Selective binding of mannose-encapsulated gold nanoparticles to type 1 pili in Escherichia coli

The synthesis, characterization and biological application of mannose encapsulated gold nanoparticles (m-AuNP) are reported. m-AuNP is well dispersed and very stable without aggregation in the media of broad ion strength and pH ranges. The selective binding of m-AuNP to the mannose adhesin FimH of bacterial type 1 pili is demonstrated using transmission electron microscopy. The competition assay with free mannose suggests that m-AuNP binds FimH better than free mannose does. This work demonstrates that carbohydrate attached nanoparticles can be used as an efficient affinity label and a multi-ligand carrier in a biological system.     

Design and synthesis of a fluorescent reporter of protein kinase activity

There is widespread interest in developing fluorescent reporters of protein kinase activity, species that can furnish a visual readout of both when and where intracellular kinases are activated in response to a stimulus. We have constructed and identified, via a combination of rational design, library synthesis, and screening, a difluorofluorescein-appended peptide-based species that responds to protein kinase C phosphorylation in a fluorescently sensitive fashion. The phosphorylation-induced divalent metal ion-mediated 265% enhancement in fluorescence proceeds with a V(max) of 8.5 micromol/min.mg and a K(m) of 20.5 microM.     

The application of Gaussian beam. Formalism to optical propagation in nonlinear media

The nonlinear propagation problem of optical beams in media with an intensity dependent indices of refraction is solved in the case of a fundamental gaussian beam. This solution is made possible by assuming everywhere along the propagation path a quadratic index profile. The quadratic constant is obtained self-consistently from the second term in a Taylor expansion of the local gaussian intensity. The solution constitutes an extension of the well known ABCD formalism to nonlinear propagation.     

Positron lifetimes in proton-irradiated silicon

Substantial extensions of the shorter of two positron lifetimes in p-type silicon upon proton irradiations have been observed, showing that some induced defects can act as traps for positrons. The mean electron density of the defect has been found to be about 30 per cent less than that in the perfect part of the crystal. The result demonstrates that the positron-lifetime measurement is a useful tool for studying defects in semiconductors.     

The Measurement of the Dispersion of Pd/C Catalysts

A 10 w/o Pd/C catalyst from Johnson Matthey has been examined by three different techniques: chemisorption, line broadening of X-ray diffraction, and TEM (transmission electron microscopy) to investigate the size of the palladium crystallites. The dispersion of this catalyst was determined to be 20%. Among these techniques, the X-ray diffraction was found to be the most convenient method. Through this method, the dispersion of Pd was found to decrease on catalyzing hydroxylamine reactions at 330 K. The deactivation of Pd/C for these reactions was correlated to the sintering of palladium. H₂ chemisorption at 373 K was found to be a good way to accurately measure the number of active palladium sites in the Pd/C catalysts.     

Quantitative analysis of multivalent interactions of carbohydrate-encapsulated gold nanoparticles with concanavalin A

Multivalent interactions between carbohydrate-encapsulated gold nanoparticles and Con A are found with high affinity and specificity.