Rapid DNA hybridization analysis using a PDMS microfluidic sensor and a molecular beacon.

A rapid DNA analysis has been developed based on a fluorescence intensity change of a molecular beacon in a PDMS microfluidic channel. Recently, we reported a new analytical method of DNA hybridization involving a PDMS microfluidic sensor using fluorescence energy transfer (FRET). However, there are some limitations in its application to real DNA samples because the target DNA must be labelled with a suitable fluorescent dye. To resolve this problem, we have developed a new DNA microfluidic sensor using a molecular beacon. By monitoring the change in the restored fluorescence intensity along the channel length, it is possible to rapidly detect any hybridization of the molecular beacon to the target DNA. In this case, the target DNA does not need to be labelled. Our experimental results demonstrate that this microfluidic sensor using a molecular beacon is a promising diagnostic tool for rapid DNA hybridization analysis.     

AN ALTERNATIVE SPECIFICATION FOR MODELING GROUNDWATER DYNAMICS

This research extends previous work with dynamic models to manage groundwater quality by using the consumptive nitrate use rate instead of the nitrate application rate. The analysis indicates that misspecification results in overestimation of economic benefits, and supra-optimum nitrogen fertilizer application rates and groundwater nitrate stocks at a steady state.     

Photoswitching of holographic polymer-dispersed liquid crystals doped with chiral dopant

Chiral dopants were added to the formulation of holographic polymer-dispersed liquid crystals and the effects studied in terms of grating formation dynamics, morphology, diffraction efficiency, contrast ratio and electro-optical properties of the films. A gradual increase of real-time diffraction efficiency, decrease of droplet size and increase of diffraction efficiency of the composite film were obtained with the addition and increasing content of chiral dopant, due to the increased viscosity of the liquid crystal (LC) doped with the chiral dopant leading to decreased droplet coalescence. The contrast ratio decreased with increasing content of chiral dopant due to the difficult orientation of LC molecules caused by the formation of a helical structure. Addition of a small amount of the chiral dopant increased the driving voltage slightly, whereas the decay time is decreased significantly as a result of the high twisting of the helical structure.     

The effect of olefinic terminal chains on the mesomorphic properties of 4,4'-disubstituted diphenyldiacetylenes

New diphenyldiacetylenes of the type with A, B = H and/or F; m = 0, 1; n = 1-4; and X = C n H 2n + 1 , F, CF 3 or CN were synthesized and their mesomorphic properties determined by hot stage polarizing microscopy and DSC. When m = 0, all of these compounds showed only a nematic phase except when X = CF 3 when both nematic and smectic A phases were seen. Both clearing and melting temperatures were higher than those reported for substitution with the corresponding alkyl chains but the much larger increase in clearing temperatures produced considerably wider nematic phases. Eutectic mixtures of a few of these olefins yielded nematic materials also having much wider temperature ranges and higher clearing temperatures than the eutectic mixtures of the alkyl compounds, while retaining their high birefringence and low viscosities. Such materials are of interest for beam-steering devices.

Four of the diacetylenes with m = 1 ( A, B = H) were also prepared ( X = C 6 H 13 , F, n = 2, 3). When X was C 6 H 13 ( n = 2), the nematic range was smaller in the 2- than in the 1-olefin but wider than in the alkyl series. When X = F, either no nematic phase or a monotropic one was observed, whereas the 1-olefins gave a much wider nematic phase. Both transition temperatures were lower than those for the corresponding 1-olefin and alkyl analogues. The compound with X = C 6 H 13 and n = 2 had a melting temperature below room temperature.     

Separation of screw-sensed particles in a homogeneous shear field

The Stokes motions of three-dimensional screw-sensed slender particles in a homogeneous shear field are investigated, including the effects of buoyancy. Conclusions are drawn about the possibility of achieving a separation of mixtures of right- and left-handed particles. The linearity of the Stokes equations allows complex flows to be solved by adding the effects of the several terms which describe the flow in which the particle is immersed. The homogeneous shear flow considered here consists of three such terms; solutions for a series of 12 unit motions are sufficient to determine the hydrodynamic resistance tensors. The forces and torques experienced by screw-sensed particles are calculated from these 51 resistance tensors, using slender-filament theory. The results allow an estimate of the range of buoyancy parameters for which gravitational sedimentation can be neglected. The fundamental component of the particle motion is a rotation, at approximately the same angular velocity as that of the fluid. Superimposed on this are variations, of large period, in the particle orientation. A phase plane analysis is used to find the terminal orientations. Very long calculation times are required for the phase portrait. An approximate method based on azimuthally-averaged equations is developed to avoid the requirements for long time integration.     

