Gliotic opaque posterior hyaloid membrane separation: report of two cases

Background To report two cases with idiopathic unilateral diffuse opacification of the posterior hyaloid membrane (PHM) completely separated from the retina, the mechanism of which is possibly due to glial cell proliferation and migration. Case presentation Two Japanese women at age 75 and 84 with no systemic or ocular history developed diffuse opacification in one eye resembling a ground glass sheet almost all over the surface of the PHM, but not within the vitreous gel or fluid. The retinas were funduscopically normal; however, optical coherence tomography demonstrated hyperreflective icicle-like anterior protrusions from the surface of the fovea. The patients received pars plana vitrectomy, resulting in visual improvement. Cell block preparations of the vitreous in one case revealed a cluster of cells immunoreactive for glial fibrillary acidic protein in consistence with gliosis, while denying vitreoretinal lymphoma from lack of atypical cells and vitreous amyloidosis due to no staining for Congo red or direct fast scarlet. The lesions did not recur during follow-up with no new funduscopic abnormalities. Conclusions To our knowledge, this is the first to demonstrate such peculiar cases of vitreous opacity with idiopathic and unilateral onset. Histological assessments revealed the possible pathogenesis of gliotic opaque PHM separation to cause its ground-glass-sheet appearance.

Guided Axon Outgrowth of Neurons by Real-Time Femtosecond Laser Penetration on a 4 μm Thick Thin-Glass Sheet

Transplantation of scaffold-embedded guided neurons has been reported to increase neuronal regeneration following brain injury. However, precise axonal integration between host and transplant neurons to form functional synapses remains a major problem. This study aims to develop a real-time femtosecond (fs) laser penetration on a 4 μm thick thin-glass sheet to promote guided axon outgrowth influenced by molecular gradients in a microfluidic device. The device enables the introduction of the guidance molecule (i.e., netrin-1), neuronal culture, and manipulation by fs laser. After fabricating multiple micro-holes on the thin-glass sheet using fs laser, netrin-1 gradients with radial concentrations are generated in the chamber, affecting axon outgrowth and guidance. A majority of axons (~92%) experiences guided outgrowth with positive angular changes towards netrin-1 gradients. These results demonstrate the capability of the precise and real-time manipulation system based on a fs laser and a microfluidic device to control the growth of neurons.

Integration of measurement and simulation of film pressure for estimating deformation of a glass sheet on a noncontact air conveyor

Recently, large and thin glass substrates are transported by air film conveyors to reduce surface damage. On the production line, the glass substrates are desired to be transported flatly on the conveyor to ensure the quality inspection. A method by feedbacking film pressure to the theoretical model is proposed for estimation of the deformation of the glass sheet, and the validity of the method is theoretically and experimentally verified. First, a theoretical model including the flow behavior through a porous-walled gap is established, and the film pressure distribution can be predicted by solving the model. Then, an experimental setup that can simultaneously measure the film pressure and the flatness of the glass sheet is established, and, the validity of the model is verified experimentally. Next, with the pressure points at the grooves as the boundary and the pressure points at the flange area as the feedback, an algorithm is applied to shape the one-dimensional deformation at the centerlines in accordance with a quadratic curve. Furthermore, two-dimensional deformation of the glass sheet can then be estimated by an interpolation operation. Comparisons of the calculated results with the experimental data verify the effectiveness of the estimating method.

Triboelectric Energy Harvesting of the Superhydrophobic Coating from Dropping Water

In this paper, the superhydrophobic coating was prepared by spraying the composites of fluorocarbon emulsion and nanosized silica on the conductive glass sheet for the triboelectric energy harvesting from water droplets. The low surface energy of fluorine in the fluorocarbon emulsion and nanosilica renders the coating with the static contact angle and sliding angle of 156.2° and 6.74°, respectively. The conductive aluminum tape was attached on the surface of the superhydrophobic coating to complete the circuit constituted with the aluminum electrode, charged superhydrophobic coating, and the conductive glass sheet. During the contact electrification with the bouncing water droplet, the superhydrophobic coating with the aluminum electrode can obtain the electric energy with an open-circuit voltage of 20 V and short-circuit current of 4.5 μA, respectively. While the control device only produced an open-circuit voltage of 0.2 V. The generated power by one drop was enough to light up 16 commercial LEDs. Results demonstrate that the fluorocarbon/silica composite superhydrophobic coating is potentially a strong candidate for scavenging energy in sliding mode from raindrops.

Optimization and Characterization of Aluminum Induced Texture Using Radio Frequency Power

The purpose of this study aims to investigate the surface morphology and roughness of Aluminum induced glass texturing (AIT) substrate after different surface treatments. Aluminum layers were deposited in thickness 370 nm and 240 nm on corning glass sheet using Radio Frequency (RF) power. The effect of different concentrations of hydrofluoric acid (HF), 4%, 5% and 6% on morphology, optical absorption and surface roughness of glass was described. The dipping time of coated glass sheet in HF for 2 min and 5 min created very rough and soft surface, respectively. Optical absorption of AIT substrate after dipping in HF was measured. The optimum texturing process achieved by deposition of aluminum layer 240 nm of thickness and dipping the substrate in 5% HF. The AIT substrate was characterized by low angle X-ray diffraction (XRD), ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometer (UV-VIS), stylus profiler and scanning electron microscope (SEM).