Cold Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Jet Operated in Ar and He: From Basic Plasma Properties to Vacuum Ultraviolet, Electric Field and Safety Thresholds Measurements in Plasma Medicine

Application desired functionality as well as operation expenses of cold atmospheric pressure plasma (CAP) devices scale with properties like gas selection. The present contribution provides a comparative investigation for a CAP system operated in argon or helium at different operation voltages and distance to the surface. Comparison of power dissipation, electrical field strength and optical emission spectroscopy from vacuum ultraviolet over visible up to near infrared ((V)UV-VIS-NIR) spectral range is carried out. This study is extended to safety relevant investigation of patient leakage current, induced surface temperature and species density for ozone (O3) and nitrogen oxides (NOx). It is found that in identical operation conditions (applied voltage, distance to surface and gas flow rate) the dissipated plasma power is about equal (up to 10 W), but the electrical field strength differs, having peak values of 320 kV/m for Ar and up to 300 kV/m for He. However, only for Ar CAP could we measure O3 up to 2 ppm and NOx up to 7 ppm. The surface temperature and leakage values of both systems showed different slopes, with the biggest surprise being a constant leakage current over distance for argon. These findings may open a new direction in the plasma source development for Plasma Medicine.

Влияние углеродных нанотрубок на электрические и механические свойства хитозановых пленок

Using the methods of X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy, the structure of composite films based on chitosan and single-wall carbon tubes has been studied. It is shown that the introduction of carbon nanotubes leads to the ordering of the chitosan structure. Increase in concentration of nanotubes (from 0 to 3%) causes rise in the value of storage modulus from 3 to 4 GPa (DMA data), increase in electrical conductivity of samples (from 10-11 to 102 S/m), and some changes in their dielectric permittivity (from 5.5. to 26 at an electrical field frequency of 1kHz). Data on the ionic and electronic components of the conductivity of the composite film are presented.

A Novel Dual-Band Implantable Antenna for Pancreas Telemetry Sensor Applications

In this study, a novel implantable dual-band planar inverted F-antenna (PIFA) is proposed and designed for wireless biotelemetry. The developed antenna is intended to operate on the surface of the pancreas within the Medical Device Radiocommunications Service (MedRadio 401–406 MHz) and the industrial scientific and medical band (ISM, 2.4–2.5 GHz). The design analysis was carried out in two steps, initially inside a canonical model representing the pancreas, based on a finite element method (FEM) numerical solver. The proposed antenna was further simulated inside the human body taking into account the corresponding dimensions of the tissues and the electrical properties at the frequencies of interest using a finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) numerical solver. Resonance, radiation performance, electrical field attenuation, total radiated power, and specific absorption rate (SAR), which determines the safety of the patient and the maximum permissible input power and other electromagnetic parameters, are presented and evaluated.

Elimination of Tight Emulsions

Maturing oil fields can pose a severe challenge for separation of oil and water. Increasing water production and tie in of new fields into existing infrastructure may result in separators struggling to meet performance specifications. Operational challenges are particularly experienced when the facilities are processing cold feedstock and tight emulsions. Typical solutions for overcoming separation challenges would be increasing operating temperature, injecting an increased quantity of demulsifier chemicals, or installing new larger separators. These alternatives may not be economically attractive or feasible for other reasons. The ability to successfully operate existing plants with tight and water-rich emulsions without incurring significant added operating expenditure is perceived as a major advantage. This paper will share the results from testing on a separator operating with Flotta Gold crude oil. The oil is known to produce particularly tight emulsions at low temperatures. The ePack technology has been tested to study its capability of separating water and crude oil from tight emulsions by means of electrical forces. The force generated by the high electrical field can break even tight emulsions, and the test results shown have proven the ability to go from very low separation efficiency without the ePack, to more than 90% water removal with the ePack turned on. Testing with residence times of up to 19 minutes without the ePack was not able to surpass the performance of a three minutes residence time with the ePack energized.

