power conversion efficiency of ~1% when employed as a photoanode in QDSC. By depositing a thin barrier layer of Al(2)O(3), the TiO(2)-CdS films were further modified with a NIR absorbing squaraine dye. Quantum dot sensitized solar cells supersensitized with a squariand dye (JK-216) showed good stability during illumination with standard global AM 1.5 solar conditions, delivering a maximum overall power conversion efficiency (η) of 3.14%. Transient absorption and pulse radiolysis measurements provide further insight into the excited state interactions of squaraine dye with SiO(2), TiO(2), and TiO(2)/CdS/Al(2)O(3) films and interfacial electron transfer processes. The synergy of combining semiconductor quantum dots and NIR absorbing dye provides new opportunities to harvest photons from different regions of the solar spectrum. © 2011 American Chemical Society

Purified frequency modulation of a quantum cascade laser with an all-optical approach.

PubMed

Peng, Chen; Zhou, Haijun; Zhu, Liguo; Chen, Tao; Liu, Qiao; Wang, Detian; Li, Jiang; Peng, Qixian; Chen, Gang; Li, Zeren

2017-11-01

Purified frequency modulation (FM) is demonstrated in a standard middle-infrared quantum cascade laser by illuminating its front facet with two near-infrared (NIR) lasers. A 2 mW laser at 1550 nm is utilized to modulate the amplitude and frequency of a quantum cascade laser, and the associated amplitude modulation (AM) is suppressed by a 1.85 mW laser at 850 nm. Due to the hot carrier effect and the increment of electron temperature, the AM has been decreased. In addition, the free carrier concentration increases in the active region due to the two NIR illuminations, which enhance the FM. Purified FM is beneficial in improving the signal fidelity for free-space optical communication and high-speed FM spectroscopy.

Defect induced photoluminescence in MoS2 quantum dots and effect of Eu3+/Tb3+ co-doping towards efficient white light emission

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Haldar, Dhrubaa; Ghosh, Arnab; Bose, Saptasree; Mondal, Supriya; Ghorai, Uttam Kumar; Saha, Shyamal K.

2018-05-01

Intensive research has been carried out on optical properties of MoS2 quantum dots for versatile applications in photo catalytic, sensing and optoelectronic devices. However, white light generation from MoS2 quantum dots particularly using doping effect is relatively unexplored. Herein we report successful synthesis of Europium (Eu)/Terbium (Tb) co-doped MoS2 quantum dots to achieve white light for potential applications in optoelectronic devices. The dopant ions are introduced into the host lattice to retain the emission colors to cover the entire range of visible light of solar spectrum. Perfect white light (CIE = 0.31, 0.33) with high intensity (quantum yield = 28.29%) is achieved in these rare earth elements co-doped quantum dot system. A new peak is observed in the NIR region which is attributed to the defects present in MoS2 quantum dots. Temperature dependent study has been carried out to understand the origin of this new peak in the NIR region. It is seen that the 'S' defects in the QDs cause the appearance of this peak which shows a blue shift at higher temperature.

Near-infrared light controlled photocatalytic activity of carbon quantum dots for highly selective oxidation reaction

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Haitao; Liu, Ruihua; Lian, Suoyuan; Liu, Yang; Huang, Hui; Kang, Zhenhui

2013-03-01

Selective oxidation of alcohols is a fundamental and significant transformation for the large-scale production of fine chemicals, UV and visible light driven photocatalytic systems for alcohol oxidation have been developed, however, the long wavelength near infrared (NIR) and infrared (IR) light have not yet fully utilized by the present photocatalytic systems. Herein, we reported carbon quantum dots (CQDs) can function as an effective near infrared (NIR) light driven photocatalyst for the selective oxidation of benzyl alcohol to benzaldehyde. Based on the NIR light driven photo-induced electron transfer property and its photocatalytic activity for H2O2 decomposition, this metal-free catalyst could realize the transformation from benzyl alcohol to benzaldehyde with high selectivity (100%) and conversion (92%) under NIR light irradiation. HO&z.rad; is the main active oxygen specie in benzyl alcohol selective oxidative reaction confirmed by terephthalic acid photoluminescence probing assay (TA-PL), selecting toluene as the substrate. Such metal-free photocatalytic system also selectively converts other alcohol substrates to their corresponding aldehydes with high conversion, demonstrating a potential application of accessing traditional alcohol oxidation chemistry.Selective oxidation of alcohols is a fundamental and significant transformation for the large-scale production of fine chemicals, UV and visible light driven photocatalytic systems for alcohol oxidation have been developed, however, the long wavelength near infrared (NIR) and infrared (IR) light have not yet fully utilized by the present photocatalytic systems. Herein, we reported carbon quantum dots (CQDs) can function as an effective near infrared (NIR) light driven photocatalyst for the selective oxidation of benzyl alcohol to benzaldehyde. Based on the NIR light driven photo-induced electron transfer property and its photocatalytic activity for H2O2 decomposition, this metal-free catalyst could realize the transformation from benzyl alcohol to benzaldehyde with high selectivity (100%) and conversion (92%) under NIR light irradiation. HO&z.rad; is the main active oxygen specie in benzyl alcohol selective oxidative reaction confirmed by terephthalic acid photoluminescence probing assay (TA-PL), selecting toluene as the substrate. Such metal-free photocatalytic system also selectively converts other alcohol substrates to their corresponding aldehydes with high conversion, demonstrating a potential application of accessing traditional alcohol oxidation chemistry. Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available. See DOI: 10.1039/c3nr00092c

NIR to NIR upconversion in KYb2F7: RE3+ (RE = Tm, Er) nanoparticles for biological imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pedraza, F.; Yust, B.; Tsin, A.; Sardar, D.

2014-03-01

Until recently, many contrast agents widely used in biological imaging have absorbed and emitted in the visible region, limiting their usefulness for deeper tissue imaging. In order to push the boundaries of deep tissue imaging with non-ionizing radiation, contrast agents in the near infrared (NIR) regime, which is not strongly absorbed or scattered by most tissues, are being sought after. Upconverting nanoparticles (UCNPs) are attractive candidates since their upconversion emission is tunable with a very narrow bandwidth and they do not photobleach or blink. The upconversion produced by the nanoparticles can be tailored for NIR to NIR by carefully choosing the lanthanide dopants and dopant ratios such as KYb2F7: RE3+ (RE = Tm, Er). Spectroscopic characterization was done by analyzing absorption, fluorescence, and quantum yield data. In order to study the toxicity of the nanoparticles Monkey Retinal Endothelial Cells (MREC) were cultivated in 24 well plates and then treated with nanoparticles at different concentrations in triplicate to obtain the optimal concentration for in vivo experiments. It will be shown that these UCNPs do not elicit a strong toxic response such as quantum dots and some noble metal nanoparticles. 3-D optical slices of nanoparticle treated fibroblast cells were imaged using a confocal microscope where the nucleus and cytoplasm were stained with DAPI and Alexa Fluor respectively. These results presented support the initial assumption, which suggests that KYb2F7: RE3+ would be excellent candidates for NIR contrast agents.

Spectroscopic and quantum chemical perspectives on 2-amino 5-methylpyridinium 4-nitrobenzoate - An organic single crystals for optoelectronics device applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gandhimathi, A.; Karunakaran, R. T.; Kumaran, A. Elakkina; Prabahar, S.

2018-07-01

In this work, an optical quality single crystals of 2-amino 5-methylpyridinium 4-nitrobenzoate (2A5MPNB) were grown by slow evaporation solution growth technique using methanol as a solvent. The phases and functional groups of 2A5MPNB have been confirmed through powder X-ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) studies, respectively. The optical transmittance window and the lower cut-off wavelength of the 2A5MPNB have been identified by UV-Vis-NIR studies. Dielectric and photoconductivity studies were also performed for the grown crystals. In order to analyze the mechanical strength Vickers hardness studies were taken for the grown crystal. The thermal behaviour was investigated by TG/DTA studies. NLO and laser damage properties were explored using Nd:YAG laser. Moreover, the quantum chemical calculations on 2A5MPNB have been performed by density functional theory (DFT) calculations using the B3LYP method with 6-311++G(d,p) basis set. The predicted first hyperpolarizability is found to be 14.45 times greater than that of urea and suggests that the title compound could be an attractive material for nonlinear optical applications.

An individually coated near-infrared fluorescent protein as a safe and robust nanoprobe for in vivo imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Yu; Xiang, Kun; Yang, Yi-Xin; Wang, Yan-Wen; Zhang, Xin; Cui, Yangdong; Wang, Haifang; Zhu, Qing-Qing; Fan, Liqiang; Liu, Yuanfang; Cao, Aoneng

2013-10-01

A prerequisite for in vivo fluorescence imaging is the safety of fluorescent probes. Among all fluorescent probes, fluorescent proteins (FPs) might be the safest ones, which have been widely used in biological sciences at the gene level. But FPs have not been used in vivo in the purified form yet due to the instability of proteins. Here, we individually coat near-infrared (NIR) FPs (NIRFPs) with a silica nanoshell, resulting in NIRFP@silica, one of the safest and brightest NIR fluorescent nanoprobes with a quantum yield of 0.33 for in vivo imaging. The silica shell not only protects NIRFPs from denaturation and metabolic digestion, but also enhances the quantum yield and photostability of the coated NIRFPs. When injected via the tail vein, NIRFP@silica NPs can distribute all over the mouse body, and then can be efficiently eliminated through urine in 24 h, demonstrating its potential applications as a safe and robust NIR fluorescence probe for whole body imaging.A prerequisite for in vivo fluorescence imaging is the safety of fluorescent probes. Among all fluorescent probes, fluorescent proteins (FPs) might be the safest ones, which have been widely used in biological sciences at the gene level. But FPs have not been used in vivo in the purified form yet due to the instability of proteins. Here, we individually coat near-infrared (NIR) FPs (NIRFPs) with a silica nanoshell, resulting in NIRFP@silica, one of the safest and brightest NIR fluorescent nanoprobes with a quantum yield of 0.33 for in vivo imaging. The silica shell not only protects NIRFPs from denaturation and metabolic digestion, but also enhances the quantum yield and photostability of the coated NIRFPs. When injected via the tail vein, NIRFP@silica NPs can distribute all over the mouse body, and then can be efficiently eliminated through urine in 24 h, demonstrating its potential applications as a safe and robust NIR fluorescence probe for whole body imaging. Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: A chromatogram of APTS-NIRFP, a TEM image of 40 nm NIRFP@silica, dispersion stability of NIRFP@silica, more whole body fluorescent images, serum biochemical parameters, and optical images of HE stained organ slices. See DOI: 10.1039/c3nr02508j

Note: Retrofitting an analog spectrometer for high resolving power in NUV-NIR

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Taylor, Andrew S.; Batishchev, Oleg V.

2017-11-01

We demonstrate how an older spectrometer designed for photographic films can be efficiently retrofitted with a narrow laser-cut slit and a modern μm-pixel-size imaging CMOS camera, yielding sub-pm resolution in the broad near ultraviolet to near infrared (NUV-NIR) spectral range. Resolving power approaching 106 is achieved. Such digital retrofitting of an analog instrument is practical for research and teaching laboratories.

Near-infrared induced optical quenching effects on mid-infrared quantum cascade lasers

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Guo, Dingkai, E-mail: dingk1@umbc.edu; Talukder, Muhammad Anisuzzaman; Chen, Xing

In space communications, atmospheric absorption and Rayleigh scattering are the dominant channel impairments. Transmission using mid-infrared (MIR) wavelengths offers the benefits of lower loss and less scintillation effects. In this work, we report the telecom wavelengths (1.55 μm and 1.3 μm) induced optical quenching effects on MIR quantum cascade lasers (QCLs), when QCLs are operated well above their thresholds. The QCL output power can be near 100% quenched using 20 mW of near-infrared (NIR) power, and the quenching effect depends on the input NIR intensity as well as wavelength. Time resolved measurement was conducted to explore the quenching mechanism. The measured recovery timemore » is around 14 ns, which indicates that NIR generated electron-hole pairs may play a key role in the quenching process. The photocarrier created local field and band bending can effectively deteriorate the dipole transition matrix element and quench the QCL. As a result, MIR QCLs can be used as an optical modulator and switch controlled by NIR lasers. They can also be used as “converters” to convert telecom optical signals into MIR optical signals.« less

Narrowband light detection via internal quantum efficiency manipulation of organic photodiodes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Armin, Ardalan; Jansen-van Vuuren, Ross D.; Kopidakis, Nikos; Burn, Paul L.; Meredith, Paul

2015-02-01

Spectrally selective light detection is vital for full-colour and near-infrared (NIR) imaging and machine vision. This is not possible with traditional broadband-absorbing inorganic semiconductors without input filtering, and is yet to be achieved for narrowband absorbing organic semiconductors. We demonstrate the first sub-100 nm full-width-at-half-maximum visible-blind red and NIR photodetectors with state-of-the-art performance across critical response metrics. These devices are based on organic photodiodes with optically thick junctions. Paradoxically, we use broadband-absorbing organic semiconductors and utilize the electro-optical properties of the junction to create the narrowest NIR-band photoresponses yet demonstrated. In this context, these photodiodes outperform the encumbent technology (input filtered inorganic semiconductor diodes) and emerging technologies such as narrow absorber organic semiconductors or quantum nanocrystals. The design concept allows for response tuning and is generic for other spectral windows. Furthermore, it is material-agnostic and applicable to other disordered and polycrystalline semiconductors.

Narrowband Light Detection via Internal Quantum Efficiency Manipulation of Organic Photodiodes

DOE PAGES

Armin, A.; Jansen-van Vuuren, R. D.; Kopidakis, N.; ...

2015-02-01

Spectrally selective light detection is vital for full-colour and near-infrared (NIR) imaging and machine vision. This is not possible with traditional broadband-absorbing inorganic semiconductors without input filtering, and is yet to be achieved for narrowband absorbing organic semiconductors. We demonstrate the first sub-100 nm full-width-at-half-maximum visible-blind red and NIR photodetectors with state-of-the-art performance across critical response metrics. These devices are based on organic photodiodes with optically thick junctions. Paradoxically, we use broadband-absorbing organic semiconductors and utilize the electro-optical properties of the junction to create the narrowest NIR-band photoresponses yet demonstrated. In this context, these photodiodes outperform the encumbent technology (inputmore » filtered inorganic semiconductor diodes) and emerging technologies such as narrow absorber organic semiconductors or quantum nanocrystals. The design concept allows for response tuning and is generic for other spectral windows. Furthermore, it is materialagnostic and applicable to other disordered and polycrystalline semiconductors.« less

A filterless, visible-blind, narrow-band, and near-infrared photodetector with a gain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shen, Liang; Zhang, Yang; Bai, Yang; Zheng, Xiaopeng; Wang, Qi; Huang, Jinsong

2016-06-01

In many applications of near-infrared (NIR) light detection, a band-pass filter is needed to exclude the noise caused by visible light. Here, we demonstrate a filterless, visible-blind, narrow-band NIR photodetector with a full-width at half-maximum of <50 nm for the response spectrum. These devices have a thick (>4 μm) nanocomposite absorbing layers made of polymer-fullerene:lead sulfide (PbS) quantum dots (QDs). The PbS QDs yield a photoconductive gain due to their hole-trapping effect, which effectively enhances both the responsivity and the visible rejection ratio of the external quantum efficiency by >10 fold compared to those without PbS QDs. Encouragingly, the inclusion of the PbS QDs does not increase the device noise. We directly measured a noise equivalent power (NEP) of 6.1 pW cm-2 at 890 nm, and a large linear dynamic range (LDR) over 11 orders of magnitude. The highly sensitive visible-blind NIR narrow-band photodetectors may find applications in biomedical engineering.

An Enhanced UV-Vis-NIR an d Flexible Photodetector Based on Electrospun ZnO Nanowire Array/PbS Quantum Dots Film Heterostructure.

PubMed

Zheng, Zhi; Gan, Lin; Zhang, Jianbing; Zhuge, Fuwei; Zhai, Tianyou

2017-03-01

ZnO nanostructure-based photodetectors have a wide applications in many aspects, however, the response range of which are mainly restricted in the UV region dictated by its bandgap. Herein, UV-vis-NIR sensitive ZnO photodetectors consisting of ZnO nanowires (NW) array/PbS quantum dots (QDs) heterostructures are fabricated through modified electrospining method and an exchanging process. Besides wider response region compared to pure ZnO NWs based photodetectors, the heterostructures based photodetectors have faster response and recovery speed in UV range. Moreover, such photodetectors demonstrate good flexibility as well, which maintain almost constant performances under extreme (up to 180°) and repeat (up to 200 cycles) bending conditions in UV-vis-NIR range. Finally, this strategy is further verified on other kinds of 1D nanowires and 0D QDs, and similar enhancement on the performance of corresponding photodetecetors can be acquired, evidencing the universality of this strategy.

Color Restoration of RGBN Multispectral Filter Array Sensor Images Based on Spectral Decomposition.

PubMed

Park, Chulhee; Kang, Moon Gi

2016-05-18

A multispectral filter array (MSFA) image sensor with red, green, blue and near-infrared (NIR) filters is useful for various imaging applications with the advantages that it obtains color information and NIR information simultaneously. Because the MSFA image sensor needs to acquire invisible band information, it is necessary to remove the IR cut-offfilter (IRCF). However, without the IRCF, the color of the image is desaturated by the interference of the additional NIR component of each RGB color channel. To overcome color degradation, a signal processing approach is required to restore natural color by removing the unwanted NIR contribution to the RGB color channels while the additional NIR information remains in the N channel. Thus, in this paper, we propose a color restoration method for an imaging system based on the MSFA image sensor with RGBN filters. To remove the unnecessary NIR component in each RGB color channel, spectral estimation and spectral decomposition are performed based on the spectral characteristics of the MSFA sensor. The proposed color restoration method estimates the spectral intensity in NIR band and recovers hue and color saturation by decomposing the visible band component and the NIR band component in each RGB color channel. The experimental results show that the proposed method effectively restores natural color and minimizes angular errors.

Color Restoration of RGBN Multispectral Filter Array Sensor Images Based on Spectral Decomposition

PubMed Central

Park, Chulhee; Kang, Moon Gi

2016-01-01

A multispectral filter array (MSFA) image sensor with red, green, blue and near-infrared (NIR) filters is useful for various imaging applications with the advantages that it obtains color information and NIR information simultaneously. Because the MSFA image sensor needs to acquire invisible band information, it is necessary to remove the IR cut-offfilter (IRCF). However, without the IRCF, the color of the image is desaturated by the interference of the additional NIR component of each RGB color channel. To overcome color degradation, a signal processing approach is required to restore natural color by removing the unwanted NIR contribution to the RGB color channels while the additional NIR information remains in the N channel. Thus, in this paper, we propose a color restoration method for an imaging system based on the MSFA image sensor with RGBN filters. To remove the unnecessary NIR component in each RGB color channel, spectral estimation and spectral decomposition are performed based on the spectral characteristics of the MSFA sensor. The proposed color restoration method estimates the spectral intensity in NIR band and recovers hue and color saturation by decomposing the visible band component and the NIR band component in each RGB color channel. The experimental results show that the proposed method effectively restores natural color and minimizes angular errors. PMID:27213381

Bandgap engineered reverse type-I CdTe/InP/ZnS core-shell nanocrystals for the near-infrared.

PubMed

Kim, Sunghoon; Shim, Wooyoung; Seo, Heonjin; Hyun Bae, Je; Sung, Jaeyoung; Choi, Seung Hong; Moon, Woo Kyung; Lee, Gwang; Lee, Bunyeoul; Kim, Sang-Wook

2009-03-14

New quantum dots were fabricated with a core/shell/shell structure consisting of CdTe core/InP shell/ZnS shell of which the InP shell causes a red-shift to the NIR region and the ZnS shell imparts photo-stability; toxicity tests on mammalian cells and NIR imaging of a mouse highlight their potential applications in biomedical imaging.

Aqueous CdPbS quantum dots for near-infrared imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Au, Giang H. T.; Y Shih, Wan; Tseng, S.-Ja; Shih, Wei-Heng

2012-07-01

Quantum dots (QDs) are semiconducting nanocrystals that have photoluminescent (PL) properties brighter than fluorescent molecules and do not photo-bleach, ideal for in vivo imaging of diseased tissues or monitoring of biological processes. Near-infrared (NIR) fluorescent light within the window of 700-1000 nm, which is separated from the major absorption peaks of hemoglobin and water, has the potential to be detected several millimeters under the surface with minimal interference from tissue autofluorescence. Here we report the synthesis and bioimaging demonstration of a new NIR QDs system, namely, CdPbS, made by an aqueous approach with 3-mercaptopropionic acid (MPA) as the capping molecule. The aqueous-synthesized, MPA-capped CdPbS QDs exhibited an NIR emission in the range of 800-950 nm with xi ≥ 0.3, where xi denotes the initial Pb molar fraction during the synthesis. Optimal PL performance of the CdPbS QDs occurred at xi = 0.7, which was about 4 nm in size as determined by transmission electron microscopy, had a rock salt structure and a quantum yield of 12%. Imaging of CdPbS QDs was tested in membrane staining and transfection studies. Cells transfected with CdPbS QDs were shown to be visible underneath a slab of chicken muscle tissue of up to 0.7 mm in thickness without the use of multiple-photon microscopy.

Unravelling the dynamical origin of below- and near-threshold harmonic generation of H 2 + in an intense NIR laser field

DOE PAGES

Heslar, John; Chu, Shih-I.

2016-11-24

Recently, the study of near- and below- threshold regime harmonics as a potential source of intense coherent vacuum-ultraviolet radiation has received considerable attention. However, the dynamical origin of these lower harmonics, particularly for the molecular systems, is less understood and largely unexplored. Here we perform the first fully ab initio and high precision 3D quantum study of the below- and near-threshold harmonic generation of H 2 + molecules in an intense 800-nm near-infrared (NIR) laser field. Furthermore, combining with a synchrosqueezing transform of the quantum time-frequency spectrum and an extended semiclassical analysis, we explore in-depth the roles of various quantummore » trajectories, including short- and long trajectories, multiphoton trajectories, resonance-enhanced trajectories, and multiple rescattering trajectories of the below- and near- threshold harmonic generation processes. Our results shed new light on the dynamical origin of the below- and near-threshold harmonic generation and various quantum trajectories for diatomic molecules for the first time.« less

Attosecond transient absorption probing of electronic superpositions of bound states in neon. Detection of quantum beats

DOE PAGES

Beck, Annelise R; Bernhardt, Birgitta; Warrick, Erika R.; ...

2014-11-07

Electronic wavepackets composed of multiple bound excited states of atomic neon lying between 19.6 and 21.5 eV are launched using an isolated attosecond pulse. Individual quantum beats of the wavepacket are detected by perturbing the induced polarization of the medium with a time-delayed few-femtosecond near-infrared (NIR) pulse via coupling the individual states to multiple neighboring levels. All of the initially excited states are monitored simultaneously in the attosecond transient absorption spectrum, revealing Lorentzian to Fano lineshape spectral changes as well as quantum beats. The most prominent beating of the several that were observed was in the spin–orbit split 3d absorptionmore » features, which has a 40 femtosecond period that corresponds to the spin–orbit splitting of 0.1 eV. The few-level models and multilevel calculations confirm that the observed magnitude of oscillation depends strongly on the spectral bandwidth and tuning of the NIR pulse and on the location of possible coupling states.« less

Quantum efficiency test set up performances for NIR detector characterization at ESTEC

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Crouzet, P.-E.; Duvet, L.; De Wit, F.; Beaufort, T.; Blommaert, S.; Butler, B.; Van Duinkerken, G.; ter Haar, J.; Heijnen, J.; van der Luijt, K.; Smit, H.; Viale, T.

2014-07-01

The Payload Technology Validation Section (Future mission preparation Office) at ESTEC is in charge of specific mission oriented validation activities, for science and robotic exploration missions, aiming at reducing development risks in the implementation phase. These activities take place during the early mission phases or during the implementation itself. In this framework, a test set up to characterize the quantum efficiency of near infrared detectors has been developed. The first detector to be tested will an HAWAII-2RG detector with a 2.5μm cut off, it will be used as commissioning device in preparation to the tests of prototypes European detectors developed under ESA funding. The capability to compare on the same setup detectors from different manufacturers will be a unique asset for the future mission preparation office. This publication presents the performances of the quantum efficiency test bench to prepare measurements on the HAWAII-2RG detector. A SOFRADIR Saturn detector has been used as a preliminary test vehicle for the bench. A test set up with a lamp, chopper, monochromator, pinhole and off axis mirrors allows to create a spot of 1mm diameter between 700nm and 2.5μm.The shape of the beam has been measured to match the rms voltage read by the Merlin Lock -in amplifier and the amplitude of the incoming signal. The reference detectors have been inter-calibrated with an uncertainty up to 3 %. For the measurement with HAWAII-2RG detector, the existing cryostat [1] has been modified to adapt cold black baffling, a cold filter wheel and a sapphire window. An statistic uncertainty of +/-2.6% on the quantum efficiency on the detector under test measurement is expected.

Quantum cascade lasers, systems, and applications in Europe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lambrecht, Armin

2005-03-01

Since the invention of the Quantum Cascade Laser (QCL) a decade ago an impressive progress has been achieved from first low temperature pulsed laser emission to continuous wave operation at room temperature. Distributed feedback (DFB) lasers working in pulsed mode at ambient temperatures and covering a broad spectral range in the mid infrared (MIR) are commercially available now. For many industrial applications e.g. automotive exhaust control and process monitoring, laser spectroscopy is an established technique, generally using near infrared (NIR) diode lasers. However, the mid infrared (MIR) spectral region is of special interest because of much stronger absorption lines compared to NIR. The status of QCL devices, system development and applications is reviewed. Special emphasis is given to the situation in Europe where a remarkable growth of QCL related R&D can be observed.

Recent Advances in Inorganic Nanoparticle-Based NIR Luminescence Imaging: Semiconductor Nanoparticles and Lanthanide Nanoparticles.

PubMed

Kim, Dokyoon; Lee, Nohyun; Park, Yong Il; Hyeon, Taeghwan

2017-01-18

Several types of nanoparticle-based imaging probes have been developed to replace conventional luminescent probes. For luminescence imaging, near-infrared (NIR) probes are useful in that they allow deep tissue penetration and high spatial resolution as a result of reduced light absorption/scattering and negligible autofluorescence in biological media. They rely on either an anti-Stokes or a Stokes shift process to generate luminescence. For example, transition metal-doped semiconductor nanoparticles and lanthanide-doped inorganic nanoparticles have been demonstrated as anti-Stokes shift-based agents that absorb NIR light through two- or three-photon absorption process and upconversion process, respectively. On the other hand, quantum dots (QDs) and lanthanide-doped nanoparticles that emit in NIR-II range (∼1000 to ∼1350 nm) were suggested as promising Stokes shift-based imaging agents. In this topical review, we summarize and discuss the recent progress in the development of inorganic nanoparticle-based luminescence imaging probes working in NIR range.

A near-infrared fluorescent probe based on BODIPY derivative with high quantum yield for selective detection of exogenous and endogenous cysteine in biological samples.

PubMed

Li, Song-Jiao; Fu, Ya-Jun; Li, Chun-Yan; Li, Yong-Fei; Yi, Lan-Hua; Ou-Yang, Juan

2017-11-22

Cysteine (Cys) is involved in cellular growth and Cys deficiency is related with many diseases. So far, a number of fluorescent probes have been constructed for the detection of Cys successfully. However, the probes are difficult to discriminate Cys from Hcy and the emission wavelength of the probes is in ultraviolet or visible range. Herein, a NIR fluorescent probe named NIR-BODIPY-Ac is synthesized and used to detect Cys. The emission wavelength of the probe is at 708 nm that belongs to near-infrared (NIR) region by attaching indolium to BODIPY core, which is suitable for bioimaging in vivo. Moreover, the probe exhibits high fluorescence quantum yield (Φ = 0.51) after the addition of Cys and high sensitivity toward Cys with 81-fold fluorescence enhancement. The linear range of the probe for Cys covers from 0.2 to 30 μM with a detection limit of 0.05 μM. Furthermore, the probe shows high selectivity towards Cys owing to the fact that there is more fast reaction rate between the probe and Cys than that of Hcy. In particular, the NIR fluorescent probe is applied for the detection of exogenous and endogenous Cys in biological samples such as cell, tissue and mouse with satisfactory results. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Growth and characterization of InAs sub-monolayer quantum dots with varying fractional coverage

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mukherjee, S.; Pradhan, A.; Mukherje, S.; Maitra, T.; Sengupta, S.; Chakrabarti, S.; Nayak, A.; Bhunia, S.

2018-04-01

We have studied the optical properties of InAs sub monolayer (SML) quantum dots in GaAs quantum well with InAs average deposition below one monolayer (ML) [0.3 - 0.8 ML] in Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE) growth system. The samples have exhibited sharp photoluminescence peak at low temperature (3.3 K) which could be tuned in the near infrared (NIR) region (1.42 eV-1.47 eV) by controlling the InAs SML coverage.

Ultralow-power near-infrared excited neodymium-doped nanoparticles for long-term in vivo bioimaging.

PubMed

Qin, Qing-Song; Zhang, Pei-Zhi; Sun, Ling-Dong; Shi, Shuo; Chen, Nai-Xiu; Dong, Hao; Zheng, Xiao-Yu; Li, Le-Min; Yan, Chun-Hua

2017-04-06

Lanthanide-doped luminescent nanoparticles with both emission and excitation in the near-infrared (NIR-to-NIR) region hold great promise for bioimaging. Herein, core@shell structured LiLuF 4 :Nd@LiLuF 4 (named as Nd@Lu) nanoparticles (NPs) with highly efficient NIR emission were developed for high-performance in vivo bioimaging. Strikingly, the absolute quantum yield of Nd@Lu NPs reached as high as 32%. After coating with polyethylene glycol (PEG), the water-dispersible Nd@Lu NPs showed good bio-compatibility and low toxicity. With efficient NIR emission, the Nd@Lu NPs were clearly detectable in tissues at depths of up to 20 mm. In addition, long-term in vivo biodistribution with a high signal-to-noise ratio of 25.1 was distinctly tracked upon an ultralow-power-density excitation (10 mW cm -2 ) of 732 nm for the first time.

Aptamer and 5-fluorouracil dual-loading Ag2S quantum dots used as a sensitive label-free probe for near-infrared photoluminescence turn-on detection of CA125 antigen.

PubMed

Jin, Hui; Gui, Rijun; Gong, Jun; Huang, Wenxue

2017-06-15

In this article, Ag 2 S quantum dots (QDs) were prepared by a facile aqueous synthesis method, using thiourea as a new sulfur precursor. Based on electrostatic interactions, 5-fluorouracil (5-Fu) was combined with the aptamer of CA125 antigen to fabricate aptamer/5-Fu complex. The surface of as-prepared Ag 2 S QDs was modified with polyethylenimine, followed by combination with the aptamer/5-Fu complex to form Ag 2 S QDs/aptamer/5-Fu hybrids. During the combination of Ag 2 S QDs with aptamer/5-Fu complex, near-infrared (NIR) photoluminescence (PL) of QDs (peaked at 850nm) was markedly reduced under excitation at 625nm, attributed to photo-induced electron transfer from QDs to 5-Fu. However, the addition of CA125 induced obvious NIR PL recovery, which was ascribed to the strong binding affinity of CA125 with its aptamer, and the separation of aptamer/5-Fu complex from the surface of QDs. Hence, the Ag 2 S QDs/aptamer/5-Fu hybrids were developed as a novel NIR PL turn-on probe of CA125. In the concentration range of [CA125] from 0.1 to 10 6 ngmL -1 , there were a good linear relationship between NIR PL intensities of Ag 2 S QDs and Log[CA125], and a low limit of detection of 0.07ngmL -1 . Experimental results revealed the highly selective and sensitive NIR PL responses of this probe to CA125, over other potential interferences. In real human body fluids, this probe also exhibited superior analytical performance, together with high detection recoveries. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Spectroscopic and Quantum Mechanical Calculation Study of the Effect of Isotopic Substitution on NIR Spectra of Methanol.

PubMed

Grabska, Justyna; Czarnecki, Mirosław A; Beć, Krzysztof B; Ozaki, Yukihiro

2017-10-19

In this work, we studied methanol and its deuterated derivatives (CH 3 OH, CH 3 OD, CD 3 OH, CD 3 OD) by NIR spectroscopy and anharmonic quantum chemical calculations. Vibrational bands corresponding to up to three quanta transitions (first and second overtones, binary and ternary combination modes) were predicted by the use of the VPT2 route. The accuracy of prediction of NIR modes was evaluated through density functional theory (DFT) with selected density functionals and basis sets. On the basis of the theoretical NIR spectra, detailed band assignments for all studied molecules were proposed. It was found that the pattern of bands in NIR spectra of deuterated methanols can be used for identification of isotopically equalized forms. Calculations of NIR spectra of all possible forms of CXXXOX (X = H, D) molecules demonstrated that the isotopic contamination can be identified due to a coexistence of bands specific to OH and OD groups. Also, bands from partially deuterated methyl groups can be distinguished in NIR spectra. Since the VPT2 framework is known to be sensitive to inaccuracy in the case of highly anharmonic modes, we obtained an independent insight by numerical solving of the time-independent Schrödinger equation corresponding to the O-X stretching mode scanned within -0.4 to 2.0 Å over a dense grid of 0.005 Å. This way the energies of vibrational levels of the CX1X2X3OX4 (X = H, D) isotopomers and the corresponding transition frequencies were obtained with high accuracy (<0.1 cm -1 ). The change in normal coordinate influences the reduced mass of the oscillator and thus its frequency. Our results lead to a conclusion that the effect of deuterization of the methyl group introduces a very specific and consistent frequency shift of the first overtone of the O-X stretching mode depending on the substitution of X1, X2, or X3 positions (<2 cm -1 ). However, the pattern of this shift is not reproduced accurately and is also largely overestimated by VPT2 calculations.

Highly luminescent, biocompatible ytterbium(iii) complexes as near-infrared fluorophores for living cell imaging.

PubMed

Ning, Yingying; Tang, Juan; Liu, Yi-Wei; Jing, Jing; Sun, Yuansheng; Zhang, Jun-Long

2018-04-21

Herein, we report the design and synthesis of biocompatible Yb 3+ complexes for near-infrared (NIR) living cell imaging. Upon excitation at either the visible (Soret band) or red region (Q band), these β-fluorinated Yb 3+ complexes display high NIR luminescence (quantum yields up to 23% and 13% in dimethyl sulfoxide and water, respectively) and have higher stabilities and prolonged decay lifetimes (up to 249 μs) compared to the β-non-fluorinated counterparts. This renders the β-fluorinated Yb 3+ complexes as a new class of biological optical probes in both steady-state imaging and time-resolved fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLIM). NIR confocal fluorescence images showed strong and specific intracellular Yb 3+ luminescence signals when the biocompatible Yb 3+ complexes were uptaken into the living cells. Importantly, FLIM measurements showed an intracellular lifetime distribution between 100 and 200 μs, allowing an effective discrimination from cell autofluorescence, and afforded high signal-to-noise ratios as firstly demonstrated in the NIR region. These results demonstrated the prospects of NIR lanthanide complexes as biological probes for NIR steady-state fluorescence and time-resolved fluorescence lifetime imaging.

A review of NIR dyes in cancer targeting and imaging.

PubMed

Luo, Shenglin; Zhang, Erlong; Su, Yongping; Cheng, Tianmin; Shi, Chunmeng

2011-10-01

The development of multifunctional agents for simultaneous tumor targeting and near infrared (NIR) fluorescence imaging is expected to have significant impact on future personalized oncology owing to the very low tissue autofluorescence and high tissue penetration depth in the NIR spectrum window. Cancer NIR molecular imaging relies greatly on the development of stable, highly specific and sensitive molecular probes. Organic dyes have shown promising clinical implications as non-targeting agents for optical imaging in which indocyanine green has long been implemented in clinical use. Recently, significant progress has been made on the development of unique NIR dyes with tumor targeting properties. Current ongoing design strategies have overcome some of the limitations of conventional NIR organic dyes, such as poor hydrophilicity and photostability, low quantum yield, insufficient stability in biological system, low detection sensitivity, etc. This potential is further realized with the use of these NIR dyes or NIR dye-encapsulated nanoparticles by conjugation with tumor specific ligands (such as small molecules, peptides, proteins and antibodies) for tumor targeted imaging. Very recently, natively multifunctional NIR dyes that can preferentially accumulate in tumor cells without the need of chemical conjugation to tumor targeting ligands have been developed and these dyes have shown unique optical and pharmaceutical properties for biomedical imaging with superior signal-to-background contrast index. The main focus of this article is to provide a concise overview of newly developed NIR dyes and their potential applications in cancer targeting and imaging. The development of future multifunctional agents by combining targeting, imaging and even therapeutic routes will also be discussed. We believe these newly developed multifunctional NIR dyes will broaden current concept of tumor targeted imaging and hold promise to make an important contribution to the diagnosis and therapeutics for the treatment of cancer. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Hyaluronic Acid Conjugated Magnetic Prussian Blue@Quantum Dot Nanoparticles for Cancer Theranostics

PubMed Central

Yang, Yongbo; Jing, Lijia; Li, Xiaoda; Lin, Li; Yue, Xiuli; Dai, Zhifei

2017-01-01

A multifunctional nanotheranostic agent was developed by conjugating both hyaluronic acid and bovine serum albumin coated CuInS2-ZnS quantum dots onto the surface of magnetic Prussian blue nanoparticles. The obtained nanoagent could serve as an efficient contrast agent to simultaneously enhance near infrared (NIR) fluorescence and magnetic resonance (MR) imaging greatly. The coexistence of magnetic core and CD44 ligand hyaluronic acid was found to largely improve the specific uptake of the nanoagent by CD44 overexpressed HeLa cells upon applying an external magnetic field. Both NIR fluorescence and MR imaging in vivo proved high accumulation of the nanoagent at tumor site due to its excellent CD44 receptor/magnetic dual targeting capability. After intravenous injection of the nanoagent and treatment of external magnetic field, the tumor in nude mice was efficiently ablated upon NIR laser irradiation and the tumor growth inhibition was more than 89.95%. Such nanotheranostic agent is of crucial importance for accurately identifying the size and location of the tumor before therapy, monitoring the photothermal treatment procedure in real-time during therapy, assessing the effectiveness after therapy. PMID:28255343

Investigation of colloidal PbS quantum dot-based solar cells with near infrared emission.

PubMed

Lim, Sungoh; Kim, Yohan; Lee, Jeongno; Han, Chul Jong; Kang, Jungwon; Kim, Jiwan

2014-12-01

Colloidal quantum dots (QD)-based solar cells with near infrared (NIR) emission have been investigated. Lead sulfide (PbS) QDs, which have narrow band-gap and maximize the absorption of NIR spectrum, were chosen as active materials for efficient solar cells. The inverted structure of indium tin oxide/titanium dioxide/PbS QDs/poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-poly(styrenesulfonate)/silver (ITO/TiO2/PbS QDs/ PSS/Ag) was applied for favorable electron and hole seperation from the PbS QD. Through the ligand exchange by 1,2-Ethanedithiol (EDT), the interparticle distance of the PbS QDs in thin film became closer and the performance of the PbS QD-based solar cells was improved. Our PbS QD-based inverted solar cells showed open circuit voltages (V(oc)) of 0.33 V, short circuit current density (J(sc)) of 10.89 mA/cm2, fill factor (FF) of 30%, and power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 1.11%. In our PbS QD-based multifunctional solar cell, the NIR light emission intensity was simply detected with photodiode system, which implies the potential of multi-functional diode device for various applications.

Toxicity assessment of repeated intravenous injections of arginine-glycine-aspartic acid peptide conjugated CdSeTe/ZnS quantum dots in mice.

PubMed

Wang, You-Wei; Yang, Kai; Tang, Hong; Chen, Dan; Bai, Yun-Long

2014-01-01

Nanotechnology-based near-infrared quantum dots (NIR QDs) have many excellent optical properties, such as high fluorescence intensity, good fluorescence stability, and strong tissue-penetrating ability. Integrin αvβ3 is highly and specifically expressed in tumor angiogenic vessel endothelial cells of almost all carcinomas. Recent studies have shown that NIR QDs linked to peptides containing the arginine-glycine-aspartic acid (RGD) sequence (NIR QDs-RGD) can specifically target integrin αvβ3 expressed in endothelial cells of tumor angiogenic vessels in vivo, and they offer great potential for early cancer diagnosis, in vivo tumor imaging, and tumor individualized therapy. However, the toxicity profile of NIR QDs-RGD has not been reported. This study was conducted to investigate the toxicity of NIR QDs-RGD when intravenously administered to mice singly and repeatedly at the dose required for successful tumor imaging in vivo. A NIR QDs-RGD probe was prepared by linking NIR QDs with the maximum emission wavelength of 800 nm (QD800) to the RGD peptide (QD800-RGD). QD800-RGD was intravenously injected to BALB/C mice once or twice (200 pmol equivalent of QD800 for each injection). Phosphate-buffered saline solution was used as control. Fourteen days postinjection, toxicity tests were performed, including complete blood count (white blood cell, red blood cell, hemoglobin, platelets, lymphocytes, and neutrophils) and serum biochemical analysis (total protein, albumin, albumin/globulin, aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, and blood urea nitrogen). The coefficients of liver, spleen, kidney, and lung weight to body weight were measured, as well as their oxidation and antioxidation indicators, including superoxide dismutase, glutathione, and malondialdehyde. The organs were also examined histopathologically. After one or two intravenous injections of QD800-RGD, as compared with control, no significant differences were observed in the complete blood count; biochemical indicators of blood serum, organ coefficient, and oxidation and antioxidation indicators; and no cell necrosis or inflammation were seen in the liver, spleen, kidney, or lung through histopathological examination. Our data demonstrate that the single and repeated intravenous injection of QD800-RGD at a dose needed for successful tumor imaging in vivo is not toxic to mice. Our work lays a solid foundation for further biomedical applications of NIR QDs-RGD.

Size dependent Raman and absorption studies of single walled carbon nanotubes synthesized by pulse laser deposition at room temperature

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dixit, Saurabh; Singhal, Sonal; Vankar, V. D.; Shukla, A. K.

2017-10-01

In this article, size dependent correlation of acoustic states is established for radial breathing mode (RBM). Single walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) are synthesized along with carbon encapsulated iron nanoparticles by pulse laser deposition at room temperature. Ferrocene is used as a catalyst for growth of SWCNTs. Various studies such as HR-TEM, X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy and NIR-Absorption spectroscopy are utilized to confirm the presence of SWCNTs in the as-synthesized and purified samples. RBM of SWCNTs can be differentiated here from Raman modes of carbon encapsulated iron nanoparticles by comparing their line shape asymmetry as well as oscillator strength. Furthermore, a quantum confinement model is proposed for RBM. It is invoked here that RBM is manifestation of quantum confinement of acoustic phonons. Well reported analytical relation of RBM is utilized to explore the nature of phonons responsible for RBM on the basis of quantum confinement model. Diameters of SWCNTs estimated by Raman studies are found to be in reasonably good agreement with that of NIR-absorption studies.

Upconverting fluorescent nanoparticles for biodetection and photoactivation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Kai; Li, WenKai; Jayakumar, Muthu Kumara Gnanasammandhan; Zhang, Yong

2013-03-01

Fluorophores including fluorescent dyes/proteins and quantum dots (QDs) are used for fluorescence-based imaging and detection. These are based on `downconversion fluorescence' and have several drawbacks: photobleaching, autofluorescence, short tissue penetration depth and tissue photo-damage. Upconversion fluorescent nanoparticles (UCNs) emit detectable photons of higher energy in the short wavelength range upon irradiation with near-infrared (NIR) light based on a process termed `upconversion'. UCNs show absolute photostability, negligible autofluorescence, high penetration depth and minimum photodamage to biological tissues. Lanthanide doped nanocrystals with nearinfrared NIR-to-NIR and/or NIR-to-VIS and/or NIR-to-UV upconversion fluorescence emission have been synthesized. The nanocrystals with small size and tunable multi-color emission have been developed. The emission can be tuned by doping different upconverting lanthanide ions into the nanocrystals. The nanocrystals with core-shell structure have also been prepared to tune the emission color. The surfaces of these nanocrystals have been modified to render them water dispersible and biocompatible. They can be used for ultrasensitive interference-free biodetection because most biomolecules do not have upconversion properties. UCNs are also useful for light based therapy with enhanced efficiency, for example, photoactivation.

Polydiacetylene-enclosed near-infrared fluorescent semiconducting polymer dots for bioimaging and sensing.

PubMed

Wu, Pei-Jing; Kuo, Shih-Yu; Huang, Ya-Chi; Chen, Chuan-Pin; Chan, Yang-Hsiang

2014-05-20

Semiconducting polymer dots (P-dots) recently have emerged as a new type of ultrabright fluorescent probe with promising applications in biological imaging and detection. With the increasing desire for near-infrared (NIR) fluorescing probes for in vivo biological measurements, the currently available NIR-emitting P-dots are very limited and the leaching of the encapsulated dyes/polymers has usually been a concern. To address this challenge, we first embedded the NIR dyes into the matrix of poly[(9,9-dioctylfluorene)-co-2,1,3-benzothiadiazole-co-4,7-di(thiophen-2-yl)-2,1,3-benzothiadiazole] (PF-BT-DBT) polymer and then enclosed the doped P-dots with polydiacetylenes (PDAs) to avoid potential leakage of the entrapped NIR dyes from the P-dot matrix. These PDA-enclosed NIR-emitting P-dots not only emitted much stronger NIR fluorescence than conventional organic molecules but also exhibited enhanced photostability over CdTe quantum dots, free NIR dyes, and gold nanoclusters. We next conjugated biomolecules onto the surface of the resulting P-dots and demonstrated their capability for specific cellular labeling without any noticeable nonspecific binding. To employ this new class of material as a facile sensing platform, an easy-to-prepare test paper, obtained by soaking the paper into the PDA-enclosed NIR-emitting P-dot solution, was used to sense external stimuli such as ions, temperature, or pH, depending on the surface functionalization of PDAs. We believe these PDA-coated NIR-fluorescing P-dots will be very useful in a variety of bioimaging and analytical applications.

‘Green’-synthesized near-infrared PbS quantum dots with silica-PEG dual-layer coating: ultrastable and biocompatible optical probes for in vivo animal imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, D.; Qian, J.; Cai, F.; He, S.; Han, S.; Mu, Y.

2012-06-01

In this paper, PbS semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) with near-infrared (NIR) photoluminescence were synthesized in oleic acid and paraffin liquid mixture by using an easily handled and ‘green’ approach. Surface functionalization of the QDs was accomplished with a silica and polyethylene glycol (PEG) phospholipid dual-layer coating and the excellent chemical stability of the nanoparticles is demonstrated. We then successfully applied the ultrastable PbS QDs to in vivo sentinel lymph node (SLN) mapping of mice. Histological analyses were also carried out to ensure that the intravenously injected nanoparticles did not produce any toxicity to the organism of mice. These experimental results suggested that our ultrastable NIR PbS QDs can serve as biocompatible and efficient probes for in vivo optical bioimaging and has great potentials for disease diagnosis and clinical therapies in the future.

Near-Infrared Ag2S Quantum Dots-Based DNA Logic Gate Platform for miRNA Diagnostics.

PubMed

Miao, Peng; Tang, Yuguo; Wang, Bidou; Meng, Fanyu

2016-08-02

Dysregulation of miRNA expression is correlated with the development and progression of many diseases. These miRNAs are regarded as promising biomarkers. However, it is challenging to measure these low abundant molecules without employing time-consuming radioactive labeling or complex amplification strategies. Here, we present a DNA logic gate platform for miRNA diagnostics with fluorescence outputs from near-infrared (NIR) Ag2S quantum dots (QDs). Carefully designed toehold exchange-mediated strand displacements with different miRNA inputs occur on a solid-state interface, which control QDs release from solid-state interface to solution, responding to multiplex information on initial miRNAs. Excellent fluorescence emission properties of NIR Ag2S QDs certify the great prospect for amplification-free and sensitive miRNA assay. We demonstrate the potential of this platform by achieving femtomolar level miRNA analysis and the versatility of a series of logic circuits computation.

Achieving deep-red-to-near-infrared emissions in Sn-doped Cu-In-S/ZnS quantum dots for red-enhanced white LEDs and near-infrared LEDs.

PubMed

Chen, Jixin; Li, Ye; Wang, Le; Zhou, Tianliang; Xie, Rong-Jun

2018-05-16

Semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) are promising luminescent materials for use in lighting, display and bio-imaging, and the color tuning is a necessity for such applications. In this work, we report tunable colors and deep-red or near infrared (NIR) emissions in Cu-In-S and Cu-In-S/ZnS QDs by incorporating Sn. These QDs (with a size of 5 nm) with varying Sn concentrations and/or Cu/In ratios were synthesized by a non-injection method, and characterized by a variety of analytical techniques (i.e., XRD, TEM, XPS, absorption, photoluminescence, decay time, etc.). The Cu-Sn-In-S and Cu-Sn-In-S/ZnS QDs with Cu/In = 1/2 show the emission maximum in the ranges of 701-894 nm and 628-785 nm, respectively. The red-shift in emission is ascribed to the decrease of the band gap with the Sn doping. The highest quantum yield of 75% is achieved in Cu-Sn-In-S/ZnS with 0.1 mmol Sn and Cu/In = 1/2. Both the white and NIR LEDs were fabricated by using Cu-Sn-In-S/ZnS QDs and a 365 nm LED chip. The white LED exhibits superhigh color rendering indices of Ra = 97.2 and R9 = 91 and a warm color temperature of 2700 K. And the NIR LED shows an interesting broadband near-infrared emission centered at 741 nm, allowing for applications in optical communication, sensing and medical devices.

Near-infrared fluorescence goggle system with complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor imaging sensor and see-through display

PubMed Central

Liu, Yang; Njuguna, Raphael; Matthews, Thomas; Akers, Walter J.; Sudlow, Gail P.; Mondal, Suman; Tang, Rui

2013-01-01

Abstract. We have developed a near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence goggle system based on the complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor active pixel sensor imaging and see-through display technologies. The fluorescence goggle system is a compact wearable intraoperative fluorescence imaging and display system that can guide surgery in real time. The goggle is capable of detecting fluorescence of indocyanine green solution in the picomolar range. Aided by NIR quantum dots, we successfully used the fluorescence goggle to guide sentinel lymph node mapping in a rat model. We further demonstrated the feasibility of using the fluorescence goggle in guiding surgical resection of breast cancer metastases in the liver in conjunction with NIR fluorescent probes. These results illustrate the diverse potential use of the goggle system in surgical procedures. PMID:23728180

Near infrared spectrum simulation applied to human skin for diagnosis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tsai, Chen-Mu; Fang, Yi-Chin; Wang, Chih-Yu; Chiu, Pin-Chun; Wu, Guo-Ying; Zheng, Wei-Chi; Chemg, Shih-Hao

2007-11-01

This research proposes a new method for skin diagnose using near infrared as the light source (750nm~1300nm). Compared to UV and visible light, near infrared might penetrate relatively deep into biological soft tissue in some cases although NIR absorption property of tissue is not a constant for water, fat, and collagen etc. In the research, NIR absorption and scattering properties for skin are discussed firstly using the theory of molecule vibration from Quantum physics and Solid State Physics; secondly the practical model for various NIR absorption spectrum to skin tissue are done by optical simulation for human skin. Finally, experiments are done for further identification of proposed model for human skin and its reaction to near infrared. Results show success with identification from both theory and experiments.

Non-Poissonian photon statistics from macroscopic photon cutting materials.

PubMed

de Jong, Mathijs; Meijerink, Andries; Rabouw, Freddy T

2017-05-24

In optical materials energy is usually extracted only from the lowest excited state, resulting in fundamental energy-efficiency limits such as the Shockley-Queisser limit for single-junction solar cells. Photon-cutting materials provide a way around such limits by absorbing high-energy photons and 'cutting' them into multiple low-energy excitations that can subsequently be extracted. The occurrence of photon cutting or quantum cutting has been demonstrated in a variety of materials, including semiconductor quantum dots, lanthanides and organic dyes. Here we show that photon cutting results in bunched photon emission on the timescale of the excited-state lifetime, even when observing a macroscopic number of optical centres. Our theoretical derivation matches well with experimental data on NaLaF 4 :Pr 3+ , a material that can cut deep-ultraviolet photons into two visible photons. This signature of photon cutting can be used to identify and characterize new photon-cutting materials unambiguously.

Rapid and non-invasive analysis of deoxynivalenol in durum and common wheat by Fourier-Transform Near Infrared (FT-NIR) spectroscopy.

PubMed

De Girolamo, A; Lippolis, V; Nordkvist, E; Visconti, A

2009-06-01

Fourier transform near-infrared spectroscopy (FT-NIR) was used for rapid and non-invasive analysis of deoxynivalenol (DON) in durum and common wheat. The relevance of using ground wheat samples with a homogeneous particle size distribution to minimize measurement variations and avoid DON segregation among particles of different sizes was established. Calibration models for durum wheat, common wheat and durum + common wheat samples, with particle size <500 microm, were obtained by using partial least squares (PLS) regression with an external validation technique. Values of root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP, 306-379 microg kg(-1)) were comparable and not too far from values of root mean square error of cross-validation (RMSECV, 470-555 microg kg(-1)). Coefficients of determination (r(2)) indicated an "approximate to good" level of prediction of the DON content by FT-NIR spectroscopy in the PLS calibration models (r(2) = 0.71-0.83), and a "good" discrimination between low and high DON contents in the PLS validation models (r(2) = 0.58-0.63). A "limited to good" practical utility of the models was ascertained by range error ratio (RER) values higher than 6. A qualitative model, based on 197 calibration samples, was developed to discriminate between blank and naturally contaminated wheat samples by setting a cut-off at 300 microg kg(-1) DON to separate the two classes. The model correctly classified 69% of the 65 validation samples with most misclassified samples (16 of 20) showing DON contamination levels quite close to the cut-off level. These findings suggest that FT-NIR analysis is suitable for the determination of DON in unprocessed wheat at levels far below the maximum permitted limits set by the European Commission.

A high contrast 400-2500 nm hyperspectral checkerboard consisting of Acktar material cut with a femto second laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Keresztes, Janos C.; Henrottin, Anne; Goodarzi, Mohammad; Wouters, Niels; van Roy, Jeroen; Saeys, Wouter

2015-09-01

Visible-near infrared (Vis-NIR) and short wave infrared (SWIR) hyperspectral imaging (HSI) are gaining interest in the food sorting industry. As for traditional machine vision (MV), spectral image registration is an important step which affects the quality of the sorting system. Unfortunately, it currently still remains challenging to accurately register the images acquired with the different imagers as this requires a reference with good contrast over the full spectral range. Therefore, the objective of this work was to develop an accurate high contrast checkerboard over the full spectral range. From the investigated white and dark materials, Teflon and Acktar were found to present very good contrast over the full spectral range from 400 to 2500 nm, with a minimal contrast ratio of 60% in the Vis-NIR and 98 % in the SWIR. The Metal Velvet self-adhesive coating from Acktar was selected as it also provides low specular reflectance. This was taped onto a near-Lambertian polished Teflon plate and one out of two squares were removed after laser cutting the dark coating with an accuracy below 0.1 mm. As standard technologies such as nano-second pulsed lasers generated unwanted damages on both materials, a pulsed femto-second laser setup from Lasea with 60µm accuracy was used to manufacture the checkerboard. This pattern was monitored with an Imec Vis-NIR and a Headwall SWIR HSI pushbroom hyperspectral camera. Good contrast was obtained over the full range of both HSI systems and the estimated effective focal length for the Vis-NIR HSI was determined with computer vision to be 0.5 mm, close to the lens model at high contrast.

Functionalized near-infrared quantum dots for in vivo tumor vasculature imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hu, Rui; Yong, Ken-Tye; Roy, Indrajit; Ding, Hong; Law, Wing-Cheung; Cai, Hongxing; Zhang, Xihe; Vathy, Lisa A.; Bergey, Earl J.; Prasad, Paras N.

2010-04-01

In this paper, we report the use of near-infrared (NIR)-emitting alloyed quantum dots (QDs) as efficient optical probes for high contrast in vivo imaging of tumors. Alloyed CdTe1 - xSex/CdS QDs were prepared in the non-aqueous phase using the hot colloidal synthesis approach. Water dispersion of the QDs were accomplished by their encapsulation within polyethyleneglycol (PEG)-grafted phospholipid micelles. For tumor-specific delivery in vivo, the micelle-encapsulated QDs were conjugated with the cyclic arginine-glycine-aspartic acid (cRGD) peptide, which targets the αvβ3 integrins overexpressed in the angiogenic tumor vasculatures. Using in vivo NIR optical imaging of mice bearing pancreatic cancer xenografts, implanted both subcutaneously and orthotopically, we have demonstrated that systemically delivered cRGD-conjugated QDs, but not the unconjugated ones, can efficiently target and label the tumors with high signal-to-noise ratio. Histopathological analysis of major organs of the treated mice showed no evidence of systemic toxicity associated with these QDs. These experiments suggest that cRGD-conjugated NIR QDs can serve as safe and efficient probes for optical bioimaging of tumors in vivo. Furthermore, by co-encapsulating these QDs and anticancer drugs within these micelles, we have demonstrated a promising theranostic, nanosized platform for both cancer imaging and therapy.

Photoluminescence enhancement of silicon quantum dot monolayer by plasmonic substrate fabricated by nano-imprint lithography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yanagawa, Hiroto; Inoue, Asuka; Sugimoto, Hiroshi; Shioi, Masahiko; Fujii, Minoru

2017-12-01

Near-field coupling between a silicon quantum dot (Si-QD) monolayer and a plasmonic substrate fabricated by nano-imprint lithography and having broad multiple resonances in the near-infrared (NIR) window of biological substances was studied by precisely controlling the QDs-substrate distance. A strong enhancement of the NIR photoluminescence (PL) of Si-QDs was observed. Detailed analyses of the PL and PL excitation spectra, the PL decay dynamics, and the reflectance spectra revealed that both the excitation cross-sections and the emission rates are enhanced by the surface plasmon resonances, thanks to the broad multiple resonances of the plasmonic substrate, and that the relative contribution of the two enhancement processes depends strongly on the excitation wavelength. Under excitation by short wavelength photons (405 nm), where enhancement of the excitation cross-section is not expected, the maximum enhancement was obtained when the QDs-substrate distance was around 30 nm. On the other hand, under long wavelength excitation (641 nm), where strong excitation cross-section enhancement is expected, the largest enhancement was obtained when the distance was minimum (around 1 nm). The achievement of efficient excitation of NIR luminescence of Si-QDs by long wavelength photons paves the way for the development of Si-QD-based fluorescence bio-sensing devices with a high bound-to-free ratio.

Inorganic/organic hybrid nanocomposite coating applications: Formulation, characterization, and evaluation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Eyassu, Tsehaye

Nanotechnology applications in coatings have shown significant growth in recent years. Systematic incorporation of nano-sized inorganic materials into polymer coating enhances optical, electrical, thermal and mechanical properties significantly. The present dissertation will focus on formulation, characterization and evaluation of inorganic/organic hybrid nanocomposite coatings for heat dissipation, corrosion inhibition and ultraviolet (UV) and near infrared (NIR) cut applications. In addition, the dissertation will cover synthesis, characterization and dispersion of functional inorganic fillers. In the first project, we investigated factors that can affect the "Molecular Fan" cooling performance and efficiency. The investigated factors and conditions include types of nanomaterials, size, loading amount, coating thickness, heat sink substrate, substrate surface modification, and power input. Using the optimal factors, MF coating was formulated and applied on commercial HDUs, and cooling efficiencies up to 22% and 23% were achieved using multi-walled carbon nanotube and graphene fillers. The result suggests that molecular fan action can reduce the size and mass of heat-sink module and thus offer a low cost of LED light unit. In the second project, we report the use of thin organic/inorganic hybrid coating as a protection for corrosion and as a thermal management to dissipate heat from galvanized steel. Here, we employed the in-situ phosphatization method for corrosion inhibition and "Molecular fan" technique to dissipate heat from galvanized steel panels and sheets. Salt fog tests reveal successful completion of 72 hours corrosion protection time frame for samples coated with as low as ~0.7microm thickness. Heat dissipation measurement shows 9% and 13% temperature cooling for GI and GL panels with the same coating thickness of ~0.7microm respectively. The effect of different factors, in-situ phosphatization reagent (ISPR), cross-linkers and nanomaterial on corrosion and heat dissipation was discussed on this project. In the third project, optically transparent UV and NIR light cut coating for solar control application was studied. On separate study for UV cut coatings, we have formulated UV-shielding coatings using ZnO nanoparticles fillers that have more than 90% UV absorption and above 90% visible transparency. In a separate part of the same project, we synthesized NIR-absorbing CsxWO 3 nanorods with uniform particle size distribution in 2 hours using a solvothermal method. Aqueous dispersion of the nanorods has showed high transparency (80-90%) in the visible range with strong NIR light shielding (80-90%). Preliminary work on sol-gel coatings of CsxWO3 showed high visible light transparency with excellent NIR shielding.

Near-infrared dyes for molecular probes and imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Patonay, Gabor; Beckford, Garfield; Strekowski, Lucjan; Henary, Maged; Kim, Jun Seok; Crow, Sidney

2009-02-01

Near-Infrared (NIR) fluorescence has been used both as an analytical tool as molecular probes and in in vitro or in vivo imaging of individual cells and organs. The NIR region (700-1100 nm) is ideal with regard to these applications due to the inherently lower background interference and the high molar absorptivities of NIR chromophores. NIR dyes are also useful in studying binding characteristics of large biomolecules, such as proteins. Throughout these studies, different NIR dyes have been evaluated to determine factors that control binding to biomolecules, including serum albumins. Hydrophobic character of NIR dyes were increased by introducing alkyl and aryl groups, and hydrophilic moieties e.g., polyethylene glycols (PEG) were used to increase aqueous solubility. Recently, our research group introduced bis-cyanines as innovative NIR probes. Depending on their microenvironment, bis-cyanines can exist as an intramolecular dimer with the two cyanines either in a stacked form, or in a linear conformation in which the two subunits do not interact with each other. In this intramolecular H-aggregate, the chromophore has a low extinction coefficient and low fluorescence quantum yield. Upon addition of biomolecules, the H-and D- bands are decreased and the monomeric band is increased, with concomitant increase in fluorescence intensity. Introduction of specific moieties into the NIR dye molecules allows for the development of physiological molecular probes to detect pH, metal ions and other parameters. Examples of these applications include imaging and biomolecule characterizations. Water soluble dyes are expected to be excellent candidates for both in vitro and in vivo imaging of cells and organs.

Spectra-structure correlations of saturated and unsaturated medium-chain fatty acids. Near-infrared and anharmonic DFT study of hexanoic acid and sorbic acid

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grabska, Justyna; Beć, Krzysztof B.; Ishigaki, Mika; Wójcik, Marek J.; Ozaki, Yukihiro

2017-10-01

Quantum chemical reproduction of entire NIR spectra is a new trend, enabled by contemporary advances in the anharmonic approaches. At the same time, recent increase of the importance of NIR spectroscopy of biological samples raises high demand for gaining deeper understanding of NIR spectra of biomolecules, i.e. fatty acids. In this work we investigate saturated and unsaturated medium-chain fatty acids, hexanoic acid and sorbic acid, in the near-infrared region. By employing fully anharmonic density functional theory (DFT) calculations we reproduce the experimental NIR spectra of these systems, including the highly specific spectral features corresponding to the dimerization of fatty acids. Broad range of concentration levels from 5 · 10- 4 M in CCl4 to pure samples are investigated. The major role of cyclic dimers can be evidenced for the vast majority of these samples. A highly specific NIR feature of fatty acids, the elevation of spectral baseline around 6500-4000 cm- 1, is being explained by the contributions of combination bands resulting from the vibrations of hydrogen-bonded OH groups in the cyclic dimers. Based on the high agreement between the calculated and experimental NIR spectra, a detailed NIR band assignments are proposed for hexanoic acid and sorbic acid. Subsequently, the correlations between the structure and NIR spectra are elucidated, emphasizing the regions in which clear and universal traces of specific bands corresponding to saturated and unsaturated alkyl chains can be established, thus demonstrating the wavenumber regions highly valuable for structural identifications.

Spectra-structure correlations of saturated and unsaturated medium-chain fatty acids. Near-infrared and anharmonic DFT study of hexanoic acid and sorbic acid.

PubMed

Grabska, Justyna; Beć, Krzysztof B; Ishigaki, Mika; Wójcik, Marek J; Ozaki, Yukihiro

2017-10-05

Quantum chemical reproduction of entire NIR spectra is a new trend, enabled by contemporary advances in the anharmonic approaches. At the same time, recent increase of the importance of NIR spectroscopy of biological samples raises high demand for gaining deeper understanding of NIR spectra of biomolecules, i.e. fatty acids. In this work we investigate saturated and unsaturated medium-chain fatty acids, hexanoic acid and sorbic acid, in the near-infrared region. By employing fully anharmonic density functional theory (DFT) calculations we reproduce the experimental NIR spectra of these systems, including the highly specific spectral features corresponding to the dimerization of fatty acids. Broad range of concentration levels from 5·10 -4 M in CCl 4 to pure samples are investigated. The major role of cyclic dimers can be evidenced for the vast majority of these samples. A highly specific NIR feature of fatty acids, the elevation of spectral baseline around 6500-4000cm -1 , is being explained by the contributions of combination bands resulting from the vibrations of hydrogen-bonded OH groups in the cyclic dimers. Based on the high agreement between the calculated and experimental NIR spectra, a detailed NIR band assignments are proposed for hexanoic acid and sorbic acid. Subsequently, the correlations between the structure and NIR spectra are elucidated, emphasizing the regions in which clear and universal traces of specific bands corresponding to saturated and unsaturated alkyl chains can be established, thus demonstrating the wavenumber regions highly valuable for structural identifications. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

PET and NIR Optical Imaging Using Self-Illuminating 64Cu-Doped Chelator-Free Gold Nanoclusters

PubMed Central

Hu, Hao; Huang, Peng; Weiss, Orit Jacobson; Yan, Xuefeng; Yue, Xuyi; Zhang, Molly Gu; Tang, Yuxia; Nie, Liming; Ma, Ying; Niu, Gang; Wu, Kaichun; Chen, Xiaoyuan

2014-01-01

Self-illuminating fluorescence imaging without autofluorescence background interference has recently aroused more research interests in molecular imaging. Currently, only a few self-illuminating probes were developed, based mainly on toxic quantum dots such as CdSe, CdTe. Herein, we report a novel design of nontoxic self-illuminating gold nanocluster (64Cu-doped AuNCs) for dual-modality positron emission tomography (PET) and near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence imaging based on Cerenkov resonance energy transfer (CRET). PET radionuclide 64Cu was introduced by a chelator-free doping method, which played dual roles as the energy donor and the PET imaging source. Meanwhile, AuNCs acted as the energy acceptor for NIR fluorescence imaging. 64Cu-doped AuNCs exhibited efficient CRET-NIR and PET imaging both in vitro and in vivo. In a U87MG glioblastoma xenograft model, 64Cu-doped AuNCs showed high tumor uptake (14.9%ID/g at 18 h) and produced satisfactory tumor self-illuminating NIR images in the absence of external excitation. This self-illuminating nanocluster with non-toxicity and good biocompatibility can be employed as a novel imaging contrast agent for biomedical applications, especially for molecular imaging. PMID:25224367

PET and NIR optical imaging using self-illuminating (64)Cu-doped chelator-free gold nanoclusters.

PubMed

Hu, Hao; Huang, Peng; Weiss, Orit Jacobson; Yan, Xuefeng; Yue, Xuyi; Zhang, Molly Gu; Tang, Yuxia; Nie, Liming; Ma, Ying; Niu, Gang; Wu, Kaichun; Chen, Xiaoyuan

2014-12-01

Self-illuminating fluorescence imaging without autofluorescence background interference has recently aroused more research interests in molecular imaging. Currently, only a few self-illuminating probes were developed, based mainly on toxic quantum dots such as CdSe, CdTe. Herein, we report a novel design of nontoxic self-illuminating gold nanocluster ((64)Cu-doped AuNCs) for dual-modality positron emission tomography (PET) and near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence imaging based on Cerenkov resonance energy transfer (CRET). PET radionuclide (64)Cu was introduced by a chelator-free doping method, which played dual roles as the energy donor and the PET imaging source. Meanwhile, AuNCs acted as the energy acceptor for NIR fluorescence imaging. (64)Cu-doped AuNCs exhibited efficient CRET-NIR and PET imaging both in vitro and in vivo. In a U87MG glioblastoma xenograft model, (64)Cu-doped AuNCs showed high tumor uptake (14.9 %ID/g at 18 h) and produced satisfactory tumor self-illuminating NIR images in the absence of external excitation. This self-illuminating nanocluster with non-toxicity and good biocompatibility can be employed as a novel imaging contrast agent for biomedical applications, especially for molecular imaging. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Ground-Based VIS/NIR Reflectance Spectra of 25143 Itokawa: What Hayabusa will See and How Ground-Based Data can Augment Analyses

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Vilas, Faith; Abell, P. A.; Jarvis, K. S.

2004-01-01

Planning for the arrival of the Hayabusa spacecraft at asteroid 25143 Itokawa includes consideration of the expected spectral information to be obtained using the AMICA and NIRS instruments. The rotationally-resolved spatial coverage the asteroid we have obtained with ground-based telescopic spectrophotometry in the visible and near-infrared can be utilized here to address expected spacecraft data. We use spectrophotometry to simulate the types of data that Hayabusa will receive with the NIRS and AMICA instruments, and will demonstrate them here. The NIRS will cover a wavelength range from 0.85 m, and have a dispersion per element of 250 Angstroms. Thus, we are limited in coverage of the 1.0 micrometer and 2.0 micrometer mafic silicate absorption features. The ground-based reflectance spectra of Itokawa show a large component of olivine in its surface material, and the 2.0 micrometer feature is shallow. Determining the olivine to pyroxene abundance ratio is critically dependent on the attributes of the 1.0- and 2.0 micrometer features. With a cut-off near 2,1 micrometer the longer edge of the 2.0- feature will not be obtained by NIRS. Reflectance spectra obtained using ground-based telescopes can be used to determine the regional composition around space-based spectral observations, and possibly augment the longer wavelength spectral attributes. Similarly, the shorter wavelength end of the 1.0 micrometer absorption feature will be partially lost to the NIRS. The AMICA filters mimic the ECAS filters, and have wavelength coverage overlapping with the NIRS spectral range. We demonstrate how merging photometry from AMICA will extend the spectral coverage of the NIRS. Lessons learned from earlier spacecraft to asteroids should be considered.

Near-Infrared-to-Visible Photon Upconversion Enabled by Conjugated Porphyrinic Sensitizers under Low-Power Noncoherent Illumination.

PubMed

Olivier, Jean-Hubert; Bai, Yusong; Uh, Hyounsoo; Yoo, Hyejin; Therien, Michael J; Castellano, Felix N

2015-06-04

We report four supermolecular chromophores based on (porphinato)zinc(II) (PZn) and (polypyridyl)metal units bridged via ethyne connectivity (Pyr1RuPZn2, Pyr1RuPZnRuPyr1, Pyr1RuPZn2RuPyr1, and OsPZn2Os) that fulfill critical sensitizer requirements for NIR-to-vis triplet-triplet annihilation upconversion (TTA-UC) photochemistry. These NIR sensitizers feature: (i) broad, high oscillator strength NIR absorptivity (700 nm < λ(max(NIR)) < 770 nm; 6 × 10(4) M(-1) cm(-1) < extinction coefficient (λ(max(NIR))) < 1.6 × 10(5) M(-1) cm(-1); 820 cm(-1) < fwhm < 1700 cm(-1)); (ii) substantial intersystem crossing quantum yields; (iii) long, microsecond time scale T1 state lifetimes; and (iv) triplet states that are energetically poised for exergonic energy transfer to the molecular annihilator (rubrene). Using low-power noncoherent illumination at power densities (1-10 mW cm(-2)) similar to that of terrestrial solar photon illumination conditions, we demonstrate that Pyr1RuPZn2, Pyr1RuPZn2RuPyr1, and Pyr1RuPZnRuPyr1 sensitizers can be used in combination with the rubrene acceptor/annihilator to achieve TTA-UC: these studies represent the first examples whereby a low-power noncoherent NIR light source drives NIR-to-visible upconverted fluorescence centered in a spectral window within the bandgap of amorphous silicon.

Cooperative infrared to visible upconversion and visible to near-infrared quantum cutting in Tb and Yb co-doped glass containing Ag nanoparticles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pan, Z.; Sekar, G.; Akrobetu, R.; Mu, R.; Morgan, S. H.

2011-10-01

Tb, Yb, and Ag co-doped glass nano-composites were synthesized in a lithium-lanthanum-aluminosilicate glass matrix (LLAS) by a melt-quench technique. Ag nanoparticles (NPs) were formed in the glass matrix and confirmed by optical absorption and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Plasmon enhanced luminescence was observed. Cooperative infrared to visible upconversion and visible to near-infrared quantum cutting were studied for samples with different thermal annealing times. Because the Yb3+ emission at 940 - 1020 nm is matched well with the band gap of crystalline Si, the quantum cutting effect may have its potential application in silicon-based solar cells.

Evaluation of two imaging techniques: near-infrared transillumination and dental radiographs for the detection of early approximal enamel caries.

PubMed

Maia, A M A; Karlsson, L; Margulis, W; Gomes, A S L

2011-10-01

The aim of this paper was to evaluate a transillumination (TI) system using near-infrared (NIR) light and bitewing radiographs for the detection of early approximal enamel caries lesions. Mesiodistal sections of teeth (n = 14) were cut with various thicknesses from 1.5 mm to 4.75 mm. Both sides of each section were included, 17 approximal surfaces with natural enamel caries and 11 surfaces considered intact. The approximal surfaces were illuminated by NIR light and X-ray. Captured images were analysed by two calibrated specialists in radiology, and re-analysed after 6 months using stereomicroscope images as a gold standard. The interexaminer reliability (Kappa test statistic) for the NIR TI technique showed moderate agreement on first (0.55) and second (0.48) evaluation, and low agreement for bitewing radiographs on first (0.26) and second (0.32) evaluation. In terms of accuracy, the sensitivity for the NIR TI system was 0.88 and the specificity was 0.72. For the bitewing radiographs the sensitivity ranged from 0.35 to 0.53 and the specificity ranged from 0.50 to 0.72. In the same samples and conditions tested, NIR TI images showed reliability and the enamel caries surfaces were better identified than on dental radiographs.

Evaluation of two imaging techniques: near-infrared transillumination and dental radiographs for the detection of early approximal enamel caries

PubMed Central

Maia, A M A; Karlsson, L; Margulis, W; Gomes, A S L

2011-01-01

Objectives The aim of this paper was to evaluate a transillumination (TI) system using near-infrared (NIR) light and bitewing radiographs for the detection of early approximal enamel caries lesions. Methods Mesiodistal sections of teeth (n = 14) were cut with various thicknesses from 1.5 mm to 4.75 mm. Both sides of each section were included, 17 approximal surfaces with natural enamel caries and 11 surfaces considered intact. The approximal surfaces were illuminated by NIR light and X-ray. Captured images were analysed by two calibrated specialists in radiology, and re-analysed after 6 months using stereomicroscope images as a gold standard. Results The interexaminer reliability (Kappa test statistic) for the NIR TI technique showed moderate agreement on first (0.55) and second (0.48) evaluation, and low agreement for bitewing radiographs on first (0.26) and second (0.32) evaluation. In terms of accuracy, the sensitivity for the NIR TI system was 0.88 and the specificity was 0.72. For the bitewing radiographs the sensitivity ranged from 0.35 to 0.53 and the specificity ranged from 0.50 to 0.72. Conclusion In the same samples and conditions tested, NIR TI images showed reliability and the enamel caries surfaces were better identified than on dental radiographs. PMID:21960400

Wound size measurement of lower extremity ulcers using segmentation algorithms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dadkhah, Arash; Pang, Xing; Solis, Elizabeth; Fang, Ruogu; Godavarty, Anuradha

2016-03-01

Lower extremity ulcers are one of the most common complications that not only affect many people around the world but also have huge impact on economy since a large amount of resources are spent for treatment and prevention of the diseases. Clinical studies have shown that reduction in the wound size of 40% within 4 weeks is an acceptable progress in the healing process. Quantification of the wound size plays a crucial role in assessing the extent of healing and determining the treatment process. To date, wound healing is visually inspected and the wound size is measured from surface images. The extent of wound healing internally may vary from the surface. A near-infrared (NIR) optical imaging approach has been developed for non-contact imaging of wounds internally and differentiating healing from non-healing wounds. Herein, quantitative wound size measurements from NIR and white light images are estimated using a graph cuts and region growing image segmentation algorithms. The extent of the wound healing from NIR imaging of lower extremity ulcers in diabetic subjects are quantified and compared across NIR and white light images. NIR imaging and wound size measurements can play a significant role in potentially predicting the extent of internal healing, thus allowing better treatment plans when implemented for periodic imaging in future.

NIR-Emitting Alloyed CdTeSe QDs and Organic Dye Assemblies: A Nontoxic, Stable, and Efficient FRET System.

PubMed

Ramírez-Herrera, Doris E; Rodríguez-Velázquez, Eustolia; Alatorre-Meda, Manuel; Paraguay-Delgado, Francisco; Tirado-Guízar, Antonio; Taboada, Pablo; Pina-Luis, Georgina

2018-04-11

In the present work, we synthesize Near Infrared (NIR)-emitting alloyed mercaptopropionic acid (MPA)-capped CdTeSe quantum dots (QDs) in a single-step one-hour process, without the use of an inert atmosphere or any pyrophoric ligands. The quantum dots are water soluble, non-toxic, and highly photostable and have high quantum yields (QYs) up to 84%. The alloyed MPA-capped CdTeSe QDs exhibit a red-shifted emission, whose color can be tuned between visible and NIR regions (608-750 nm) by controlling the Te:Se molar ratio in the precursor mixtures and/or changing the time reaction. The MPA-capped QDs were characterized by UV-visible absorption spectroscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and zeta potential measurements. Photostability studies were performed by irradiating the QDs with a high-power xenon lamp. The ternary MPA-CdTeSe QDs showed greater photostability than the corresponding binary MPA-CdTe QDs. We report the Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) from the MPA-capped CdTeSe QDs as energy donors and Cyanine5 NHS-ester (Cy5) dye as an energy acceptor with efficiency ( E ) up to 95%. The distance between the QDs and dye ( r ), the Förster distance ( R ₀), and the binding constant ( K ) are reported. Additionally, cytocompatibility and cell internalization experiments conducted on human cancer cells (HeLa) cells revealed that alloyed MPA-capped CdTeSe QDs are more cytocompatible than MPA-capped CdTe QDs and are capable of ordering homogeneously all over the cytoplasm, which allows their use as potential safe, green donors for biological FRET applications.

NIR-Emitting Alloyed CdTeSe QDs and Organic Dye Assemblies: A Nontoxic, Stable, and Efficient FRET System

PubMed Central

Ramírez-Herrera, Doris E.; Rodríguez-Velázquez, Eustolia; Alatorre-Meda, Manuel; Paraguay-Delgado, Francisco; Tirado-Guízar, Antonio; Taboada, Pablo; Pina-Luis, Georgina

2018-01-01

In the present work, we synthesize Near Infrared (NIR)-emitting alloyed mercaptopropionic acid (MPA)-capped CdTeSe quantum dots (QDs) in a single-step one-hour process, without the use of an inert atmosphere or any pyrophoric ligands. The quantum dots are water soluble, non-toxic, and highly photostable and have high quantum yields (QYs) up to 84%. The alloyed MPA-capped CdTeSe QDs exhibit a red-shifted emission, whose color can be tuned between visible and NIR regions (608–750 nm) by controlling the Te:Se molar ratio in the precursor mixtures and/or changing the time reaction. The MPA-capped QDs were characterized by UV-visible absorption spectroscopy, fluorescence spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and zeta potential measurements. Photostability studies were performed by irradiating the QDs with a high-power xenon lamp. The ternary MPA-CdTeSe QDs showed greater photostability than the corresponding binary MPA-CdTe QDs. We report the Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) from the MPA-capped CdTeSe QDs as energy donors and Cyanine5 NHS-ester (Cy5) dye as an energy acceptor with efficiency (E) up to 95%. The distance between the QDs and dye (r), the Förster distance (R0), and the binding constant (K) are reported. Additionally, cytocompatibility and cell internalization experiments conducted on human cancer cells (HeLa) cells revealed that alloyed MPA-capped CdTeSe QDs are more cytocompatible than MPA-capped CdTe QDs and are capable of ordering homogeneously all over the cytoplasm, which allows their use as potential safe, green donors for biological FRET applications. PMID:29641435

Core-shell-like Y2O3:[(Tb3+-Yb3+), Li+]/CdZnS heterostructure synthesized by super-close-space sublimation for broadband down-conversion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Xiaojie; Zhang, Zhenzhong; Meng, Fanzhi; Yu, Yingning; Han, Lin; Liu, Xiaojuan; Meng, Jian

2014-04-01

Combination with semiconductors is a promising approach to the realization of broadband excitation of light conversion materials based on rare earth compounds, to boost the energy efficiency of silicon solar cells. Cd1-xZnxS is a wide bandgap semiconductor with large exciton binding energy. By changing its composition, the bandgap of Cd1-xZnxS can be tuned to match the absorption of trivalent lanthanide (Ln) ions, which makes it a competent energy donor for the Ln3+-Yb3+ couple. In this work, we designed a clean route to a broadband down-converter based on a core-shell-like Y2O3:[(Tb3+-Yb3+), Li+]/Cd0.81Zn0.19S (CdZnS) heterostructure. By hot-pressing and subsequent annealing of a Y2O3:[(Tb3+-Yb3+), Li+]/CdZnS mixture, highly pure CdZnS was sublimated and deposited on the Y2O3:[(Tb3+-Yb3+), Li+] grains while maintaining the original composition of the precursor. The CdZnS shell acted as a light absorber and energy donor for the Tb3+-Yb3+ quantum cutting couple. Because the use of solvents was avoided during the formation of the heterostructures, few impurities were incorporated into the samples, and the non-radiative transition was therefore markedly suppressed. The Y2O3:[(Tb3+-Yb3+), Li+]/CdZnS heterostructures possess strong near-infrared (NIR) luminescence from Yb3+. Broadband down-conversion to the Yb3+ NIR emission was obtained in a wide range of 250-650 nm.

