Dynamic analysis of the human brain with complex cerebral sulci.

The brain is one of the most vulnerable organs inside the human body. Head accidents often appear in daily life and are easy to cause different level of brain damage inside the skull. Once the brain suffered intense locomotive impact, external injuries, falls, or other accidents, it will result in different degrees of concussion.

Inactivation of bacteria by a mixed argon and oxygen micro-plasma as a function of exposure time.

Purpose: A radio-frequency dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) was applied as a micro-plasma device for the inactivation of bacteria, e.g., Escherichia coli.

Determination of the optimized conditions for coupling oligonucleotides with 16-mercaptohexadecanoic acid chemically adsorbed upon Au.

A specific 5'-modified amino group oligonucleotide (Primer 1), 15-mers in length, is selectively coupled with the carboxyl terminated 16-mercaptohexadecanoic acid (MHDA) chemically adsorbed on Au and subsequently hybridized with Antisense Primer. The amide-coupling process is of significance to create an intermediate structure for the purpose of adding Primer 1, while the hybridization reaction is relevant to various diagnostic purposes to determine the presence in nucleic acids for a target sequence. In this work, the coupling setting was particularly emphasized by varying commonly used temperatures and pH values with a definite concentration of coupling agents (i.

Modification of monomolecular self-assembled films by nitrogen-oxygen plasma.

The modification of octadecanethiolate self-assembled monolayers on Au and Ag by nitrogen-oxygen downstream microwave plasma with variable oxygen content (up to 1%) has been studied by synchrotron-based high-resolution X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The primary processes were dehydrogenation, desorption of hydrocarbon and sulfur-containing species, and the oxidation of the alkyl matrix and headgroup-substrate interface. The exact character and the rates of the plasma-induced changes were found to be dependent on the substrate and plasma composition, with the processes in the aliphatic matrix and headgroup-substrate interface being mostly decoupled.

Dual properties of the deacetylated sites in chitosan for molecular immobilization and biofunctional effects.

Polypropylene nonwoven fabric was surface-activated by high-density oxygen microwave plasma, followed by graft copolymerization with acrylic acid (AAc) and then coupling with chitosan molecules. The pAAc-grafted surface containing C=O in carboxylic acid exhibited a hydrophilic character capable of promoting water absorbency. A larger portion of minimum 85% deacetylated sites in chitosan molecules was then coupled with the grafted pAAc (around 149 microg.

Modification of aliphatic self-assembled monolayers by free-radical-dominant plasma: the role of the plasma composition.

Modification of octadecanethiolate self-assembled monolayers on Au by nitrogen-oxygen or argon-oxygen downstream microwave plasma with a low oxygen content (estimated below several percent) has been studied by synchrotron-based high-resolution X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and water contact angle measurements. For both types of plasma, the primary processes were found to be the loss of conformational and orientational order and the oxidation of the alkyl matrix and headgroup-substrate interface. At the same time, the film modification occurred much faster and with different intermediates for the nitrogen plasma than for the argon plasma.

Anticoagulant activity of immobilized heparin on the polypropylene nonwoven fabric surface depending upon the pH of processing environment.

Antenna coupling microwave plasma enables a highly oxidative treatment of the outmost surface of polypropylene (PP) nonwoven fabric within a short time period. Subsequently, grafting copolymerization with acrylic acid (AAc) makes the plasma-treated fabric durably hydrophilic and excellent in water absorbency. With high grafting density and strong water affinity, the pAAc-grafted support greatly becomes feasible as an intensive absorbent and as a support to promote heparin immobilization through amide bonds.