Unveiling Cellular Internalization Dynamics of Single Gold Nanorods by Tracking Their Orientational and Translational Motions

Single nanoparticle tracking(SPT)is a unique and powerful tool to investigate the interaction between nanoparticles and cells,which is of considerable importance for nanotechnology applications in biomedical fields and in-depth understanding of biological activities.However,previous work typically focused on translations of single nanoparticles while they undergo both translational and rotational motions.In this study,we obtained both the translational and rotational dynamics of single gold nanorods during their cellular internalization process using dual-channel polarization microscopy.In particular,the azimuth and polar angles were integrated into a polar coordinate systemto obtain three general orientation distribution patterns,found to have a close relationship with the nanoparticle cellular internalization process and time-dependent alterations.Moreover,the patterns accompanied by trajectories,translational and rotational coefficients,the azimuth and polar angles,and other parameters provided a wealth of knowledge on the nanoparticle cellular internalization dynamics with unprecedented details.We observed that the gold nanorods could initially assume a tip-first quick rotation state with partially restricted orientations,then change to a strongly confined near-vertical insertion state with slight angular fluctuations,and eventually transform into a random and fast rotation state.Our methodology opens up a new avenue for a detailed understanding of biological processes.

Behaviors of cavitation bubbles driven by high-intensity ultrasound

In a multi-bubble system, the bubble behavior is modulated by the primary acoustic field and the secondary acoustic field. To explore the translational motion of bubbles in cavitation liquids containing high-concentration cavitation nuclei,evolutions of bubbles are recorded by a high-speed camera, and translational trajectories of several representative bubbles are traced. It is found that translational motion of bubbles is always accompanied by the fragmentation and coalescence of bubbles, and for bubbles smaller than 10 μm, the possibility of bubble coalescence is enhanced when the spacing of bubbles is less than 30 μm. The measured signals and their spectra show the presence of strong negative pressure, broadband noise,and various harmonics, which implies that multiple interactions of bubbles appear in the region of high-intensity cavitation.Due to the strong coupling effect, the interaction between bubbles is random. A simplified triple-bubble model is developed to explore the interaction patterns of bubbles affected by the surrounding bubbles. Patterns of bubble interaction, such as attraction, repulsion, stable spacing, and rebound of bubbles, can be predicted by the theoretical analysis, and the obtained results are in good agreement with experimental observations. Mass exchange between the liquid and bubbles as well as absorption in the cavitation nuclei also plays an important role in multi-bubble cavitation, which may account for the weakening of the radial oscillations of bubbles.

Effect of magnetic field on expansion of ferrofluid-encapsulated microbubble

Magnetic microbubbles(MMBs) have great potential applications in drug delivery and target therapy because they can be controlled by magnetic fields. In this paper, dynamic equations are derived by Lagrangian formalism and the behavior of MMBs subject to a combination field of magnetic and ultrasound field in an incompressible infinite fluid is analyzed numerically. The results show that the magnetic field can promote bubble expansion and hinder its translational motion,and both the enhancement and obstruction effects will weaken with the decrease of bubble size. The initial translational velocity has almost no effect on bubbles motion. Besides, the maximum expansion radius of MMBs increases with the ferrofluid shell thickness, while that of the common MBs is just the opposite. In addition, the periodic change of Levich viscous drag caused by the rebound leads to the step-like translational motion. Finally, the ferrofluid-shell model can be replaced by the model of non-magnetic microbubbles in magnetic liquid at high driving frequency.

Decomposition of Molecular Motions into Translational, Rotational, and Intramolecular Parts by a Projection Operator Technique

The motion of the atoms in a molecule may be described as a superposition of translational motion of the molecular center-of-mass,rotational motion about the principal molecular axes,and an intramolecular motion that may be associated with vibrations and librations as well as molecular conformational changes.We have constructed projection operators that use the atomic coordinates and velocities at any two times,t=0 and a later time t,to determine the molecular center-of-mass,rotational,and intramolecular motions in a molecular dynamics simulation.This model-independent technique facilitates characterization of the atomic motions within a system of complex molecules and is important for the interpretation of experiments that rely on time correlation functions of atomic and molecular positions and velocities.The application of the projection operator technique is illustrated for the inelastic neutron scattering functions and for the translational and rotational velocity autocorrelation functions.

Rigid-Liquid-Flexible Dynamic Formulation for a Two-Dimensional Tank Undergoing Translational and Rotational Motion

Considering rigid-liquid-flexible coupling effect, dynamic formulation for a two-dimensional rectangular tank with liquid sloshing connected to a flexible beam is proposed. Differing from the traditional formulation which considered either the rotational motion or the translational motion of the tank, this formulation can be applied for rigid-liquid-flexible coupling dynamic analysis of tank undergoing translational and rotational motion based on the theorem of momentum and the theorem of moment of momentum. Furthermore, stiffening terms are included in the dynamics equations of the flexible beam. Firstly, the dynamic equations of the rigid-liquid coupling system and the flexible beam are derived, respectively, and then by introducing the Lagrange-multipliers,the rigid-liquid-flexible coupling equations can be combined with acceleration constraint equations. Finally, the mix differential-algebraic equations are solved to investigate the rigid-liquid-flexible coupling dynamic performance of the system.

Interaction between Neighboring Supercritical Water Molecules and Density Fluctuation by Molecular Dynamics Simulations

Supercritical water(scW)is important for various engineering applications.The structure and distribution of sc W is key to dominate the related processes and phenomena.Here,scW is investigated using molecular dynamics(MD)simulation with controlled pressure and temperature.Density oscillation is observed to occur in a 1 nm thickness bin,indicating mass exchange of particles across the bin interface.We show that the low density scW behaves strong heterogeneity.Quantitative analysis of system density fluctuations is performed by square root error and maximum structure factor,demonstrating the agreement between the two methods.The scW molecules are tightly gathered to form“liquid island”locally,but are very sparse in other regions,which are similar to the gas-liquid mixture in subcritical pressure.A target molecule is tracked to plot 3D displacements and rotating angles,with the former indicating large amplitude ballistic(diffusing)motion and small amplitude oscillation,and the latter displaying two scales of angle jumping.Both translation and rotating motion are related to hydrogen bond break up and reorganization.The low density scW behaves isolated molecules with few combinations of hydrogen bonds between molecules,while the high density scW behaves more combinations of molecules via hydrogen bonds.The two scales motion is expected to influence thermal/chemical process in supercritical state,deepening the fundamental understanding of scW structure.