Evolution of group 14 rhodamines as platforms for near-infrared fluorescence probes utilizing photoinduced electron transfer.

PubMed

Koide, Yuichiro; Urano, Yasuteru; Hanaoka, Kenjiro; Terai, Takuya; Nagano, Tetsuo

2011-06-17

The absorption and emission wavelengths of group 14 pyronines and rhodamines, which contain silicon, germanium, or tin at the 10 position of the xanthene chromophore, showed large bathochromic shifts compared to the original rhodamines, owing to stabilization of the LUMO energy levels by σ*-π* conjugation between group 14 atom-C (methyl) σ* orbitals and a π* orbital of the fluorophore. These group 14 pyronines and rhodamines retain the advantages of the original rhodamines, including high quantum efficiency in aqueous media (Φ(fl) = 0.3-0.45), tolerance to photobleaching, and high water solubility. Group 14 rhodamines have higher values of reduction potential than other NIR light-emitting original rhodamines, and therefore, we speculated their NIR fluorescence could be controlled through the photoinduced electron transfer (PeT) mechanism. Indeed, we found that the fluorescence quantum yield (Φ(fl)) of Si-rhodamine (SiR) and Ge-rhodamine (GeR) could be made nearly equal to zero, and the threshold level for fluorescence on/off switching lies at around 1.3-1.5 V for the SiRs. This is about 0.1 V lower than in the case of TokyoGreens, in which the fluorophore is well established to be effective for PeT-based probes. That is to say, the fluorescence of SiR and GeR can be drastically activated by more than 100-fold through a PeT strategy. To confirm the validity of this strategy for developing NIR fluorescence probes, we employed this approach to design two kinds of novel fluorescence probes emitting in the far-red to NIR region, i.e., a series of pH-sensors for use in acidic environments and a Zn(2+) sensor. We synthesized these probes and confirmed that they work well.

Detection algorithm for cracks on the surface of tomatoes using Multispectral Vis/NIR Reflectance Imagery

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Tomatoes, an important agricultural product in fresh-cut markets, are sometimes a source of foodborne illness, mainly Salmonella spp. Growth cracks on tomatoes can be a pathway for bacteria, so its detection prior to consumption is important for public health. In this study, multispectral Visible/Ne...

Near-infrared fluorescent aza-BODIPY dye-loaded biodegradable polymeric nanoparticles for optical cancer imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hamon, Casey L.; Dorsey, Christopher L.; Özel, Tuğba; Barnes, Eugenia M.; Hudnall, Todd W.; Betancourt, Tania

2016-07-01

Nanoparticles are being readily investigated as carriers for the delivery of imaging and therapeutic agents for the detection, monitoring, and treatment of cancer and other diseases. In the present work, the preparation of biodegradable polymeric nanoparticles loaded with a near-infrared fluorescent aza-boron dipyrromethene (NIR-BODIPY ) derivative, and their use as contrast agents for optical imaging in cancer are described. Nanoparticles were prepared by nanoprecipitation of amphiphilic block copolymers of poly(lactic acid) and poly(ethylene glycol). The size, morphology, dye loading, spectral properties, quantum yield, cytocompatibility, and in vitro NIR imaging potential of the nanoparticles in breast and ovarian cancer cells were evaluated. Spherical nanoparticles of 30-70 nm in diameter were loaded with 0.73 w/w% BODIPY derivative. At this loading, the dye presented a fluorescence quantum yield in the same order of magnitude as in solution. Nanoparticle suspensions at concentrations up to 580 μg/mL were cytocompatible to breast (MDA-MB-231) and ovarian (SKOV-3 and Caov-3) cancer cells after a four-hour incubation period. Fluorescence microscopy images demonstrated the ability of the nanoparticles to act as imaging agents in all three cell lines in as little as 1 hour. The results shown indicate the potential of these NIR-BODIPY-loaded nanoparticles as contrast agents for near-infrared optical imaging in cancer.

Amplified solid-state electrochemiluminescence detection of cholesterol in near-infrared range based on CdTe quantum dots decorated multiwalled carbon nanotubes@reduced graphene oxide nanoribbons.

PubMed

Huan, Juan; Liu, Qian; Fei, Airong; Qian, Jing; Dong, Xiaoya; Qiu, Baijing; Mao, Hanping; Wang, Kun

2015-11-15

An amplified solid-state electrochemiluminescence (ECL) biosensor for detection of cholesterol in near-infrared (NIR) range was constructed based on CdTe quantum dots (QDs) decorated multiwalled carbon nanotubes@reduced graphene nanoribbons (CdTe-MWCNTs@rGONRs), which were prepared by electrostatic interactions. The CdTe QDs decorated on the MWCNTs@rGONRs resulted in the amplified ECL intensity by ~4.5 fold and decreased onset potential by ~100 mV. By immobilization of the cholesterol oxidase (ChOx) and NIR CdTe-MWCNTs@rGONRs on the electrode surface, a solid-state ECL biosensor for cholesterol detection was constructed. When cholesterol was added to the detection solution, the immobilized ChOx catalyzed the oxidation of cholesterol to generate H2O2, which could be used as the co-reactant in the ECL system of CdTe-MWCNTs@rGONRs. The as-prepared biosensor exhibited good performance for cholesterol detection including good reproducibility, selectivity, and acceptable linear range from 1 μM to 1mM with a relative low detection limit of 0.33 μM (S/N=3). The biosensor was successfully applied to the determination of cholesterol in biological fluid and food sample, which would open a new possibility for development of solid-state ECL biosensors with NIR emitters. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Layer-by-layer assembled fluorescent probes in the second near-infrared window for systemic delivery and detection of ovarian cancer

PubMed Central

Dang, Xiangnan; Gu, Li; Qi, Jifa; Correa, Santiago; Zhang, Geran; Belcher, Angela M.; Hammond, Paula T.

2016-01-01

Fluorescence imaging in the second near-infrared window (NIR-II, 1,000–1,700 nm) features deep tissue penetration, reduced tissue scattering, and diminishing tissue autofluorescence. Here, NIR-II fluorescent probes, including down-conversion nanoparticles, quantum dots, single-walled carbon nanotubes, and organic dyes, are constructed into biocompatible nanoparticles using the layer-by-layer (LbL) platform due to its modular and versatile nature. The LbL platform has previously been demonstrated to enable incorporation of diagnostic agents, drugs, and nucleic acids such as siRNA while providing enhanced blood plasma half-life and tumor targeting. This work carries out head-to-head comparisons of currently available NIR-II probes with identical LbL coatings with regard to their biodistribution, pharmacokinetics, and toxicities. Overall, rare-earth-based down-conversion nanoparticles demonstrate optimal biological and optical performance and are evaluated as a diagnostic probe for high-grade serous ovarian cancer, typically diagnosed at late stage. Successful detection of orthotopic ovarian tumors is achieved by in vivo NIR-II imaging and confirmed by ex vivo microscopic imaging. Collectively, these results indicate that LbL-based NIR-II probes can serve as a promising theranostic platform to effectively and noninvasively monitor the progression and treatment of serous ovarian cancer. PMID:27114520

Development of near-infrared ratiometric fluorescent probe based on cationic conjugated polymer and CdTe/CdS QDs for label-free determination of glucose in human body fluids.

PubMed

Yu, Mengze; Zhao, Kunli; Zhu, Xiaohua; Tang, Shiyun; Nie, Zhou; Huang, Yan; Zhao, Peng; Yao, Shouzhuo

2017-09-15

Quantum dots (QDs) have attracted extensive attention in biomedical applications， because of their broad excitation spectra, narrow and symmetric emission peaks etc. Furthermore, near-infrared (NIR) QDs have further advantages including low autofluorescence, good tissue penetration and low phototoxicity. In this work, the electrostatic interaction and fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) between NIR CdTe/CdS QDs and cationic conjugated polymer (CCP) was studied for the first time. Based on the newly discovered phenomena and the result that hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ) can efficiently quench the fluorescence of NIR CdTe/CdS QDs, a novel NIR ratiometric fluorescent probe for determination of H 2 O 2 and glucose was developed. Under the optimized conditions, the detection limit of H 2 O 2 and glucose assay were 0.1mM and 0.05mM (S/N=3), with a linear range of 0.2-4mM and 0.1-5mM, respectively. Because of the NIR spectrum, this ratiometric probe can be also applied for the determination of glucose in whole blood samples directly, providing a valuable platform for glucose sensing in clinic diagnostic and drug screening. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Quantum cutting in nanoparticles producing two green photons

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lorbeer, C; Mudring, Anja -V

2014-01-01

A synthetic route to nanoscale NaGdF4:Ln is presented which allows for quantum cutting based on the Gd-Er-Tb system. This shows, that cross-relaxation and other energy transfer processes necessary for multiphoton emission can be achieved in nanoparticles even if the large surface and the potentially huge amount of killer traps would suggest a lack of subsequent emission.

Development of near infrared I-III-VI quantum dots for in vivo imaging applications (Conference Presentation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pons, Thomas

2017-02-01

Near infrared (NIR) emitting quantum dots based on copper indium chalcogenides present unique optical properties for in vivo fluorescence imaging. Here we present the synthesis of CuIn(S,Se)2/ZnS core/shell QDs with 30-50% quantum yield in the NIR range. These nanoprobes are solubilized in water using a block copolymer surface ligand composed of multiple binding groups for enhanced stability and zwitterionic groups for solubility and minimized nonspecific adsorption. They present limited toxicity compared to heavy metal-containing QDs. These versatile nanoprobes can be directly injected in the peritumoral region for sentinel lymph node imaging. We also demonstrate their vectorization with RGD peptides or their incorporation in folic acid-functionalized silica particles to target specific cancer cells. Their long fluorescence lifetime enables rejection of autofluorescence using time-gated detection. This considerably enhances the sensitivity of in vivo fluorescence imaging. These QDs have been used for long term labeling of cancer cells ex vivo. Following reinjection of these cells, time-gated detection enables in vivo imaging of these cancer cells in the blood stream at the single cell level. Finally, these QDs can be doped with paramagnetic manganese ions to provide multimodal contrast in both fluorescence and magnetic resonance imaging.

Derivation of the cut-off length from the quantum quadratic enhancement of a mass in vacuum energy constant Lambda

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fukushima, Kimichika; Sato, Hikaru

2018-04-01

Ultraviolet self-interaction energies in field theory sometimes contain meaningful physical quantities. The self-energies in such as classical electrodynamics are usually subtracted from the rest mass. For the consistent treatment of energies as sources of curvature in the Einstein field equations, this study includes these subtracted self-energies into vacuum energy expressed by the constant Lambda (used in such as Lambda-CDM). In this study, the self-energies in electrodynamics and macroscopic classical Einstein field equations are examined, using the formalisms with the ultraviolet cut-off scheme. One of the cut-off formalisms is the field theory in terms of the step-function-type basis functions, developed by the present authors. The other is a continuum theory of a fundamental particle with the same cut-off length. Based on the effectiveness of the continuum theory with the cut-off length shown in the examination, the dominant self-energy is the quadratic term of the Higgs field at a quantum level (classical self-energies are reduced to logarithmic forms by quantum corrections). The cut-off length is then determined to reproduce today's tiny value of Lambda for vacuum energy. Additionally, a field with nonperiodic vanishing boundary conditions is treated, showing that the field has no zero-point energy.

Photoluminescence properties of Mn2+/Yb3+ co-doped oxyfluoride glasses for solar cells application

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yan, Ying; Chen, Zeng; Jia, Xiyang; Li, Shengjun

2018-01-01

Mn2+/Yb3+ co-doped oxyfluoride glasses were facilely synthesized in the SiO2-Al2O3-Na2O-CaF2 system. Partial crystallization processed during the preparation of the glasses, by which small amounts of CaF2 nano-crystals were formed. Under ultraviolet and blue (370-500 nm) light excitation, an efficient down-conversion involving the emission of near-infrared is realized in the Mn2+/Yb3+ co-doped oxyfluoride glasses. The near-infrared emission peaks mainly at 976 nm and secondarily at 1020 nm, which is a comfortable match with the band gap of c-Si. The variation in visible and near-infrared spectra and the decay curves of Mn2+:4T1 → 6A1 emission have been investigated to verify the possible energy transfer from Mn2+ ions to Yb3+ ions. On analyzing the energy transfer processes theoretically and experimentally, we propose that quantum cutting and down-shifting processes may occur simultaneously in the samples. We suggest that the Mn2+-Yb3+ co-doped materials can provide a novel direction to realize UV-Vis to NIR down-conversion for Si solar cells.

Fabrication of highly fluorescent graphene quantum dots using L-glutamic acid for in vitro/in vivo imaging and sensing.

PubMed

Wu, Xu; Tian, Fei; Wang, Wenxue; Chen, Jiao; Wu, Min; Zhao, Julia Xiaojun

2013-08-21

A facile bottom-up method for the synthesis of highly fluorescent graphene quantum dots (GQDs) has been developed using a one-step pyrolysis of a natural amino acid, L-glutamic acid, with the assistance of a simple heating mantle device. The developed GQDs showed strong blue, green and red luminescence under the irradiation of ultra-violet, blue and green light, respectively. Moreover, the GQDs emitted near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence in the range of 800-850 nm with the excitation-dependent manner. This NIR fluorescence has a large Stokes shift of 455 nm, providing significant advantage for sensitive determination and imaging of biological targets. The fluorescence properties of the GQDs, such as quantum yields, fluorescence life time, and photostability, were measured and the fluorescence quantum yield was as high as 54.5 %. The morphology and composites of the GQDs were characterized using TEM, SEM, EDS, and FT-IR. The feasibility of using the GQDs as a fluorescent biomarker was investigated through in vitro and in vivo fluorescence imaging. The results showed that the GQDs could be a promising candidate for bioimaging. Most importantly, compared to the traditional quantum dots (QDs), the GQDs is chemically inert. Thus, the potential toxicity of the intrinsic heavy metal in the traditional QDs would not be a concern for GQDs. In addition, the GQDs possessed an intrinsic peroxidase-like catalytic activity that was similar to the graphene sheets and carbon nanotubes. Coupled with 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) (ABTS), the GQDs can be used for the sensitive detection of hydrogen peroxide with a limit of detection of 20 μM.

Fabrication of highly fluorescent graphene quantum dots using L-glutamic acid for in vitro/in vivo imaging and sensing

PubMed Central

Wu, Xu; Tian, Fei; Wang, Wenxue; Chen, Jiao; Wu, Min; Zhao, Julia Xiaojun

2013-01-01

A facile bottom-up method for the synthesis of highly fluorescent graphene quantum dots (GQDs) has been developed using a one-step pyrolysis of a natural amino acid, L-glutamic acid, with the assistance of a simple heating mantle device. The developed GQDs showed strong blue, green and red luminescence under the irradiation of ultra-violet, blue and green light, respectively. Moreover, the GQDs emitted near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence in the range of 800–850 nm with the excitation-dependent manner. This NIR fluorescence has a large Stokes shift of 455 nm, providing significant advantage for sensitive determination and imaging of biological targets. The fluorescence properties of the GQDs, such as quantum yields, fluorescence life time, and photostability, were measured and the fluorescence quantum yield was as high as 54.5 %. The morphology and composites of the GQDs were characterized using TEM, SEM, EDS, and FT-IR. The feasibility of using the GQDs as a fluorescent biomarker was investigated through in vitro and in vivo fluorescence imaging. The results showed that the GQDs could be a promising candidate for bioimaging. Most importantly, compared to the traditional quantum dots (QDs), the GQDs is chemically inert. Thus, the potential toxicity of the intrinsic heavy metal in the traditional QDs would not be a concern for GQDs. In addition, the GQDs possessed an intrinsic peroxidase-like catalytic activity that was similar to the graphene sheets and carbon nanotubes. Coupled with 2,2′-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) (ABTS), the GQDs can be used for the sensitive detection of hydrogen peroxide with a limit of detection of 20 μM. PMID:23997934

Ultralow-Power Near Infrared Lamp Light Operable Targeted Organic Nanoparticle Photodynamic Therapy.

PubMed

Huang, Ling; Li, Zhanjun; Zhao, Yang; Zhang, Yuanwei; Wu, Shuang; Zhao, Jianzhang; Han, Gang

2016-11-09

Tissue penetration depth is a major challenge in practical photodynamic therapy (PDT). A biocompatible and highly effective near infrared (NIR)-light-absorbing carbazole-substituted BODIPY (Car-BDP) molecule is reported as a class of imaging-guidable deep-tissue activatable photosensitizers for PDT. Car-BDP possesses an intense, broad NIR absorption band (600-800 nm) with a remarkably high singlet oxygen quantum yield (Φ Δ = 67%). After being encapsulated with biodegradable PLA-PEG-FA polymers, Car-BDP can form uniform and small organic nanoparticles that are water-soluble and tumor-targetable. Rather than using laser light, such nanoparticles offer an unprecedented deep-tissue, tumor targeting photodynamic therapeutic effect by using an exceptionally low-power-density and cost-effective lamp light (12 mW cm -2 ). In addition, these nanoparticles can be simultaneously traced in vivo due to their excellent NIR fluorescence. This study signals a major step forward in photodynamic therapy by developing a new class of NIR-absorbing biocompatible organic nanoparticles for effective targeting and treatment of deep-tissue tumors. This work also provides a potential new platform for precise tumor-targeting theranostics and novel opportunities for future affordable clinical cancer treatment.

In vivo photoacoustic tumor tomography using a quinoline-annulated porphyrin as NIR molecular contrast agent.

PubMed

Luciano, Michael; Erfanzadeh, Mohsen; Zhou, Feifei; Zhu, Hua; Bornhütter, Tobias; Röder, Beate; Zhu, Quing; Brückner, Christian

2017-01-25

The synthesis and photophysical properties of a tetra-PEG-modified and freely water-soluble quinoline-annulated porphyrin are described. We previously demonstrated the ability of quinoline-annulated porphyrins to act as an in vitro NIR photoacoustic imaging (PAI) contrast agent. The solubility of the quinoline-annulated porphyrin derivative in serum now allowed the assessment of the efficacy of the PEGylated derivative as an in vivo NIR contrast agent for the PAI of an implanted tumor in a mouse model. A multi-fold contrast enhancement when compared to the benchmark dye ICG could be shown, a finding that could be traced to its photophysical properties (short triplet lifetimes, low fluorescence and singlet oxygen sensitization quantum yields). A NIR excitation wavelength of 790 nm could be used, fully taking advantage of the optical window of tissue. Rapid renal clearance of the dye was observed. Its straight-forward synthesis, optical properties with the possibility for further optical fine-tuning, nontoxicity, favorable elimination rates, and contrast enhancement make this a promising PAI contrast agent. The ability to conjugate the PAI chromophore with a fluorescent tag using a facile and general conjugation strategy was also demonstrated.

Rapid Analysis of Deoxynivalenol in Durum Wheat by FT-NIR Spectroscopy

PubMed Central

De Girolamo, Annalisa; Cervellieri, Salvatore; Visconti, Angelo; Pascale, Michelangelo

2014-01-01

Fourier-transform-near infrared (FT-NIR) spectroscopy has been used to develop quantitative and classification models for the prediction of deoxynivalenol (DON) levels in durum wheat samples. Partial least-squares (PLS) regression analysis was used to determine DON in wheat samples in the range of <50–16,000 µg/kg DON. The model displayed a large root mean square error of prediction value (1,977 µg/kg) as compared to the EU maximum limit for DON in unprocessed durum wheat (i.e., 1,750 µg/kg), thus making the PLS approach unsuitable for quantitative prediction of DON in durum wheat. Linear discriminant analysis (LDA) was successfully used to differentiate wheat samples based on their DON content. A first approach used LDA to group wheat samples into three classes: A (DON ≤ 1,000 µg/kg), B (1,000 < DON ≤ 2,500 µg/kg), and C (DON > 2,500 µg/kg) (LDA I). A second approach was used to discriminate highly contaminated wheat samples based on three different cut-off limits, namely 1,000 (LDA II), 1,200 (LDA III) and 1,400 µg/kg DON (LDA IV). The overall classification and false compliant rates for the three models were 75%–90% and 3%–7%, respectively, with model LDA IV using a cut-off of 1,400 µg/kg fulfilling the requirement of the European official guidelines for screening methods. These findings confirmed the suitability of FT-NIR to screen a large number of wheat samples for DON contamination and to verify the compliance with EU regulation. PMID:25384107

Rapid analysis of deoxynivalenol in durum wheat by FT-NIR spectroscopy.

PubMed

De Girolamo, Annalisa; Cervellieri, Salvatore; Visconti, Angelo; Pascale, Michelangelo

2014-11-06

Fourier-transform-near infrared (FT-NIR) spectroscopy has been used to develop quantitative and classification models for the prediction of deoxynivalenol (DON) levels in durum wheat samples. Partial least-squares (PLS) regression analysis was used to determine DON in wheat samples in the range of <50-16,000 µg/kg DON. The model displayed a large root mean square error of prediction value (1,977 µg/kg) as compared to the EU maximum limit for DON in unprocessed durum wheat (i.e., 1,750 µg/kg), thus making the PLS approach unsuitable for quantitative prediction of DON in durum wheat. Linear discriminant analysis (LDA) was successfully used to differentiate wheat samples based on their DON content. A first approach used LDA to group wheat samples into three classes: A (DON ≤ 1,000 µg/kg), B (1,000 < DON ≤ 2,500 µg/kg), and C (DON > 2,500 µg/kg) (LDA I). A second approach was used to discriminate highly contaminated wheat samples based on three different cut-off limits, namely 1,000 (LDA II), 1,200 (LDA III) and 1,400 µg/kg DON (LDA IV). The overall classification and false compliant rates for the three models were 75%-90% and 3%-7%, respectively, with model LDA IV using a cut-off of 1,400 µg/kg fulfilling the requirement of the European official guidelines for screening methods. These findings confirmed the suitability of FT-NIR to screen a large number of wheat samples for DON contamination and to verify the compliance with EU regulation.

Quantum dot-polymer conjugates for stable luminescent displays.

PubMed

Ghimire, Sushant; Sivadas, Anjaly; Yuyama, Ken-Ichi; Takano, Yuta; Francis, Raju; Biju, Vasudevanpillai

2018-05-23

The broad absorption of light in the UV-Vis-NIR region and the size-based tunable photoluminescence color of semiconductor quantum dots make these tiny crystals one of the most attractive antennae in solar cells and phosphors in electrooptical devices. One of the primary requirements for such real-world applications of quantum dots is their stable and uniform distribution in optically transparent matrices. In this work, we prepare transparent thin films of polymer-quantum dot conjugates, where CdSe/ZnS quantum dots are uniformly distributed at high densities in a chitosan-polystyrene copolymer (CS-g-PS) matrix. Here, quantum dots in an aqueous solution are conjugated to the copolymer by a phase transfer reaction. With the stable conjugation of quantum dots to the copolymer, we prevent undesired phase separation between the two and aggregation of quantum dots. Furthermore, the conjugate allows us to prepare transparent thin films in which quantum dots are uniformly distributed at high densities. The CS-g-PS copolymer helps us in not only preserving the photoluminescence properties of quantum dots in the film but also rendering excellent photostability to quantum dots at the ensemble and single particle levels, making the conjugate a promising material for photoluminescence-based devices.

Communication: Low-energy free-electron driven molecular engineering: In situ preparation of intrinsically short-lived carbon-carbon covalent dimer of CO

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Davis, Daly; Sajeev, Y.

2017-02-01

Molecular modification induced through the resonant attachment of a low energy electron (LEE) is a novel approach for molecular engineering. In this communication, we explore the possibility to use the LEE as a quantum tool for the in situ preparation of short lived molecules. Using ab initio quantum chemical methods, this possibility is best illustrated for the in situ preparation of the intrinsically short-lived carbon-carbon covalent dimer of CO from a glyoxal molecule. The chemical conversion of glyoxal to the covalent dimer of CO is initiated and driven by the resonant capture of a near 11 eV electron by the glyoxal molecule. The resulting two-particle one-hole (2p-1h) negative ion resonant state (NIRS) of the glyoxal molecule undergoes a barrierless radical dehydrogenation reaction and produces the covalent dimer of CO. The autoionization electron spectra from the 2p-1h NIRS at the dissociation limit of the dehydrogenation reaction provides access to the electronic states of the CO dimer. The overall process is an example of a catalytic electron reaction channel.

Cut-and-paste restoration of entanglement transmission

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cuevas, Álvaro; Mari, Andrea; De Pasquale, Antonella; Orieux, Adeline; Massaro, Marcello; Sciarrino, Fabio; Mataloni, Paolo; Giovannetti, Vittorio

2017-07-01

The distribution of entangled quantum systems among two or more nodes of a network is a key task at the basis of quantum communication, quantum computation, and quantum cryptography. Unfortunately, the transmission lines used in this procedure can introduce so many perturbations and so much noise in the transmitted signal that they prevent the possibility of restoring quantum correlations in the received messages either by means of encoding optimization or by exploiting local operations and classical communication. In this work we present a procedure which allows one to improve the performance of some of these channels. The mechanism underpinning this result is a protocol which we dub cut and paste, as it consists in extracting and reshuffling the subcomponents of these communication lines, which finally succeed in correcting each other. The proof of this counterintuitive phenomenon, while improving our theoretical understanding of quantum entanglement, also has a direct application in the realization of quantum information networks based on imperfect and highly noisy communication lines. A quantum optics experiment, based on the transmission of single-photon polarization states, is also presented which provides a proof-of-principle test of the proposed protocol.

[EMD Time-Frequency Analysis of Raman Spectrum and NIR].

PubMed

Zhao, Xiao-yu; Fang, Yi-ming; Tan, Feng; Tong, Liang; Zhai, Zhe

2016-02-01

This paper analyzes the Raman spectrum and Near Infrared Spectrum (NIR) with time-frequency method. The empirical mode decomposition spectrum becomes intrinsic mode functions, which the proportion calculation reveals the Raman spectral energy is uniform distributed in each component, while the NIR's low order intrinsic mode functions only undertakes fewer primary spectroscopic effective information. Both the real spectrum and numerical experiments show that the empirical mode decomposition (EMD) regard Raman spectrum as the amplitude-modulated signal, which possessed with high frequency adsorption property; and EMD regards NIR as the frequency-modulated signal, which could be preferably realized high frequency narrow-band demodulation during first-order intrinsic mode functions. The first-order intrinsic mode functions Hilbert transform reveals that during the period of empirical mode decomposes Raman spectrum, modal aliasing happened. Through further analysis of corn leaf's NIR in time-frequency domain, after EMD, the first and second orders components of low energy are cut off, and reconstruct spectral signal by using the remaining intrinsic mode functions, the root-mean-square error is 1.001 1, and the correlation coefficient is 0.981 3, both of these two indexes indicated higher accuracy in re-construction; the decomposition trend term indicates the absorbency is ascending along with the decreasing to wave length in the near-infrared light wave band; and the Hilbert transform of characteristic modal component displays, 657 cm⁻¹ is the specific frequency by the corn leaf stress spectrum, which could be regarded as characteristic frequency for identification.

Near infrared imaging of teeth at wavelengths between 1200 and 1600 nm.

PubMed

Chung, Soojeong; Fried, Daniel; Staninec, Michal; Darling, Cynthia L

2011-01-01

Near-IR (NIR) imaging is a new technology that is currently being investigated for the detection and assessment of dental caries without the use of ionizing radiation. Several papers have been published on the use of transillumination and reflectance NIR imaging to detect early caries in enamel. The purpose of this study was to investigate alternative near infrared wavelengths besides 1300-nm in the range from 1200-1600-nm to determine the wavelengths that yield the highest contrast in both transmission and reflectance imaging modes. Artificial lesions were created on thirty tooth sections of varying thickness for transillumination imaging. NIR images at wavelengths from the visible to 1600-nm were also acquired for fifty-four whole teeth with occlusal lesions using a tungsten halogen lamp with several spectral filters and a Ge-enhanced CMOS image sensor. Cavity preparations were also cut into whole teeth and Z250 composite was used as a restorative material to determine the contrast between composite and enamel at NIR wavelengths. Slightly longer NIR wavelengths are likely to have better performance for the transillumination of occlusal caries lesions while 1300-nm appears best for the transillumination of proximal surfaces. Significantly higher performance was attained at wavelengths that have higher water absorption, namely 1460-nm and wavelengths greater than 1500-nm and these wavelength regions are likely to be more effective for reflectance imaging. Wavelengths with higher water absorption also provided higher contrast of composite restorations.

Identification of Serine Conformers by Matrix-Isolation IR Spectroscopy Aided by Near-Infrared Laser Induced Conformational Change, 2D Correlation Analysis, and Quantum Mechanical Anharmonic Computations

PubMed Central

Najbauer, Eszter E.; Bazsó, Gábor; Apóstolo, Rui; Fausto, Rui; Biczysko, Malgorzata; Barone, Vincenzo; Tarczay, György

2018-01-01

The conformers of α-serine were investigated by matrix-isolation IR spectroscopy combined with NIR laser irradiation. This method, aided by 2D correlation analysis, enabled unambiguously grouping the spectral lines to individual conformers. On the basis of comparison of at least nine experimentally observed vibrational transitions of each conformer with empirically scaled (SQM) and anharmonic (GVPT2) computed IR spectra, 6 conformers were identified. In addition, the presence of at least one more conformer in Ar matrix was proved, and a short-lived conformer with a half-live of (3.7±0.5)·103 s in N2 matrix was generated by NIR irradiation. The analysis of the NIR laser induced conversions revealed that the excitation of the stretching overtone of both the side-chain and the carboxylic OH groups can effectively promote conformational changes, but remarkably different paths were observed for the two kinds of excitations. PMID:26201050

An ultrasensitive alloyed near-infrared quinternary quantum dot-molecular beacon nanodiagnostic bioprobe for influenza virus RNA.

PubMed

Adegoke, Oluwasesan; Kato, Tatsuya; Park, Enoch Y

2016-06-15

Conventional techniques used to diagnose influenza virus face several challenges, such as low sensitivity, slow detection, false positive results and misinterpreted data. Hence, diagnostic probes that can offer robust detection qualities, such as high sensitivity, rapid detection, elimination of false positive data, and specificity for influenza virus, are urgently needed. The near-infrared (NIR) range is an attractive spectral window due to low photon absorption by biological tissues, hence well-constructed fluorescent biosensors that emit within the NIR window can offer an improved limit of detection (LOD). Here, we demonstrate the use of a newly synthesized NIR quinternary alloyed CdZnSeTeS quantum dots (QDs) as an ultrasensitive fluorescence reporter in a conjugated molecular beacon (MB) assay to detect extremely low concentrations of influenza virus H1N1 RNA. Under optimum conditions, two different strains of influenza virus H1N1 RNA were detected based on fluorescence enhancement signal transduction. We successfully discriminated between two different strains of influenza virus H1N1 RNA based on the number of complementary nucleotide base pairs of the MB to the target RNA sequence. The merits of our bioprobe system are rapid detection, high sensitivity (detects H1N1 viral RNA down to 2 copies/mL), specificity and versatility (detects H1N1 viral RNA in human serum). For comparison, a conventional CdSe/ZnS-MB probe could not detect the extremely low concentrations of H1N1 viral RNA detected by our NIR alloyed CdZnSeTeS-MB probe. Our bioprobe detection system produced a LOD as low as ~1 copy/mL and is more sensitive than conventional molecular tests and rapid influenza detection tests (RIDTS) probes. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Crystal phase-controlled synthesis of rod-shaped AgInTe2 nanocrystals for in vivo imaging in the near-infrared wavelength region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kameyama, Tatsuya; Ishigami, Yujiro; Yukawa, Hiroshi; Shimada, Taisuke; Baba, Yoshinobu; Ishikawa, Tetsuya; Kuwabata, Susumu; Torimoto, Tsukasa

2016-03-01

Rod-shaped AgInTe2 nanocrystals (NCs) exhibiting intense near-band edge photoluminescence in the near-infrared (NIR) wavelength region, were successfully prepared by the thermal reaction of metal acetates and Te precursors in 1-dodecanethiol. Increasing the reaction temperature resulted in the formation of larger AgInTe2 NCs with crystal structures varying from hexagonal to tetragonal at reaction temperatures of 280 °C or higher. The energy gap was increased from 1.13 to 1.20 eV with a decrease in rod width from 8.3 to 5.6 nm, accompanied by a blue shift in the photoluminescence (PL) peak wavelength from 1097 to 1033 nm. The optimal PL quantum yield was approximately 18% for AgInTe2 NCs with rod widths of 5.6 nm. The applicability of AgInTe2 NCs as a NIR-emitting material for in vivo biological imaging was examined by injecting AgInTe2 NC-incorporated liposomes into the back of a C57BL/6 mouse, followed by in vivo photoluminescence imaging in the NIR region.Rod-shaped AgInTe2 nanocrystals (NCs) exhibiting intense near-band edge photoluminescence in the near-infrared (NIR) wavelength region, were successfully prepared by the thermal reaction of metal acetates and Te precursors in 1-dodecanethiol. Increasing the reaction temperature resulted in the formation of larger AgInTe2 NCs with crystal structures varying from hexagonal to tetragonal at reaction temperatures of 280 °C or higher. The energy gap was increased from 1.13 to 1.20 eV with a decrease in rod width from 8.3 to 5.6 nm, accompanied by a blue shift in the photoluminescence (PL) peak wavelength from 1097 to 1033 nm. The optimal PL quantum yield was approximately 18% for AgInTe2 NCs with rod widths of 5.6 nm. The applicability of AgInTe2 NCs as a NIR-emitting material for in vivo biological imaging was examined by injecting AgInTe2 NC-incorporated liposomes into the back of a C57BL/6 mouse, followed by in vivo photoluminescence imaging in the NIR region. Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: A detailed synthesis procedure of DSPC-AgInTe2 and analytical data of AgInTe2 NCs. See DOI: 10.1039/c5nr07532g

Rapid analysis of the microfibril angle of loblolly pine from two test sites using near-infrared analysis

Treesearch

ChiLeung So; Jennifer Myszewski; Thomas Elder; Les Groom

2013-01-01

Abstract There have been several recent studies employing near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy for the rapid determination of microfibril angle (MFA). However, only a few have utilized samples cut from individual rings of increment cores, and none have been as large as this present study, sampling over 600 trees from two test sites producing over 3000 individual ring...

Growth performance and pork fat quality as measured by three methods of pigs fed 20% DDGS and slaughtered using a standard industry split marketing strategy.

PubMed

Shircliff, K E; Callahan, Z D; Wilmoth, T A; Ohman, C E; Johnson, R C; Wiegand, B R

2015-10-01

A total of 40 pens containing 22 crossbred barrows (initial BW = 43.07 ± 1.61 kg; PIC 1050 × PIC 337 genetics) were housed in a commercial wean to finish facility. Pens were randomly allotted to dietary treatments in a 2 × 3 factorial arrangement with 2 levels of dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS; 0% or 20%) and chosen for 1 of 3 marketing cuts removing 4, 8, and 10 animals from each pen. Fat tissue samples were removed from the anterior tip of the jowl and posterior to the sternum on the belly edge 1d postmortem. Fatty acid composition was determined via the Folch method, and iodine values (IV) were calculated from chemical titrations, fatty acid profile (GC IV), and in-plant Bruker near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy. Pearson's correlation coefficients for IV determination methods were estimated. Inclusion of 20% DDGS did not change ( > 0.05) growth performance, whereas marketing cut affected performance, with the second cut producing the most efficient pigs ( < 0.01). Total SFA and MUFA concentrations were higher ( < 0.01) in belly and jowl fat from pigs fed 0% DDGS. Total PUFA and the PUFA:SFA in belly and jowl fat was higher ( < 0.01) when 20% DDGS was fed. Dried distillers grains with solubles inclusion increased IV in belly and jowl as determined by all 3 methods. Regardless of dietary treatment or fat depot, Pearson correlation coefficients between titration and GC IV, titration and NIR, and GC IV and NIR were 0.46 ( < 0.01), 0.68 ( < 0.01), and 0.43 ( < 0.01), respectively. These correlations suggest methods may rank samples equally but do not provide the same absolute IV. Belly fat had a lower IV ( < 0.01) than jowl fat using titration or GC IV methods, suggesting pigs have varied degrees of physiological maturity at specific fat depots when weight end points are used during the finishing phase. In conclusion, feeding 20% DDGS negatively affected fat quality but not growth performance, and marketing time changed growth performance.

Au nanoparticle-decorated silicon pyramids for plasmon-enhanced hot electron near-infrared photodetection.

PubMed

Qi, Zhiyang; Zhai, Yusheng; Wen, Long; Wang, Qilong; Chen, Qin; Iqbal, Sami; Chen, Guangdian; Xu, Ji; Tu, Yan

2017-05-22

The heterojunction between metal and silicon (Si) is an attractive route to extend the response of Si-based photodiodes into the near-infrared (NIR) region, so-called Schottky barrier diodes. Photons absorbed into a metallic nanostructure excite the surface plasmon resonances (SPRs), which can be damped non-radiatively through the creation of hot electrons. Unfortunately, the quantum efficiency of hot electron detectors remains low due to low optical absorption and poor electron injection efficiency. In this study, we propose an efficient and low-cost plasmonic hot electron NIR photodetector based on a Au nanoparticle (Au NP)-decorated Si pyramid Schottky junction. The large-area and lithography-free photodetector is realized by using an anisotropic chemical wet etching and rapid thermal annealing (RTA) of a thin Au film. We experimentally demonstrate that these hot electron detectors have broad photoresponsivity spectra in the NIR region of 1200-1475 nm, with a low dark current on the order of 10 -5 A cm -2 . The observed responsivities enable these devices to be competitive with other reported Si-based NIR hot electron photodetectors using perfectly periodic nanostructures. The improved performance is attributed to the pyramid surface which can enhance light trapping and the localized electric field, and the nano-sized Au NPs which are beneficial for the tunneling of hot electrons. The simple and large-area preparation processes make them suitable for large-scale thermophotovoltaic cell and low-cost NIR detection applications.

Au nanoparticle-decorated silicon pyramids for plasmon-enhanced hot electron near-infrared photodetection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qi, Zhiyang; Zhai, Yusheng; Wen, Long; Wang, Qilong; Chen, Qin; Iqbal, Sami; Chen, Guangdian; Xu, Ji; Tu, Yan

2017-07-01

The heterojunction between metal and silicon (Si) is an attractive route to extend the response of Si-based photodiodes into the near-infrared (NIR) region, so-called Schottky barrier diodes. Photons absorbed into a metallic nanostructure excite the surface plasmon resonances (SPRs), which can be damped non-radiatively through the creation of hot electrons. Unfortunately, the quantum efficiency of hot electron detectors remains low due to low optical absorption and poor electron injection efficiency. In this study, we propose an efficient and low-cost plasmonic hot electron NIR photodetector based on a Au nanoparticle (Au NP)-decorated Si pyramid Schottky junction. The large-area and lithography-free photodetector is realized by using an anisotropic chemical wet etching and rapid thermal annealing (RTA) of a thin Au film. We experimentally demonstrate that these hot electron detectors have broad photoresponsivity spectra in the NIR region of 1200-1475 nm, with a low dark current on the order of 10-5 A cm-2. The observed responsivities enable these devices to be competitive with other reported Si-based NIR hot electron photodetectors using perfectly periodic nanostructures. The improved performance is attributed to the pyramid surface which can enhance light trapping and the localized electric field, and the nano-sized Au NPs which are beneficial for the tunneling of hot electrons. The simple and large-area preparation processes make them suitable for large-scale thermophotovoltaic cell and low-cost NIR detection applications.

Efficient near-infrared emission of π-extended cyclometalated iridium complexes based on pyrene in solution-processed polymer light-emitting diode

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Yu; Hao, Zhaoran; Meng, Fanyuan; Wang, Pu; Yang, Liang; Wang, Yafei; Pei, Yong; Su, Shijian

2018-05-01

A novel iridium complex grafting hole-transporting triphenylamine (TPA) unit onto cyclometalated ligand, namely t-BuPyrPyTPA)2Ir(acac), was successfully synthesized and characterized. The photophysical, electrochemical and DFT/TD-DFT calculation, as well as electroluminescence properties of this iridium complex were fully investigated. Meanwhile, the PLEDs employing (t-BuPyrPyTPA)2Ir(acac) as dopant presented stable NIR emission peaked at 697 nm and a shoulder at 764 nm with a highest external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 0.56% at 4 wt% dopant concentration. These results demonstrate that expanding the conjugation length of the ligand is an effective way to achieve NIR emission.

All-inorganic colloidal upconversion quantum dots (Conference Presentation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Oron, Dan; Teitelboim, Ayelet

2017-02-01

Upconversion (UC) is a nonlinear process in which two, or more, long wavelength photons are converted to a shorter wavelength photon. This process is based on sequential absorption of two or more photons, involving metastable, long lived intermediate energy states, thus is not restricted to ultrashort pulsed excitation. Hence, requirements for UC processes are long lived excited states, a ladder like arrangement of energy levels and a mechanism inhibiting cooling of the hot charge carrier. UC holds great promise for bioimaging, enabling to perform multiphoton imaging in scattering specimen at very low powers. Rare-earth-doped nanocrystals, the most commonly used ones for UC, typically require a minimal particle diameter of several tens of nanometers and have a limited action spectrum. Here, we present a novel luminescence upconversion nano-system based on colloidal semiconductor double quantum dots, consisting of a NIR-absorbing component and a visible emitting component separated by a tunneling barrier in a spherical onion-like geometry. These dual near-infrared and visible core/shell/shell PbSe/CdSe/CdS nanocrystals are shown to efficiently upconvert a broad range of NIR wavelengths up to 1.2 microns to visible emission at room temperature, covering a spectral range where there are practically no alternative upconversion systems. The particle diameter is less than ten nanometers, and the synthesis enables versatility and tunability of both the visible emission color and the NIR absorption edge. The physical mechanism for upconversion in this type of structures, as well as potential advances and extensions on this system will be discussed.

Ultrasmall lanthanide-doped nanoparticles as multimodal platforms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yust, Brian G.; Pedraza, Francisco J.; Sardar, Dhiraj K.

2014-03-01

Recently, there has been a great amount of interest in nanoparticles which are able to provide a platform with high contrast for multiple imaging modalities in order to advance the tools available to biomedical researchers and physicians. However, many nanoparticles do not have ideal properties to provide high contrast in different imaging modes. In order to address this, ultrasmall lanthanide doped oxide and fluoride nanoparticles with strong NIR to NIR upconversion fluorescence and a strong magnetic response for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have been developed. Specifically, these nanoparticles incorporate gadolinium, dysprosium, or a combination of both into the nano-crystalline host to achieve the magnetic properties. Thulium, erbium, and neodymium codopants provide the strong NIR absorption and emission lines that allow for deeper tissue imaging since near infrared light is not strongly absorbed or scattered by most tissues within this region. This also leads to better image quality and lower necessary excitation intensities. As a part of the one pot synthesis, these nanoparticles are coated with peg, pmao, or d-glucuronic acid to make them water soluble, biocompatible, and bioconjugable due to the available carboxyl or amine groups. Here, the synthesis, morphological characterization, magnetic response, NIR emission, and the quantum yield will be discussed. Cytotoxicity tested through cell viability at varying concentrations of nanoparticles in growth media will also be discussed.

RGDS-conjugated CdSeTe/CdS quantum dots as near-infrared fluorescent probe: preparation, characterization and bioapplication

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Zhenzhen; Zhang, Qiyi; Huang, Huaying; Ren, Changjing; Pan, Yujin; Wang, Qing; Zhao, Qiang

2016-12-01

In the experiments, high-quality, water-soluble and near-infrared (NIR)-emitting CdSeTe and CdSeTe/CdS quantum dots (QDs) were successfully prepared. The average size of CdSeTe⁄CdS QDs was 7.68 nm and CdSeTe QDs was 4.33 nm. Arginine-glycine-aspartic-serine acid (RGDS) peptides were linked to CdSeTe/CdS QDs by N-(3-(dimethylamino)propyl)-N'-ehtylcarbodiimide hydrochloride (EDC) and N'-hydroxysuccinimide (NHS). The prepared RGDS-tagged NIR CdSeTe/CdS QDs (denoted as RGDS-CdSeTe/CdS) had an average diameter of 24.83 nm and were used for cancer cell immunofluorescence imaging. The characteristics of RGDS-conjugated CdSeTe/CdS such as morphology, structure, spectra, stability, cytotoxicity, and near-infrared microscopic imaging were investigated in detail. HepG2 cells were incubated with the novel fluorescent probe (RGDS-CdSeTe/CdS), which realized immunofluorescence targeting and imaging. The results reported here open up new perspectives for integrin-targeted near-infrared imaging and may aid in tumor detection including imaging-guided surgery.

Self-illuminating nanoprobe for in vivo imaging of cancers over-expressing the folate receptor

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miller, Steven C.; Beviglia, Lucia; Yeung, Pete; Bhattacharyya, Sukanta; Sobek, Daniel

2012-03-01

New in vivo imaging reagents with increased sensitivity and penetration depth are needed to advance our understanding of metastases and accelerate the development of therapeutics. The folate receptor (FR) is a promising imaging target that is up-regulated in many human carcinomas, including cancers of the ovary, breast, pancreas, endometrium, lungs, kidneys, colon, brain, and myeloid cells. Zymera has developed a self-illuminating Bioluminescence Resonance Energy Transfer Quantum Dot (BRET-Qdot) nanoprobe conjugated with folate (BQ-Folate) for in vivo imaging of cancers overexpressing FR. BQ-Folate is a novel nanoprobe formed by co-conjugating Renilla reniformis luciferase enzyme and folate to near-infrared (NIR) emitting quantum dots. The luciferase substrate, coelenterazine, activates the BQ-Folate nanoprobe generating luminescence emission in the near-infrared (NIR) region (655 nm) for increased sensitivity and penetration depth. Because BQ-Folate requires no external light source for light emission, it has significant advantages for challenging in vivo preclinical optical imaging applications, such as the detection of early stage metastases. Zymera and OncoMed Pharmaceuticals have demonstrated that in vivo imaging with the BQ-Folate nanoprobe detected the primary tumor and early stage metastases in an orthotopic NOD/SCID mouse model of human pancreatic cancer.

Tunable plasmons in atomically thin gold nanodisks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Manjavacas, Alejandro; Garcia de Abajo, Javier

2015-03-01

The ability to modulate light at high speeds is of paramount importance for telecommunications, information processing, and medical imaging technologies. This has stimulated intense efforts to master optoelectronic switching at visible and near-infrared (vis-NIR) frequencies, although coping with current computer speeds in integrated architectures still remains a major challenge. Here we show that atomically thin noble metal nanoislands can extend optical modulation to the vis-NIR spectral range. We find plasmons in thin metal nanodisks to produce similar absorption cross-sections as spherical particles of the same diameter. Using realistic levels of electrical doping, plasmons are shifted by about half their width, thus leading to a factor-of-two change in light absorption. These results are supported by a microscopic quantum-mechanical calculations based on the random-phase approximation (RPA), which we compare with classical simulations obtained solving Maxwell's equations using tabulated dielectric functions. Both approaches result in an excellent agreement for nanodisks with diameters above 13 nm, although quantum confinement and nonlocal effects play an important role for smaller sizes. A.M. acknowledges financial support from the Welch foundation through the J. Evans Attwell-Welch Postdoctoral Fellowship Program of the Smalley Institute of Rice University (Grant L-C-004).

High-fidelity entanglement between a trapped ion and a telecom photon via quantum frequency conversion.

PubMed

Bock, Matthias; Eich, Pascal; Kucera, Stephan; Kreis, Matthias; Lenhard, Andreas; Becher, Christoph; Eschner, Jürgen

2018-05-21

Entanglement between a stationary quantum system and a flying qubit is an essential ingredient of a quantum-repeater network. It has been demonstrated for trapped ions, trapped atoms, color centers in diamond, or quantum dots. These systems have transition wavelengths in the blue, red or near-infrared spectral regions, whereas long-range fiber-communication requires wavelengths in the low-loss, low-dispersion telecom regime. A proven tool to interconnect flying qubits at visible/NIR wavelengths to the telecom bands is quantum frequency conversion. Here we use an efficient polarization-preserving frequency converter connecting 854 nm to the telecom O-band at 1310 nm to demonstrate entanglement between a trapped 40 Ca + ion and the polarization state of a telecom photon with a high fidelity of 98.2 ± 0.2%. The unique combination of 99.75 ± 0.18% process fidelity in the polarization-state conversion, 26.5% external frequency conversion efficiency and only 11.4 photons/s conversion-induced unconditional background makes the converter a powerful ion-telecom quantum interface.

Research of transmissive near infrared spectroscopy for non-invasive blood glucose measurement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Wenming; Liao, Ningfang; Li, Yasheng; Shao, Liwei; Huang, Dehuang

2016-10-01

Near infrared (NIR) has prospectively applied in non-invasive blood glucose measurement due to glucose absorption among the 1.0-2.5m spectral bands. However, this significant technology is hard to be developed because of other blood components and low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). In this work, we presented a non-invasive glucose measurement system using Fourier transform spectrometer which will work in fingertips or other human body tissues. A refrigerated InGaAs detector with high quantum efficiency performing well in the range of 1.0-1.7μm wavelength is used to acquire transmissive radiation. Preliminary experiment investigations were set up to test glucose levels of aqueous solutions with different concentrations. The analytical modeling of the interferogram data is based on arithmetic Fourier transform and supported by the curvilineal characterization. Experimental results show the variation of light intensity among different glucose concentrations and emphasize the obvious absorption of glucose in NIR wave-range. This study confirms the suitability that NIR can be developed in non-invasive glucose measurement.

High Efficiency Near-Infrared and Semitransparent Non-Fullerene Acceptor Organic Photovoltaic Cells.

PubMed

Li, Yongxi; Lin, Jiu-Dong; Che, Xiaozhou; Qu, Yue; Liu, Feng; Liao, Liang-Sheng; Forrest, Stephen R

2017-11-29

The absence of near-infrared (NIR) solar cells with high open circuit voltage (V oc ) and external quantum efficiency (EQE) has impeded progress toward achieving organic photovoltaic (OPV) power conversion efficiency PCE > 15%. Here we report a small energy gap (1.3 eV), chlorinated nonfullerene acceptor-based solar cell with PCE = 11.2 ± 0.4%, short circuit current of 22.5 ± 0.6 mA cm -2 , V oc = 0.70 ± 0.01 V and fill factor of 0.71 ± 0.02, which is the highest performance reported to date for NIR single junction OPVs. Importantly, the EQE of this NIR solar cell reaches 75%, between 650 and 850 nm while leaving a transparency window between 400 and 600 nm. The semitransparent OPV using an ultrathin (10 nm) Ag cathode shows PCE = 7.1 ± 0.1%, with an average visible transmittance of 43 ± 2%, Commission d'Eclairage chromaticity coordinates of (0.29, 0.32) and a color rendering index of 91 for simulated AM1.5 illumination transmitted through the cell.

Ultrasensitive near-infrared photodetectors based on graphene-MoTe2-graphene vertical van der Waals heterostructure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Kun; Ye, Yu; Dai, Lun; School of Physics, Peking University Team

Two-dimensional (2D) materials have rapidly established themselves as exceptional building blocks for optoelectronic applications, due to their unique properties and atomically thin nature. Nevertheless, near-infrared (NIR) photodetectors based on layered 2D semiconductors are rarely realized. In this work, we fabricate graphene-MoTe2-graphene vertical vdWs heterostructure by a facile and reliable site controllable transfer method, and apply it for photodetection from visible to the NIR wavelength range. Compared to the 2D semiconductor based photodetectors reported thus far, the graphene-MoTe2-graphene photodetector has superior performance, including high photoresponsivity (110 mA W-1 at 1064 nm and 205 mA W-1 at 473 nm), high external quantum efficiency (EQE, 12.9% at 1064 nm and 53.8% at 473 nm), rapid response and recovery processes (rise time of 24 μs, fall time of 46 μs under 1064 nm illumination), and free from an external source-drain power supply. The all-2D-materials heterostructure has promising applications in future novel high responsivity, high speed and flexible NIR devices.

Gastric cancer target detection using near-infrared hyperspectral imaging with chemometrics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yi, Weisong; Zhang, Jian; Jiang, Houmin; Zhang, Niya

2014-09-01

Gastric cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer death in the world due to its high morbidity and mortality. Hyperspectral imaging (HSI) is an emerging, non-destructive, cutting edge analytical technology that combines conventional imaging and spectroscopy in one single system. The manuscript has investigated the application of near-infrared hyperspectral imaging (900-1700 nm) (NIR-HSI) for gastric cancer detection with algorithms. Major spectral differences were observed in three regions (950-1050, 1150-1250, and 1400-1500 nm). By inspecting cancerous mean spectrum three major absorption bands were observed around 975, 1215 and 1450 nm. Furthermore, the cancer target detection results are consistent and conformed with histopathological examination results. These results suggest that NIR-HSI is a simple, feasible and sensitive optical diagnostic technology for gastric cancer target detection with chemometrics.

Optical, electrical, and photovoltaic properties of PbS thin films by anionic and cationic dopants

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cheraghizade, Mohsen; Jamali-Sheini, Farid; Yousefi, Ramin

2017-06-01

Lead sulfide (PbS) thin films were deposited by CVD method to examine the effects of anionic and cationic dopants on optical and electrical properties for photovoltaic applications. XRD diffractograms verified the formation of cubic phase of multicrystalline PbS thin films. FESEM images showed surface morphologies in nano-dimensions (rods and flowers). UV-Vis-NIR spectrum revealed absorbance in the visible and NIR regions for all samples, in which dopants decreased the intensity of absorbance. Se as an anionic dopant for PbS thin films increased electrical resistance, acceptor concentrations, and crystallite defects, and decreased flat-band voltage and depletion width. Finally, photovoltaic measurements indicated that Zn-doped PbS thin film, as a photovoltaic cell, exhibited higher conversion efficiency and external quantum efficiency (EQE).

Photoacoustic contrast imaging of biological tissues with nanodiamonds fabricated for high near-infrared absorbance

PubMed Central

Zhang, Ti; Cui, Huizhong; Fang, Chia-Yi; Su, Long-Jyun; Ren, Shenqiang; Chang, Huan-Cheng; Yang, Xinmai

2013-01-01

Abstract. Radiation-damaged nanodiamonds (DNDs) are potentially ideal optical contrast agents for photoacoustic (PA) imaging in biological tissues due to their low toxicity and high optical absorbance. PA imaging contrast agents have been limited to quantum dots and gold particles, since most existing carbon-based nanoparticles, including fluorescent nanodiamonds, do not have sufficient optical absorption in the near-infrared (NIR) range. A new DND by He+ ion beam irradiation with very high NIR absorption was synthesized. These DNDs produced a 71-fold higher PA signal on a molar basis than similarly dimensioned gold nanorods, and 7.1 fmol of DNDs injected into rodents could be clearly imaged 3 mm below the skin surface with PA signal enhancement of 567% using an 820-nm laser wavelength. PMID:23400417

Development and validation of an in-line NIR spectroscopic method for continuous blend potency determination in the feed frame of a tablet press.

PubMed

De Leersnyder, Fien; Peeters, Elisabeth; Djalabi, Hasna; Vanhoorne, Valérie; Van Snick, Bernd; Hong, Ke; Hammond, Stephen; Liu, Angela Yang; Ziemons, Eric; Vervaet, Chris; De Beer, Thomas

2018-03-20

A calibration model for in-line API quantification based on near infrared (NIR) spectra collection during tableting in the tablet press feed frame was developed and validated. First, the measurement set-up was optimised and the effect of filling degree of the feed frame on the NIR spectra was investigated. Secondly, a predictive API quantification model was developed and validated by calculating the accuracy profile based on the analysis results of validation experiments. Furthermore, based on the data of the accuracy profile, the measurement uncertainty was determined. Finally, the robustness of the API quantification model was evaluated. An NIR probe (SentroPAT FO) was implemented into the feed frame of a rotary tablet press (Modul™ P) to monitor physical mixtures of a model API (sodium saccharine) and excipients with two different API target concentrations: 5 and 20% (w/w). Cutting notches into the paddle wheel fingers did avoid disturbances of the NIR signal caused by the rotating paddle wheel fingers and hence allowed better and more complete feed frame monitoring. The effect of the design of the notched paddle wheel fingers was also investigated and elucidated that straight paddle wheel fingers did cause less variation in NIR signal compared to curved paddle wheel fingers. The filling degree of the feed frame was reflected in the raw NIR spectra. Several different calibration models for the prediction of the API content were developed, based on the use of single spectra or averaged spectra, and using partial least squares (PLS) regression or ratio models. These predictive models were then evaluated and validated by processing physical mixtures with different API concentrations not used in the calibration models (validation set). The β-expectation tolerance intervals were calculated for each model and for each of the validated API concentration levels (β was set at 95%). PLS models showed the best predictive performance. For each examined saccharine concentration range (i.e., between 4.5 and 6.5% and between 15 and 25%), at least 95% of future measurements will not deviate more than 15% from the true value. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The transfer of NIR calibrations for undried grass silage from the laboratory to on-site instruments: comparison of two approaches.

PubMed

Soldado, A; Fearn, T; Martínez-Fernández, A; de la Roza-Delgado, B

2013-02-15

As a first step in a project whose aim is to implement near infrared (NIR) analysis of animal feed on the farm, the present work has examined the possibility of transferring undried grass silage calibrations for dry matter, crude protein, and neutral detergent fiber from a dispersive laboratory NIR instrument (Foss NIRSystem 6500) to a diode array on-site NIR instrument (Zeiss Corona 45 visNIR 1.7). Because the samples are complex and heterogeneous and have high humidity levels it is not easy to establish good calibrations, and it is even more of a challenge to transfer them. By cutting the spectral range to 1100-1650 nm and treating with first or second derivative followed by standard normal variate (SNV) scatter correction, it was possible to obtain very similar spectra from the two instruments. To make the transfer, two approaches were tried. Simply correcting the Corona spectra by subtracting the mean difference spectrum from a transfer set met with only limited success. Making a calibration on the Foss using a calibration set of 503 samples with spectra orthogonalized to the all the difference spectra in the transfer set of 10 samples resulted in a successful transfer for all three calibrations, as judged by performance on two prediction sets of size 22 and 29. Measuring 5 replicate subsamples with the Corona allows it to see a similar surface area to that of 3 replicates in the Foss transport cell, and it is suggested that this is an appropriate level of replication for the Corona. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Spectroscopic photoacoustics for assessing ischemic kidney damage

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Berndl, Elizabeth S. L.; He, Xiaolin; Yuen, Darren A.; Kolios, Michael C.

2018-02-01

Ischemic reperfusion injuries (IRIs) are caused by return of blood to a tissue or organ after a period without oxygen or nutrients. Damage in the microvasculature causes an inflammatory response and heterogeneous scarring, which is associated with an increase in collagen in the extracellular matrix. Although most often associated with heart attacks and strokes, IRI also occurs when blood reperfuses a transplanted organ. Currently, monitoring for IRI is limited to biopsies, which are invasive and sample a limited area. In this work, we explored photoacoustic (PA) biomarkers of scarring. IRI events were induced in mice (n=2) by clamping the left renal artery, then re-establishing flow. At 53 days post-surgery, kidneys were saline perfused and cut in half laterally. One half was immediately imaged with a VevoX system (Fujifilm-VisualSonics, Toronto) in two near infrared ranges - 680 to 970 nm (NIR), and 1200 to 1350 nm (NIR II). The other half was decellularized and then imaged at NIR and NIR II. Regions of interest were manually identified and analyzed for each kidney. For both cellularized and decellularized samples, the PA signal ratio based on irradiation wavelengths of 715:930 nm was higher in damaged kidneys than for undamaged kidneys (p < 0.0001 for both). Damaged kidneys had ROIs with spectra indicating the presence of collagen in the NIR II range, while healthy kidneys did not. Collagen rich spectra were more apparent in decellularized kidneys, suggesting that in the cellularized samples, other components may be contributing to the signal. PA imaging using spectral ratios associated with collagen signatures may provide a non-invasive tool to determine areas of tissue damage due to IRIs.

New insight into singlet oxygen generation at surface modified nanocrystalline TiO2--the effect of near-infrared irradiation.

PubMed

Buchalska, Marta; Labuz, Przemysław; Bujak, Łukasz; Szewczyk, Grzegorz; Sarna, Tadeusz; Maćkowski, Sebastian; Macyk, Wojciech

2013-07-14

The generation of singlet oxygen in aqueous colloids of nanocrystalline TiO2 (anatase) modified by organic chelating ligands forming surface Ti(IV) complexes was studied. Detailed studies revealed a plausible and to date unappreciated influence of near-infrared irradiation on singlet oxygen generation at the surface of TiO2. To detect (1)O2, direct and indirect methods have been applied: a photon counting technique enabling time-resolved measurements of (1)O2 phosphorescence, and fluorescence measurements of a product of singlet oxygen interaction with Singlet Oxygen Sensor Green (SOSG). Both methods proved the generation of (1)O2. Nanocrystalline TiO2 modified with salicylic acid appeared to be the most efficient photosensitizer among the tested materials. The measured quantum yield reached the value of 0.012 upon irradiation at 355 nm, while unmodified TiO2 colloids appeared to be substantially less efficient generators of singlet oxygen with the corresponding quantum yield of ca. 0.003. A photocatalytic degradation of 4-chlorophenol, proceeding through oxidation by OH˙, was also monitored. The influence of irradiation conditions (UV, vis, NIR or any combination of these spectral ranges) on the generation of both singlet oxygen and hydroxyl radicals has been tested and discussed. Simultaneous irradiation with visible and NIR light did not accelerate OH˙ formation; however, for TiO2 modified with catechol it influenced (1)O2 generation. Singlet oxygen is presumably formed according to Nosaka's mechanism comprising O2˙(-) oxidation with a strong oxidant (hole, an oxidized ligand); however, the energy transfer from NIR-excited titanium(iii) centers (trapped electrons) plays also a plausible role.

Pushing indium phosphide quantum dot emission deeper into the near infrared

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saeboe, A. M.; Kays, J.; Mahler, A. H.; Dennis, A. M.

2018-02-01

Cadmium-free near infrared (NIR) emitting quantum dots (QDs) have significant potential for multiplexed tissue-depth imaging applications in the first optical tissue window (i.e., 650 - 900 nm). Indium phosphide (InP) chemistry provides one of the more promising cadmium-free options for biomedical imaging, but the full tunability of this material has not yet been achieved. Specifically, InP QD emission has been tuned from 480 - 730 nm in previous literature reports, but examples of samples emitting from 730 nm to the InP bulk bandgap limit of 925 nm are lacking. We hypothesize that by generating inverted structures comprising ZnSe/InP/ZnS in a core/shell/shell heterostructure, optical emission from the InP shell can be tuned by changing the InP shell thickness, including pushing deeper into the NIR than current InP QDs. Colloidal synthesis methods including hot injection precipitation of the ZnSe core and a modified successive ion layer adsorption and reaction (SILAR) method for stepwise shell deposition were used to promote growth of core/shell/shell materials with varying thicknesses of the InP shell. By controlling the number of injections of indium and phosphorous precursor material, the emission peak was tuned from 515 nm to 845 nm (2.41 - 1.47 eV) with consistent full width half maximum (FWHM) values of the emission peak 0.32 eV. To confer water solubility, the nanoparticles were encapsulated in PEGylated phospholipid micelles, and multiplexing of NIR-emitting InP QDs was demonstrated using an IVIS imaging system. These materials show potential for multiplexed imaging of targeted QD contrast agents in the first optical tissue window.

Highly enhanced optical properties of indocyanine green/perfluorocarbon nanoemulsions for efficient lymph node mapping using near-infrared and magnetic resonance imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bae, Pan Kee; Jung, Juyeon; Chung, Bong Hyun

2014-03-01

The near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence probe has better tissue penetration and lower autofluorescence. Indocyanine green (ICG) is an NIR organic dye for extensive biological application, and it has been clinically approved for human medical imaging and diagnosis. However, application of this dye is limited by its numerous disadvantageous properties in aqueous solution, including its concentration-dependent aggregation, poor aqueous stability in vitro, and low quantum yield. Its use in molecular imaging probes is limited because it loses fluorescence after binding to nonspecific plasma proteins, leading to rapid elimination from the body with a half-life of 2 - 4 min. In this study, the multifunctional perfluorocarbon (PFC)/ICG nanoemulsions were investigated with the aim of overcoming these limitations. The PFC/ICG nanoemulsions as a new type of delivery vehicle for contrast agents have both NIR optical imaging and 19 F-MR imaging moieties. These nanoemulsions exhibited less aggregation, increased fluorescence intensity, long-term stability, and physicochemical stability against external light and temperature compared to free aqueous ICG. Also, the PFC/ICG bimodal nanoemulsions allow excellent detection of lymph nodes in vivo through NIR optical imaging and 19 F-MR imaging. This result showed the suitability of the proposed nanoemulsions for non-invasive lymph node mapping as they enable long-time detection of lymph nodes.

Novel Synthesis of Slightly Fluorinated Graphene Quantum Dots with Luminescent and Paramagnetic Properties through Thermal Cutting of Fluorinated Graphene

PubMed Central

Feng, Qian; Xiao, Wenqing; Zheng, Yongping; Lin, Yuda; Li, Jiaxin; Ye, Qingying; Huang, Zhigao

2018-01-01

A novel approach has been developed to synthesize slightly fluorinated graphene quantum dots (GQDs-F) through thermal cutting of highly fluorinated graphene. The fluorinated graphene with substantial structure defects is fragile and is readily attacked. The direct evaporation of abundant CFn (n = 2, 3) groups near structure defects lead to the loss of adjacent skelton C atoms, and the fluorinated graphene can be thermally cut into GQDs-F with a relatively uniform nanosize in pyrolysis at 810 K. The GQDs-F with a low F/C atomic ratio of ca. 0.03 exhibit excitation wavelength-dependent properties with multicolor photoluminescence (PL) from blue to green. At the same time, F adatoms that are most likely located at the edges of GQDs-F have a high efficiency of introducing paramagnetic centres, and GQDs-F show a strong paramagnetism because of sp3-type defects and magnetic zigzag edges. The graphene quantum dots with such multimodal capabilities should have great applied value in material science. PMID:29316730

Near-infrared fluorescence imaging with a mobile phone (Conference Presentation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ghassemi, Pejhman; Wang, Bohan; Wang, Jianting; Wang, Quanzeng; Chen, Yu; Pfefer, T. Joshua

2017-03-01

Mobile phone cameras employ sensors with near-infrared (NIR) sensitivity, yet this capability has not been exploited for biomedical purposes. Removing the IR-blocking filter from a phone-based camera opens the door to a wide range of techniques and applications for inexpensive, point-of-care biophotonic imaging and sensing. This study provides proof of principle for one of these modalities - phone-based NIR fluorescence imaging. An imaging system was assembled using a 780 nm light source along with excitation and emission filters with 800 nm and 825 nm cut-off wavelengths, respectively. Indocyanine green (ICG) was used as an NIR fluorescence contrast agent in an ex vivo rodent model, a resolution test target and a 3D-printed, tissue-simulating vascular phantom. Raw and processed images for red, green and blue pixel channels were analyzed for quantitative evaluation of fundamental performance characteristics including spectral sensitivity, detection linearity and spatial resolution. Mobile phone results were compared with a scientific CCD. The spatial resolution of CCD system was consistently superior to the phone, and green phone camera pixels showed better resolution than blue or green channels. The CCD exhibited similar sensitivity as processed red and blue pixels channels, yet a greater degree of detection linearity. Raw phone pixel data showed lower sensitivity but greater linearity than processed data. Overall, both qualitative and quantitative results provided strong evidence of the potential of phone-based NIR imaging, which may lead to a wide range of applications from cancer detection to glucose sensing.

Study of gold nanostar@SiO2@CdTeS quantum dots@SiO2 with enhanced-fluorescence and photothermal therapy multifunctional cell nanoprobe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yin, Naiqiang; Jiang, Tongtong; Yu, Jing; He, Jiawei; Li, Xu; Huang, Qianpeng; Liu, Ling; Xu, Xiaoliang; Zhu, Lixin

2014-03-01

A novel class of cell probe structured as gold nanostar@SiO2@CdTeS quantum dots@SiO2 nanoprobes with multifunctional (MFNPs) fluorescent and photothermal properties were demonstrated. The MFNPs with good homogeneity (129 ± 10 nm) and dispersity were synthesized by a liquid phase method. The fluorescence signal of quantum dots was enhanced in the MFNPs, compared with the pure quantum dots. The vitro study showed that the MFNPs can realize the targeted labeling after functionalized with anti-body. Furthermore, the nanoprobe displays strong surface plasmonic resonance absorbance in the near-infrared region, thus exhibiting an NIR (808 nm)-induced temperature elevation. When cancer cells were cultured with the anti-body linked MFNPs and irradiated by laser, the MFNPs were demonstrated as good candidates for curing cancer cells. Therefore, such a multifunctional probe can be developed as a promising nanosystem that integrates multiple capabilities for effective cancer diagnosis and therapy.

Strong quantum-confined Stark effect in a lattice-matched GeSiSn/GeSn multi-quantum-well structure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Peng, Ruizhi; Chunfuzhang; Han, Genquan; Hao, Yue

2017-06-01

This paper presents modeling and simulation of a multiple quantum well structure formed with Ge0.95Sn0.05 quantum wells separated by Ge0.51Si0.35Sn0.14 barriers for the applications. These alloy compositions are chosen to satisfy two conditions simultaneously: type-I band alignment between Ge0.95Sn0.05/Ge0.51Si0.35Sn0.14 and a lattice match between wells and barriers. This lattice match ensures that the strain-free structure can be grown upon a relaxed Ge0.51Si0.35Sn0.14 buffer on a silicon substrate - a CMOS compatible process. A electro-absorption modulator with the Ge0.95Sn0.05/Ge0.51Si0.35Sn0.14 multiple quantum well structure based on quantum-confined Stark effect(QCSE) is demonstrated in theory. The energy band diagrams of the GeSiSn/GeSn multi-quantum-well structure at 0 and 0.5V bias are calculated, respectively. And the corresponding absorption coefficients as a function of cut-off energy for this multiple quantum well structure at 0 and 0.5Vbias are also obtained, respectively. The reduction of cut-off energy is observed with the applying of the external electric field, indicating a strong QCSE in the structure.

Frequency Up-Conversion Photon-Type Terahertz Imager.

PubMed

Fu, Z L; Gu, L L; Guo, X G; Tan, Z Y; Wan, W J; Zhou, T; Shao, D X; Zhang, R; Cao, J C

2016-05-05

Terahertz imaging has many important potential applications. Due to the failure of Si readout integrated circuits (ROICs) and the thermal mismatch between the photo-detector arrays and the ROICs at temperatures below 40 K, there are big technical challenges to construct terahertz photo-type focal plane arrays. In this work, we report pixel-less photo-type terahertz imagers based on the frequency up-conversion technique. The devices are composed of terahertz quantum-well photo-detectors (QWPs) and near-infrared (NIR) light emitting diodes (LEDs) which are grown in sequence on the same substrates using molecular beam epitaxy. In such an integrated QWP-LED device, photocurrent in the QWP drives the LED to emit NIR light. By optimizing the structural parameters of the QWP-LED, the QWP part and the LED part both work well. The maximum values of the internal and external energy up-conversion efficiencies are around 20% and 0.5%. A laser spot of a homemade terahertz quantum cascade laser is imaged by the QWP-LED together with a commercial Si camera. The pixel-less imaging results show that the image blurring induced by the transverse spreading of photocurrent is negligible. The demonstrated pixel-less imaging opens a new way to realize high performance terahertz imaging devices.

Frequency Up-Conversion Photon-Type Terahertz Imager

PubMed Central

Fu, Z. L.; Gu, L. L.; Guo, X. G.; Tan, Z. Y.; Wan, W. J.; Zhou, T.; Shao, D. X.; Zhang, R.; Cao, J. C.

2016-01-01

Terahertz imaging has many important potential applications. Due to the failure of Si readout integrated circuits (ROICs) and the thermal mismatch between the photo-detector arrays and the ROICs at temperatures below 40 K, there are big technical challenges to construct terahertz photo-type focal plane arrays. In this work, we report pixel-less photo-type terahertz imagers based on the frequency up-conversion technique. The devices are composed of terahertz quantum-well photo-detectors (QWPs) and near-infrared (NIR) light emitting diodes (LEDs) which are grown in sequence on the same substrates using molecular beam epitaxy. In such an integrated QWP-LED device, photocurrent in the QWP drives the LED to emit NIR light. By optimizing the structural parameters of the QWP-LED, the QWP part and the LED part both work well. The maximum values of the internal and external energy up-conversion efficiencies are around 20% and 0.5%. A laser spot of a homemade terahertz quantum cascade laser is imaged by the QWP-LED together with a commercial Si camera. The pixel-less imaging results show that the image blurring induced by the transverse spreading of photocurrent is negligible. The demonstrated pixel-less imaging opens a new way to realize high performance terahertz imaging devices. PMID:27147281

High Throughput, High Yield Fabrication of High Quantum Efficiency Back-Illuminated Photon Counting, Far UV, UV, and Visible Detector Arrays

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Nikzad, Shouleh; Hoenk, M. E.; Carver, A. G.; Jones, T. J.; Greer, F.; Hamden, E.; Goodsall, T.

2013-01-01

In this paper we discuss the high throughput end-to-end post fabrication processing of high performance delta-doped and superlattice-doped silicon imagers for UV, visible, and NIR applications. As an example, we present our results on far ultraviolet and ultraviolet quantum efficiency (QE) in a photon counting, detector array. We have improved the QE by nearly an order of magnitude over microchannel plates (MCPs) that are the state-of-the-art UV detectors for many NASA space missions as well as defense applications. These achievements are made possible by precision interface band engineering of Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE) and Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD).

A comparative computational study of Csbnd N and Csbnd C bonding visible to NIR absorbing croconines

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chetti, Prabhakar; Tripathi, Anuj

2018-03-01

The lowest electronic excitations and charge transfer properties in two series of croconine dyes; 1) molecules with Csbnd N bonding, having an absorption in the visible region (400-600 nm) and 2) molecules with Csbnd C bonding, showing absorption in visible to near infrared (NIR) region (600-1100 nm) are analyzed by quantum-chemical calculations. The absorption maxima in Csbnd C bonding croconines (CCR) are always having 200-300 nm red shifted than its corresponding Csbnd N bonding croconines (NCR). The reason for this drastic red shift in CCR series than its corresponding NCR has been systematically studied by DFT, TDDFT and SAC-CI methods. It is found that, CCR series are with less charge transfer in nature and are having larger diradical character, whereas NCR series molecules showing larger charge transfer with lower diradical character. The change in bonding mode of central five membered croconate ring, from Csbnd N to Csbnd C, destabilization and/stabilization of HOMO LUMO levels were observed. This study may helpful in the design and synthesis of new visible to NIR absorbing croconine dyes which are useful in materials applications.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Heslar, John; Chu, Shih-I.

Recently, the study of near- and below- threshold regime harmonics as a potential source of intense coherent vacuum-ultraviolet radiation has received considerable attention. However, the dynamical origin of these lower harmonics, particularly for the molecular systems, is less understood and largely unexplored. Here we perform the first fully ab initio and high precision 3D quantum study of the below- and near-threshold harmonic generation of H 2 + molecules in an intense 800-nm near-infrared (NIR) laser field. Furthermore, combining with a synchrosqueezing transform of the quantum time-frequency spectrum and an extended semiclassical analysis, we explore in-depth the roles of various quantummore » trajectories, including short- and long trajectories, multiphoton trajectories, resonance-enhanced trajectories, and multiple rescattering trajectories of the below- and near- threshold harmonic generation processes. Our results shed new light on the dynamical origin of the below- and near-threshold harmonic generation and various quantum trajectories for diatomic molecules for the first time.« less

Electron path control of high-order harmonic generation by a spatially inhomogeneous field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mohebbi, Masoud; Nazarpoor Malaei, Sakineh

2016-04-01

We theoretically investigate the control of high-order harmonics cut-off and as-pulse generation by a chirped laser field using a metallic bow tie-shaped nanostructure. The numerical results show that the trajectories of the electron wave packet are strongly modified, the short quantum path is enhanced, the long quantum path is suppressed and the low modulated spectrum of the harmonics can be remarkably extended. Our calculated results also show that, by confining electron motion, a broadband supercontinuum with the width of 1670 eV can be produced which directly generates an isolated 34 as-pulse without phase compensation. To explore the underlying mechanism responsible for the cut-off extension and the quantum path selection, we perform time-frequency analysis and a classical simulation based on the three-step model.

Near infrared emission of TbAG:Ce3+,Yb3+ phosphor for solar cell applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meshram, N. D.; Yadav, P. J.; Pathak, A. A.; Joshi, C. P.; Moharil, S. V.

2016-05-01

Luminescent materials doped with rare earth ions are used for many devices such as optical amplifiers in telecommunication, phosphors for white light emitting diodes (LEDs), displays, and so on. Recently, they also have attracted a great interest for photovoltaic applications to improve solar cell efficiency by modifying solar spectrum. Crystal silicon (c-Si) solar cells most effectively convert photons of energy close to the semiconductor band gap. The mis-match between the incident solar spectrum and the spectral response of solar cells is one of the main reasons to limit the cell efficiency. The efficiency limit of the c-Si has been estimated to be 29% by Shockley and Queisser. However, this limit is estimated to be improved up to 38.4% by modifying the solar spectrum by a quantum cutting (down converting) phosphor which converts one photon of high energy into two photons of lower energy. The phenomenon such as the quantum cutting or the down conversion of rare earth ions have been investigated since Dexter reported the possibility of a luminescent quantum yield greater than unity in 1957. In the past, the quantum cutting from a vacuum ultraviolet photon to visible photons for Pr3+, Gd3+,Gd3+-Eu3+, and Er3+-Tb3+ had been studied. Recently, a new quantum cutting phenomenon from visible photon shorter than 500 nm to two infrared photons for Tb3+-Yb3+, Pr3+-Yb3+, and Tm3+-Yb3+ has been reported. The Yb3+ ion is suitable as an acceptor and emitter because luminescent quantum efficiency of Yb3+ is close to 100% and the energy of the only excited level of Yb3+ (1.2 eV) is roughly in accordance with the band gap of Si (1.1 eV). In addition, the Ce3+-doped Tb3Al5O12 (TbAG), used as a phosphor for white LED, has broad absorption bands in the range of 300-500 nm due to strong ligand field and high luminescent quantum efficiency. Therefore, the Ce3+ ions in the TbAG can be suitable as an excellent sensitizing donor for down conversion materials of Si solar cells. In this paper, Ce3+ -Yb3+-codoped TbAG ceramics were prepared and the energy transfer (ET) including down conversion mechanism in Ce3+ - Yb3+ codoped TbAG ceramics have been evaluated by the photoluminescence (PL), the photoluminescence excitation (PLE), the lifetime and the quantum yield (QY), which was measured directly using an integrating sphere.

Bioinspired Orientation of β-Substituents on Porphyrin Antenna Ligands Switches Ytterbium(III) NIR Emission with Thermosensitivity.

PubMed

Ning, Yingying; Ke, Xian-Sheng; Hu, Ji-Yun; Liu, Yi-Wei; Ma, Fang; Sun, Hao-Ling; Zhang, Jun-Long

2017-02-20

"Configurational isomerism" is an important approach found in naturally occurring chlorophylls to modulate light harvesting function without significant structural changes; however, this feature has been seldom applied in design of antenna ligands for lanthanide (Ln) sensitization. In this work, we introduced a bioinspired approach by orientation of β-dilactone moieties on porphyrinates, namely cis-/trans-porphodilactones, to modulate the energy transfer process from the lowest triplet excited state of the ligand (T 1 ) to the emitting level of ytterbium(III) ( 2 F 5/2 , Yb*). Interestingly, near-infrared (NIR) emission of Yb(III) could be switched "on" by the cis-porphodilactone ligand, while the trans-isomer renders Yb(III) emission "off" and the ratio of quantum yields is ∼8. Analysis of the structure-photophysical properties relationship suggests that the significant emission difference is correlated to the energy gaps between T 1 and Yb* (1152 cm -1 in the cis- vs -25 cm -1 in the trans-isomer). More interestingly, due to back energy transfer (BEnT), the Yb(III) complex of cis-porphodilactone exhibits NIR emission with high thermosensitivity (4.0%°C -1 in solution and 4.9%°C -1 in solid state), comparable to previously reported terbium (Tb) and europium (Eu) visible emitters, in contrast to the trivial emission changes of the trans-isomer and porphyrin and porpholactone analogues. This work opens up new access to design NIR emissive Ln complexes by bioinspired modification of antenna ligands.