Tumor Treating Fields Suppression of Ciliogenesis Enhances Temozolomide Toxicity

Tumor Treating Fields (TTFields) are low intensity, alternating intermediate frequency (200kHz) electrical fields that extend survival of glioblastoma patients receiving maintenance temozolomide (TMZ) chemotherapy. How TTFields exert efficacy on cancer over normal cells, or interact with TMZ is unclear. Primary cilia are microtubule-based organelles triggered by extracellular ligands, mechanical and electrical field stimulation, and are capable of promoting cancer growth and TMZ chemoresistance. We found in both low and high grade patient glioma cell lines that TTFields ablated cilia within 24 hours. Halting TTFields treatment led to recovered frequencies of elongated cilia. Cilia on normal primary astrocytes, neurons, and multiciliated/ependymal cells were less affected by TTFields. The TTFields-mediated loss of glioma cilia was partially rescued by chloroquine pretreatment, suggesting the effect is in part due to autophagy activation. We also observed death of ciliated cells during TTFields by live imaging. Notably, TMZ-induced stimulation of ciliogenesis in both adherent cells and gliomaspheres was blocked by TTFields. Moreover, the inhibitory effects of TTFields and TMZ on tumor cell recurrence correlated with the relative timing of TMZ exposure to TTFields and ARL13B+ cilia. Finally, TTFields disrupted cilia in patient tumors treated ex vivo. Our findings suggest TTFields efficacy may depend on the degree of tumor ciliogenesis and relative timing of TMZ treatment.

Electronic Parameters of Diode Based Organometallic Semiconductor Dyes Centered Ruthenium Complexes with Active COOH Terminals

In this study, the ruthenium complexes, which is an organometallic N-3 and C-106 semiconductor material, was coated on indium tin oxide (ITO) by using the self-assembled technique and thus a diode containing an organometallic interface was produced. The effects of this interface on the electronic parameters of the diode were investigated. It is aimed to improve the heterogeneity problem of the inorganic/organic interface by chemically bonding these materials from COOH active parts to the ITO surface. In order to understand how the electronic parameters of the diode change with this modification, the Schottky diode electrical characterization approach has been used. The charge mobility of the diode was calculated using the current density-voltage curve (J–V) characteristic with Space Charge Limited Current (SCLC) technique. When the electrical field is applied to the diode, it can be said that the ruthenium complexes molecules create an electrical dipole and the tunneling current is transferred to the anode contact ITO through the ruthenium molecule through the charge carrier, thus contributing to the hole injection. The morphology of these interface modifications was examined by Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) and surface potential energy by KelvinProbe Force Microscope (KPFM). To investigate local conductivity of bare ITO and modified ITO surface, Scanning Spreading Resistance Microscopy (SSRM) that is a conductive AFM analyzing technique were performed by applying voltage to the conductive tip and to the sample. According to the results of this work the diode containing N-3 material shows the best performance in terms of charge injection to the ITO due to possess the lowest barrier height Φb as 0.43 eV.

Simulation Study of Coaxial Treatment Chambers for PEF Pasteurization: A Critical Review

A pulsed electric field (PEF) produces pasteurized liquid foods with fresh and nutritional properties. The treatment chamber is a crucial part of the PEF processing system where a high voltage is applied, producing an electric field to treat the liquid foods. The proper construction of the treatment chamber regulates the distribution of the electrical field inside the treatment zone. Mixing of liquid inside the treatment zone is an effective tool to overcome this heterogeneous effect. The coaxial treatment chamber offers a heterogeneous electric field and temperature distribution inside the treatment zone. A helical insulator inside the coaxial treatment chamber provides a mixing effect. In this research, a numerical simulation was done to measure the electric field in different geometries of treatment chambers at different flow rates. The simulation aimed to optimize the new coaxial treatment chamber design. The modelling findings showed homogeneous electrical field strength in the helical treatment chamber. This study provides new insights for industrial-scale setup using multiple helical chambers in a continuous flow PEF treatment.

Application of electrical fields to reduce chloride ingress into concrete structures

In the context of a joint research project, a system for monitoring, protection and strengthening of bridges by using a textile reinforced concrete interlayer has been developed which consists of two carbon layers with a spacing of 15 mm and a special mortar. This setup led to the idea to build up an electrical field between the carbon meshes, which suppresses the ingress of chlorides into the concrete. This paper focuses on the question which voltages and electrical field strengths are necessary to prevent critical chloride contents at the reinforcing steel. For this purpose, extensive laboratory tests have been performed, followed by a numerical simulation study. By applying an electrical field, the negatively charged chloride ions are forced to move to the upper carbon mesh that is polarized as an anode. It has been investigated whether the voltages to implement an electrochemical chloride barrier are smaller than they have to be for the common preventive cathodic protection. One advantage of this chloride barrier is that because of the lower current densities the anodic polarisation of the carbon meshes can be reduced. Therefore, different voltages, electrical field strengths, anode materials and anode arrangements were investigated.