Free isotropic-nematic interfaces in fluids of charged platelike colloids

Bulk properties and free interfaces of mixtures of charged platelike colloids and salt are studied within the density-functional theory. The particles are modeled by hard cuboids with their edges constrained to be parallel to the Cartesian axes corresponding to the Zwanzig model. The charges of the particles are concentrated in their center. The density functional is derived by functional integration of an extension of the Debye-Hückel pair distribution function with respect to the interaction potential. For sufficiently small macroion charges, the bulk phase diagrams exhibit one isotropic and one nematic phase separated by a first-order phase transition. With increasing platelet charge, the isotropic and nematic binodals are shifted to higher densities. The Donnan potential between the coexisting isotropic and nematic phases is inferred from bulk structure calculations. Nonmonotonic density and nematic order parameter profiles are found at a free interface interpolating between the coexisting isotropic and nematic bulk phases. Moreover, electrically charged layers form at the free interface leading to monotonically varying electrostatic potential profiles. Both the widths of the free interfaces and the bulk correlation lengths are approximately given by the Debye length. For fixed salt density, the interfacial tension decreases upon increasing the macroion charge.     

Determination of the turnover number of the restriction endonuclease EcoRI using evanescent wave technology

Binding and catalytic activity of the type II restriction endonuclease EcoRI on immobilized DNA has been observed in real time using three different evanescent wave biosensors and two different immobilization techniques. The method gives direct access to the turnover number (kcat) without the necessity for the determination of any concentration or activity. The combination of different evanescent wave techniques gives access to the catalytic mechanism and allows the determination of the rate limiting step.     

Recycling isoelectric focusing and isotachophoresis

A new apparatus for large scale preparative isoelectric focusing in free solution is described. Its main characteristic is rapid fluid recirculation with but short residues times in the electric field. For the first time the recycling principle was also applied to preparative isotachophoresis, by incorporating into the system a computer controlled leader counterflow. The rapid recirculation permits application of unusually high electrical power for rapid resolution, as it suppresses fluid flow instabilities arising from electrohydrodynamic effects.     

Quadruplex formation by a guanine-rich PNA oligomer

A guanine-rich PNA dodecamer having the sequence H-G4T4G4-Lys-NH2 (G-PNA) hybridizes with a DNA dodecamer of homologous sequence to form a four-stranded quadruplex (Datta, B.; Schmitt, C.; Armitage, B. A. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2003, 125, 4111-4118). This report describes quadruplex formation by the PNA alone. UV melting curves and fluorescence resonance energy transfer experiments reveal formation of a multistranded structure stabilized by guanine tetrads. The ion dependency of these structures is analogous to that reported for DNA quadruplexes. Electrospray ionization mass spectrometry indicates that both dimeric and tetrameric quadruplexes are formed by G4-PNA, with the dimeric form being preferred. These results have implications for the use of G-rich PNA for homologous hybridization to G-rich targets in chromosomal DNA and suggest additional applications in assembling quadruplex structures within lipid bilayer environments.     

Activity of AC electrokinetically immobilized horseradish peroxidase

Dielectrophoresis (DEP) is an AC electrokinetic effect mainly used to manipulate cells. Smaller particles, like virions, antibodies, enzymes, and even dye molecules can be immobilized by DEP as well. In principle, it was shown that enzymes are active after immobilization by DEP, but no quantification of the retained activity was reported so far. In this study, the activity of the enzyme horseradish peroxidase (HRP) is quantified after immobilization by DEP. For this, HRP is immobilized on regular arrays of titanium nitride ring electrodes of 500 nm diameter and 20 nm widths. The activity of HRP on the electrode chip is measured with a limit of detection of 60 fg HRP by observing the enzymatic turnover of Amplex Red and H₂O₂ to fluorescent resorufin by fluorescence microscopy. The initial activity of the permanently immobilized HRP equals up to 45% of the activity that can be expected for an ideal monolayer of HRP molecules on all electrodes of the array. Localization of the immobilizate on the electrodes is accomplished by staining with the fluorescent product of the enzyme reaction. The high residual activity of enzymes after AC field induced immobilization shows the method's suitability for biosensing and research applications.     

Classification of recyclables using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy for waste management

With the ever-increasing amount of generated waste governments around the world are looking for, and implementing, ways to minimize waste output and maximize waste recovery. The main difficulties are sorting waste items, identifying the different types of plastics, and the time taken to sort them manually. Bioplastics such as polylactic acid and Novatein thermoplastic protein can be incorporated into the recycling stream to minimize waste. Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy spectra analyzed by k-nearest neighbor and soft independent modeling by class analogy were investigated as methods that can rapidly identify recyclables. Raw, peak normalized, and total intensity normalized spectra were used to identify which would improve classification. Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy spectra were generated by single laser shots to different locations on nine samples, glass (brown, green, and clear), tin, aluminum, polylactic acid, Novatein, polyethylene terephthalate, and high-density polyethylene. To prove that the system has the potential to be used on a waste sorting stream an autofocus unit was developed to move the laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy beam into focus on the different sample geometries. Two classification methods were investigated, soft independent modeling by class analogy and the k-nearest neighbors algorithm. k-Nearest neighbors on raw spectra produced the best results. Discrimination between bioplastics and plastics were 100%. Glass samples could not be reliably distinguished from each other. Surface contamination produced three misclassifications from 450 spectra. Similar results were obtained when the spectral range was reduced from 182.26–908.07?nm to 313.20–495.12?nm.     

Updating beliefs about variables given new information on how those variables relate

Bayesian techniques specify how to update beliefs about a variable given information on that variable or related variables. In many cases, statistical analyses also provide information about the relationship between variables, but the Borel Paradox prohibits many natural ways of updating beliefs conditioned on information about a relationship. This paper presents a method by which beliefs can be updated without violating the Borel Paradox under certain circumstances. We apply our approach to relationships specified by a statistical model (i.e., regression), and relationships described by statistical simulation.     

Feature-size limitations of microarray technology - a critical review

The appeal of microarray technology is the possibility of large-scale parallel determination of a variety of variables simultaneously. Hence, microarray technologies attract the interest of both the scientific and business worlds alike. High-throughput screening has been the major focus of the utilization of microarray technologies in recent years, and has provided the strong driving force for developments in this field. DNA chip and biochip technologies have been developed as a consequence of worldwide activity in genome research. This review focuses on microarray-based analysis and emphasizes some of its principal constraints, especially detection limits.