Ultra-small nanocluster mediated synthesis of Nd3+-doped core-shell nanocrystals with emission in the second near-infrared window for multimodal imaging of tumor vasculature.

PubMed

Ren, Feng; Ding, Lihua; Liu, Hanghang; Huang, Qian; Zhang, Hao; Zhang, Lijuan; Zeng, Jianfeng; Sun, Qiao; Li, Zhen; Gao, Mingyuan

2018-08-01

In-vivo intravital short wavelength infrared (SWIR, 1000-2300 nm) fluorescence imaging has attracted considerable attention in the imaging of tumor vasculature due to its low background, high sensitivity, and deep penetration. It can noninvasively provide dynamic feedback on the tumorigenesis, growth, necrosis and metastasis. Herein, monodisperse Nd 3+ -doped core-shell downconversion luminescent nanocrystals with strong emission in the second near-infrared (NIR II) window, strong temperature-dependent paramagnetism and fast attenuation to X-rays were prepared from ultra-small nanoclusters. The use of nanoclusters resulted in very uniform bright nanocrystals with a relative quantum yield comparable to the standard dye IR-26. These bright NIR nanocrystals were modified with 1,2-distearoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine-N-[methoxy(polyethylene glycol)-2000] to endow with excellent water-solubility, biocompatibility and a blood circulation half-life of 5.9 h. They were then successfully used to demonstrate the variation of tumor vasculature with tumor progression from tumorigenesis, growth, to necrosis in the subcutaneous breast tumor through the NIR II fluorescence imaging. They were also used as contrast agent of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and X-ray computed tomography (CT) imaging of tumor to provide complementary anatomic structure. Their great potential in NIR II imaging of tumor was further demonstrated with an orthotopic breast tumor. Their in-vivo biosafety was also investigated by hemanalysis and histological analyses. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Synthesis and evaluation of new NIR-fluorescent probes for cathepsin B: ICT versus FRET as a turn-ON mode-of-action.

PubMed

Kisin-Finfer, Einat; Ferber, Shiran; Blau, Rachel; Satchi-Fainaro, Ronit; Shabat, Doron

2014-06-01

Recent years have seen tremendous progress in the design and study of molecular imaging geared towards biological and biomedical applications. The expression or activity of specific enzymes including proteases can be monitored by cutting edge molecular imaging techniques. Cathepsin B plays key roles in tumor progression via controlled degradation of extracellular matrix. Consequently, this protease has been attracting significant attention in cancer research, and many imaging probes targeting its activity have been developed. Here, we describe the design, synthesis and evaluation of two novel near infrared (NIR) fluorescent probes for detection of cathepsin B activity with different turn-ON mechanisms. One probe is based on an ICT activation mechanism of a donor-two-acceptor π-electron dye system, while the other is based on the FRET mechanism obtained by a fluorescent dye and a quencher. The two probes exhibit significant fluorescent turn-ON response upon cleavage by cathepsin B. The NIR fluorescence of the ICT probe in its OFF state was significantly lower than that of the FRET-based probe. This effect results in a higher signal-to-noise ratio and consequently increased sensitivity and better image contrast. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Large bandgap reduced graphene oxide (rGO) based n-p + heterojunction photodetector with improved NIR performance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Singh, Manjri; Kumar, Gaurav; Prakash, Nisha; Khanna, Suraj P.; Pal, Prabir; Singh, Surinder P.

2018-04-01

Integration of two-dimensional reduced graphene oxide (rGO) with conventional Si semiconductor offers novel strategies for realizing broadband photodiode with enhanced device performance. In this quest, we have synthesized large bandgap rGO and fabricated metal-free broadband (300–1100 nm) back-to-back connected np-pn hybrid photodetector utilizing drop casted n-rGO/p +-Si heterojunctions with high performance in NIR region (830 nm). With controlled illumination, the device exhibited a peak responsivity of 16.7 A W‑1 and peak detectivity of 2.56 × 1012 Jones under 830 nm illumination (11 μW cm‑2) at 1 V applied bias with fast response (∼460 μs) and recovery time (∼446 μs). The fabricated device demonstrated excellent repeatability, durability and photoswitching behavior with high external quantum efficiency (∼2.5 × 103%), along with ultrasensitive behavior at low light conditions.

Combining aminocyanine dyes with polyamide dendrons: a promising strategy for imaging in the near-infrared region.

PubMed

Ornelas, Cátia; Lodescar, Rachelle; Durandin, Alexander; Canary, James W; Pennell, Ryan; Liebes, Leonard F; Weck, Marcus

2011-03-21

Cyanine dyes are known for their fluorescence in the near-IR (NIR) region, which is desirable for biological applications. We report the synthesis of a series of aminocyanine dyes containing terminal functional groups such as acid, azide, and cyclooctyne groups for further functionalization through, for example, click chemistry. These aminocyanine dyes can be attached to polyfunctional dendrons by copper-catalyzed azide alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC), strain-promoted azide alkyne cycloaddition (SPAAC), peptide coupling, or direct S(NR)1 reactions. The resulting dendron-dye conjugates were obtained in high yields and displayed high chemical stability and photostability. The optical properties of the new compounds were studied by UV/Vis and fluorescence spectroscopy. All compounds show large Stokes shifts and strong fluorescence in the NIR region with high quantum yields, which are optimal properties for in vivo optical imaging. Copyright © 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Rapid prediction of total petroleum hydrocarbons concentration in contaminated soil using vis-NIR spectroscopy and regression techniques.

PubMed

Douglas, R K; Nawar, S; Alamar, M C; Mouazen, A M; Coulon, F

2018-03-01

Visible and near infrared spectrometry (vis-NIRS) coupled with data mining techniques can offer fast and cost-effective quantitative measurement of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH) in contaminated soils. Literature showed however significant differences in the performance on the vis-NIRS between linear and non-linear calibration methods. This study compared the performance of linear partial least squares regression (PLSR) with a nonlinear random forest (RF) regression for the calibration of vis-NIRS when analysing TPH in soils. 88 soil samples (3 uncontaminated and 85 contaminated) collected from three sites located in the Niger Delta were scanned using an analytical spectral device (ASD) spectrophotometer (350-2500nm) in diffuse reflectance mode. Sequential ultrasonic solvent extraction-gas chromatography (SUSE-GC) was used as reference quantification method for TPH which equal to the sum of aliphatic and aromatic fractions ranging between C 10 and C 35 . Prior to model development, spectra were subjected to pre-processing including noise cut, maximum normalization, first derivative and smoothing. Then 65 samples were selected as calibration set and the remaining 20 samples as validation set. Both vis-NIR spectrometry and gas chromatography profiles of the 85 soil samples were subjected to RF and PLSR with leave-one-out cross-validation (LOOCV) for the calibration models. Results showed that RF calibration model with a coefficient of determination (R 2 ) of 0.85, a root means square error of prediction (RMSEP) 68.43mgkg -1 , and a residual prediction deviation (RPD) of 2.61 outperformed PLSR (R 2 =0.63, RMSEP=107.54mgkg -1 and RDP=2.55) in cross-validation. These results indicate that RF modelling approach is accounting for the nonlinearity of the soil spectral responses hence, providing significantly higher prediction accuracy compared to the linear PLSR. It is recommended to adopt the vis-NIRS coupled with RF modelling approach as a portable and cost effective method for the rapid quantification of TPH in soils. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Clinical and Genetic Characteristics of Non-Insulin-Requiring Glutamic Acid Decarboxylase (GAD) Autoantibody-Positive Diabetes: A Nationwide Survey in Japan

PubMed Central

Yasui, Junichi; Kawasaki, Eiji; Tanaka, Shoichiro; Awata, Takuya; Ikegami, Hiroshi; Imagawa, Akihisa; Uchigata, Yasuko; Osawa, Haruhiko; Kajio, Hiroshi; Kawabata, Yumiko; Shimada, Akira; Takahashi, Kazuma; Yasuda, Kazuki; Yasuda, Hisafumi; Hanafusa, Toshiaki; Kobayashi, Tetsuro

2016-01-01

Aims Glutamic acid decarboxylase autoantibodies (GADAb) differentiate slowly progressive insulin-dependent (type 1) diabetes mellitus (SPIDDM) from phenotypic type 2 diabetes, but many GADAb-positive patients with diabetes do not progress to insulin-requiring diabetes. To characterize GADAb-positive patients with adult-onset diabetes who do not require insulin therapy for >5 years (NIR-SPIDDM), we conducted a nationwide cross-sectional survey in Japan. Methods We collected 82 GADAb-positive patients who did not require insulin therapy for >5 years (NIR-SPIDDM) and compared them with 63 patients with insulin-requiring SPIDDM (IR-SPIDDM). Clinical and biochemical characteristics, HLA-DRB1-DQB1 haplotypes, and predictive markers for progression to insulin therapy were investigated. Results Compared with the IR-SPIDDM group, the NIR-SPIDDM patients showed later diabetes onset, higher body mass index, longer duration before diagnosis, and less frequent hyperglycemic symptoms at onset. In addition, C-peptide, LDL-cholesterol, and TG were significantly higher in the NIR-SPIDDM compared to IR-SPIDDM patients. The NIR-SPIDDM group had lower frequency of susceptible HLA-DRB1*04:05-DQB1*04:01 and a higher frequency of resistant HLA-DRB1*15:01-DQB1*06:02 haplotype compared to IR-SPIDDM. A multivariable analysis showed that age at diabetes onset (OR = 0.82), duration before diagnosis of GADAb-positive diabetes (OR = 0.82), higher GADAb level (≥10.0 U/ml) (OR = 20.41), and fasting C-peptide at diagnosis (OR = 0.07) were independent predictive markers for progression to insulin-requiring diabetes. An ROC curve analysis showed that the optimal cut-off points for discriminating two groups was the GADAb level of 13.6 U/ml, age of diabetes onset of 47 years, duration before diagnosis of 5 years, and fasting C-peptide of 0.65 ng/ml. Conclusions Clinical, biochemical and genetic characteristics of patients with NIR-SPIDDM are different from those of IR-SPIDDM patients. Age of diabetes onset, duration before GADAb-positivity, GADAb level, and fasting C-peptide at diagnosis must be carefully considered in planning prevention trials for SPIDDM. PMID:27177031

Local modular Hamiltonians from the quantum null energy condition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koeller, Jason; Leichenauer, Stefan; Levine, Adam; Shahbazi-Moghaddam, Arvin

2018-03-01

The vacuum modular Hamiltonian K of the Rindler wedge in any relativistic quantum field theory is given by the boost generator. Here we investigate the modular Hamiltonian for more general half-spaces which are bounded by an arbitrary smooth cut of a null plane. We derive a formula for the second derivative of the modular Hamiltonian with respect to the coordinates of the cut which schematically reads K''=Tv v . This formula can be integrated twice to obtain a simple expression for the modular Hamiltonian. The result naturally generalizes the standard expression for the Rindler modular Hamiltonian to this larger class of regions. Our primary assumptions are the quantum null energy condition—an inequality between the second derivative of the von Neumann entropy of a region and the stress tensor—and its saturation in the vacuum for these regions. We discuss the validity of these assumptions in free theories and holographic theories to all orders in 1 /N .

Quantum theory of shuttling instability in a movable quantum dot array

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Donarini, Andrea; Novotný, Tomás; Jauho, Antti-Pekka

2004-04-01

We study the shuttling instability in an array of three quantum dots the central one of which is movable. We extend the results by Armour and MacKinnon on this problem to a broader parameter regime. The results obtained by an efficient numerical method are interpreted directly using the Wigner distributions. We emphasize that the instability should be viewed as a crossover phenomenon rather than a clear-cut transition.

Fabrication of a wide-field NIR integral field unit for SWIMS using ultra-precision cutting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kitagawa, Yutaro; Yamagata, Yutaka; Morita, Shin-ya; Motohara, Kentaro; Ozaki, Shinobu; Takahashi, Hidenori; Konishi, Masahiro; Kato, Natsuko M.; Kobayakawa, Yutaka; Terao, Yasunori; Ohashi, Hirofumi

2016-07-01

We describe overview of fabrication methods and measurement results of test fabrications of optical surfaces for an integral field unit (IFU) for Simultaneous color Wide-field Infrared Multi-object Spectrograph, SWIMS, which is a first-generation instrument for the University of Tokyo Atacama Observatory 6.5-m telescope. SWIMS-IFU provides entire near-infrared spectrum from 0.9 to 2.5 μm simultaneously covering wider field of view of 17" × 13" compared with current near-infrared IFUs. We investigate an ultra-precision cutting technique to monolithically fabricate optical surfaces of IFU optics such as an image slicer. Using 4- or 5-axis ultra precision machine we compare the milling process and shaper cutting process to find the best way of fabrication of image slicers. The measurement results show that the surface roughness almost satisfies our requirement in both of two methods. Moreover, we also obtain ideal surface form in the shaper cutting process. This method will be adopted to other mirror arrays (i.e. pupil mirror and slit mirror, and such monolithic fabrications will also help us to considerably reduce alignment procedure of each optical elements.

High bit rate germanium single photon detectors for 1310nm

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Seamons, J. A.; Carroll, M. S.

2008-04-01

There is increasing interest in development of high speed, low noise and readily fieldable near infrared (NIR) single photon detectors. InGaAs/InP Avalanche photodiodes (APD) operated in Geiger mode (GM) are a leading choice for NIR due to their preeminence in optical networking. After-pulsing is, however, a primary challenge to operating InGaAs/InP single photon detectors at high frequencies1. After-pulsing is the effect of charge being released from traps that trigger false ("dark") counts. To overcome this problem, hold-off times between detection windows are used to allow the traps to discharge to suppress after-pulsing. The hold-off time represents, however, an upper limit on detection frequency that shows degradation beginning at frequencies of ~100 kHz in InGaAs/InP. Alternatively, germanium (Ge) single photon avalanche photodiodes (SPAD) have been reported to have more than an order of magnitude smaller charge trap densities than InGaAs/InP SPADs2, which allowed them to be successfully operated with passive quenching2 (i.e., no gated hold off times necessary), which is not possible with InGaAs/InP SPADs, indicating a much weaker dark count dependence on hold-off time consistent with fewer charge traps. Despite these encouraging results suggesting a possible higher operating frequency limit for Ge SPADs, little has been reported on Ge SPAD performance at high frequencies presumably because previous work with Ge SPADs has been discouraged by a strong demand to work at 1550 nm. NIR SPADs require cooling, which in the case of Ge SPADs dramatically reduces the quantum efficiency of the Ge at 1550 nm. Recently, however, advantages to working at 1310 nm have been suggested which combined with a need to increase quantum bit rates for quantum key distribution (QKD) motivates examination of Ge detectors performance at very high detection rates where InGaAs/InP does not perform as well. Presented in this paper are measurements of a commercially available Ge APD operated at relatively short GM hold-off times to examine whether there are potential advantages to using Ge for 1310 nm single photon detection. A weaker after-pulsing dependence on frequency is observed offering initial indications of the potential that Ge APDs might provide better high frequency performance.

Tightness of correlation inequalities with no quantum violation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ramanathan, Ravishankar; Quintino, Marco Túlio; Sainz, Ana Belén; Murta, Gláucia; Augusiak, Remigiusz

2017-01-01

We study the faces of the set of quantum correlations, i.e., the Bell and noncontextuality inequalities without any quantum violation. First, we investigate the question of whether every proper (facet-defining) Bell inequality for two parties, other than the trivial ones from positivity, normalization, and no-signaling, can be violated by quantum correlations, i.e., whether the classical Bell polytope or the smaller correlation polytope share any facets with their respective quantum sets. To do this, we develop a recently derived bound on the quantum value of linear games based on the norms of game matrices to give a simple sufficient condition to identify linear games with no quantum advantage. Additionally we show how this bound can be extended to the general class of unique games. We then show that the paradigmatic examples of correlation Bell inequalities with no quantum violation, namely the nonlocal computation games, do not constitute facet-defining Bell inequalities, not even for the correlation polytope. We also extend this to an arbitrary prime number of outcomes for a specific class of these games. We then study the faces in the simplest Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt Bell scenario of binary dichotomic measurements, and identify edges in the set of quantum correlations in this scenario. Finally, we relate the noncontextual polytope of single-party correlation inequalities with the cut polytope CUT(∇ G ) , where G denotes the compatibility graph of observables in the contextuality scenario and ∇ G denotes the suspension graph of G . We observe that there exist facet-defining noncontextuality inequalities with no quantum violation, and furthermore that this set of inequalities is beyond those implied by the consistent exclusivity principle.

Role of electron transfer in Ce{sup 3+} sensitized Yb{sup 3+} luminescence in borate glass

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sontakke, Atul D., E-mail: sontakke.atul.55a@st.kyoto-u.ac.jp; Katayama, Yumiko; Zhuang, Yixi

2015-01-07

In a Ce{sup 3+}-Yb{sup 3+} system, two mechanisms are proposed so far namely, the quantum cutting mechanism and the electron transfer mechanism explaining Yb{sup 3+} infrared luminescence under Ce{sup 3+} excitation. Among them, the quantum cutting mechanism, where one Ce{sup 3+} photon (ultraviolet/blue) gives rise to two Yb{sup 3+} photons (near infrared) is widely sought for because of its huge potential in enhancing the solar cell efficiency. In present study on Ce{sup 3+}-Yb{sup 3+} codoped borate glasses, Ce{sup 3+} sensitized Yb{sup 3+} luminescence at ∼1 μm have been observed on Ce{sup 3+} 5d state excitation. However, the intensity of sensitized Yb{supmore » 3+} luminescence is found to be very weak compared to the strong quenching occurred in Ce{sup 3+} luminescence in Yb{sup 3+} codoped glasses. Moreover, the absolute luminescence quantum yield also showed a decreasing trend with Yb{sup 3+} codoping in the glasses. The overall behavior of the luminescence properties and the quantum yield is strongly contradicting with the quantum cutting phenomenon. The results are attributed to the energetically favorable electron transfer interactions followed by Ce{sup 3+}-Yb{sup 3+} ⇌ Ce{sup 4+}-Yb{sup 2+} inter-valence charge transfer and successfully explained using the absolute electron binding energies of dopant ions in the studied borate glass. Finally, an attempt has been presented to generalize the electron transfer mechanism among opposite oxidation/reduction property dopant ions using the vacuum referred electron binding energy (VRBE) scheme for lanthanide series.« less

Integrated quantum key distribution sender unit for daily-life implementations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mélen, Gwenaelle; Vogl, Tobias; Rau, Markus; Corrielli, Giacomo; Crespi, Andrea; Osellame, Roberto; Weinfurter, Harald

2016-03-01

Unlike currently implemented encryption schemes, Quantum Key Distribution provides a secure way of generating and distributing a key among two parties. Although a multitude of research platforms has been developed, the integration of QKD units within classical communication systems remains a tremendous challenge. The recently achieved maturity of integrated photonic technologies could be exploited to create miniature QKD add-ons that could extend the primary function of various existing systems such as mobile devices or optical stations. In this work we report on an integrated optics module enabling secure short-distance communication for, e.g., quantum access schemes. Using BB84-like protocols, Alice's mobile low-cost device can exchange secure key and information everywhere within a trusted node network. The new optics platform (35×20×8mm) compatible with current smartphone's technology generates NIR faint polarised laser pulses with 100MHz repetition rate. Fully automated beam tracking and live basis-alignment on Bob's side ensure user-friendly operation with a quantum link efficiency as high as 50% stable over a few seconds.

The Quantum Measurement Problem and Physical reality: A Computation Theoretic Perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Srikanth, R.

2006-11-01

Is the universe computable? If yes, is it computationally a polynomial place? In standard quantum mechanics, which permits infinite parallelism and the infinitely precise specification of states, a negative answer to both questions is not ruled out. On the other hand, empirical evidence suggests that NP-complete problems are intractable in the physical world. Likewise, computational problems known to be algorithmically uncomputable do not seem to be computable by any physical means. We suggest that this close correspondence between the efficiency and power of abstract algorithms on the one hand, and physical computers on the other, finds a natural explanation if the universe is assumed to be algorithmic; that is, that physical reality is the product of discrete sub-physical information processing equivalent to the actions of a probabilistic Turing machine. This assumption can be reconciled with the observed exponentiality of quantum systems at microscopic scales, and the consequent possibility of implementing Shor's quantum polynomial time algorithm at that scale, provided the degree of superposition is intrinsically, finitely upper-bounded. If this bound is associated with the quantum-classical divide (the Heisenberg cut), a natural resolution to the quantum measurement problem arises. From this viewpoint, macroscopic classicality is an evidence that the universe is in BPP, and both questions raised above receive affirmative answers. A recently proposed computational model of quantum measurement, which relates the Heisenberg cut to the discreteness of Hilbert space, is briefly discussed. A connection to quantum gravity is noted. Our results are compatible with the philosophy that mathematical truths are independent of the laws of physics.

Near-infrared indocyanine dye permits real-time characterization of both venous and lymphatic circulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kurahashi, Toshikazu; Iwatsuki, Katsuyuki; Onishi, Tetsuro; Arai, Tetsuya; Teranishi, Katsunori; Hirata, Hitoshi

2016-08-01

We investigated the optical properties of a near-infrared (NIR) fluorochrome, di-β-cyclodextrin-binding indocyanine derivative (TK-1), and its pharmacokinetic differences with indocyanine green (ICG). TK-1 was designed to have hydrophilic cyclodextrin molecules and, thus, for higher water solubility and smaller particle sizes than the plasma protein-bound ICG. We compared optical properties such as the absorption and fluorescence spectra, quantum yield, and photostability between both dyes in vitro. In addition, we subcutaneously injected a 1 mM solution of TK-1 or ICG into the hind footpad of rats and observed real-time NIR fluorescence intensities in their femoral veins and accompanying lymphatics at the exposed groin site to analyze the dye pharmacokinetics. These optical experiments demonstrated that TK-1 has high water solubility, a low self-aggregation tendency, and high optical and chemical stabilities. Our in vivo imaging showed that TK-1 was transported via peripheral venous flow and lymphatic flow, whereas ICG was drained only through lymphatics. The results of this study showed that lymphatic and venous transport can be differentially regulated and is most likely influenced primarily by particle size, and that TK-1 can enable real-time NIR fluorescence imaging of whole fluids and solute movement via both microvessels and lymphatics, which conventional ICG cannot achieve.

Lanthanide‐Doped Upconversion Nanoparticles: Emerging Intelligent Light‐Activated Drug Delivery Systems

PubMed Central

Bagheri, Ali; Arandiyan, Hamidreza

2016-01-01

The development of drug delivery systems (DDSs) using near infrared (NIR) light and upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) has generated intensive interest over the past five years. These NIR‐initiated DDSs not only offer a high degree of spatial and temporal determination of therapeutic release but also provide precise control over the released dosage. Furthermore, these nanoplatforms confer several advantages over conventional light‐based DDSs—NIR offers better tissue penetration depth and a reduced risk of cellular photo‐damage caused by exposure to light at high‐energy wavelengths (e.g., ultraviolet light, <400 nm). The development of DDSs that can be activated by low intensity NIR illumination is highly desirable to avoid exposing living tissues to excessive heat that can limit the in vivo application of these DDSs. This encompasses research in three directions: (i) enhancing the quantum yield of the UCNPs; (ii) incorporation of photo‐responsive materials with red‐shifted absorptions into the UCNPs; and (iii) tuning the UCNPs excitation wavelength. This review focuses on recent advances in the development of NIR‐initiated DDS, with emphasis on the use of photo‐responsive compounds and polymeric materials conjugated onto UCNPs. The challenges that limit UCNPs clinical applications, alongside with the aforementioned techniques that have emerged to overcome these limitations, are highlighted. PMID:27818904

Ultrahigh near infrared photoresponsive organic field-effect transistors with lead phthalocyanine/C60 heterojunction on poly(vinyl alcohol) gate dielectric.

PubMed

Sun, Lei; Zhang, Jianping; Zhao, Feiyu; Luo, Xiao; Lv, Wenli; li, Yao; Ren, Qiang; Wen, Zhanwei; Peng, Yingquan; Liu, Xingyuan

2015-05-08

Performances of photoresponsive organic field-effect transistors (photOFETs) operating in the near infrared (NIR) region utilizing SiO2 as the gate dielectric is generally low due to low carrier mobility of the channel. We report on NIR photOFETs based on lead phthalocyanine (PbPc)/C60 heterojunction with ultrahigh photoresponsivity by utilizing poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) as the gate dielectric. For 808 nm NIR illumination of 1.69 mW cm(-2), an ultrahigh photoresponsivity of 21 A W(-1), and an external quantum efficiency of 3230% were obtained at a gate voltage of 30 V and a drain voltage of 80 V, which are 124 times and 126 times as large as the reference device with SiO2 as the gate dielectric, respectively. The ultrahigh enhancement of photoresponsivity is resulted from the huge increase of electron mobility of C60 film grown on PVA dielectric. AFM investigations revealed that the C60 film grown on PVA is much smooth and uniform and the grain size is much larger than that grown on SiO2 dielectric, which together results in four orders of magnitude increase of the field-effect electron mobility of C60 film.

Activatable Optical Imaging with a Silica-Rhodamine Based Near Infrared (SiR700) Fluorophore: A comparison with cyanine based dyes

PubMed Central

McCann, Thomas E.; Kosaka, Nobuyuki; Koide, Yuichiro; Mitsunaga, Makoto; Choyke, Peter L.; Nagano, Tetsuo; Urano, Yasuteru; Kobayashi, Hisataka

2011-01-01

Optical imaging is emerging as an important tool to visualize tumors. However, there are many potential choices among the available fluorophores. Optical imaging probes that emit in the visible range can image superficial tumors with high quantum yields, however, if deeper imaging is needed then near infrared (NIR) fluorophores are necessary. Most commercially available NIR fluorophores are cyanine based and are prone to non-specific binding and relatively limited photostability. Silica-containing rhodamine (SiR) fluorophores represent a new class of NIR fluorophores, which permit photoactivation via H-dimer formation as well as demonstrate improved photostability. This permits higher tumor-to-background ratios (TBRs) to be achieved over longer periods of time. Here, we compared an avidin conjugated with SiR700 (Av-SiR700) to similar compounds based on cyanine dyes (Av-Cy5.5 and Av-Alexa Fluor 680) in a mouse tumor model of ovarian cancer metastasis. We found that the Av-SiR700 probe demonstrated superior quenching enabling activation after binding-internalization to the target cell. As a result, Av-SiR700 had higher TBRs compared to Av-Cy5.5, and better biostability compared to Av-Alexa Fluor 680. PMID:22034863

Spectra-structure correlations in NIR region: Spectroscopic and anharmonic DFT study of n-hexanol, cyclohexanol and phenol

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beć, Krzysztof B.; Grabska, Justyna; Czarnecki, Mirosław A.

2018-05-01

We investigated near-infrared (7500-4000 cm-1) spectra of n-hexanol, cyclohexanol and phenol in CCl4 (0.2 M) by using anharmonic quantum calculations. These molecules represent three major kinds of alcohols; linear and cyclic aliphatic, and aromatic ones. Vibrational second-order perturbation theory (VPT2) was employed to calculate the first overtones and binary combination modes and to reproduce the experimental NIR spectra. The level of conformational flexibility of these three alcohols varies from one stable conformer of phenol through four conformers of cyclohexanol to few hundreds conformers in the case of n-hexanol. To take into account the most relevant conformational population of n-hexanol, a systematic conformational search was performed. Accurate reproduction of the experimental NIR spectra was achieved and detailed spectra-structure correlations were obtained for these three alcohols. VPT2 approach provides less reliable description of highly anharmonic modes, i.e. OH stretching. In the present work this limitation was manifested in erroneous results yielded by VPT2 for 2νOH mode of cyclohexanol. To study the anharmonicity of this mode we solved the corresponding time-independent Schrödinger equation based on a dense-grid probing of the relevant vibrational potential. These results allowed for significant improvement of the agreement between the calculated and experimental 2νOH band of cyclohexanol. Various important biomolecules include similar structural units to the systems investigated here. A detailed knowledge on spectral properties of these three types of alcohols is therefore essential for advancing our understanding of NIR spectroscopy of biomolecules.

Phase selective synthesis of quantum cutting nanophosphors and the observation of a spontaneous room temperature phase transition.

PubMed

Ghosh, Pushpal; Mudring, Anja-Verena

2016-04-21

Oxygen-free Eu(3+)-doped NaGdF4 nanocrystals with high quantum cutting efficiency are accessible at low temperatures (room temperature to 80 °C) using task-specific ionic liquids (ILs) as structure directing agents and only water as solvent. Selective tuning of the shape, morphology and, most importantly, the crystal phase of the host lattice is achieved by changing the alkyl side length, the H-bonding capabilities and the concentration of 1-alkyl-3-methylimidazolium bromide ILs, [C(n)mim]Br. When using [C2mim]Br, hexagonal NaGdF4 nanoparticles are obtained. In the case of methylimidazolium bromides with longer pendant alkyl chains such as butyl (C4), octyl (C8) or decyl (C10), extremely small nanoparticles of the cubic polymorph form, which then convert even at room temperature (RT) to the thermodynamically favored hexagonal modification. To the best of our knowledge, this kind of spontaneous phase transition is not yet reported. The hexagonal nanomaterial shows a substantial quantum cutting efficiency (154%) whilst in the cubic material, the effect is negligible (107%). The easy yet highly phase selective green synthesis of the materials promises large scale industrial application in environmentally benign energy efficient lighting.

High-Performance CuInS 2 Quantum Dot Laminated Glass Luminescent Solar Concentrators for Windows

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bergren, Matthew R.; Makarov, Nikolay S.; Ramasamy, Karthik

Building-integrated sunlight harvesting utilizing laminated glass luminescent solar concentrators (LSCs) is proposed. By incorporating high quantum yield (>90%), NIR-emitting CuInS2/ZnS quantum dots into the polymer interlayer between two sheets of low-iron float glass, a record optical efficiency of 8.1% is demonstrated for a 10 cm x 10 cm device that transmits ~44% visible light. After completing prototypes by attaching silicon solar cells along the perimeter of the device, the electrical power conversion efficiency was certified at 2.2% with a black background and at 2.9% using a reflective substrate. This 'drop-in' LSC solution is particularly attractive because it fits within themore » existing glazing industry value chain with only modest changes to typical glazing products. Performance modeling predicts >1 GWh annual electricity production for a typical urban skyscraper in most major U.S. cities, enabling significant energy cost savings and potentially 'net-zero' buildings.« less

Fourier transform spectra of quantum dots

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Damian, V.; Ardelean, I.; Armăşelu, Anca; Apostol, D.

2009-09-01

Semiconductor quantum dots are nanometer-sized crystals with unique photochemical and photophysical properties that are not available from either isolated molecules or bulk solids. These nanocrystals absorb light over a very broad spectral range as compared to molecular fluorophores which have very narrow excitation spectra. High-quality QDs are proper to be use in different biological and medical applications (as fluorescent labels, the cancer treatment and the drug delivery). In this article, we discuss Fourier transform visible spectroscopy of commercial quantum dots. We reveal that QDs produced by Evident Technologies when are enlightened by laser or luminescent diode light provides a spectral shift of their fluorescence spectra correlated to exciting emission wavelengths, as shown by the ARCspectroNIR Fourier Transform Spectrometer. In the final part of this paper we show an important biological application of CdSe/ZnS core-shell ODs as microbial labeling both for pure cultures of cyanobacteria (Synechocystis PCC 6803) and for mixed cultures of phototrophic and heterotrophic microorganisms.

Fourier transform spectra of quantum dots

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Damian, V.; Ardelean, I.; Armăşelu, Anca; Apostol, D.

2010-05-01

Semiconductor quantum dots are nanometer-sized crystals with unique photochemical and photophysical properties that are not available from either isolated molecules or bulk solids. These nanocrystals absorb light over a very broad spectral range as compared to molecular fluorophores which have very narrow excitation spectra. High-quality QDs are proper to be use in different biological and medical applications (as fluorescent labels, the cancer treatment and the drug delivery). In this article, we discuss Fourier transform visible spectroscopy of commercial quantum dots. We reveal that QDs produced by Evident Technologies when are enlightened by laser or luminescent diode light provides a spectral shift of their fluorescence spectra correlated to exciting emission wavelengths, as shown by the ARCspectroNIR Fourier Transform Spectrometer. In the final part of this paper we show an important biological application of CdSe/ZnS core-shell ODs as microbial labeling both for pure cultures of cyanobacteria (Synechocystis PCC 6803) and for mixed cultures of phototrophic and heterotrophic microorganisms.

Quantum supergravity, supergravity anomalies and string phenomenology

DOE PAGES

Gaillard, Mary K.

2016-03-15

I discuss the role of quantum effects in the phenomenology of effective supergravity theories from compactification of the weakly coupled heterotic string. An accurate incorporation of these effects requires a regularization procedure that respects local supersymmetry and BRST invariance and that retains information associated with the cut-off scale, which has physical meaning in an effective theory. I briefly outline the Pauli–Villars regularization procedure, describe some applications, and comment on what remains to be done to fully define the effective quantum field theory.

[Rapid prediction of annual ring density of Paulownia elongate standing tress using near infrared spectroscopy].

PubMed

Jiang, Ze-Hui; Wang, Yu-Rong; Fei, Ben-Hua; Fu, Feng; Hse, Chung-Yun

2007-06-01

Rapid prediction of annual ring density of Paulownia elongate standing trees using near infrared spectroscopy was studied. It was non-destructive to collect the samples for trees, that is, the wood cores 5 mm in diameter were unthreaded at the breast height of standing trees instead of fallen trees. Then the spectra data were collected by autoscan method of NIR. The annual ring density was determined by mercury immersion. And the models were made and analyzed by the partial least square (PLS) and full cross validation in the 350-2 500 nm wavelength range. The results showed that high coefficients were obtained between the annual ring and the NIR fitted data. The correlation coefficient of prediction model was 0.88 and 0.91 in the middle diameter and bigger diameter, respectively. Moreover, high coefficients of correlation were also obtained between annual ring density laboratory-determined and the NIR fitted data in the middle diameter of Paulownia elongate standing trees, the correlation coefficient of calibration model and prediction model were 0.90 and 0.83, and the standard errors of calibration (SEC) and standard errors of prediction(SEP) were 0.012 and 0.016, respectively. The method can simply, rapidly and non-destructively estimate the annual ring density of the Paulownia elongate standing trees close to the cutting age.

Peptide-coated semiconductor quantum dots and their applications in biological imaging of single molecules in live cells and organisms

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pinaud, Fabien Florent

2007-12-01

A new surface chemistry has been developed for the solubilization and biofunctionalization of inorganic semiconductor nanocrystals fluorescent probes, also known as quantum dots. This chemistry is based on the surface coating of quantum dots with custom-designed polycysteine peptides and yields water-soluble, small, monodispersed and colloidally stable probes that remain bright and photostable in complex biological milieus. This peptide coating strategy was successfully tested on several types of core and core-shell quantum dots emitting from the visible (e.g. CdSe/ZnS) to the NIR spectrum range (e.g. CdTe/CdSe/ZnS). By taking advantage of the versatile physico-chemical properties of peptides, a peptide "toolkit" was designed and employed to impart several biological functions to individual quantum dots and control their biochemical activity at the nanometer scale. These biofunctionalized peptide-coated quantum dots were exploited in very diverse biological applications. Near-infrared emitting quantum dot probes were engineered with optimized blood circulation and biodistribution properties for in vivo animal imaging. Visible emitting quantum dots were used for single molecule tracking of raft-associated GPI-anchored proteins in live cells. This last application revealed the presence of discrete and non-caveolar lipid microdomains capable of impeding free lateral diffusions in the plasma membrane of Hela cells. Imaging and tracking of peptide-coated quantum dots provided the first direct evidence that microdomains having the composition and behavior expected for lipid rafts can induce molecular compartmentalization in the membrane of living cells.

Quantum Entanglement Growth under Random Unitary Dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nahum, Adam; Ruhman, Jonathan; Vijay, Sagar; Haah, Jeongwan

2017-07-01

Characterizing how entanglement grows with time in a many-body system, for example, after a quantum quench, is a key problem in nonequilibrium quantum physics. We study this problem for the case of random unitary dynamics, representing either Hamiltonian evolution with time-dependent noise or evolution by a random quantum circuit. Our results reveal a universal structure behind noisy entanglement growth, and also provide simple new heuristics for the "entanglement tsunami" in Hamiltonian systems without noise. In 1D, we show that noise causes the entanglement entropy across a cut to grow according to the celebrated Kardar-Parisi-Zhang (KPZ) equation. The mean entanglement grows linearly in time, while fluctuations grow like (time )1/3 and are spatially correlated over a distance ∝(time )2/3. We derive KPZ universal behavior in three complementary ways, by mapping random entanglement growth to (i) a stochastic model of a growing surface, (ii) a "minimal cut" picture, reminiscent of the Ryu-Takayanagi formula in holography, and (iii) a hydrodynamic problem involving the dynamical spreading of operators. We demonstrate KPZ universality in 1D numerically using simulations of random unitary circuits. Importantly, the leading-order time dependence of the entropy is deterministic even in the presence of noise, allowing us to propose a simple coarse grained minimal cut picture for the entanglement growth of generic Hamiltonians, even without noise, in arbitrary dimensionality. We clarify the meaning of the "velocity" of entanglement growth in the 1D entanglement tsunami. We show that in higher dimensions, noisy entanglement evolution maps to the well-studied problem of pinning of a membrane or domain wall by disorder.

Gauge Theories on Noncommutative Spacetime Treated by the Seiberg-Witten Method*

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wess, J.

The idea of noncommutative coordinates (NCC) is almost as old as quantum field theory (QFT) itself. It was W.Heisenberg who proposed NCC in 1930 in a letter to Peierls [1]. He expressed the hope that uncertainty relations of the coordinates, derived from NCC, might provide a natural cut-off for divergent integrals in QFT. This idea propagated via W.Pauli, R.Oppenheimer and Oppenheimer's student H.S.Snyder [2]. He then published the first analysis of a quantum thoery on NCC. Paul [3] called this work mathematically ingenious but rejected it for reasons of physics, arguing that an effective cut-off would act like a universal length and thus lead to strange consequences for large momenta of order h/l0.

Latest improvements on long wave p on n HgCdTe technology at Sofradir

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rubaldo, Laurent; Taalat, Rachid; Berthoz, Jocelyn; Maillard, Magalie; Péré-Laperne, Nicolas; Brunner, Alexandre; Guinedor, Pierre; Dargent, L.; Manissadjian, A.; Reibel, Y.; Kerlain, A.

2017-02-01

SOFRADIR is the worldwide leader on the cooled IR detector market for high-performance space, military and security applications thanks to a well mastered Mercury Cadmium Telluride (MCT) technology, and recently thanks to the acquisition of III-V technology: InSb, InGaAs, and QWIP quantum detectors. As a result, strong and continuous development efforts are deployed to deliver cutting edge products with improved performances in terms of spatial and thermal resolution, dark current, quantum efficiency, low excess noise and high operability. The actual trend in quantum IR detector development is the design of very small pixel, with the higher achievable operating temperature whatever the spectral band. Moreover maintaining the detector operability and image quality at higher temperature moreover for long wavelength is a major issue. This paper presents the recent developments achieved at Sofradir to meet this challenge for LW band MCT extrinsic p on n technology with a cut-off wavelength of 9.3μm at 90K. State of the art performances will be presented in terms of dark current, operability and NETD temperature dependency, quantum efficiency, MTF, and RFPN (Residual Fixed Pattern Noise) stability up to 100K.

The Quantum Dynamics of Chemical Reactions.

DTIC Science & Technology

1983-03-31

of the potential formed by taking a cut perpendicular to the minimum energy path (in Delves coordinates) V (s) = VmeP(s) + Ev(S) (5) ve sn where s is...current density and profiles of the component of jo normal to various straight-line cuts along the streamline field, for the H + H2(0) - H 2 + H...In order to visualize the nature of this topology, we display in Fig. 31 cuts of the equipotentials of V by the XZ. (y. - 0, x) and Y.Z, (’. - n/2, -x

Operation and performance of new NIR detectors from SELEX

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Atkinson, D.; Bezawada, N.; Hipwood, L. G.; Shorrocks, N.; Milne, H.

2012-07-01

The European Space Agency (ESA) has funded SELEX Galileo, Southampton, UK to develop large format near infrared (NIR) detectors for its future space and ground based programmes. The UKATC has worked in collaboration with SELEX Galileo to test and characterise the new detectors produced during phase-1 of the development. In order to demonstrate the detector material performance, the HgCdTe (MCT) detector diodes (grown on GaAs substrate through MOVPE process in small 320×256, 24μm pixel format) are hybridised to the existing SELEX Galileo SWALLOW CMOS readout chip. The substrate removed and MCT thinned detector arrays were then tested and evaluated at the UKATC following screening tests at SELEX. This paper briefly describes the test setup, the operational aspects of the readout multiplexer and presents the performance parameters of the detector arrays including: conversion gain, detector dark current, read noise, linearity, quantum efficiency and persistence for various detector temperatures between 80K and 140K.

Covalently-bonded grafting of [Ln3(Benzimidazole)4]-arrayed (Ln = Tb, Nd, Yb or Er) complex monomers into PNBE (poly(norbornene)) with highly luminous color-purity green-light or efficient NIR luminescence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Lin; Fu, Guorui; Feng, Heini; Guan, Jiaqing; Li, Fengping; Lü, Xingqiang; Wong, Wai-Kwok; Jones, Richard A.

2017-07-01

Within series of Ln3-grafted polymers Poly({[Ln3(L)4(NO3)6]·(NO3)·(H3O)2}-co-NBE) (Ln = La, 1; Ln = Eu, 2; Ln = Tb, 3; Ln = Nd, 4; Ln = Yb, 5; Ln = Er, 6 or Ln = Gd, 7) obtained from ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP) of norbornene (NBE) with each of allyl-functionalized complex monomers {[Ln3(L)4(NO3)6]·(NO3)·(H3O)2} (HL = 4-allyl-2-(1H-benzo[d]imidazol-2-yl)-6-methoxyphenol), PNBE-assisted effective energy transfer renders Poly(3-co-NBE) Tb3+-centered highly luminous color-purity green-light with an attractive quantum yield of 87% and efficient near-infrared (NIR) luminescence (ΦNdL = 0.61%; ΦYbL = 1.47% and ΦErL = 0.03%) for Nd3+-, Yb3+- or Er3+-grafted polymers.

Rational Design of Emissive NIR-Absorbing Chromophores: Rh(III) Porphyrin-Aza-BODIPY Conjugates with Orthogonal Metal-Carbon Bonds.

PubMed

Zhou, Jinfeng; Gai, Lizhi; Zhou, Zhikuan; Yang, Wu; Mack, John; Xu, Kejing; Zhao, Jianzhang; Zhao, Yue; Qiu, Hailin; Chan, Kin Shing; Shen, Zhen

2016-09-05

The facile synthesis of Group 9 Rh(III) porphyrin-aza-BODIPY conjugates that are linked through an orthogonal Rh-C(aryl) bond is reported. The conjugates combine the advantages of the near-IR (NIR) absorption and intense fluorescence of aza-BODIPY dyes with the long-lived triplet states of transition metal rhodium porphyrins. Only one emission peak centered at about 720 nm is observed, irrespective of the excitation wavelength, demonstrating that the conjugates act as unique molecules rather than as dyads. The generation of a locally excited (LE) state with intramolecular charge-transfer (ICT) character has been demonstrated by solvatochromic effects in the photophysical properties, singlet oxygen quantum yields in polar solvents, and by the results of density functional theory (DFT) calculations. In nonpolar solvents, the Rh(III) conjugates exhibit strong aza-BODIPY-centered fluorescence at around 720 nm (ΦF =17-34 %), and negligible singlet oxygen generation. In polar solvents, enhancements of the singlet-oxygen quantum yield (ΦΔ =19-27 %, λex =690 nm) have been observed. Nanosecond pulsed time-resolved absorption spectroscopy confirms that relatively long-lived triplet excited states are formed. The synthetic methodology outlined herein provides a useful strategy for the assembly of functional materials that are highly desirable for a wide range of applications in material science and biomedical fields. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Accelerating FRET between Near-Infrared Emitting Quantum Dots Using a Molecular J-Aggregate as an Exciton Bridge.

PubMed

Wang, Chen; Weiss, Emily A

2017-09-13

Fast energy transfer (EnT) among quantum dots (QDs) with near-infrared (NIR) emission is essential for fully exploiting their light harvesting and photon downconversion (multiexciton generation) abilities. This paper demonstrates a relayed EnT mechanism that accelerates the migration of NIR excitons between PbS QDs by a factor of 20 from that of one-step EnT through a polyelectrolyte and even a factor of ∼2 from that of one-step EnT between QDs in direct contact, by employing a J-aggregate (J-agg) of a cyanine dye as an exciton bridge. The donor QDs, acceptor QDs, and J-agg are electrostatically assembled into a sandwich structure with layer-by-layer deposition. Estimates of EnT rate and yield from transient and steady-state absorption and photoluminescence spectroscopies show that the rate-limiting step in the relay is EnT from the donor QD to the J-agg, while EnT from the J-agg to the acceptor QD occurs in <10 ps. A comparison of this system to the analogous solution-phase system suggests that the overall donor-to-acceptor EnT yield in the relay (18%) can be improved by depositing the J-agg with more intermolecular order. This work demonstrates the viability of relayed EnT through a molecular bridge as a strategy for accelerating long-distance exciton migration in assemblies of QDs, in particular in the near-infrared.

Electron-Deficient Near-Infrared Pt(II) and Pd(II) Benzoporphyrins with Dual Phosphorescence and Unusually Efficient Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence: First Demonstration of Simultaneous Oxygen and Temperature Sensing with a Single Emitter.

PubMed

Zach, Peter W; Freunberger, Stefan A; Klimant, Ingo; Borisov, Sergey M

2017-11-01

We report a family of Pt and Pd benzoporphyrin dyes with versatile photophysical properties and easy access from cheap and abundant chemicals. Attaching 4 or 8 alkylsulfone groups onto a meso-tetraphenyltetrabenzoporphyrin (TPTBP) macrocylcle renders the dyes highly soluble in organic solvents, photostable, and electron-deficient with the redox potential raised up to 0.65 V versus the parent porphyrin. The new dyes intensively absorb in the blue (Soret band, 440-480 nm) and in the red (Q-band, 620-650 nm) parts of the electromagnetic spectrum and show bright phosphorescence at room-temperature in the NIR with quantum yields up to 30% in solution. The small singlet-triplet energy gap yields unusually efficient thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) at elevated temperatures in solution and in polymeric matrices with quantum yields as high as 27% at 120 °C, which is remarkable for benzoporphyrins. Apart from oxygen sensing, these properties enable unprecedented simultaneous, self-referenced oxygen and temperature sensing with a single indicator dye: whereas oxygen can be determined either via the decay time of phosphorescence or TADF, the temperature is accessed via the ratio of the two emissions. Moreover, the dyes are efficient sensitizers for triplet-triplet annihilation (TTA)-based upconversion making possible longer sensitization wavelength than the conventional benzoporphyrin complexes. The Pt-octa-sulfone dye also features interesting semireversible transformation in basic media, which generates new NIR absorbing species.

Near infrared emission of TbAG:Ce{sup 3+},Yb{sup 3+} phosphor for solar cell applications

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Meshram, N. D., E-mail: meshramnileshsd@gmail.com; Yadav, P. J., E-mail: yadav.pooja75@yahoo.in; Pathak, A. A., E-mail: aapathak@yahoo.com

2016-05-06

Luminescent materials doped with rare earth ions are used for many devices such as optical amplifiers in telecommunication, phosphors for white light emitting diodes (LEDs), displays, and so on. Recently, they also have attracted a great interest for photovoltaic applications to improve solar cell efficiency by modifying solar spectrum. Crystal silicon (c-Si) solar cells most effectively convert photons of energy close to the semiconductor band gap. The mis-match between the incident solar spectrum and the spectral response of solar cells is one of the main reasons to limit the cell efficiency. The efficiency limit of the c-Si has been estimatedmore » to be 29% by Shockley and Queisser. However, this limit is estimated to be improved up to 38.4% by modifying the solar spectrum by a quantum cutting (down converting) phosphor which converts one photon of high energy into two photons of lower energy. The phenomenon such as the quantum cutting or the down conversion of rare earth ions have been investigated since Dexter reported the possibility of a luminescent quantum yield greater than unity in 1957. In the past, the quantum cutting from a vacuum ultraviolet photon to visible photons for Pr{sup 3+}, Gd{sup 3+},Gd{sup 3+}–Eu{sup 3+}, and Er{sup 3+}–Tb{sup 3+} had been studied. Recently, a new quantum cutting phenomenon from visible photon shorter than 500 nm to two infrared photons for Tb{sup 3+}–Yb{sup 3+}, Pr{sup 3+}–Yb{sup 3+}, and Tm{sup 3+}–Yb{sup 3+} has been reported. The Yb{sup 3+} ion is suitable as an acceptor and emitter because luminescent quantum efficiency of Yb{sup 3+} is close to 100% and the energy of the only excited level of Yb{sup 3+} (1.2 eV) is roughly in accordance with the band gap of Si (1.1 eV). In addition, the Ce{sup 3+}-doped Tb{sub 3}Al{sub 5}O{sub 12} (TbAG), used as a phosphor for white LED, has broad absorption bands in the range of 300–500 nm due to strong ligand field and high luminescent quantum efficiency. Therefore, the Ce{sup 3+} ions in the TbAG can be suitable as an excellent sensitizing donor for down conversion materials of Si solar cells. In this paper, Ce{sup 3+} –Yb{sup 3+}-codoped TbAG ceramics were prepared and the energy transfer (ET) including down conversion mechanism in Ce{sup 3+} – Yb{sup 3+} codoped TbAG ceramics have been evaluated by the photoluminescence (PL), the photoluminescence excitation (PLE), the lifetime and the quantum yield (QY), which was measured directly using an integrating sphere.« less

Near-Infrared Photon-Counting Camera for High-Sensitivity Observations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jurkovic, Michael

2012-01-01

The dark current of a transferred-electron photocathode with an InGaAs absorber, responsive over the 0.9-to-1.7- micron range, must be reduced to an ultralow level suitable for low signal spectral astrophysical measurements by lowering the temperature of the sensor incorporating the cathode. However, photocathode quantum efficiency (QE) is known to reduce to zero at such low temperatures. Moreover, it has not been demonstrated that the target dark current can be reached at any temperature using existing photocathodes. Changes in the transferred-electron photocathode epistructure (with an In- GaAs absorber lattice-matched to InP and exhibiting responsivity over the 0.9- to-1.7- m range) and fabrication processes were developed and implemented that resulted in a demonstrated >13x reduction in dark current at -40 C while retaining >95% of the approximately equal to 25% saturated room-temperature QE. Further testing at lower temperature is needed to confirm a >25 C predicted reduction in cooling required to achieve an ultralow dark-current target suitable for faint spectral astronomical observations that are not otherwise possible. This reduction in dark current makes it possible to increase the integration time of the imaging sensor, thus enabling a much higher near-infrared (NIR) sensitivity than is possible with current technology. As a result, extremely faint phenomena and NIR signals emitted from distant celestial objects can be now observed and imaged (such as the dynamics of redshifting galaxies, and spectral measurements on extra-solar planets in search of water and bio-markers) that were not previously possible. In addition, the enhanced NIR sensitivity also directly benefits other NIR imaging applications, including drug and bomb detection, stand-off detection of improvised explosive devices (IED's), Raman spectroscopy and microscopy for life/physical science applications, and semiconductor product defect detection.

Spectra-structure correlations in NIR region: Spectroscopic and anharmonic DFT study of n-hexanol, cyclohexanol and phenol.

PubMed

Beć, Krzysztof B; Grabska, Justyna; Czarnecki, Mirosław A

2018-05-15

We investigated near-infrared (7500-4000 cm -1 ) spectra of n-hexanol, cyclohexanol and phenol in CCl 4 (0.2 M) by using anharmonic quantum calculations. These molecules represent three major kinds of alcohols; linear and cyclic aliphatic, and aromatic ones. Vibrational second-order perturbation theory (VPT2) was employed to calculate the first overtones and binary combination modes and to reproduce the experimental NIR spectra. The level of conformational flexibility of these three alcohols varies from one stable conformer of phenol through four conformers of cyclohexanol to few hundreds conformers in the case of n-hexanol. To take into account the most relevant conformational population of n-hexanol, a systematic conformational search was performed. Accurate reproduction of the experimental NIR spectra was achieved and detailed spectra-structure correlations were obtained for these three alcohols. VPT2 approach provides less reliable description of highly anharmonic modes, i.e. OH stretching. In the present work this limitation was manifested in erroneous results yielded by VPT2 for 2νOH mode of cyclohexanol. To study the anharmonicity of this mode we solved the corresponding time-independent Schrödinger equation based on a dense-grid probing of the relevant vibrational potential. These results allowed for significant improvement of the agreement between the calculated and experimental 2νOH band of cyclohexanol. Various important biomolecules include similar structural units to the systems investigated here. A detailed knowledge on spectral properties of these three types of alcohols is therefore essential for advancing our understanding of NIR spectroscopy of biomolecules. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Cutting and drilling of carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP) by 70W short pulse nanosecond laser

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jaeschke, Peter; Stolberg, Klaus; Bastick, Stefan; Ziolkowski, Ewa; Roehner, Markus; Suttmann, Oliver; Overmeyer, Ludger

2014-02-01

Continuous carbon fibre reinforced plastics (CFRP) are recognized as having a significant lightweight construction potential for a wide variety of industrial applications. However, a today`s barrier for a comprehensive dissemination of CFRP structures is the lack of economic, quick and reliable manufacture processes, e.g. the cutting and drilling steps. In this paper, the capability of using pulsed disk lasers in CFRP machining is discussed. In CFRP processing with NIR lasers, carbon fibers show excellent optical absorption and heat dissipation, contrary to the plastics matrix. Therefore heat dissipation away from the laser focus into the material is driven by heat conduction of the fibres. The matrix is heated indirectly by heat transfer from the fibres. To cut CFRP, it is required to reach the melting temperature for thermoplastic matrix materials or the disintegration temperature for thermoset systems as well as the sublimation temperature of the reinforcing fibers simultaneously. One solution for this problem is to use short pulse nanosecond lasers. We have investigated CFRP cutting and drilling with such a laser (max. 7 mJ @ 10 kHz, 30 ns). This laser offers the opportunity of wide range parameter tuning for systematic process optimization. By applying drilling and cutting operations based on galvanometer scanning techniques in multi-cycle mode, excellent surface and edge characteristics in terms of delamination-free and intact fiber-matrix interface were achieved. The results indicate that nanosecond disk laser machining could consequently be a suitable tool for the automotive and aircraft industry for cutting and drilling steps.

Emergence of two near-infrared windows for in vivo and intraoperative SERS.

PubMed

Lane, Lucas A; Xue, Ruiyang; Nie, Shuming

2018-04-06

Two clear windows in the near-infrared (NIR) spectrum are of considerable current interest for in vivo molecular imaging and spectroscopic detection. The main rationale is that near-infrared light can penetrate biological tissues such as skin and blood more efficiently than visible light because these tissues scatter and absorb less light at longer wavelengths. The first clear window, defined as light wavelengths between 650nm and 950nm, has been shown to be far superior for in vivo and intraoperative optical imaging than visible light. The second clear window, operating in the wavelength range of 1000-1700nm, has been reported to further improve detection sensitivity, spatial resolution, and tissue penetration because tissue photon scattering and background interference are further reduced at longer wavelengths. Here we discuss recent advances in developing biocompatible plasmonic nanoparticles for in vivo and intraoperative surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) in both the first and second NIR windows. In particular, a new class of 'broad-band' plasmonic nanostructures is well suited for surface Raman enhancement across a broad range of wavelengths allowing a direct comparison of detection sensitivity and tissue penetration between the two NIR window. Also, optimized and encoded SERS nanoparticles are generally nontoxic and are much brighter than near-infrared quantum dots (QDs), raising new possibilities for ultrasensitive detection of microscopic tumors and image-guided precision surgery. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Novel fully-BODIPY functionalized cyclotetraphosphazene photosensitizers having high singlet oxygen quantum yields

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Şenkuytu, Elif; Eçik, Esra Tanrıverdi

2017-07-01

Novel fully-BODIPY functionalized dendrimeric cyclotetraphosphazenes (FBCP 1 and 2) have been synthesized and characterized by 1H, 13C and 31P NMR spectroscopies. The photophysical and photochemical properties of FBCP 1 and 2 are investigated in dichloromethane solution. The effectiveness of singlet oxygen generation was measured for FBCP 1 and 2 by UV-Vis spectra monitoring of the solution of 1,3-diphenylisobenzofuran (DPBF), which is a well-known trapping molecule used in detection of singlet oxygen. FBCP 1 and 2 show high molar extinction coefficients in the NIR region, good singlet oxygen quantum yields and appropriate photo degradation. The data presented in the work indicate that the dendrimeric cyclotetraphosphazenes are effective singlet oxygen photosensitizers that might be used for various areas of applications such as photodynamic therapy and photocatalysis.

High specificity ZnO quantum dots for diagnosis and treatment in bacterial infection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Min; Qian, Zhiyu; Gu, Yueqing

2016-03-01

Early diagnosis and effective treatment of bacterial infection has become increasingly important. Herein, we developed a fluorescent nano-probe MPA@ZnO-PEP by conjugating SiO2-stabilized ZnO quantum dot (ZnO@SiO2) with bacteria-targeting peptide PEP, which was encapsulated with MPA, a near infrared (NIR) dye. The nanoprobe MPA@ZnO-PEP showed excellent fluorescence property and could specifically distinguish bacterial infection from sterile inflammation both in vitro and in vivo. The favorable biocompatability of MPA@ZnO-PEP was verified by MTT assay. This probe was further modified with antibiotic methicillin to form the theranostic nanoparticle MPA/Met@ZnO-PEP with amplified antibacterial activity. These results promised the great potential of MPA@ZnO-PEP for efficient non-invasive early diagnosis of bacterial infections and effective bacterial-targeting therapy.

Effects of slash-and-burn land management on soil spectral properties estimated with VIS-NIR-SWIR spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rosero-Vlasova, Olga Alexandra; Vlassova, Lidia; Rosero Tufiño, Pedro; Pérez-Cabello, Fernando; Montorio Llovería, Raquel

2017-04-01

Slash-and-burn land management is typical for low-income tropical countries, such as Ecuador. It involves conversion of forest into areas used for agriculture. At first trees are cut and the wood debris is burnt. After initial clearing, biomass burning is performed after each production cycle. Usually, cultivation cycles are followed by the fallow period. In the medium and long term, these practices have negative effect on soil fertility and there is the need for clearing more forest for agricultural use. This is one of the reasons for continuing deforestation with the consequent loss of biodiversity. Changes in physico-chemical properties due to periodic burning are accompanied by changes in soil spectral properties and can be determined using VIS-NIR-SWIR spectroscopy, which can be a cost-effective alternative for traditional methods of soil analysis. The purpose of the study is to assess the viability of VIS-NIR-SWIR spectroscopy for characterization of soils from land areas under slash-and-burn management system. Eighteen samples from soil surface layer were collected from two corn fields in the province of Los Rios, Ecuador, in September 2015. One of the areas has experienced six slash-and-burn cycles, while in the other the samples were collected at the end of the first corn cultivation cycle. Spectral measurements of sieved and air-dried samples were performed in the laboratory of the University of Zaragoza using ASD Fieldspec®4 spectroradiometer (350-2500nm spectral range) and ASD Illuminator Lamp as a light source. Statistically significant differences were observed between soil spectra of the samples from two soil groups. Reflectance of repeatedly burnt soils was 20% higher (mean value for the entire spectrum) for 65% of the samples, being especially important in VIS (>45%) and NIR ( 35%), probably due to the lower organic matter (OM) content. OM models built using Partial least Squares Regression demonstrated high predictive capacity (R2>0.8). Thus, the study confirms VIS-NIR-SWIR soil spectroscopy can be used as a tool for monitoring changes in soils in areas of slash-and-burn land management systems.

Strong visible and near infrared photoluminescence from ZnO nanorods/nanowires grown on single layer graphene studied using sub-band gap excitation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Biroju, Ravi K.; Giri, P. K.

2017-07-01

Fabrication and optoelectronic applications of graphene based hybrid 2D-1D semiconductor nanostructures have gained tremendous research interest in recent times. Herein, we present a systematic study on the origin and evolution of strong broad band visible and near infrared (NIR) photoluminescence (PL) from vertical ZnO nanorods (NRs) and nanowires (NWs) grown on single layer graphene using both above band gap and sub-band gap optical excitations. High resolution field emission scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction studies are carried out to reveal the morphology and crystalline quality of as-grown and annealed ZnO NRs/NWs on graphene. Room temperature PL studies reveal that besides the UV and visible PL bands, a new near-infrared (NIR) PL emission band appears in the range between 815 nm and 886 nm (1.40-1.52 eV). X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy studies revealed excess oxygen content and unreacted metallic Zn in the as-grown ZnO nanostructures, owing to the low temperature growth by a physical vapor deposition method. Post-growth annealing at 700 °C in the Ar gas ambient results in the enhanced intensity of both visible and NIR PL bands. On the other hand, subsequent high vacuum annealing at 700 °C results in a drastic reduction in the visible PL band and complete suppression of the NIR PL band. PL decay dynamics of green emission in Ar annealed samples show tri-exponential decay on the nanosecond timescale including a very slow decay component (time constant ˜604.5 ns). Based on these results, the NIR PL band comprising two peaks centered at ˜820 nm and ˜860 nm is tentatively assigned to neutral and negatively charged oxygen interstitial (Oi) defects in ZnO, detected experimentally for the first time. The evidence for oxygen induced trap states on the ZnO NW surface is further substantiated by the slow photocurrent response of graphene-ZnO NRs/NWs. These results are important for tunable light emission, photodetection, and other cutting edge applications of graphene-ZnO based 2D-1D hybrid nanostructures.

Parametrization of Combined Quantum Mechanical and Molecular Mechanical Methods: Bond-Tuned Link Atoms.

PubMed

Wu, Xin-Ping; Gagliardi, Laura; Truhlar, Donald G

2018-05-30

Combined quantum mechanical and molecular mechanical (QM/MM) methods are the most powerful available methods for high-level treatments of subsystems of very large systems. The treatment of the QM-MM boundary strongly affects the accuracy of QM/MM calculations. For QM/MM calculations having covalent bonds cut by the QM-MM boundary, it has been proposed previously to use a scheme with system-specific tuned fluorine link atoms. Here, we propose a broadly parametrized scheme where the parameters of the tuned F link atoms depend only on the type of bond being cut. In the proposed new scheme, the F link atom is tuned for systems with a certain type of cut bond at the QM-MM boundary instead of for a specific target system, and the resulting link atoms are call bond-tuned link atoms. In principle, the bond-tuned link atoms can be as convenient as the popular H link atoms, and they are especially well adapted for high-throughput and accurate QM/MM calculations. Here, we present the parameters for several kinds of cut bonds along with a set of validation calculations that confirm that the proposed bond-tuned link-atom scheme can be as accurate as the system-specific tuned F link-atom scheme.

Clear-cut observation of clearance of sustainable upconverting nanoparticles from lymphatic system of small living mice

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Park, Hye Sun; Nam, Sang Hwan; Kim, Jongwoo; Shin, Hyung Seon; Suh, Yung Doug; Hong, Kwan Soo

2016-06-01

The significance of lymphatic system has gathered great attention for immunotechnology related to cancer metastasis and immunotherapy. To develop innovative immunodiagnostics and immunotherapy in in vivo environments, it is very important to understand excretion pathways and clearance of injected cargoes. Herein, we employed Tm3+-doped upconverting nanoparticles (UCNPs) with versatile advantages suitable for long-term non-invasive in vivo optical imaging and tracking. Transport and retention of the UCNPs in the lymphatic system were evaluated with high-quality NIR-to-NIR upconversion luminescence (UCL) imaging. We obtained their kinetic luminescence profiles for the injection site and sentinel lymph node (SLN) and observed luminescence signals for one month; we also examined UCL images in SLN tissues, organs, and faeces at each time point. We speculate that the injected UCNPs in a footpad of a small mouse are transported rapidly from the lymphatic system to the blood system and then eventually result in an efficient excretion by the hepatobiliary route. These results will support development of novel techniques for SLN biopsy as well as immunotechnology.

A Multi-instrument and Multi-wavelength High Angular Resolution Study of MWC 614: Quantum Heated Particles Inside the Disk Cavity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kluska, Jacques; Kraus, Stefan; Davies, Claire L.; Harries, Tim; Willson, Matthew; Monnier, John D.; Aarnio, Alicia; Baron, Fabien; Millan-Gabet, Rafael; Ten Brummelaar, Theo; Che, Xiao; Hinkley, Sasha; Preibisch, Thomas; Sturmann, Judit; Sturmann, Laszlo; Touhami, Yamina

2018-03-01

High angular resolution observations of young stellar objects are required to study the inner astronomical units of protoplanetary disks in which the majority of planets form. As they evolve, gaps open up in the inner disk regions and the disks are fully dispersed within ∼10 Myr. MWC 614 is a pretransitional object with a ∼10 au radius gap. We present a set of high angular resolution observations of this object including SPHERE/ZIMPOL polarimetric and coronagraphic images in the visible, Keck/NIRC2 near-infrared (NIR) aperture masking observations, and Very Large Telescope Interferometer (AMBER, MIDI, and PIONIER) and Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy (CLASSIC and CLIMB) long-baseline interferometry at infrared wavelengths. We find that all the observations are compatible with an inclined disk (i ∼ 55° at a position angle of ∼20°–30°). The mid-infrared data set confirms that the disk inner rim is at 12.3 ± 0.4 au from the central star. We determined an upper mass limit of 0.34 M ⊙ for a companion inside the cavity. Within the cavity, the NIR emission, usually associated with the dust sublimation region, is unusually extended (∼10 au, 30 times larger than the theoretical sublimation radius) and indicates a high dust temperature (T ∼ 1800 K). As a possible result of companion-induced dust segregation, quantum heated dust grains could explain the extended NIR emission with this high temperature. Our observations confirm the peculiar state of this object where the inner disk has already been accreted onto the star, exposing small particles inside the cavity to direct stellar radiation. Based on observations made with the Keck observatory (NASA program ID N104N2) and with ESO telescopes at the Paranal Observatory (ESO program IDs 073.C-0720, 077.C-0226, 077.C-0521, 083.C-0984, 087.C-0498(A), 190.C-0963, 095.C-0883) and with the Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy observatory.

Wide spectral range multiple orders and half-wave achromatic phase retarders fabricated from two lithium tantalite single crystal plates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Emam-Ismail, M.

2015-11-01

In a broad spectral range (300-2500 nm), we report the use of channeled spectra formed from the interference of polarized white light to extract the dispersion of the phase birefringence Δnp(λ) of the x- and y-cuts of lithium tantalite (LiTaO3:LT) plates. A new method named as wavenumber difference method is used to extract the spectral behavior of the phase birefringence of the x- and y- cuts of LT plates. The correctness of the obtained birefringence data is confirmed by using Jones vector method through recalculating the plates thicknesses. The spectral variation of the phase birefringence Δnp(λ) of the x- and y-cuts of LT plates is fitted to Cauchy dispersion function with relative error for both x- and y-cuts of order 2.4×10-4. The group birefringence dispersion Δng (λ) of the x- and y-cuts of LT plates is also calculated and fitted to Ghosh dispersion function with relative error for both x- and y-cuts of order 2.83×10-4. Furthermore, the phase retardation introduced by the x- and y-cuts of LT plates is also calculated. It is found that the amount of phase retardation confirms that the x- and y-cuts of LT plates can act as a multiple order half- and quarter-wave plates working at many different wavelengths through the spectral range 300-2500 nm. For the x- and y-cuts of LT plates, a large difference between group and phase birefringence is observed at a short wavelength (λ=300 nm); while such difference progressively diminished at longer wavelength (λ=2000 nm). In the near infrared region (NIR) region (700-2500 nm), a broad spectral full width at half maximum (FWHM) is observed for either x- or y-cut of LT plate which can act as if it is working as a zero order wave plate. Finally, an achromatic half-wave plate working at 598 nm and covering a wide spectral range (300-900 nm) is demonstrated experimentally by combining both x- and y-cuts of LT plates.

Revealing spatial distribution of soil organic carbon contents and stocks of a disturbed bog relict by in-situ NIR and apparent EC mapping

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bechtold, Michel; Tiemeyer, Bärbel; Don, Axel; Altdorff, Daniel; van der Kruk, Jan; Huisman, Johan A.

2013-04-01

Previous studies showed that in-situ visible near-infrared (vis-NIR) spectroscopy can overcome the limitations of conventional soil sampling. Costs can be reduced and spatial resolution enhanced when mapping field-scale variability of soil organic carbon (SOC). Detailed maps can help to improve SOC management and lead to better estimates of field-scale total carbon stocks. Knowledge of SOC field patterns may also help to reveal processes and factors controlling SOC variability. In this study, we apply in situ vis-NIR and apparent electrical conductivity (ECa) mapping to a disturbed bog relict. The major question of this application study was how field-scale in-situ vis-NIR mapping performs for a very heterogeneous area and under difficult grassland conditions and under highly-variable water content conditions. Past intensive peat cutting and deep ploughing in some areas, in combination with a high background heterogeneity of the underlying mineral sediments, have led to a high variability of SOC content (5.6 to 41.3 %), peat layer thickness (25 to 60 cm) and peat degradation states (from nearly fresh to amorphous). Using a field system developed by Veris Technologies (Salina KS, USA), we continuously collected vis-NIR spectra at 10 cm depth (measurement range: 350 nm to 2200 nm) over an area of around 12 ha with a line spacing of about 12 m. The system includes a set of discs for measuring ECa of the first 30 and 90 cm of the soil. The same area was also mapped with a non-invasive electro-magnetic induction (EMI) setup that provided ECa data of the first 25, 50 and 100 cm. For calibration and validation of the spatial data, we took 30 representative soil samples and 15 soil cores of about 90 cm depth, for which peat thickness, water content, pore water EC, bulk density (BD), as well as C and N content were determined for various depths. Preliminary results of the calibration of the NIR spectra to the near-surface SOC contents indicate good data quality despite the challenging site conditions. Bore hole data indicates that the peat layer is characterized by lower BD, higher pore water EC, higher SOC content, and higher water contents compared to the underlying mineral sediments. This ECa contrast at the peat-sand interface is promising for using the various ECa investigation depths as predictors for peat thickness. Preliminary EMI results also show a correlation between ECa and SOC content, most strongly for the 25 cm EMI signal. We evaluate how vis-NIR and ECa data can be used in a joined approach to estimate SOC content as well as SOC stock distribution.

Niels Bohr as philosopher of experiment: Does decoherence theory challenge Bohr's doctrine of classical concepts?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Camilleri, Kristian; Schlosshauer, Maximilian

2015-02-01

Niels Bohr's doctrine of the primacy of "classical concepts" is arguably his most criticized and misunderstood view. We present a new, careful historical analysis that makes clear that Bohr's doctrine was primarily an epistemological thesis, derived from his understanding of the functional role of experiment. A hitherto largely overlooked disagreement between Bohr and Heisenberg about the movability of the "cut" between measuring apparatus and observed quantum system supports the view that, for Bohr, such a cut did not originate in dynamical (ontological) considerations, but rather in functional (epistemological) considerations. As such, both the motivation and the target of Bohr's doctrine of classical concepts are of a fundamentally different nature than what is understood as the dynamical problem of the quantum-to-classical transition. Our analysis suggests that, contrary to claims often found in the literature, Bohr's doctrine is not, and cannot be, at odds with proposed solutions to the dynamical problem of the quantum-classical transition that were pursued by several of Bohr's followers and culminated in the development of decoherence theory.

High quantum yield of the Egyptian blue family of infrared phosphors (MCuSi4O10, M = Ca, Sr, Ba)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Berdahl, Paul; Boocock, Simon K.; Chan, George C.-Y.; Chen, Sharon S.; Levinson, Ronnen M.; Zalich, Michael A.

2018-05-01

The alkaline earth copper tetra-silicates, blue pigments, are interesting infrared phosphors. The Ca, Sr, and Ba variants fluoresce in the near-infrared (NIR) at 909, 914, and 948 nm, respectively, with spectral widths on the order of 120 nm. The highest quantum yield ϕ reported thus far is ca. 10%. We use temperature measurements in sunlight to determine this parameter. The yield depends on the pigment loading (mass per unit area) ω with values approaching 100% as ω → 0 for the Ca and Sr variants. Although maximum quantum yield occurs near ω = 0, maximum fluorescence occurs near ω = 70 g m-2, at which ϕ = 0.7. The better samples show fluorescence decay times in the range of 130 to 160 μs. The absorbing impurity CuO is often present. Good phosphor performance requires long fluorescence decay times and very low levels of parasitic absorption. The strong fluorescence enhances prospects for energy applications such as cooling of sunlit surfaces (to reduce air conditioning requirements) and luminescent solar concentrators.

Corner entanglement as a probe of quantum criticality

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Witczak-Krempa, William; Bueno, Pablo; Myers, Robert C.

The entanglement entropy in many gapless quantum systems in 2+1D receives a contribution from corners in the entangling surface. It is characterized by a universal function a (θ) that depends non-trivially on the corner opening angle θ. Focusing on a large family of quantum critical theories with emergent Lorentz invariance (CFTs), we argue that the smooth limit a (θ ~ π) is entirely determined by the energy-density or stress tensor 2-point function coefficient. This explains recent results obtained via cutting edge simulations on the quantum critical Ising, XY and Heisenberg models. We also show how to extract the full thermal entropy of the quantum critical system using corner entanglement of the groundstate alone. ** Bueno, Myers, WK, Phys. Rev. Lett. (2015) Work supported by Perimeter Institute and NSERC.

Quantum Entanglement and the Topological Order of Fractional Hall States

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rezayi, Edward

2015-03-01

Fractional quantum Hall states or, more generally, topological phases of matter defy Landau classification based on order parameter and broken symmetry. Instead they have been characterized by their topological order. Quantum information concepts, such as quantum entanglement, appear to provide the most efficient method of detecting topological order solely from the knowledge of the ground state wave function. This talk will focus on real-space bi-partitioning of quantum Hall states and will present both exact diagonalization and quantum Monte Carlo studies of topological entanglement entropy in various geometries. Results on the torus for non-contractible cuts are quite rich and, through the use of minimum entropy states, yield the modular S-matrix and hence uniquely determine the topological order, as shown in recent literature. Concrete examples of minimum entropy states from known quantum Hall wave functions and their corresponding quantum numbers, used in exact diagonalizations, will be given. In collaboration with Clare Abreu and Raul Herrera. Supported by DOE Grant DE-SC0002140.

Relationship between microstructure and optical properties of a novel perovskite C12PbI4 embedded in matrix of porous alumina

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zaghdoudi, W.; Bardaoui, A.; Khalifa, N.; Chtourou, R.

2013-01-01

In this study, organic-inorganic hybrid perovskite multiple quantum wells (PbI QWs) embedded in porous anodic alumina (PAA) thin films on glass and aluminum substrates are investigated in detail. The pore height and diameter of the nanoscale structure of porous anodic alumina (PAA) film produced by the anodization technique are controllable. The synthesized films are characterized morphologically using the atomic force microscopy (AFM). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) study showed granular surface. The structural and optical properties were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), photoluminescence (PL) and UV-Vis-NIR spectrophotometer. The effect of the two different substrates on the impregnation of the PbI QW in the PAA is presented. Both PL and AFM studies show a better penetration of the PbI QW in the case of the Al substrate providing a wider pore diameter. Remarkable enhancement of quantum confinement is demonstrated.

A monolithic 640 × 512 CMOS imager with high-NIR sensitivity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lauxtermann, Stefan; Fisher, John; McDougal, Michael

2014-06-01

In this paper we present first results from a backside illuminated CMOS image sensor that we fabricated on high resistivity silicon. Compared to conventional CMOS imagers, a thicker photosensitive membrane can be depleted when using silicon with low background doping concentration while maintaining low dark current and good MTF performance. The benefits of such a fully depleted silicon sensor are high quantum efficiency over a wide spectral range and a fast photo detector response. Combining these characteristics with the circuit complexity and manufacturing maturity available from a modern, mixed signal CMOS technology leads to a new type of sensor, with an unprecedented performance spectrum in a monolithic device. Our fully depleted, backside illuminated CMOS sensor was designed to operate at integration times down to 100nsec and frame rates up to 1000Hz. Noise in Integrate While Read (IWR) snapshot shutter operation for these conditions was simulated to be below 10e- at room temperature. 2×2 binning with a 4× increase in sensitivity and a maximum frame rate of 4000 Hz is supported. For application in hyperspectral imaging systems the full well capacity in each row can individually be programmed between 10ke-, 60ke- and 500ke-. On test structures we measured a room temperature dark current of 360pA/cm2 at a reverse bias of 3.3V. A peak quantum efficiency of 80% was measured with a single layer AR coating on the backside. Test images captured with the 50μm thick VGA imager between 30Hz and 90Hz frame rate show a strong response at NIR wavelengths.

A new approach to highly sensitive determination of retinoic acid isomers by preconcentration with CdSe quantum dots.

PubMed

Torabi, Behzad; Shemirani, Farzaneh

2014-03-01

Unusual amounts of retinoic acid (RA) isomers play an important role in abnormal morphological development of mammals; such as rat embryos. Each isomer of RA has a unique function in first steps of embryonic life. In the current study, a new method for preconcentration and simultaneous determination of all-trans retinoic acid, 13-cis retinoic acid, 9-cis retinoic acid and 9,13-di-cis retinoic acid in rat whole rudimentary embryo culture (RWEC) has been developed. RA isomers were extracted from samples by conjugation to appropriate amount of surface modified CdSe quantum dots (QDs) prior to HPLC/UV determination. In order to quickly release of the analytes with unchanged form, separated RA-QD conjugation were irradiated by intensive near infrared wavelength (NIR). Low energy NIR irradiation results in maintaining the primary forms of RA isomers during the release. The conjugation and release mechanisms were described and experimental parameters were investigated in detail. Under optimized conditions, the method was linear in the range of 0.040-34.600 pmol g(-1) for all-trans RA (R(2)=0.9996), 0.070-34.200 pmol g(-1) for 13-cis RA (R(2)=0.9992), 0.050-35.300 pmol g(-1) for 9,13-di-cis RA (R(2)=0.9998) and 0.050-32.900 pmol g(-1) for 9-cis RA (R(2)=0.9990). The present method can be useful for retinoic acid monitoring in clinical studies. © 2013 Published by Elsevier B.V.

A multifunctional targeting probe with dual-mode imaging and photothermal therapy used in vivo.

PubMed

Zhang, Xiao-Shuai; Xuan, Yang; Yang, Xiao-Quan; Cheng, Kai; Zhang, Ruo-Yun; Li, Cheng; Tan, Fang; Cao, Yuan-Cheng; Song, Xian-Lin; An, Jie; Hou, Xiao-Lin; Zhao, Yuan-Di

2018-04-19

Ag 2 S has the characteristics of conventional quantum dot such as broad excitation spectrum, narrow emission spectrum, long fluorescence lifetime, strong anti-bleaching ability, and other optical properties. Moreover, since its fluorescence emission is located in the NIR-II region, has stronger penetrating ability for tissue. Ag 2 S quantum dot has strong absorption during the visible and NIR regions, it has good photothermal and photoacoustic response under certain wavelength excitation. 200 nm aqueous probe Ag 2 S@DSPE-PEG 2000 -FA (Ag 2 S@DP-FA) with good dispersibility and stability was prepared by coating hydrophobic Ag 2 S with the mixture of folic acid (FA) modified DSPE-PEG 2000 (DP) and other polymers, it was found the probe had good fluorescent, photoacoustic and photothermal responses, and a low cell cytotoxicity at 50 μg/mL Ag concentration. Blood biochemical analysis, liver enzyme and tissue histopathological test showed that no significant influence was observed on blood and organs within 15 days after injection of the probe. In vivo and in vitro fluorescence and photoacoustic imaging of the probe further demonstrated that the Ag 2 S@DP-FA probe had good active targeting ability for tumor. In vivo and in vitro photothermal therapy experiments confirmed that the probe also had good ability of killing tumor by photothermal. Ag 2 S@DP-FA was a safe, integrated diagnosis and treatment probe with multi-mode imaging, photothermal therapy and active targeting ability, which had a great application prospect in the early diagnosis and treatment of tumor.

