The influence of salt concentration on the dissolution of microbubbles in bulk aqueous electrolyte solutions.

We study microbubbles (MBs) in aqueous electrolyte solutions and show that increasing the salt concentration slows down the kinetics of MB dissolution. We modified the Epstein-Plesset theory and experimented with NaCl aqueous solutions to estimate the MB effective surface charge and to compare it with predictions from the modified Poisson-Boltzmann theory. Our results reveal a mechanism responsible for the change in the dissolution of MBs in aqueous electrolyte solutions, with implications for emerging fields ranging from physics of solutions to soft and biological matter.

Feasibility of Monitoring Tissue Properties During Microcirculation Disorder Using a Compact Fiber-Based Probe With Sapphire Tip.

One of the urgent tasks of modern medicine is to detect microcirculation disorder during surgery to avoid possible consequences like tissue hypoxia, ischemia, and necrosis. To address this issue, in this article, we propose a compact probe with sapphire tip and optical sensing based on the principle of spatially resolved diffuse reflectance analysis. It allows for intraoperative measurement of tissue effective attenuation coefficient and its alteration during the changes of tissue condition, caused by microcirculation disorder.

Lifshitz Transition in a Single-Atom-Thick GdYbPb Kagome Compound on Si(111).

Lanthanide (Ln) elements Gd and Yb alloyed with a Pb monolayer on the Si(111) substrate form LnPb compounds having the same crystal structure. They comprise a single-atom-thick Pb layer arranged in a slightly distorted kagome lattice with Ln atoms filling the hexagonal voids. They have similar electronic band structures except for the Fermi level position, which varies between the divalent Yb- and trivalent Gd-containing compounds by ∼0.

Optical Sensing of Tissue Freezing Depth by Sapphire Cryo-Applicator and Steady-State Diffuse Reflectance Analysis.

This work describes a sapphire cryo-applicator with the ability to sense tissue freezing depth during cryosurgery by illumination of tissue and analyzing diffuse optical signals in a steady-state regime. The applicator was manufactured by the crystal growth technique and has several spatially resolved internal channels for accommodating optical fibers. The method of reconstructing freezing depth proposed in this work requires one illumination and two detection channels.