Revealing the Quadrupole Radiation of Liquid Gallium Nanospheres

Gallium (Ga) nanospheres (NSs) with diameters ranging from 50 to 300 nm are fabricated by using femtosecond laser ablation. The forward scattering of large Ga nanospheres measured using dark-field microscopy is determined by the coherent interaction between dipole and quadrupole resonances while it becomes governed by the dipole resonance when evanescent wave excitation is employed. We demonstrate that the scattering spectrum and pattern of quadrupole of large Ga NS can be resolved by using a cross-polarized analyzer in the collection channel. The experimental observations agree well with the numerical simulation based on the complex refractive index of liquid Ga.

Dark-Field Hyperspectral Microscopy for Carbon Nanotubes Bioimaging

Carbon nanotubes have emerged as a versatile and ubiquitous nanomaterial, finding applications in industry and biomedicine. As a result, biosafety concerns that stimulated the research focused on evaluation of carbon nanotube toxicity. In addition, biomedical applications of carbon nanotubes require their imaging and identification in biological specimens. Among other methods, dark-field microscopy has become a potent tool to visualise and identify carbon nanotubes in cells, tissues, and organisms. Based on the Tyndall effect, dark-field optical microscopy at higher magnification is capable of imaging nanoscale particles in live objects. If reinforced with spectral identification, this technology can be utilised for chemical identification and mapping of carbon nanotubes. In this article we overview the recent advances in dark-field/hyperspectral microscopy for the bioimaging of carbon nanotubes.

Evaluating Subtle Field Imprints in Water by Droplet Evaporation Method

Background: Even though water is regarded as something long understood and explained by conventional science – many open-minded researchers know that it still hides many mysteries (water clusters, coherent domains, so-called memory, etc.). Many of these mysteries come to fore in ultra-high dilution (UHD) experiments and practices, where usually not even one molecule of the originating substances is left. Mostly, they can be tackled only by using the droplet evaporation method (DEM).1 Aim: One of the hypotheses of water memory suggests that through UHD (dilutions, shaking) the field of a substance is stably impressed into water. If this is true than we should be able to imprint also a field itself - not originating from a certain substance, but from other sources. Such imprint should be revealed by an appropriate research method. Method: The DEM consists of monitoring dried water drops by dark field microscopy. It was discovered in the previous century by Ruth Kübler, a German artist, and further developed by Bernd-Helmut Kröplin, Minnie Hein, Berthold Heusel M. A. and Georg Schröcker. It has also been used to research the still controversial special characteristics of ultra-high diluted aqueous solutions.2 It has been proved capable of demonstrating differences in subtle influences of an UHD (around 10-47 M, practically “pure” water) of As2O3 on common wheat seeds. This method is therefore, capable of transferring certain, not yet fully understood or generally accepted subtle physical characteristicsof the solution to the remnant patterns after drop evaporation.3, 4 We used DEM to evaluate experiments on impressing the subtle field of five bioenergy healers and two so called “informed” objects (a glass and an “energy” card) into mineral or spring water with well-known characteristics. In all these experiments we also used control water that was of the same origin, but placed in a separate room. The DEM images were analyzed by special computer programs and statistically evaluated. No mother tincture of any kind was used. Results: The results demonstrate that even such subtle fields can leave stable and reproducible imprints in water - made visually accessible by the remnant patterns after drop evaporation. The irradiated water samples were statistically different from the control. This difference can usually be observed even by a naked eye. Conclusion These results have several implications. They confirm as follows: a) water memory – the main background of UHD effects, b) the possibility to imprint the fields into water, c) the existence of subtle fields not yet generally recognized by physical community and d) the capability of DEM to express the imprints.

Comparative characteristics of various fibrous materials in in vitro experiments

Aim. Comparative assessment of the effect of fibrous materials on cell cultures RAW264.7 and BEAS-2B. Methods. The effects of various fibrous materials single-walled carbon nanotubes of two types (SWCNT-1 and SWCNT-2), differing in morphological characteristics, and chrysotile asbestos as a positive control was assessed on two cell lines macrophages RAW 264.7 and human bronchial epithelium BEAS-2B cells. The studied materials concentration range for experiments on cells was selected taking into account the SWCNT content in the air of the working area and the subsequent modeling of SWCNT deposition in the human respiratory tract. Suspensions of the studied materials were prepared based on cell culture media by ultrasonication. Cytotoxicity assessment after 48 hours of incubation was performed by using the MTS colorimetric assay. The expression level of apoptosis markers was assessed by immunoblotting using the corresponding monoclonal antibodies. Visualization of SWCNT-1, SWCNT-2 and chrysotile asbestos in BEAS-2B cell cultures was carried out by improved dark-field microscopy. Results. According to dark-field microscopy, all the studied fibrous materials were found on the surface or cytoplasm of the cells. SWCNT and chrysotile asbestos did not have a direct cytotoxic effect in the MTS assay and did not induce apoptosis according to the results of Western blotting in cell cultures of RAW264.7 macrophages and BEAS-2B bronchial epithelium. In the cells of the bronchial epithelium (BEAS-2B) that showed greater sensitivity, a slight increase in the expression of pro-apoptotic protein PARP, which was more pronounced for shorter SWCNT-2, was revealed. Conclusion. Both types of SWCNTs, despite the differences in morphological characteristics, demonstrated similar effects in in vitro experiments; this result, with its further verification, can have an important practical application in justifying approaches to determining the safety criteria for single-walled carbon nanotubes as a class of nanomaterials of the same type.

Multiplexed Plasmonic Nano-Labeling for Bioimaging of Cytological Stained Samples

Reliable cytopathological diagnosis requires new methods and approaches for the rapid and accurate determination of all cell types. This is especially important when the number of cells is limited, such as in the cytological samples of fine-needle biopsy. Immunoplasmonic-multiplexed- labeling may be one of the emerging solutions to such problems. However, to be accepted and used by the practicing pathologists, new methods must be compatible and complementary with existing cytopathology approaches where counterstaining is central to the correct interpretation of immunolabeling. In addition, the optical detection and imaging setup for immunoplasmonic-multiplexed-labeling must be implemented on the same cytopathological microscope, not interfere with standard H&E imaging, and operate as a second easy-to-use imaging method. In this article, we present multiplex imaging of four types of nanoplasmonic markers on two types of H&E-stained cytological specimens (formalin-fixed paraffin embedded and non-embedded adherent cancer cells) using a specially designed adapter for SI dark-field microscopy. The obtained results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed optical method for quantitative and multiplex identification of various plasmonic NPs, and the possibility of using immunoplasmonic-multiplexed-labeling for cytopathological diagnostics.