Single step deposition of an interacting layer of a perovskite matrix with embedded quantum dots

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ngo, Thi Tuyen; Suarez, Isaac; Sanchez, Rafael S.; Martinez-Pastor, Juan P.; Mora-Sero, Ivan

2016-07-01

Hybrid lead halide perovskite (PS) derivatives have emerged as very promising materials for the development of optoelectronic devices in the last few years. At the same time, inorganic nanocrystals with quantum confinement (QDs) possess unique properties that make them suitable materials for the development of photovoltaics, imaging and lighting applications, among others. In this work, we report on a new methodology for the deposition of high quality, large grain size and pinhole free PS films (CH3NH3PbI3) with embedded PbS and PbS/CdS core/shell Quantum Dots (QDs). The strong interaction between both semiconductors is revealed by the formation of an exciplex state, which is monitored by photoluminescence and electroluminescence experiments. The radiative exciplex relaxation is centered in the near infrared region (NIR), ~1200 nm, which corresponds to lower energies than the corresponding band gap of both perovskite (PS) and QDs. Our approach allows the fabrication of multi-wavelength light emitting diodes (LEDs) based on a PS matrix with embedded QDs, which show considerably low turn-on potentials. The presence of the exciplex state of PS and QDs opens up a broad range of possibilities with important implications in both LEDs and solar cells.Hybrid lead halide perovskite (PS) derivatives have emerged as very promising materials for the development of optoelectronic devices in the last few years. At the same time, inorganic nanocrystals with quantum confinement (QDs) possess unique properties that make them suitable materials for the development of photovoltaics, imaging and lighting applications, among others. In this work, we report on a new methodology for the deposition of high quality, large grain size and pinhole free PS films (CH3NH3PbI3) with embedded PbS and PbS/CdS core/shell Quantum Dots (QDs). The strong interaction between both semiconductors is revealed by the formation of an exciplex state, which is monitored by photoluminescence and electroluminescence experiments. The radiative exciplex relaxation is centered in the near infrared region (NIR), ~1200 nm, which corresponds to lower energies than the corresponding band gap of both perovskite (PS) and QDs. Our approach allows the fabrication of multi-wavelength light emitting diodes (LEDs) based on a PS matrix with embedded QDs, which show considerably low turn-on potentials. The presence of the exciplex state of PS and QDs opens up a broad range of possibilities with important implications in both LEDs and solar cells. Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available. See DOI: 10.1039/c6nr04082a

Maturation of the cytochrome cd1 nitrite reductase NirS from Pseudomonas aeruginosa requires transient interactions between the three proteins NirS, NirN and NirF

PubMed Central

Nicke, Tristan; Schnitzer, Tobias; Münch, Karin; Adamczack, Julia; Haufschildt, Kristin; Buchmeier, Sabine; Kucklick, Martin; Felgenträger, Undine; Jänsch, Lothar; Riedel, Katharina; Layer, Gunhild

2013-01-01

The periplasmic cytochrome cd1 nitrite reductase NirS occurring in denitrifying bacteria such as the human pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa contains the essential tetrapyrrole cofactors haem c and haem d1. Whereas the haem c is incorporated into NirS by the cytochrome c maturation system I, nothing is known about the insertion of the haem d1 into NirS. Here, we show by co-immunoprecipitation that NirS interacts with the potential haem d1 insertion protein NirN in vivo. This NirS–NirN interaction is dependent on the presence of the putative haem d1 biosynthesis enzyme NirF. Further, we show by affinity co-purification that NirS also directly interacts with NirF. Additionally, NirF is shown to be a membrane anchored lipoprotein in P. aeruginosa. Finally, the analysis by UV–visible absorption spectroscopy of the periplasmic protein fractions prepared from the P. aeruginosa WT (wild-type) and a P. aeruginosa ΔnirN mutant shows that the cofactor content of NirS is altered in the absence of NirN. Based on our results, we propose a potential model for the maturation of NirS in which the three proteins NirS, NirN and NirF form a transient, membrane-associated complex in order to achieve the last step of haem d1 biosynthesis and insertion of the cofactor into NirS. PMID:23683062

Dual-excitation upconverting nanoparticle and quantum dot aptasensor for multiplexed food pathogen detection.

PubMed

Kurt, Hasan; Yüce, Meral; Hussain, Babar; Budak, Hikmet

2016-07-15

In this report, a dual-excitation sensing method was developed using aptamer-functionalized quantum dots and upconverting nanoparticles, exhibiting Stokes and anti-Stokes type excitation profiles, respectively. Conjugation of the aptamer-functionalized luminescent nanoparticles with the magnetic beads, comprising short DNA sequences that were partially complementary to the aptamer sequences, enabled facile separation of the analyte-free conjugates for fluorescent measurement. UV-Visible spectroscopy, Circular Dichroism spectroscopy, Dynamic Light Scattering and Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis techniques were used to characterize the aptamer probes developed. The target-specific luminescent conjugates were applied for multiplex detection of model food pathogens, Salmonella typhimurium, and Staphylococcus aureus, in which the fluorescent emission spectra were obtained under UV excitation at 325nm for quantum dots and NIR excitation at 980nm for upconverting nanoparticles, respectively. The dual-excitation strategy was aimed to minimize cross-talk between the luminescent signals for multiplexed detection, and yielded limit of detection values of 16 and 28cfumL(-1) for Staphylococcus aureus, and Salmonella typhimurium, respectively. By employing a greater number of quantum dots and upconverting nanoparticles with non-overlapping fluorescent emissions, the proposed methodology might be exploited further to detect several analytes, simultaneously. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Nanodiamonds and silicon quantum dots: ultrastable and biocompatible luminescent nanoprobes for long-term bioimaging.

PubMed

Montalti, M; Cantelli, A; Battistelli, G

2015-07-21

Fluorescence bioimaging is a powerful, versatile, method for investigating, both in vivo and in vitro, the complex structures and functions of living organisms in real time and space, also using super-resolution techniques. Being poorly invasive, fluorescence bioimaging is suitable for long-term observation of biological processes. Long-term detection is partially prevented by photobleaching of organic fluorescent probes. Semiconductor quantum dots, in contrast, are ultrastable, fluorescent contrast agents detectable even at the single nanoparticle level. Emission color of quantum dots is size dependent and nanoprobes emitting in the near infrared (NIR) region are ideal for low back-ground in vivo imaging. Biocompatibility of nanoparticles, containing toxic elements, is debated. Recent safety concerns enforced the search for alternative ultrastable luminescent nanoprobes. Most recent results demonstrated that optimized silicon quantum dots (Si QDs) and fluorescent nanodiamonds (FNDs) show almost no photobleaching in a physiological environment. Moreover in vitro and in vivo toxicity studies demonstrated their unique biocompatibility. Si QDs and FNDs are hence ideal diagnostic tools and promising non-toxic vectors for the delivery of therapeutic cargos. Most relevant examples of applications of Si QDs and FNDs to long-term bioimaging are discussed in this review comparing the toxicity and the stability of different nanoprobes.

Construction of dual-functional polymer nanomaterials with near-infrared fluorescence imaging and polymer prodrug by RAFT-mediated aqueous dispersion polymerization.

PubMed

Tian, Chun; Niu, Jinyun; Wei, Xuerui; Xu, Yujie; Zhang, Lifen; Cheng, Zhenping; Zhu, Xiulin

2018-05-31

The performance of functional polymer nanomaterials is a vigorously discussed topic in polymer science. We devoted ourselves to investigating polymer nanomaterials based on near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence imaging and polymer prodrug in this study. Aza-boron dipyrromethene (BODIPY) is an important organic dye, having characteristics such as environmental resistance, light resistance, high molar extinction coefficient, and fluorescence quantum yield. We incorporated it into our target monomer, which can be polymerized without changing its parent structure in a polar solvent and copolymerized with water-soluble monomer to improve the solubility of the dye in an aqueous solution. At the same time, the hydrophobic drug camptothecin (CPT) was designed as a prodrug monomer, and the polymeric nanoparticles (NPs) with NIR fluorescence imaging and prodrug were synthesized in situ in reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT)-mediated aqueous dispersion polymerization. The dynamic light scattering (DLS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) revealed the final uniform size of the dual-functional polymeric NPs morphology. The dual-functional polymeric NPs had a strong absorption and emission signal in the NIR region (>650 nm) based on the fluorescence tests. In consideration of the long-term biological toxicity, confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) results indicated that the dual-functional NPs with controlled drug content exhibited effective capability of killing HeLa cells. In addition, in vivo imaging of the dual-functional NPs was observed in real time, and the fluorescent signals clearly demonstrated the dynamic process of prodrug transfer.

Device model for pixelless infrared image up-converters based on polycrystalline graphene heterostructures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ryzhii, V.; Shur, M. S.; Ryzhii, M.; Karasik, V. E.; Otsuji, T.

2018-01-01

We developed a device model for pixelless converters of far/mid-infrared radiation (FIR/MIR) images into near-infrared/visible (NIR/VIR) images. These converters use polycrystalline graphene layers (PGLs) immersed in the van der Waals materials integrated with a light emitting diode (LED). The PGL serves as an element of the PGL infrared photodetector (PGLIP) sensitive to the incoming FIR/MIR due to the interband absorption. The spatially non-uniform photocurrent generated in the PGLIP repeats (mimics) the non-uniform distribution (image) created by the incident FIR/MIR. The injection of the nonuniform photocurrent into the LED active layer results in the nonuniform NIR/VIR image reproducing the FIR/MIR image. The PGL and the entire layer structure are not deliberately partitioned into pixels. We analyze the characteristics of such pixelless PGLIP-LED up-converters and show that their image contrast transfer function and the up-conversion efficiency depend on the PGL lateral resistivity. The up-converter exhibits high photoconductive gain and conversion efficiency when the lateral resistivity is sufficiently high. Several teams have successfully demonstrated the large area PGLs with the resistivities varying in a wide range. Such layers can be used in the pixelless PGLIP-LED image up-converters. The PGLIP-LED image up-converters can substantially surpass the image up-converters based on the quantum-well infrared photodetector integrated with the LED. These advantages are due to the use of the interband FIR/NIR absorption and a high photoconductive gain in the GLIPs.

Optical properties of trinuclear metal chalcogenolate complexes - room temperature NIR fluorescence in [Cu2Ti(SPh)6(PPh3)2].

PubMed

Kühn, Michael; Lebedkin, Sergei; Weigend, Florian; Eichhöfer, Andreas

2017-01-31

The optical properties of four isostructural trinuclear chalcogenolato bridged metal complexes [Cu 2 Sn(SPh) 6 (PPh 3 ) 2 ], [Cu 2 Sn(SePh) 6 (PPh 3 ) 2 ], [Ag 2 Sn(SPh) 6 (PPh 3 ) 2 ] and [Cu 2 Ti(SPh) 6 (PPh 3 ) 2 ] have been investigated by absorption and photoluminescence spectroscopy and time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) calculations. All copper-tin compounds demonstrate near-infrared (NIR) phosphorescence at ∼900-1100 nm in the solid state at low temperature, which is nearly absent at ambient temperature. Stokes shifts of these emissions are found to be unusually large with values of about 1.5 eV. The copper-titanium complex [Cu 2 Ti(SPh) 6 (PPh 3 ) 2 ] also shows luminescence in the NIR at 1090 nm but with a much faster decay (τ ∼ 10 ns at 150 K) and a much smaller Stokes shift (ca. 0.3 eV). Even at 295 K this fluorescence is found to comprise a quantum yield as high as 9.5%. The experimental electronic absorption spectra well correspond to the spectra simulated from the calculated singlet transitions. In line with the large Stokes shifts of the emission spectra the calculations reveal for the copper-tin complexes strong structural relaxation of the excited triplet states whereas those effects are found to be much smaller in the case of the copper-titanium complex.

Excimers from stable and persistent supramolecular radical-pairs in red/NIR-emitting organic nanoparticles and polymeric films.

PubMed

Blasi, Davide; Nikolaidou, Domna M; Terenziani, Francesca; Ratera, Imma; Veciana, Jaume

2017-03-29

In this work, the luminescence properties of new materials based on open-shell molecular systems are studied. In particular, we prepared polymeric films and organic nanoparticles (ONPs) doped with triphenylmethyl radical molecules. ONPs exhibit a uniform size distribution, spherical morphology and high colloidal stability. The emission spectrum of low-doped ONP suspensions and low-doped films is very similar to the emission spectrum of TTM in solution, while the luminescence lifetime and the luminescence quantum yield (LQY) are highly increased. Increasing the radical doping leads to a progressive decrease of the LQY and the appearance of a new broad excimeric band at longer wavelengths, both for ONPs and films. Thus, not only the luminescence properties were improved, but also the formation of excimers from stable and persistent supramolecular radical-pairs was observed for the first time. The good stability and luminescence properties with emission in the red-NIR region (650-800 nm), together with the open-shell nature of the emitter, make these free-radical excimer-forming materials promising candidates for optoelectronic and bioimaging applications.

Fluorescent magnetic hybrid nanoprobe for multimodal bioimaging

PubMed Central

Bright, Vanessa

2011-01-01

A fluorescent magnetic hybrid imaging nanoprobe (HINP) was fabricated by conjugation of superparamagnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticles and visible light-emitting (~600 nm) fluorescent CdTe/CdS quantum dots (QDs). The assembly strategy used the covalent linking of the oxidized dextran shell of magnetic particles to the glutathione ligands of QDs. Synthesized HINP formed stable water-soluble colloidal dispersions. The structure and properties of the particles were characterized by transmission electron and atomic force microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray analysis and inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering analysis, optical absorption and photoluminescence spectroscopy, and fluorescent imaging. The luminescence imaging region of the nanoprobe was extended to the near-infrared (NIR) (~800 nm) by conjugation of superparamagnetic nanoparticles with synthesized CdHgTe/CdS QDs. Cadmium, mercury based QDs in HINP can be easily replaced by novel water soluble glutathione stabilized AgInS2/ZnS QDs to present a new class of cadmium-free multimodal imaging agents. Observed NIR photoluminescence of fluorescent magnetic nanocomposites supports their use for bioimaging. The developed HINP provides dual-imaging channels for simultaneous optical and magnetic resonance imaging. PMID:21597146

Using Q-Chem on the Peregrine System | High-Performance Computing | NREL

Science.gov Websites

initio quantum chemistry package with special strengths in excited state methods, non-adiabatic coupling , solvation models, explicitly correlated wavefunction methods, and cutting-edge DFT. Running Q-Chem on

Magnetic bead-quantum dot assay for detection of a biomarker for traumatic brain injury

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Chloe; Searson, Peter C.

2015-10-01

Current diagnostic methods for traumatic brain injury (TBI), which accounts for 15% of all emergency room visits, are limited to neuroimaging modalities. The challenges of accurate diagnosis and monitoring of TBI have created the need for a simple and sensitive blood test to detect brain-specific biomarkers. Here we report on an assay for detection of S100B, a putative biomarker for TBI, using antibody-conjugated magnetic beads for capture of the protein, and antibody-conjugated quantum dots for optical detection. From Western Blot, we show efficient antigen capture and concentration by the magnetic beads. Using magnetic bead capture and quantum dot detection in serum samples, we show a wide detection range and detection limit below the clinical cut-off level.Current diagnostic methods for traumatic brain injury (TBI), which accounts for 15% of all emergency room visits, are limited to neuroimaging modalities. The challenges of accurate diagnosis and monitoring of TBI have created the need for a simple and sensitive blood test to detect brain-specific biomarkers. Here we report on an assay for detection of S100B, a putative biomarker for TBI, using antibody-conjugated magnetic beads for capture of the protein, and antibody-conjugated quantum dots for optical detection. From Western Blot, we show efficient antigen capture and concentration by the magnetic beads. Using magnetic bead capture and quantum dot detection in serum samples, we show a wide detection range and detection limit below the clinical cut-off level. Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available. See DOI: 10.1039/c5nr05608j

Anesthesia for arthroscopic shoulder surgery in the beach chair position: monitoring of cerebral oxygenation using combined bispectral index and near-infrared spectroscopy.

PubMed

Kawano, Hiroaki; Matsumoto, Tomomi

2014-10-01

Recent research has shown that cerebrovascular complications following shoulder surgery performed in the beach chair position under general anesthesia arise secondary to cerebral ischemia. Appropriate management of cerebral oxygenation is thus one of the primary goals of anesthetic management during such procedures. The present report describes the case of a 65-year-old male patient, in which both bispectral index (BIS) and near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) were used to monitor cerebral oxygenation. During the positioning, we observed an increased suppression ratio (SR) while BIS and regional cerebral oxygen saturation (rSO2) were at adequate level. In view of the difference in blood pressure between the heart and the base of the brain, blood pressure was maintained to ensure adequate cerebral perfusion. Although intraoperative rSO2 was at or around the cut-off point (a 12% relative decrease from baseline), no marked decrease in BIS or further increase in the SR was observed. Monitoring of cerebral perfusion using combined BIS and NIRS optimized anesthetic management during the performance of arthroscopic shoulder surgery in the beach chair position.

Quantum approximate optimization algorithm for MaxCut: A fermionic view

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Zhihui; Hadfield, Stuart; Jiang, Zhang; Rieffel, Eleanor G.

2018-02-01

Farhi et al. recently proposed a class of quantum algorithms, the quantum approximate optimization algorithm (QAOA), for approximately solving combinatorial optimization problems (E. Farhi et al., arXiv:1411.4028; arXiv:1412.6062; arXiv:1602.07674). A level-p QAOA circuit consists of p steps; in each step a classical Hamiltonian, derived from the cost function, is applied followed by a mixing Hamiltonian. The 2 p times for which these two Hamiltonians are applied are the parameters of the algorithm, which are to be optimized classically for the best performance. As p increases, parameter optimization becomes inefficient due to the curse of dimensionality. The success of the QAOA approach will depend, in part, on finding effective parameter-setting strategies. Here we analytically and numerically study parameter setting for the QAOA applied to MaxCut. For the level-1 QAOA, we derive an analytical expression for a general graph. In principle, expressions for higher p could be derived, but the number of terms quickly becomes prohibitive. For a special case of MaxCut, the "ring of disagrees," or the one-dimensional antiferromagnetic ring, we provide an analysis for an arbitrarily high level. Using a fermionic representation, the evolution of the system under the QAOA translates into quantum control of an ensemble of independent spins. This treatment enables us to obtain analytical expressions for the performance of the QAOA for any p . It also greatly simplifies the numerical search for the optimal values of the parameters. By exploring symmetries, we identify a lower-dimensional submanifold of interest; the search effort can be accordingly reduced. This analysis also explains an observed symmetry in the optimal parameter values. Further, we numerically investigate the parameter landscape and show that it is a simple one in the sense of having no local optima.

Cytochrome cd1-containing nitrite reductase encoding gene nirS as a new functional biomarker for detection of anaerobic ammonium oxidizing (Anammox) bacteria.

PubMed

Li, Meng; Ford, Tim; Li, Xiaoyan; Gu, Ji-Dong

2011-04-15

A newly designed primer set (AnnirS), together with a previously published primer set (ScnirS), was used to detect anammox bacterial nirS genes from sediments collected from three marine environments. Phylogenetic analysis demonstrated that all retrieved sequences were clearly different from typical denitrifiers' nirS, but do group together with the known anammox bacterial nirS. Sequences targeted by ScnirS are closely related to Scalindua nirS genes recovered from the Peruvian oxygen minimum zone (OMZ), whereas sequences targeted by AnnirS are more closely affiliated with the nirS of Candidatus 'Kuenenia stuttgartiensis' and even form a new phylogenetic nirS clade, which might be related to other genera of the anammox bacteria. Analysis demonstrated that retrieved sequences had higher sequence identities (>60%) with known anammox bacterial nirS genes than with denitrifiers' nirS, on both nucleotide and amino acid levels. Compared to the 16S rRNA and hydrazine oxidoreductase (hzo) genes, the anammox bacterial nirS not only showed consistent phylogenetic relationships but also demonstrated more reliable quantification of anammox bacteria because of the single copy of the nirS gene in the anammox bacterial genome and the specificity of PCR primers for different genera of anammox bacteria, thus providing a suitable functional biomarker for investigation of anammox bacteria.

Optical bandgap of semiconductor nanostructures: Methods for experimental data analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Raciti, R.; Bahariqushchi, R.; Summonte, C.; Aydinli, A.; Terrasi, A.; Mirabella, S.

2017-06-01

Determination of the optical bandgap (Eg) in semiconductor nanostructures is a key issue in understanding the extent of quantum confinement effects (QCE) on electronic properties and it usually involves some analytical approximation in experimental data reduction and modeling of the light absorption processes. Here, we compare some of the analytical procedures frequently used to evaluate the optical bandgap from reflectance (R) and transmittance (T) spectra. Ge quantum wells and quantum dots embedded in SiO2 were produced by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition, and light absorption was characterized by UV-Vis/NIR spectrophotometry. R&T elaboration to extract the absorption spectra was conducted by two approximated methods (single or double pass approximation, single pass analysis, and double pass analysis, respectively) followed by Eg evaluation through linear fit of Tauc or Cody plots. Direct fitting of R&T spectra through a Tauc-Lorentz oscillator model is used as comparison. Methods and data are discussed also in terms of the light absorption process in the presence of QCE. The reported data show that, despite the approximation, the DPA approach joined with Tauc plot gives reliable results, with clear advantages in terms of computational efforts and understanding of QCE.

Perturbative Quantum Gauge Theories on Manifolds with Boundary

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cattaneo, Alberto S.; Mnev, Pavel; Reshetikhin, Nicolai

2018-01-01

This paper introduces a general perturbative quantization scheme for gauge theories on manifolds with boundary, compatible with cutting and gluing, in the cohomological symplectic (BV-BFV) formalism. Explicit examples, like abelian BF theory and its perturbations, including nontopological ones, are presented.

Controlling the excited-state dynamics of low band gap, near-infrared absorbers via proquinoidal unit electronic structural modulation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bai, Yusong; Rawson, Jeff; Roget, Sean A.

While the influence of proquinoidal character upon the linear absorption spectrum of low optical bandgap π-conjugated polymers and molecules is well understood, its impact upon excited-state relaxation pathways and dynamics remains obscure. We report the syntheses, electronic structural properties, and excited-state dynamics of a series of model highly conjugated near-infrared (NIR)-absorbing chromophores based on a (porphinato)metal(II)-proquinoidal spacer-(porphinato)metal(II) (PM-Sp-PM) structural motif. A combination of excited-state dynamical studies and time-dependent density functional theory calculations: (i) points to the cardinal role that excited-state configuration interaction (CI) plays in determining the magnitudes of S 1 → S 0 radiative (k r), S 1 → T 1 intersystem crossing (k ISC), and S 1 → S 0 internal conversion (k IC) rate constants in these PM-Sp-PM chromophores, and (ii) suggests that a primary determinant of CI magnitude derives from the energetic alignment of the PM and Sp fragment LUMOs (ΔE L). These insights not only enable steering of excited-state relaxation dynamics of high oscillator strength NIR absorbers to realize either substantial fluorescence or long-lived triplets (τmore » $$_ {T_1}$$ > μs) generated at unit quantum yield (Φ ISC = 100%), but also crafting of those having counter-intuitive properties: for example, while (porphinato)platinum compounds are well known to generate non-emissive triplet states (Φ ISC = 100%) upon optical excitation at ambient temperature, diminishing the extent of excited-state CI in these systems realizes long-wavelength absorbing heavy-metal fluorophores. In conclusion, this work highlights approaches to: (i) modulate low-lying singlet excited-state lifetime over the picosecond-to-nanosecond time domain, (ii) achieve NIR fluorescence with quantum yields up to 25%, (iii) tune the magnitude of S 1–T 1 ISC rate constant from 10 9 to 10 12 s -1 and (iv) realize T 1-state lifetimes that range from ~0.1 to several μs, for these model PM-Sp-PM chromophores, and renders new insights to evolve bespoke photophysical properties for low optical bandgap π-conjugated polymers and molecules based on proquinoidal conjugation motifs.« less

Controlling the excited-state dynamics of low band gap, near-infrared absorbers via proquinoidal unit electronic structural modulation

DOE PAGES

Bai, Yusong; Rawson, Jeff; Roget, Sean A.; ...

2017-06-07

While the influence of proquinoidal character upon the linear absorption spectrum of low optical bandgap π-conjugated polymers and molecules is well understood, its impact upon excited-state relaxation pathways and dynamics remains obscure. We report the syntheses, electronic structural properties, and excited-state dynamics of a series of model highly conjugated near-infrared (NIR)-absorbing chromophores based on a (porphinato)metal(II)-proquinoidal spacer-(porphinato)metal(II) (PM-Sp-PM) structural motif. A combination of excited-state dynamical studies and time-dependent density functional theory calculations: (i) points to the cardinal role that excited-state configuration interaction (CI) plays in determining the magnitudes of S 1 → S 0 radiative (k r), S 1 → T 1 intersystem crossing (k ISC), and S 1 → S 0 internal conversion (k IC) rate constants in these PM-Sp-PM chromophores, and (ii) suggests that a primary determinant of CI magnitude derives from the energetic alignment of the PM and Sp fragment LUMOs (ΔE L). These insights not only enable steering of excited-state relaxation dynamics of high oscillator strength NIR absorbers to realize either substantial fluorescence or long-lived triplets (τmore » $$_ {T_1}$$ > μs) generated at unit quantum yield (Φ ISC = 100%), but also crafting of those having counter-intuitive properties: for example, while (porphinato)platinum compounds are well known to generate non-emissive triplet states (Φ ISC = 100%) upon optical excitation at ambient temperature, diminishing the extent of excited-state CI in these systems realizes long-wavelength absorbing heavy-metal fluorophores. In conclusion, this work highlights approaches to: (i) modulate low-lying singlet excited-state lifetime over the picosecond-to-nanosecond time domain, (ii) achieve NIR fluorescence with quantum yields up to 25%, (iii) tune the magnitude of S 1–T 1 ISC rate constant from 10 9 to 10 12 s -1 and (iv) realize T 1-state lifetimes that range from ~0.1 to several μs, for these model PM-Sp-PM chromophores, and renders new insights to evolve bespoke photophysical properties for low optical bandgap π-conjugated polymers and molecules based on proquinoidal conjugation motifs.« less

A DMFT+CTQMC Investigation of Strange Metallicity in Local Quantum Critical Scenario

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Acharya, Swagata; Laad, M. S.; Taraphder, A.

2016-10-01

“Strange” metallicity is now a pseudonym for a novel metallic state exhibiting anomalous infra-red (branch-cut) continuum features in one- and two-particle responses. Here, we employ dynamical mean-field theory (DMFT) using low-temperature continuous-time- quantum Monte-Carlo (CTQMC) solver for an extended periodic Anderson model (EPAM) model to investigate unusual magnetic fluctuations in the strange metal. We show how extinction of Landau quasiparticles in the orbital selective Mott phase (OSMP) leads to (i) qualitative explication of strange transport features and (ii) anomalous quantum critical magnetic fluctuations due to critical liquid-like features in dynamical spin fluctuations, in excellent accord with data in some f-electron systems.

Wormholes, baby universes, and causality

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Visser, Matt

1990-02-01

In this paper wormholes defined on a Minkowski signature manifold are considered, both at the classical and quantum levels. It is argued that causality in quantum gravity may best be imposed by restricting the functional integral to include only causal Lorentzian spacetimes. Subject to this assumption, one can put very tight constraints on the quantum behavior of wormholes, their cousins the baby universes, and topology-changing processes in general. Even though topology-changing processes are tightly constrained, this still allows very interesting geometrical (rather than topological) effects. In particular, the laboratory construction of baby universes is not prohibited provided that the ``umbilical cord'' is never cut. Methods for relaxing these causality constraints are also discussed.

Thermodynamics of quantum information scrambling

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Campisi, Michele; Goold, John

2017-06-01

Scrambling of quantum information can conveniently be quantified by so-called out-of-time-order correlators (OTOCs), i.e., correlators of the type <[Wτ,V ] †[Wτ,V ] > , whose measurements present a formidable experimental challenge. Here we report on a method for the measurement of OTOCs based on the so-called two-point measurement scheme developed in the field of nonequilibrium quantum thermodynamics. The scheme is of broader applicability than methods employed in current experiments and provides a clear-cut interpretation of quantum information scrambling in terms of nonequilibrium fluctuations of thermodynamic quantities, such as work and heat. Furthermore, we provide a numerical example on a spin chain which highlights the utility of our thermodynamic approach when understanding the differences between integrable and ergodic behaviors. We also discuss how the method can be used to extend the reach of current experiments.

Fluorine-free preparation of titanium carbide MXene quantum dots with high near-infrared photothermal performances for cancer therapy.

PubMed

Yu, Xinghua; Cai, Xingke; Cui, Haodong; Lee, Seung-Wuk; Yu, Xue-Feng; Liu, Bilu

2017-11-23

Titanium carbide MXene quantum dots (QDs) were synthesized using an effective fluorine-free method as a biocompatible and highly efficient nanoagent for photothermal therapy (PTT) applications. In contrast to the traditional, hazardous and time-consuming process of HF pretreatment, our fluorine-free method is safe and simple. More importantly, abundant Al oxoanions were found to be modified on the MXene QD surface by the fluorine-free method, which endowed the QDs with strong and broad absorption in the NIR region. As a result, the as-prepared MXene QDs exhibited an extinction coefficient as large as 52.8 Lg -1 cm -1 at 808 nm and a photothermal conversion efficiency as high as 52.2%. Both the values are among the best reported so far. The as-prepared MXene QDs achieved simultaneous photoacoustic (PA) imaging and the remarkable PTT effect of tumors. Moreover, MXene QDs showed great biocompatibility without causing noticeable toxicity in vitro and in vivo, indicating their high potential for clinical applications.

Why Do Silver Trimers Intercalated in DNA Exhibit Unique Nonlinear Properties That Are Promising for Applications?

PubMed

Bonačić-Koutecký, Vlasta; Perić, Martina; Sanader, Željka

2018-05-17

Our investigation of one-photon absorption (OPA) and nonlinear optical (NLO) properties such as two-photon absorption (TPA) of silver trimer intercalated in DNA based on TDDFT approach allowed us to propose a mechanism responsible for large TPA cross sections of such NLO-phores. We present a concept that illustrates the key role of quantum cluster as well as of nucleotide bases from the immediate neighborhood. For this purpose, different surroundings consisting of guanine-cytosine and adenine-thymine such as (GCGC) and (ATAT) have been investigated that are exhibiting substantially different values of TPA cross sections. This has been confirmed by extending the immediate surroundings as well as using the two-layer quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) approach. We focus on the cationic closed-shell system and illustrate that the neutral open-shell system shifts OPA spectra into the NIR regime, which is suitable for applications. Thus, in this contribution, we propose novel NLO-phores inducing large TPA cross sections, opening the route for multiphoton imaging.

Synthesis of a Neutral Mixed-Valence Diferrocenyl Carborane for Molecular Quantum-Dot Cellular Automata Applications.

PubMed

Christie, John A; Forrest, Ryan P; Corcelli, Steven A; Wasio, Natalie A; Quardokus, Rebecca C; Brown, Ryan; Kandel, S Alex; Lu, Yuhui; Lent, Craig S; Henderson, Kenneth W

2015-12-14

The preparation of 7-Fc(+) -8-Fc-7,8-nido-[C2 B9 H10 ](-) (Fc(+) FcC2 B9 (-) ) demonstrates the successful incorporation of a carborane cage as an internal counteranion bridging between ferrocene and ferrocenium units. This neutral mixed-valence Fe(II) /Fe(III) complex overcomes the proximal electronic bias imposed by external counterions, a practical limitation in the use of molecular switches. A combination of UV/Vis-NIR spectroscopic and TD-DFT computational studies indicate that electron transfer within Fc(+) FcC2 B9 (-) is achieved through a bridge-mediated mechanism. This electronic framework therefore provides the possibility of an all-neutral null state, a key requirement for the implementation of quantum-dot cellular automata (QCA) molecular computing. The adhesion, ordering, and characterization of Fc(+) FcC2 B9 (-) on Au(111) has been observed by scanning tunneling microscopy. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

One-step instant synthesis of protein-conjugated quantum dots at room temperature.

PubMed

He, Xuewen; Gao, Li; Ma, Nan

2013-10-02

We present a new general facile strategy for the preparation of protein-functionalized QDs in a single step at ambient conditions. We demonstrated that highly luminescent red to near-infrared (NIR) protein-functionalized QDs could be synthesized at room temperature in one second through a one-pot reaction that proceeds in aqueous solution. Herein protein-functionalized QDs were successfully constructed for a variety of proteins with a wide range of molecular weights and isoelectric points. The as-prepared protein-conjugated QDs exhibited high quantum yield, high photostabiliy and colloidal stability, and high functionalization efficiency. Importantly, the proteins attached to the QDs maintain their biological activities and are capable of catalyzing reactions and biotargeting. In particular, the as-prepared transferrin-QDs could be used to label cancer cells with high specificity. Moreover, we demonstrated that this synthetic strategy could be extended to prepare QDs functionalized with folic acids and peptides, which were also successfully applied to cancer cell imaging.

Quantum-Dot-Based Theranostic Micelles Conjugated with an Anti-EGFR Nanobody for Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Therapy.

PubMed

Wang, Yuyuan; Wang, Yidan; Chen, Guojun; Li, Yitong; Xu, Wei; Gong, Shaoqin

2017-09-13

A quantum-dot (QD)-based micelle conjugated with an anti-epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) nanobody (Nb) and loaded with an anticancer drug, aminoflavone (AF), has been engineered for EGFR-overexpressing cancer theranostics. The near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence of the indium phosphate core/zinc sulfide shell QDs (InP/ZnS QDs) allowed for in vivo nanoparticle biodistribution studies. The anti-EGFR nanobody 7D12 conjugation improved the cellular uptake and cytotoxicity of the QD-based micelles in EGFR-overexpressing MDA-MB-468 triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) cells. In comparison with the AF-encapsulated nontargeted (i.e., without Nb conjugation) micelles, the AF-encapsulated Nb-conjugated (i.e., targeted) micelles accumulated in tumors at higher concentrations, leading to more effective tumor regression in an orthotopic triple-negative breast cancer xenograft mouse model. Furthermore, there was no systemic toxicity observed with the treatments. Thus, this QD-based Nb-conjugated micelle may serve as an effective theranostic nanoplatform for EGFR-overexpressing cancers such as TNBCs.

Design and simulation of a semiconductor chip-based visible - NIR spectrometer for Earth observation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Coote, J.; Woolliams, E.; Fox, N.; Goodyer, I. D.; Sweeney, S. J.

2014-03-01

We present the development of a novel semiconductor chip-based spectrometer for calibration of Earth observation instruments. The chip follows the Solo spectroscopy approach utilising an array of microdisk resonators evanescently coupled to a central waveguide. Each resonator is tuned to select out a specific wavelength from the incoming spectrum, and forms a p-i-n junction in which current is generated when light of the correct wavelength is present. In this paper we discuss important design aspects including the choice of semiconductor material, design of semiconductor quantum well structures for optical absorption, and design and optimisation of the waveguide and resonators.

Synthesis, growth, structural and optical studies of a novel organic Piperazine (bis) p-toluenesulfonate single crystal.

PubMed

Rekha, P; Peramaiyan, G; NizamMohideen, M; Kumar, R Mohan; Kanagadurai, R

2015-03-15

A novel organic single crystal of Piperazinium (bis) p-toluenesulfonate (PPTS) was grown by a slow evaporation solution growth technique. The structure of the grown crystal was determined using single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. The PPTS crystal belongs to the triclinic crystal system with space group of P1¯. The presence of functional groups was confirmed by FTIR spectral analysis. The optical transmittance range and cut-off wavelength were identified by UV-vis-NIR spectral studies. The luminescent properties of PPTS crystal were investigated. The thermal behavior of PPTS crystal was studied by TG-DT analyses. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

All-near-infrared multiphoton microscopy interrogates intact tissues at deeper imaging depths than conventional single- and two-photon near-infrared excitation microscopes

PubMed Central

Sarder, Pinaki; Yazdanfar, Siavash; Akers, Walter J.; Tang, Rui; Sudlow, Gail P.; Egbulefu, Christopher

2013-01-01

Abstract. The era of molecular medicine has ushered in the development of microscopic methods that can report molecular processes in thick tissues with high spatial resolution. A commonality in deep-tissue microscopy is the use of near-infrared (NIR) lasers with single- or multiphoton excitations. However, the relationship between different NIR excitation microscopic techniques and the imaging depths in tissue has not been established. We compared such depth limits for three NIR excitation techniques: NIR single-photon confocal microscopy (NIR SPCM), NIR multiphoton excitation with visible detection (NIR/VIS MPM), and all-NIR multiphoton excitation with NIR detection (NIR/NIR MPM). Homologous cyanine dyes provided the fluorescence. Intact kidneys were harvested after administration of kidney-clearing cyanine dyes in mice. NIR SPCM and NIR/VIS MPM achieved similar maximum imaging depth of ∼100  μm. The NIR/NIR MPM enabled greater than fivefold imaging depth (>500  μm) using the harvested kidneys. Although the NIR/NIR MPM used 1550-nm excitation where water absorption is relatively high, cell viability and histology studies demonstrate that the laser did not induce photothermal damage at the low laser powers used for the kidney imaging. This study provides guidance on the imaging depth capabilities of NIR excitation-based microscopic techniques and reveals the potential to multiplex information using these platforms. PMID:24150231

Near Infrared Quantum Cutting Luminescence of Er3+/Tm3+ Ion Pairs in a Telluride Glass.

PubMed

Chen, Xiaobo; Li, Song; Hu, Lili; Wang, Kezhi; Zhao, Guoying; He, Lizhu; Liu, Jinying; Yu, Chunlei; Tao, Jingfu; Lin, Wei; Yang, Guojian; Salamo, Gregory J

2017-05-16

The multiphoton near-infrared, quantum cutting luminescence in Er 3+ /Tm 3+ co-doped telluride glass was studied. We found that the near-infrared 1800-nm luminescence intensity of (A) Er 3+ (8%)Tm 3+ (0.5%):telluride glass was approximately 4.4 to 19.5 times larger than that of (B) Tm 3+ (0.5%):telluride glass, and approximately 5.0 times larger than that of (C) Er 3+ (0.5%):telluride glass. Additionally, the infrared excitation spectra of the 1800 nm luminescence, as well as the visible excitation spectra of the 522 nm and 652 nm luminescence, of (A) Er 3+ (8%)Tm 3+ (0.5%):telluride glass are very similar to those of Er 3+ ions in (C) Er 3+ (0.5%):telluride glass, with respect to the shapes of their excitation spectral waveforms and peak wavelengths. Moreover, we found that there is a strong spectral overlap and energy transfer between the infrared luminescence of Er 3+ donor ions and the infrared absorption of Tm 3+ acceptor ions. The efficiency of this energy transfer { 4 I 13/2 (Er 3+ ) →  4 I 15/2 (Er 3+ ), 3 H 6 (Tm 3+ ) →  3 F 4 (Tm 3+ )} between the Er 3+ and Tm 3+ ions is approximately 69.8%. Therefore, we can conclude that the observed behaviour is an interesting multiphoton, near-infrared, quantum cutting luminescence phenomenon that occurs in novel Er 3+ -Tm 3+ ion pairs. These findings are significant for the development of next-generation environmentally friendly germanium solar cells, and near-to-mid infrared (1.8-2.0 μm) lasers pumped by GaN light emitting diodes.

Hemodynamic signals in fNIRS.

PubMed

Hoshi, Y

Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) was originally designed for clinical monitoring of tissue oxygenation, and it has also been developed into a useful tool in neuroimaging studies, with the so-called functional NIRS (fNIRS). With NIRS, cerebral activation is detected by measuring the cerebral hemoglobin (Hb), where however, the precise correlation between NIRS signal and neural activity remains to be fully understood. This can in part be attributed to the situation that NIRS signals are inherently subject to contamination by signals arising from extracerebral tissue. In recent years, several approaches have been investigated to distinguish between NIRS signals originating in cerebral tissue and signals originating in extracerebral tissue. Selective measurements of cerebral Hb will enable a further evolution of fNIRS. This chapter is divided into six sections: first a summary of the basic theory of NIRS, NIRS signals arising in the activated areas, correlations between NIRS signals and fMRI signals, correlations between NIRS signals and neural activities, and the influence of a variety of extracerebral tissue on NIRS signals and approaches to this issue are reviewed. Finally, future prospects of fNIRS are described. © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

High quantum-yield phosphors via quantum splitting and upconversion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jeong, Joayoung

The Gd3+ ion has been used to induce quantum splitting in luminescent materials by using cross-relaxation energy transfer (CRET). In Nd:LiGdF4, quantum splitting results from a two-step CRET between Gd3+ and Nd3+, first involving a transition 6G→6I on Gd3+ and an excitation within the 4f3 configuration of Nd3+ followed by a second CRET that brings Gd3+ to 6P7/2. The excited Nd3+ ion rapidly relaxes nonradiatively to the emitting 4F3/2. The excited Gd3+ ion then transfers its energy back to Nd3+, which gives rise to the second photon. The result is a quantum yield of 1.05 +/- 0.35 with emission in the NIR following excitation at 175 nm. GdF3:Pr3+, Eu 3+ also exhibits quantum splitting, but only at very low concentration of Pr3+ (0.3%) and Eu3+ (0.2%), resulting in a quantum yield of approximately 20% under 160-nm excitation. Host intrinsic emission via a self-trapped exciton (STE) was also examined as a means to sensitize Gd3+ emission. The material ScPO4:Gd 3+ exhibits a high absolute quantum yield of 0.9 +/- 0.2 under 170-nm excitation, demonstrating a potentially new and efficient pathway for exciting quantum splitting phosphors. Single crystals of the material GdZrF7 were grown, and its structure was established via single-crystal X-ray diffraction methods. Doped samples of GdZrF7:Yb3+, Er3+ exhibit bright up-conversion luminescence with light output that is up to twice that of a commercial material based on the host Gd2O2S. When doped with Eu3+, the fluoride also emits a nearly white color under vacuum ultraviolet excitation with an absolute quantum yield near 0.9. The new compound Gd4.67(SiO4)3S was synthesized and studied. The structure was established via single-crystal X-ray methods, and the luminescence of Tb3+ samples was investigated.

Electronic Spectra of Cs2NaYb(NO2)6: Is There Quantum Cutting?

PubMed

Luo, Yuxia; Liu, Zhenyu; Hau, Sam Chun-Kit; Yeung, Yau Yuen; Wong, Ka-Leung; Shiu, Kwok Keung; Chen, Xueyuan; Zhu, Haomiao; Bao, Guochen; Tanner, Peter A

2018-05-03

The crystal structure and electronic spectra of the T h symmetry hexanitritoytterbate(III) anion have been studied in Cs 2 NaY 0.96 Yb 0.04 (NO 2 ) 6 , which crystallizes in the cubic space group Fm3̅. The emission from Yb 3+ can be excited via the NO 2 - antenna. The latter electronic transition is situated at more than twice the energy of the former, but at room temperature, one photon absorbed at 470 nm in the triplet state produces no more than one photon emitted. Some degree of quantum cutting is observed at 298 K under 420 nm excitation into the singlet state and at 25 K using excitation into either state. The quantum efficiency is ∼10% at 25 K. The energy level scheme of Yb 3+ has been deduced from excitation and emission spectra and calculated by crystal field theory. New improved energy level calculations are also reported for the Cs 2 NaLn(NO 2 ) 6 (Ln = Pr, Eu, Tb) series using the f- Spectra package. The neat crystal Cs 2 NaYb(NO 2 ) 6 has also been studied, but results were unsatisfactory due to sample decomposition, and this chemical instability makes it unsuitable for applications.

Extra-luminal detection of assumed colonic tumor site by near-infrared laparoscopy.

PubMed

Zako, Tamotsu; Ito, Masaaki; Hyodo, Hiroshi; Yoshimoto, Miya; Watanabe, Masayuki; Takemura, Hiroshi; Kishimoto, Hidehiro; Kaneko, Kazuhiro; Soga, Kohei; Maeda, Mizuo

2016-09-01

Localization of colorectal tumors during laparoscopic surgery is generally performed by tattooing into the submucosal layer of the colon. However, faint and diffuse tattoos may lead to difficulties in recognizing cancer sites, resulting in inappropriate resection of the colon. We previously demonstrated that yttrium oxide nanoparticles doped with the rare earth ions (ytterbium and erbium) (YNP) showed strong near-infrared (NIR) emission under NIR excitation (1550 nm emission with 980 nm excitation). NIR light can penetrate deep tissues. In this study, we developed an NIR laparoscopy imaging system and demonstrated its use for accurate resection of the colon in swine. The NIR laparoscopy system consisted of an NIR laparoscope, NIR excitation laser diode, and an NIR camera. Endo-clips coated with YNP (NIR clip), silicon rubber including YNP (NIR silicon mass), and YNP solution (NIR ink) were prepared as test NIR markers. We used a swine model to detect an assumed colon cancer site using NIR laparoscopy, followed by laparoscopic resection. The NIR markers were fixed at an assumed cancer site within the colon by endoscopy. An NIR laparoscope was then introduced into the abdominal cavity through a laparoscopy port. NIR emission from the markers in the swine colon was successfully recognized using the NIR laparoscopy imaging system. The position of the markers in the colon could be identified. Accurate resection of the colon was performed successfully by laparoscopic surgery under NIR fluorescence guidance. The presence of the NIR markers within the extirpated colon was confirmed, indicating resection of the appropriate site. NIR laparoscopic surgery is useful for colorectal cancer site recognition and accurate resection using laparoscopic surgery.

Photoassisted photoluminescence fine-tuning of gold nanodots through free radical-mediated ligand-assembly

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tseng, Yu-Ting; Cherng, Rochelle; Harroun, Scott G.; Yuan, Zhiqin; Lin, Tai-Yuan; Wu, Chien-Wei; Chang, Huan-Tsung; Huang, Chih-Ching

2016-05-01

In this study, we have developed a simple photoassisted ligand assembly to fine-tune the photoluminescence (PL) of (11-mercaptoundecyl)-N,N,N-trimethylammonium bromide-capped gold nanodots (11-MUTAB-Au NDs). The 11-MUTAB-Au NDs (size: ca. 1.8 nm), obtained from the reaction of gold nanoparticles (ca. 3 nm) and 11-MUTAB, exhibited weak, near-infrared (NIR) PL at 700 nm with a quantum yield (QY) of 0.37% upon excitation at 365 nm. The PL QY of the Au NDs increased to 11.43% after reaction with 11-mercaptoundecanoic acid (11-MUA) for 30 min under ultraviolet (UV) light, which was accompanied by a PL wavelength shift to the green region (~520 nm). UV-light irradiation accelerates 11-MUA assembly on the 11-MUTABAu NDs (11-MUA/11-MUTAB-Au NDs) through a radical-mediated reaction. Furthermore, the PL wavelength of the 11-MUA/11-MUTAB-Au NDs can be switched to 640 nm via cysteamine under UV-light irradiation. We propose that the PL of the Au NDs with NIR and visible emissions was originally from the surface thiol-Au complexes and the Au core, respectively. These dramatically different optical properties of the Au NDs were due to variation in the surface ligands, as well as the densities and surface oxidant states of the surface Au atoms/ions. These effects can be controlled by assembling surface thiol ligands and accelerated by UV irradiation.In this study, we have developed a simple photoassisted ligand assembly to fine-tune the photoluminescence (PL) of (11-mercaptoundecyl)-N,N,N-trimethylammonium bromide-capped gold nanodots (11-MUTAB-Au NDs). The 11-MUTAB-Au NDs (size: ca. 1.8 nm), obtained from the reaction of gold nanoparticles (ca. 3 nm) and 11-MUTAB, exhibited weak, near-infrared (NIR) PL at 700 nm with a quantum yield (QY) of 0.37% upon excitation at 365 nm. The PL QY of the Au NDs increased to 11.43% after reaction with 11-mercaptoundecanoic acid (11-MUA) for 30 min under ultraviolet (UV) light, which was accompanied by a PL wavelength shift to the green region (~520 nm). UV-light irradiation accelerates 11-MUA assembly on the 11-MUTABAu NDs (11-MUA/11-MUTAB-Au NDs) through a radical-mediated reaction. Furthermore, the PL wavelength of the 11-MUA/11-MUTAB-Au NDs can be switched to 640 nm via cysteamine under UV-light irradiation. We propose that the PL of the Au NDs with NIR and visible emissions was originally from the surface thiol-Au complexes and the Au core, respectively. These dramatically different optical properties of the Au NDs were due to variation in the surface ligands, as well as the densities and surface oxidant states of the surface Au atoms/ions. These effects can be controlled by assembling surface thiol ligands and accelerated by UV irradiation. Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available. See DOI: 10.1039/c6nr00795c

Nonadiabatic effect on the quantum heat flux control.

PubMed

Uchiyama, Chikako

2014-05-01

We provide a general formula of quantum transfer that includes the nonadiabatic effect under periodic environmental modulation by using full counting statistics in Hilbert-Schmidt space. Applying the formula to an anharmonic junction model that interacts with two bosonic environments within the Markovian approximation, we find that the quantum transfer is divided into the adiabatic (dynamical and geometrical phases) and nonadiabatic contributions. This extension shows the dependence of quantum transfer on the initial condition of the anharmonic junction just before the modulation, as well as the characteristic environmental parameters such as interaction strength and cut-off frequency of spectral density. We show that the nonadiabatic contribution represents the reminiscent effect of past modulation including the transition from the initial condition of the anharmonic junction to a steady state determined by the very beginning of the modulation. This enables us to tune the frequency range of modulation, whereby we can obtain the quantum flux corresponding to the geometrical phase by setting the initial condition of the anharmonic junction.

Classifying quantum entanglement through topological links

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Quinta, Gonçalo M.; André, Rui

2018-04-01

We propose an alternative classification scheme for quantum entanglement based on topological links. This is done by identifying a nonrigid ring to a particle, attributing the act of cutting and removing a ring to the operation of tracing out the particle, and associating linked rings to entangled particles. This analogy naturally leads us to a classification of multipartite quantum entanglement based on all possible distinct links for a given number of rings. To determine all different possibilities, we develop a formalism that associates any link to a polynomial, with each polynomial thereby defining a distinct equivalence class. To demonstrate the use of this classification scheme, we choose qubit quantum states as our example of physical system. A possible procedure to obtain qubit states from the polynomials is also introduced, providing an example state for each link class. We apply the formalism for the quantum systems of three and four qubits and demonstrate the potential of these tools in a context of qubit networks.

Testing the Quantum-Classical Boundary and Dimensionality of Quantum Systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shun, Poh Hou

Quantum theory introduces a cut between the observer and the observed system [1], but does not provide a definition of what is an observer [2]. Based on an informational def- inition of the observer, Grinbaum has recently [3] predicted an upper bound on bipartite correlations in the Clauser-Horne-Shimony-Holt (CHSH) Bell scenario equal to 2.82537, which is slightly smaller than the Tsirelson bound [4] of standard quantum theory, but is consistent with all the available experimental results [5--17]. Not being able to exceed Grin- baum's limit would support that quantum theory is only an effective description of a more fundamental theory and would have a deep impact in physics and quantum information processing. In this thesis, we present a test of the CHSH inequality on photon pairs in maximally entangled states of polarization in which a value 2.8276 +/- 0.00082 is observed, violating Grinbaum's bound by 2.72 standard deviations and providing the smallest distance with respect to Tsirelson's bound ever reported, namely, 0.0008 +/- 0.00082. (Abstract shortened by UMI.).

Combining Lactic Acid Spray with Near-Infrared Radiation Heating To Inactivate Salmonella enterica Serovar Enteritidis on Almond and Pine Nut Kernels

PubMed Central

Ha, Jae-Won

2015-01-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy of near-infrared radiation (NIR) heating combined with lactic acid (LA) sprays for inactivating Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis on almond and pine nut kernels and to elucidate the mechanisms of the lethal effect of the NIR-LA combined treatment. Also, the effect of the combination treatment on product quality was determined. Separately prepared S. Enteritidis phage type (PT) 30 and non-PT 30 S. Enteritidis cocktails were inoculated onto almond and pine nut kernels, respectively, followed by treatments with NIR or 2% LA spray alone, NIR with distilled water spray (NIR-DW), and NIR with 2% LA spray (NIR-LA). Although surface temperatures of nuts treated with NIR were higher than those subjected to NIR-DW or NIR-LA treatment, more S. Enteritidis survived after NIR treatment alone. The effectiveness of NIR-DW and NIR-LA was similar, but significantly more sublethally injured cells were recovered from NIR-DW-treated samples. We confirmed that the enhanced bactericidal effect of the NIR-LA combination may not be attributable to cell membrane damage per se. NIR heat treatment might allow S. Enteritidis cells to become permeable to applied LA solution. The NIR-LA treatment (5 min) did not significantly (P > 0.05) cause changes in the lipid peroxidation parameters, total phenolic contents, color values, moisture contents, and sensory attributes of nut kernels. Given the results of the present study, NIR-LA treatment may be a potential intervention for controlling food-borne pathogens on nut kernel products. PMID:25911473

Comparison of the Liaison® Calprotectin kit with a well established point of care test (Quantum Blue - Bühlmann-Alere®) in terms of analytical performances and ability to detect relapses amongst a Crohn population in follow-up.

PubMed

Delefortrie, Quentin; Schatt, Patricia; Grimmelprez, Alexandre; Gohy, Patrick; Deltour, Didier; Collard, Geneviève; Vankerkhoven, Patrick

2016-02-01

Although colonoscopy associated with histopathological sampling remains the gold standard in the diagnostic and follow-up of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), calprotectin is becoming an essential biomarker in gastroenterology. The aim of this work is to compare a newly developed kit (Liaison® Calprotectin - Diasorin®) and its two distinct extraction protocols (weighing and extraction device protocol) with a well established point of care test (Quantum Blue® - Bühlmann-Alere®) in terms of analytical performances and ability to detect relapses amongst a Crohn's population in follow-up. Stool specimens were collected over a six month period and were composed of control and Crohn's patients. Amongst the Crohn's population disease activity (active vs quiescent) was evaluated by gastroenterologists. A significant difference was found between all three procedures in terms of calprotectin measurements (weighing protocol=30.3μg/g (median); stool extraction device protocol=36.9μg/g (median); Quantum Blue® (median)=63; Friedman test, P value=0.05). However, a good correlation was found between both extraction methods coupled with the Liaison® analyzer and between the Quantum Blue® (weighing protocol/extraction device protocol Rs=0.844, P=0.01; Quantum Blue®/extraction device protocol Rs=0.708, P=0.01; Quantum Blue®/weighing protocol, Rs=0.808, P=0.01). Finally, optimal cut-offs (and associated negative predictive values - NPV) for detecting relapses were in accordance with above results (Quantum Blue® 183.5μg/g and NPV of 100%>extraction device protocol+Liaison® analyzer 124.5μg/g and NPV of 93.5%>weighing protocol+Liaison® analyzer 106.5μg/g and NPV of 95%). Although all three methods correlated well and had relatively good NPV in terms of detecting relapses amongst a Crohn's population in follow-up, the lack of any international standard is the origin of different optimal cut-offs between the three procedures. Copyright © 2015 The Canadian Society of Clinical Chemists. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Crystallization kinetics, optical and dielectric properties of Li2OṡCdOṡBi2O3ṡSiO2 glasses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rani, Saroj; Sanghi, Sujata; Ahlawat, Neetu; Agarwal, Ashish

2015-10-01

Crystallization kinetics, optical absorption and electrical behavior of lithium cadmium silicate glasses with different amount of bismuth oxide were investigated using non-isothermal crystallization approach, UV-VIS-NIR spectroscopy and impedance spectroscopy, respectively. These glasses were synthesized by normal melt quenching technique. Variation in physical properties, viz. density, molar volume with Bi2O3:SiO2 ratio were related to the structural changes occurring in the glasses. The glass transition temperature (Tg), crystalline peak temperature (Tp) and melting temperature (Tm) of these glasses were determined using differential scanning calorimeter at various heating rates. The dependence of Tg and Tp on heating rate has been used for the determination of the activation energy of glass transition and crystallization. Thermal stability parameters have revealed high stability of the glass prepared with 40 mol% of Bi2O3 content. The crystallization kinetics for the glasses was studied by using the Kissinger and modified Ozawa equations. Appearance of a sharp cut-off and a wide and reasonable transmission in VIS-NIR region makes these glasses suitable for IR transmission window. The cut-off wavelength, optical band gap and Urbach's energy have been analyzed and discussed in terms of changes in the glass structure. By analyzing the impedance spectra, the ac and dc conductivities, activation energy for dc conduction (Edc) and for relaxation (EM″) were calculated. The results obtained from dc conductivity confirm the network forming role of Cd2+ ion in the glasses. The scaling of the conductivity spectra has been used to interpret the temperature dependence of the relaxation dynamics. The observed conductivity spectra follows power law with exponent 's' which decreases with temperature and satisfies the correlated barrier hopping (CBH) model. The perfect overlying of normalized plots of electrical modulus on a single 'master curve' depicts temperature as well as composition independent dynamical process at several frequencies.

Parameter regimes for a single sequential quantum repeater

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rozpędek, F.; Goodenough, K.; Ribeiro, J.; Kalb, N.; Caprara Vivoli, V.; Reiserer, A.; Hanson, R.; Wehner, S.; Elkouss, D.

2018-07-01

Quantum key distribution allows for the generation of a secret key between distant parties connected by a quantum channel such as optical fibre or free space. Unfortunately, the rate of generation of a secret key by direct transmission is fundamentally limited by the distance. This limit can be overcome by the implementation of so-called quantum repeaters. Here, we assess the performance of a specific but very natural setup called a single sequential repeater for quantum key distribution. We offer a fine-grained assessment of the repeater by introducing a series of benchmarks. The benchmarks, which should be surpassed to claim a working repeater, are based on finite-energy considerations, thermal noise and the losses in the setup. In order to boost the performance of the studied repeaters we introduce two methods. The first one corresponds to the concept of a cut-off, which reduces the effect of decoherence during the storage of a quantum state by introducing a maximum storage time. Secondly, we supplement the standard classical post-processing with an advantage distillation procedure. Using these methods, we find realistic parameters for which it is possible to achieve rates greater than each of the benchmarks, guiding the way towards implementing quantum repeaters.

Polarized near-infrared autofluorescence imaging combined with near-infrared diffuse reflectance imaging for improving colonic cancer detection.

PubMed

Shao, Xiaozhuo; Zheng, Wei; Huang, Zhiwei

2010-11-08

We evaluate the diagnostic feasibility of the integrated polarized near-infrared (NIR) autofluorescence (AF) and NIR diffuse reflectance (DR) imaging technique developed for colonic cancer detection. A total of 48 paired colonic tissue specimens (normal vs. cancer) were measured using the integrated NIR DR (850-1100 nm) and NIR AF imaging at the 785 nm laser excitation. The results showed that NIR AF intensities of cancer tissues are significantly lower than those of normal tissues (p<0.001, paired 2-sided Student's t-test, n=48). NIR AF imaging under polarization conditions gives a higher diagnostic accuracy (of ~92-94%) compared to non-polarized NIR AF imaging or NIR DR imaging. Further, the ratio imaging of NIR DR to NIR AF with polarization provides the best diagnostic accuracy (of ~96%) among the NIR AF and NIR DR imaging techniques. This work suggests that the integrated NIR AF/DR imaging under polarization condition has the potential to improve the early diagnosis and detection of malignant lesions in the colon.

Shed a light of wireless technology on portable mobile design of NIRS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Yunlong; Li, Ting

2016-03-01

Mobile internet is growing rapidly driven by high-tech companies including the popular Apple and Google. The wireless mini-NIRS is believed to deserve a great spread future, while there is sparse report on wireless NIRS device and even for the reported wireless NIRS, its wireless design is scarcely presented. Here we focused on the wireless design of NIRS devices. The widely-used wireless communication standards and wireless communication typical solutions were employed into our NIRS design and then compared on communication efficiency, distance, error rate, low-cost, power consumption, and stabilities, based on the requirements of NIRS applications. The properly-performed wireless communication methods matched with the characteristics of NIRS are picked out. Finally, we realized one recommended wireless communication in our NIRS, developed a test platform on wireless NIRS and tested the full properties on wireless communication. This study elaborated the wireless communication methods specified for NIRS and suggested one implementation with one example fully illustrated, which support the future mobile design on NIRS devices.

Poster — Thur Eve — 18: Cherenkov Emission By High-Energy Radiation Therapy Beams: A Characterization Study

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zlateva, Y.; El Naqa, I.; Quitoriano, N.

2014-08-15

We investigate Cherenkov emission (CE) by radiotherapy beams via radiation dose-versus-CE correlation analyses, CE detection optimization by means of a spectral shift towards the near-infrared (NIR) window of biological tissue, and comparison of CE to on-board MV imaging. Dose-CE correlation was investigated via simulation and experiment. A Monte Carlo (MC) CE simulator was designed using Geant4. Experimental phantoms include: water; tissue-simulating phantom composed of water, Intralipid®, and beef blood; plastic phantom with solid water insert. The detector system comprises an optical fiber and diffraction-grating spectrometer incorporating a front/back-illuminated CCD. The NIR shift was carried out with CdSe/ZnS quantum dots (QDs),more » emitting at (650±10) nm. CE and MV images were acquired with a CMOS camera and electronic portal imaging device. MC and experimental studies indicate a strong linear dose-CE correlation (Pearson coefficient > 0.99). CE by an 18-MeV beam was effectively NIR-shifted in water and a tissue-simulating phantom, exhibiting a significant increase at 650 nm for QD depths up to 10 mm. CE images exhibited relative contrast superior to MV images by a factor of 30. Our work supports the potential for application of CE in radiotherapy online imaging for patient setup and treatment verification, since CE is intrinsic to the beam and non-ionizing and QDs can be used to improve CE detectability, potentially yielding image quality superior to MV imaging for the case of low-density-variability, low-optical-attenuation materials (ex: breast/oropharynx). Ongoing work involves microenvironment functionalization of QDs and application of multi-channel spectrometry for simultaneous acquisition of dosimetric and tumor oxygenation signals.« less

Long lifetime near-infrared-emitting quantum dots for time-gated in vivo imaging of rare circulating cells (Conference Presentation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fragola, Alexandra; Bouccara, Sophie; Pezet, Sophie; Lequeux, Nicolas; Loriette, Vincent; Pons, Thomas

2017-02-01

The in vivo detection of rare circulating cells using non invasive fluorescence imaging would provide a key tool to study migration of eg. tumoral or immunological cells. Fluorescence detection is however currently limited by a lack of contrast between the small emission of isolated, fast circulating cells and the strong autofluorescence background of the surrounding tissues. We present the development of near infrared emitting quantum dots (NIR-QDs) with long fluorescence lifetime for sensitive time-gated in vivo imaging of circulating cells. These QDs are composed of low toxicity ZnCuInSe/ZnS materials and made biocompatible using a novel multidentate imidazole zwitterionic block copolymer, ensuring their long term intracellular stability. Cells of interest can thus be labeled ex vivo with QDs, injected intravenously and imaged in the near infrared range. Excitation using a pulsed laser coupled to time-gated detection enables the efficient rejection of short lifetime (≈ ns) autofluorescence background and detection of long lifetime (≈ 150 ns) fluorescence from QD-labeled cells. We demonstrate efficient in vivo imaging of single fast-flowing cells, which opens opportunities for future biological studies. [1] M. Tasso et al, "Sulfobetaine-Vinylimidazole block copolymers: a robust quantum dot surface chemistry expanding bioimaging's horizons", ACS Nano, 9(11), 2015 [2] S. Bouccara et al, "Time-gated cell imaging using long lifetime near-infrared-emitting quantum dots for autofluorescence rejection", J Biomed Optc, 19(5), 2014

Spectroscopy of the Schwarzschild black hole at arbitrary frequencies.

PubMed

Casals, Marc; Ottewill, Adrian

2012-09-14

Linear field perturbations of a black hole are described by the Green function of the wave equation that they obey. After Fourier decomposing the Green function, its two natural contributions are given by poles (quasinormal modes) and a largely unexplored branch cut in the complex frequency plane. We present new analytic methods for calculating the branch cut on a Schwarzschild black hole for arbitrary values of the frequency. The branch cut yields a power-law tail decay for late times in the response of a black hole to an initial perturbation. We determine explicitly the first three orders in the power-law and show that the branch cut also yields a new logarithmic behavior T(-2ℓ-5)lnT for late times. Before the tail sets in, the quasinormal modes dominate the black hole response. For electromagnetic perturbations, the quasinormal mode frequencies approach the branch cut at large overtone index n. We determine these frequencies up to n(-5/2) and, formally, to arbitrary order. Highly damped quasinormal modes are of particular interest in that they have been linked to quantum properties of black holes.

Indocyanine green fluorescence in second near-infrared (NIR-II) window

PubMed Central

Bhavane, Rohan; Ghaghada, Ketan B.; Vasudevan, Sanjeev A.; Kaay, Alexander; Annapragada, Ananth

2017-01-01

Indocyanine green (ICG), a FDA approved near infrared (NIR) fluorescent agent, is used in the clinic for a variety of applications including lymphangiography, intra-operative lymph node identification, tumor imaging, superficial vascular imaging, and marking ischemic tissues. These applications operate in the so-called “NIR-I” window (700–900 nm). Recently, imaging in the “NIR-II” window (1000–1700 nm) has attracted attention since, at longer wavelengths, photon absorption, and scattering effects by tissue components are reduced, making it possible to image deeper into the underlying tissue. Agents for NIR-II imaging are, however, still in pre-clinical development. In this study, we investigated ICG as a NIR-II dye. The absorbance and NIR-II fluorescence emission of ICG were measured in different media (PBS, plasma and ethanol) for a range of ICG concentrations. In vitro and in vivo testing were performed using a custom-built spectral NIR assembly to facilitate simultaneous imaging in NIR-I and NIR-II window. In vitro studies using ICG were performed using capillary tubes (as a simulation of blood vessels) embedded in Intralipid solution and tissue phantoms to evaluate depth of tissue penetration in NIR-I and NIR-II window. In vivo imaging using ICG was performed in nude mice to evaluate vascular visualization in the hind limb in the NIR-I and II windows. Contrast-to-noise ratios (CNR) were calculated for comparison of image quality in NIR-I and NIR-II window. ICG exhibited significant fluorescence emission in the NIR-II window and this emission (similar to the absorption profile) is substantially affected by the environment of the ICG molecules. In vivo imaging further confirmed the utility of ICG as a fluorescent dye in the NIR-II domain, with the CNR values being ~2 times those in the NIR-I window. The availability of an FDA approved imaging agent could accelerate the clinical translation of NIR-II imaging technology. PMID:29121078

Theranostic Gold Nanoshells And Nanomatryoshkas for Cancer Therapy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ayala-Orozco, Ciceron

This dissertation describes the synthesis of multifunctional gold nanoparticles designed for therapy and diagnosis of cancer (theranostics), and the evaluation of their therapeutic efficacy and bioimaging of tumors in mice. The design of these metallic nanoparticles is aimed to incorporate imaging agents (MRI contrasts and fluorophores) in compact structures with dimensions below 100 nm while keeping their NIR-light-absorbing properties and optimum surface chemistry to enhance accumulation in tumor. The therapeutic response of these metallic nanoparticles is derived from the photoexcitation of their plasmon resonance, the collective oscillation of the conduction band electrons, which was advantageously utilized to enhance the quantum yield of fluorophores resonant in the NIR where the penetration of light is maximal in biological tissue and minimally destructive. Gold nanoshells as absorbers of NIR light can convert the absorbed light into heat consequently causing hyperthermia in the surrounding medium which leads to tumor cell death. To extent the application of previously developed theranostic nanoshells to the highly lethal pancreatic cancer, chapter 2 describes a magneto-fluorescent theranostic nanocomplex targeted to neutrophil gelatinase associated lipocalin (NGAL) receptor in pancreatic cancer. Gold nanoshells (SiO2-Au core-shell nanoshell) resonant at 810 nm were encapsulated in silica epilayers doped with iron oxide and the NIR dye ICG, resulting in a theranostic gold nanoshells, which provided contrast for both T2 weighted MRI and NIR fluorescence optical imaging. The large size of this complex (200 nm) potentially can hinder the accumulation in tumor. Seeking to reduce the size of the theranostic nanoparticles, chapter 3 presents the sub-100 nm Au nanomatryoshkas (Au/SiO2/Au). Au nanomatryoshkas are strong light absorbers with 77% absorption efficiency while the nanoshells are weaker absorbers with only 15% absorption efficiency. After an intravenous injection of Au nanomatryoshkas followed by a single NIR laser dose of 2 W/cm2 for 5 min, 83% of the tumor-bearing mice appeared healthy and tumor free >60 days later, while only 40% of mice treated with nanoshells survived the same period. The smaller size and larger absorption cross section of Au nanomatryoshkas combine to make this nanoparticle more effective than Au nanoshells for photothermal cancer therapy. Chapter 4 presents the therapeutic efficacy in mice bearing large (>1000 mm3) and highly aggressive triple negative breast tumors. To equip the Au nanomatryoshkas with imaging contrast agents, fluorophores were encapsulated in the internal SiO2 layer of the Au/SiO 2/Au matryoshkas as described in chapter 5. We observed strong fluorescence enhancements of the NIR dyes Cy7 and IR800. This behavior can be understood by taking into account the near field enhancement induced by the Fano resonance of the nanomatryoshka, which is responsible for enhanced absorption of the fluorophores incorporated into the nanocomplex. The combination of compact size and enhanced light emission with internal encapsulation of the fluorophores for increased biocompatibility suggests outstanding potential for this type of nanoparticle complex in biomedical applications as it is investigated and presented in chapter 6.

Crystalline perfection, optical and piezoelectric properties of a novel semi-organic single crystal: Zinc guanidinium sulphate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nandhini, S.; Murugakoothan, P.

2018-04-01

Zinc Guanidinium Sulfate (ZGuS), a semi-organic single crystal, was synthesized using slow evaporation solution growth technique. It is a non-centrosymmetric crystal with space group I4 ¯2d . The crystalline nature of the crystal and the strain were determined using powder X-ray diffraction analysis. The crystalline perfection of the grown crystal was revealed using HR-XRD analysis. The UV-vis-NIR transmittance spectrum depicts 60% transparency with lower-cut off wavelength of 210 nm. The emission spectrum of the crystal was determined using photoluminescence study. Piezoelectricity was confirmed by determining the piezoelectric charge coefficient (d33). These findings shows that the title compound can be employed for photonic and transducer applications.

Near-IR photon number resolving detector design

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bogdanski, Jan; Huntington, Elanor H.

2013-05-01

Photon-Number-Resolving-Detection (PNRD) capability is crucial for many Quantum-Information (QI) applications, e.g. for Coherent-State-Quantum-Computing, Linear-Optics-Quantum-Computing. In Quantum-Key-Distribution and Quantum-Secret-Sharing over 1310/1550 nm fiber, two other important, defense and information security related, QI applications, it's crucial for the information transmission security to guarantee that the information carriers (photons) are single. Thus a PNRD can provide an additional security level against eavesdropping. Currently, there are at least a couple of promising PNRD technologies in the Near-Infrared, but all of them require cryogenic cooling. Thus a compact, portable PNRD, based on commercial Avalanche-Photo-Diodes (APDs), could be a very useful instrument for many QI experiments. For an APD-based PNRD, it is crucial to measure the APD-current in the beginning of the avalanche. Thus an efficient cancellation of the APD capacitive spikes is a necessary condition for the very weak APD current measurement. The detector's principle is based on two commercial, pair-matched InGaAs/InP APDs, connected in series. It leads to a great cancelation of the capacitive spikes caused by the narrow (300 ps), differential gate-pulses of maximum 4V amplitude assuming that both pulses are perfectly matched in regards to their phases, amplitudes, and shapes. The cancellation scheme could be used for other APD-technologies, e.g. Silicon, extending the detection spectrum from visible to NIR. The design distinguishes itself from other, APD-based, schemes by its scalability feature and its computer controlled cancellation of the capacitive spikes. Furthermore, both APDs could be equally used for the detection purpose, which opens a possibility for the odd-even photon number parity detection.

A compact free space quantum key distribution system capable of daylight operation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Benton, David M.; Gorman, Phillip M.; Tapster, Paul R.; Taylor, David M.

2010-06-01

A free space quantum key distribution system has been demonstrated. Consideration has been given to factors such as field of view and spectral width, to cut down the deleterious effect from background light levels. Suitable optical sources such as lasers and RCLEDs have been investigated as well as optimal wavelength choices, always with a view to building a compact and robust system. The implementation of background reduction measures resulted in a system capable of operating in daylight conditions. An autonomous system was left running and generating shared key material continuously for over 7 days.

High-power lightweight external-cavity quantum cascade lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Day, Timothy; Takeuchi, Eric B.; Weida, Miles; Arnone, David; Pushkarsky, Michael; Boyden, David; Caffey, David

2009-05-01

Commercially available quantum cascade gain media has been integrated with advanced coating and die attach technologies, mid-IR micro-optics and telecom-style assembly and packaging to yield cutting edge performance. When combined into Daylight's external-cavity quantum cascade laser (ECqcL) platform, multi-Watt output power has been obtained. Daylight will describe their most recent results obtained from this platform, including high cw power from compact hermetically sealed packages and narrow spectral linewidth devices. Fiber-coupling and direct amplitude modulation from such multi-Watt lasers will also be described. In addition, Daylight will present the most recent results from their compact, portable, battery-operated "thermal laser pointers" that are being used for illumination and aiming applications. When combined with thermal imaging technology, such devices provide significant benefits in contrast and identification.

Core-based lipid nanoparticles as a nanoplatform for delivery of near-infrared fluorescent imaging agents.

PubMed

Anikeeva, Nadia; Sykulev, Yuri; Delikatny, Edward J; Popov, Anatoliy V

2014-01-01

Pyropheophorbide a (Pyro) is a near-infrared (NIR) fluorescent dye and photosensitizer with high quantum yield that makes the dye suitable for tumor treatment both as an imaging and therapy agent. We have designed and synthesized a series of a Pyro-based NIR probes, based on the conjugation of Pyro with lipids. The nature of our probes requires the use of a lipophilic carrier to deliver the probes to cancer cell membranes. To address this, we have utilized lipid-based nanoparticles (LNPs) consisting of PEGylated lipids, which form the nanoparticle shell, and a lipid core. To endow the LNPs with targeting properties, nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA) lipids were included in the composition that enables the non-covalent attachment of His-tag targeting proteins preserving their functional activity. We found that the nature of the core molecules influence the nanoparticle size, shelf-life and stability at physiological temperature. Two different Pyro-lipid conjugates were loaded either into the core or shell of the LNPs. The conjugates revealed differential ability to be accumulated in the cell membrane of the target cells with time. Thus, the modular organization of the core-shell LNPs allows facile adjustment of their composition with goal to fine tuning the nanoparticle properties for in vivo application.

Core-based lipid nanoparticles as a nanoplatform for delivery of near-infrared fluorescent imaging agents

PubMed Central

Anikeeva, Nadia; Sykulev, Yuri; Delikatny, Edward J; Popov, Anatoliy V

2014-01-01

Pyropheophorbide a (Pyro) is a near-infrared (NIR) fluorescent dye and photosensitizer with high quantum yield that makes the dye suitable for tumor treatment both as an imaging and therapy agent. We have designed and synthesized a series of a Pyro-based NIR probes, based on the conjugation of Pyro with lipids. The nature of our probes requires the use of a lipophilic carrier to deliver the probes to cancer cell membranes. To address this, we have utilized lipid-based nanoparticles (LNPs) consisting of PEGylated lipids, which form the nanoparticle shell, and a lipid core. To endow the LNPs with targeting properties, nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA) lipids were included in the composition that enables the non-covalent attachment of His-tag targeting proteins preserving their functional activity. We found that the nature of the core molecules influence the nanoparticle size, shelf-life and stability at physiological temperature. Two different Pyro-lipid conjugates were loaded either into the core or shell of the LNPs. The conjugates revealed differential ability to be accumulated in the cell membrane of the target cells with time. Thus, the modular organization of the core-shell LNPs allows facile adjustment of their composition with goal to fine tuning the nanoparticle properties for in vivo application. PMID:25250201

Colorless to purple-red switching electrochromic anthraquinone imides with broad visible/near-IR absorptions in the radical anion state: simulation-aided molecular design.

PubMed

Chen, Fengkun; Zhang, Jie; Jiang, Hong; Wan, Xinhua

2013-07-01

The large redshift of near-infrared (NIR) absorptions of nitro-substituted anthraquinone imide (Nitro-AQI) radical anions, relative to other AQI derivatives, is rationalized based on quantum chemical calculations. Calculations reveal that the delocalization effects of electronegative substitution in the radical anion states is dramatically enhanced, thus leading to a significant decrease in the HOMO-LUMO band gap in the radical anion states. Based on this understanding, an AQI derivative with an even stronger electron-withdrawing dicyanovinyl (di-CN) substituent was designed and prepared. The resulting molecule, di-CN-AQI, displays no absorption in the Vis/NIR region in the neutral state, but absorbs intensively in the range of λ=700-1000 (λmax ≈860 nm) and λ=1100-1800 nm (λmax ≈1400 nm) upon one-electron reduction; this is accompanied by a transition from a highly transmissive colorless solution to one that is purple-red. The relationship between calculated radical anionic HOMO-LUMO gaps and the electron-withdrawing capacity of the substituents is also determined by employing Hammett parameter, which could serve as a theoretical tool for further molecular design. Copyright © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Multi-Spectroscopic Analysis of Seed Quality and 13C-Stable-Iotopologue Monitoring in Initial Growth Metabolism of Jatropha curcas L.

PubMed Central

Komatsu, Takanori; Ohishi, Risa; Shino, Amiu; Akashi, Kinya; Kikuchi, Jun

2014-01-01

In the present study, we applied nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), as well as near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy, to Jatropha curcas to fulfill two objectives: (1) to qualitatively examine the seeds stored at different conditions, and (2) to monitor the metabolism of J. curcas during its initial growth stage under stable-isotope-labeling condition (until 15 days after seeding). NIR spectra could non-invasively distinguish differences in storage conditions. NMR metabolic analysis of water-soluble metabolites identified sucrose and raffinose family oligosaccharides as positive markers and gluconic acid as a negative marker of seed germination. Isotopic labeling patteren of metabolites in germinated seedlings cultured in agar-plate containg 13C-glucose and 15N-nitrate was analyzed by zero-quantum-filtered-total correlation spectroscopy (ZQF-TOCSY) and 13C-detected 1H-13C heteronuclear correlation spectroscopy (HETCOR). 13C-detected HETOCR with 13C-optimized cryogenic probe provided high-resolution 13C-NMR spectra of each metabolite in molecular crowd. The 13C-13C/12C bondmer estimated from 1H-13C HETCOR spectra indicated that glutamine and arginine were the major organic compounds for nitrogen and carbon transfer from roots to leaves. PMID:25401292

Visible-to-NIR Electrochromic Device Prepared from a Thermally Polymerizable Electroactive Organic Monomer.

PubMed

Wałęsa-Chorab, Monika; Skene, W G

2017-06-28

A monomer (1) consisting of a benzothiadiazole core flanked by two triphenylamines and two styrene pendant moieties was prepared. The monomer was fluorescent with its emission spanning 145 nm in the visible, contingent on the organic solvent used for the measurement. In addition to its positive solvatochromism, the absolute fluorescence quantum yield (Φ fl ) was consistently >20% with values >80% being measured in hexane, toluene, diethyl ether, and toluene. 1 could be reversibly oxidized with an oxidation potential of 880 mV vs SCE. The monomer could be immobilized on ITO-coated glass substrates. The resulting 425 nm thick immobilized film (poly-1) was 15% thinner than the monomer coating deposited by spray- and spin-coating. The electroactive film did not delaminate from the electrode upon either washing or cycling electrochemically between its oxidized and neutral states. Its absorption at 460 nm bleached upon electrochemical oxidation with the formation of a strong absorption at 880 nm and in the NIR, similar to 1. The perceived reversible color change with applied potential switched between yellow and gray. The fluorescence intensity of poly-1 could be switched with applied potentials. A passive transmissive device prepared from poly-1 was both electrochromic and fluorochromic, exhibiting reversible color change and fluorescence quenching.

High Resolution Fluorescence Imaging of Cancers Using Lanthanide Ion-Doped Upconverting Nanocrystals

PubMed Central

Naccache, Rafik; Rodríguez, Emma Martín; Bogdan, Nicoleta; Sanz-Rodríguez, Francisco; de la Cruz, Maria del Carmen Iglesias; de la Fuente, Ángeles Juarranz; Vetrone, Fiorenzo; Jaque, Daniel; Solé, José García; Capobianco, John A.

2012-01-01

During the last decade inorganic luminescent nanoparticles that emit visible light under near infrared (NIR) excitation (in the biological window) have played a relevant role for high resolution imaging of cancer. Indeed, semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) and metal nanoparticles, mostly gold nanorods (GNRs), are already commercially available for this purpose. In this work we review the role which is being played by a relatively new class of nanoparticles, based on lanthanide ion doped nanocrystals, to target and image cancer cells using upconversion fluorescence microscopy. These nanoparticles are insulating nanocrystals that are usually doped with small percentages of two different rare earth (lanthanide) ions: The excited donor ions (usually Yb3+ ion) that absorb the NIR excitation and the acceptor ions (usually Er3+, Ho3+ or Tm3+), that are responsible for the emitted visible (or also near infrared) radiation. The higher conversion efficiency of these nanoparticles in respect to those based on QDs and GNRs, as well as the almost independent excitation/emission properties from the particle size, make them particularly promising for fluorescence imaging. The different approaches of these novel nanoparticles devoted to “in vitro” and “in vivo” cancer imaging, selective targeting and treatment are examined in this review. PMID:24213500

DRDC Power and Energy S and T Option Analysis and Recommendations : A Response to Cross-Cutting Client SandT Requirements

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-06-01

Measurement of radiative and nonradiative recombination rates in InGaAsP and AlGaAs light sources’, IEEE J. Quantum Electron., 1984, QE-20, (8), pp. 838–854 ELECTRONICS LETTERS 16th September 2004 Vol. 40 No. 19

A multi-timescale map of radiative and nonradiative decay pathways for excitons in CdSe quantum dots.