Recurrent solar wind streams

A new approach to investigating the statistical relationship between certain solar features and recurrent wind streams is presented. This approach is based, on a comparative analysis of the distributions of lifetimes of a set of solar features, recurrent geomagnetic disturbances, and geomagnetic “calms.” Correlation coefficients of 0.81, 0.85, 0.79, and 0.77 are found for the distributions of several solar features—filaments, large-scale magnetic fields, coronal features, and coronal holes, respectively—and recurrent geomagnetic disturbances. A correlation factor of 0.97 between the distributions of geomagnetic “calms” and active regions is found. The combined evidence indicates that no specific type of solar feature is responsible for the recurrent stream activity. Rather, the configuration of the large-scale magnetic field of the Sun appears to control the permanently existing corpuscular activity. Since prominences trace polarity division lines of the large-scale magnetic field structure of the Sun, they have been checked as a possible general predictor of recurrent corpuscular activity; their parameters could present the most reliable indices that relate closely with trends in geomagnetic disturbances. A comparative analysis of cyclic variations of sunspot numbers, the total number of prominences, the relative number of low-height (<-20″) prominences, and recurrent geomagnetic storms is made for solar cycle N16. The relative number of low-height prominences is found to correlate broadly (0.83) with recurrent wind streams. P. K. Shternberg State Astronomical Institute, Moscow, Russia; National Solar Observatory, Sacramento Peak, U.S. Published in Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Radiofizika, Vol. 41, No. 2, pp. 145–151, February, 1998.     

A Facile Construction of the Quadranoid Skeleton: Application to the Total Synthesis of (+/-)-Suberosenone

A tandem free radical cyclization-rearrangement sequence was designed and executed to produce tricyclo[4.3.2.0(1,5)]undecane 7 from cyclopentene 6A in a single operation. The total synthesis of suberosenone was accomplished from 7.     

Intramolecular Diels-Alder Reactions of Decatrienoates: Remote Stereocontrol and Conformational Activation(1)

The intramolecular Diels-Alder (IMDA) reactions of C(8)-substituted decatrienoates have been studied. The stereospecific formation of 11 via an endo-boat-9 transition state attests to the powerful directing influence of a C(8) substituent in the IMDA of decatrienoate. In addition, the contrasting observations that stereospecific 9 --> 11 occurs at room temperature while the nor-tert-butyl substrate (4a) requires 125 degrees C/5 h reaction conditions and produces a 60:40 mixture of diastereomers provide clear evidence that a bulky C(8) substituent is a powerful conformational activator of the IMDA.     

Influence of extended π-conjugation units on carrier mobilities in conducting polymers

Carrier mobilities in thin films of copolymers with repeat units consisting of oligothiophenes bridged by Si atoms are measured over a range of doping levels, where the numbers of thienylenes in the repeat unit are 7, 8, 10, 12, and 14. The mobilities for these polymer films increased with the increase in doping level and the mobility enhancement followed an increasing order of the π-conjugation length. The magnitude of the mobility increase for the Si polymer comprising 14 thiophene units reached ca. 10⁴, implying that this π-conjugation length is almost sufficient to reproduce transport properties of polythiophenes.     

Synthesis of 5,6,8,9,14,14a-hexahydroisoquino[1,2-b][3]benzazepines

Syntheses of 5,6,8,9,14,14a-hexahydroisoquino[1,2-b][3]benzazepine-2,3,11,12-tetrol and related compounds are described. Key steps involve an initial construction of the isoquinoline ring under the Bischler-Napieralski conditions, which is followed by the building of the azepine ring via an intramolecular lactam formation on to the isoquinoline nucleus.