PubMed

Knowles, Kathryn E; McArthur, Eric A; Weiss, Emily A

2011-03-22

A combination of transient absorption (TA) and time-resolved photoluminescence (TRPL) spectroscopies performed on solution-phase samples of colloidal CdSe quantum dots (QDs) allows the construction of a time-resolved, charge carrier-resolved map of decay from the first excitonic state of the QD. Data from TA and TRPL yield the same six exponential components, with time constants ranging from ∼1 ps to 50 ns, for excitonic decay. Comparison of TA signals in the visible and near-infrared (NIR) spectral regions enables determination of the relative contributions of electron and hole dynamics to each decay component, and comparison of TA and TRPL reveals that each component represents a competition between radiative and nonradiative decay pathways. In total, these data suggest that the QD sample comprises at least three distinct populations that differ in both the radiative and nonradiative decay pathways available to the excitonic charge carriers, and provide evidence for multiple emissive excitonic states in which the hole is not in the valence band, but rather a relaxed or trapped state.

Facet-Specific Ligand Interactions on Ternary AgSbS 2 Colloidal Quantum Dots

DOE PAGES

Choi, Hyekyoung; Kim, Sungwoo; Luther, Joseph M.; ...

2017-11-07

Silver dimetal chalcogenide (Ag-V-VI 2) ternary quantum dots (QDs) are emerging lead-free materials for optoelectronic devices due to their NIR band gaps, large absorption coefficients, and superior electronic properties. However, thin film-based devices of the ternary QDs still lag behind due to the lack of understanding of the surface chemistry, compared to that of lead chalcogenide QDs even with the same crystal structure. Here in this paper, the surface ligand interactions of AgSbS 2 QDs, synthesized with 1-dodecanethiol used as a stabilizer, are studied. For nonpolar (1 0 0) surfaces, it is suggested that the thiolate ligands are associated withmore » the crystal lattices, thus preventing surface oxidation by protecting sulfur after air-exposure, as confirmed through optical and surface chemical analysis. Otherwise, silver rich (1 1 1) surfaces are passivated by thiolate ligands, allowing ligand exchange processes for the conductive films. This in-depth investigation of the surface chemistry of ternary QDs will prompt the performance enhancement of their optoelectronic devices.« less

Linearly polarized pumped passively Q-switched Nd:YVO4 microchip laser for Ince-Gaussian laser modes with controllable orientations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

He, Hong-Sen; Zhang, Ming-Ming; Dong, Jun; Ueda, Ken-Ichi

2016-12-01

A tilted, linearly polarized laser diode end-pumped Cr4+:YAG passively Q-switched a-cut Nd:YVO4 microchip laser for generating numerous Ince-Gaussian (IG) laser modes with controllable orientations has been demonstrated by selecting the crystalline orientation of an a-cut Nd:YVO4 crystal. The same IG laser mode with different orientations has been achieved with the same absorbed pump power in a passively Q-switched Nd:YVO4 microchip laser under linearly polarized pumping when the incident pump power and the crystalline orientation of an a-cut Nd:YVO4 crystal are both properly selected. The significant improvement of pulsed laser performance of controllable IG modes has been achieved by selecting the crystalline orientation of an a-cut Nd:YVO4 crystal. The maximum pulse energy is obtained along the a-axis of an a-cut Nd:YVO4 crystal and the highest peak power is achieved along the c-axis of an a-cut Nd:YVO4 crystal, respectively, which has potential applications on quantum computation and optical manipulation. The generation of controllable IG laser modes in microchip lasers under linearly polarized pumping provides a convenient and universal way to control IG laser mode numbers with anisotropic crystal as a gain medium.

Quantum Entanglement Growth under Random Unitary Dynamics

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Nahum, Adam; Ruhman, Jonathan; Vijay, Sagar

Characterizing how entanglement grows with time in a many-body system, for example, after a quantum quench, is a key problem in nonequilibrium quantum physics. We study this problem for the case of random unitary dynamics, representing either Hamiltonian evolution with time-dependent noise or evolution by a random quantum circuit. Our results reveal a universal structure behind noisy entanglement growth, and also provide simple new heuristics for the “entanglement tsunami” in Hamiltonian systems without noise. In 1D, we show that noise causes the entanglement entropy across a cut to grow according to the celebrated Kardar-Parisi-Zhang (KPZ) equation. The mean entanglement growsmore » linearly in time, while fluctuations grow like (time) 1/3 and are spatially correlated over a distance ∝(time) 2/3. We derive KPZ universal behavior in three complementary ways, by mapping random entanglement growth to (i) a stochastic model of a growing surface, (ii) a “minimal cut” picture, reminiscent of the Ryu-Takayanagi formula in holography, and (iii) a hydrodynamic problem involving the dynamical spreading of operators. We demonstrate KPZ universality in 1D numerically using simulations of random unitary circuits. Importantly, the leading-order time dependence of the entropy is deterministic even in the presence of noise, allowing us to propose a simple coarse grained minimal cut picture for the entanglement growth of generic Hamiltonians, even without noise, in arbitrary dimensionality. We clarify the meaning of the “velocity” of entanglement growth in the 1D entanglement tsunami. We show that in higher dimensions, noisy entanglement evolution maps to the well-studied problem of pinning of a membrane or domain wall by disorder.« less

Quantum Entanglement Growth under Random Unitary Dynamics

DOE PAGES

Nahum, Adam; Ruhman, Jonathan; Vijay, Sagar; ...

2017-07-24

Characterizing how entanglement grows with time in a many-body system, for example, after a quantum quench, is a key problem in nonequilibrium quantum physics. We study this problem for the case of random unitary dynamics, representing either Hamiltonian evolution with time-dependent noise or evolution by a random quantum circuit. Our results reveal a universal structure behind noisy entanglement growth, and also provide simple new heuristics for the “entanglement tsunami” in Hamiltonian systems without noise. In 1D, we show that noise causes the entanglement entropy across a cut to grow according to the celebrated Kardar-Parisi-Zhang (KPZ) equation. The mean entanglement growsmore » linearly in time, while fluctuations grow like (time) 1/3 and are spatially correlated over a distance ∝(time) 2/3. We derive KPZ universal behavior in three complementary ways, by mapping random entanglement growth to (i) a stochastic model of a growing surface, (ii) a “minimal cut” picture, reminiscent of the Ryu-Takayanagi formula in holography, and (iii) a hydrodynamic problem involving the dynamical spreading of operators. We demonstrate KPZ universality in 1D numerically using simulations of random unitary circuits. Importantly, the leading-order time dependence of the entropy is deterministic even in the presence of noise, allowing us to propose a simple coarse grained minimal cut picture for the entanglement growth of generic Hamiltonians, even without noise, in arbitrary dimensionality. We clarify the meaning of the “velocity” of entanglement growth in the 1D entanglement tsunami. We show that in higher dimensions, noisy entanglement evolution maps to the well-studied problem of pinning of a membrane or domain wall by disorder.« less

New quantum cascade laser sources for sensing applications (Conference Presentation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Troccoli, Mariano

2017-05-01

In this presentation we will review our most recent results on development of Quantum Cascade Lasers (QCLs) for analytical and industrial applications. QCLs have demonstrated the capability to cover the entire range of Mid-IR, Far-IR, and THz wavelengths by skillful tuning of the material design and composition and by use of intrinsic material properties via a set of techniques collectively called "bandgap engineering". The use of MOCVD, pioneered on industrial scale by AdTech Optics, has enabled the deployment of QCL devices into a diverse range of environments and applications. QCLs can be tailored to the specific application requirements due to their unprecedented flexibility in design and thanks to the leveraging of well-known III-V fabrication technologies inherited from the NIR domain. Nevertheless, several applications and new frontiers in R and D need the constant support of new developments in device features, capabilities, and performances. We have developed a wide range of devices, from high power, high efficiency multi-mode sources, to narrow-band, single mode devices with low-power consumption, and from non-linear, multi-wavelength generating devices to broadband sources and multi-emitter arrays. All our devices are grown and processed using MOCVD technology and allow us to attain competitive performances across the whole mid-IR spectral range. This talk will present an overview of our current achievements. References 1. M. Troccoli, "High power emission and single mode operation of quantum cascade lasers for industrial applications", J. Sel. Topics in Quantum Electron., 21 (6), 1-7 (2015). Invited Review. 2. Seungyong Jung, Aiting Jiang, Yifan Jiang, Karun Vijayraghavan, Xiaojun Wang, Mariano Troccoli, and Mikhail A. Belkin, "Broadly Tunable Monolithic Terahertz Quantum Cascade Laser Sources", Nature Comm. 5, 4267 (2014).. 3. Mariano Troccoli, Arkadiy Lyakh, Jenyu Fan, Xiaojun Wang, Richard Maulini, Alexei G Tsekoun, Rowel Go, C Kumar N Patel, "Long-Wave IR Quantum Cascade Lasers for emission in the λ = 8-12μm spectral region", Opt. Mat. Expr., 3 (9), 1546-1560 (2013).

Surface grinding of space materials using specially formulated vitrified grinding wheels

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jackson, M. J.; Robinson, G.

2006-04-01

The quantum leap that is expected in the reliability and safety of machined engineering components over the next 20 years, especially in the space industries, will require improvements in the quality of cutting tools if science-based manufacturing is the goal for manufacturing by 2020. Significant improvements have been made in the past 10 years by understanding the properties of vitrified bonding systems used to bond conventional and superabrasive materials in grinding tools. The nature of the bonding system is of paramount importance if next-generation cutting tools are to be used for aerospace materials, especially if they are dressed using laser beams.

7 CFR 801.7 - Reference methods and tolerances for near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) analyzers.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

..._of_federal_regulations/ibr_locations.html. (b) Tolerances—(1) NIRS wheat protein analyzers. The... Method 992.23. (3) NIRS corn oil, protein, and starch analyzers. The maintenance tolerances for the NIRS... methods and tolerances for near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) analyzers. (a) Reference methods. (1) The...

7 CFR 801.7 - Reference methods and tolerances for near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) analyzers.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

..._of_federal_regulations/ibr_locations.html. (b) Tolerances—(1) NIRS wheat protein analyzers. The... Method 992.23. (3) NIRS corn oil, protein, and starch analyzers. The maintenance tolerances for the NIRS... methods and tolerances for near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) analyzers. (a) Reference methods. (1) The...

7 CFR 801.7 - Reference methods and tolerances for near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) analyzers.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

..._of_federal_regulations/ibr_locations.html. (b) Tolerances—(1) NIRS wheat protein analyzers. The... Method 992.23. (3) NIRS corn oil, protein, and starch analyzers. The maintenance tolerances for the NIRS... methods and tolerances for near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) analyzers. (a) Reference methods. (1) The...

7 CFR 801.7 - Reference methods and tolerances for near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) analyzers.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

..._of_federal_regulations/ibr_locations.html. (b) Tolerances—(1) NIRS wheat protein analyzers. The... Method 992.23. (3) NIRS corn oil, protein, and starch analyzers. The maintenance tolerances for the NIRS... methods and tolerances for near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) analyzers. (a) Reference methods. (1) The...

Near infrared fluorescence for image-guided surgery

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Near infrared (NIR) image-guided surgery holds great promise for improved surgical outcomes. A number of NIR image-guided surgical systems are currently in preclinical and clinical development with a few approved for limited clinical use. In order to wield the full power of NIR image-guided surgery, clinically available tissue and disease specific NIR fluorophores with high signal to background ratio are necessary. In the current review, the status of NIR image-guided surgery is discussed along with the desired chemical and biological properties of NIR fluorophores. Lastly, tissue and disease targeting strategies for NIR fluorophores are reviewed. PMID:23256079

NIRS-SPM: statistical parametric mapping for near infrared spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tak, Sungho; Jang, Kwang Eun; Jung, Jinwook; Jang, Jaeduck; Jeong, Yong; Ye, Jong Chul

2008-02-01

Even though there exists a powerful statistical parametric mapping (SPM) tool for fMRI, similar public domain tools are not available for near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). In this paper, we describe a new public domain statistical toolbox called NIRS-SPM for quantitative analysis of NIRS signals. Specifically, NIRS-SPM statistically analyzes the NIRS data using GLM and makes inference as the excursion probability which comes from the random field that are interpolated from the sparse measurement. In order to obtain correct inference, NIRS-SPM offers the pre-coloring and pre-whitening method for temporal correlation estimation. For simultaneous recording NIRS signal with fMRI, the spatial mapping between fMRI image and real coordinate in 3-D digitizer is estimated using Horn's algorithm. These powerful tools allows us the super-resolution localization of the brain activation which is not possible using the conventional NIRS analysis tools.

Novel water-soluble near-infrared cyanine dyes: synthesis, spectral properties, and use in the preparation of internally quenched fluorescent probes.

PubMed

Bouteiller, Cédric; Clavé, Guillaume; Bernardin, Aude; Chipon, Bertrand; Massonneau, Marc; Renard, Pierre-Yves; Romieu, Anthony

2007-01-01

In this paper, we describe the synthesis and the photophysical properties of two novel near-infrared (NIR) cyanine dyes (NIR5.5-2 and NIR7.0-2) which are water soluble potential substitutes of the commercially available Cy 5.5 and Cy 7.0 fluorescent labels respectively. For each one of these cyanine dyes, the synthetic strategy relies on the postsynthetic derivatization of a cyanine precursor in order to introduce the key functionalities required for bioconjugation of these NIR fluorophores. For NIR5.5-2, a reactive amino group was acylated with an original trisulfonated linker for water solubility. For NIR7.0-2, a vinylic chlorine atom was derivatized through a SRN1 reaction for the introduction of a monoreactive carboxyl group for labeling purposes. Unexpectedly, when these two fluorophores were closely associated within a peptidic architecture, mutual fluorescence quenching between NIR5.5-2 and NIR7.0-2 was observed both at 705 (NIR5.5-2) and 798 nm (NIR7.0-2). On the basis of this property, a novel internally quenched caspase-3-sensitive NIR fluorescent probe was prepared.

Novel water soluble NIR dyes: does charge matter?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Patonay, Gabor; Henary, Maged; Beckford, Garfield; Daube, Alison

2012-03-01

Near-Infrared (NIR) dyes are used as reporters, probes or markers in the biological and medical field. NIR dyes can be useful for investigating and characterizing biomolecular interactions or imaging which is possible because biological mammalian tissue has a low absorption window in the NIR region. Biomolecules such as proteins are known to bind to NIR dyes. Upon binding NIR dyes often exhibit spectral changes that can be used for characterizing the binding event. Serum albumins may be responsible for in vivo transport of NIR dyes. Studying this binding event can be useful when correlated to in vivo behavior of the NIR dye. The studies presented here use spectroscopic methods to investigate how NIR dyes that may be used in imaging, biological or bioanalytical applications bind to proteins, such as serum albumins. Our research group systematically synthesized several NIR dyes that have varying hydrophobicity, chromophore size and charge. During these investigations we developed novel NIR cyanine fluorophores having varying aqueous solubility and a variety of net charges. The binding properties of the carbocyanines change when charged or hydrophobic moieties are systematically varied. One of the properties we put a special emphasis on is what we call residual hydrophobicity of the NIR dye molecule which is defined as the unmasked (by the charged moieties) hydrophobicity of the molecule. Residual hydrophobicity may be responsible for binding the otherwise highly water soluble NIR dye to hydrophobic pockets of biomolecules. High residual hydrophobicity of a highly water soluble dye can be disadvantageous during biological, medical or similar applications.

Near Infrared Photoimmunotherapy Targeting EGFR Positive Triple Negative Breast Cancer: Optimizing the Conjugate-Light Regimen

PubMed Central

Nagaya, Tadanobu; Sato, Kazuhide; Harada, Toshiko; Nakamura, Yuko; Choyke, Peter L.; Kobayashi, Hisataka

2015-01-01

Aim Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is considered one of the most aggressive subtypes of breast cancer. Near infrared photoimmunotherapy (NIR-PIT) is a cancer treatment that employs an antibody-photosensitizer conjugate (APC) followed by exposure of NIR light for activating selective cytotoxicity on targeted cancer cells and may have application to TNBC. In order to minimize the dose of APC while maximizing the therapeutic effects, dosing of the APC and NIR light need to be optimized. In this study, we investigate in vitro and in vivo efficacy of cetuximab (cet)-IR700 NIR-PIT on two breast cancer models MDAMB231 (TNBC, EGFR moderate) and MDAMB468 (TNBC, EGFR high) cell lines, and demonstrate a method to optimize the dosing APC and NIR light. Method After validating in vitro cell-specific cytotoxicity, NIR-PIT therapeutic effects were investigated in mouse models using cell lines derived from TNBC tumors. Tumor-bearing mice were separated into 4 groups for the following treatments: (1) no treatment (control); (2) 300 μg of cet-IR700 i.v., (APC i.v. only); (3) NIR light exposure only, NIR light was administered at 50 J/cm2 on day 1 and 100 J/cm2 on day 2 (NIR light only); (4) 300 μg of cet-IR700 i.v., NIR light was administered at 50 J/cm2 on day 1 after injection and 100 J/cm2 of light on day 2 after injection (one shot NIR-PIT). To compare different treatment regimens with a fixed dose of APC, we added the following treatments (5) 100 μg of cet-IR700 i.v., NIR light administered at 50 J/cm2 on day 1 and 50 μg of cet-IR700 i.v. immediately after NIR-PIT, then NIR light was administered at 100 J/cm2 on day 2, which were performed two times every week (“two split” NIR-PIT) and (6) 100 μg of cet-IR700 i.v., NIR light was administered at 50 J/cm2 on day 1 and 100 J/cm2 on day 2, which were performed three times per week (“three split” NIR-PIT). Result Both specific binding and NIR-PIT effects were greater with MDAMB468 than MDAMB231 cells in vitro. Tumor accumulation of cet-IR700 in MDAMB468 tumors was significantly higher (p < 0.05) than in MDAMB231 tumors in vivo. Tumor growth and survival of MDAMB231 tumor bearing mice was significantly lower in the NIR-PIT treatment group (p < 0.05). In MDAMB468 bearing mice, tumor growth and survival was significantly improved in the NIR-PIT treatment groups in all treatment regimens (one shot NIR-PIT; p < 0.05, “two split” NIR-PIT; p < 0.01, “three split” NIR-PIT; p < 0.001) compared with control groups. Conclusion NIR-PIT for TNBC was effective regardless of expression of EGFR, however, greater cell killing was shown with higher EGFR expression tumor in vitro. In all treatment regimens, NIR-PIT suppressed tumor growth, resulting in significantly prolonged survival that further improved by splitting the APC dose and using repeated light exposures. PMID:26313651

Near Infrared Photoimmunotherapy Targeting EGFR Positive Triple Negative Breast Cancer: Optimizing the Conjugate-Light Regimen.

PubMed

Nagaya, Tadanobu; Sato, Kazuhide; Harada, Toshiko; Nakamura, Yuko; Choyke, Peter L; Kobayashi, Hisataka

2015-01-01

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is considered one of the most aggressive subtypes of breast cancer. Near infrared photoimmunotherapy (NIR-PIT) is a cancer treatment that employs an antibody-photosensitizer conjugate (APC) followed by exposure of NIR light for activating selective cytotoxicity on targeted cancer cells and may have application to TNBC. In order to minimize the dose of APC while maximizing the therapeutic effects, dosing of the APC and NIR light need to be optimized. In this study, we investigate in vitro and in vivo efficacy of cetuximab (cet)-IR700 NIR-PIT on two breast cancer models MDAMB231 (TNBC, EGFR moderate) and MDAMB468 (TNBC, EGFR high) cell lines, and demonstrate a method to optimize the dosing APC and NIR light. After validating in vitro cell-specific cytotoxicity, NIR-PIT therapeutic effects were investigated in mouse models using cell lines derived from TNBC tumors. Tumor-bearing mice were separated into 4 groups for the following treatments: (1) no treatment (control); (2) 300 μg of cet-IR700 i.v., (APC i.v. only); (3) NIR light exposure only, NIR light was administered at 50 J/cm2 on day 1 and 100 J/cm2 on day 2 (NIR light only); (4) 300 μg of cet-IR700 i.v., NIR light was administered at 50 J/cm2 on day 1 after injection and 100 J/cm2 of light on day 2 after injection (one shot NIR-PIT). To compare different treatment regimens with a fixed dose of APC, we added the following treatments (5) 100 μg of cet-IR700 i.v., NIR light administered at 50 J/cm2 on day 1 and 50 μg of cet-IR700 i.v. immediately after NIR-PIT, then NIR light was administered at 100 J/cm2 on day 2, which were performed two times every week ("two split" NIR-PIT) and (6) 100 μg of cet-IR700 i.v., NIR light was administered at 50 J/cm2 on day 1 and 100 J/cm2 on day 2, which were performed three times per week ("three split" NIR-PIT). Both specific binding and NIR-PIT effects were greater with MDAMB468 than MDAMB231 cells in vitro. Tumor accumulation of cet-IR700 in MDAMB468 tumors was significantly higher (p < 0.05) than in MDAMB231 tumors in vivo. Tumor growth and survival of MDAMB231 tumor bearing mice was significantly lower in the NIR-PIT treatment group (p < 0.05). In MDAMB468 bearing mice, tumor growth and survival was significantly improved in the NIR-PIT treatment groups in all treatment regimens (one shot NIR-PIT; p < 0.05, "two split" NIR-PIT; p < 0.01, "three split" NIR-PIT; p < 0.001) compared with control groups. NIR-PIT for TNBC was effective regardless of expression of EGFR, however, greater cell killing was shown with higher EGFR expression tumor in vitro. In all treatment regimens, NIR-PIT suppressed tumor growth, resulting in significantly prolonged survival that further improved by splitting the APC dose and using repeated light exposures.

Surmounting the Cartesian Cut Through Philosophy, Physics, Logic, Cybernetics, and Geometry: Self-reference, Torsion, the Klein Bottle, the Time Operator, Multivalued Logics and Quantum Mechanics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rapoport, Diego L.

2011-01-01

In this transdisciplinary article which stems from philosophical considerations (that depart from phenomenology—after Merleau-Ponty, Heidegger and Rosen—and Hegelian dialectics), we develop a conception based on topological (the Moebius surface and the Klein bottle) and geometrical considerations (based on torsion and non-orientability of manifolds), and multivalued logics which we develop into a unified world conception that surmounts the Cartesian cut and Aristotelian logic. The role of torsion appears in a self-referential construction of space and time, which will be further related to the commutator of the True and False operators of matrix logic, still with a quantum superposed state related to a Moebius surface, and as the physical field at the basis of Spencer-Brown's primitive distinction in the protologic of the calculus of distinction. In this setting, paradox, self-reference, depth, time and space, higher-order non-dual logic, perception, spin and a time operator, the Klein bottle, hypernumbers due to Musès which include non-trivial square roots of ±1 and in particular non-trivial nilpotents, quantum field operators, the transformation of cognition to spin for two-state quantum systems, are found to be keenly interwoven in a world conception compatible with the philosophical approach taken for basis of this article. The Klein bottle is found not only to be the topological in-formation for self-reference and paradox whose logical counterpart in the calculus of indications are the paradoxical imaginary time waves, but also a classical-quantum transformer (Hadamard's gate in quantum computation) which is indispensable to be able to obtain a complete multivalued logical system, and still to generate the matrix extension of classical connective Boolean logic. We further find that the multivalued logic that stems from considering the paradoxical equation in the calculus of distinctions, and in particular, the imaginary solutions to this equation, generates the matrix logic which supersedes the classical logic of connectives and which has for particular subtheories fuzzy and quantum logics. Thus, from a primitive distinction in the vacuum plane and the axioms of the calculus of distinction, we can derive by incorporating paradox, the world conception succinctly described above.

[Distribution Characteristics of Nitrifiers and Denitrifiers in the River Sediments of Tongling City].

PubMed

Cheng, Jian-hua; Dou, Zhi-yong; Sun, Qing-ye

2016-04-15

Rivers in mining areas were influenced by contaminants such as nitrogen, phosphorus and organic matter due to domestic and agricultural wastewater discharge in addition to pollutants caused by mining activities. In this study, surface sediment samples of rivers in Tongling city were collected to address the effect of season and pollution type on the abundance of nitrifiers and denitrifiers using quantitative polymerase chain reaction (QPCR) technique targeting at the ammonia monooxygenase (amoA) and nitrite reductase (nir) genes. The results showed that the average ahundance of ammonia oxidizing archaea (AGA) (ranging from 1.74 x 10⁵ to 1.45 x 10⁸ copies · g⁻¹) was 4.39 times that of ammonia oxidizing hacteria (AGH) (ranging from 1.39 x 10⁵ to 3.39 x 10⁷ copies · g⁻¹); and the average abundance of nirK gene (ranging from 4.45 x 10⁶ to 1.51 x 10⁸ copies · g) was almost a thirtieth part of nirS gene (ranging from 1.69 x 10⁷ to 8.55 x 10⁹ copies · g⁻¹). The abundance of AOA was higher in spring and autumn, and lower in summer and winter. And sediment AOB abundance was higher in spring and winter than in summer and autumn. Meanwhile, the abundance of nir genes was in the order of spring (nirS )/autumn (nirK) > summer > winter > autumn (nirS )/spring (nirK). Moreover, the abundance of bacterial and archaeal arnoA and nirS genes in sediments influenced by mine pollution was generally higher than that in sediments influenced by agricultural non-point pollution, whereas the abundance of nirK gene showed an opposite trend.

Relative Contribution of nirK- and nirS- Bacterial Denitrifiers as Well as Fungal Denitrifiers to Nitrous Oxide Production from Dairy Manure Compost.

PubMed

Maeda, Koki; Toyoda, Sakae; Philippot, Laurent; Hattori, Shohei; Nakajima, Keiichi; Ito, Yumi; Yoshida, Naohiro

2017-12-19

The relative contribution of fungi, bacteria, and nirS and nirK denirifiers to nitrous oxide (N 2 O) emission with unknown isotopic signature from dairy manure compost was examined by selective inhibition techniques. Chloramphenicol (CHP), cycloheximide (CYH), and diethyl dithiocarbamate (DDTC) were used to suppress the activity of bacteria, fungi, and nirK-possessing denitrifiers, respectively. Produced N 2 O were surveyed to isotopocule analysis, and its 15 N site preference (SP) and δ 18 O values were compared. Bacteria, fungi, nirS, and nirK gene abundances were compared by qPCR. The results showed that N 2 O production was strongly inhibited by CHP addition in surface pile samples (82.2%) as well as in nitrite-amended core samples (98.4%), while CYH addition did not inhibit the N 2 O production. N 2 O with unknown isotopic signature (SP = 15.3-16.2‰), accompanied by δ 18 O (19.0-26.8‰) values which were close to bacterial denitrification, was also suppressed by CHP and DDTC addition (95.3%) indicating that nirK denitrifiers were responsible for this N 2 O production despite being less abundant than nirS denitrifiers. Altogether, our results suggest that bacteria are important for N 2 O production with different SP values both from compost surface and pile core. However, further work is required to decipher whether N 2 O with unknown isotopic signature is mostly due to nirK denitrifiers that are taxonomically different from the SP-characterized strains and therefore have different SP values rather than also being interwoven with the contribution of the NO-detoxifying pathway and/or of co-denitrification.

Nanoplasmonic generation of ultrashort EUV pulses

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Choi, Joonhee; Lee, Dong-Hyub; Han, Seunghwoi; Park, In-Yong; Kim, Seungchul; Kim, Seung-Woo

2012-10-01

Ultrashort extreme-ultraviolet (EUV) light pulses are an important tool for time-resolved pump-probe spectroscopy to investigate the ultrafast dynamics of electrons in atoms and molecules. Among several methods available to generate ultrashort EUV light pulses, the nonlinear frequency upconversion process of high-harmonic generation (HHG) draws attention as it is capable of producing coherent EUV pulses with precise control of burst timing with respect to the driving near-infrared (NIR) femtosecond laser. In this report, we present and discuss our recent experimental data obtained by the plasmon-driven HHG method that generate EUV radiation by means of plasmonic nano-focusing of NIR femtosecond pulses. For experiment, metallic waveguides having a tapered hole of funnel shape inside were fabricated by adopting the focused-ion-beam process on a micro-cantilever substrate. The plasmonic field formed within the funnelwaveguides being coupled with the incident femtosecond pulse permitted intensity enhancement by a factor of ~350, which creates a hot spot of sub-wavelength size with intensities strong enough for HHG. Experimental results showed that with injection of noble gases into the funnel-waveguides, EUV radiation is generated up to wavelengths of 32 nm and 29.6 nm from Ar and Ne gas atoms, respectively. Further, it was observed that lower-order EUV harmonics are cut off in the HHG spectra by the tiny exit aperture of the funnel-waveguide.

Recharging processes, radiation induced strain and changes of OH - bands under H + ion implantation in Ti doped lithium niobate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kumar, P.; Moorthy Babu, S.; Bhaumik, I.; Ganesamoorthy, S.; Karnal, A. K.; Kumar, Praveen; Rodrigues, G. O.; Sulania, I.; Kanjilal, D.; Pandey, A. K.; Raman, R.

2010-01-01

A systematic analysis of variations in structural and optical characteristics of Z-cut plates of titanium doped congruent lithium niobate single crystals implanted with 120 keV proton beam at various fluences of 10 15, 10 16 and 10 17 protons/cm 2 is presented. Through, high resolution X-ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy, Fourier transform infrared and UV-visible-NIR analysis of congruent lithium niobate, the correlation of properties before and after implantation are discussed. HRXRD (0 0 6) reflection by Triple Crystal Mode shows that both tensile and compressive strain peak are produced by the high fluence implantation. A distinct tensile peak was observed from implanted region for a fluence of 10 16 protons/cm 2. AFM micrographs indicate mountain ridges, bumps and protrusions on target surface on implantation. UV-visible-NIR spectra reveal an increase in charge transfer between Ti 3+/Ti 4+ and ligand oxygen for implantation with 10 15 protons/cm 2, while spectra for higher fluence implanted samples show complex absorption band in the region from 380-1100 nm. Variations of OH - stretching vibration mode were observed for cLN Pure, cLNT2% virgin, and implanted samples with FTIR spectra. The concentration of OH - ion before and after implantation was calculated from integral absorption intensity. The effect of 120 keV proton implantation induced structural, surface and optical studies were correlated.

Fabrication of optical element from unidirectional grown imidazole-imidazolium picrate monohydrate (IIP) organic crystals for nonlinear optical applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vivek, P.; Murugakoothan, P.

2014-12-01

Nonlinear optical bulk single crystal of Imidazole-imidazolium picrate monohydrate (IIP) has been grown by Sankaranarayanan-Ramasamy (SR) method using acetonitrile as solvent. First time we report the bulk growth of IIP crystal by SR method. The transparent IIP single crystal of maximum diameter 21 mm and length 46 mm was obtained by employing SR method. The grown crystal was subjected to high resolution X-ray diffraction, UV-vis-NIR transmittance, refractive index, hardness, dielectric and laser damage threshold studies. The crystalline perfection of the grown crystal was analyzed using HRXRD. Cut off wavelength and optical transmission window of the crystal was assessed by UV-vis-NIR and the refractive index of the crystal was found. The mechanical property of the crystal was estimated by Vicker's hardness test. The dielectric property of the crystal was measured as a function of frequency. The laser damage threshold value was determined. The particle size dependent second harmonic generation efficiency for IIP was evaluated with standard reference material potassium dihydrogen phosphate (KDP) by Kurtz-Perry powder method using Nd:YAG laser, which established the existence of phase matching. The second harmonic generation (SHG) of IIP crystal was investigated by the SHG Maker fringes technique. The mechanism of growth is revealed by carrying out chemical etching using acetonitrile as etchant.

A lattice approach to spinorial quantum gravity

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Renteln, Paul; Smolin, Lee

1989-01-01

A new lattice regularization of quantum general relativity based on Ashtekar's reformulation of Hamiltonian general relativity is presented. In this form, quantum states of the gravitational field are represented within the physical Hilbert space of a Kogut-Susskind lattice gauge theory. The gauge field of the theory is a complexified SU(2) connection which is the gravitational connection for left-handed spinor fields. The physical states of the gravitational field are those which are annihilated by additional constraints which correspond to the four constraints of general relativity. Lattice versions of these constraints are constructed. Those corresponding to the three-dimensional diffeomorphism generators move states associated with Wilson loops around on the lattice. The lattice Hamiltonian constraint has a simple form, and a correspondingly simple interpretation: it is an operator which cuts and joins Wilson loops at points of intersection.

V-doped SnS2: a new intermediate band material for a better use of the solar spectrum.

PubMed

Wahnón, Perla; Conesa, José C; Palacios, Pablo; Lucena, Raquel; Aguilera, Irene; Seminovski, Yohanna; Fresno, Fernando

2011-12-07

Intermediate band materials can boost photovoltaic efficiency through an increase in photocurrent without photovoltage degradation thanks to the use of two sub-bandgap photons to achieve a full electronic transition from the valence band to the conduction band of a semiconductor structure. After having reported in previous works several transition metal-substituted semiconductors as able to achieve the electronic structure needed for this scheme, we propose at present carrying out this substitution in sulfides that have bandgaps of around 2.0 eV and containing octahedrally coordinated cations such as In or Sn. Specifically, the electronic structure of layered SnS(2) with Sn partially substituted by vanadium is examined here with first principles quantum methods and seen to give favourable characteristics in this respect. The synthesis of this material in nanocrystalline powder form is then undertaken and achieved using solvothermal chemical methods. The insertion of vanadium in SnS(2) is found to produce an absorption spectrum in the UV-Vis-NIR range that displays a new sub-bandgap feature in agreement with the quantum calculations. A photocatalytic reaction-based test verifies that this sub-bandgap absorption produces highly mobile electrons and holes in the material that may be used for the solar energy conversion, giving experimental support to the quantum calculations predictions.

Fluorenyl benzothiadiazole and benzoselenadiazole near-IR fluorescent probes for two-photon fluorescence imaging (Conference Presentation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Belfield, Kevin D.; Yao, Sheng; Kim, Bosung; Yue, Xiling

2016-03-01

Imaging biological samples with two-photon fluorescence (2PF) microscopy has the unique advantage of resulting high contrast 3D resolution subcellular image that can reach up to several millimeters depth. 2PF probes that absorb and emit at near IR region need to be developed. Two-photon excitation (2PE) wavelengths are less concerned as 2PE uses wavelengths doubles the absorption wavelength of the probe, which means 2PE wavelengths for probes even with absorption at visible wavelength will fall into NIR region. Therefore, probes that fluoresce at near IR region with high quantum yields are needed. A series of dyes based on 5-thienyl-2, 1, 3-benzothiadiazole and 5-thienyl-2, 1, 3-benzoselenadiazole core were synthesized as near infrared two-photon fluorophores. Fluorescence maxima wavelengths as long as 714 nm and fluorescence quantum yields as high as 0.67 were achieved. The fluorescence quantum yields of the dyes were nearly constant, regardless of solvents polarity. These diazoles exhibited large Stokes shift (<114nm), high two-photon absorption cross sections (up to 2,800 GM), and high two-photon fluorescence figure of merit (FM , 1.04×10-2 GM). Cells incubated on a 3D scaffold with one of the new probes (encapsulated in Pluronic micelles) exhibited bright fluorescence, enabling 3D two-photon fluorescence imaging to a depth of 100 µm.

Near-infrared interactance (NIR): a new non-invasive technique to estimate subcutaneous body fat in newborns.

PubMed

Demarini, S; Donnelly, M M

1994-01-01

Body fat (BF) is rarely determined routinely in infants due to the lack of a simple measuring device. A portable NIR instrument, successfully applied in adults, takes 5 seconds for a measurement and involves no skin manipulation. We designed this study 1) to compare BF estimates by NIR to skinfold thickness (ST) and 2) to assess the relationship of NIR and ST values with standard measures reflecting BF, such as Weight/Length Ratio, Body Mass Index and Ponderal Index. We studied BF in 40 healthy term infants within 12 hours of birth by NIR and ST at 3 standard sites: triceps (TRI), subscapular (SUB) and abdominal (ABD). RESULTS. Significant correlations were found between NIR and ST (R=0.70, 0.58 and 0.64 for SUB, TRI and ABD, respectively); between the sums of the 3 measurements (R= 0.69), and between birthweight and ST (R=0.57) or NIR (0.51), and between Weight/Length Ratio and ST (R=0.55) or NIR (R=0.51). We conclude that NIR measurements correlate well with skinfold measurements and NIR can be measured faster than skinfolds (5 vs 60 seconds). We speculate that NIR could be cost-effective for routine clinical measure of body fat and growth in infants.

Crystal growth of triphenylphosphine oxide 4-nitrophenol (TP4N) for nonlinear optical (NLO) applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pandian, Muthu Senthil; Karuppasamy, P.; Kamalesh, T.; Ramasamy, P.; Verma, Sunil

2018-04-01

The optically good quality organic single crystals of triphenylphosphine oxide 4-nitrophenol (TP4N) were successfully grown by slow evaporation solution technique (SEST) using methanol as solvent. The lattice parameters of the grown crystal were confirmed by single crystal X-ray diffraction analysis. The optical transmittance, cut-off wavelength and band gap of the TP4N crystal were obtained by UV-Vis NIR spectrum analysis. The photoluminescence studies were carried out to find out the luminesce properties of TP4N single crystal. The photoconductivity studies reveal that the TP4N crystal has negative photoconductive nature. The third order nonlinear susceptibility (χ(3)) of TP4N crystal was evaluated using the Z-scan technique at 640 nm.

Theoretical design of near - infrared organic compounds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brymora, Katarzyna; Ducasse, Laurent; Dautel, Olivier; Lartigau-Dagron, Christine; Castet, FréDéRic

The world follows the path of digital development faster than ever before. In consequence, the Human Machine Interfaces (HMI) market is growing as well and it requires some innovations. The goal of our work is to achieve an organic Infra-Red (IR) photodetectors hitting the performance requirements for HMI applications. The quantum chemical calculations are used to guide the synthesis and technology development. In this work, in the framework of density functional theory (DFT) and time-dependent density functional theory (TD-DFT), we consider a large variety of materials exploring small donor-acceptor-donor molecules and copolymers alternating donor and acceptor monomers. We provide a structure-property relationship in view of designing new Near-Infrared (NIR) absorbing organic molecules and polymers.

Machine learning & artificial intelligence in the quantum domain: a review of recent progress

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dunjko, Vedran; Briegel, Hans J.

2018-07-01

Quantum information technologies, on the one hand, and intelligent learning systems, on the other, are both emergent technologies that are likely to have a transformative impact on our society in the future. The respective underlying fields of basic research—quantum information versus machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI)—have their own specific questions and challenges, which have hitherto been investigated largely independently. However, in a growing body of recent work, researchers have been probing the question of the extent to which these fields can indeed learn and benefit from each other. Quantum ML explores the interaction between quantum computing and ML, investigating how results and techniques from one field can be used to solve the problems of the other. Recently we have witnessed significant breakthroughs in both directions of influence. For instance, quantum computing is finding a vital application in providing speed-ups for ML problems, critical in our ‘big data’ world. Conversely, ML already permeates many cutting-edge technologies and may become instrumental in advanced quantum technologies. Aside from quantum speed-up in data analysis, or classical ML optimization used in quantum experiments, quantum enhancements have also been (theoretically) demonstrated for interactive learning tasks, highlighting the potential of quantum-enhanced learning agents. Finally, works exploring the use of AI for the very design of quantum experiments and for performing parts of genuine research autonomously, have reported their first successes. Beyond the topics of mutual enhancement—exploring what ML/AI can do for quantum physics and vice versa—researchers have also broached the fundamental issue of quantum generalizations of learning and AI concepts. This deals with questions of the very meaning of learning and intelligence in a world that is fully described by quantum mechanics. In this review, we describe the main ideas, recent developments and progress in a broad spectrum of research investigating ML and AI in the quantum domain.

Machine learning & artificial intelligence in the quantum domain: a review of recent progress.

PubMed

Dunjko, Vedran; Briegel, Hans J

2018-07-01

Quantum information technologies, on the one hand, and intelligent learning systems, on the other, are both emergent technologies that are likely to have a transformative impact on our society in the future. The respective underlying fields of basic research-quantum information versus machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI)-have their own specific questions and challenges, which have hitherto been investigated largely independently. However, in a growing body of recent work, researchers have been probing the question of the extent to which these fields can indeed learn and benefit from each other. Quantum ML explores the interaction between quantum computing and ML, investigating how results and techniques from one field can be used to solve the problems of the other. Recently we have witnessed significant breakthroughs in both directions of influence. For instance, quantum computing is finding a vital application in providing speed-ups for ML problems, critical in our 'big data' world. Conversely, ML already permeates many cutting-edge technologies and may become instrumental in advanced quantum technologies. Aside from quantum speed-up in data analysis, or classical ML optimization used in quantum experiments, quantum enhancements have also been (theoretically) demonstrated for interactive learning tasks, highlighting the potential of quantum-enhanced learning agents. Finally, works exploring the use of AI for the very design of quantum experiments and for performing parts of genuine research autonomously, have reported their first successes. Beyond the topics of mutual enhancement-exploring what ML/AI can do for quantum physics and vice versa-researchers have also broached the fundamental issue of quantum generalizations of learning and AI concepts. This deals with questions of the very meaning of learning and intelligence in a world that is fully described by quantum mechanics. In this review, we describe the main ideas, recent developments and progress in a broad spectrum of research investigating ML and AI in the quantum domain.

Synthesis and characterization of a glycine-modified heptamethine indocyanine dye for in vivo cancer-targeted near-infrared imaging

PubMed Central

Liu, Tao; Luo, Shenglin; Wang, Yang; Tan, Xu; Qi, Qingrong; Shi, Chunmeng

2014-01-01

Near-infrared (NIR) fluorescent sensors have emerged as promising molecular tools for cancer imaging and detection in living systems. However, cancer NIR fluorescent sensors are very challenging to develop because they are required to exhibit good specificity and low toxicity as an eligible contrast agent. Here, we describe the synthesis of a new heptamethine indocyanine dye (NIR-27) modified with a glycine at the end of each N-alkyl side chain, and its biological characterization for in vivo cancer-targeted NIR imaging. In addition to its high specificity, NIR-27 also shows lower cytotoxicity than indocyanine green, a nonspecific NIR probe widely used in clinic. These characteristics suggest that NIR-27 is a promising prospect as a new NIR fluorescent sensor for sensitive cancer detection. PMID:25246770

Charge carrier localised in zero-dimensional (CH3NH3)3Bi2I9 clusters.

PubMed

Ni, Chengsheng; Hedley, Gordon; Payne, Julia; Svrcek, Vladimir; McDonald, Calum; Jagadamma, Lethy Krishnan; Edwards, Paul; Martin, Robert; Jain, Gunisha; Carolan, Darragh; Mariotti, Davide; Maguire, Paul; Samuel, Ifor; Irvine, John

2017-08-01

A metal-organic hybrid perovskite (CH 3 NH 3 PbI 3 ) with three-dimensional framework of metal-halide octahedra has been reported as a low-cost, solution-processable absorber for a thin-film solar cell with a power-conversion efficiency over 20%. Low-dimensional layered perovskites with metal halide slabs separated by the insulating organic layers are reported to show higher stability, but the efficiencies of the solar cells are limited by the confinement of excitons. In order to explore the confinement and transport of excitons in zero-dimensional metal-organic hybrid materials, a highly orientated film of (CH 3 NH 3 ) 3 Bi 2 I 9 with nanometre-sized core clusters of Bi 2 I 9 3- surrounded by insulating CH 3 NH 3 + was prepared via solution processing. The (CH 3 NH 3 ) 3 Bi 2 I 9 film shows highly anisotropic photoluminescence emission and excitation due to the large proportion of localised excitons coupled with delocalised excitons from intercluster energy transfer. The abrupt increase in photoluminescence quantum yield at excitation energy above twice band gap could indicate a quantum cutting due to the low dimensionality.Understanding the confinement and transport of excitons in low dimensional systems will aid the development of next generation photovoltaics. Via photophysical studies Ni et al. observe 'quantum cutting' in 0D metal-organic hybrid materials based on methylammonium bismuth halide (CH 3 NH 3 )3Bi 2 I 9 .

Folate/NIR 797-Conjugated Albumin Magnetic Nanospheres: Synthesis, Characterisation, and In Vitro and In Vivo Targeting Evaluation

PubMed Central

Liu, Dongfang; Liu, Peidang; Zhang, Dongsheng

2014-01-01

A practical and effective strategy for synthesis of Folate-NIR 797-conjugated Magnetic Albumin Nanospheres (FA-NIR 797-MAN) was developed. For this strategy, Magnetic Albumin Nanospheres (MAN), composed of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) and bovine serum albumin (BSA), were covalently conjugated with folic acid (FA) ligands to enhance the targeting capability of the particles to folate receptor (FR) over-expressing tumours. Subsequently, a near-infrared (NIR) fluorescent dye NIR 797 was conjugated with FA-conjugated MAN for in vivo fluorescence imaging. The FA-NIR 797-MAN exhibited low toxicity to a human nasopharyngeal epidermal carcinoma cell line (KB cells). Additionally, in vitro and in vivo evaluation of the dynamic behaviour and targeting ability of FA-NIR 797-MAN to KB tumours validated the highly selective affinity of FA-NIR 797-MAN for FR-positive tumours. In summary, the FA-NIR 797-MAN prepared here exhibited great potential for tumour imaging, since the near-infrared fluorescence contrast agents target cells via FR-mediated endocytosis. The high fluorescence intensity together with the targeting effect makes FA-NIR 797-MAN a promising candidate for imaging, monitoring, and early diagnosis of cancer at the molecular and cellular levels. PMID:25188308

A portable near-infrared fluorescence image overlay device for surgical navigation (Conference Presentation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McWade, Melanie A.

2016-03-01

A rise in the use of near-infrared (NIR) fluorescent dyes or intrinsic fluorescent markers for surgical guidance and tissue diagnosis has triggered the development of NIR fluorescence imaging systems. Because NIR wavelengths are invisible to the naked eye, instrumentation must allow surgeons to visualize areas of high fluorescence. Current NIR fluorescence imaging systems have limited ease-of-use because they display fluorescent information on remote display monitors that require surgeons to divert attention away from the patient to identify the location of tissue fluorescence. Furthermore, some systems lack simultaneous visible light imaging which provides valuable spatial context to fluorescence images. We have developed a novel, portable NIR fluorescence imaging approach for intraoperative surgical guidance that provides information for surgical navigation within the clinician's line of sight. The system utilizes a NIR CMOS detector to collect excited NIR fluorescence from the surgical field. Tissues with NIR fluorescence are overlaid with visible light to provide information on tissue margins directly on the surgical field. In vitro studies have shown this versatile imaging system can be applied to applications with both extrinsic NIR contrast agents such as indocyanine green and weaker sources of biological fluorescence such as parathyroid gland tissue. This non-invasive, portable NIR fluorescence imaging system overlays an image directly on tissue, potentially allowing surgical decisions to be made quicker and with greater ease-of-use than current NIR fluorescence imaging systems.

nirS-Encoding denitrifier community composition, distribution, and abundance along the coastal wetlands of China.

PubMed

Gao, Juan; Hou, Lijun; Zheng, Yanling; Liu, Min; Yin, Guoyu; Li, Xiaofei; Lin, Xianbiao; Yu, Chendi; Wang, Rong; Jiang, Xiaofen; Sun, Xiuru

2016-10-01

For the past few decades, human activities have intensively increased the reactive nitrogen enrichment in China's coastal wetlands. Although denitrification is a critical pathway of nitrogen removal, the understanding of denitrifier community dynamics driving denitrification remains limited in the coastal wetlands. In this study, the diversity, abundance, and community composition of nirS-encoding denitrifiers were analyzed to reveal their variations in China's coastal wetlands. Diverse nirS sequences were obtained and more than 98 % of them shared considerable phylogenetic similarity with sequences obtained from aquatic systems (marine/estuarine/coastal sediments and hypoxia sea water). Clone library analysis revealed that the distribution and composition of nirS-harboring denitrifiers had a significant latitudinal differentiation, but without a seasonal shift. Canonical correspondence analysis showed that the community structure of nirS-encoding denitrifiers was significantly related to temperature and ammonium concentration. The nirS gene abundance ranged from 4.3 × 10(5) to 3.7 × 10(7) copies g(-1) dry sediment, with a significant spatial heterogeneity. Among all detected environmental factors, temperature was a key factor affecting not only the nirS gene abundance but also the community structure of nirS-type denitrifiers. Overall, this study significantly enhances our understanding of the structure and dynamics of denitrifying communities in the coastal wetlands of China.

Selection of the NIR region for a regression model of the ethanol concentration in fermentation process by an online NIR and mid-IR dual-region spectrometer and 2D heterospectral correlation spectroscopy.

PubMed

Nishii, Takashi; Genkawa, Takuma; Watari, Masahiro; Ozaki, Yukihiro

2012-01-01

A new selection procedure of an informative near-infrared (NIR) region for regression model building is proposed that uses an online NIR/mid-infrared (mid-IR) dual-region spectrometer in conjunction with two-dimensional (2D) NIR/mid-IR heterospectral correlation spectroscopy. In this procedure, both NIR and mid-IR spectra of a liquid sample are acquired sequentially during a reaction process using the NIR/mid-IR dual-region spectrometer; the 2D NIR/mid-IR heterospectral correlation spectrum is subsequently calculated from the obtained spectral data set. From the calculated 2D spectrum, a NIR region is selected that includes bands of high positive correlation intensity with mid-IR bands assigned to the analyte, and used for the construction of a regression model. To evaluate the performance of this procedure, a partial least-squares (PLS) regression model of the ethanol concentration in a fermentation process was constructed. During fermentation, NIR/mid-IR spectra in the 10000 - 1200 cm(-1) region were acquired every 3 min, and a 2D NIR/mid-IR heterospectral correlation spectrum was calculated to investigate the correlation intensity between the NIR and mid-IR bands. NIR regions that include bands at 4343, 4416, 5778, 5904, and 5955 cm(-1), which result from the combinations and overtones of the C-H group of ethanol, were selected for use in the PLS regression models, by taking the correlation intensity of a mid-IR band at 2985 cm(-1) arising from the CH(3) asymmetric stretching vibration mode of ethanol as a reference. The predicted results indicate that the ethanol concentrations calculated from the PLS regression models fit well to those obtained by high-performance liquid chromatography. Thus, it can be concluded that the selection procedure using the NIR/mid-IR dual-region spectrometer combined with 2D NIR/mid-IR heterospectral correlation spectroscopy is a powerful method for the construction of a reliable regression model.

NirN Protein from Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a Novel Electron-bifurcating Dehydrogenase Catalyzing the Last Step of Heme d1 Biosynthesis*

PubMed Central

Adamczack, Julia; Hoffmann, Martin; Papke, Ulrich; Haufschildt, Kristin; Nicke, Tristan; Bröring, Martin; Sezer, Murat; Weimar, Rebecca; Kuhlmann, Uwe; Hildebrandt, Peter; Layer, Gunhild

2014-01-01

Heme d1 plays an important role in denitrification as the essential cofactor of the cytochrome cd1 nitrite reductase NirS. At present, the biosynthesis of heme d1 is only partially understood. The last step of heme d1 biosynthesis requires a so far unknown enzyme that catalyzes the introduction of a double bond into one of the propionate side chains of the tetrapyrrole yielding the corresponding acrylate side chain. In this study, we show that a Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 strain lacking the NirN protein does not produce heme d1. Instead, the NirS purified from this strain contains the heme d1 precursor dihydro-heme d1 lacking the acrylic double bond, as indicated by UV-visible absorption spectroscopy and resonance Raman spectroscopy. Furthermore, the dihydro-heme d1 was extracted from purified NirS and characterized by UV-visible absorption spectroscopy and finally identified by high-resolution electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. Moreover, we show that purified NirN from P. aeruginosa binds the dihydro-heme d1 and catalyzes the introduction of the acrylic double bond in vitro. Strikingly, NirN uses an electron bifurcation mechanism for the two-electron oxidation reaction, during which one electron ends up on its heme c cofactor and the second electron reduces the substrate/product from the ferric to the ferrous state. On the basis of our results, we propose novel roles for the proteins NirN and NirF during the biosynthesis of heme d1. PMID:25204657

Molecular characterization of diazotrophic and denitrifying bacteria associated with mangrove roots.

PubMed

Flores-Mireles, Ana L; Winans, Stephen C; Holguin, Gina

2007-11-01

An analysis of the molecular diversity of N(2) fixers and denitrifiers associated with mangrove roots was performed using terminal restriction length polymorphism (T-RFLP) of nifH (N(2) fixation) and nirS and nirK (denitrification), and the compositions and structures of these communities among three sites were compared. The number of operational taxonomic units (OTU) for nifH was higher than that for nirK or nirS at all three sites. Site 3, which had the highest organic matter and sand content in the rhizosphere sediment, as well as the lowest pore water oxygen concentration, had the highest nifH diversity. Principal component analysis of biogeochemical parameters identified soil texture, organic matter content, pore water oxygen concentration, and salinity as the main variables that differentiated the sites. Nonmetric multidimensional scaling (MDS) analyses of the T-RFLP data using the Bray-Curtis coefficient, group analyses, and pairwise comparisons between the sites clearly separated the OTU of site 3 from those of sites 1 and 2. For nirS, there were statistically significant differences in the composition of OTU among the sites, but the variability was less than for nifH. OTU defined on the basis of nirK were highly similar, and the three sites were not clearly separated on the basis of these sequences. The phylogenetic trees of nifH, nirK, and nirS showed that most of the cloned sequences were more similar to sequences from the rhizosphere isolates than to those from known strains or from other environments.

Molecular Characterization of Diazotrophic and Denitrifying Bacteria Associated with Mangrove Roots▿

PubMed Central

Flores-Mireles, Ana L.; Winans, Stephen C.; Holguin, Gina

2007-01-01

An analysis of the molecular diversity of N2 fixers and denitrifiers associated with mangrove roots was performed using terminal restriction length polymorphism (T-RFLP) of nifH (N2 fixation) and nirS and nirK (denitrification), and the compositions and structures of these communities among three sites were compared. The number of operational taxonomic units (OTU) for nifH was higher than that for nirK or nirS at all three sites. Site 3, which had the highest organic matter and sand content in the rhizosphere sediment, as well as the lowest pore water oxygen concentration, had the highest nifH diversity. Principal component analysis of biogeochemical parameters identified soil texture, organic matter content, pore water oxygen concentration, and salinity as the main variables that differentiated the sites. Nonmetric multidimensional scaling (MDS) analyses of the T-RFLP data using the Bray-Curtis coefficient, group analyses, and pairwise comparisons between the sites clearly separated the OTU of site 3 from those of sites 1 and 2. For nirS, there were statistically significant differences in the composition of OTU among the sites, but the variability was less than for nifH. OTU defined on the basis of nirK were highly similar, and the three sites were not clearly separated on the basis of these sequences. The phylogenetic trees of nifH, nirK, and nirS showed that most of the cloned sequences were more similar to sequences from the rhizosphere isolates than to those from known strains or from other environments. PMID:17827324

Multifunctional compact hybrid Au nanoshells: a new generation of nanoplasmonic probes for biosensing, imaging, and controlled release.

PubMed

Jin, Yongdong

2014-01-21

Gold nanoshells (AuNSs) with tunable localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) peaks in the near-infrared (NIR) region possess unique optical properties-particularly that soft tissues are "transparent" at these wavelengths-making them of great interest in cancer diagnosis and treatment. Since 1998 when Halas and co-workers invented the first generation of AuNS, with a silica core and Au shell, researchers have studied and designed AuNSs for theranostic-individualized, combination diagnosis and therapy-nanomedicine. As demand has increased for more powerful and practical theranostic applications, so has demand for the next generation of AuNSs-compact yet complex multifunctional AuNSs with finely integrated plasmonic and nonplasmonic inorganic components. For in vivo biomedical applications, such a hybrid AuNS offers the desirable optical properties of NIR LSPR. Size, however, has proved a more challenging parameter to control in hybrid AuNSs. The ideal size of therapeutic NPs is 10-100 nm. Larger particles have limited diffusion in the extracellular space, while particles less than 5 nm are rapidly cleared from the circulation through extravasation or renal clearance. Conventional methods of preparing AuNS have failed to obtain small-sized hybrid AuNSs with NIR LSPR responses. In this Account, we present a new class of multifunctional hybrid AuNSs with ultrathin AuNSs and varied, functional (nonplasmonic) core components ranging from "hard" semiconductor quantum dots (QDs), to superparamagnetic NPs, to "soft" liposomes made using poly-l-histidine as a template to direct Au deposition. The resultant hybrid AuNSs are uniform and compact (typically 15-60 nm) but also preserve the optical properties and shell-type NIR response necessary for biomedical use. We also demonstrate these particles' innovative plasmonic applications in biosensing, multimodal imaging and controlled release. More importantly, the magnetic-plasmonic Fe3O4/Au core-shell NP enables a new biological imaging method-magnetomotive photoacoustic (mmPA) imaging, which suppresses the nonmagnetomotive background and therefore offers remarkable contrast enhancement and improved specificity compared with photoacoustic images using conventional NP contrast agents. The advantages of our AuNSs are obvious: they are monodisperse, small (<100 nm), highly integrated, and have tunable visible-NIR plasmonic responses. All of these properties are crucial for in vitro or in vivo biological/biomedical studies and many applications, especially for studies of single cells or molecules which require particle monodispersity and tight size control. The plasmonic fluorescent QD/Au and the magnetic plasmonic Fe3O4/Au core-shell NPs may also reveal new physical phenomena that may lead to useful applications, owing to their well-defined core-shell nanoarchitectures and underlying nanoscale physical interactions.

Tailoring noise frequency spectrum to improve NIR determinations.

PubMed

Xie, Shaofei; Xiang, Bingren; Yu, Liyan; Deng, Haishan

2009-12-15

Near infrared spectroscopy (NIR) contains excessive background noise and weak analytical signals caused by near infrared overtones and combinations. That makes it difficult to achieve quantitative determinations of low concentration samples by NIR. A simple chemometric approach has been established to modify the noise frequency spectrum to improve NIR determinations. The proposed method is to multiply one Savitzky-Golay filtered NIR spectrum with another reference spectrum added with thermal noises before the other Savitzky-Golay filter. Since Savitzky-Golay filter is a kind of low-pass filter and cannot eliminate low frequency components of NIR spectrum, using one step or two consecutive Savitzky-Golay filter procedures cannot improve the determination of NIR greatly. Meanwhile, significant improvement is achieved via the Savitzky-Golay filtered NIR spectrum processed with the multiplication alteration before the other Savitzky-Golay filter. The frequency range of the modified noise spectrum shifts toward higher frequency regime via multiplication operation. So the second Savitzky-Golay filter is able to provide better filtering efficiency to obtain satisfied result. The improvement of NIR determination with tailoring noise frequency spectrum technique was demonstrated by both simulated dataset and two measured NIR spectral datasets. It is expected that noise frequency spectrum technique will be adopted mostly in applications where quantitative determination of low concentration sample is crucial.

Mental Task Evaluation for Hybrid NIRS-EEG Brain-Computer Interfaces

PubMed Central

Gupta, Rishabh; Falk, Tiago H.

2017-01-01

Based on recent electroencephalography (EEG) and near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) studies that showed that tasks such as motor imagery and mental arithmetic induce specific neural response patterns, we propose a hybrid brain-computer interface (hBCI) paradigm in which EEG and NIRS data are fused to improve binary classification performance. We recorded simultaneous NIRS-EEG data from nine participants performing seven mental tasks (word generation, mental rotation, subtraction, singing and navigation, and motor and face imagery). Classifiers were trained for each possible pair of tasks using (1) EEG features alone, (2) NIRS features alone, and (3) EEG and NIRS features combined, to identify the best task pairs and assess the usefulness of a multimodal approach. The NIRS-EEG approach led to an average increase in peak kappa of 0.03 when using features extracted from one-second windows (equivalent to an increase of 1.5% in classification accuracy for balanced classes). The increase was much stronger (0.20, corresponding to an 10% accuracy increase) when focusing on time windows of high NIRS performance. The EEG and NIRS analyses further unveiled relevant brain regions and important feature types. This work provides a basis for future NIRS-EEG hBCI studies aiming to improve classification performance toward more efficient and flexible BCIs. PMID:29181021

Pharmaceutical applications using NIR technology in the cloud

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grossmann, Luiz; Borges, Marco A.

2017-05-01

NIR technology has been available for a long time, certainly more than 50 years. Without any doubt, it has found many niche applications, especially in the pharmaceutical, food, agriculture and other industries due to its flexibility. There are a number of advantages over other existing analytical technologies we can list, for example virtually no need for sample preparation; usually NIR does not demand sample destruction and subsequent discard; NIR provides fast results; NIR does not require extensive operator training and carries small operating costs. However, the key point about NIR technology is the fact that it's more related to statistics than chemistry or, in other words, we are more concerned about analyzing and distinguishing features within the data than looking deep into the chemical entities themselves. A simple scan reading in the NIR range usually involves huge inflows of data points. Usually we decompose the signals into hundreds of predictor variables and use complex algorithms to predict classes or quantify specific content. NIR is all about math, especially by converting chemical information into numbers. Easier said than done. A NIR signal is a very complex one. Usually the signal responses are not specific to a particular material, rather, each grouṕs responses add up, thus providing low specificity of a spectral reading. This paper proposes a simple and efficient method to analyze and compare NIR spectra for the purpose of identifying the presence of active pharmaceutical ingredients in finished products using low cost NIR scanning devices connected to the internet cloud.

Concurrent fNIRS-fMRI measurement to validate a method for separating deep and shallow fNIRS signals by using multidistance optodes

PubMed Central

Funane, Tsukasa; Sato, Hiroki; Yahata, Noriaki; Takizawa, Ryu; Nishimura, Yukika; Kinoshita, Akihide; Katura, Takusige; Atsumori, Hirokazu; Fukuda, Masato; Kasai, Kiyoto; Koizumi, Hideaki; Kiguchi, Masashi

2015-01-01

Abstract. It has been reported that a functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) signal can be contaminated by extracerebral contributions. Many algorithms using multidistance separations to address this issue have been proposed, but their spatial separation performance has rarely been validated with simultaneous measurements of fNIRS and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). We previously proposed a method for discriminating between deep and shallow contributions in fNIRS signals, referred to as the multidistance independent component analysis (MD-ICA) method. In this study, to validate the MD-ICA method from the spatial aspect, multidistance fNIRS, fMRI, and laser-Doppler-flowmetry signals were simultaneously obtained for 12 healthy adult males during three tasks. The fNIRS signal was separated into deep and shallow signals by using the MD-ICA method, and the correlation between the waveforms of the separated fNIRS signals and the gray matter blood oxygenation level–dependent signals was analyzed. A three-way analysis of variance (signal depth×Hb kind×task) indicated that the main effect of fNIRS signal depth on the correlation is significant [F(1,1286)=5.34, p<0.05]. This result indicates that the MD-ICA method successfully separates fNIRS signals into spatially deep and shallow signals, and the accuracy and reliability of the fNIRS signal will be improved with the method. PMID:26157983

Clinical application of near-infrared spectroscopy in patients with traumatic brain injury: a review of the progress of the field.

PubMed

Sen, Anish N; Gopinath, Shankar P; Robertson, Claudia S

2016-07-01

Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is a technique by which the interaction between light in the near-infrared spectrum and matter can be quantitatively measured to provide information about the particular chromophore. Study into the clinical application of NIRS for traumatic brain injury (TBI) began in the 1990s with early reports of the ability to detect intracranial hematomas using NIRS. We highlight the advances in clinical applications of NIRS over the past two decades as they relate to TBI. We discuss recent studies evaluating NIRS techniques for intracranial hematoma detection, followed by the clinical application of NIRS in intracranial pressure and brain oxygenation measurement, and conclude with a summary of potential future uses of NIRS in TBI patient management.

Ultra-high-Q phononic resonators on-chip at cryogenic temperatures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kharel, Prashanta; Chu, Yiwen; Power, Michael; Renninger, William H.; Schoelkopf, Robert J.; Rakich, Peter T.

2018-06-01

Long-lived, high-frequency phonons are valuable for applications ranging from optomechanics to emerging quantum systems. For scientific as well as technological impact, we seek high-performance oscillators that offer a path toward chip-scale integration. Confocal bulk acoustic wave resonators have demonstrated an immense potential to support long-lived phonon modes in crystalline media at cryogenic temperatures. So far, these devices have been macroscopic with cm-scale dimensions. However, as we push these oscillators to high frequencies, we have an opportunity to radically reduce the footprint as a basis for classical and emerging quantum technologies. In this paper, we present novel design principles and simple microfabrication techniques to create high performance chip-scale confocal bulk acoustic wave resonators in a wide array of crystalline materials. We tailor the acoustic modes of such resonators to efficiently couple to light, permitting us to perform a non-invasive laser-based phonon spectroscopy. Using this technique, we demonstrate an acoustic Q-factor of 2.8 × 107 (6.5 × 106) for chip-scale resonators operating at 12.7 GHz (37.8 GHz) in crystalline z-cut quartz (x-cut silicon) at cryogenic temperatures.

Diamond encapsulated photovoltaics for transdermal power delivery.

PubMed

Ahnood, A; Fox, K E; Apollo, N V; Lohrmann, A; Garrett, D J; Nayagam, D A X; Karle, T; Stacey, A; Abberton, K M; Morrison, W A; Blakers, A; Prawer, S

2016-03-15

A safe, compact and robust means of wireless energy transfer across the skin barrier is a key requirement for implantable electronic devices. One possible approach is photovoltaic (PV) energy delivery using optical illumination at near infrared (NIR) wavelengths, to which the skin is highly transparent. In the work presented here, a subcutaneously implantable silicon PV cell, operated in conjunction with an external NIR laser diode, is developed as a power delivery system. The biocompatibility and long-term biostability of the implantable PV is ensured through the use of an hermetic container, comprising a transparent diamond capsule and platinum wire feedthroughs. A wavelength of 980 nm is identified as the optimum operating point based on the PV cell's external quantum efficiency, the skin's transmission spectrum, and the wavelength dependent safe exposure limit of the skin. In bench-top experiments using an external illumination intensity of 0.7 W/cm(2), a peak output power of 2.7 mW is delivered to the implant with an active PV cell dimension of 1.5 × 1.5 × 0.06 mm(3). This corresponds to a volumetric power output density of ~20 mW/mm(3), significantly higher than power densities achievable using inductively coupled coil-based approaches used in other medical implant systems. This approach paves the way for further ministration of bionic implants. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Light shift from ultraviolet to near infrared light: Cerenkov luminescence with gold nanocluster - near infrared (AuNc-NIR) conjugates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yoo, Su Woong; Mun, Hyoyoung; Oh, Gyungseok; Ryu, Youngjae; Kim, Min-Gon; Chung, Euiheon

2015-03-01

Cerenkov luminescence (CL) is generated when a charged particle moves faster than the speed of light in dielectric media. Recently CL imaging becomes an emerging technique with the use of radioisotopes. However, due to relatively weak blue light production and massive tissue attenuation, CL has not been applied widely. Therefore, we attempted to shift the CL emission to more near infrared (NIR) spectrum for better tissue penetration by using Cerenkov Radiation Energy Transfer (CRET). Gold nanoclusters were conjugated with NIR dye molecules (AuNc-IR820 and AuNc-ICG) to be activated with ultraviolet light. We found optimal conjugate concentrations of AuNc-NIR conjugates by spectroscopy system to generate maximal photon emission. When exposed by ultraviolet light, the emission of NIR light from the conjugates were verified. In quantitative analysis, AuNc-NIR conjugates emit brighter light signal than pure AuNc. This result implies that NIR fluorescent dyes (both IR820 and ICG) can be excited by the emission from AuNc. Following the above baseline experiment, we mixed F-18 fluorodeoxyglucose (F-18 FDG) radioisotope to the AuNc- NIR conjugates, to confirm NIR emission induced from Cerenkov radiation. Long pass filter was used to block Cerenkov luminescence and to collect the emission from AuNc-NIR conjugates. Instead of one long exposure imaging with CCD, we used multiple frame scheme to eliminate gamma radiation strike in each frame prior to combination. In summary, we obtained NIR emission light from AuNc-NIR conjugated dyes that is induced from CL. We plan to perform in vivo small animal imaging with these conjugates to assess better tissue penetration.

Near infrared photoimmunotherapy in the treatment of disseminated peritoneal ovarian cancer

PubMed Central

Sato, Kazuhide; Hanaoka, Hirofumi; Watanabe, Rira; Nakajima, Takahito; Choyke, Peter L.; Kobayashi, Hisataka

2014-01-01

Near infrared photoimmunotherapy (NIR-PIT) is a new cancer treatment that combines the specificity of intravenously injected antibodies for targeting tumors with the toxicity induced by photosensitizers after exposure to near infrared (NIR) light. Herein, we evaluate the efficacy of NIR-PIT in a mouse model of disseminated peritoneal ovarian cancer. In vitro and in vivo experiments were conducted with a HER2-expressing, luciferase expressing, ovarian cancer cell line (SKOV-luc). An antibody-photosensitizer conjugate (APC) consisting of trastuzumab and a phthalocyanine dye, IRDye-700DX, was synthesized (tra-IR700) and cells or tumors were exposed to near infrared (NIR) light. In vitro PIT cytotoxicity was assessed with dead staining and luciferase activity in freely growing cells and in a 3D spheroid model. In vivo NIR-PIT was performed in mice with tumors implanted in the peritoneum and in the flank and these assessed by tumor volume and/or bioluminescence. In vitro NIR-PIT-induced cytotoxicity was light dose dependent. Repeated light exposures induced complete tumor cell killing in the 3D spheroid model. In vivo the anti-tumor effects of NIR-PIT were confirmed by significant reductions in both tumor volume and luciferase activity in the flank model (NIR-PIT vs control in tumor volume changes at day 10; p=0.0001, NIR-PIT vs control in luciferase activity at day 4; p=0.0237), and the peritoneal model (NIR-PIT vs control in luciferase activity at day 7; p=0.0037). NIR-PIT provided effective cell killing in this HER2 positive model of disseminated peritoneal ovarian cancer. Thus, NIR-PIT is a promising new therapy for the treatment of disseminated peritoneal tumors. PMID:25416790

Relationships between NIR spectra and sensory attributes of Thai commercial fish sauces.

PubMed

Ritthiruangdej, Pitiporn; Suwonsichon, Thongchai

2007-07-01

Twenty Thai commercial fish sauces were characterized by sensory descriptive analysis and near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy. The main objectives were i) to investigate the relationships between sensory attributes and NIR spectra of samples and ii) to characterize the sensory characteristics of fish sauces based on NIR data. A generic descriptive analysis with 12 trained panels was used to characterize the sensory attributes. These attributes consisted of 15 descriptors: brown color, 5 aromatics (sweet, caramelized, fermented, fishy, and musty), 4 tastes (sweet, salty, bitter, and umami), 3 aftertastes (sweet, salty and bitter) and 2 flavors (caramelized and fishy). The results showed that Thai fish sauce samples exhibited significant differences in all of sensory attribute values (p < 0.05). NIR transflectance spectra were obtained from 1100 to 2500 nm. Prior to investigation of the relationships between sensory attributes and NIR spectra, principal component analysis (PCA) was applied to reduce the dimensionality of the spectral data from 622 wavelengths to two uncorrelated components (NIR1 and NIR2) which explained 92 and 7% of the total variation, respectively. NIR1 was highly correlated with the wavelength regions of 1100 - 1544, 1774 - 2062, 2092 - 2308, and 2358 - 2440 nm, while NIR2 was highly correlated with the wavelength regions of 1742 - 1764, 2066 - 2088, and 2312 - 2354 nm. Subsequently, the relationships among these two components and all sensory attributes were also investigated by PCA. The results showed that the first three principal components (PCs) named as fishy flavor component (PC1), sweet component (PC2) and bitterness component (PC3), respectively, explained a total of 66.86% of the variation. NIR1 was mainly correlated to the sensory attributes of fishy aromatic, fishy flavor and sweet aftertaste on PC1. In addition, the PCA using only the factor loadings of NIR1 and NIR2 could be used to classify samples into three groups which showed high, medium and low degrees of fishy aromatic, fishy flavor and sweet aftertaste.

A photostable near-infrared fluorescent tracker with pH-independent specificity to lysosomes for long time and multicolor imaging.

PubMed

Zhang, Xinfu; Wang, Chao; Han, Zhuo; Xiao, Yi

2014-12-10

A new boron-dipyrromethene-based lysosome tracker, Lyso-NIR, is facilely synthesized. Besides the intensive near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence and high photostability, Lyso-NIR shows the capability to stably localize in lysosomes, which is independent of the local pH. Lyso-NIR does not have the problematic alkalization effect suffered by the commonly used lysotrackers; thus, it shows ignorable cytotoxicity and slightly affects normal physiological functions of lysosomes. The above advantages of Lyso-NIR make it feasible to track lysosomes' dynamic changes in a relatively long time during the full cellular processes such as apoptosis, heavy metal stimulation, and endocytosis, as is demonstrated in this work. Moreover, Lyso-NIR's narrow NIR emission at 740 nm with a full width at half-maximum smaller than 50 nm makes it easy to avoid the crosstalk with the emissions from other common fluorescent probes, which strengthens Lyso-NIR's competitiveness as a standard lysosome tracker for multicolor bioimaging.

Visualization of Pulmonary Clearance Mechanisms via Noninvasive Optical Imaging Validated by Near-Infrared Flow Cytometry

PubMed Central

Zhou, Haiying; Gunsten, Sean P.; Zhegalova, Natalia G.; Bloch, Sharon; Achilefu, Samuel; Holley, J. Christopher; Schweppe, Daniel; Akers, Walter; Brody, Steven L.; Eades, William; Berezin, Mikhail Y.

2016-01-01

In vivo optical imaging with near-infrared (NIR) probes is an established method of diagnostics in preclinical and clinical studies. However, the specificities of these probes are difficult to validate ex vivo due to the lack of NIR flow cytometry. To address this limitation, we modified a flow cytometer to include an additional NIR channel using a 752 nm laser line. The flow cytometry system was tested using NIR microspheres and cell lines labeled with a combination of visible range and NIR fluorescent dyes. The approach was verified in vivo in mice evaluated for immune response in lungs after intratracheal delivery of the NIR contrast agent. Flow cytometry of cells obtained from the lung bronchoalveolar lavage demonstrated that the NIR dye was taken up by pulmonary macrophages as early as four-hours post-injection. This combination of optical imaging with NIR flow cytometry extends the capability of imaging and enables complementation of in vivo imaging with cell-specific studies. PMID:25808737

Variability comparison of simultaneous brain near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) and functional MRI (fMRI) during visual stimulation

PubMed Central

Minati, Ludovico; Visani, Elisa; Dowell, Nick G; Medford, Nick; Critchley, Hugo D

2011-01-01

Brain near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is emerging as a potential alternative to functional MRI (fMRI). To date, no study has explicitly compared the two techniques in terms of measurement variability, a key parameter dictating attainable statistical power. Here, NIRS and fMRI were simultaneously recorded during event-related visual stimulation. Inter-subject coefficients of variation (CVs) for peak response amplitude were considerably larger for NIRS than fMRI, but inter-subject CVs for response latency and intra-subject CVs for response amplitude were overall comparable. Our results may represent an optimistic estimate of the CVs of NIRS measurements, as optode positioning was guided by structural MRI, which is normally unavailable. We conclude that fMRI may be preferable to NIRS for group comparisons, but NIRS is equally powerful when comparing conditions within participants. The discrepancy between inter- and intra-subject CVs is likely related to variability in head anatomy and tissue properties which may be better accounted for by emerging NIRS technology. PMID:21780948

Determination of double bond conversion in dental resins by near infrared spectroscopy.

PubMed

Stansbury, J W; Dickens, S H

2001-01-01

This study determined the validity and practicality of near infrared (NIR) spectroscopic techniques for measurement of conversion in dental resins. Conversion measurements by NIR and mid-IR were compared using two techniques: (1) The conversion of 3mm thick photopolymerized Bis-GMA/TEGDMA resin specimens was determined by transmission NIR. Specimens were then ground and reanalyzed in KBr pellet form by mid-IR. (2) As further verification, thin resin films were photocured and analyzed by mid-IR. Multiple thin films were then compressed into a thick pellet for examination by NIR. Conversion values obtained by NIR and mid-IR techniques did not differ significantly. A correction for changing specimen thickness due to polymerization shrinkage was applied to NIR conversion measurements since an internal standard reference peak was not employed. Sensitivity of the NIR technique was superior to those based on the mid-IR. The nondestructive analysis of conversion in dental resins by NIR offers advantages of convenience, practical specimen dimensions and precision compared with standard mid-IR analytical procedures. Because glass is virtually transparent in the NIR spectrum, this technique has excellent potential for use with filled dental resins as well.

Dynamic causal modelling on infant fNIRS data: A validation study on a simultaneously recorded fNIRS-fMRI dataset.

PubMed

Bulgarelli, Chiara; Blasi, Anna; Arridge, Simon; Powell, Samuel; de Klerk, Carina C J M; Southgate, Victoria; Brigadoi, Sabrina; Penny, William; Tak, Sungho; Hamilton, Antonia

2018-04-12

Tracking the connectivity of the developing brain from infancy through childhood is an area of increasing research interest, and fNIRS provides an ideal method for studying the infant brain as it is compact, safe and robust to motion. However, data analysis methods for fNIRS are still underdeveloped compared to those available for fMRI. Dynamic causal modelling (DCM) is an advanced connectivity technique developed for fMRI data, that aims to estimate the coupling between brain regions and how this might be modulated by changes in experimental conditions. DCM has recently been applied to adult fNIRS, but not to infants. The present paper provides a proof-of-principle for the application of this method to infant fNIRS data and a demonstration of the robustness of this method using a simultaneously recorded fMRI-fNIRS single case study, thereby allowing the use of this technique in future infant studies. fMRI and fNIRS were simultaneously recorded from a 6-month-old sleeping infant, who was presented with auditory stimuli in a block design. Both fMRI and fNIRS data were preprocessed using SPM, and analysed using a general linear model approach. The main challenges that adapting DCM for fNIRS infant data posed included: (i) the import of the structural image of the participant for spatial pre-processing, (ii) the spatial registration of the optodes on the structural image of the infant, (iii) calculation of an accurate 3-layer segmentation of the structural image, (iv) creation of a high-density mesh as well as (v) the estimation of the NIRS optical sensitivity functions. To assess our results, we compared the values obtained for variational Free Energy (F), Bayesian Model Selection (BMS) and Bayesian Model Average (BMA) with the same set of possible models applied to both the fMRI and fNIRS datasets. We found high correspondence in F, BMS, and BMA between fMRI and fNIRS data, therefore showing for the first time high reliability of DCM applied to infant fNIRS data. This work opens new avenues for future research on effective connectivity in infancy by contributing a data analysis pipeline and guidance for applying DCM to infant fNIRS data. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Uncooled infrared photon detection concepts and devices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Piyankarage, Viraj Vishwakantha Jayaweera

This work describes infrared (IR) photon detector techniques based on novel semiconductor device concepts and detector designs. The aim of the investigation was to examine alternative IR detection concepts with a view to resolve some of the issues of existing IR detectors such as operating temperature and response range. Systems were fabricated to demonstrate the following IR detection concepts and determine detector parameters: (i) Near-infrared (NIR) detection based on dye-sensitization of nanostructured semiconductors, (ii) Displacement currents in semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) embedded dielectric media, (iii) Split-off band transitions in GaAs/AlGaAs heterojunction interfacial workfunction internal photoemission (HEIWIP) detectors. A far-infrared detector based on GaSb homojunction interfacial workfunction internal photoemission (HIWIP) structure is also discussed. Device concepts, detector structures, and experimental results discussed in the text are summarized below. Dye-sensitized (DS) detector structures consisting of n-TiO 2/Dye/p-CuSCN heterostructures with several IR-sensitive dyes showed response peaks at 808, 812, 858, 866, 876, and 1056 nm at room temperature. The peak specific-detectivity (D*) was 9.5x1010 cm Hz-1/2 W-1 at 812 nm at room temperature. Radiation induced carrier generation alters the electronic polarizability of QDs provided the quenching of excitation is suppressed by separation of the QDs. A device constructed to illustrate this concept by embedding PbS QDs in paraffin wax showed a peak D* of 3x108 cm Hz 1/2 W-1 at ˜540 nm at ambient temperature. A typical HEIWIP/HIWIP detector structures consist of single (or multiple) period(s) of doped emitter(s) and undoped barrier(s) which are sandwiched between two highly doped contact layers. A p-GaAs/AlGaAs HEIWIP structure showed enhanced absorption in NIR range due to heavy/light-hole band to split-off band transitions and leading to the development of GaAs based uncooled sensors for IR detection in the 2--5 microm wavelength range with a peak D* of 6.8x105 cm Hz1/2 W-1. A HIWIP detector based on p-GaSb/GaSb showed a free carrier response threshold wavelength at 97 microm (˜3 THz) with a peak D* of 5.7x1011 cm Hz1/2 W-1 at 36 microm and 4.9 K. In this detector, a bolometric type response in the 97--200 microm (3--1.5 THz) range was also observed. INDEX WORDS: Infrared detectors, Photon detection, NIR detectors, THz detectors, Uncooled detectors, Dye-sensitized, IR dye, Quantum dot, Split-off band, GaSb, GaAs, AlGaAs, TiO2, CuSCN, PbS, Homojunction, Heterojunction, Workfunction, Photoemission, Displacement currents, 1/f noise.

Near infrared radiation protects against oxygen-glucose deprivation-induced neurotoxicity by down-regulating neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) activity in vitro.

PubMed

Yu, Zhanyang; Li, Zhaoyu; Liu, Ning; Jizhang, Yunneng; McCarthy, Thomas J; Tedford, Clark E; Lo, Eng H; Wang, Xiaoying

2015-06-01

Near infrared radiation (NIR) has been shown to be neuroprotective against neurological diseases including stroke and brain trauma, but the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. In the current study we aimed to investigate the hypothesis that NIR may protect neurons by attenuating oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD)-induced nitric oxide (NO) production and modulating cell survival/death signaling. Primary mouse cortical neurons were subjected to 4 h OGD and NIR was applied at 2 h reoxygenation. OGD significantly increased NO level in primary neurons compared to normal control, which was significantly ameliorated by NIR at 5 and 30 min post-NIR. Neither OGD nor NIR significantly changed neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) mRNA or total protein levels compared to control groups. However, OGD significantly increased nNOS activity compared to normal control, and this effect was significantly diminished by NIR. Moreover, NIR significantly ameliorated the neuronal death induced by S-Nitroso-N-acetyl-DL-penicillamine (SNAP), a NO donor. Finally, NIR significantly rescued OGD-induced suppression of p-Akt and Bcl-2 expression, and attenuated OGD-induced upregulation of Bax, BAD and caspase-3 activation. These results suggest NIR may protect against OGD at least partially through reducing NO production by down-regulating nNOS activity, and modulating cell survival/death signaling.

Image monitoring of pharmaceutical blending processes and the determination of an end point by using a portable near-infrared imaging device based on a polychromator-type near-infrared spectrometer with a high-speed and high-resolution photo diode array detector.

PubMed

Murayama, Kodai; Ishikawa, Daitaro; Genkawa, Takuma; Sugino, Hiroyuki; Komiyama, Makoto; Ozaki, Yukihiro

2015-03-03

In the present study we have developed a new version (ND-NIRs) of a polychromator-type near-infrared (NIR) spectrometer with a high-resolution photo diode array detector, which we built before (D-NIRs). The new version has four 5 W halogen lamps compared with the three lamps for the older version. The new version also has a condenser lens with a shorter focal point length. The increase in the number of the lamps and the shortening of the focal point of the condenser lens realize high signal-to-noise ratio and high-speed NIR imaging measurement. By using the ND-NIRs we carried out the in-line monitoring of pharmaceutical blending and determined an end point of the blending process. Moreover, to determinate a more accurate end point, a NIR image of the blending sample was acquired by means of a portable NIR imaging device based on ND-NIRs. The imaging result has demonstrated that the mixing time of 8 min is enough for homogeneous mixing. In this way the present study has demonstrated that ND-NIRs and the imaging system based on a ND-NIRs hold considerable promise for process analysis.

Near-infrared fluorescence imaging using organic dye nanoparticles.

PubMed

Yu, Jia; Zhang, Xiujuan; Hao, Xiaojun; Zhang, Xiaohong; Zhou, Mengjiao; Lee, Chun-Sing; Chen, Xianfeng

2014-03-01

Near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence imaging in the 700-1000 nm wavelength range has been very attractive for early detection of cancers. Conventional NIR dyes often suffer from limitation of low brightness due to self-quenching, insufficient photo- and bioenvironmental stability, and small Stokes shift. Herein, we present a strategy of using small-molecule organic dye nanoparticles (ONPs) to encapsulate NIR dyes to enable efficient fluorescence resonance energy transfer to obtain NIR probes with remarkably enhanced performance for in vitro and in vivo imaging. In our design, host ONPs are used as not only carriers to trap and stabilize NIR dyes, but also light-harvesting agent to transfer energy to NIR dyes to enhance their brightness. In comparison with pure NIR dyes, our organic dye nanoparticles possess almost 50-fold increased brightness, large Stokes shifts (∼250 nm) and dramatically enhanced photostability. With surface modification, these NIR-emissive organic nanoparticles have water-dispersity and size- and fluorescence- stability over pH values from 2 to 10 for almost 60 days. With these superior advantages, these NIR-emissive organic nanoparticles can be used for highly efficient folic-acid aided specific targeting in vivo and ex vivo cellular imaging. Finally, during in vivo imaging, the nanoparticles show negligible toxicity. Overall, the results clearly display a potential application of using the NIR-emissive organic nanoparticles for in vitro and in vivo imaging. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Quantum dots targeted to vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 as a contrast agent for the detection of colorectal cancer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carbary-Ganz, Jordan L.; Barton, Jennifer K.; Utzinger, Urs

2014-08-01

We successfully labeled colorectal cancer in vivo using quantum dots targeted to vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR2). Quantum dots with emission centered at 655 nm were bioconjugated to anti-VEGFR2 antibodies through streptavidin/biotin linking. The resulting QD655-VEGFR2 contrast agent was applied in vivo to the colon of azoxymethane (AOM) treated mice via lavage and allowed to incubate. The colons were then excised, cut longitudinally, opened to expose the lumen, and imaged en face using a fluorescence stereoscope. The QD655-VEGFR2 contrast agent produced a significant increase in contrast between diseased and undiseased tissues, allowing for fluorescence-based visualization of the diseased areas of the colon. Specificity was assessed by observing insignificant contrast increase when labeling colons of AOM-treated mice with quantum dots bioconjugated to isotype control antibodies, and by labeling the colons of saline-treated control mice. This contrast agent has a great potential for in vivo imaging of the colon through endoscopy.

Extended Rindler spacetime and a new multiverse structure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Araya, Ignacio J.; Bars, Itzhak

2018-04-01

This is the first of a series of papers in which we use analyticity properties of quantum fields propagating on a spacetime to uncover a new multiverse geometry when the classical geometry has horizons and/or singularities. The nature and origin of the "multiverse" idea presented in this paper, that is shared by the fields in the standard model coupled to gravity, are different from other notions of a multiverse. Via analyticity we are able to establish definite relations among the universes. In this paper we illustrate these properties for the extended Rindler space, while black hole spacetime and the cosmological geometry of mini-superspace (see Appendix B) will appear in later papers. In classical general relativity, extended Rindler space is equivalent to flat Minkowski space; it consists of the union of the four wedges in (u ,v ) light-cone coordinates as in Fig. 1. In quantum mechanics, the wavefunction is an analytic function of (u ,v ) that is sensitive to branch points at the horizons u =0 or v =0 , with branch cuts attached to them. The wave function is uniquely defined by analyticity on an infinite number of sheets in the cut analytic (u ,v ) spacetime. This structure is naturally interpreted as an infinite stack of identical Minkowski geometries, or "universes", connected to each other by analyticity across branch cuts, such that each sheet represents a different Minkowski universe when (u ,v ) are analytically continued to the real axis on any sheet. We show in this paper that, in the absence of interactions, information does not flow from one Rindler sheet to another. By contrast, for an eternal black hole spacetime, which may be viewed as a modification of Rindler that includes gravitational interactions, analyticity shows how information is "lost" due to a flow to other universes, enabled by an additional branch point and cut due to the black hole singularity.

MR imaging biomarkers for evaluating therapeutic effects shortly after near infrared photoimmunotherapy

PubMed Central

Nakamura, Yuko; Bernardo, Marcelino; Nagaya, Tadanobu; Sato, Kazuhide; Harada, Toshiko; Choyke, Peter L.; Kobayashi, Hisataka

2016-01-01

Near infrared photoimmunotherapy (NIR-PIT) is a new cancer treatment that combines the specificity of antibodies for targeting tumors with the toxicity induced by photon absorbers after irradiation with NIR light. The purpose of this study was to determine if MR imaging can detect changes in the MR properties of tumor within several hours of NIR-PIT. A431 cells were injected subcutaneously in the right and left dorsi of 12 mice. Six days later, the mice were injected with a photon absorber, IR700, conjugated to panitumumab, an antibody targeting epidermal growth factor receptor. One day later, only right sided tumor was exposed to NIR light (treated tumor). MRI was performed 1 day before and 1-2 hours after NIR-PIT using gadofosveset for six mice and gadopentetate dimeglumine for another six mice. T2 relaxation times, the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) for the following combinations of b-values: 0-1000, 200-1000 and 500-1000 s/mm2 and enhancement indices were compared before and after NIR-PIT using a two-sided paired t-test. For treated tumors, T2 relaxation time increased after NIR-PIT (p < 0.01) and all three ADC values decreased after NIR-PIT (p < 0.01). Moreover, the enhancement area under the curve (AUC) using gadofosveset increased after NIR-PIT (p = 0.02). In conclusion, prolongation of T2, reductions in ADC and increased enhancement using gadofosveset are seen within 2 hours of NIR-PIT treatment of tumors. Thus, MRI can be a useful imaging biomarker for detecting early therapeutic changes after NIR-PIT. PMID:26885619

Near Infrared Photoimmunotherapy in the Treatment of Pleural Disseminated NSCLC: Preclinical Experience

PubMed Central

Sato, Kazuhide; Nagaya, Tadanobu; Choyke, Peter L.; Kobayashi, Hisataka

2015-01-01

Pleural metastases are common in patients with advanced thoracic cancers and are a cause of considerable morbidity and mortality yet is difficult to treat. Near Infrared Photoimmunotherapy (NIR-PIT) is a cancer treatment that combines the specificity of intravenously injected antibodies for targeting tumors with the toxicity induced by photosensitizers after exposure to NIR-light. Herein, we evaluate the efficacy of NIR-PIT in a mouse model of pleural disseminated non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC). In vitro and in vivo experiments were conducted with a HER2, luciferase and GFP expressing NSCLC cell line (Calu3-luc-GFP). An antibody-photosensitizer conjugate (APC) consisting of trastuzumab and a phthalocyanine dye, IRDye-700DX, was synthesized. In vitro NIR-PIT cytotoxicity was assessed with dead staining, luciferase activity, and GFP fluorescence intensity. In vivo NIR-PIT was performed in mice with tumors implanted intrathoracic cavity or in the flank, and assessed by tumor volume and/or bioluminescence and fluorescence thoracoscopy. In vitro NIR-PIT-induced cytotoxicity was light dose dependent. In vivo NIR-PIT led significant reductions in both tumor volume (p = 0.002 vs. APC) and luciferase activity (p = 0.0004 vs. APC) in a flank model, and prolonged survival (p < 0.0001). Bioluminescence indicated that NIR-PIT lead to significant reduction in pleural dissemination (1 day after PIT; p = 0.0180). Fluorescence thoracoscopy confirmed the NIR-PIT effect on disseminated pleural disease. In conclusion, NIR-PIT has the ability to effectively treat pleural metastases caused by NSCLC in mice. Thus, NIR-PIT is a promising therapy for pleural disseminated tumors. PMID:25897335

A novel CXCR4-targeted near-infrared (NIR) fluorescent probe (Peptide R-NIR750) specifically detects CXCR4 expressing tumors.

PubMed

Santagata, Sara; Portella, Luigi; Napolitano, Maria; Greco, Adelaide; D'Alterio, Crescenzo; Barone, Maria Vittoria; Luciano, Antonio; Gramanzini, Matteo; Auletta, Luigi; Arra, Claudio; Zannetti, Antonella; Scala, Stefania

2017-05-31

C-X-C chemokine receptor 4 (CXCR4) is over-expressed in multiple human cancers and correlates with tumor aggressiveness, poor prognosis and increased risk for distant metastases. Imaging agents for CXCR4 are thus highly desirable. We developed a novel CXCR4-targeted near-infrared (NIR) fluorescent probe (Peptide R-NIR750) conjugating the new developed CXCR4 peptidic antagonist Peptide R with the NIR fluorescent dye VivoTag-S750. Specific CXCR4 binding was obtained in cells overexpressing human CXCR4 (B16-hCXCR4 and human melanoma cells PES43), but not in CXCR4 low expressing cells (FB-1). Ex vivo evaluation demonstrated that PepR-NIR750 specifically detects B16-hCXCR4-derived subcutaneous tumors and lung metastases. Fluorescence Molecular Tomography (FMT) in vivo imaging was performed on mice carrying subcutaneous CHO and CHO-CXCR4 tumors. PepR-NIR750 accumulates only in CXCR4-positive expressing subcutaneous tumors. Additionally, an intense NIR fluorescence signal was detected in PES43-derived lung metastases of nude mice injected with PepR-NIR750 versus mice injected with VivoTag-S750. With a therapeutic intent, mice bearing PES43-derived lung metastases were treated with Peptide R. A the dramatic reduction in PES43-derived lung metastases was detected through a decrease of the PepR-NIR750 signal. PepR-NIR750 is a specific probe for non-invasive detection of human high CXCR4-expressing tumors and metastatic lesion and thus a valuable tool for cancer molecular imaging.

Near-infrared roll-off-free electroluminescence from highly stable diketopyrrolopyrrole light emitting diodes

PubMed Central

Sassi, Mauro; Buccheri, Nunzio; Rooney, Myles; Botta, Chiara; Bruni, Francesco; Giovanella, Umberto; Brovelli, Sergio; Beverina, Luca

2016-01-01

Organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) operating in the near-infrared spectral region are gaining growing relevance for emerging photonic technologies, such as lab-on-chip platforms for medical diagnostics, flexible self-medicated pads for photodynamic therapy, night vision and plastic-based telecommunications. The achievement of efficient near-infrared electroluminescence from solution-processed OLEDs is, however, an open challenge due to the low photoluminescence efficiency of most narrow-energy-gap organic emitters. Diketopyrrolopyrrole-boron complexes are promising candidates to overcome this limitation as they feature extremely high photoluminescence quantum yield in the near-infrared region and high chemical stability. Here, by incorporating suitably functionalized diketopyrrolopyrrole derivatives emitting at ~760 nm in an active matrix of poly(9,9-dioctylfluorene-alt-benzothiadiazole) and without using complex light out-coupling or encapsulation strategies, we obtain all-solution-processed NIR-OLEDs with external quantum efficiency as high as 0.5%. Importantly, our test-bed devices show no efficiency roll-off even for high current densities and high operational stability, retaining over 50% of the initial radiant emittance for over 50 hours of continuous operation at 10 mA/cm2, which emphasizes the great applicative potential of the proposed strategy. PMID:27677240

21 CFR 882.1935 - Near Infrared (NIR) Brain Hematoma Detector.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Near Infrared (NIR) Brain Hematoma Detector. 882... Infrared (NIR) Brain Hematoma Detector. (a) Identification. A Near Infrared (NIR) Brain Hematoma Detector... evaluate suspected brain hematomas. (b) Classification. Class II (special controls). The special controls...

21 CFR 882.1935 - Near Infrared (NIR) Brain Hematoma Detector.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Near Infrared (NIR) Brain Hematoma Detector. 882... Infrared (NIR) Brain Hematoma Detector. (a) Identification. A Near Infrared (NIR) Brain Hematoma Detector... evaluate suspected brain hematomas. (b) Classification. Class II (special controls). The special controls...

VizieR Online Data Catalog: XQ-100 targets equivalent widths (Perrotta+, 2016)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Perrotta, S.; D'Odorico, V.; Prochaska, J. X.; Cristiani, S.; Cupani, G.; Ellison, S.; Lopez, S.; Becker, G. D.; Berg, T. A. M.; Christensen, L.; Denney, K. D.; Hamann, F.; Paris, I.; Vestergaard, M.; Worseck, G.

2018-03-01

The quasars in our sample have been originally selected and observed in a new Legacy Survey, hereafter 'XQ-100', of 100 quasars at emission redshift zem=3.5-4.5 (ESO Large Programme 189.A-0424). The observations have been carried out with X-shooter/VLT (Vernet et al., 2011A&A...536A.105V). The released spectra provide a complete coverage from the atmospheric cut-off to the NIR with a spectral resolution R~6000-9000 depending on wavelength, and a median S/N~30 at the continuum level. XQ-100 provides the first large intermediate-resolution sample of high-redshift quasars with simultaneous rest-frame UV/optical coverage. A full description of the target selection, observations, and data reduction process is presented by Lopez et al. (2016A&A...594A..91L). (2 data files).

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gao, Liang; Dong, Dongdong; Qiao, Keke

Wearable and sensitive photodetectors (PDs) have been demonstrated based on a blend film of PbS quantum dots (QDs) and QDs modified multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). Owing to the synergetic effect from high light sensitivity of PbS QDs and excellent conductive and mechanical properties of MWCNTs, the blend PDs show high sensitivity and flexibility performance: device responsivity and detectivity reach 583 mA/W and 3.25 × 10{sup 12 }Jones, respectively, and could stand large number (at least 10 000 cycles) and wide angle (up to 80°) bending. Furthermore, the wearable and sensitive PDs have been applied to measure the heart rate in both red and near infraredmore » (NIR) ranges. The presented PDs are expected to work as sensor candidates in integrated electronic skin.« less

Growth, structural, optical, thermal and mechanical properties of cytosinium hydrogen selenite: A novel nonlinear optical single crystal

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jaikumar, P.; Sathiskumar, S.; Balakrishnan, T., E-mail: balacrystalgrowth@gmail.com

Highlights: • Growth of bulk single crystals of cytosinium hydrogen selenite (CHS) is reported. • Dielectric constant of CHS is measured as a function of Frequency and temperature. • Lower cut off value of UV–vis-NIR spectrum of CHS crystal is observed at 210 nm. • Meyer’s index value of CHS crystal calculated identifies it as a soft material. • Powder SHG efficiency of CHS is about 1.5 times that of KDP crystal. - Abstract: A novel nonlinear optical single crystal of cytosinium hydrogen selenite was grown from aqueous solution of cytosinium hydrogen selenite by slow solvent evaporation method at roommore » temperature. The structural properties of grown crystal have been studied by single crystal and powder X-ray diffraction analysis. Presence of various functional groups was identified from Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The optical transmittance and absorbance spectra were recorded by UV–vis-NIR spectrometer and the grown crystal possesses good transparency in the entire visible region. The dielectric constant and dielectric loss of the crystal were calculated as a function of frequency at different temperatures. The mechanical strength of the cytosinium hydrogen selenite crystal was estimated using Vicker’s microhardness tester. Etch patterns of the cytosinium hydrogen selenite crystal were obtained using distilled water as etchant for different etching time. Second harmonic generation efficiency tested using Nd:YAG laser is about 1.5 times that of KDP.« less

Laser scattering by transcranial rat brain illumination

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sousa, Marcelo V. P.; Prates, Renato; Kato, Ilka T.; Sabino, Caetano P.; Suzuki, Luis C.; Ribeiro, Martha S.; Yoshimura, Elisabeth M.

2012-06-01

Due to the great number of applications of Low-Level-Laser-Therapy (LLLT) in Central Nervous System (CNS), the study of light penetration through skull and distribution in the brain becomes extremely important. The aim is to analyze the possibility of precise illumination of deep regions of the rat brain, measure the penetration and distribution of red (λ = 660 nm) and Near Infra-Red (NIR) (λ = 808 nm) diode laser light and compare optical properties of brain structures. The head of the animal (Rattus Novergicus) was epilated and divided by a sagittal cut, 2.3 mm away from mid plane. This section of rat's head was illuminated with red and NIR lasers in points above three anatomical structures: hippocampus, cerebellum and frontal cortex. A high resolution camera, perpendicularly positioned, was used to obtain images of the brain structures. Profiles of scattered intensities in the laser direction were obtained from the images. There is a peak in the scattered light profile corresponding to the skin layer. The bone layer gives rise to a valley in the profile indicating low scattering coefficient, or frontal scattering. Another peak in the region related to the brain is an indication of high scattering coefficient (μs) for this tissue. This work corroborates the use of transcranial LLLT in studies with rats which are subjected to models of CNS diseases. The outcomes of this study point to the possibility of transcranial LLLT in humans for a large number of diseases.

Concordance of obesity classification between body mass index and percent body fat among school children in Saudi Arabia.

PubMed

Al-Mohaimeed, Abdulrahman; Ahmed, Saifuddin; Dandash, Khadiga; Ismail, Mohammed Saleh; Saquib, Nazmus

2015-03-05

In Saudi Arabia, where childhood obesity is a major public health issue, it is important to identify the best tool for obesity classification. Hence, we compared two field methods for their usefulness in epidemiological studies. The sample consisted of 874 primary school (grade I-IV) children, aged 6-10 years, and was obtained through a multi-stage random sampling procedure. Weight and height were measured, and BMI (kg/m(2)) was calculated. Percent body fat was determined with a Futrex analyzer that uses near infrared reactance (NIR) technology. Method specific cut-off values were used for obesity classification. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values were determined for BMI, and the agreement between BMI and percent body fat was calculated. Compared to boys, the mean BMI was higher in girls whereas the mean percent body fat was lower (p-values < 0.0001). According to BMI, the prevalence of overweight or obesity was significantly higher in girls (34.3% vs. 17.3%); as oppose to percent body fat, which was similar between the sexes (6.6% vs. 7.0%). The sensitivity of BMI to classify overweight or obesity was high (boys = 93%, girls = 100%); and its false-positive detection rate was also high (boys = 63%, girls = 81%). The agreement rate was low between these two methods (boys = 0.48, girls =0.24). There is poor agreement in obesity classification between BMI and percent body fat, using NIR method, among Saudi school children.

CdS/CdSe quantum dots and ZnPc dye co-sensitized solar cells with Au nanoparticles/graphene oxide as efficient modified layer.

PubMed

Chen, Cong; Cheng, Yu; Jin, Junjie; Dai, Qilin; Song, Hongwei

2016-10-15

Co-sensitization by using two or more sensitizers with complementary absorption spectra to expand the spectral response range is an effective approach to enhance device performance of quantum dot sensitized solar cells (QDSSCs). To improve the light-harvesting in the visible/near-infrared (NIR) region, organic dye zinc phthalocyanine (ZnPc) was combined with CdS/CdSe quantum dots (QDs) for co-sensitized solar cells based on ZnO inverse opals (IOs) as photoanode. The resulting co-sensitized device shows an efficient panchromatic spectral response feature to ∼750nm and presents an overall conversion efficiency of 4.01%, which is superior to that of the individual ZnPc-sensitized solar cells and CdS/CdSe-sensitized solar cells. Meanwhile, an Au nanoparticles/graphene oxide (Au NPs/GO) composite layer was successfully prepared to modify Cu2S counter electrode for the co-sensitized solar cells. Reducing the carrier recombination process by GO and catalytic process of Au NPs leads to increased power conversion efficiency(PCE) from 4.01 to 4.60% and sustainable stability remains ∼85% of its original value after 60min light exposure. In this paper, introduction of the organic dyes as co-sensitizer and Au NPs/GO as counter electrode modified layer has been proved to be an effective route to improve the performance of QDSSCs. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Application of near-infrared image processing in agricultural engineering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Ming-hong; Zhang, Guo-ping; Xia, Hongxing

2009-07-01

Recently, with development of computer technology, the application field of near-infrared image processing becomes much wider. In this paper the technical characteristic and development of modern NIR imaging and NIR spectroscopy analysis were introduced. It is concluded application and studying of the NIR imaging processing technique in the agricultural engineering in recent years, base on the application principle and developing characteristic of near-infrared image. The NIR imaging would be very useful in the nondestructive external and internal quality inspecting of agricultural products. It is important to detect stored-grain insects by the application of near-infrared spectroscopy. Computer vision detection base on the NIR imaging would be help to manage food logistics. Application of NIR imaging promoted quality management of agricultural products. In the further application research fields of NIR image in the agricultural engineering, Some advices and prospect were put forward.

On children's dyslexia with NIRS

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gan, Zhuo; Li, Chengjun; Gong, Hui; Luo, Qingming; Yao, Bin; Song, Ranran; Wu, Hanrong

2003-12-01

Developmental dyslexia is a kind of prevalent psychologic disease. Some functional imaging technologies, such as FMRI and PET, have been used to study the brain activities of dyslexics. NIRS is a kind of novel technology which is more and more widely being used for study of the cognitive psychology. However, there aren"t reports about the dyslexic research using NIRS to be found until now. This paper introduces a NIRS system of four measuring channels. Brain activities of dyslexic subjects and normal subjects during reading task were studied with the NIRS system. Two groups of subjects, the group of dyslexia and the group of normal, were appointed to perform two reading tasks. At the same time, their cortical activities were measured with the NIRS system. This experimental result indicates that the brain activities of the dyslexic group were significantly higher than the control group in BA 48 and that NIRS can be used for the study of human brain activity.

Design of an FT-NIR spectrometer for online quality analysis of traditional Chinese medicine manufacturing process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhu, Ren; Wu, Lan; Wang, Shiming; Ye, Linhua; Ding, Zhihua

2008-03-01

As a fast, non-destructive analysis method, Fourier transform (FT) near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy is very suitable and effective for online quality analysis of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) manufacturing process. In this thesis, the theoretics of FT-NIRS was analyzed and an FT-NIR spectrometer with 4 cm -1 resolution in the 12500-5000 cm -1 frequency range was designed. The spectrometer was based on a Michelson interferometer with Bromine tungsten lamp as the NIR light source and InGaAs detector to collect the interference signal. Each element was designed and chosen to provide maximum sensitivity in the NIR spectral region. A fiber-optic flow cell system was used to realize online analysis of traditional Chinese medicine. The performance of the spectrometer was evaluated and the feasibility of using FT-NIR spectrometer to get absorption spectra of traditional Chinese medicine was demonstrated.

Bacterial Phytochromes, Cyanobacteriochromes and Allophycocyanins as a Source of Near-Infrared Fluorescent Probes

PubMed Central

Oliinyk, Olena S.; Chernov, Konstantin G.

2017-01-01

Bacterial photoreceptors absorb light energy and transform it into intracellular signals that regulate metabolism. Bacterial phytochrome photoreceptors (BphPs), some cyanobacteriochromes (CBCRs) and allophycocyanins (APCs) possess the near-infrared (NIR) absorbance spectra that make them promising molecular templates to design NIR fluorescent proteins (FPs) and biosensors for studies in mammalian cells and whole animals. Here, we review structures, photochemical properties and molecular functions of several families of bacterial photoreceptors. We next analyze molecular evolution approaches to develop NIR FPs and biosensors. We then discuss phenotypes of current BphP-based NIR FPs and compare them with FPs derived from CBCRs and APCs. Lastly, we overview imaging applications of NIR FPs in live cells and in vivo. Our review provides guidelines for selection of existing NIR FPs, as well as engineering approaches to develop NIR FPs from the novel natural templates such as CBCRs. PMID:28771184

Synthesis and characterization of near IR fluorescent albumin nanoparticles for optical detection of colon cancer.

PubMed

Cohen, Sarit; Pellach, Michal; Kam, Yossi; Grinberg, Igor; Corem-Salkmon, Enav; Rubinstein, Abraham; Margel, Shlomo

2013-03-01

Near IR (NIR) fluorescent human serum albumin (HSA) nanoparticles hold great promise as contrast agents for tumor diagnosis. HSA nanoparticles are considered to be biocompatible, non-toxic and non-immunogenic. In addition, NIR fluorescence properties of these nanoparticles are important for in vivo tumor diagnostics, with low autofluorescence and relatively deep penetration of NIR irradiation due to low absorption of biomatrices. The present study describes the synthesis of new NIR fluorescent HSA nanoparticles, by entrapment of a NIR fluorescent dye within the HSA nanoparticles, which also significantly increases the photostability of the dye. Tumor-targeting ligands such as peanut agglutinin (PNA) and anti-carcinoembryonic antigen antibodies (anti-CEA) were covalently conjugated to the NIR fluorescent albumin nanoparticles, increasing the potential fluorescent signal in tumors with upregulated corresponding receptors. Specific colon tumor detection by the NIR fluorescent HSA nanoparticles was demonstrated in a chicken embryo model and a rat model. In future work we also plan to encapsulate cancer drugs such as doxorubicin within the NIR fluorescent HSA nanoparticles for both colon cancer imaging and therapy. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Recovering fNIRS brain signals: physiological interference suppression with independent component analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Y.; Shi, M.; Sun, J.; Yang, C.; Zhang, Yajuan; Scopesi, F.; Makobore, P.; Chin, C.; Serra, G.; Wickramasinghe, Y. A. B. D.; Rolfe, P.

2015-02-01

Brain activity can be monitored non-invasively by functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), which has several advantages in comparison with other methods, such as flexibility, portability, low cost and fewer physical restrictions. However, in practice fNIRS measurements are often contaminated by physiological interference arising from cardiac contraction, breathing and blood pressure fluctuations, thereby severely limiting the utility of the method. Hence, further improvement is necessary to reduce or eliminate such interference in order that the evoked brain activity information can be extracted reliably from fNIRS data. In the present paper, the multi-distance fNIRS probe configuration has been adopted. The short-distance fNIRS measurement is treated as the virtual channel and the long-distance fNIRS measurement is treated as the measurement channel. Independent component analysis (ICA) is employed for the fNIRS recordings to separate the brain signals and the interference. Least-absolute deviation (LAD) estimator is employed to recover the brain activity signals. We also utilized Monte Carlo simulations based on a five-layer model of the adult human head to evaluate our methodology. The results demonstrate that the ICA algorithm has the potential to separate physiological interference in fNIRS data and the LAD estimator could be a useful criterion to recover the brain activity signals.

Correspondence of electroencephalography and near-infrared spectroscopy sensitivities to the cerebral cortex using a high-density layout

PubMed Central

Giacometti, Paolo; Diamond, Solomon G.

2014-01-01

Abstract. This study investigates the correspondence of the cortical sensitivity of electroencephalography (EEG) and near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). EEG forward model sensitivity to the cerebral cortex was calculated for 329 EEG electrodes following the 10-5 EEG positioning system using a segmented structural magnetic resonance imaging scan of a human subject. NIRS forward model sensitivity was calculated for the same subject using 156 NIRS source-detector pairs selected from 32 source and 32 detector optodes positioned on the scalp using a subset of the 10-5 EEG positioning system. Sensitivity correlations between colocalized NIRS source-detector pair groups and EEG channels yielded R=0.46±0.08. Groups of NIRS source-detector pairs with maximum correlations to EEG electrode sensitivities are tabulated. The mean correlation between the point spread functions for EEG and NIRS regions of interest (ROI) was R=0.43±0.07. Spherical ROIs with radii of 26 mm yielded the maximum correlation between EEG and NIRS averaged across all cortical mesh nodes. These sensitivity correlations between EEG and NIRS should be taken into account when designing multimodal studies of neurovascular coupling and when using NIRS as a statistical prior for EEG source localization. PMID:25558462

The impact of using mature compost on nitrous oxide emission and the denitrifier community in the cattle manure composting process.

PubMed

Maeda, Koki; Morioka, Riki; Hanajima, Dai; Osada, Takashi

2010-01-01

The diversity and dynamics of the denitrifying genes (nirS, nirK, and nosZ) encoding nitrite reductase and nitrous oxide (N(2)O) reductase in the dairy cattle manure composting process were investigated. A mixture of dried grass with a cattle manure compost pile and a mature compost-added pile were used, and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis was used for denitrifier community analysis. The diversity of nirK and nosZ genes significantly changed in the initial stage of composting. These variations might have been induced by the high temperature. The diversity of nirK was constant after the initial variation. On the other hand, the diversity of nosZ changed in the latter half of the process, a change which might have been induced by the accumulation of nitrate and nitrite. The nirS gene fragments could not be detected. The use of mature compost that contains nitrate and nitrite promoted the N(2)O emission and significantly affected the variation of nosZ diversity in the initial stage of composting, but did not affect the variation of nirK diversity. Many Pseudomonas-like nirK and nosZ gene fragments were detected in the stage in which N(2)O was actively emitted.

Comparative NMR and NIRS analysis of oxygen-dependent metabolism in exercising finger flexor muscles.

PubMed

Bendahan, David; Chatel, Benjamin; Jue, Thomas

2017-12-01

Muscle contraction requires the physiology to adapt rapidly to meet the surge in energy demand. To investigate the shift in metabolic control, especially between oxygen and metabolism, researchers often depend on near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) to measure noninvasively the tissue O 2 Because NIRS detects the overlapping myoglobin (Mb) and hemoglobin (Hb) signals in muscle, interpreting the data as an index of cellular or vascular O 2 requires deconvoluting the relative contribution. Currently, many in the NIRS field ascribe the signal to Hb. In contrast, 1 H NMR has only detected the Mb signal in contracting muscle, and comparative NIRS and NMR experiments indicate a predominant Mb contribution. The present study has examined the question of the NIRS signal origin by measuring simultaneously the 1 H NMR, 31 P NMR, and NIRS signals in finger flexor muscles during the transition from rest to contraction, recovery, ischemia, and reperfusion. The experiment results confirm a predominant Mb contribution to the NIRS signal from muscle. Given the NMR and NIRS corroborated changes in the intracellular O 2 , the analysis shows that at the onset of muscle contraction, O 2 declines immediately and reaches new steady states as contraction intensity rises. Moreover, lactate formation increases even under quite aerobic condition. Copyright © 2017 the American Physiological Society.

The use of near-infrared spectroscopy in understanding skeletal muscle physiology: recent developments.

PubMed

Ferrari, Marco; Muthalib, Makii; Quaresima, Valentina

2011-11-28

This article provides a snapshot of muscle near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) at the end of 2010 summarizing the recent literature, offering the present status and perspectives of the NIRS instrumentation and methods, describing the main NIRS studies on skeletal muscle physiology, posing open questions and outlining future directions. So far, different NIRS techniques (e.g. continuous-wave (CW) and spatially, time- and frequency-resolved spectroscopy) have been used for measuring muscle oxygenation during exercise. In the last four years, approximately 160 muscle NIRS articles have been published on different physiological aspects (primarily muscle oxygenation and haemodynamics) of several upper- and lower-limb muscle groups investigated by using mainly two-channel CW and spatially resolved spectroscopy commercial instruments. Unfortunately, in only 15 of these studies were the advantages of using multi-channel instruments exploited. There are still several open questions in the application of NIRS in muscle studies: (i) whether NIRS can be used in subjects with a large fat layer; (ii) the contribution of myoglobin desaturation to the NIRS signal during exercise; (iii) the effect of scattering changes during exercise; and (iv) the effect of changes in skin perfusion, particularly during prolonged exercise. Recommendations for instrumentation advancements and future muscle NIRS studies are provided.

Nitrite reductase expression is regulated at the post-transcriptional level by the nitrogen source in Nicotiana plumbaginifolia and Arabidopsis thaliana.

PubMed

Crété, P; Caboche, M; Meyer, C

1997-04-01

Higher plant nitrite reductase (NiR) is a monomeric chloroplastic protein catalysing the reduction of nitrite, the product of nitrate reduction, to ammonium. The expression of this enzyme is controlled at the transcriptional level by light and by the nitrogen source. In order to study the post-transcriptional regulation of NiR, Nicotiana plumbaginifolia and Arabidopsis thaliana were transformed with a chimaeric NiR construct containing the tobacco leaf NiR1 coding sequence driven by the CaMV 35S RNA promoter. Transformed plants did not show any phenotypic difference when compared with the wild-type, although they overexpressed NiR activity in the leaves. When these plants were grown in vitro on media containing either nitrate or ammonium as sole nitrogen source, NiR mRNA derived from transgene expression was constitutively expressed, whereas NiR activity and protein level were strongly reduced on ammonium-containing medium. These results suggest that, together with transcriptional control, post-transcriptional regulation by the nitrogen source is operating on NiR expression. This post-transcriptional regulation of tobacco leaf NiR1 expression was observed not only in the closely related species N. plumbaginifolia but also in the more distant species A. thaliana.

Prediction of essential oil content of oregano by hand-held and Fourier transform NIR spectroscopy.

PubMed

Camps, Cédric; Gérard, Marianne; Quennoz, Mélanie; Brabant, Cécile; Oberson, Carine; Simonnet, Xavier

2014-05-01

In the framework of a breeding programme, the analysis of hundreds of oregano samples to determine their essential oil content (EOC) is time-consuming and expensive in terms of labour. Therefore developing a new method that is rapid, accurate and less expensive to use would be an asset to breeders. The aim of the present study was to develop a method based on near-inrared (NIR) spectroscopy to determine the EOC of oregano dried powder. Two spectroscopic approaches were compared, the first using a hand-held NIR device and the second a Fourier transform (FT) NIR spectrometer. Hand-held NIR (1000-1800 nm) measurements and partial least squares regression allowed the determination of EOC with R² and SEP values of 0.58 and 0.81 mL per 100 g dry matter (DM) respectively. Measurements with FT-NIR (1000-2500 nm) allowed the determination of EOC with R² and SEP values of 0.91 and 0.68 mL per 100 g DM respectively. RPD, RER and RPIQ values for the model implemented with FT-NIR data were satisfactory for screening application, while those obtained with hand-held NIR data were below the level required to consider the model as enough accurate for screening application. The FT-NIR approach allowed the development of an accurate model for EOC prediction. Although the hand-held NIR approach is promising, it needs additional development before it can be used in practice. © 2013 Society of Chemical Industry.

Nitrous oxide emission and denitrifier communities in drip-irrigated calcareous soil as affected by chemical and organic fertilizers.

PubMed

Tao, Rui; Wakelin, Steven A; Liang, Yongchao; Hu, Baowei; Chu, Guixin

2018-01-15

The effects of consecutive application of chemical fertilizer with or without organic fertilizer on soil N 2 O emissions and denitrifying community structure in a drip-irrigated field were determined. The four fertilizer treatments were (i) unfertilized, (ii) chemical fertilizer, (iii) 60% chemical fertilizer plus cattle manure, and (iv) 60% chemical fertilizer plus biofertilizer. The treatments with organic amendments (i.e. cattle manure and biofertilizer) reduced cumulative N 2 O emissions by 4.9-9.9%, reduced the N 2 O emission factor by 1.3-42%, and increased denitrifying enzyme activities by 14.3-56.2%. The nirK gene copy numbers were greatest in soil which received only chemical fertilizer. In contrast, nirS- and nosZ-copy numbers were greatest in soil amended with chemical fertilizer plus biofertilizer. Chemical fertilizer application with or without organic fertilizer significantly changed the community structure of nirK-type denitrifiers relative to the unfertilized soil. In comparison, the nirS- and nosZ-type denitrifier genotypes varied in treatments receiving organic fertilizer but not chemical fertilizer alone. The changes in the denitrifier communities were closely associated with soil organic carbon (SOC), NO 3 - , NH 4 + , water holding capacity, and soil pH. Modeling indicated that N 2 O emissions in this soil were primarily associated with the abundance of nirS type denitrifying bacteria, SOC, and NO 3 - . Overall, our findings indicate that (i) the organic fertilizers increased denitrifying enzyme activity, increased denitrifying-bacteria gene copy numbers, but reduced N 2 O emissions, and (ii) nirS- and nosZ-type denitrifiers were more sensitive than nirK-type denitrifiers to the organic fertilizers. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Community structures and activity of denitrifying microbes in a forested catchment in central Japan: survey using nitrite reductase genes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ohte, N.; Aoki, M.; Katsuyama, C.; Suwa, Y.; Tange, T.

2012-12-01

To elucidate the mechanisms of denitrification processes in the forested catchment, microbial ecological approaches have been applied in an experimental watershed that has previously investigated its hydrological processes. The study catchment is located in the Chiba prefecture in central Japan under the temperate Asian monsoon climate. Potential activities of denitrification of soil samples were measured by incubation experiments under anoxic condition associated with Na15NO3 addition. Existence and variety of microbes having nitrite reductase genes were investigated by PCR amplification, cloning and sequencings of nirK and nirS fragments after DNA extraction. Contrary to our early expectation that the potential denitrification activity was higher at deeper soil horizon with consistent groundwater residence than that in the surface soil, denitrification potential was higher in shallower soil horizons than deeper soils. This suggested that the deficiency of NO3- as a respiratory substrate for denitrifier occurred in deeper soils especially in the summer. However, high denitrification activity and presence of microbes having nirK and nirS in surface soils usually under aerobic condition was explainable by the fact that the majority of denitrifying bacteria have been recognized as a facultative anaerobic bacterium. This also suggests the possibility of that denitrification occurs even in the surface soils if the wet condition is provided by rainwater during and after a storm event. Community structures of microbes having nirK were different between near surface and deeper soil horizons, and ones having nirS was different between saturated zone (under groundwater table) and unsaturated soil horizons. These imply that microbial communities with nisK are sensitive to the concentration of soil organic matters and ones with nirS is sensitive to soil moisture contents.

Near-Infrared 1064 nm Laser Modulates Migratory Dendritic Cells To Augment the Immune Response to Intradermal Influenza Vaccine.

PubMed

Morse, Kaitlyn; Kimizuka, Yoshifumi; Chan, Megan P K; Shibata, Mai; Shimaoka, Yusuke; Takeuchi, Shu; Forbes, Benjamin; Nirschl, Christopher; Li, Binghao; Zeng, Yang; Bronson, Roderick T; Katagiri, Wataru; Shigeta, Ayako; Sîrbulescu, Ruxandra F; Chen, Huabiao; Tan, Rhea Y Y; Tsukada, Kosuke; Brauns, Timothy; Gelfand, Jeffrey; Sluder, Ann; Locascio, Joseph J; Poznansky, Mark C; Anandasabapathy, Niroshana; Kashiwagi, Satoshi

2017-08-15

Brief exposure of skin to near-infrared (NIR) laser light has been shown to augment the immune response to intradermal vaccination and thus act as an immunologic adjuvant. Although evidence indicates that the NIR laser adjuvant has the capacity to activate innate subsets including dendritic cells (DCs) in skin as conventional adjuvants do, the precise immunological mechanism by which the NIR laser adjuvant acts is largely unknown. In this study we sought to identify the cellular target of the NIR laser adjuvant by using an established mouse model of intradermal influenza vaccination and examining the alteration of responses resulting from genetic ablation of specific DC populations. We found that a continuous wave (CW) NIR laser adjuvant broadly modulates migratory DC (migDC) populations, specifically increasing and activating the Lang + and CD11b - Lang - subsets in skin, and that the Ab responses augmented by the CW NIR laser are dependent on DC subsets expressing CCR2 and Langerin. In comparison, a pulsed wave NIR laser adjuvant showed limited effects on the migDC subsets. Our vaccination study demonstrated that the efficacy of the CW NIR laser is significantly better than that of the pulsed wave laser, indicating that the CW NIR laser offers a desirable immunostimulatory microenvironment for migDCs. These results demonstrate the unique ability of the NIR laser adjuvant to selectively target specific migDC populations in skin depending on its parameters, and highlight the importance of optimization of laser parameters for desirable immune protection induced by an NIR laser-adjuvanted vaccine. Copyright © 2017 by The American Association of Immunologists, Inc.

Correlations Among Near-Infrared and Short-Wavelength Autofluorescence and Spectral-Domain Optical Coherence Tomography in Recessive Stargardt Disease

PubMed Central

Duncker, Tobias; Marsiglia, Marcela; Lee, Winston; Zernant, Jana; Tsang, Stephen H.; Allikmets, Rando; Greenstein, Vivienne C.; Sparrow, Janet R.

2014-01-01

Purpose. Short-wavelength (SW) fundus autofluorescence (AF) is considered to originate from lipofuscin in retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) and near-infrared (NIR) AF from melanin. In patients with recessive Stargardt disease (STGD1), we correlated SW-AF and NIR-AF with structural information obtained by spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT). Methods. Twenty-four STGD1 patients (45 eyes; age 8 to 61 years) carrying confirmed disease-associated ABCA4 mutations were studied prospectively. Short-wavelength AF, NIR-AF, and SD-OCT images were acquired. Results. Five phenotypes were identified according to features of the central lesion and extent of fundus change. Central zones of reduced NIR-AF were typically larger than areas of diminished SW-AF and reduced NIR-AF usually approximated areas of ellipsoid zone (EZ) loss identified by SD-OCT (group 1; r, 0.93, P < 0.0001). In patients having a central lesion with overlapping parafoveal rings of increased NIR-AF and SW-AF (group 3), the extent of EZ loss was strongly correlated with the inner diameter of the NIR-AF ring (r, 0.89, P < 0.0001) and the eccentricity of the outer border of the NIR-AF ring was greater than that of the SW-AF ring. Conclusions. Lesion areas were more completely delineated in NIR-AF images than with SW-AF. In most cases, EZ loss was observed only at locations where NIR-AF was reduced or absent, indicating that RPE cell atrophy occurs in advance of photoreceptor cell degeneration. Because SW-AF was often increased within the central area of EZ disruption, degenerating photoreceptor cells may produce lipofuscin at accelerated levels. Consideration is given to mechanisms underlying hyper–NIR-AF in conjunction with increased SW-AF. PMID:25342616

Near infrared radiation rescues mitochondrial dysfunction in cortical neurons after oxygen-glucose deprivation.

PubMed

Yu, Zhanyang; Liu, Ning; Zhao, Jianhua; Li, Yadan; McCarthy, Thomas J; Tedford, Clark E; Lo, Eng H; Wang, Xiaoying

2015-04-01

Near infrared radiation (NIR) is known to penetrate and affect biological systems in multiple ways. Recently, a series of experimental studies suggested that low intensity NIR may protect neuronal cells against a wide range of insults that mimic diseases such as stroke, brain trauma and neurodegeneration. However, the potential molecular mechanisms of neuroprotection with NIR remain poorly defined. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that low intensity NIR may attenuate hypoxia/ischemia-induced mitochondrial dysfunction in neurons. Primary cortical mouse neuronal cultures were subjected to 4 h oxygen-glucose deprivation followed by reoxygenation for 2 h, neurons were then treated with a 2 min exposure to 810-nm NIR. Mitochondrial function markers including MTT reduction and mitochondria membrane potential were measured at 2 h after treatment. Neurotoxicity was quantified 20 h later. Our results showed that 4 h oxygen-glucose deprivation plus 20 h reoxygenation caused 33.8 ± 3.4 % of neuron death, while NIR exposure significantly reduced neuronal death to 23.6 ± 2.9 %. MTT reduction rate was reduced to 75.9 ± 2.7 % by oxygen-glucose deprivation compared to normoxic controls, but NIR exposure significantly rescued MTT reduction to 87.6 ± 4.5 %. Furthermore, after oxygen-glucose deprivation, mitochondria membrane potential was reduced to 48.9 ± 4.39 % of normoxic control, while NIR exposure significantly ameliorated this reduction to 89.6 ± 13.9 % of normoxic control. Finally, NIR significantly rescued OGD-induced ATP production decline at 20 min after NIR. These findings suggest that low intensity NIR can protect neurons against oxygen-glucose deprivation by rescuing mitochondrial function and restoring neuronal energetics.

Validation of brain-derived signals in near-infrared spectroscopy through multivoxel analysis of concurrent functional magnetic resonance imaging.

PubMed

Moriguchi, Yoshiya; Noda, Takamasa; Nakayashiki, Kosei; Takata, Yohei; Setoyama, Shiori; Kawasaki, Shingo; Kunisato, Yoshihiko; Mishima, Kazuo; Nakagome, Kazuyuki; Hanakawa, Takashi

2017-10-01

Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is a convenient and safe brain-mapping tool. However, its inevitable confounding with hemodynamic responses outside the brain, especially in the frontotemporal head, has questioned its validity. Some researchers attempted to validate NIRS signals through concurrent measurements with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), but, counterintuitively, NIRS signals rarely correlate with local fMRI signals in NIRS channels, although both mapping techniques should measure the same hemoglobin concentration. Here, we tested a novel hypothesis that different voxels within the scalp and the brain tissues might have substantially different hemoglobin absorption rates of near-infrared light, which might differentially contribute to NIRS signals across channels. Therefore, we newly applied a multivariate approach, a partial least squares regression, to explain NIRS signals with multivoxel information from fMRI within the brain and soft tissues in the head. We concurrently obtained fMRI and NIRS signals in 9 healthy human subjects engaging in an n-back task. The multivariate fMRI model was quite successfully able to predict the NIRS signals by cross-validation (interclass correlation coefficient = ∼0.85). This result confirmed that fMRI and NIRS surely measure the same hemoglobin concentration. Additional application of Monte-Carlo permutation tests confirmed that the model surely reflects temporal and spatial hemodynamic information, not random noise. After this thorough validation, we calculated the ratios of the contributions of the brain and soft-tissue hemodynamics to the NIRS signals, and found that the contribution ratios were quite different across different NIRS channels in reality, presumably because of the structural complexity of the frontotemporal regions. Hum Brain Mapp 38:5274-5291, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Near infrared radiation rescues mitochondrial dysfunction in cortical neurons after oxygen-glucose deprivation

PubMed Central

Yu, Zhanyang; Liu, Ning; Zhao, Jianhua; Li, Yadan; McCarthy, Thomas J.; Tedford, Clark E.; Lo, Eng H.; Wang, Xiaoying

2014-01-01

Near infrared radiation (NIR) is known to penetrate and affect biological systems in multiple ways. Recently, a series of experimental studies suggested that low intensity NIR may protect neuronal cells against a wide range of insults that mimic diseases such as stroke, brain trauma and neuro-degeneration. However, the potential molecular mechanisms of neuroprotection with NIR remain poorly defined. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that low intensity NIR may attenuate hypoxia/ischemia-induced mitochondrial dysfunction in neurons. Primary cortical mouse neuronal cultures were subjected to 4 h oxygen-glucose deprivation followed by reoxygenation for 2 h, neurons were then treated with a 2 min exposure to 810-nm NIR. Mitochondrial function markers including MTT reduction and mitochondria membrane potential were measured at 2 h after treatment. Neurotoxicity was quantified 20 h later. Our results showed that 4 h oxygen-glucose deprivation plus 20 h reoxygenation caused 33.8±3.4 % of neuron death, while NIR exposure significantly reduced neuronal death to 23.6±2.9 %. MTT reduction rate was reduced to 75.9±2.7 % by oxygen-glucose deprivation compared to normoxic controls, but NIR exposure significantly rescued MTT reduction to 87.6±4.5 %. Furthermore, after oxygen-glucose deprivation, mitochondria membrane potential was reduced to 48.9±4.39 % of normoxic control, while NIR exposure significantly ameliorated this reduction to 89.6±13.9 % of normoxic control. Finally, NIR significantly rescued OGD-induced ATP production decline at 20 min after NIR. These findings suggest that low intensity NIR can protect neurons against oxygen-glucose deprivation by rescuing mitochondrial function and restoring neuronal energetics. PMID:24599760

In-line and real-time process monitoring of a freeze drying process using Raman and NIR spectroscopy as complementary process analytical technology (PAT) tools.

PubMed

De Beer, T R M; Vercruysse, P; Burggraeve, A; Quinten, T; Ouyang, J; Zhang, X; Vervaet, C; Remon, J P; Baeyens, W R G

2009-09-01

The aim of the present study was to examine the complementary properties of Raman and near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy as PAT tools for the fast, noninvasive, nondestructive and in-line process monitoring of a freeze drying process. Therefore, Raman and NIR probes were built in the freeze dryer chamber, allowing simultaneous process monitoring. A 5% (w/v) mannitol solution was used as model for freeze drying. Raman and NIR spectra were continuously collected during freeze drying (one Raman and NIR spectrum/min) and the spectra were analyzed using principal component analysis (PCA) and multivariate curve resolution (MCR). Raman spectroscopy was able to supply information about (i) the mannitol solid state throughout the entire process, (ii) the endpoint of freezing (endpoint of mannitol crystallization), and (iii) several physical and chemical phenomena occurring during the process (onset of ice nucleation, onset of mannitol crystallization). NIR spectroscopy proved to be a more sensitive tool to monitor the critical aspects during drying: (i) endpoint of ice sublimation and (ii) monitoring the release of hydrate water during storage. Furthermore, via NIR spectroscopy some Raman observations were confirmed: start of ice nucleation, end of mannitol crystallization and solid state characteristics of the end product. When Raman and NIR monitoring were performed on the same vial, the Raman signal was saturated during the freezing step caused by reflected NIR light reaching the Raman detector. Therefore, NIR and Raman measurements were done on a different vial. Also the importance of the position of the probes (Raman probe above the vial and NIR probe at the bottom of the sidewall of the vial) in order to obtain all required critical information is outlined. Combining Raman and NIR spectroscopy for the simultaneous monitoring of freeze drying allows monitoring almost all critical freeze drying process aspects. Both techniques do not only complement each other, they also provided mutual confirmation of specific conclusions.

Improving NIR snow pit stratigraphy observations by introducing a controlled NIR light source

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dean, J.; Marshall, H.; Rutter, N.; Karlson, A.

2013-12-01

Near-infrared (NIR) photography in a prepared snow pit measures mm-/grain-scale variations in snow structure, as reflectivity is strongly dependent on microstructure and grain size at the NIR wavelengths. We explore using a controlled NIR light source to maximize signal to noise ratio and provide uniform incident, diffuse light on the snow pit wall. NIR light fired from the flash is diffused across and reflected by an umbrella onto the snow pit; the lens filter transmits NIR light onto the spectrum-modified sensor of the DSLR camera. Lenses are designed to refract visible light properly, not NIR light, so there must be a correction applied for the subsequent NIR bright spot. To avoid interpolation and debayering algorithms automatically performed by programs like Adobe's Photoshop on the images, the raw data are analyzed directly in MATLAB. NIR image data show a doubling of the amount of light collected in the same time for flash over ambient lighting. Transitions across layer boundaries in the flash-lit image are detailed by higher camera intensity values than ambient-lit images. Curves plotted using median intensity at each depth, normalized to the average profile intensity, show a separation between flash- and ambient-lit images in the upper 10-15 cm; the ambient-lit image curve asymptotically approaches the level of the flash-lit image curve below 15cm. We hypothesize that the difference is caused by additional ambient light penetrating the upper 10-15 cm of the snowpack from above and transmitting through the wall of the snow pit. This indicates that combining NIR ambient and flash photography could be a powerful technique for studying penetration depth of radiation as a function of microstructure and grain size. The NIR flash images do not increase the relative contrast at layer boundaries; however, the flash more than doubles the amount of recorded light and controls layer noise as well as layer boundary transition noise.

Low efficiency upconversion nanoparticles for high-resolution coalignment of near-infrared and visible light paths on a light microscope

PubMed Central

Sundaramoorthy, Sriramkumar; Badaracco, Adrian Garcia; Hirsch, Sophia M.; Park, Jun Hong; Davies, Tim; Dumont, Julien; Shirasu-Hiza, Mimi; Kummel, Andrew C.; Canman, Julie C.

2017-01-01

The combination of near infrared (NIR) and visible wavelengths in light microscopy for biological studies is increasingly common. For example, many fields of biology are developing the use of NIR for optogenetics, in which an NIR laser induces a change in gene expression and/or protein function. One major technical barrier in working with both NIR and visible light on an optical microscope is obtaining their precise coalignment at the imaging plane position. Photon upconverting particles (UCPs) can bridge this gap as they are excited by NIR light but emit in the visible range via an anti-Stokes luminescence mechanism. Here, two different UCPs have been identified, high-efficiency micro540-UCPs and lower efficiency nano545-UCPs, that respond to NIR light and emit visible light with high photostability even at very high NIR power densities (>25,000 Suns). Both of these UCPs can be rapidly and reversibly excited by visible and NIR light and emit light at visible wavelengths detectable with standard emission settings used for Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP), a commonly used genetically-encoded fluorophore. However, the high efficiency micro540-UCPs were suboptimal for NIR and visible light coalignment, due to their larger size and spatial broadening from particle-to-particle energy transfer consistent with a long lived excited state and saturated power dependence. In contrast, the lower efficiency nano-UCPs were superior for precise coalignment of the NIR beam with the visible light path (~2 µm versus ~8 µm beam broadening respectively) consistent with limited particle-to-particle energy transfer, superlinear power dependence for emission, and much smaller particle size. Furthermore, the nano-UCPs were superior to a traditional two-camera method for NIR and visible light path alignment in an in vivo Infrared-Laser-Evoked Gene Operator (IR-LEGO) optogenetics assay in the budding yeast S. cerevisiae. In summary, nano-UCPs are powerful new tools for coaligning NIR and visible light paths on a light microscope. PMID:28221018

Multiwavelength Observations of the 2002 Outburst of GX 339-4: Two Patterns of X-Ray-Optical/Near-Infrared Behavior

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Homan, Jeroen; Buxton, Michelle; Markoff, Sera; Bailyn, Charles D.; Nespoli, Elisa; Belloni, Tomaso

2005-05-01

We report on quasi-simultaneous Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer and optical/near-infrared (NIR) observations of the black hole candidate X-ray transient GX 339-4. Our observations were made over a time span of more than 8 months in 2002 and cover the initial rise and transition from a hard to a soft spectral state in X-rays. Two distinct patterns of correlated X-ray-optical/NIR behavior were found. During the hard state, the optical/NIR and X-ray fluxes correlated well, with a NIR versus X-ray flux power-law slope similar to that of the correlation found between X-ray and radio fluxes in previous studies of GX 339-4 and other black hole binaries. As the source went through an intermediate state, the optical/NIR fluxes decreased rapidly, and once it had entered the spectrally soft state, the optical/NIR spectrum of GX 339-4 was much bluer, and the ratio of X-ray to NIR flux was higher by a factor of more than 10 compared to the hard state. In the spectrally soft state, changes in the NIR preceded those in the soft X-rays by more than 2 weeks, indicating a disk origin of the NIR emission and providing a measure of the viscous timescale. A sudden onset of NIR flaring of ~0.5 mag on a timescale of 1 day was also observed during this period. We present spectral energy distributions, including radio data, and discuss possible sources for the optical/NIR emission. We conclude that, in the hard state, this emission probably originates in the optically thin part of a jet and that in none of the X-ray states is X-ray reprocessing the dominant source of optical/NIR emission. Finally, comparing the light curves from the all-sky monitor (ASM) and Proportional Counter Array (PCA) instruments, we find that the X-ray/NIR delay depends critically on the sensitivity of the X-ray detector, with the delay inferred from the PCA (if present at all) being a factor of 3-6 times shorter than the delay inferred from the ASM; this may be important in interpreting previously reported X-ray-optical/NIR lags.

Decoherence control mechanisms of a charged magneto-oscillator in contact with different environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rajesh, Asam; Bandyopadhyay, Malay; Jayannavar, Arun M.

2017-12-01

In this work, we consider two different techniques based on reservoir engineering process and quantum Zeno control method to analyze the decoherence control mechanism of a charged magneto-oscillator in contact with different type of environment. Our analysis reveals that both the control mechanisms are very much sensitive on the details of different environmental spectrum (J (ω)), and also on different system and reservoir parameters, e.g., external magnetic field (rc), confinement length (r0), temperature (T), cut-off frequency of reservoir spectrum (ωcut), and measurement interval (τ). We also demonstrate the manipulation scheme of the continuous passage from decay suppression to decay acceleration by tuning the above mentioned system or reservoir parameters, e.g., rc, r0, T and τ.

Molecular engineering of a dual emission near-infrared ratiometric fluorophore for the detection of pH at the organism level.

PubMed

Wang, Bo-Lin; Jiang, Chuang; Li, Kun; Liu, Yan-Hong; Xie, Yongmei; Yu, Xiao-Qi

2015-07-07

A near-infrared ratiometric fluorophore (NIR-HBT) was rationally designed and constructed by expanding both the excitation and emission wavelength of the classical ratiometric fluorophore 2-(benzothiazol-2-yl)phenol (HBT) into the near-infrared region. The NIR-HBT was easily synthesized by incorporating the HBT module into the hemicyanine skeleton and showed evident NIR ratiometric fluorophore characteristics. Further application of the new fluorophore for pH detection demonstrated that NIR-HBT possesses superior overall analytical performance and NIR-HBT was successfully applied for detection of acidosis caused by inflammation in living animal tissue, which indicated the potential application value of NIR-HBT in biological imaging and sensing.

Linear regression models and k-means clustering for statistical analysis of fNIRS data.

PubMed

Bonomini, Viola; Zucchelli, Lucia; Re, Rebecca; Ieva, Francesca; Spinelli, Lorenzo; Contini, Davide; Paganoni, Anna; Torricelli, Alessandro

2015-02-01

We propose a new algorithm, based on a linear regression model, to statistically estimate the hemodynamic activations in fNIRS data sets. The main concern guiding the algorithm development was the minimization of assumptions and approximations made on the data set for the application of statistical tests. Further, we propose a K-means method to cluster fNIRS data (i.e. channels) as activated or not activated. The methods were validated both on simulated and in vivo fNIRS data. A time domain (TD) fNIRS technique was preferred because of its high performances in discriminating cortical activation and superficial physiological changes. However, the proposed method is also applicable to continuous wave or frequency domain fNIRS data sets.

Linear regression models and k-means clustering for statistical analysis of fNIRS data

PubMed Central

Bonomini, Viola; Zucchelli, Lucia; Re, Rebecca; Ieva, Francesca; Spinelli, Lorenzo; Contini, Davide; Paganoni, Anna; Torricelli, Alessandro

2015-01-01

We propose a new algorithm, based on a linear regression model, to statistically estimate the hemodynamic activations in fNIRS data sets. The main concern guiding the algorithm development was the minimization of assumptions and approximations made on the data set for the application of statistical tests. Further, we propose a K-means method to cluster fNIRS data (i.e. channels) as activated or not activated. The methods were validated both on simulated and in vivo fNIRS data. A time domain (TD) fNIRS technique was preferred because of its high performances in discriminating cortical activation and superficial physiological changes. However, the proposed method is also applicable to continuous wave or frequency domain fNIRS data sets. PMID:25780751

Rotational quenching of H2O by He: mixed quantum/classical theory and comparison with quantum results.

PubMed

Ivanov, Mikhail; Dubernet, Marie-Lise; Babikov, Dmitri

2014-04-07

The mixed quantum/classical theory (MQCT) formulated in the space-fixed reference frame is used to compute quenching cross sections of several rotationally excited states of water molecule by impact of He atom in a broad range of collision energies, and is tested against the full-quantum calculations on the same potential energy surface. In current implementation of MQCT method, there are two major sources of errors: one affects results at energies below 10 cm(-1), while the other shows up at energies above 500 cm(-1). Namely, when the collision energy E is below the state-to-state transition energy ΔE the MQCT method becomes less accurate due to its intrinsic classical approximation, although employment of the average-velocity principle (scaling of collision energy in order to satisfy microscopic reversibility) helps dramatically. At higher energies, MQCT is expected to be accurate but in current implementation, in order to make calculations computationally affordable, we had to cut off the basis set size. This can be avoided by using a more efficient body-fixed formulation of MQCT. Overall, the errors of MQCT method are within 20% of the full-quantum results almost everywhere through four-orders-of-magnitude range of collision energies, except near resonances, where the errors are somewhat larger.

The Quantum Focussing Conjecture and Quantum Null Energy Condition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koeller, Jason

Evidence has been gathering over the decades that spacetime and gravity are best understood as emergent phenomenon, especially in the context of a unified description of quantum mechanics and gravity. The Quantum Focussing Conjecture (QFC) and Quantum Null Energy Condition (QNEC) are two recently-proposed relationships between entropy and geometry, and energy and entropy, respectively, which further strengthen this idea. In this thesis, we study the QFC and the QNEC. We prove the QNEC in a variety of contexts, including free field theories on Killing horizons, holographic theories on Killing horizons, and in more general curved spacetimes. We also consider the implications of the QFC and QNEC in asymptotically flat space, where they constrain the information content of gravitational radiation arriving at null infinity, and in AdS/CFT, where they are related to other semiclassical inequalities and properties of boundary-anchored extremal area surfaces. It is shown that the assumption of validity and vacuum-state saturation of the QNEC for regions of flat space defined by smooth cuts of null planes implies a local formula for the modular Hamiltonian of these regions. We also demonstrate that the QFC as originally conjectured can be violated in generic theories in d ≥ 5, which led the way to an improved formulation subsequently suggested by Stefan Leichenauer.

Autofluorescence Imaging With Near-Infrared Excitation:Normalization by Reflectance to Reduce Signal From Choroidal Fluorophores

PubMed Central

Cideciyan, Artur V.; Swider, Malgorzata; Jacobson, Samuel G.

2015-01-01

Purpose. We previously developed reduced-illuminance autofluorescence imaging (RAFI) methods involving near-infrared (NIR) excitation to image melanin-based fluorophores and short-wavelength (SW) excitation to image lipofuscin-based flurophores. Here, we propose to normalize NIR-RAFI in order to increase the relative contribution of retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) fluorophores. Methods. Retinal imaging was performed with a standard protocol holding system parameters invariant in healthy subjects and in patients. Normalized NIR-RAFI was derived by dividing NIR-RAFI signal by NIR reflectance point-by-point after image registration. Results. Regions of RPE atrophy in Stargardt disease, AMD, retinitis pigmentosa, choroideremia, and Leber congenital amaurosis as defined by low signal on SW-RAFI could correspond to a wide range of signal on NIR-RAFI depending on the contribution from the choroidal component. Retinal pigment epithelium atrophy tended to always correspond to high signal on NIR reflectance. Normalizing NIR-RAFI reduced the choroidal component of the signal in regions of atrophy. Quantitative evaluation of RPE atrophy area showed no significant differences between SW-RAFI and normalized NIR-RAFI. Conclusions. Imaging of RPE atrophy using lipofuscin-based AF imaging has become the gold standard. However, this technique involves bright SW lights that are uncomfortable and may accelerate the rate of disease progression in vulnerable retinas. The NIR-RAFI method developed here is a melanin-based alternative that is not absorbed by opsins and bisretinoid moieties, and is comfortable to view. Further development of this method may result in a nonmydriatic and comfortable imaging method to quantify RPE atrophy extent and its expansion rate. PMID:26024124

Phylogenetically diverse denitrifying and ammonia-oxidizing bacteria in corals Alcyonium gracillimum and Tubastraea coccinea.

PubMed

Yang, Shan; Sun, Wei; Zhang, Fengli; Li, Zhiyong

2013-10-01

To date, the association of coral-bacteria and the ecological roles of bacterial symbionts in corals remain largely unknown. In particular, little is known about the community components of bacterial symbionts of corals involved in the process of denitrification and ammonia oxidation. In this study, the nitrite reductase (nirS and nirK) and ammonia monooxygenase subunit A (amoA) genes were used as functional markers. Diverse bacteria with the potential to be active as denitrifiers and ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) were found in two East China Sea corals: stony coral Alcyonium gracillimum and soft coral Tubastraea coccinea. The 16S rRNA gene library analysis demonstrated different communities of bacterial symbionts in these two corals of the same location. Nitrite reductase nirK gene was found only in T. coccinea, while both nirK and nirS genes were detected in A. gracillimum, which might be the result of the presence of different bacterial symbionts in these two corals. AOB rather than ammonia-oxidizing archaea were detected in both corals, suggesting that AOB might play an important role in the ammonia oxidation process of the corals. This study indicates that the coral bacterial symbionts with the potential for nitrite reduction and ammonia oxidation might have multiple ecological roles in the coral holobiont, which promotes our understanding of bacteria-mediated nitrogen cycling in corals. To our knowledge, this study is the first assessment of the community structure and phylogenetic diversity of denitrifying bacteria and AOB in corals based on nirK, nirS, and amoA gene library analysis.

Mechanism of eliciting host immunity against cancer cells treated with silica-phthalocyanine-based near infrared photoimmunotherapy (Conference Presentation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kobayashi, Hisataka

2016-03-01

Near infrared (NIR) photoimmunotherapy (PIT) is a new type of molecularly-targeted cancer photo-therapy based on conjugating a near infrared silica-phthalocyanine dye, IR700, to a monoclonal antibody (MAb) targeting cancer-specific cell-surface molecules. When exposed to NIR light, the conjugate induces a highly-selective necrotic/ immunogenic cell death (ICD) only in receptor-positive, MAb-IR700-bound cancer cells. This cell death occurs as early as 1 minute after exposure to NIR light. Meanwhile, immediately adjacent receptor-negative cells including immune cells are unharmed. Therefore, we hypothesized that NIR-PIT could efficiently elicit host immunity against treated cancer cells. Three-dimensional dynamic quantitative phase contrast microscopy and selective plane illumination microscopy of tumor cells undergoing PIT showed rapid swelling in treated cells immediately after light exposure suggesting rapid water influx into cells, followed by irreversible morphologic changes such as bleb formation, and rupture of vesicles. Furthermore, biological markers of ICD including relocation of HSP70/90 and calreticulin, and release of ATP and High Mobility Group Box 1 (HMGB1), were clearly detected immediately after NIR-PIT. When NIR-PIT was performed in a mixture of cancer cells and immature dendritic cells, maturation of immature dendritic cells was strongly induced rapidly after NIR-PIT. In summary, NIR-PIT can induce necrotic/ immunogenic cell death that promotes rapid maturation of immature dendritic cells adjacent to dying cancer cells. Therefore, NIR-PIT could efficiently initiate host immune response against NIR-PIT treated cancer cells growing in patients.

The role of cell hydration in realization of biological effects of non-ionizing radiation (NIR).

PubMed

Ayrapetyan, Sinerik

2015-09-01

The weak knowledge on the nature of cellular and molecular mechanisms of biological effects of NIR such as static magnetic field, infrasound frequency of mechanical vibration, extremely low frequency of electromagnetic fields and microwave serves as a main barrier for adequate dosimetry from the point of Public Health. The difficulty lies in the fact that the biological effects of NIR depend not only on their thermodynamic characteristics but also on their frequency and intensity "windows", chemical and physical composition of the surrounding medium, as well as on the initial metabolic state of the organism. Therefore, only biomarker can be used for adequate estimation of biological effect of NIR on organisms. Because of the absence of such biomarker(s), organizations having the mission to monitor hazardous effects of NIR traditionally base their instruction on thermodynamic characteristics of NIR. Based on the high sensitivity to NIR of both aqua medium structure and cell hydration, it is suggested that cell bathing medium is one of the primary targets and cell hydration is a biomarker for NIR effects on cells and organisms. The purpose of this article is to present a short review of literature and our own experimental data on the effects of NIR on plants' seeds germination, microbe growth and development, snail neurons and heart muscle, rat's brain and heart tissues.

Multimodal Imaging of Disease-Associated Pigmentary Changes in Retinitis Pigmentosa

PubMed Central

Schuerch, Kaspar; Marsiglia, Marcela; Lee, Winston; Tsang, Stephen H.; Sparrow, Janet R.

2016-01-01

Purpose Using multiple imaging modalities we evaluated the changes in photoreceptor cells and RPE that are associated with bone spicule-shaped melanin pigmentation in retinitis pigmentosa (RP). Methods In a cohort of 60 RP patients, short-wavelength autofluorescence (SW-AF), near-infrared (NIR)-AF, NIR-reflectance (NIR-R), spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) and color fundus images were studied. Results Central AF rings were visible in both SW-AF and NIR-AF images. Bone spicule pigmentation was non-reflective in NIR-R, hypoautofluorescent with SW-AF and NIR-AF imaging and presented as intraretinal hyperreflective foci in SD-OCT images. In areas beyond the AF ring outer border, the photoreceptor ellipsoid zone (EZ) band was absent in SD-OCT scans and the visibility of choroidal vessels in SW-AF, NIR-AF and NIR-R images was indicative of reduced RPE pigmentation. Choroidal visibility was most pronounced in the zone approaching peripheral areas of bone spicule pigmentation; here RPE/Bruch’s membrane thinning became apparent in SD-OCT scans. Conclusions These findings are consistent with a process by which RPE cells vacate their monolayer and migrate into inner retina in response to photoreceptor cell degeneration. The remaining RPE spread, undergo thinning and consequently become less pigmented. An explanation for the absence of NIR-AF melanin signal in relation to bone spicule pigmentation is not forthcoming. PMID:28005673

Multi-channel NIRS of the primary motor cortex to discriminate hand from foot activity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Koenraadt, K. L. M.; Duysens, J.; Smeenk, M.; Keijsers, N. L. W.

2012-08-01

The poor spatial resolution of near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) makes it difficult to distinguish two closely located cortical areas from each other. Here, a combination of multi-channel NIRS and a centre of gravity (CoG) approach (widely accepted in the field of transcranial magnetic stimulation; TMS) was used to discriminate between closely located cortical areas activated during hand and foot movements. Similarly, the possibility of separating the more anteriorly represented discrete movements from rhythmic movements was studied. Thirteen healthy right-handed subjects performed rhythmic or discrete (‘task’) hand or foot (‘extremity’) tapping. Hemodynamic responses were measured using an 8-channel NIRS setup. For oxyhemoglobin (OHb) and deoxyhemoglobin (HHb), a CoG was determined for each condition using the mean hemodynamic responses and the coordinates of the channels. Significant hemodynamic responses were found for hand and foot movements. Based on the HHb responses, the NIRS-CoG of hand movements was located 0.6 cm more laterally compared to the NIRS-CoG of foot movements. For OHb responses no difference in NIRS-CoG was found for ‘extremity’ nor for ‘task’. This is the first NIRS study showing hemodynamic responses for isolated foot movements. Furthermore, HHb responses have the potential to be used in multi-channel NIRS experiments requiring differential activation of motor cortex areas linked to either hand or foot movements.

Elucidation of major contributors involved in nitrogen removal and transcription level of nitrogen-cycling genes in activated sludge from WWTPs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Che, You; Liang, Peixin; Gong, Ting; Cao, Xiangyu; Zhao, Ying; Yang, Chao; Song, Cunjiang

2017-03-01

We investigated nitrogen-cycle bacterial communities in activated sludge from 8 municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Redundancy analyses (RDA) showed that temperature was the most significant driving force in shaping microbial community structure, followed by influent NH4+ and total nitrogen (TN). The diversity of ammonia oxidizing and nitrite reducing bacteria were investigated by the construction of amoA, nirS and nirK gene clone libraries. Phylogenetic analysis indicated that Thauera and Mesorhizobium were the predominant nitrite reducing bacteria, and Nitrosomonas was the only detected ammonia oxidizing bacteria in all samples. Quantification of transcription level of nirS and nirK genes indicated that nirS-type nitrite reducing bacteria played the dominant roles in nitrite reduction process. Transcription level of nirS gene positively correlated with influent NH4+ and TN significantly, whereas inversely linked with hydraulic retention time. Temperature had a strong positive correlation to transcription level of amoA gene. Overall, this study deepened our understanding of the major types of ammonia oxidizing and nitrite reducing bacteria in activated sludge of municipal WWTPs. The relationship between transcription level of nitrogen-cycle genes and operational or environmental variables of WWTPs revealed in this work could provide guidance for optimization of operating parameters and improving the performance of nitrogen removal.

Sensitivity Differences in Fish Offer Near-Infrared Vision as an Adaptable Evolutionary Trait

PubMed Central

Shcherbakov, Denis; Knörzer, Alexandra; Espenhahn, Svenja; Hilbig, Reinhard; Haas, Ulrich; Blum, Martin

2013-01-01

Near-infrared (NIR) light constitutes an integrated part of solar radiation. The principal ability to sense NIR under laboratory conditions has previously been demonstrated in fish. The availability of NIR in aquatic habitats, and thus its potential use as a cue for distinct behaviors such as orientation and detection of prey, however, depends on physical and environmental parameters. In clear water, blue and green light represents the dominating part of the illumination. In turbid waters, in contrast, the relative content of red and NIR radiation is enhanced, due to increased scattering and absorption of short and middle range wavelengths by suspended particles and dissolved colored materials. We have studied NIR detection thresholds using a phototactic swimming assay in five fish species, which are exposed to different NIR conditions in their natural habitats. Nile and Mozambique tilapia, which inhabit waters with increased turbidity, displayed the highest spectral sensitivity, with thresholds at wavelengths above 930 nm. Zebrafish, guppy and green swordtail, which prefer clearer waters, revealed significantly lower thresholds of spectral sensitivity with 825–845 nm for green swordtail and 845–910 nm for zebrafish and guppy. The present study revealed a clear correlation between NIR sensation thresholds and availability of NIR in the natural habitats, suggesting that NIR vision, as an integral part of the whole spectrum of visual abilities, can serve as an evolutionarily adaptable trait in fish. PMID:23691215

Near-infrared fluorophores as biomolecular probes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Patonay, Gabor; Beckford, Garfield; Strekowski, Lucjan; Henary, Maged; Merid, Yonathan

2010-02-01

Near-Infrared (NIR) fluorescence has been valuable in analytical and bioanalytical chemistry. NIR probes and labels have been used for several applications, including hydrophobicity of protein binding sites, DNA sequencing, immunoassays, CE separations, etc. The NIR region (700-1100 nm) has advantages for the spectroscopist due to the inherently lower background interference from the biological matrix and the high molar absorptivities of NIR chromophores. During the studies we report here several NIR dyes were prepared to determine the role of the hydrophobicity of NIR dyes and their charge in binding to amino acids and proteins, e.g., serum albumins. We synthesized NIR dye homologs containing the same chromophore but substituents of varying hydrophobicity. Hydrophobic moieties were represented by alkyl and aryl groups. These NIR dyes of varying hydrophobicity exhibited varying degrees of H-aggregation in aqueous solution indicating that the degree of H-aggregation could be used as an indicator to predict binding characteristics to serum albumins. In order to understand what factors may be important in the binding process, spectral behavior of these varying hydrophobicity dyes were examined in the presence of amino acids. Typical dye structures that exhibit large binding constants to biomolecules were compared in order to optimize applications utilizing non-covalent interactions.

Development of motion resistant instrumentation for ambulatory near-infrared spectroscopy

PubMed Central

Zhang, Quan; Yan, Xiangguo; Strangman, Gary E.

2011-01-01

Ambulatory near-infrared spectroscopy (aNIRS) enables recording of systemic or tissue-specific hemodynamics and oxygenation during a person's normal activities. It has particular potential for the diagnosis and management of health problems with unpredictable and transient hemodynamic symptoms, or medical conditions requiring continuous, long-duration monitoring. aNIRS is also needed in conditions where regular monitoring or imaging cannot be applied, including remote environments such as during spaceflight or at high altitude. One key to the successful application of aNIRS is reducing the impact of motion artifacts in aNIRS recordings. In this paper, we describe the development of a novel prototype aNIRS monitor, called NINscan, and our efforts to reduce motion artifacts in aNIRS monitoring. Powered by 2 AA size batteries and weighting 350 g, NINscan records NIRS, ECG, respiration, and acceleration for up to 14 h at a 250 Hz sampling rate. The system's performance and resistance to motion is demonstrated by long term quantitative phantom tests, Valsalva maneuver tests, and multiparameter monitoring during parabolic flight and high altitude hiking. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of multiparameter aNIRS monitoring and its application in parabolic flight. PMID:21895335

Near infrared photoimmunotherapy for lung metastases

PubMed Central

Sato, Kazuhide; Nagaya, Tadanobu; Mitsunaga, Makoto; Choyke, Peter L.; Kobayashi, Hisataka

2015-01-01

Lung metastases are a leading cause of cancer related deaths; nonetheless current treatments are limited. Near infrared photoimmunotherapy (NIR-PIT) is a new cancer treatment that combines the specificity of intravenously injected antibodies that target tumors with the toxicity induced by photosensitizers activated by NIR-light. Herein, we demonstrate the efficacy of NIR-PIT in a mouse model of lung metastases. Experiments were conducted with a HER2, luciferase and GFP expressing cell line (3T3/HER2-luc-GFP). An antibody-photosensitizer conjugate (APC) consisting of trastuzumab and a phthalocyanine dye, IRDye-700DX, was synthesized. In vitro NIR-PIT-induced cytotoxicity was light dose dependent. With 3D culture, repeated NIR-PIT could eradicate entire spheroids. In vivo anti-tumor effects of NIR-PIT included significant reductions in both tumor volume (p = 0.0141 vs. APC) and bioluminescence image (BLI) (p = 0.0086 vs. APC) in the flank model, and prolonged survival (p < 0.0001). BLI demonstrated a significant reduction in lung metastases volume (p = 0.0117 vs. APC). Multiple NIR-PIT doses significantly prolonged survival in the lung metastases model (p < 0.0001). These results suggested that NIR-PIT is a potential new therapy for the local control of lung metastases. PMID:26021765

Designing and testing a wearable, wireless fNIRS patch.

PubMed

Abtahi, Mohammadreza; Cay, Gozde; Saikia, Manob Jyoti; Mankodiya, Kunal

2016-08-01

Optical brain monitoring using near infrared (NIR) light has got a lot of attention in order to study the complexity of the brain due to several advantages as oppose to other methods such as EEG, fMRI and PET. There are a few commercially available functional NIR spectroscopy (fNIRS) brain monitoring systems, but they are still non-wearable and pose difficulties in scanning the brain while the participants are in motion. In this work, we present our endeavors to design and test a low-cost, wireless fNIRS patch using NIR light sources at wavelengths of 770 and 830nm, photodetectors and a microcontroller to trigger the light sources, read photodetector's output and transfer data wirelessly (via Bluetooth) to a smart-phone. The patch is essentially a 3-D printed wearable system, recording and displaying the brain hemodynamic responses on smartphone, also eliminates the need for complicated wiring of the electrodes. We have performed rigorous lab experiments on the presented system for its functionality. In a proof of concept experiment, the patch detected the NIR absorption on the arm. Another experiment revealed that the patch's battery could last up to several hours with continuous fNIRS recording with and without wireless data transfer.

Portable wide-field hand-held NIR scanner

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jung, Young-Jin; Roman, Manuela; Carrasquilla, Jennifer; Erickson, Sarah J.; Godavarty, Anuradha

2013-03-01

Near-infrared (NIR) optical imaging modality is one of the widely used medical imaging techniques for breast cancer imaging, functional brain mapping, and many other applications. However, conventional NIR imaging systems are bulky and expensive, thereby limiting their accelerated clinical translation. Herein a new compact (6 × 7 × 12 cm3), cost-effective, and wide-field NIR scanner has been developed towards contact as well as no-contact based real-time imaging in both reflectance and transmission mode. The scanner mainly consists of an NIR source light (between 700- 900 nm), an NIR sensitive CCD camera, and a custom-developed image acquisition and processing software to image an area of 12 cm2. Phantom experiments have been conducted to estimate the feasibility of diffuse optical imaging by using Indian-Ink as absorption-based contrast agents. As a result, the developed NIR system measured the light intensity change in absorption-contrasted target up to 4 cm depth under transillumination mode. Preliminary in-vivo studies demonstrated the feasibility of real-time monitoring of blood flow changes. Currently, extensive in-vivo studies are carried out using the ultra-portable NIR scanner in order to assess the potential of the imager towards breast imaging..

Language mapping in children using resting-state functional connectivity: comparison with a task-based approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gallagher, Anne; Tremblay, Julie; Vannasing, Phetsamone

2016-12-01

Patients with brain tumor or refractory epilepsy may be candidates for neurosurgery. Presurgical evaluation often includes language investigation to prevent or reduce the risk of postsurgical language deficits. Current techniques involve significant limitations with pediatric populations. Recently, near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) has been shown to be a valuable neuroimaging technique for language localization in children. However, it typically requires the child to perform a task (task-based NIRS), which may constitute a significant limitation. Resting-state functional connectivity NIRS (fcNIRS) is an approach that can be used to identify language networks at rest. This study aims to assess the utility of fcNIRS in children by comparing fcNIRS to more conventional task-based NIRS for language mapping in 33 healthy participants: 25 children (ages 3 to 16) and 8 adults. Data were acquired at rest and during a language task. Results show very good concordance between both approaches for language localization (Dice similarity coefficient=0.81±0.13) and hemispheric language dominance (kappa=0.86, p<0.006). The fcNIRS technique may be a valuable tool for language mapping in clinical populations, including children and patients with cognitive and behavioral impairments.

What we can and cannot (yet) do with functional near infrared spectroscopy

PubMed Central

Strait, Megan; Scheutz, Matthias

2014-01-01

Functional near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is a relatively new technique complimentary to EEG for the development of brain-computer interfaces (BCIs). NIRS-based systems for detecting various cognitive and affective states such as mental and emotional stress have already been demonstrated in a range of adaptive human–computer interaction (HCI) applications. However, before NIRS-BCIs can be used reliably in realistic HCI settings, substantial challenges oncerning signal processing and modeling must be addressed. Although many of those challenges have been identified previously, the solutions to overcome them remain scant. In this paper, we first review what can be currently done with NIRS, specifically, NIRS-based approaches to measuring cognitive and affective user states as well as demonstrations of passive NIRS-BCIs. We then discuss some of the primary challenges these systems would face if deployed in more realistic settings, including detection latencies and motion artifacts. Lastly, we investigate the effects of some of these challenges on signal reliability via a quantitative comparison of three NIRS models. The hope is that this paper will actively engage researchers to acilitate the advancement of NIRS as a more robust and useful tool to the BCI community. PMID:24904261

Fluorescence lifetime imaging with near-infrared dyes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Becker, Wolfgang; Shcheslavskiy, Vladislav

2013-02-01

Near-infrared (NIR) dyes are used as fluorescence markers in small-animal imaging and in diffuse optical tomography of the human brain. In these applications it is important to know whether the dyes bind to proteins or other tissue constituents, and whether their fluorescence lifetimes depend on the targets they are bound to. Unfortunately, neither the lasers nor the detectors of commonly used confocal and multiphoton laser scanning microscopes allow for excitation and detection of NIR fluorescence. We therefore upgraded existing confocal TCSPC FLIM systems with NIR lasers and NIR sensitive detectors. In multiphoton systems we used the Ti:Sa laser as a one-photon excitation source in combination with an NIR-sensitive detector in the confocal beam path. We tested a number of NIR dyes in biological tissue. Some of them showed clear lifetime changes depending on the tissue structures they are bound to. We therefore believe that NIR FLIM can deliver supplementary information on the tissue constitution and on local biochemical parameters.

Application of near infrared spectroscopy to the analysis and fast quality assessment of traditional Chinese medicinal products

PubMed Central

Zhang, Chao; Su, Jinghua

2014-01-01

Near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) has been widely applied in both qualitative and quantitative analysis. There is growing interest in its application to traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and a review of recent developments in the field is timely. To present an overview of recent applications of NIRS to the identification, classification and analysis of TCM products, studies describing the application of NIRS to TCM products are classified into those involving qualitative and quantitative analysis. In addition, the application of NIRS to the detection of illegal additives and the rapid assessment of quality of TCMs by fast inspection are also described. This review covers over 100 studies emphasizing the application of NIRS in different fields. Furthermore, basic analytical principles and specific examples are used to illustrate the feasibility and effectiveness of NIRS in pattern identification. NIRS provides an effective and powerful tool for the qualitative and quantitative analysis of TCM products. PMID:26579382

Near-infrared imaging of demineralization under sealants

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tom, Henry; Simon, Jacob C.; Chan, Kenneth H.; Darling, Cynthia L.; Fried, Daniel

2014-07-01

Previous studies have shown that near-infrared (NIR) reflectance and transillumination imaging can be used to acquire high contrast images of early caries lesions and composite restorative materials. The aim of the study was to determine the optimum NIR wavelengths for imaging demineralized areas under dental sealants. Fifteen natural human premolars and molars with occlusal lesions were used in this in vitro study. Images before and after application of sealants were acquired using NIR reflectance and NIR transillumination at wavelengths of 1300, 1460, and 1500 to 1700 nm. Images were also acquired using polarization sensitive optical coherence tomography (OCT) for comparison. The highest contrast for NIR reflectance was at 1460 nm and 1500 to 1700 nm. These NIR wavelengths are coincident with higher water absorption. The clear Delton sealant investigated was not visible in either copolarization or cross-polarization OCT images. The wavelength region between 1500 and 1700 nm yielded the highest contrast of lesions under sealants for NIR reflectance measurements.

Near-infrared imaging of demineralization under sealants.

PubMed

Tom, Henry; Simon, Jacob C; Chan, Kenneth H; Darling, Cynthia L; Fried, Daniel

2014-01-01

Previous studies have shown that near-infrared (NIR) reflectance and transillumination imaging can be used to acquire high contrast images of early caries lesions and composite restorative materials. The aim of the study was to determine the optimum NIR wavelengths for imaging demineralized areas under dental sealants. Fifteen natural human premolars and molars with occlusal lesions were used in this in vitro study. Images before and after application of sealants were acquired using NIR reflectance and NIR transillumination at wavelengths of 1300, 1460, and 1500 to 1700 nm. Images were also acquired using polarization sensitive optical coherence tomography (OCT) for comparison. The highest contrast for NIR reflectance was at 1460 nm and 1500 to 1700 nm. These NIR wavelengths are coincident with higher water absorption. The clear Delton sealant investigated was not visible in either copolarization or cross-polarization OCT images. The wavelength region between 1500 and 1700 nm yielded the highest contrast of lesions under sealants for NIR reflectance measurements.

Photoacoustic imaging at 1064nm wavelength with exogenous contrast agents

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Upputuri, Paul Kumar; Jiang, Yuyan; Pu, Kanyi; Pramanik, Manojit

2018-02-01

Photoacoustic (PA) imaging is a promising imaging modality for both preclinical research and clinical practices. Laser wavelengths in the first near infrared window (NIR-I, 650-950 nm) have been widely used for photoacoustic imaging. As compared with NIR-I window, scattering of photons by biological tissues is largely reduced in the second NIR (NIR-II) window, leading to enhanced imaging fidelity. However, the lack of biocompatible NIR-II absorbing exogenous agents prevented the use of this window for in vivo imaging. In recent years, few studies have been reported on photoacoustic imaging in NIR-II window using exogenous contrast agents. In this work, we discuss the recent work on PA imaging using 1064 nm wavelength, the fundamental of Nd:YAG laser, as an excitation wavelength. The PA imaging at 1064 nm is advantageous because of the low and homogeneous signal from tissue background, enabling high contrast in PA imaging when NIR-II absorbing contrast agents are employed.

Single frequency free-running low noise compact extended-cavity semiconductor laser at high power level

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garnache, Arnaud; Myara, Mikhaël.; Laurain, A.; Bouchier, Aude; Perez, J. P.; Signoret, P.; Sagnes, I.; Romanini, D.

2017-11-01

We present a highly coherent semiconductor laser device formed by a ½-VCSEL structure and an external concave mirror in a millimetre high finesse stable cavity. The quantum well structure is diode-pumped by a commercial single mode GaAs laser diode system. This free running low noise tunable single-frequency laser exhibits >50mW output power in a low divergent circular TEM00 beam with a spectral linewidth below 1kHz and a relative intensity noise close to the quantum limit. This approach ensures, with a compact design, homogeneous gain behaviour and a sufficiently long photon lifetime to reach the oscillation-relaxation-free class-A regime, with a cut off frequency around 10MHz.

Algorithm for measuring the internal quantum efficiency of individual injection lasers

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sommers, H.S. Jr.

1978-05-01

A new algorithm permits determination of the internal quantum efficiency eta/sub i/ of individual lasers. Above threshold, the current is partitioned into a ''coherent'' component driving the lasing modes and the ''noncoherent'' remainder. Below threshold the current is known to grow as exp(qV/n/sub 0/KT); the algorithm proposes that extrapolation of this equation into the lasing region measures the noncoherent remainder, enabling deduction of the coherent component and of its current derivative eta/sub i/. Measurements on five (AlGa)As double-heterojunction lasers cut from one wafer demonstrate the power of the new method. Comparison with band calculations of Stern shows that n/sub 0/more » originates in carrier degeneracy.« less

Non-extensive quantum statistics with particle-hole symmetry

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Biró, T. S.; Shen, K. M.; Zhang, B. W.

2015-06-01

Based on Tsallis entropy (1988) and the corresponding deformed exponential function, generalized distribution functions for bosons and fermions have been used since a while Teweldeberhan et al. (2003) and Silva et al. (2010). However, aiming at a non-extensive quantum statistics further requirements arise from the symmetric handling of particles and holes (excitations above and below the Fermi level). Naive replacements of the exponential function or "cut and paste" solutions fail to satisfy this symmetry and to be smooth at the Fermi level at the same time. We solve this problem by a general ansatz dividing the deformed exponential to odd and even terms and demonstrate that how earlier suggestions, like the κ- and q-exponential behave in this respect.

Near-infrared fluorescence amplified organic nanoparticles with aggregation-induced emission characteristics for in vivo imaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Geng, Junlong; Zhu, Zhenshu; Qin, Wei; Ma, Lin; Hu, Yong; Gurzadyan, Gagik G.; Tang, Ben Zhong; Liu, Bin

2013-12-01

Near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence signals are highly desirable to achieve high resolution in biological imaging. To obtain NIR emission with high brightness, fluorescent nanoparticles (NPs) are synthesized by co-encapsulation of 2,3-bis(4-(phenyl(4-(1,2,2-triphenylvinyl)phenylamino)phenyl)fumaronitrile (TPETPAFN), a luminogen with aggregation-induced emission (AIE) characteristics, and a NIR fluorogen of silicon 2,3-naphthalocyanine bis(trihexylsilyloxide) (NIR775) using 1,2-distearoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine-N-[methoxy(polyethylene glycol)-2000] as the encapsulation matrix. The good spectral overlap between the emission of TPETPAFN and the absorption of NIR775 leads to efficient energy transfer, resulting in a 47-fold enhancement of the NIR775 emission intensity upon excitation of TPETPAFN at 510 nm as compared to that upon direct excitation of NIR775 at 760 nm. The obtained fluorescent NPs show sharp NIR emission with a band width of 20 nm, a large Stokes shift of 275 nm, good photostability and low cytotoxicity. In vivo imaging study reveals that the synthesized NPs are able to provide high fluorescence contrast in live animals. The Förster resonance energy transfer strategy overcomes the intrinsic limitation of broad emission spectra for AIE NPs, which opens new opportunities to synthesize organic NPs with high brightness and narrow emission for potential applications in multiplex sensing and imaging.Near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence signals are highly desirable to achieve high resolution in biological imaging. To obtain NIR emission with high brightness, fluorescent nanoparticles (NPs) are synthesized by co-encapsulation of 2,3-bis(4-(phenyl(4-(1,2,2-triphenylvinyl)phenylamino)phenyl)fumaronitrile (TPETPAFN), a luminogen with aggregation-induced emission (AIE) characteristics, and a NIR fluorogen of silicon 2,3-naphthalocyanine bis(trihexylsilyloxide) (NIR775) using 1,2-distearoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphoethanolamine-N-[methoxy(polyethylene glycol)-2000] as the encapsulation matrix. The good spectral overlap between the emission of TPETPAFN and the absorption of NIR775 leads to efficient energy transfer, resulting in a 47-fold enhancement of the NIR775 emission intensity upon excitation of TPETPAFN at 510 nm as compared to that upon direct excitation of NIR775 at 760 nm. The obtained fluorescent NPs show sharp NIR emission with a band width of 20 nm, a large Stokes shift of 275 nm, good photostability and low cytotoxicity. In vivo imaging study reveals that the synthesized NPs are able to provide high fluorescence contrast in live animals. The Förster resonance energy transfer strategy overcomes the intrinsic limitation of broad emission spectra for AIE NPs, which opens new opportunities to synthesize organic NPs with high brightness and narrow emission for potential applications in multiplex sensing and imaging. Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Characterization of AIE properties of TPETPAFN, UV-vis spectra of NPs, PL spectra comparison upon excitation at the donor and receptor absorbance maxima, ex vivo fluorescence imaging of mice organs. See DOI: 10.1039/c3nr04243j

Upconverting and NIR emitting rare earth based nanostructures for NIR-bioimaging

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hemmer, Eva; Venkatachalam, Nallusamy; Hyodo, Hiroshi; Hattori, Akito; Ebina, Yoshie; Kishimoto, Hidehiro; Soga, Kohei

2013-11-01

In recent years, significant progress was achieved in the field of nanomedicine and bioimaging, but the development of new biomarkers for reliable detection of diseases at an early stage, molecular imaging, targeting and therapy remains crucial. The disadvantages of commonly used organic dyes include photobleaching, autofluorescence, phototoxicity and scattering when UV (ultraviolet) or visible light is used for excitation. The limited penetration depth of the excitation light and the visible emission into and from the biological tissue is a further drawback with regard to in vivo bioimaging. Lanthanide containing inorganic nanostructures emitting in the near-infrared (NIR) range under NIR excitation may overcome those problems. Due to the outstanding optical and magnetic properties of lanthanide ions (Ln3+), nanoscopic host materials doped with Ln3+, e.g. Y2O3:Er3+,Yb3+, are promising candidates for NIR-NIR bioimaging. Ln3+-doped gadolinium-based inorganic nanostructures, such as Gd2O3:Er3+,Yb3+, have a high potential as opto-magnetic markers allowing the combination of time-resolved optical imaging and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of high spatial resolution. Recent progress in our research on over-1000 nm NIR fluorescent nanoprobes for in vivo NIR-NIR bioimaging will be discussed in this review.In recent years, significant progress was achieved in the field of nanomedicine and bioimaging, but the development of new biomarkers for reliable detection of diseases at an early stage, molecular imaging, targeting and therapy remains crucial. The disadvantages of commonly used organic dyes include photobleaching, autofluorescence, phototoxicity and scattering when UV (ultraviolet) or visible light is used for excitation. The limited penetration depth of the excitation light and the visible emission into and from the biological tissue is a further drawback with regard to in vivo bioimaging. Lanthanide containing inorganic nanostructures emitting in the near-infrared (NIR) range under NIR excitation may overcome those problems. Due to the outstanding optical and magnetic properties of lanthanide ions (Ln3+), nanoscopic host materials doped with Ln3+, e.g. Y2O3:Er3+,Yb3+, are promising candidates for NIR-NIR bioimaging. Ln3+-doped gadolinium-based inorganic nanostructures, such as Gd2O3:Er3+,Yb3+, have a high potential as opto-magnetic markers allowing the combination of time-resolved optical imaging and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of high spatial resolution. Recent progress in our research on over-1000 nm NIR fluorescent nanoprobes for in vivo NIR-NIR bioimaging will be discussed in this review. Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: Table 1: sample overview. Movie 1: time-resolved in vivo biodistribution of Gd2O3:Er3+,Yb3+ nanorods in a mouse 5 min post-injection. Fig. 1: preliminary long-term cytotoxicity study of Y2O3:Er3+ injected into mice. See DOI: 10.1039/c3nr02286b

NIR light propagation in a digital head model for traumatic brain injury (TBI)

PubMed Central

Francis, Robert; Khan, Bilal; Alexandrakis, George; Florence, James; MacFarlane, Duncan

2015-01-01

Near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is capable of detecting and monitoring acute changes in cerebral blood volume and oxygenation associated with traumatic brain injury (TBI). Wavelength selection, source-detector separation, optode density, and detector sensitivity are key design parameters that determine the imaging depth, chromophore separability, and, ultimately, clinical usefulness of a NIRS instrument. We present simulation results of NIR light propagation in a digital head model as it relates to the ability to detect intracranial hematomas and monitor the peri-hematomal tissue viability. These results inform NIRS instrument design specific to TBI diagnosis and monitoring. PMID:26417498

A feasibility study of an integrated NIR/gamma/visible imaging system for endoscopic sentinel lymph node mapping.

PubMed

Kang, Han Gyu; Lee, Ho-Young; Kim, Kyeong Min; Song, Seong-Hyun; Hong, Gun Chul; Hong, Seong Jong

2017-01-01

The aim of this study is to integrate NIR, gamma, and visible imaging tools into a single endoscopic system to overcome the limitation of NIR using gamma imaging and to demonstrate the feasibility of endoscopic NIR/gamma/visible fusion imaging for sentinel lymph node (SLN) mapping with a small animal. The endoscopic NIR/gamma/visible imaging system consists of a tungsten pinhole collimator, a plastic focusing lens, a BGO crystal (11 × 11 × 2 mm 3 ), a fiber-optic taper (front = 11 × 11 mm 2 , end = 4 × 4 mm 2 ), a 122-cm long endoscopic fiber bundle, an NIR emission filter, a relay lens, and a CCD camera. A custom-made Derenzo-like phantom filled with a mixture of 99m Tc and indocyanine green (ICG) was used to assess the spatial resolution of the NIR and gamma images. The ICG fluorophore was excited using a light-emitting diode (LED) with an excitation filter (723-758 nm), and the emitted fluorescence photons were detected with an emission filter (780-820 nm) for a duration of 100 ms. Subsequently, the 99m Tc distribution in the phantom was imaged for 3 min. The feasibility of in vivo SLN mapping with a mouse was investigated by injecting a mixture of 99m Tc-antimony sulfur colloid (12 MBq) and ICG (0.1 mL) into the right paw of the mouse (C57/B6) subcutaneously. After one hour, NIR, gamma, and visible images were acquired sequentially. Subsequently, the dissected SLN was imaged in the same way as the in vivo SLN mapping. The NIR, gamma, and visible images of the Derenzo-like phantom can be obtained with the proposed endoscopic imaging system. The NIR/gamma/visible fusion image of the SLN showed a good correlation among the NIR, gamma, and visible images both for the in vivo and ex vivo imaging. We demonstrated the feasibility of the integrated NIR/gamma/visible imaging system using a single endoscopic fiber bundle. In future, we plan to investigate miniaturization of the endoscope head and simultaneous NIR/gamma/visible imaging with dichroic mirrors and three CCD cameras. © 2016 American Association of Physicists in Medicine.

Comparison of NIR chemical imaging with conventional NIR, Raman and ATR-IR spectroscopy for quantification of furosemide crystal polymorphs in ternary powder mixtures.

PubMed

Schönbichler, S A; Bittner, L K H; Weiss, A K H; Griesser, U J; Pallua, J D; Huck, C W

2013-08-01

The aim of this study was to evaluate the ability of near-infrared chemical imaging (NIR-CI), near-infrared (NIR), Raman and attenuated-total-reflectance infrared (ATR-IR) spectroscopy to quantify three polymorphic forms (I, II, III) of furosemide in ternary powder mixtures. For this purpose, partial least-squares (PLS) regression models were developed, and different data preprocessing algorithms such as normalization, standard normal variate (SNV), multiplicative scatter correction (MSC) and 1st to 3rd derivatives were applied to reduce the influence of systematic disturbances. The performance of the methods was evaluated by comparison of the standard error of cross-validation (SECV), R(2), and the ratio performance deviation (RPD). Limits of detection (LOD) and limits of quantification (LOQ) of all methods were determined. For NIR-CI, a SECVcorr-spec and a SECVsingle-pixel corrected were calculated to assess the loss of accuracy by taking advantage of the spatial information. NIR-CI showed a SECVcorr-spec (SECVsingle-pixel corrected) of 2.82% (3.71%), 3.49% (4.65%), and 4.10% (5.06%) for form I, II, III. NIR had a SECV of 2.98%, 3.62%, and 2.75%, and Raman reached 3.25%, 3.08%, and 3.18%. The SECV of the ATR-IR models were 7.46%, 7.18%, and 12.08%. This study proves that NIR-CI, NIR, and Raman are well suited to quantify forms I-III of furosemide in ternary mixtures. Because of the pressure-dependent conversion of form II to form I, ATR-IR was found to be less appropriate for an accurate quantification of the mixtures. In this study, the capability of NIR-CI for the quantification of polymorphic ternary mixtures was compared with conventional spectroscopic techniques for the first time. For this purpose, a new way of spectra selection was chosen, and two kinds of SECVs were calculated to achieve a better comparability of NIR-CI to NIR, Raman, and ATR-IR. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Bio-Imaging of Colorectal Cancer Models Using Near Infrared Labeled Epidermal Growth Factor

PubMed Central

Cohen, Gadi; Lecht, Shimon; Arien-Zakay, Hadar; Ettinger, Keren; Amsalem, Orit; Oron-Herman, Mor; Yavin, Eylon; Prus, Diana; Benita, Simon; Nissan, Aviram; Lazarovici, Philip

2012-01-01

Novel strategies that target the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) have led to the clinical development of monoclonal antibodies, which treat metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) but only subgroups of patients with increased wild type KRAS and EGFR gene copy, respond to these agents. Furthermore, resistance to EGFR blockade inevitably occurred, making future therapy difficult. Novel bio-imaging (BOI) methods may assist in quantization of EGFR in mCRC tissue thus complementing the immunohistochemistry methodology, in guiding the future treatment of these patients. The aim of the present study was to explore the usefulness of near infrared-labeled EGF (EGF-NIR) for bio-imaging of CRC using in vitro and in vivo orthotopic tumor CRC models and ex vivo human CRC tissues. We describe the preparation and characterization of EGF-NIR and investigate binding, using BOI of a panel of CRC cell culture models resembling heterogeneity of human CRC tissues. EGF-NIR was specifically and selectively bound by EGFR expressing CRC cells, the intensity of EGF-NIR signal to background ratio (SBR) reflected EGFR levels, dose-response and time course imaging experiments provided optimal conditions for quantization of EGFR levels by BOI. EGF-NIR imaging of mice with HT-29 orthotopic CRC tumor indicated that EGF-NIR is more slowly cleared from the tumor and the highest SBR between tumor and normal adjacent tissue was achieved two days post-injection. Furthermore, images of dissected tissues demonstrated accumulation of EGF-NIR in the tumor and liver. EGF-NIR specifically and strongly labeled EGFR positive human CRC tissues while adjacent CRC tissue and EGFR negative tissues expressed weak NIR signals. This study emphasizes the use of EGF-NIR for preclinical studies. Combined with other methods, EGF-NIR could provide an additional bio-imaging specific tool in the standardization of measurements of EGFR expression in CRC tissues. PMID:23144978

Identifying and quantifying main components of physiological noise in functional near infrared spectroscopy on the prefrontal cortex.

PubMed

Kirilina, Evgeniya; Yu, Na; Jelzow, Alexander; Wabnitz, Heidrun; Jacobs, Arthur M; Tachtsidis, Ilias

2013-01-01

Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) is a promising method to study functional organization of the prefrontal cortex. However, in order to realize the high potential of fNIRS, effective discrimination between physiological noise originating from forehead skin haemodynamic and cerebral signals is required. Main sources of physiological noise are global and local blood flow regulation processes on multiple time scales. The goal of the present study was to identify the main physiological noise contributions in fNIRS forehead signals and to develop a method for physiological de-noising of fNIRS data. To achieve this goal we combined concurrent time-domain fNIRS and peripheral physiology recordings with wavelet coherence analysis (WCA). Depth selectivity was achieved by analyzing moments of photon time-of-flight distributions provided by time-domain fNIRS. Simultaneously, mean arterial blood pressure (MAP), heart rate (HR), and skin blood flow (SBF) on the forehead were recorded. WCA was employed to quantify the impact of physiological processes on fNIRS signals separately for different time scales. We identified three main processes contributing to physiological noise in fNIRS signals on the forehead. The first process with the period of about 3 s is induced by respiration. The second process is highly correlated with time lagged MAP and HR fluctuations with a period of about 10 s often referred as Mayer waves. The third process is local regulation of the facial SBF time locked to the task-evoked fNIRS signals. All processes affect oxygenated haemoglobin concentration more strongly than that of deoxygenated haemoglobin. Based on these results we developed a set of physiological regressors, which were used for physiological de-noising of fNIRS signals. Our results demonstrate that proposed de-noising method can significantly improve the sensitivity of fNIRS to cerebral signals.

The physiological origin of task-evoked systemic artefacts in functional near infrared spectroscopy.

PubMed

Kirilina, Evgeniya; Jelzow, Alexander; Heine, Angela; Niessing, Michael; Wabnitz, Heidrun; Brühl, Rüdiger; Ittermann, Bernd; Jacobs, Arthur M; Tachtsidis, Ilias

2012-05-15

A major methodological challenge of functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is its high sensitivity to haemodynamic fluctuations in the scalp. Superficial fluctuations contribute on the one hand to the physiological noise of fNIRS, impairing the signal-to-noise ratio, and may on the other hand be erroneously attributed to cerebral changes, leading to false positives in fNIRS experiments. Here we explore the localisation, time course and physiological origin of task-evoked superficial signals in fNIRS and present a method to separate them from cortical signals. We used complementary fNIRS, fMRI, MR-angiography and peripheral physiological measurements (blood pressure, heart rate, skin conductance and skin blood flow) to study activation in the frontal lobe during a continuous performance task. The General Linear Model (GLM) was applied to analyse the fNIRS data, which included an additional predictor to account for systemic changes in the skin. We found that skin blood volume strongly depends on the cognitive state and that sources of task-evoked systemic signals in fNIRS are co-localized with veins draining the scalp. Task-evoked superficial artefacts were mainly observed in concentration changes of oxygenated haemoglobin and could be effectively separated from cerebral signals by GLM analysis. Based on temporal correlation of fNIRS and fMRI signals with peripheral physiological measurements we conclude that the physiological origin of the systemic artefact is a task-evoked sympathetic arterial vasoconstriction followed by a decrease in venous volume. Since changes in sympathetic outflow accompany almost any cognitive and emotional process, we expect scalp vessel artefacts to be present in a wide range of fNIRS settings used in neurocognitive research. Therefore a careful separation of fNIRS signals originating from activated brain and from scalp is a necessary precondition for unbiased fNIRS brain activation maps. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Soil properties impacting denitrifier community size, structure, and activity in New Zealand dairy-grazed pasture

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jha, Neha; Saggar, Surinder; Giltrap, Donna; Tillman, Russ; Deslippe, Julie

2017-09-01

Denitrification is an anaerobic respiration process that is the primary contributor of the nitrous oxide (N2O) produced from grassland soils. Our objective was to gain insight into the relationships between denitrifier community size, structure, and activity for a range of pasture soils. We collected 10 dairy pasture soils with contrasting soil textures, drainage classes, management strategies (effluent irrigation or non-irrigation), and geographic locations in New Zealand, and measured their physicochemical characteristics. We measured denitrifier abundance by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and assessed denitrifier diversity and community structure by terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) of the nitrite reductase (nirS, nirK) and N2O reductase (nosZ) genes. We quantified denitrifier enzyme activity (DEA) using an acetylene inhibition technique. We investigated whether varied soil conditions lead to different denitrifier communities in soils, and if so, whether they are associated with different denitrification activities and are likely to generate different N2O emissions. Differences in the physicochemical characteristics of the soils were driven mainly by soil mineralogy and the management practices of the farms. We found that nirS and nirK communities were strongly structured along gradients of soil water and phosphorus (P) contents. By contrast, the size and structure of the nosZ community was unrelated to any of the measured soil characteristics. In soils with high water content, the richnesses and abundances of nirS, nirK, and nosZ genes were all significantly positively correlated with DEA. Our data suggest that management strategies to limit N2O emissions through denitrification are likely to be most important for dairy farms on fertile or allophanic soils during wetter periods. Finally, our data suggest that new techniques that would selectively target nirS denitrifiers may be the most effective for limiting N2O emissions through denitrification across a wide range of soil types.

Bio-imaging of colorectal cancer models using near infrared labeled epidermal growth factor.

PubMed

Cohen, Gadi; Lecht, Shimon; Arien-Zakay, Hadar; Ettinger, Keren; Amsalem, Orit; Oron-Herman, Mor; Yavin, Eylon; Prus, Diana; Benita, Simon; Nissan, Aviram; Lazarovici, Philip

2012-01-01

Novel strategies that target the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) have led to the clinical development of monoclonal antibodies, which treat metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) but only subgroups of patients with increased wild type KRAS and EGFR gene copy, respond to these agents. Furthermore, resistance to EGFR blockade inevitably occurred, making future therapy difficult. Novel bio-imaging (BOI) methods may assist in quantization of EGFR in mCRC tissue thus complementing the immunohistochemistry methodology, in guiding the future treatment of these patients. The aim of the present study was to explore the usefulness of near infrared-labeled EGF (EGF-NIR) for bio-imaging of CRC using in vitro and in vivo orthotopic tumor CRC models and ex vivo human CRC tissues. We describe the preparation and characterization of EGF-NIR and investigate binding, using BOI of a panel of CRC cell culture models resembling heterogeneity of human CRC tissues. EGF-NIR was specifically and selectively bound by EGFR expressing CRC cells, the intensity of EGF-NIR signal to background ratio (SBR) reflected EGFR levels, dose-response and time course imaging experiments provided optimal conditions for quantization of EGFR levels by BOI. EGF-NIR imaging of mice with HT-29 orthotopic CRC tumor indicated that EGF-NIR is more slowly cleared from the tumor and the highest SBR between tumor and normal adjacent tissue was achieved two days post-injection. Furthermore, images of dissected tissues demonstrated accumulation of EGF-NIR in the tumor and liver. EGF-NIR specifically and strongly labeled EGFR positive human CRC tissues while adjacent CRC tissue and EGFR negative tissues expressed weak NIR signals. This study emphasizes the use of EGF-NIR for preclinical studies. Combined with other methods, EGF-NIR could provide an additional bio-imaging specific tool in the standardization of measurements of EGFR expression in CRC tissues.

Diversity and Activity of Denitrifiers of Chilean Arid Soil Ecosystems

PubMed Central

Orlando, Julieta; Carú, Margarita; Pommerenke, Bianca; Braker, Gesche

2012-01-01

The Chilean sclerophyllous matorral is a Mediterranean semiarid ecosystem affected by erosion, with low soil fertility, and limited by nitrogen. However, limitation of resources is even more severe for desert soils such as from the Atacama Desert, one of the most extreme arid deserts on Earth. Topsoil organic matter, nitrogen and moisture content were significantly higher in the semiarid soil compared to the desert soil. Although the most significant loss of biologically preferred nitrogen from terrestrial ecosystems occurs via denitrification, virtually nothing is known on the activity and composition of denitrifier communities thriving in arid soils. In this study we explored denitrifier communities from two soils with profoundly distinct edaphic factors. While denitrification activity in the desert soil was below detection limit, the semiarid soil sustained denitrification activity. To elucidate the genetic potential of the soils to sustain denitrification processes we performed community analysis of denitrifiers based on nitrite reductase (nirK and nirS) genes as functional marker genes for this physiological group. Presence of nirK-type denitrifiers in both soils was demonstrated but failure to amplify nirS from the desert soil suggests very low abundance of nirS-type denitrifiers shedding light on the lack of denitrification activity. Phylogenetic analysis showed a very low diversity of nirK with only three distinct genotypes in the desert soil which conditions presumably exert a high selection pressure. While nirK diversity was also limited to only few, albeit distinct genotypes, the semiarid matorral soil showed a surprisingly broad genetic variability of the nirS gene. The Chilean matorral is a shrub land plant community which form vegetational patches stabilizing the soil and increasing its nitrogen and carbon content. These islands of fertility may sustain the development and activity of the overall microbial community and of denitrifiers in particular. PMID:22493591

Upregulated epidermal growth factor receptor expression following near-infrared irradiation simulating solar radiation in a three-dimensional reconstructed human corneal epithelial tissue culture model.

PubMed

Tanaka, Yohei; Nakayama, Jun

2016-01-01

Humans are increasingly exposed to near-infrared (NIR) radiation from both natural (eg, solar) and artificial (eg, electrical appliances) sources. Although the biological effects of sun and ultraviolet (UV) exposure have been extensively investigated, the biological effect of NIR radiation is still unclear. We previously reported that NIR as well as UV induces photoaging and standard UV-blocking materials, such as sunglasses, do not sufficiently block NIR. The objective of this study was to investigate changes in gene expression in three-dimensional reconstructed corneal epithelial tissue culture exposed to broad-spectrum NIR irradiation to simulate solar NIR radiation that reaches human tissues. DNA microarray and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis were used to assess gene expression levels in a three-dimensional reconstructed corneal epithelial model composed of normal human corneal epithelial cells exposed to water-filtered broad-spectrum NIR irradiation with a contact cooling (20°C). The water-filter allowed 1,000-1,800 nm wavelengths and excluded 1,400-1,500 nm wavelengths. A DNA microarray with >62,000 different probes showed 25 and 150 genes that were up- or downregulated by at least fourfold and twofold, respectively, after NIR irradiation. In particular, epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) was upregulated by 19.4-fold relative to control cells. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis revealed that two variants of EGFR in human corneal epithelial tissue were also significantly upregulated after five rounds of 10 J/cm(2) irradiation (P<0.05). We found that NIR irradiation induced the upregulated expression of EGFR in human corneal cells. Since over half of the solar energy reaching the Earth is in the NIR region, which cannot be adequately blocked by eyewear and thus can induce eye damage with intensive or long-term exposure, protection from both UV and NIR radiation may prevent changes in gene expression and in turn eye damage.

Energy transfer and visible-infrared quantum cutting photoluminescence modification in Tm-Yb codoped YPO(4) inverse opal photonic crystals.

PubMed

Wang, Siqin; Qiu, Jianbei; Wang, Qi; Zhou, Dacheng; Yang, Zhengwen

2015-08-01

YPO₄:  Tm, Yb inverse opal photonic crystals were successfully synthesized by the colloidal crystal templates method, and the visible-infrared quantum cutting (QC) photoluminescence properties of YPO₄:  Tm, Yb inverse opal photonic crystals were investigated. We obtained tetragonal phase YPO₄ in all the samples when the samples sintered at 950°C for 5 h. The visible emission intensity of Tm³⁺ decreased significantly when the photonic bandgap was located at 650 nm under 480 nm excitation. On the contrary, the QC emission intensity of Yb³⁺ was enhanced as compared with the no photonic bandgap sample. When the photonic bandgap was located at 480 nm, the Yb³⁺ and Tm³⁺ light-emitting intensity weakened at the same time. We demonstrated that the energy transfer between Tm³⁺ and Yb³⁺ is enhanced by the suppression of the red emission of Tm³⁺. Additionally, the mechanisms for the influence of the photonic bandgap on the energy transfer process of the Tm³⁺, Yb³⁺ codoped YPO₄ inverse opal are discussed.

Ratiometric photoluminescence sensing based on Ti3C2 MXene quantum dots as an intracellular pH sensor.

PubMed

Chen, Xu; Sun, Xueke; Xu, Wen; Pan, Gencai; Zhou, Donglei; Zhu, Jinyang; Wang, He; Bai, Xue; Dong, Biao; Song, Hongwei

2018-01-18

Intracellular pH sensing is of importance and can be used as an indicator for monitoring the evolution of various diseases and the health of cells. Here, we developed a new class of surface-functionalized MXene quantum dots (QDs), Ti 3 C 2 , by the sonication cutting and hydrothermal approach and further explored their intracellular pH sensing. The functionalized Ti 3 C 2 QDs exhibit bright excitation-dependent blue photoluminescence (PL) originating from the size effect and surface defects. Meanwhile, Ti 3 C 2 QDs demonstrate a high PL response induced by the deprotonation of the surface defects. Furthermore, combining the highly pH sensitive Ti 3 C 2 QDs with the pH insensitive [Ru(dpp) 3 ]Cl 2 , we developed a ratiometric pH sensor to quantitatively monitor the intracellular pH values. These novel MXene quantum dots can serve as a promising platform for developing practical fluorescent nanosensors.

Luminescent monolayer MoS2 quantum dots produced by multi-exfoliation based on lithium intercalation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Qiao, Wen; Yan, Shiming; Song, Xueyin; Zhang, Xing; He, Xueming; Zhong, Wei; Du, Youwei

2015-12-01

An effective multi-exfoliation method based on lithium (Li) intercalation has been demonstrated for preparing monolayer molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) quantum dots (QDs). The cutting mechanism of MoS2 QDs may involve the complete breakup around the defects and edges during the reaction of LixMoS2 with water and its following ultrasonication process. The multiply exfoliation make the MoS2 fragile and easier to break up. After the third exfoliation, a large number of monolayer MoS2 QDs is formed. The as-prepared MoS2 QDs show photoluminescence (PL) inactive due to the existence of 1T phase. After heating treatment, the PL intensity excited at 300 nm is enhanced by five times. The MoS2 QDs solution has an excitation-dependent luminescence emission which shifts to longer wavelengths when the excitation wavelength changes from 280 nm to 370 nm. The optical properties are explored based on the quantum confinement and edge effect.

A Component Approach to Collaborative Scientific Software Development: Tools and Techniques Utilized by the Quantum Chemistry Science Application Partnership

DOE PAGES

Kenny, Joseph P.; Janssen, Curtis L.; Gordon, Mark S.; ...

2008-01-01

Cutting-edge scientific computing software is complex, increasingly involving the coupling of multiple packages to combine advanced algorithms or simulations at multiple physical scales. Component-based software engineering (CBSE) has been advanced as a technique for managing this complexity, and complex component applications have been created in the quantum chemistry domain, as well as several other simulation areas, using the component model advocated by the Common Component Architecture (CCA) Forum. While programming models do indeed enable sound software engineering practices, the selection of programming model is just one building block in a comprehensive approach to large-scale collaborative development which must also addressmore » interface and data standardization, and language and package interoperability. We provide an overview of the development approach utilized within the Quantum Chemistry Science Application Partnership, identifying design challenges, describing the techniques which we have adopted to address these challenges and highlighting the advantages which the CCA approach offers for collaborative development.« less

Efficient prediction of terahertz quantum cascade laser dynamics from steady-state simulations

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Agnew, G.; Lim, Y. L.; Nikolić, M.

2015-04-20

Terahertz-frequency quantum cascade lasers (THz QCLs) based on bound-to-continuum active regions are difficult to model owing to their large number of quantum states. We present a computationally efficient reduced rate equation (RE) model that reproduces the experimentally observed variation of THz power with respect to drive current and heat-sink temperature. We also present dynamic (time-domain) simulations under a range of drive currents and predict an increase in modulation bandwidth as the current approaches the peak of the light–current curve, as observed experimentally in mid-infrared QCLs. We account for temperature and bias dependence of the carrier lifetimes, gain, and injection efficiency,more » calculated from a full rate equation model. The temperature dependence of the simulated threshold current, emitted power, and cut-off current are thus all reproduced accurately with only one fitting parameter, the interface roughness, in the full REs. We propose that the model could therefore be used for rapid dynamical simulation of QCL designs.« less

Design and Performance Analysis of Depletion-Mode InSb Quantum-Well Field-Effect Transistor for Logic Applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Islam, R.; Uddin, M. M.; Hossain, M. Mofazzal; Matin, M. A.

The design of a 1μm gate length depletion-mode InSb quantum-well field-effect transistor (QWFET) with a 10nm-thick Al2O3 gate dielectric has been optimized using a quantum corrected self-consistent Schrödinger-Poisson (QCSP) and two-dimensional drift-diffusion model. The model predicts a very high electron mobility of 4.42m2V-1s-1 at Vg=0V, a small pinch off gate voltage (Vp) of -0.25V, a maximum extrinsic transconductance (gm) of ˜4.85mS/μm and a drain current density of more than 3.34mA/μm. A short-circuit current-gain cut-off frequency (fT) of 374GHz and a maximum oscillation frequency (fmax) of 645GHz are predicted for the device. These characteristics make the device a potential candidate for low power, high-speed logic electronic device applications.

Quantum dynamics simulations in an ultraslow bath using hierarchy of stochastic Schrödinger equations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ke, Yaling; Zhao, Yi

2018-04-01

The hierarchy of stochastic Schrödinger equation, previously developed under the unpolarised initial bath states, is extended in this paper for open quantum dynamics under polarised initial bath conditions. The method is proved to be a powerful tool in investigating quantum dynamics exposed to an ultraslow Ohmic bath, as in this case the hierarchical truncation level and the random sampling number can be kept at a relatively small extent. By systematically increasing the system-bath coupling strength, the symmetric Ohmic spin-boson dynamics is investigated at finite temperature, with a very small cut-off frequency. It is confirmed that the slow bath makes the system dynamics extremely sensitive to the initial bath conditions. The localisation tendency is stronger in the polarised initial bath conditions. Besides, the oscillatory coherent dynamics persists even when the system-bath coupling is very strong, in correspondence with what is found recently in the deep sub-Ohmic bath, where also the low-frequency modes dominate.

Decay extent evaluation of wood degraded by a fungal community using NIRS: application for ecological engineering structures used for natural hazard mitigation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baptiste Barré, Jean; Bourrier, Franck; Bertrand, David; Rey, Freddy

2015-04-01

Ecological engineering corresponds to the design of efficient solutions for protection against natural hazards such as shallow landslides and soil erosion. In particular, bioengineering structures can be composed of a living part, made of plants, cuttings or seeds, and an inert part, a timber logs structure. As wood is not treated by preservatives, fungal degradation can occur from the start of the construction. It results in wood strength loss, which practitioners try to evaluate with non-destructive tools (NDT). Classical NDT are mainly based on density measurements. However, the fungal activity reduces the mechanical properties (modulus of elasticity - MOE) well before well before a density change could be measured. In this context, it would be useful to provide a tool for assessing the residual mechanical strength at different decay stages due to a fungal community. Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) can be used for that purpose, as it can allow evaluating wood mechanical properties as well as wood chemical changes due to brown and white rots. We monitored 160 silver fir samples (30x30x6000mm) from green state to different levels of decay. The degradation process took place in a greenhouse and samples were inoculated with silver fir decayed debris in order to accelerate the process. For each sample, we calculated the normalized bending modulus of elasticity loss (Dw moe) and defined it as decay extent. Near infrared spectra collected from both green and decayed ground samples were corrected by the subtraction of baseline offset. Spectra of green samples were averaged into one mean spectrum and decayed spectra were subtracted from the mean spectrum to calculate the absorption loss. Partial least square regression (PLSR) has been performed between the normalized MOE loss Dw moe (0 < Dw moe < 1) and the absorption loss, with a correlation coefficient R² equal to 0.85. Finally, the prediction of silver fir biodegradation rate by NIRS was significant (RMSEP = 0.13). This tool improves the evaluation accuracy of wood decay extent in the context of ecological engineering structures used for natural hazard mitigation.

Engineering of near infrared fluorescent proteinoid-poly(L-lactic acid) particles for in vivo colon cancer detection.

PubMed

Kolitz-Domb, Michal; Grinberg, Igor; Corem-Salkmon, Enav; Margel, Shlomo

2014-08-12

The use of near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence imaging techniques has gained great interest for early detection of cancer owing to the negligible absorption and autofluorescence of water and other intrinsic biomolecules in this region. The main aim of the present study is to synthesize and characterize novel NIR fluorescent nanoparticles based on proteinoid and PLLA for early detection of colon tumors. The present study describes the synthesis of new proteinoid-PLLA copolymer and the preparation of NIR fluorescent nanoparticles for use in diagnostic detection of colon cancer. These fluorescent nanoparticles were prepared by a self-assembly process in the presence of the NIR dye indocyanine green (ICG), a FDA-approved NIR fluorescent dye. Anti-carcinoembryonic antigen antibody (anti-CEA), a specific tumor targeting ligand, was covalently conjugated to the P(EF-PLLA) nanoparticles through the surface carboxylate groups using the carbodiimide activation method. The P(EF-PLLA) nanoparticles are stable in different conditions, no leakage of the encapsulated dye into PBS containing 4% HSA was detected. The encapsulation of the NIR fluorescent dye within the P(EF-PLLA) nanoparticles improves significantly the photostability of the dye. The fluorescent nanoparticles are non-toxic, and the biodistribution study in a mouse model showed they evacuate from the body over 24 h. Specific colon tumor detection in a chicken embryo model and a mouse model was demonstrated for anti-CEA-conjugated NIR fluorescent P(EF-PLLA) nanoparticles. The results of this study suggest a significant advantage of NIR fluorescence imaging using NIR fluorescent P(EF-PLLA) nanoparticles over colonoscopy. In future work we plan to broaden this study by encapsulating cancer drugs such as paclitaxel and/or doxorubicin, within these biodegradable NIR fluorescent P(EF-PLLA) nanoparticles, for both detection and therapy of colon cancer.

[Comparative research on the NIR and MIR micro-imaging of two similar plastic materials].

PubMed

Wang, Dong; Ma, Zhi-Hong; Zhao, Liu; Pan, Li-Gang; Li, Xiao-Ting; Wang, Ji-Hua

2011-09-01

The NIR/MIR micro-imaging can supply not only the information of spectra, but also the information of spacial distribution of the sample, which is superior to the traditional NIR/MIR spectroscopy analysis. In the present paper, polyethylene and parafilm, with similar appearances, were regarded as the research objects, of which the NIR/MIR micro-imaging was collected. Chemical imaging (CI) and compare correlation imaging were carried out for the two materials respectively to discuss the imaging methods of the two materials. The result indicated that the differentiation of the CI values of the two materials in the NIR/MIR CI for material II was 0.004 8 and 0.254 8 respectively, while those in the NIR/MIR CI for material I were 0.002 6 and 0.326 5, respectively. Clear CI was acquired, and the two materials could be differentiated. The result of the compare correlation imagings indicated that the compare correlation imagings, in which the NIR/MIR spectra of the two materials were regarded as reference spectra respectively, can differentiate the two materials remarkably with clear imagings. In the compare correlation imagings of MIR micro-imaging, the difference of the correlation coefficients between the two materials' MIR spectra and the reference spectrum was more than 0.12, which showed a better imaging result; while a tiny difference of the correlation coefficients between the two materials' NIR spectra and the reference spectrum could be employed to show a clear imaging result for NIR compare correlation imaging so as to differentiate the two materials. This thesis, to some extent, can supply the reference to not only the rapid discrimination of the safety of the packaging material for agri-food, but also the imaging methods for NIR/MIR micro-imaging to differentiate the different materials.

Continuous monitoring of kidney transplant perfusion with near-infrared spectroscopy.

PubMed

Malakasioti, Georgia; Marks, Stephen D; Watson, Tom; Williams, Fariba; Taylor-Allkins, Mariesa; Mamode, Nizam; Morgan, Justin; Hayes, Wesley N

2018-05-11

Current reliance on clinical, laboratory and Doppler ultrasound (DUS) parameters for monitoring kidney transplant perfusion in the immediate post-operative period in children risks late recognition of allograft hypoperfusion and vascular complications. Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is a real-time, non-invasive technique for monitoring tissue oxygenation percutaneously. NIRS monitoring of kidney transplant perfusion has not previously been validated to the gold standard of DUS. We examined whether NIRS tissue oxygenation indices can reliably assess blood flow in established paediatric kidney transplants. Paediatric kidney transplant recipients ages 1-18 years with stable allograft function were eligible. Participants underwent routine DUS assessment of kidney transplant perfusion, including resistive index (RI) and peak systolic velocity at the upper and lower poles. NIRS data [tissue oxygenation index (TOI%)] were recorded for a minimum of 2 min with NIRS sensors placed on the skin over upper and lower allograft poles. Twenty-nine subjects with a median age of 13.3 (range 4.8-17.8) years and a median transplant vintage of 26.5 months participated. Thirteen (45%) were female and 20 (69%) were living donor kidney recipients. NIRS monitoring was well tolerated by all, with 96-100% valid measurements. Significant negative correlations were observed between NIRS TOI% and DUS RI at both the upper and lower poles (r = -0.4 and -0.6, P = 0.04 and 0.001, respectively). Systolic blood pressure but not estimated glomerular filtration rate also correlated with NIRS TOI% (P = 0.01). NIRS indices correlate well with DUS perfusion and haemodynamic parameters in established paediatric kidney transplant recipients. Further studies are warranted to extend NIRS use for continuous real-time monitoring of early post-transplant perfusion status.

Study on feasibility of determination of glucosamine content of fermentation process using a micro NIR spectrometer.

PubMed

Sun, Zhongyu; Li, Can; Li, Lian; Nie, Lei; Dong, Qin; Li, Danyang; Gao, Lingling; Zang, Hengchang

2018-08-05

N-acetyl-d-glucosamine (GlcNAc) is a microbial fermentation product, and NIR spectroscopy is an effective process analytical technology (PAT) tool in detecting the key quality attribute: the GlcNAc content. Meanwhile, the design of NIR spectrometers is under the trend of miniaturization, portability and low-cost nowadays. The aim of this study was to explore a portable micro NIR spectrometer with the fermentation process. First, FT-NIR spectrometer and Micro-NIR 1700 spectrometer were compared with simulated fermentation process solutions. The R c 2 , R p 2 , RMSECV and RMSEP of the optimal FT-NIR and Micro-NIR 1700 models were 0.999, 0.999, 3.226 g/L, 1.388 g/L and 0.999, 0.999, 1.821 g/L, 0.967 g/L. Passing-Bablok regression method and paired t-test results showed there were no significant differences between the two instruments. Then the Micro-NIR 1700 was selected for the practical fermentation process, 135 samples from 10 batches were collected. Spectral pretreatment methods and variables selection methods (BiPLS, FiPLS, MWPLS and CARS-PLS) for PLS modeling were discussed. The R c 2 , R p 2 , RMSECV and RMSEP of the optimal GlcNAc content PLS model of the practical fermentation process were 0.994, 0.995, 2.792 g/L and 1.946 g/L. The results have a positive reference for application of the Micro-NIR spectrometer. To some extent, it could provide theoretical supports in guiding the microbial fermentation or the further assessment of bioprocess. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Near-infrared imaging of secondary caries lesions around composite restorations at wavelengths from 1300-1700-nm.

PubMed

Simon, Jacob C; A Lucas, Seth; Lee, Robert C; Darling, Cynthia L; Staninec, Michal; Vaderhobli, Ram; Pelzner, Roger; Fried, Daniel

2016-04-01

Current clinical methods for diagnosing secondary caries are unreliable for identifying the early stages of decay around restorative materials. The objective of this study was to access the integrity of restoration margins in natural teeth using near-infrared (NIR) reflectance and transillumination images at wavelengths between 1300 and 1700-nm and to determine the optimal NIR wavelengths for discriminating composite materials from dental hard tissues. Twelve composite margins (n=12) consisting of class I, II and V restorations were chosen from ten extracted teeth. The samples were imaged in vitro using NIR transillumination and reflectance, polarization sensitive optical coherence tomography (PS-OCT) and a high-magnification digital microscope. Samples were serially sectioned into 200-μm slices for histological analysis using polarized light microscopy (PLM) and transverse microradiography (TMR). Two independent examiners evaluated the presence of demineralization at the sample margin using visible detection with 10× magnification and NIR images presented digitally. Composite restorations were placed in sixteen sound teeth (n=16) and imaged at multiple NIR wavelengths ranging from λ=1300 to 1700-nm using NIR transillumination. The image contrast was calculated between the composite and sound tooth structure. Intensity changes in NIR images at wavelengths ranging from 1300 to 1700-nm correlate with increased mineral loss measured using TMR. NIR reflectance and transillumination at wavelengths coincident with increased water absorption yielded significantly higher (P<0.001) contrast between sound enamel and adjacent demineralized enamel. In addition, NIR reflectance exhibited significantly higher (P<0.01) contrast between sound enamel and adjacent composite restorations than visible reflectance. This study shows that NIR imaging is well suited for the rapid screening of secondary caries lesions. Copyright © 2016 Academy of Dental Materials. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

In vivo real time non invasive monitoring of brain penetration of chemicals with near-infrared spectroscopy: Concomitant PK/PD analysis.

PubMed

Crespi, Francesco; Cattini, Stefano; Donini, Maurizio; Bandera, Andrea; Rovati, Luigi

2016-01-30

Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is a non-invasive technique that monitors changes in oxygenation of haemoglobin. The absorption spectra of near-infrared light differ for the oxygenation-deoxygenation states of haemoglobin (oxygenate (HbO2) and deoxygenate (Hb), respectively) so that these two states can be directly monitored. Different methodologies report different basal values of HbO2 and Hb absolute concentrations in brain. Here, we attempt to calculate basal HbO2 levels in rat CNS via evaluation of the influence of exogenous oxygen or exogenous carbon dioxide on the NIRS parameters measured in vivo. Furthermore the possibility that changes of haemoglobin oxygenation in rat brain as measured by NIRS might be a useful index of brain penetration of chemical entities has been investigated. Different compounds from different chemical classes were selected on the basis of parallel ex vivo and in vivo pharmacokinetic (PK/PD) studies of brain penetration and overall pharmacokinetic profile. It appeared that NIRS might contribute to assess brain penetration of chemical entities, i.e. significant changes in NIRS signals could be related to brain exposure, conversely the lack of significant changes in relevant NIRS parameters could be indicative of low brain exposure. This work is proposing a further innovation on NIRS preclinical applications i.e. a "chemical" NIRS [chNIRS] approach for determining penetration of drugs in animal brain. Therefore, chNIRS could became a non invasive methodology for studies on neurobiological processes and psychiatric diseases in preclinical but also a translational strategy from preclinical to clinical investigations. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Near-infrared Imaging of Secondary Caries Lesions around Composite Restorations at Wavelengths from 1300–1700-nm

PubMed Central

Simon, Jacob C.; Lucas, Seth; Lee, Robert; Darling, Cynthia L.; Staninec, Michal; Vanderhobli, Ram; Pelzner, Roger; Fried, Daniel

2016-01-01

Background and Objectives Current clinical methods for diagnosing secondary caries are unreliable for identifying the early stages of decay around restorative materials. The objective of this study was to access the integrity of restoration margins in natural teeth using near-infrared (NIR) reflectance and transillumination images at wavelengths between 1300–1700-nm and to determine the optimal NIR wavelengths for discriminating composite materials from dental hard tissues. Materials and Methods Twelve composite margins (n=12) consisting of class I, II & V restorations were chosen from ten extracted teeth. The samples were imaged in vitro using NIR transillumination and reflectance, polarization sensitive optical coherence tomography (PS-OCT) and a high-magnification digital microscope. Samples were serially sectioned into 200–μm slices for histological analysis using polarized light microscopy (PLM) and transverse microradiography (TMR). Two independent examiners evaluated the presence of demineralization at the sample margin using visible detection with 10× magnification and NIR images presented digitally. Composite restorations were placed in sixteen sound teeth (n=16) and imaged at multiple NIR wavelengths ranging from λ=1300–1700-nm using NIR transillumination. The image contrast was calculated between the composite and sound tooth structure. Results Intensity changes in NIR images at wavelengths ranging from 1300–1700-nm correlate with increased mineral loss measured using TMR. NIR reflectance and transillumination at wavelengths coincident with increased water absorption yielded significantly higher (P<0.001) contrast between sound enamel and adjacent demineralized enamel. In addition, NIR reflectance exhibited significantly higher (P<0.01) contrast between sound enamel and adjacent composite restorations than visible reflectance. Significance This study shows that NIR imaging is well suited for the rapid screening of secondary caries lesions. PMID:26876234

Near infrared photoimmunotherapy rapidly elicits specific host immunity against cancer cells (Conference Presentation)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kobayashi, Hisataka

2017-02-01

Near infrared photoimmunotherapy (NIR-PIT) is a new molecularly-targeted cancer photo-therapy based on conjugating a near infrared silica-phthalocyanine dye, IR700, to a monoclonal antibody (mAb) targeting cell-surface molecules. When exposed to NIR light, the conjugate induces a highly-selective necrotic/immunogenic cell death (ICD) only in target-positive, mAb-IR700-bound cancer cells. This cell death occurs as early as 1 minute after exposure to NIR light. Meanwhile, immediately adjacent target-negative cells are unharmed. Dynamic 3D-microscopy of live tumor cells undergoing NIR-PIT showed rapid swelling in treated cells immediately after light exposure, followed by irreversible morphologic changes such as bleb formation, and rupture of vesicles within several minutes. Furthermore, biological markers of ICD including relocation of HSP70/90 and calreticulin, and release of ATP and High Mobility Group Box 1 (HMGB1), were clearly detected immediately after NIR-PIT. When NIR-PIT was performed in a mixture of cancer cells and immature dendritic cells, maturation of immature dendritic cells was strongly induced rapidly after NIR-PIT. Alternatively, NIR-PIT can also target negative regulatory immune cells such as Treg only in the tumor bed. Treg targeting NIR-PIT against CD25 can deplete >80% of Treg in tumor bed within 20 min that induces activation of tumor cell-specific CD8+-T and NK cells within 1.5 hour, and then these activated cells killed cancer cells in local tumor within 1 day and also in distant tumors of the same cell origin within 2 days. In summary, cancer cell-targeting and immuno-suppressor cell-targeting NIR-PITs effectively induce innate and acquired immunity specifically against cancer cells growing in patients, respectively.

Higgsplosion: Solving the hierarchy problem via rapid decays of heavy states into multiple Higgs bosons

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Khoze, Valentin V.; Spannowsky, Michael

2018-01-01

We introduce and discuss two inter-related mechanisms operative in the electroweak sector of the Standard Model at high energies. Higgsplosion, the first mechanism, occurs at some critical energy in the 25 to 103 TeV range, and leads to an exponentially growing decay rate of highly energetic particles into multiple Higgs bosons. We argue that this is a well-controlled non-perturbative phenomenon in the Higgs-sector which involves the final state Higgs multiplicities n in the regime nλ ≫ 1 where λ is the Higgs self-coupling. If this mechanism is realised in nature, the cross-sections for producing ultra-high multiplicities of Higgs bosons are likely to become observable and even dominant in this energy range. At the same time, however, the apparent exponential growth of these cross-sections at even higher energies will be tamed and automatically cut-off by a related Higgspersion mechanism. As a result, and in contrast to previous studies, multi-Higgs production does not violate perturbative unitarity. Building on this approach, we then argue that the effects of Higgsplosion alter quantum corrections from very heavy states to the Higgs boson mass. Above a certain energy, which is much smaller than their masses, these states would rapidly decay into multiple Higgs bosons. The heavy states become unrealised as they decay much faster than they are formed. The loop integrals contributing to the Higgs mass will be cut off not by the masses of the heavy states, but by the characteristic loop momenta where their decay widths become comparable to their masses. Hence, the cut-off scale would be many orders of magnitude lower than the heavy mass scales themselves, thus suppressing their quantum corrections to the Higgs boson mass.

Enhanced performance of an S-band fiber laser using a thulium-doped photonic crystal fiber

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Muhammad, A. R.; Emami, S. D.; Hmood, J. K.; Sayar, K.; Penny, R.; Abdul-Rashid, H. A.; Ahmad, H.; Harun, S. W.

2014-11-01

This work proposes a new method to enhance the performance of an S-band fiber laser by using a thulium-doped photonic crystal fiber (PCF). The proposed method is based on amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) suppression provided by the thulium-doped PCF unique geometric structure. The enhanced performance of this filter based PCF is dependent on the short and long cut-off wavelength characteristics that define the fiber transmission window. Realizing the short wavelength cut-off location requires the PCF cladding to be doped with a high index material, which provides a refractive index difference between the core and cladding region. Achieving the long cut-off wavelength necessitates enlarging the size of the air holes surrounding the rare-earth doped core region. The PCF structure is optimized so as to achieve the desired ASE suppression regions of below 0.8 μm and above 1.8 μm. The laser performance is simulated for different host media, namely pure silica, alumino-silicate, and fluoride-based fiber ZBLAN based on this thulium-doped PCF design. The host media spectroscopic details, including lifetime variations and quantum efficiency effect on the lasing emission are also discussed. Information on the filter based PCF design is gathered via a full-vectorial finite element method analysis and specifically a numerical modelling solution for the energy level rate equation using the Runge-Kutta method. Results are analyzed for gain improvement, lasing cavity, laser efficiency and effect of core size diameter variation. Results are compared with conventional thulium-doped fiber and thulium-doped PCF for every single host media. We observe that the ZBLAN host media is the most promising candidate due to its greater quantum efficiency.

Review of functional near-infrared spectroscopy in neurorehabilitation

PubMed Central

Mihara, Masahito; Miyai, Ichiro

2016-01-01

Abstract. We provide a brief overview of the research and clinical applications of near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) in the neurorehabilitation field. NIRS has several potential advantages and shortcomings as a neuroimaging tool and is suitable for research application in the rehabilitation field. As one of the main applications of NIRS, we discuss its application as a monitoring tool, including investigating the neural mechanism of functional recovery after brain damage and investigating the neural mechanisms for controlling bipedal locomotion and postural balance in humans. In addition to being a monitoring tool, advances in signal processing techniques allow us to use NIRS as a therapeutic tool in this field. With a brief summary of recent studies investigating the clinical application of NIRS using motor imagery task, we discuss the possible clinical usage of NIRS in brain–computer interface and neurofeedback. PMID:27429995

Near infrared photoimmunotherapy with avelumab, an anti-programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) antibody.

PubMed

Nagaya, Tadanobu; Nakamura, Yuko; Sato, Kazuhide; Harada, Toshiko; Choyke, Peter L; Hodge, James W; Schlom, Jeffrey; Kobayashi, Hisataka

2017-01-31

Near Infrared-Photoimmunotherapy (NIR-PIT) is a highly selective tumor treatment that employs an antibody-photo-absorber conjugate (APC). Programmed cell death protein-1 ligand (PD-L1) is emerging as a molecular target. Here, we describe the efficacy of NIR-PIT, using fully human IgG1 anti-PD-L1 monoclonal antibody (mAb), avelumab, conjugated to the photo-absorber, IR700DX, in a PD-L1 expressing H441 cell line, papillary adenocarcinoma of lung. Avelumab-IR700 showed specific binding and cell-specific killing was observed after exposure of the cells to NIR in vitro. In the in vivo study, avelumab-IR700 showed high tumor accumulation and high tumor-background ratio. Tumor-bearing mice were separated into 4 groups: (1) no treatment; (2) 100 μg of avelumab-IR700 i.v.; (3) NIR light exposure only, NIR light was administered; (4) 100 μg of avelumab-IR700 i.v., NIR light was administered. Tumor growth was significantly inhibited by NIR-PIT treatment compared with the other groups (p < 0.001), and significantly prolonged survival was achieved (p < 0.01 vs other groups). In conclusion, the anti-PD-L1 antibody, avelumab, is suitable as an APC for NIR-PIT. Furthermore, NIR-PIT with avelumab-IR700 is a promising candidate of the treatment of PD-L1-expressing tumors that could be readily translated to humans.

Near infrared photoimmunotherapy with avelumab, an anti-programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) antibody

PubMed Central

Nagaya, Tadanobu; Nakamura, Yuko; Sato, Kazuhide; Harada, Toshiko; Choyke, Peter L.; Hodge, James W.; Schlom, Jeffrey; Kobayashi, Hisataka

2017-01-01

Near Infrared-Photoimmunotherapy (NIR-PIT) is a highly selective tumor treatment that employs an antibody-photo-absorber conjugate (APC). Programmed cell death protein-1 ligand (PD-L1) is emerging as a molecular target. Here, we describe the efficacy of NIR-PIT, using fully human IgG1 anti-PD-L1 monoclonal antibody (mAb), avelumab, conjugated to the photo-absorber, IR700DX, in a PD-L1 expressing H441 cell line, papillary adenocarcinoma of lung. Avelumab-IR700 showed specific binding and cell-specific killing was observed after exposure of the cells to NIR in vitro. In the in vivo study, avelumab-IR700 showed high tumor accumulation and high tumor-background ratio. Tumor-bearing mice were separated into 4 groups: (1) no treatment; (2) 100 μg of avelumab-IR700 i.v.; (3) NIR light exposure only, NIR light was administered; (4) 100 μg of avelumab-IR700 i.v., NIR light was administered. Tumor growth was significantly inhibited by NIR-PIT treatment compared with the other groups (p < 0.001), and significantly prolonged survival was achieved (p < 0.01 vs other groups). In conclusion, the anti-PD-L1 antibody, avelumab, is suitable as an APC for NIR-PIT. Furthermore, NIR-PIT with avelumab-IR700 is a promising candidate of the treatment of PD-L1-expressing tumors that could be readily translated to humans. PMID:27716622

Communities of nirS-type denitrifiers in the water column of the oxygen minimum zone in the eastern South Pacific.

PubMed

Castro-González, Maribeb; Braker, Gesche; Farías, Laura; Ulloa, Osvaldo

2005-09-01

The major sites of water column denitrification in the ocean are oxygen minimum zones (OMZ), such as one in the eastern South Pacific (ESP). To understand the structure of denitrifying communities in the OMZ off Chile, denitrifier communities at two sites in the Chilean OMZ (Antofagasta and Iquique) and at different water depths were explored by terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis and cloning of polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-amplified nirS genes. NirS is a functional marker gene for denitrification encoding cytochrome cd1-containing nitrite reductase, which catalyses the reduction of nitrite to nitric oxide, the key step in denitrification. Major differences were found between communities from the two geographic locations. Shifts in community structure occurred along a biogeochemical gradient at Antofagasta. Canonical correspondence analysis indicated that O2, NO3-, NO2- and depth were important environmental factors governing these communities along the biogeochemical gradient in the water column. Phylogenetic analysis grouped the majority of clones from the ESP in distinct clusters of genes from presumably novel and yet uncultivated denitrifers. These nirS clusters were distantly related to those found in the water column of the Arabian Sea but the phylogenetic distance was even higher compared with environmental sequences from marine sediments or any other habitat. This finding suggests similar environmental conditions trigger the development of denitrifiers with related nirS genotypes despite large geographic distances.

Denitrification potential under different fertilization regimes is closely coupled with changes in the denitrifying community in a black soil.

PubMed

Yin, Chang; Fan, Fenliang; Song, Alin; Cui, Peiyuan; Li, Tingqiang; Liang, Yongchao

2015-07-01

Preferable inorganic fertilization over the last decades has led to fertility degradation of black soil in Northeast China. However, how fertilization regimes impact denitrification and its related bacterial community in this soil type is still unclear. Here, taking advantage of a suit of molecular ecological tools in combination of assaying the potential denitrification (DP), we explored the variation of activity, community structure, and abundance of nirS and nirK denitrifiers under four different fertilization regimes, namely no fertilization control (N0M0), organic pig manure (N0M1), inorganic fertilization (N1M0), and combination of inorganic fertilizer and pig manure (N1M1). The results indicated that organic fertilization increased DP, but inorganic fertilization had no impacts. The increase of DP was mirrored by the shift of nirS denitrifiers' community structure but not by that of nirK denitrifiers'. Furthermore, the change of DP coincided with the variation of abundances of both denitrifiers. Shifts of community structure and abundance of nirS and nirK denitrifiers were correlated with the change of soil pH, total nitrogen (TN), organic matter (OM), C:P, total phosphorus (TP), and available phosphorus (Olsen P). Our results suggest that the change of DP under these four fertilization regimes was closely related to the shift of denitrifying bacteria communities resulting from the variation of properties in the black soil tested.

Transparent Oxyfluoride Nano-Glass-Ceramics Doped with Pr3+ and Pr3+-Yb3+ for NIR Emission

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gorni, Giulio; Cosci, Alessandro; Pelli, Stefano; Pascual, Laura; Durán, Alicia; Pascual, M. J.

2016-12-01

Pr3+-Yb3+ co-doped oxyfluoride glasses and glass-ceramics (GC) containing LaF3 nanocrystals have been prepared to obtain NIR emission of Yb3+ ions upon Pr3+ excitation in the blue region of the visible spectrum. Two different compositions have been tested 0.1-0.5 Pr-Yb and 0.5-1 Pr-Yb, in addition to Pr3+ singly doped samples. The crystallization mechanism of the nano-glass-ceramics was studied by DTA revealing that it occurs from a constant number of nuclei, the crystal growth being limited by diffusion. HR-TEM demonstrated that phase separation acts as precursor for LaF3 crystallization and a detailed analysis of the chemical composition (EDXS) revealed the enrichment in RE3+ ions inside the initial phase separated droplets, from which the LaF3 crystals are formed. The RE3+ ions incorporation inside LaF3 crystals was also proved by photoluminescence measurements showing Stark splitting of the RE3+ ions energy levels in the glass-ceramic samples. Lifetimes measurements showed the existence of a better energy transfer process between Pr3+ and Yb3+ ions in the glass-ceramics compared to the as made glass, and the highest value of energy transfer efficiency is 59% and the highest theoretical quantum efficiency is 159%, obtained for glass-ceramics GC0.1-0.5 Pr-Yb treated at 620 ºC-40 h.

Ultrabright and Fluorogenic Probes for Multicolor Imaging and Tracking of Lipid Droplets in Cells and Tissues.

PubMed

Collot, Mayeul; Fam, Tkhe Kyong; Ashokkumar, Pichandi; Faklaris, Orestis; Galli, Thierry; Danglot, Lydia; Klymchenko, Andrey S

2018-04-25

Lipid droplets (LDs) are intracellular lipid-rich organelles that regulate the storage of neutral lipids and were recently found to be involved in many physiological processes, metabolic disorders, and diseases including obesity, diabetes, and cancers. Herein we present a family of new fluorogenic merocyanine fluorophores based on an indolenine moiety and a dioxaborine barbiturate derivative. These so-called StatoMerocyanines (SMCy) fluoresce from yellow to the near-infrared (NIR) in oil with an impressive fluorescence enhancement compared to aqueous media. Additionally, SMCy display remarkably high molar extinction coefficients (up to 390 000 M -1 cm -1 ) and high quantum yield values (up to 100%). All the members of this new family specifically stain the LDs in live cells with very low background noise. Unlike Nile Red, a well-known lipid droplet marker, SMCy dyes possess narrow absorption and emission bands in the visible, thus allowing multicolor imaging. SMCy proved to be compatible with fixation and led to high-quality 3D images of lipid droplets in cells and tissues. Their high brightness allowed efficient tissue imaging of adipocytes and circulating LDs. Moreover their remarkably high two-photon absorption cross-section, especially SMCy5.5 (up to 13 300 GM), as well as their capacity to efficiently fluoresce in the NIR region led to two-photon multicolor tissue imaging (liver). Taking advantage of the available color palette, lipid droplet exchange between cells was tracked and imaged, thus demonstrating intercellular communication.

Photobiomodulation reduces photoreceptor death and regulates cytoprotection in early states of P23H retinal dystrophy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kirk, Diana K.; Gopalakrishnan, Sandeep; Schmitt, Heather; Abroe, Betsy; Stoehr, Michele; Dubis, Adam; Carroll, Joseph; Stone, Jonathan; Valter, Krisztina; Eells, Janis

2013-03-01

Irradiation by light in the far-red to near-infrared (NIR) region of the spectrum (photobiomodulation, PBM) has been demonstrated to attenuate the severity of neurodegenerative disease in experimental and clinical studies. The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that 670 nm PBM would protect against the loss of retinal function and improve photoreceptor survival in a rodent model of retinitis pigmentosa, the P23H transgenic rat. P23H rat pups were treated once per day with a 670 nm LED array (180 sec treatments at 50 mW/cm2; fluence 9 joules/cm2) (Quantum Devices Inc., Barneveld WI) from postnatal day (p) 16-20 or from p10-20. Sham-treated rats were restrained, but not exposed to NIR light. The status of the retina was determined at p22 by assessment of mitochondrial function, oxidative stress and cell death. In a second series of studies, retinal status was assessed at p30 by measuring photoreceptor function by ERG and retinal morphology by Spectral Domain Optical Coherence Tomography (SD-OCT). 670 nm PBM increased retinal mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase activity and upregulated the retina's production of the key mitochondrial antioxidant enzyme, MnSOD. PBM also attenuated photoreceptor cell loss and improved photoreceptor function. PBM protects photoreceptors in the developing P23H retina, by augmenting mitochondrial function and stimulating antioxidant protective pathways. Photobiomodulation may have therapeutic potential, where mitochondrial damage is a step in the death of photoreceptors.

Quo vadis: Hydrologic inverse analyses using high-performance computing and a D-Wave quantum annealer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

O'Malley, D.; Vesselinov, V. V.

2017-12-01

Classical microprocessors have had a dramatic impact on hydrology for decades, due largely to the exponential growth in computing power predicted by Moore's law. However, this growth is not expected to continue indefinitely and has already begun to slow. Quantum computing is an emerging alternative to classical microprocessors. Here, we demonstrated cutting edge inverse model analyses utilizing some of the best available resources in both worlds: high-performance classical computing and a D-Wave quantum annealer. The classical high-performance computing resources are utilized to build an advanced numerical model that assimilates data from O(10^5) observations, including water levels, drawdowns, and contaminant concentrations. The developed model accurately reproduces the hydrologic conditions at a Los Alamos National Laboratory contamination site, and can be leveraged to inform decision-making about site remediation. We demonstrate the use of a D-Wave 2X quantum annealer to solve hydrologic inverse problems. This work can be seen as an early step in quantum-computational hydrology. We compare and contrast our results with an early inverse approach in classical-computational hydrology that is comparable to the approach we use with quantum annealing. Our results show that quantum annealing can be useful for identifying regions of high and low permeability within an aquifer. While the problems we consider are small-scale compared to the problems that can be solved with modern classical computers, they are large compared to the problems that could be solved with early classical CPUs. Further, the binary nature of the high/low permeability problem makes it well-suited to quantum annealing, but challenging for classical computers.

Molecular imaging of human tumor cells that naturally overexpress type 2 cannabinoid receptors using a quinolone-based near-infrared fluorescent probe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wu, Zhiyuan; Shao, Pin; Zhang, Shaojuan; Ling, Xiaoxi; Bai, Mingfeng

2014-07-01

Cannabinoid CB2 receptors (CB2R) hold promise as therapeutic targets for treating diverse diseases, such as cancers, neurodegenerative diseases, pain, inflammation, osteoporosis, psychiatric disorders, addiction, and immune disorders. However, the fundamental role of CBR in the regulation of diseases remains unclear, largely due to a lack of reliable imaging tools for the receptors. The goal of this study was to develop a CBR-targeted molecular imaging probe and evaluate the specificity of the probe using human tumor cells that naturally overexpress CBR. To synthesize the CBR-targeted probe (NIR760-Q), a conjugable CBR ligand based on the quinolone structure was first prepared, followed by bioconjugation with a near-infrared (NIR) fluorescent dye, NIR760. In vitro fluorescence imaging and competitive binding studies showed higher uptake of NIR760-Q than free NIR760 dye in Jurkat human acute T-lymphoblastic leukemia cells. In addition, the high uptake of NIR760-Q was significantly inhibited by the blocking agent, 4-quinolone-3-carboxamide, indicating specific binding of NIR760-Q to the target receptors. These results indicate that the NIR760-Q has potential in diagnostic imaging of CBR positive cancers and elucidating the role of CBR in the regulation of disease progression.

[A review on studies and applications of near infrared spectroscopy technique(NIRS) in detecting quality of hay].

PubMed

Ding, Wu-Rong; Gan, You-Min; Guo, Xu-Sheng; Yang, Fu-Yu

2009-02-01

The quality of hay can directly affect the price of hay and also livestock productivity. Many kinds of methods have been developed for detecting the quality of hay and the method of near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) has been widely used with consideration of its fast, effective and nondestructive characteristics during detecting process. In the present paper, the feasibility and effectiveness of application of NIRS to detecting hay quality were expounded. Meanwhile, the advance in the study of using NIRS to detect chemical compositions, extent of incursion by epiphyte, amount of toxicant excreted by endogenetic epiphyte and some minim components that can not be detected by using chemical methods were also introduced detailedly. Based on the review of the progresses in using NIRS to detect the quality of hay, it can be concluded that using NIRS to detect hay quality can avoid the disadvantages of time wasting, complication and high cost when using traditional chemical method. And for better utilization of NIRS in practice, some more studies still need to be implemented to further perfect and improve the utilization of NIRS for detecting forage quality, and more accurate modes and systematic analysis software need to be established in times to come.

Effects of Near Infrared Radiation on DNA. DLS and ATR-FTIR Study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Szymborska-Małek, Katarzyna; Komorowska, Małgorzata; Gąsior-Głogowska, Marlena

2018-01-01

We presume that the primary effect of Near Infrared (NIR) radiation on aqueous solutions of biological molecules concerns modification of hydrogen bonded structures mainly the global and the hydration shell water molecules. Since water has a significant influence on the DNA structure, we expect that the thermal stability of DNA could be modified by NIR radiation. The herring sperm DNA was exposed to NIR radiation (700-1100 nm) for 5, 10, and 20 min periods. The temperature dependent infrared measurements were done for the thin films formed on the diamond ATR crystal from evaporated DNA solutions exposed and unexposed to NIR radiation. For the NIR-treated samples (at room temperature) the B form was better conserved than in the control sample independently of the irradiation period. Above 50 °C a considerable increase in the A form was only observed for 10 min NIR exposed samples. The hydrodynamic radius, (Rh), studied by the dynamic light scattering, showed drastic decrease with the increasing irradiation time. Principal components analysis (PCA) allowed to detect the spectral features correlated with the NIR effect and thermal stability of the DNA films. Obtained results strongly support the idea that the photoionization of water by NIR radiation in presence of DNA molecules is the main factor influencing on its physicochemical properties.

Accelerometer-based method for correcting signal baseline changes caused by motion artifacts in medical near-infrared spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Virtanen, Jaakko; Noponen, Tommi; Kotilahti, Kalle; Virtanen, Juha; Ilmoniemi, Risto J.

2011-08-01

In medical near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), movements of the subject often cause large step changes in the baselines of the measured light attenuation signals. This prevents comparison of hemoglobin concentration levels before and after movement. We present an accelerometer-based motion artifact removal (ABAMAR) algorithm for correcting such baseline motion artifacts (BMAs). ABAMAR can be easily adapted to various long-term monitoring applications of NIRS. We applied ABAMAR to NIRS data collected in 23 all-night sleep measurements and containing BMAs from involuntary movements during sleep. For reference, three NIRS researchers independently identified BMAs from the data. To determine whether the use of an accelerometer improves BMA detection accuracy, we compared ABAMAR to motion detection based on peaks in the moving standard deviation (SD) of NIRS data. The number of BMAs identified by ABAMAR was similar to the number detected by the humans, and 79% of the artifacts identified by ABAMAR were confirmed by at least two humans. While the moving SD of NIRS data could also be used for motion detection, on average 2 out of the 10 largest SD peaks in NIRS data each night occurred without the presence of movement. Thus, using an accelerometer improves BMA detection accuracy in NIRS.

A Feasibility Study on Monitoring Residual Sugar and Alcohol Strength in Kiwi Wine Fermentation Using a Fiber-Optic FT-NIR Spectrometry and PLS Regression.

PubMed

Wang, Bingqian; Peng, Bangzhu

2017-02-01

This work aims to investigate the potential of fiber-optic Fourier transform-near-infrared (FT-NIR) spectrometry associated with chemometric analysis, which will be applied to monitor time-related changes in residual sugar and alcohol strength during kiwi wine fermentation. NIR calibration models for residual sugar and alcohol strength during kiwi wine fermentation were established on the FT-NIR spectra of 98 samples scanned in a fiber-optic FT-NIR spectrometer, and partial least squares regression method. The results showed that R 2 and root mean square error of cross-validation could achieve 0.982 and 3.81 g/L for residual sugar, and 0.984 and 0.34% for alcohol strength, respectively. Furthermore, crucial process information on kiwi must and wine fermentations provided by fiber-optic FT-NIR spectrometry was found to agree with those obtained from traditional chemical methods, and therefore this fiber-optic FT-NIR spectrometry can be applied as an effective and suitable alternative for analyses and monitoring of those processes. The overall results suggested that fiber-optic FT-NIR spectrometry is a promising tool for monitoring and controlling the kiwi wine fermentation process. © 2017 Institute of Food Technologists®.

Deep nirS amplicon sequencing of San Francisco Bay sediments enables prediction of geography and environmental conditions from denitrifying community composition.

PubMed

Lee, Jessica A; Francis, Christopher A

2017-12-01

Denitrification is a dominant nitrogen loss process in the sediments of San Francisco Bay. In this study, we sought to understand the ecology of denitrifying bacteria by using next-generation sequencing (NGS) to survey the diversity of a denitrification functional gene, nirS (encoding cytchrome-cd 1 nitrite reductase), along the salinity gradient of San Francisco Bay over the course of a year. We compared our dataset to a library of nirS sequences obtained previously from the same samples by standard PCR cloning and Sanger sequencing, and showed that both methods similarly demonstrated geography, salinity and, to a lesser extent, nitrogen, to be strong determinants of community composition. Furthermore, the depth afforded by NGS enabled novel techniques for measuring the association between environment and community composition. We used Random Forests modelling to demonstrate that the site and salinity of a sample could be predicted from its nirS sequences, and to identify indicator taxa associated with those environmental characteristics. This work contributes significantly to our understanding of the distribution and dynamics of denitrifying communities in San Francisco Bay, and provides valuable tools for the further study of this key N-cycling guild in all estuarine systems. © 2017 Society for Applied Microbiology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Spectroscopic and DFT-based computational studies on the molecular electronic structural characteristics and the third-order nonlinear property of an organic NLO crystal: (E)-N‧-(4-chlorobenzylidene)-4-methylbenzenesulfonohydrazide

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sasikala, V.; Sajan, D.; Joseph, Lynnette; Balaji, J.; Prabu, S.; Srinivasan, P.

2017-04-01

Single crystals of (E)-N‧-(4-chlorobenzylidene)-4-methylbenzenesulfonohydrazide (CBMBSH) have been grown by slow evaporation crystal growth method. The structure stabilizing intramolecular donor-acceptor interactions and the presence of the Nsbnd H⋯O, Csbnd H⋯O and Csbnd H⋯C(π) hydrogen bonds in the crystal were confirmed by vibrational spectroscopic and DFT methods. The linear optical absorption characteristics of the solvent phase of CBMBSH were investigated using UV-Vis-NIR spectroscopic and TD-DFT approaches. The 2PA assisted RSA nonlinear absorption and the optical limiting properties of CBMBSH were studied using the open-aperture Z-scan method. The topological characteristics of the electron density have been determined using the quantum theory of atoms in molecules method.

Arbitrary Multicolor Photodetection by Hetero-integrated Semiconductor Nanostructures

PubMed Central

Sang, Liwen; Hu, Junqing; Zou, Rujia; Koide, Yasuo; Liao, Meiyong

2013-01-01

The typical photodetectors can only detect one specific optical spectral band, such as InGaAs and graphene-PbS quantum dots for near-infrared (NIR) light detection, CdS and Si for visible light detection, and ZnO and III-nitrides for UV light detection. So far, none of the developed photodetector can achieve the multicolor detection with arbitrary spectral selectivity, high sensitivity, high speed, high signal-to-noise ratio, high stability, and simplicity (called 6S requirements). Here, we propose a universal strategy to develop multicolor photodetectors with arbitrary spectral selectivity by integrating various semiconductor nanostructures on a wide-bandgap semiconductor or an insulator substrate. Because the photoresponse of each spectral band is determined by each semiconductor nanostructure or the semiconductor substrate, multicolor detection satisfying 6S requirements can be readily satisfied by selecting the right semiconductors. PMID:23917790

Germanium and InGaAs/InP SPADs for single-photon detection in the near-infrared

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tosi, Alberto; Dalla Mora, Alberto; Zappa, Franco; Cova, Sergio

2007-09-01

Single-Photon Avalanche Diodes (SPADs) for near-infrared (800-1700 nm) wavelengths can be manufactured both in InGaAs/InP and in germanium. Recently, new InGaAs/InP SPADs became commercially available with good overall performances, but with the intrinsic bottleneck of strong afterpulsing effect, originated in the InP multiplication layer. At present, germanium technology is not exploited for single-photon detectors, but previous devices demonstrate lower afterpulsing even at very low temperatures and promising dark count rate when employing pure manufacturing process. In this work, we compare germanium and InGaAs/InP SPADs in terms of dark counts, afterpulsing, timing jitter, and quantum efficiency. Eventually, we highlight the motivations for considering germanium as a key material for single-photon counting in the NIR.

Theoretical analysis of AlGaN/GaN resonant tunnelling diodes with step heterojunctions spacer and sub-quantum well

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Y.; Gao, B.; Gong, M.

2017-06-01

In this paper, we proposed to use step heterojunctions emitter spacer (SHES) and InGaN sub-quantum well in AlGaN/GaN/AlGaN double barrier resonant tunnelling diodes (RTDs). Theoretical analysis of RTD with SHES and InGaN sub-quantum well was presented, which indicated that the negative differential resistance (NDR) characteristic was improved. And the simulation results, peak current density JP=82.67 mA/μm2, the peak-to-valley current ratio PVCR=3.38, and intrinsic negative differential resistance RN=-0.147Ω at room temperature, verified the improvement of NDR characteristic brought about by SHES and InGaN sub-quantum well. Both the theoretical analysis and simulation results showed that the device performance, especially the average oscillator output power presented great improvement and reached 2.77mW/μm2 magnitude. And the resistive cut-off frequency would benefit a lot from the relatively small RN as well. Our works provide an important alternative to the current approaches in designing new structure GaN based RTD for practical high frequency and high power applications.

How quantum entanglement in DNA synchronizes double-strand breakage by type II restriction endonucleases.

PubMed

Kurian, P; Dunston, G; Lindesay, J

2016-02-21

Macroscopic quantum effects in living systems have been studied widely in pursuit of fundamental explanations for biological energy transport and sensing. While it is known that type II endonucleases, the largest class of restriction enzymes, induce DNA double-strand breaks by attacking phosphodiester bonds, the mechanism by which simultaneous cutting is coordinated between the catalytic centers remains unclear. We propose a quantum mechanical model for collective electronic behavior in the DNA helix, where dipole-dipole oscillations are quantized through boundary conditions imposed by the enzyme. Zero-point modes of coherent oscillations would provide the energy required for double-strand breakage. Such quanta may be preserved in the presence of thermal noise by the enzyme's displacement of water surrounding the DNA recognition sequence. The enzyme thus serves as a decoherence shield. Palindromic mirror symmetry of the enzyme-DNA complex should conserve parity, because symmetric bond-breaking ceases when the symmetry of the complex is violated or when physiological parameters are perturbed from optima. Persistent correlations in DNA across longer spatial separations-a possible signature of quantum entanglement-may be explained by such a mechanism. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

How quantum entanglement in DNA synchronizes double-strand breakage by type II restriction endonucleases

PubMed Central

Kurian, P.; Dunston, G.; Lindesay, J.

2015-01-01

Macroscopic quantum effects in living systems have been studied widely in pursuit of fundamental explanations for biological energy transport and sensing. While it is known that type II endonucleases, the largest class of restriction enzymes, induce DNA double-strand breaks by attacking phosphodiester bonds, the mechanism by which simultaneous cutting is coordinated between the catalytic centers remains unclear. We propose a quantum mechanical model for collective electronic behavior in the DNA helix, where dipole-dipole oscillations are quantized through boundary conditions imposed by the enzyme. Zero-point modes of coherent oscillations would provide the energy required for double-strand breakage. Such quanta may be preserved in the presence of thermal noise by the enzyme’s displacement of water surrounding the DNA recognition sequence. The enzyme thus serves as a decoherence shield. Palindromic mirror symmetry of the enzyme-DNA complex should conserve parity, because symmetric bond-breaking ceases when the symmetry of the complex is violated or when physiological parameters are perturbed from optima. Persistent correlations in DNA across longer spatial separations—a possible signature of quantum entanglement—may be explained by such a mechanism. PMID:26682627

Noninvasive detection of intracerebral hemorrhage using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hennes, Hans-Juergen; Lott, Carsten; Windirsch, Michael; Hanley, Daniel F.; Boor, Stephan; Brambrink, Ansgar; Dick, Wolfgang

1998-01-01

Intracerebral Hemorrhage (IH) is an important cause of secondary brain injury in neurosurgical patients. Early identification and treatment improve neurologic outcome. We have tested Near Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS) as an alternative noninvasive diagnostic tool compared to CT-Scans to detect IH. We prospectively studied 212 patients with neurologic symptoms associated with intracranial pathology before performing a CT-scan. NIRS signals indicated pathologies in 181 cases (sensitivity 0.96; specificity 0.29). In a subgroup of subdural hematomas NIRS detected 45 of 46 hematomas (sensitivity 0.96; specificity 0.79). Identification of intracerebral hemorrhage using NIRS has the potential to allow early treatment, thus possibly avoiding further injury.

Noninvasive detection of intracerebral hemorrhage using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hennes, Hans J.; Lott, C.; Windirsch, Michael; Hanley, Daniel F.; Boor, Stephan; Brambrink, Ansgar; Dick, Wolfgang

1997-12-01

Intracerebral Hemorrhage (IH) is an important cause of secondary brain injury in neurosurgical patients. Early identification and treatment improve neurologic outcome. We have tested Near Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS) as an alternative noninvasive diagnostic tool compared to CT-Scans to detect IH. We prospectively studied 212 patients with neurologic symptoms associated with intracranial pathology before performing a CT-scan. NIRS signals indicated pathologies in 181 cases (sensitivity 0.96; specificity 0.29). In a subgroup of subdural hematomas NIRS detected 45 of 46 hematomas (sensitivity 0.96; specificity 0.79). Identification of intracerebral hemorrhage using NIRS has the potential to allow early treatment, thus possibly avoiding further injury.

Near-Infrared (NIR) Spectroscopy of Synthetic Hydroxyapatites and Human Dental Tissues.

PubMed

Kolmas, Joanna; Marek, Dariusz; Kolodziejski, Waclaw

2015-08-01

Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIR) was used to analyze synthetic hydroxyapatite calcined at various temperatures, synthetic carbonated hydroxyapatite, and human hard dental tissues (enamel and dentin). The NIR bands of those materials in the combination, first-overtone, and second-overtone spectral regions were assigned and evaluated for structural characterization. They were attributed to adsorbed and structural water, structural hydroxyl (OH) groups and surface P-OH groups. The NIR spectral features were quantitatively discussed in view of proton solid-state magic-angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance ((1)H MAS NMR) results. We conclude that the NIR spectra of apatites are useful in the structural characterization of synthetic and biogenic apatites.

Convolutional Sparse Coding for RGB+NIR Imaging.

PubMed

Hu, Xuemei; Heide, Felix; Dai, Qionghai; Wetzstein, Gordon

2018-04-01

Emerging sensor designs increasingly rely on novel color filter arrays (CFAs) to sample the incident spectrum in unconventional ways. In particular, capturing a near-infrared (NIR) channel along with conventional RGB color is an exciting new imaging modality. RGB+NIR sensing has broad applications in computational photography, such as low-light denoising, it has applications in computer vision, such as facial recognition and tracking, and it paves the way toward low-cost single-sensor RGB and depth imaging using structured illumination. However, cost-effective commercial CFAs suffer from severe spectral cross talk. This cross talk represents a major challenge in high-quality RGB+NIR imaging, rendering existing spatially multiplexed sensor designs impractical. In this work, we introduce a new approach to RGB+NIR image reconstruction using learned convolutional sparse priors. We demonstrate high-quality color and NIR imaging for challenging scenes, even including high-frequency structured NIR illumination. The effectiveness of the proposed method is validated on a large data set of experimental captures, and simulated benchmark results which demonstrate that this work achieves unprecedented reconstruction quality.

Recent advances in near-infrared fluorescence-guided imaging surgery using indocyanine green.

PubMed

Namikawa, Tsutomu; Sato, Takayuki; Hanazaki, Kazuhiro

2015-12-01

Near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence imaging has better tissue penetration, allowing for the effective rejection of excitation light and detection deep inside organs. Indocyanine green (ICG) generates NIR fluorescence after illumination by an NIR ray, enabling real-time intraoperative visualization of superficial lymphatic channels and vessels transcutaneously. The HyperEye Medical System (HEMS) can simultaneously detect NIR rays under room light to provide color imaging, which enables visualization under bright light. Thus, NIR fluorescence imaging using ICG can provide for excellent diagnostic accuracy in detecting sentinel lymph nodes in cancer and microvascular circulation in various ischemic diseases, to assist us with intraoperative decision making. Including HEMS in this system could further improve the sentinel lymph node mapping and intraoperative identification of blood supply in reconstructive organs and ischemic diseases, making it more attractive than conventional imaging. Moreover, the development of new laparoscopic imaging systems equipped with NIR will allow fluorescence-guided surgery in a minimally invasive setting. Future directions, including the conjugation of NIR fluorophores to target specific cancer markers might be realistic technology with diagnostic and therapeutic benefits.

A brief review on the history of human functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) development and fields of application.

PubMed

Ferrari, Marco; Quaresima, Valentina

2012-11-01

This review is aimed at celebrating the upcoming 20th anniversary of the birth of human functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). After the discovery in 1992 that the functional activation of the human cerebral cortex (due to oxygenation and hemodynamic changes) can be explored by NIRS, human functional brain mapping research has gained a new dimension. fNIRS or optical topography, or near-infrared imaging or diffuse optical imaging is used mainly to detect simultaneous changes in optical properties of the human cortex from multiple measurement sites and displays the results in the form of a map or image over a specific area. In order to place current fNIRS research in its proper context, this paper presents a brief historical overview of the events that have shaped the present status of fNIRS. In particular, technological progresses of fNIRS are highlighted (i.e., from single-site to multi-site functional cortical measurements (images)), introduction of the commercial multi-channel systems, recent commercial wireless instrumentation and more advanced prototypes. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Biocompatible near-infrared fluorescent nanoparticles for macro and microscopic in vivo functional bioimaging

PubMed Central

Chu, Liliang; Wang, Shaowei; Li, Kanghui; Xi, Wang; Zhao, Xinyuan; Qian, Jun

2014-01-01

Near-infrared (NIR) imaging technology has been widely used for biomedical research and applications, since it can achieve deep penetration in biological tissues due to less absorption and scattering of NIR light. In our research, polymer nanoparticles with NIR fluorophores doped were synthesized. The morphology, absorption/emission features and chemical stability of the fluorescent nanoparticles were characterized, separately. NIR fluorescent nanoparticles were then utilized as bright optical probes for macro in vivo imaging of mice, including sentinel lymph node (SLN) mapping, as well as distribution and excretion monitoring of nanoparticles in animal body. Furthermore, we applied the NIR fluorescent nanoparticles in in vivo microscopic bioimaging via a confocal microscope. Under the 635 nm-CW excitation, the blood vessel architecture in the ear and the brain of mice, which were administered with nanoparticles, was visualized very clearly. The imaging depth of our one-photon microscopy, which was assisted with NIR fluorescent nanoprobes, can reach as deep as 500 μm. Our experiments show that NIR fluorescent nanoparticles have great potentials in various deep-tissue imaging applications. PMID:25426331

Determination of geographical origin of alcoholic beverages using ultraviolet, visible and infrared spectroscopy: A review

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Uríčková, Veronika; Sádecká, Jana

2015-09-01

The identification of the geographical origin of beverages is one of the most important issues in food chemistry. Spectroscopic methods provide a relative rapid and low cost alternative to traditional chemical composition or sensory analyses. This paper reviews the current state of development of ultraviolet (UV), visible (Vis), near infrared (NIR) and mid infrared (MIR) spectroscopic techniques combined with pattern recognition methods for determining geographical origin of both wines and distilled drinks. UV, Vis, and NIR spectra contain broad band(s) with weak spectral features limiting their discrimination ability. Despite this expected shortcoming, each of the three spectroscopic ranges (NIR, Vis/NIR and UV/Vis/NIR) provides average correct classification higher than 82%. Although average correct classification is similar for NIR and MIR regions, in some instances MIR data processing improves prediction. Advantage of using MIR is that MIR peaks are better defined and more easily assigned than NIR bands. In general, success in a classification depends on both spectral range and pattern recognition methods. The main problem still remains the construction of databanks needed for all of these methods.

A portable fNIRS system with eight channels

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Si, Juanning; Zhao, Ruirui; Zhang, Yujin; Zuo, Nianming; Zhang, Xin; Jiang, Tianzi

2015-03-01

Abundant study on the hemodynamic response of a brain have brought quite a few advances in technologies of measuring it. The most benefitted is the functional near infrared spectroscope (fNIRS). A variety of devices have been developed for different applications. Because portable fNIRS systems were more competent to measure responses either of special subjects or in natural environment, several kinds of portable fNIRS systems have been reported. However, they all required a computer for receiving data. The extra computer increases the cost of a fNIRS system. What's more noticeable is the space required to locate the computer even for a portable system. It will discount the portability of the fNIRS system. So we designed a self-contained eight channel fNIRS system, which does not demand a computer to receive data and display data in a monitor. Instead, the system is centered by an ARM core CPU, which takes charge in organizing data and saving data, and then displays data on a touch screen. The system has also been validated by experiments on phantoms and on subjects in tasks.

A brief review on the use of functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) for language imaging studies in human newborns and adults.

PubMed

Quaresima, Valentina; Bisconti, Silvia; Ferrari, Marco

2012-05-01

Upon stimulation, real time maps of cortical hemodynamic responses can be obtained by non-invasive functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) which measures changes in oxygenated and deoxygenated hemoglobin after positioning multiple sources and detectors over the human scalp. The current commercially available transportable fNIRS systems have a time resolution of 1-10 Hz, a depth sensitivity of about 1.5 cm, and a spatial resolution of about 1cm. The goal of this brief review is to report infants, children and adults fNIRS language studies. Since 1998, 60 studies have been published on cortical activation in the brain's classic language areas in children/adults as well as newborns using fNIRS instrumentations of different complexity. In addition, the basic principles of fNIRS including features, strengths, advantages, and limitations are summarized in terms that can be understood even by non specialists. Future prospects of fNIRS in the field of language processing imaging are highlighted. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A model for explaining fusion suppression using classical trajectory method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Phookan, C. K.; Kalita, K.

2015-01-01

We adopt a semi-classical approach for explanation of projectile breakup and above barrier fusion suppression for the reactions 6Li+152Sm and 6Li+144Sm. The cut-off impact parameter for fusion is determined by employing quantum mechanical ideas. Within this cut-off impact parameter for fusion, the fraction of projectiles undergoing breakup is determined using the method of classical trajectory in two-dimensions. For obtaining the initial conditions of the equations of motion, a simplified model of the 6Li nucleus has been proposed. We introduce a simple formula for explanation of fusion suppression. We find excellent agreement between the experimental and calculated fusion cross section. A slight modification of the above formula for fusion suppression is also proposed for a three-dimensional model.

Brain Functional Connectivity in MS: An EEG-NIRS Study

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-10-01

electrical (EEG) and blood volume and blood oxygen-based (NIRS and fMRI ) signals, and to use the results to help optimize blood oxygen level...dependent (BOLD) fMRI analyses of brain activity. Participants will be patients with MS (n=25) and healthy demographically matched controls (n=25) who will...undergo standardized evaluations and imaging using combined EEG-NIRS- fMRI . EEG-NIRS data will be used to construct maps of neurovascular coupling

A Survey of Near-infrared Diffuse Interstellar Bands

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hamano, Satochi; Kobayashi, Naoto; Kawakita, Hideyo; Ikeda, Yuji; Kondo, Sohei; Sameshima, Hiroaki; Arai, Akira; Matsunaga, Noriyuki; Yasui, Chikako; Mizumoto, Misaki; Fukue, Kei; Izumi, Natsuko; Otsubo, Shogo; Takenada, Keiichi

2018-04-01

We propose a study of interstellar molecules with near-infrared (NIR) high-resolution spectroscopy as a science case for the 3.6-m Devasthal Optical Telescope (DOT). In particular, we present the results obtained on-going survey of diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs) in NIR with the newly developed NIR high-resolution spectrograph WINERED, which offers a high sensitivity in the wavelength range of 0.91-1.36 µm. Using the WINERED spectrograph attached to the 1.3-m Araki telescope in Japan, we obtained high-quality spectra of a number of early-type stars in various environments, such as diffuse interstellar clouds, dark clouds and star-forming regions, to investigate the properties of NIR DIBs and constrain their carriers. As a result, we successfully identified about 50 new NIR DIBs, where only five fairly strong DIBs had been identified previously. Also, some properties of DIBs in the NIR are discussed to constrain the carriers of DIBs.

NIR fluorescent dyes: versatile vehicles for marker and probe applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Patonay, Gabor; Chapman, Gala; Beckford, Garfield; Henary, Maged

2013-02-01

The use of the NIR spectral region (650-900 nm) is advantageous due to the inherently lower background interference and the high molar absorptivities of NIR chromophores. Near-Infrared (NIR) dyes are increasingly used in the biological and medical field. The binding characteristics of NIR dyes to biomolecules are possibly controlled by several factors, including hydrophobicity, size and charge just to mention a few parameters. Binding characteristics of symmetric carbocyanines and found that the hydrophobic nature of the NIR dye is only partially responsible for the binding strength. Upon binding to biomolecules significant fluorescence enhancement can be observed for symmetrical carbocyanines. This fluorescence amplification facilitates the detection of the NIR dye and enhances its utility as NIR reporter. This manuscript discusses some probe and marker applications of such NIR fluorescent dyes. One application discussed here is the use of NIR dyes as markers. For labeling applications the fluorescence intensity of the NIR fluorescent label can significantly be increased by enclosing several dye molecules in nanoparticles. To decrease self quenching dyes that have relatively large Stokes' shift needs to be used. This is achieved by substituting meso position halogens with amino moiety. This substitution can also serve as a linker to covalently attach the dye molecule to the nanoparticle backbone. We report here on the preparation of NIR fluorescent silica nanoparticles. Silica nanoparticles that are modified with aminoreactive moieties can be used as bright fluorescent labels in bioanalytical applications. A new bioanalytical technique to detect and monitor the catalytic activity of the sulfur assimilating enzyme using NIR dyes is reported as well. In this spectroscopic bioanalytical assay a family of Fischer based n-butyl sulfonate substituted dyes that exhibit distinct variation in absorbance and fluorescence properties and strong binding to serum albumin as its sulfonic acid moiety is modified to less water soluble moiety was identified. In polar solvents, these water soluble compounds are strongly fluorescent, however form the less soluble aggregated species with virtual loss of fluorescence when the sulfonate groups are cleaved by enzymatic activity to form the corresponding straight chain alkyl aldehyde derivatives. To achieve this conversion in vitro photo-reduced riboflavin mononucleotide (FMN) with a glucose/ glucose-oxygenase oxygen scavenging system was utilized. The reduced FMN serves as a key substrate in the enzymatic desulfonation. Once the FMNH2 was produced the desulfonation reaction was characterized by using Laser Induced Fluorescence Capillary Zone Electropheresis (LIF-CZE). This method can be utilized as an assay to detect the enzyme activity in vitro with the possibilities of in vivo applications.

Understanding the evolution of luminescent gold quantum clusters in protein templates.

PubMed

Chaudhari, Kamalesh; Xavier, Paulrajpillai Lourdu; Pradeep, Thalappil

2011-11-22

We show that the time-dependent biomineralization of Au(3+) by native lactoferrin (NLf) and bovine serum albumin (BSA) resulting in near-infrared (NIR) luminescent gold quantum clusters (QCs) occurs through a protein-bound Au(1+) intermediate and subsequent emergence of free protein. The evolution was probed by diverse tools, principally, using matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI MS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL). The importance of alkaline pH in the formation of clusters was probed. At neutral pH, a Au(1+)-protein complex was formed (starting from Au(3+)) with the binding of 13-14 gold atoms per protein. When the pH was increased above 12, these bound gold ions were further reduced to Au(0) and nucleation and growth of cluster commenced, which was corroborated by the beginning of emission; at this point, the number of gold atoms per protein was ~25, suggesting the formation of Au(25). During the cluster evolution, at certain time intervals, for specific molar ratios of gold and protein, occurrence of free protein was noticed in the mass spectra, suggesting a mixture of products and gold ion redistribution. By providing gold ions at specific time of the reaction, monodispersed clusters with enhanced luminescence could be obtained, and the available quantity of free protein could be utilized efficiently. Monodispersed clusters would be useful in obtaining single crystals of protein-protected noble metal quantum clusters where homogeneity of the system is of primary concern. © 2011 American Chemical Society

NIR techniques create added values for the pellet and biofuel industry.

PubMed

Lestander, Torbjörn A; Johnsson, Bo; Grothage, Morgan

2009-02-01

A 2(3)-factorial experiment was carried out in an industrial plant producing biofuel pellets with sawdust as feedstock. The aim was to use on-line near infrared (NIR) spectra from sawdust for real time predictions of moisture content, blends of sawdust and energy consumption of the pellet press. The factors varied were: drying temperature and wood powder dryness in binary blends of sawdust from Norway spruce and Scots pine. The main results were excellent NIR calibration models for on-line prediction of moisture content and binary blends of sawdust from the two species, but also for the novel finding that the consumption of electrical energy per unit pelletized biomass can be predicted by NIR reflectance spectra from sawdust entering the pellet press. This power consumption model, explaining 91.0% of the variation, indicated that NIR data contained information of the compression and friction properties of the biomass feedstock. The moisture content model was validated using a running NIR calibration model in the pellet plant. It is shown that the adjusted prediction error was 0.41% moisture content for grinded sawdust dried to ca. 6-12% moisture content. Further, although used drying temperatures influenced NIR spectra the models for drying temperature resulted in low prediction accuracy. The results show that on-line NIR can be used as an important tool in the monitoring and control of the pelletizing process and that the use of NIR technique in fuel pellet production has possibilities to better meet customer specifications, and therefore create added production values.

Near infrared reactance for the estimation of body fatness in regularly exercising individuals.

PubMed

Evans, J; Lambert, M I; Micklesfield, L K; Goedecke, J H; Jennings, C L; Savides, L; Claassen, A; Lambert, E V

2013-07-01

Near infrared reactance (NIR) is used to measure body fat percentage (BF%), but there is little data on its use in non-obese, regularly exercising individuals. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the limits of agreement between NIR compared to dual x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) for the measurement of BF% in 2 cohorts of regularly exercising individuals. BF% was measured using DXA and NIR in a regular exercising (≥3 sessions/week), healthy active cohort (HA; n=57), and in a regularly exercising and resistance trained (≥2 sessions/week) cohort (RT; n=59). The RT cohort had lower BF% than the HA cohort (15.3±5.5% and 25.8±7.1%, P<0.001). In the HA and RT cohorts, NIR BF% was associated with DXA BF% (R2=0.72, SEE=3.7, p<0.001 and R2=0.50, SEE=4.1 p<0.001, respectively). In the HA cohort, NIR tended to under-predict BF% (mean difference: - 1.3%; 95% limits of agreement (LOA); - 8.8 to 6.2%) whereas in the RT cohort, NIR tended to over-predict BF% compared to DXA (mean difference: 1.1; 95% LOA; - 8.1 to 10.3%). In conclusion, NIR and DXA yield similar average BF% measurements in 2 cohorts of non-obese regularly exercising individuals. However, the rather broad LOA of NIR need to be considered when using NIR to screen for overweight and obesity, or measure and track changes in body composition. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.

NIR-to-NIR Deep Penetrating Nanoplatforms Y2O3:Nd3+/Yb3+@SiO2@Cu2S toward Highly Efficient Photothermal Ablation.

PubMed

Zhang, Zhiyu; Suo, Hao; Zhao, Xiaoqi; Sun, Dan; Fan, Li; Guo, Chongfeng

2018-05-02

A difunctional nano-photothermal therapy (PTT) platform with near-infrared excitation to near-infrared emission (NIR-to-NIR) was constructed through core-shell structures Y 2 O 3 :Nd 3+ /Yb 3+ @SiO 2 @Cu 2 S (YRSC), in which the core Y 2 O 3 :Nd 3+ /Yb 3+ and shell Cu 2 S play the role of bioimaging and photothermal conversion function, respectively. The structure and composition of the present PTT agents (PTAs) were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectra. The NIR emissions of samples in the biological window area were measured by photoluminescence spectra under the excitation of 808 nm laser; further, the penetration depth of NIR emission at different wavelengths in biological tissue was also demonstrated by comparing with visible (vis) emission from Y 2 O 3 :Yb 3+ /Er 3+ @SiO 2 @Cu 2 S and NIR emission from YRSC through different injection depths in pork muscle tissues. The photo-thermal conversion effects were achieved through the outer ultrasmall Cu 2 S nanoparticles simultaneously absorb NIR light emission from the core Y 2 O 3 :Nd 3+/ Yb 3+ and the 808 nm excitation source to generate heat. Further, the heating effect of YRSC nanoparticles was confirmed by thermal imaging and ablation of YRSC to Escherichia coli and human hepatoma (HepG-2) cells. Results indicate that the YRSC has potential applications in PTT and NIR imaging in biological tissue.

Spectral relationships for atmospheric correction. I. Validation of red and near infra-red marine reflectance relationships.

PubMed

Goyens, C; Jamet, C; Ruddick, K G

2013-09-09

The present study provides an extensive overview of red and near infra-red (NIR) spectral relationships found in the literature and used to constrain red or NIR-modeling schemes in current atmospheric correction (AC) algorithms with the aim to improve water-leaving reflectance retrievals, ρw(λ), in turbid waters. However, most of these spectral relationships have been developed with restricted datasets and, subsequently, may not be globally valid, explaining the need of an accurate validation exercise. Spectral relationships are validated here with turbid in situ data for ρw(λ). Functions estimating ρw(λ) in the red were only valid for moderately turbid waters (ρw(λNIR) < 3.10(-3)). In contrast, bounding equations used to limit ρw(667) retrievals according to the water signal at 555 nm, appeared to be valid for all turbidity ranges presented in the in situ dataset. In the NIR region of the spectrum, the constant NIR reflectance ratio suggested by Ruddick et al. (2006) (Limnol. Oceanogr. 51, 1167-1179), was valid for moderately to very turbid waters (ρw(λNIR) < 10(-2)) while the polynomial function, initially developed by Wang et al. (2012) (Opt. Express 20, 741-753) with remote sensing reflectances over the Western Pacific, was also valid for extremely turbid waters (ρw(λNIR) > 10(-2)). The results of this study suggest to use the red bounding equations and the polynomial NIR function to constrain red or NIR-modeling schemes in AC processes with the aim to improve ρw(λ) retrievals where current AC algorithms fail.

Setup for testing cameras for image guided surgery using a controlled NIR fluorescence mimicking light source and tissue phantom

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Georgiou, Giota; Verdaasdonk, Rudolf M.; van der Veen, Albert; Klaessens, John H.

2017-02-01

In the development of new near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence dyes for image guided surgery, there is a need for new NIR sensitive camera systems that can easily be adjusted to specific wavelength ranges in contrast the present clinical systems that are only optimized for ICG. To test alternative camera systems, a setup was developed to mimic the fluorescence light in a tissue phantom to measure the sensitivity and resolution. Selected narrow band NIR LED's were used to illuminate a 6mm diameter circular diffuse plate to create uniform intensity controllable light spot (μW-mW) as target/source for NIR camera's. Layers of (artificial) tissue with controlled thickness could be placed on the spot to mimic a fluorescent `cancer' embedded in tissue. This setup was used to compare a range of NIR sensitive consumer's cameras for potential use in image guided surgery. The image of the spot obtained with the cameras was captured and analyzed using ImageJ software. Enhanced CCD night vision cameras were the most sensitive capable of showing intensities < 1 μW through 5 mm of tissue. However, there was no control over the automatic gain and hence noise level. NIR sensitive DSLR cameras proved relative less sensitive but could be fully manually controlled as to gain (ISO 25600) and exposure time and are therefore preferred for a clinical setting in combination with Wi-Fi remote control. The NIR fluorescence testing setup proved to be useful for camera testing and can be used for development and quality control of new NIR fluorescence guided surgery equipment.

NIR spectroscopic sensing for point-of-need freshness assessment of meat, fish, vegetables and fruits

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Seoho; Noh, Tae Gyoon; Choi, Jun Hoe; Han, Jeongsu; Ha, Joo Young; Lee, Ji Young; Park, Yongjong

2017-05-01

Foodborne illness represents a significant health burden worldwide. While monitoring the freshness of food before consumption could significantly improve the current predicament, there is a lack of a simple system that one can use to accurately assess the freshness of their food. Currently, the most common practice for food quality determination is by visual or odor inspection which lacks objectivity, accuracy and precision. Near infrared (NIR) spectroscopic techniques can help address this problem by providing rapid and non-destructive means to estimate the freshness state of various foods based on the changes to their characteristic spectra in the NIR region. Recent advancements in the development of portable NIR spectrometers are also enabling the realization of this technique at the point-of-need. In this study, we have evaluated the feasibility of using NIR spectroscopy at the point-of-need to estimate the freshness of various foods including: beef sirloin, beef eyeround, pork sirloin, bass, salmon, corvina, tomato and watermelon. Using a commercial portable NIR spectrometer, we periodically scanned and collected NIR spectra from the food items that were stored at 4°C inside a refrigerator for up to 30 days. For these food items, we show that the NIR spectra can be classified by the foods' aging day as well as by the levels of chemical/microbial indicators (i.e., thiobarbituric acid, volatile basic nitrogen and bacteria levels) with high accuracy, which represents high prospects of NIR spectroscopy for point-of-need freshness assessment of meat, fish, vegetables and fruits.

Differential Effects of 670 and 830 nm Red near Infrared Irradiation Therapy: A Comparative Study of Optic Nerve Injury, Retinal Degeneration, Traumatic Brain and Spinal Cord Injury

PubMed Central

Giacci, Marcus K.; Wheeler, Lachlan; Lovett, Sarah; Dishington, Emma; Majda, Bernadette; Bartlett, Carole A.; Thornton, Emma; Harford-Wright, Elizabeth; Leonard, Anna; Vink, Robert; Harvey, Alan R.; Provis, Jan; Dunlop, Sarah A.; Fitzgerald, Melinda

2014-01-01

Red/near-infrared irradiation therapy (R/NIR-IT) delivered by laser or light-emitting diode (LED) has improved functional outcomes in a range of CNS injuries. However, translation of R/NIR-IT to the clinic for treatment of neurotrauma has been hampered by lack of comparative information regarding the degree of penetration of the delivered irradiation to the injury site and the optimal treatment parameters for different CNS injuries. We compared the treatment efficacy of R/NIR-IT at 670 nm and 830 nm, provided by narrow-band LED arrays adjusted to produce equal irradiance, in four in vivo rat models of CNS injury: partial optic nerve transection, light-induced retinal degeneration, traumatic brain injury (TBI) and spinal cord injury (SCI). The number of photons of 670 nm or 830 nm light reaching the SCI injury site was 6.6% and 11.3% of emitted light respectively. Treatment of rats with 670 nm R/NIR-IT following partial optic nerve transection significantly increased the number of visual responses at 7 days after injury (P≤0.05); 830 nm R/NIR-IT was partially effective. 670 nm R/NIR-IT also significantly reduced reactive species and both 670 nm and 830 nm R/NIR-IT reduced hydroxynonenal immunoreactivity (P≤0.05) in this model. Pre-treatment of light-induced retinal degeneration with 670 nm R/NIR-IT significantly reduced the number of Tunel+ cells and 8-hydroxyguanosine immunoreactivity (P≤0.05); outcomes in 830 nm R/NIR-IT treated animals were not significantly different to controls. Treatment of fluid-percussion TBI with 670 nm or 830 nm R/NIR-IT did not result in improvements in motor or sensory function or lesion size at 7 days (P>0.05). Similarly, treatment of contusive SCI with 670 nm or 830 nm R/NIR-IT did not result in significant improvements in functional recovery or reduced cyst size at 28 days (P>0.05). Outcomes from this comparative study indicate that it will be necessary to optimise delivery devices, wavelength, intensity and duration of R/NIR-IT individually for different CNS injury types. PMID:25105800

[Alfalfa quality evaluation in the field by near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy].

PubMed

Xu, Rui-Xuan; Li, Dong-Ning; Yang, Dong-Hai; Lin, Jian-Hai; Xiang, Min; Zhang, Ying-Jun

2013-11-01

To explore the feasibility of using near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy (NIRS) to evaluate alfalfa quality rapidly in the field and try to find the appropriate machine and sample preparation method, the representative population of 170 fresh alfalfa samples collected from different regions with different stages and different cuts were scanned by a portable NIRS spectrometer (1 100 - 1 800 nm). This is the first time to build models of fresh alfalfa to rapidly estimate quality in the field for harvesting in time. The calibrations of dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP), neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and acid detergent fiber (ADF) were developed through the partial least squares regression (PLS). The determination coefficients of cross-validation (R2((CV)) were 0.831 4, 0.597 9, 0.803 6, 0.786 1 for DM, CP, NDF, ADF, respectively; the root mean standard error of cross-validation (RMSECV) were 1.241 1, 0.261 4, 0.990 3, 0.830 6; The determination coefficients of validation (R2(V)) were 0.815 0, 0.401 1, 0.784 9, 0.752 1 and the root mean standard errors of validation(RMSEP)were 1.06, 0.31, 0.95, 0.80 for DM, CP, NDF, ADF, respectively. For fresh alfalfa ,the calibration of DM, NDF, ADF can do rough quantitative analysis but the CP's calibration is failed. however, as CP in alfalfa hay is enough for animal and the DM, NDF and ADF is the crucial indicator for evaluating havest time, the model of DM, NDF and ADF can be used for evaluating the alfalfa quality rapidly in the field.

Novel self-assembled sandwich nanomedicine for NIR-responsive release of NO

PubMed Central

Fan, Jing; He, Qianjun; Liu, Yi; Ma, Ying; Fu, Xiao; Liu, Yijing; Huang, Peng; He, Nongyue; Chen, Xiaoyuan

2015-01-01

A novel sandwich nanomedicine (GO-BNN6) for near-infrared (NIR) light responsive release of nitric oxide (NO) has been constructed by self-assembling of graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets and a NO donor BNN6 through the π-π stacking interaction. GO-BNN6 nanomedicine has an extraordinarily high drug loading capacity (1.2 mg BNN6 per mg GO), good thermal stability, and high NIR responsiveness. The NO release from GO-BNN6 can be easily triggered and effectively controlled by adjusting the switching, irradiation time and power density of NIR laser. The intracellular NIR-responsive release of NO from GO-BNN6 nanomedicine causes a remarkable anti-cancer effect. PMID:26568270

Combined quantum chemical density functional theory and spectroscopic Raman and UV-vis-NIR study of oligothienoacenes with five and seven rings.

PubMed

Osuna, Reyes Malavé; Zhang, Xinnan; Matzger, Adam Jay; Hernandez, Víctor; López Navarrete, Juan Teodomiro

2006-04-20

In this article, we report the characterization of novel oligothienoacenes with five and seven fused thiophene rings, materials with potential applications in organic electronics. In contrast to usual alpha-linked oligothiophenes, these fused oligothiophenes have a larger band gap than most semiconductors currently used in the fabrication of organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) and therefore they are expected to be more stable in air. The synthesis of these fused-ring oligomers was motivated by the notion that a more rigid and planar structure should reduce defects (such as torsion about single bonds between alpha-linked units or S-syn defects) and thus improve conjugation for better charge-carrier mobility. The conjugational properties of these two molecular materials have been investigated by means of FT-Raman spectroscopy, revealing that conjugation still increases in passing from the five-ring oligomer to that with seven-rings. DFT and TDDFT quantum chemical calculations have been performed, at the B3LYP/6-31G level, to assess information regarding the minimum-energy molecular structure, topologies, and absolute energies of the frontier molecular orbitals (MOs.) around the gap, vibrational normal modes related to the main Raman features, and vertical one-electron excitations giving rise to the main optical absorptions.

Functionalization of graphene by size and doping control and its optoelectronic applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tang, Libin; Ji, Rongbin; Tian, Pin; Kong, Jincheng; Xiang, Jinzhong

2017-02-01

Graphene has received intensive attention in recent years because of the special physical and chemical properties. However, up to now graphene has not been widely used in optoelectronic fields yet, which is mainly caused by its semimetal properties. Therefore, changing its properties from semimetal to semiconductor is becoming a focal point. Recently, aiming at tuning the energy band of graphene, we have carried out systematic studies on the preparations of graphene based materials and devices, the CVD growth techniques of monolayer and double layer graphenes have been developed, the large-area doped graphene films have been fabricated to tune the structure-related optical and electrical properties. A novel graphene oxide (GO) preparation method namely "Tang-Lau method" has been invented, the graphene quantum dots growths by microwave assisted hydrothermal method and "Soft-Template method" have been developed, the Cl, S and K doped graphene quantum dots preparations by hydrothermal methods have also been invented. Systematic investigations have been carried out for the effect of preparation parameters on the properties of graphene based materials, the effects of size, doping elements on the energy level of graphene based materials have been explored and discussed. Based on the semiconducting graphene based materials, some novel room temperature photodetectors covering detection wavebands from UV, Vis and NIR have been designed and fabricated.

Effects of intermolecular interactions on absorption intensities of the fundamental and the first, second, and third overtones of OH stretching vibrations of methanol and t-butanol‑d9 in n-hexane studied by visible/near-infrared/infrared spectroscopy.

PubMed

Morisawa, Yusuke; Suga, Arisa

2018-05-15

Visible (Vis), near-infrared (NIR) and IR spectra in the 15,600-2500cm -1 region were measured for methanol, methanol-d 3 , and t-butanol-d 9 in n-hexane to investigate effects of intermolecular interaction on absorption intensities of the fundamental and the first, second, and third overtones of their OH stretching vibrations. The relative area intensities of OH stretching bands of free and hydrogen-bonded species were plotted versus the vibrational quantum number using logarithm plots (V=1-4) for 0.5M methanol, 0.5M methanol‑d 3 , and 0.5M t-butanol-d 9 in n-hexane. In the logarithm plots the relative intensities of free species yield a linear dependence irrespective of the solutes while those of hydrogen-bonded species deviate significantly from the linearity. The observed results suggest that the modifications in dipole moment functions of the OH bond induced by the formation of the hydrogen bondings change transient dipole moment, leading to the deviations of the dependences of relative absorption intensities on the vibrational quantum number from the linearity. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effects of intermolecular interactions on absorption intensities of the fundamental and the first, second, and third overtones of OH stretching vibrations of methanol and t-butanol‑d9 in n-hexane studied by visible/near-infrared/infrared spectroscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Morisawa, Yusuke; Suga, Arisa

2018-05-01

Visible (Vis), near-infrared (NIR) and IR spectra in the 15,600-2500 cm- 1 region were measured for methanol, methanol-d3, and t-butanol-d9 in n-hexane to investigate effects of intermolecular interaction on absorption intensities of the fundamental and the first, second, and third overtones of their OH stretching vibrations. The relative area intensities of OH stretching bands of free and hydrogen-bonded species were plotted versus the vibrational quantum number using logarithm plots (V = 1-4) for 0.5 M methanol, 0.5 M methanol‑d3, and 0.5 M t-butanol-d9 in n-hexane. In the logarithm plots the relative intensities of free species yield a linear dependence irrespective of the solutes while those of hydrogen-bonded species deviate significantly from the linearity. The observed results suggest that the modifications in dipole moment functions of the OH bond induced by the formation of the hydrogen bondings change transient dipole moment, leading to the deviations of the dependences of relative absorption intensities on the vibrational quantum number from the linearity.

Quantum Mechanical Predictions Of Energetic Materials: When Good Theories Go Bad

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-12-01

pressures. The systems studied were nitromethane, 1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetraazacyclooctane ( HMX ), cyclotrimethylenetrinitramine ( RDX ...degrees of compression. The systems are RDX , HMX , CL-20, nitromethane, PETN, and TATB. The GGA DFT Perdew-Burke-Ernzerhof (PBE) [Perdew et al., 1996...nitromethane, HMX , RDX and CL-20). At higher degrees of compression, planewave kinetic energy cut- offs (Ecut) were restricted to either 396 eV and/or

Simultaneous signal reconstruction from both superficial and deep tissue for fNIRS using depth-selective filtering method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fujii, M.

2017-07-01

Two variations of a depth-selective back-projection filter for functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) systems are introduced. The filter comprises a depth-selective algorithm that uses inverse problems applied to an optically diffusive multilayer medium. In this study, simultaneous signal reconstruction of both superficial and deep tissue from fNIRS experiments of the human forehead using a prototype of a CW-NIRS system is demonstrated.

Separation of fNIRS Signals into Functional and Systemic Components Based on Differences in Hemodynamic Modalities

PubMed Central

Yamada, Toru; Umeyama, Shinji; Matsuda, Keiji

2012-01-01

In conventional functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS), systemic physiological fluctuations evoked by a body's motion and psychophysiological changes often contaminate fNIRS signals. We propose a novel method for separating functional and systemic signals based on their hemodynamic differences. Considering their physiological origins, we assumed a negative and positive linear relationship between oxy- and deoxyhemoglobin changes of functional and systemic signals, respectively. Their coefficients are determined by an empirical procedure. The proposed method was compared to conventional and multi-distance NIRS. The results were as follows: (1) Nonfunctional tasks evoked substantial oxyhemoglobin changes, and comparatively smaller deoxyhemoglobin changes, in the same direction by conventional NIRS. The systemic components estimated by the proposed method were similar to the above finding. The estimated functional components were very small. (2) During finger-tapping tasks, laterality in the functional component was more distinctive using our proposed method than that by conventional fNIRS. The systemic component indicated task-evoked changes, regardless of the finger used to perform the task. (3) For all tasks, the functional components were highly coincident with signals estimated by multi-distance NIRS. These results strongly suggest that the functional component obtained by the proposed method originates in the cerebral cortical layer. We believe that the proposed method could improve the reliability of fNIRS measurements without any modification in commercially available instruments. PMID:23185590

Near infrared photoimmunotherapy prevents lung cancer metastases in a murine model

PubMed Central

Sato, Kazuhide; Nagaya, Tadanobu; Nakamura, Yuko; Harada, Toshiko; Choyke, Peter L.; Kobayashi, Hisataka

2015-01-01

Near infrared photoimmunotherapy (NIR-PIT) is a new cancer treatment that combines the specificity of intravenously injected antibodies with the acute toxicity induced by photosensitizers after exposure to NIR-light. Herein, we evaluate the efficacy of NIR-PIT in preventing lung metastases in a mouse model. Lung is one of the most common sites for developing metastases, but it also has the deepest tissue light penetration. Thus, lung is the ideal site for treating early metastases by using a light-based strategy. In vitro NIR-PIT cytotoxicity was assessed with dead cell staining, luciferase activity, and a decrease in cytoplasmic GFP fluorescence in 3T3/HER2-luc-GFP cells incubated with an anti-HER2 antibody photosensitizer conjugate. Cell-specific killing was demonstrated in mixed 2D/3D cell cultures of 3T3/HER2-luc-GFP (target) and 3T3-RFP (non-target) cells. In vivo NIR-PIT was performed in the left lung in a mouse model of lung metastases, and the number of metastasis nodules, tumor fluorescence, and luciferase activity were all evaluated. All three evaluations demonstrated that the NIR-PIT-treated lung had significant reductions in metastatic disease (*p < 0.0001, Mann-Whitney U-test) and that NIR-PIT did not damage non-target tumors or normal lung tissue. Thus, NIR-PIT can specifically prevent early metastases and is a promising anti-metastatic therapy. PMID:25992770

Multiwavelength study of the flaring activity of Sagittarius A* in 2014 February-April

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mossoux, E.; Grosso, N.; Bushouse, H.; Eckart, A.; Yusef-Zadeh, F.; Plambeck, D.; Peissker, F.; Valencia-S., M.; Porquet, D.; Roberts, D.

2017-10-01

We studied the flaring activity of the Galactic Center supermassive black hole Sgr A* close to the DSO/G2 pericenter passage with XMM-Newton, HST/WFC3, VLT/SINFONI, VLA and CARMA. We detected 3 and 2 NIR and 2 X-ray flares with HST, VLT and XMM-Newton, respectively. The Mar. 10 X-ray flare has a long rise and a rapid decay. Its NIR counterpart peaked before the X-ray peak implying a variation in the X-ray-to-NIR flux ratio. This flare may be one flare created by the adiabatic compression of a plasmon or 2 close flares with simultaneous X-ray/NIR peaks. The rising radio flux-density observed on Mar. 10 with the VLA could be the delayed emission from a NIR/X-ray flare preceding our observations. On Apr. 2, we observed the start of the NIR counterpart of the X-ray flare and the end of a bright NIR flare without X-ray counterpart. We studied the physical parameters of the flaring region for each NIR flare but none of the radiative processes can be ruled out for the X-ray flares creation. Our X-ray flaring rate is consistent with those observed in the 2012 Chandra/XVP campaign. No increase in the flaring activity was thus triggered close to the DSO/G2 pericenter passage.

Effect of Resting-State fNIRS Scanning Duration on Functional Brain Connectivity and Graph Theory Metrics of Brain Network.

PubMed

Geng, Shujie; Liu, Xiangyu; Biswal, Bharat B; Niu, Haijing

2017-01-01

As an emerging brain imaging technique, functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) has attracted widespread attention for advancing resting-state functional connectivity (FC) and graph theoretical analyses of brain networks. However, it remains largely unknown how the duration of the fNIRS signal scanning is related to stable and reproducible functional brain network features. To answer this question, we collected resting-state fNIRS signals (10-min duration, two runs) from 18 participants and then truncated the hemodynamic time series into 30-s time bins that ranged from 1 to 10 min. Measures of nodal efficiency, nodal betweenness, network local efficiency, global efficiency, and clustering coefficient were computed for each subject at each fNIRS signal acquisition duration. Analyses of the stability and between-run reproducibility were performed to identify optimal time length for each measure. We found that the FC, nodal efficiency and nodal betweenness stabilized and were reproducible after 1 min of fNIRS signal acquisition, whereas network clustering coefficient, local and global efficiencies stabilized after 1 min and were reproducible after 5 min of fNIRS signal acquisition for only local and global efficiencies. These quantitative results provide direct evidence regarding the choice of the resting-state fNIRS scanning duration for functional brain connectivity and topological metric stability of brain network connectivity.

Bio-inspired Plasmonic Nanoarchitectured Hybrid System Towards Enhanced Far Red-to-Near Infrared Solar Photocatalysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yan, Runyu; Chen, Min; Zhou, Han; Liu, Tian; Tang, Xingwei; Zhang, Ke; Zhu, Hanxing; Ye, Jinhua; Zhang, Di; Fan, Tongxiang

2016-01-01

Solar conversion to fuels or to electricity in semiconductors using far red-to-near infrared (NIR) light, which accounts for about 40% of solar energy, is highly significant. One main challenge is the development of novel strategies for activity promotion and new basic mechanisms for NIR response. Mother Nature has evolved to smartly capture far red-to-NIR light via their intelligent systems due to unique micro/nanoarchitectures, thus motivating us for biomimetic design. Here we report the first demonstration of a new strategy, based on adopting nature’s far red-to-NIR responsive architectures for an efficient bio-inspired photocatalytic system. The system is constructed by controlled assembly of light-harvesting plasmonic nanoantennas onto a typical photocatalytic unit with butterfly wings’ 3D micro/nanoarchitectures. Experiments and finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulations demonstrate the structural effects on obvious far red-to-NIR photocatalysis enhancement, which originates from (1) Enhancing far red-to-NIR (700~1200 nm) harvesting, up to 25%. (2) Enhancing electric-field amplitude of localized surface plasmon (LSPs) to more than 3.5 times than that of the non-structured one, which promotes the rate of electron-hole pair formation, thus substantially reinforcing photocatalysis. This proof-of-concept study provides a new methodology for NIR photocatalysis and would potentially guide future conceptually new NIR responsive system designs.

Bio-inspired Plasmonic Nanoarchitectured Hybrid System Towards Enhanced Far Red-to-Near Infrared Solar Photocatalysis.

PubMed

Yan, Runyu; Chen, Min; Zhou, Han; Liu, Tian; Tang, Xingwei; Zhang, Ke; Zhu, Hanxing; Ye, Jinhua; Zhang, Di; Fan, Tongxiang

2016-01-28

Solar conversion to fuels or to electricity in semiconductors using far red-to-near infrared (NIR) light, which accounts for about 40% of solar energy, is highly significant. One main challenge is the development of novel strategies for activity promotion and new basic mechanisms for NIR response. Mother Nature has evolved to smartly capture far red-to-NIR light via their intelligent systems due to unique micro/nanoarchitectures, thus motivating us for biomimetic design. Here we report the first demonstration of a new strategy, based on adopting nature's far red-to-NIR responsive architectures for an efficient bio-inspired photocatalytic system. The system is constructed by controlled assembly of light-harvesting plasmonic nanoantennas onto a typical photocatalytic unit with butterfly wings' 3D micro/nanoarchitectures. Experiments and finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulations demonstrate the structural effects on obvious far red-to-NIR photocatalysis enhancement, which originates from (1) Enhancing far red-to-NIR (700~1200 nm) harvesting, up to 25%. (2) Enhancing electric-field amplitude of localized surface plasmon (LSPs) to more than 3.5 times than that of the non-structured one, which promotes the rate of electron-hole pair formation, thus substantially reinforcing photocatalysis. This proof-of-concept study provides a new methodology for NIR photocatalysis and would potentially guide future conceptually new NIR responsive system designs.

MULTIMODAL IMAGING OF DISEASE-ASSOCIATED PIGMENTARY CHANGES IN RETINITIS PIGMENTOSA.

PubMed

Schuerch, Kaspar; Marsiglia, Marcela; Lee, Winston; Tsang, Stephen H; Sparrow, Janet R

2016-12-01

Using multiple imaging modalities, we evaluated the changes in photoreceptor cells and retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) that are associated with bone spicule-shaped melanin pigmentation in retinitis pigmentosa. In a cohort of 60 patients with retinitis pigmentosa, short-wavelength autofluorescence, near-infrared autofluorescence (NIR-AF), NIR reflectance, spectral domain optical coherence tomography, and color fundus images were studied. Central AF rings were visible in both short-wavelength autofluorescence and NIR-AF images. Bone spicule pigmentation was nonreflective in NIR reflectance, hypoautofluorescent with short-wavelength autofluorescence and NIR-AF imaging, and presented as intraretinal hyperreflective foci in spectral domain optical coherence tomography images. In areas beyond the AF ring outer border, the photoreceptor ellipsoid zone band was absent in spectral domain optical coherence tomography and the visibility of choroidal vessels in short-wavelength autofluorescence, NIR-AF, and NIR reflectance images was indicative of reduced RPE pigmentation. Choroidal visibility was most pronounced in the zone approaching peripheral areas of bone spicule pigmentation; here RPE/Bruch membrane thinning became apparent in spectral domain optical coherence tomography. These findings are consistent with a process by which RPE cells vacate their monolayer and migrate into inner retina in response to photoreceptor cell degeneration. The remaining RPE spread undergo thinning and consequently become less pigmented. An explanation for the absence of NIR-AF melanin signal in relation to bone spicule pigmentation is not forthcoming.

Assessing the feasibility of time-resolved fNIRS to detect brain activity during motor imagery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abdalmalak, Androu; Milej, Daniel; Diop, Mamadou; Naci, Lorina; Owen, Adrian M.; St. Lawrence, Keith

2016-03-01

Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is a non-invasive optical technique for detecting brain activity, which has been previously used during motor and motor executive tasks. There is an increasing interest in using fNIRS as a brain computer interface (BCI) for patients who lack the physical, but not the mental, ability to respond to commands. The goal of this study is to assess the feasibility of time-resolved fNIRS to detect brain activity during motor imagery. Stability tests were conducted to ensure the temporal stability of the signal, and motor imagery data were acquired on healthy subjects. The NIRS probes were placed on the scalp over the premotor cortex (PMC) and supplementary motor area (SMA), as these areas are responsible for motion planning. To confirm the fNIRS results, subjects underwent functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) while performing the same task. Seven subjects have participated to date, and significant activation in the SMA and/or the PMC during motor imagery was detected by both fMRI and fNIRS in 4 of the 7 subjects. No activation was detected by either technique in the remaining three participants, which was not unexpected due to the nature of the task. The agreement between the two imaging modalities highlights the potential of fNIRS as a BCI, which could be adapted for bedside studies of patients with disorders of consciousness.

Impacts of Long-Term Irrigation of Domestic Treated Wastewater on Soil Biogeochemistry and Bacterial Community Structure

PubMed Central

Wafula, Denis; White, John R.; Canion, Andy; Jagoe, Charles; Pathak, Ashish

2015-01-01

Freshwater scarcity and regulations on wastewater disposal have necessitated the reuse of treated wastewater (TWW) for soil irrigation, which has several environmental and economic benefits. However, TWW irrigation can cause nutrient loading to the receiving environments. We assessed bacterial community structure and associated biogeochemical changes in soil plots irrigated with nitrate-rich TWW (referred to as pivots) for periods ranging from 13 to 30 years. Soil cores (0 to 40 cm) were collected in summer and winter from five irrigated pivots and three adjacently located nonirrigated plots. Total bacterial and denitrifier gene abundances were estimated by quantitative PCR (qPCR), and community structure was assessed by 454 massively parallel tag sequencing (MPTS) of small-subunit (SSU) rRNA genes along with terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) analysis of nirK, nirS, and nosZ functional genes responsible for denitrification of the TWW-associated nitrate. Soil physicochemical analyses showed that, regardless of the seasons, pH and moisture contents (MC) were higher in the irrigated (IR) pivots than in the nonirrigated (NIR) plots; organic matter (OM) and microbial biomass carbon (MBC) were higher as a function of season but not of irrigation treatment. MPTS analysis showed that TWW loading resulted in the following: (i) an increase in the relative abundance of Proteobacteria, especially Betaproteobacteria and Gammaproteobacteria; (ii) a decrease in the relative abundance of Actinobacteria; (iii) shifts in the communities of acidobacterial groups, along with a shift in the nirK and nirS denitrifier guilds as shown by T-RFLP analysis. Additionally, bacterial biomass estimated by genus/group-specific real-time qPCR analyses revealed that higher numbers of total bacteria, Acidobacteria, Actinobacteria, Alphaproteobacteria, and the nirS denitrifier guilds were present in the IR pivots than in the NIR plots. Identification of the nirK-containing microbiota as a proxy for the denitrifier community indicated that bacteria belonged to alphaproteobacteria from the Rhizobiaceae family within the agroecosystem studied. Multivariate statistical analyses further confirmed some of the above soil physicochemical and bacterial community structure changes as a function of long-term TWW application within this agroecosystem. PMID:26253672

A Versatile Technique for the In Vivo Imaging of Human Tumor Xenografts Using Near-Infrared Fluorochrome-Conjugated Macromolecule Probes

PubMed Central

Suemizu, Hiroshi; Kawai, Kenji; Higuchi, Yuichiro; Hashimoto, Haruo; Ogura, Tomoyuki; Itoh, Toshio; Sasaki, Erika; Nakamura, Masato

2013-01-01

Here, we present a versatile method for detecting human tumor xenografts in vivo, based on the enhanced permeability and retention (EPR) effect, using near-infrared (NIR) fluorochrome-conjugated macromolecule probes. Bovine serum albumin (BSA) and two immunoglobulins—an anti-human leukocyte antigen (HLA) monoclonal antibody and isotype control IgG2a—were labeled with XenoLight CF770 fluorochrome and used as NIR-conjugated macromolecule probes to study whole-body imaging in a variety of xenotransplantation mouse models. NIR fluorescent signals were observed in subcutaneously transplanted BxPC-3 (human pancreatic cancer) cells and HCT 116 (colorectal cancer) cells within 24 h of NIR-macromolecule probe injection, but the signal from the fluorochrome itself or from the NIR-conjugated small molecule (glycine) injection was not observed. The accuracy of tumor targeting was confirmed by the localization of the NIR-conjugated immunoglobulin within the T-HCT 116 xenograft (in which the orange-red fluorescent protein tdTomato was stably expressed by HCT 116 cells) in the subcutaneous transplantation model. However, there was no significant difference in the NIR signal intensity of the region of interest between the anti-HLA antibody group and the isotype control group in the subcutaneous transplantation model. Therefore, the antibody accumulation within the tumor in vivo is based on the EPR effect. The liver metastasis generated by an intrasplenic injection of T-HCT 116 cells was clearly visualized by the NIR-conjugated anti-HLA probe but not by the orange-red fluorescent signal derived from the tdTomato reporter. This result demonstrated the superiority of the NIR probes over the tdTomato reporter protein at enhancing tissue penetration. In another xenograft model, patient-derived xenografts (PDX) of LC11-JCK (human non-small cell lung cancer) were successfully visualized using the NIR-conjugated macromolecule probe without any genetic modification. These results suggested that NIR-conjugated macromolecule, preferably, anti-HLA antibody probe is a valuable tool for the detection of human tumors in experimental metastasis models using whole-body imaging. PMID:24358218

Upregulated epidermal growth factor receptor expression following near-infrared irradiation simulating solar radiation in a three-dimensional reconstructed human corneal epithelial tissue culture model

PubMed Central

Tanaka, Yohei; Nakayama, Jun

2016-01-01

Background and objective Humans are increasingly exposed to near-infrared (NIR) radiation from both natural (eg, solar) and artificial (eg, electrical appliances) sources. Although the biological effects of sun and ultraviolet (UV) exposure have been extensively investigated, the biological effect of NIR radiation is still unclear. We previously reported that NIR as well as UV induces photoaging and standard UV-blocking materials, such as sunglasses, do not sufficiently block NIR. The objective of this study was to investigate changes in gene expression in three-dimensional reconstructed corneal epithelial tissue culture exposed to broad-spectrum NIR irradiation to simulate solar NIR radiation that reaches human tissues. Materials and methods DNA microarray and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis were used to assess gene expression levels in a three-dimensional reconstructed corneal epithelial model composed of normal human corneal epithelial cells exposed to water-filtered broad-spectrum NIR irradiation with a contact cooling (20°C). The water-filter allowed 1,000–1,800 nm wavelengths and excluded 1,400–1,500 nm wavelengths. Results A DNA microarray with >62,000 different probes showed 25 and 150 genes that were up- or downregulated by at least fourfold and twofold, respectively, after NIR irradiation. In particular, epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) was upregulated by 19.4-fold relative to control cells. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction analysis revealed that two variants of EGFR in human corneal epithelial tissue were also significantly upregulated after five rounds of 10 J/cm2 irradiation (P<0.05). Conclusion We found that NIR irradiation induced the upregulated expression of EGFR in human corneal cells. Since over half of the solar energy reaching the Earth is in the NIR region, which cannot be adequately blocked by eyewear and thus can induce eye damage with intensive or long-term exposure, protection from both UV and NIR radiation may prevent changes in gene expression and in turn eye damage. PMID:27536083

Reversible Oxidation of a Conserved Methionine in the Nuclear Export Sequence Determines Subcellular Distribution and Activity of the Fungal Nitrate Regulator NirA.

PubMed

Gallmetzer, Andreas; Silvestrini, Lucia; Schinko, Thorsten; Gesslbauer, Bernd; Hortschansky, Peter; Dattenböck, Christoph; Muro-Pastor, María Isabel; Kungl, Andreas; Brakhage, Axel A; Scazzocchio, Claudio; Strauss, Joseph

2015-07-01

The assimilation of nitrate, a most important soil nitrogen source, is tightly regulated in microorganisms and plants. In Aspergillus nidulans, during the transcriptional activation process of nitrate assimilatory genes, the interaction between the pathway-specific transcription factor NirA and the exportin KapK/CRM1 is disrupted, and this leads to rapid nuclear accumulation and transcriptional activity of NirA. In this work by mass spectrometry, we found that in the absence of nitrate, when NirA is inactive and predominantly cytosolic, methionine 169 in the nuclear export sequence (NES) is oxidized to methionine sulfoxide (Metox169). This oxidation depends on FmoB, a flavin-containing monooxygenase which in vitro uses methionine and cysteine, but not glutathione, as oxidation substrates. The function of FmoB cannot be replaced by alternative Fmo proteins present in A. nidulans. Exposure of A. nidulans cells to nitrate led to rapid reduction of NirA-Metox169 to Met169; this reduction being independent from thioredoxin and classical methionine sulfoxide reductases. Replacement of Met169 by isoleucine, a sterically similar but not oxidizable residue, led to partial loss of NirA activity and insensitivity to FmoB-mediated nuclear export. In contrast, replacement of Met169 by alanine transformed the protein into a permanently nuclear and active transcription factor. Co-immunoprecipitation analysis of NirA-KapK interactions and subcellular localization studies of NirA mutants lacking different parts of the protein provided evidence that Met169 oxidation leads to a change in NirA conformation. Based on these results we propose that in the presence of nitrate the activation domain is exposed, but the NES is masked by a central portion of the protein (termed nitrate responsive domain, NiRD), thus restricting active NirA molecules to the nucleus. In the absence of nitrate, Met169 in the NES is oxidized by an FmoB-dependent process leading to loss of protection by the NiRD, NES exposure, and relocation of the inactive NirA to the cytosol.

Near infrared spectroscopy for body fat sensing in neonates: quantitative analysis by GAMOS simulations.

PubMed

Mustafa, Fatin Hamimi; Jones, Peter W; McEwan, Alistair L

2017-01-11

Under-nutrition in neonates is closely linked to low body fat percentage. Undernourished neonates are exposed to immediate mortality as well as unwanted health impacts in their later life including obesity and hypertension. One potential low cost approach for obtaining direct measurements of body fat is near-infrared (NIR) interactance. The aims of this study were to model the effect of varying volume fractions of melanin and water in skin over NIR spectra, and to define sensitivity of NIR reflection on changes of thickness of subcutaneous fat. GAMOS simulations were used to develop two single fat layer models and four complete skin models over a range of skin colour (only for four skin models) and hydration within a spectrum of 800-1100 nm. The thickness of the subcutaneous fat was set from 1 to 15 mm in 1 mm intervals in each model. Varying volume fractions of water in skin resulted minimal changes of NIR intensity at ranges of wavelengths from 890 to 940 nm and from 1010 to 1100 nm. Variation of the melanin volume in skin meanwhile was found to strongly influence the NIR intensity and sensitivity. The NIR sensitivities and NIR intensity over thickness of fat decreased from the Caucasian skin to African skin throughout the range of wavelengths. For the relationship between the NIR reflection and the thickness of subcutaneous fat, logarithmic relationship was obtained. The minimal changes of NIR intensity values at wavelengths within the ranges from 890 to 940 nm and from 1010 to 1100 nm to variation of volume fractions of water suggests that wavelengths within those two ranges are considered for use in measurement of body fat to solve the variation of hydration in neonates. The stronger influence of skin colour on NIR shows that the melanin effect needs to be corrected by an independent measurement or by a modeling approach. The logarithmic response obtained with higher sensitivity at the lower range of thickness of fat suggests that implementation of NIRS may be suited for detecting under-nutrition and monitoring nutritional interventions for malnutrition in neonates in resource-constrained communities.

Holographic RG flows on curved manifolds and quantum phase transitions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ghosh, J. K.; Kiritsis, E.; Nitti, F.; Witkowski, L. T.

2018-05-01

Holographic RG flows dual to QFTs on maximally symmetric curved manifolds (dS d , AdS d , and S d ) are considered in the framework of Einstein-dilaton gravity in d + 1 dimensions. A general dilaton potential is used and the flows are driven by a scalar relevant operator. The general properties of such flows are analyzed and the UV and IR asymptotics computed. New RG flows can appear at finite curvature which do not have a zero curvature counterpart. The so-called `bouncing' flows, where the β-function has a branch cut at which it changes sign, are found to persist at finite curvature. Novel quantum first-order phase transitions are found, triggered by a variation in the d-dimensional curvature in theories allowing multiple ground states.

Crystal growth by Bridgman and Czochralski method of the ferromagnetic quantum critical material YbNi4P2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kliemt, K.; Krellner, C.

2016-09-01

The tetragonal YbNi4P2 is one of the rare examples of compounds that allow the investigation of a ferromagnetic quantum critical point. We report in detail on two different methods which have been used to grow YbNi4P2 single crystals from a self-flux. The first, a modified Bridgman method, using a closed crucible system yields needle-shaped single crystals oriented along the [001]-direction. The second method, the Czochralski growth from a levitating melt, yields large single crystals which can be cut in any desired orientation. With this crucible-free method, samples without flux inclusions and a resistivity ratio at 1.8 K of RR1.8K = 17 have been grown.

Feynman-diagrams approach to the quantum Rabi model for ultrastrong cavity QED: stimulated emission and reabsorption of virtual particles dressing a physical excitation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Di Stefano, Omar; Stassi, Roberto; Garziano, Luigi; Frisk Kockum, Anton; Savasta, Salvatore; Nori, Franco

2017-05-01

In quantum field theory, bare particles are dressed by a cloud of virtual particles to form physical particles. The virtual particles affect properties such as the mass and charge of the physical particles, and it is only these modified properties that can be measured in experiments, not the properties of the bare particles. The influence of virtual particles is prominent in the ultrastrong-coupling regime of cavity quantum electrodynamics (QED), which has recently been realised in several condensed-matter systems. In some of these systems, the effective interaction between atom-like transitions and the cavity photons can be switched on or off by external control pulses. This offers unprecedented possibilities for exploring quantum vacuum fluctuations and the relation between physical and bare particles. We consider a single three-level quantum system coupled to an optical resonator. Here we show that, by applying external electromagnetic pulses of suitable amplitude and frequency, each virtual photon dressing a physical excitation in cavity-QED systems can be converted into a physical observable photon, and back again. In this way, the hidden relationship between the bare and the physical excitations can be unravelled and becomes experimentally testable. The conversion between virtual and physical photons can be clearly pictured using Feynman diagrams with cut loops.

Zinc sulfide and zinc selenide immersion gratings for astronomical high-resolution spectroscopy: evaluation of internal attenuation of bulk materials in the short near-infrared region

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ikeda, Yuji; Kobayashi, Naoto; Kondo, Sohei; Yasui, Chikako; Kuzmenko, Paul J.; Tokoro, Hitoshi; Terada, Hiroshi

2009-08-01

We measure the internal attenuation of bulk crystals of chemical vapor deposition zinc selenide (CVD-ZnS), chemical vapor deposition zinc sulfide (CVD-ZnSe), Si, and GaAs in the short near-infrared (sNIR) region to evaluate the possibility of astronomical immersion gratings with those high refractive index materials. We confirm that multispectral grade CVD-ZnS and CVD-ZnSe are best suited for the immersion gratings, with the smallest internal attenuation of αatt=0.01 to 0.03 cm-1 among the major candidates. The measured attenuation is roughly in proportion to λ-2, suggesting it is dominated by bulk scattering due to the polycrystalline grains rather than by absorption. The total transmittance in the immersion grating is estimated to be at least >80%, even for the spectral resolution of R=300,000. Two potential problems, the scattered light by the bulk material and the degradation of the spectral resolution due to the gradient illumination in the diffracted beam, are investigated and found to be negligible for usual astronomical applications. Since the remaining problem, the difficulty of cutting grooves on CVD-ZnS and CVD-ZnSe, has recently been overcome by the nanoprecision fly-cutting technique, ZnS and ZnSe immersion gratings for astronomy can be technically realized.

Expression and purification of spinach nitrite reductase in E. coli

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Bellissimo, D.; Privalle, L.

1991-03-11

The study of structure-function relationships in nitrite reductase (NiR) by site-directed mutagenesis requires an expression system from which suitable quantities of active enzyme can be purified. Spinach NiR cDNA was cloned into pUC18 and expressed in E.coli JM109 as a beta-galactosidase fusion protein. The IPTG-induced fusion protein contains five additional amino acids at the N-terminus. The expressed NiR in aerobic cultures was mostly insoluble and inactive indicating the presence of inclusion bodies. By altering growth conditions, active NiR could represent 0.5-1.0% of the total E.coli protein, Effects of the addition of delta-aminolevulinic acid, a heme precursor, and anaerobic growth weremore » also examined. Spinach NiR was purified approximately 200 fold to homogeneity. When subjected to electrophoresis on SDS polyacrylamide gels, the NiR migrated as a single band with similar mobility to pure spinach enzyme. The expressed enzyme also reacted with rabbit anti-spinach NiR antibody as visualized by Western blot analysis. The absorption spectrum of the E.coli-expressed enzyme was identical to spinach enzyme with a Soret and alpha band a 386 and 573 nm, respectively, and an A{sub 278}/A{sub 386} = 1.9. The addition of nitrite produced the characteristic shifts in the spectrum. The E. coli-expressed NiR catalyzed the methylviologen-dependent reduction of nitrite. The specific activity was 100 U/mg. The K{sub m} determined for nitrite was 0.3 mM which is in agreement with values reported for the enzyme. These results indicate that the E.coli-expressed NiR is fully comparable to spinach NiR in purity, catalytic activity and physical state. Site-directed mutants have been made using PCR to examine structure-function relationships in this enzyme.« less

An Application for the Quantitative Analysis of Pharmaceutical Tablets Using a Rapid Switching System Between a Near-Infrared Spectrometer and a Portable Near-Infrared Imaging System Equipped with Fiber Optics.

PubMed

Murayama, Kodai; Ishikawa, Daitaro; Genkawa, Takuma; Ozaki, Yukihiro

2018-04-01

We present a rapid switching system between a newly developed near-infrared (NIR) spectrometer and its imaging system to select the spot size of a diffuse reflectance (DR) probe. In a previous study, we developed a portable NIR imaging system, known as D-NIRs, which has significant advantages over other systems. Its high speed, high spectral resolution, and portability are particularly useful in the process of monitoring pharmaceutical tablets. However, the spectral accuracies relating to the changes in the formulation of the pharmaceutical tablets have not been fully discussed. Therefore, we improved the rapid optical switching system and present a new model of D-NIRs (ND-NIRs) here. This system can automatically switch the optical paths of the DR and NIR imaging probes, greatly contributing to the simultaneous measurement of both the imaging and spot. The NIR spectra of the model tablets, including 0-10% ascorbic acid, were measured and simultaneous NIR images of the tablets were obtained. The predicted results using spot sizes for the DR probe of 1 and 5 mm diameter, resulted in concentrations of R2 = 0.79 and 0.94, with root mean square errors (RMSE) of 1.78 and 0.89, respectively. For tablets with a high concentration of ascorbic acid, the NIR imaging results showed inhomogeneity in concentration. However, the predicted values for the low concentration samples appeared higher than the known concentration of the tablets, although the homogeneity of the concentration was confirmed. In addition, the optimal spot size using NIR imaging data was estimated to be 5-7 mm. The results obtained in this study show that the spot size of the fiber probe, attached to a spectrometer, is important in developing a highly reliable model to determine the component concentration of a tablet.

Advances in R&D in near-infrared spectroscopy in Japan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kawano, Sumio; Iwamoto, Mutsuo

1991-02-01

More than 20 years ago when Mr. K. H. Norris firstly introduced the near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) as a powerful technology in the field of composition analysis of cereals those who were interested in the area of classical spectroscopy would not like to recognize its potential. This tendency still remains at present however it leaves no room for doubt that from viewpoints of applied spectroscopy the NIRS has consolidated its position. From a viewpoint of NIRS application in the field of nondestructive or non invasive measuring techniques history of this technology is only the last decade in Japan. However since the technology was firstly introduced to composition analysis of agricultural commodities in the same manner as in other countries R and D have been growing more actively in diversified fields such as agriculture and industry as well as medical science. In addition the NIRS technology are becoming of general interest by combining other techniques to create various hyphenated instrumentations such as FTNIR MCFTNIR NIRCT and NIR-NMR. In this paper new trends of R D on NIR spectroscopy which are being conducted in Japan will be reviewed. 2. S1JMMARY OF PRESENT R D ON NIRS IN JAPAN NIRS applications reported in the last 3 years are summarized in Table 1. Table 1 Applications of NIRS in Japan Application for Agriculture Taste evaluation of rice and coffee Determination of chemical compositions rice for breeding Determination of chemical compositions in tea Determination of sugar contents in intact peaches Japanese pears Satsuma oranges and apples Determination of sugars and acids in intact tomatoes Determination of forage composition Application for Industry Analysis of state of water in foods Application of analyzing Maillard Reaction''s Process Pattern recognition of NIR spectra as related to process control of roasting coffee beans Quality control of tea processing Determination of moisture content of Surimi products 2 / SPIE Vol. 1379 Optics in Agriculture (1990)

Matrix Effects in Quantitative Assessment of Pharmaceutical Tablets Using Transmission Raman and Near-Infrared (NIR) Spectroscopy.

PubMed

Sparén, Anders; Hartman, Madeleine; Fransson, Magnus; Johansson, Jonas; Svensson, Olof

2015-05-01

Raman spectroscopy can be an alternative to near-infrared spectroscopy (NIR) for nondestructive quantitative analysis of solid pharmaceutical formulations. Compared with NIR spectra, Raman spectra have much better selectivity, but subsampling was always an issue for quantitative assessment. Raman spectroscopy in transmission mode has reduced this issue, since a large volume of the sample is measured in transmission mode. The sample matrix, such as particle size of the drug substance in a tablet, may affect the Raman signal. In this work, matrix effects in transmission NIR and Raman spectroscopy were systematically investigated for a solid pharmaceutical formulation. Tablets were manufactured according to an experimental design, varying the factors particle size of the drug substance (DS), particle size of the filler, compression force, and content of drug substance. All factors were varied at two levels plus a center point, except the drug substance content, which was varied at five levels. Six tablets from each experimental point were measured with transmission NIR and Raman spectroscopy, and their concentration of DS was determined for a third of those tablets. Principal component analysis of NIR and Raman spectra showed that the drug substance content and particle size, the particle size of the filler, and the compression force affected both NIR and Raman spectra. For quantitative assessment, orthogonal partial least squares regression was applied. All factors varied in the experimental design influenced the prediction of the DS content to some extent, both for NIR and Raman spectroscopy, the particle size of the filler having the largest effect. When all matrix variations were included in the multivariate calibrations, however, good predictions of all types of tablets were obtained, both for NIR and Raman spectroscopy. The prediction error using transmission Raman spectroscopy was about 30% lower than that obtained with transmission NIR spectroscopy.

Fluorescence detection of glutathione and oxidized glutathione in blood with a NIR-excitable cyanine probe

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Chang-hui; Qi, Feng-pei; Wen, Fu-bin; Long, Li-ping; Liu, Ai-juan; Yang, Rong-hua

2018-04-01

Cyanine has been widely utilized as a near infrared (NIR) fluorophore for detection of glutathione (GSH). However, the excitation of most of the reported cyanine-based probes was less than 800 nm, which inevitably induce biological background absorption and lower the sensitivity, limiting their use for detection of GSH in blood samples. To address this issue, here, a heptamethine cyanine probe (DNIR), with a NIR excitation wavelength at 804 nm and a NIR emission wavelength at 832 nm, is employed for the detection of GSH and its oxidized form (GSSG) in blood. The probe displays excellent selectivity for GSH over GSSG and other amino acids, and rapid response to GSH, in particular a good property for indirect detection of GSSG in the presence of enzyme glutathione reductase and the reducing agent nicotinamideadenine dinucleotide phosphate, without further separation prior to fluorescent measurement. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first attempt to explore NIR fluorescent approach for the simultaneous assay of GSH and GSSG in blood. As such, we expect that our fluorescence sensors with both NIR excitation and NIR emission make this strategy suitable for the application in complex physiological systems.

In vivo near infrared (NIRS) sensor attachment using fibrin bioadhesive

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Macnab, Andrew; Pagano, Roberto; Kwon, Brian; Dumont, Guy; Shadgan, Babak

2018-02-01

Background: `Tisseel' (Baxter Healthcare, Deerfield, IL) is a fibrin-based sealant that is commonly used during spine surgery to augment dural repairs. We wish to intra-operatively secure a near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) sensor to the dura in order to monitor the tissue hemodynamics of the underlying spinal cord. To determine if `Tisseel' sealant adversely attenuates NIR photon transmission. Methods: We investigated `Tisseel' in both an in vitro and in vivo paradigm. For in vitro testing, we used a 1 mm pathlength cuvette containing either air or `Tisseel' interposed between a NIR light source (760 and 850 nm) and a photodiode detector and compared transmittance. For in vivo testing, a continuous wave (760 and 850 nm) spatiallyresolved NIRS device was placed over the triceps muscle using either conventional skin apposition (overlying adhesive bandage) or bioadhesion with `Tisseel'. Raw optical data and tissue saturation index (TSI%) collected at rest were compared. Results: In-vitro NIR light absorption by `Tisseel' was very high, with transmittance reduced by 95% compared to air. In-vivo muscle TSI% values were 80% with conventional attachment and 20% using fibrin glue. Conclusion: The optical properties of `Tisseel' significantly attenuate NIR light during in-vitro transmittance and critically compromise photon transmission in-vivo.

Near-infrared laser-induced fluorescence detection in capillary electrophoresis.

PubMed

McWhorter, S; Soper, S A

2000-04-01

As capillary electrophoresis continues to focus on miniaturization, either through reducing column dimensions or situating entire electrophoresis systems on planar chips, advances in detection become necessary to meet the challenges posed by these electrophoresis platforms. The challenges result from the fact that miniaturization requires smaller load volumes, demanding highly sensitive detection. In addition, many times multiple targets must be analyzed simultaneously (multiplexed applications), further complicating detection. Near-infrared (NIR) fluorescence offers an attractive alternative to visible fluorescence for critical applications in capillary electrophoresis due to the impressive limits of detection that can be generated, in part resulting from the low background levels that are observed in the NIR. Advances in instrumentation and fluorogenic labels appropriate for NIR monitoring have led to a growing number of examples of the use of NIR fluorescence in capillary electrophoresis. In this review, we will cover instrumental components used to construct ultrasensitive NIR fluorescence detectors, including light sources and photon transducers. In addition, we will discuss various types of labeling dyes appropriate for NIR fluorescence and finally, we will present several applications that have used NIR fluorescence in capillary electrophoresis, especially for DNA sequencing and fragment analysis.