Rupture force between the third strand and the double strand within a triplex DNA

The rupture force to separate the third strand and the duplex within a triplex DNA was measured by means of atomic force spectroscopy. The tip and the sample surfaces were functionalized by oligodeoxyribonucleotides 5'-TTCTTCTTTCTTTTCCTTTTCTTTCTTCTTACTTCTCTCTCTC TCTCTCT-SH-3'. The sample surface was hybridized with 5'-AAGAAGAAAGAAAAGGAAAAGAAAGAAGAA-3' to form a double strand DNA on the surface prior to the force measurements. These sequences form triple helices with 30 base pairs under a pH of 5.8 and in the presence of 2.0 mM spermine. Signals of rupture of single and multiple triplex DNA were observed in the force distance curves. Rupture force histograms revealed a force of 42.6 +/- 1.9 pN from 24 independent measurements at a tip velocity of 400 nm/s to separate the third strand from duplex DNA. The velocity dependence of the rupture force quantum indicates a thermal dissociation process similar to that of rupturing a ds-DNA. The number of rupture events was controlled by adding oligonucleotides 5'-AAGAAGAAAGAAAAGGAAAAGAAAGAAGAA-3' either to reduce or to initiate triplex formation.     

Structure Elucidation and Biological Screening of Bis(4-{[(E)-(2-Hydroxybenzylidene)amino]methyl}-cyclohexane-carboxylato-O)-triaqua-cadmium

Using a bidentate ligand, a Schiff base 4-({[(Z)-(2-hydroxyphenyl)methyldene]amino}methyl)cyclohexanecarboxylic acid, complex I(ML2, where M = Cd(Ⅱ)) was synthesized and characterized by IR spectroscopy and X-ray crystallography. It crystallizes in monoclinic system, space group C2/c, M_r = 685.04, 0.34 mm × 0.26 mm × 0.14 mm, a = 54.050(3), b = 6.1220(3), c = 9.5081(5) ?, β = 90.229(2)°, Z = 4, C_(30) H_(40) CdN_2 O_9 and V = 3146.2(3) ?~3. Complex I was screened for its bactericidal activity against four bacterial strains Chromohalobactersalexigens, Chromohalobacterisraelensis, Halomonashalofila and Halomonassalina and fungicidal activity against Aspergillusnigerand Aspergillusflavus. Antimicrobial activity results showed that the synthesized complex displayed good anti-fungal activity against two fungal strains. It was found to be inactive against four different bacterial strains analyzed and was negative for bactericidal effect.     

On the adhesion between fine particles and nanocontacts: an atomic force microscope study

In this study we measured the adhesion forces between atomic force microscope (AFM) tips or particles attached to AFM cantilevers and different solid samples. Smooth and homogeneous surfaces such as mica, silicon wafers, or highly oriented pyrolytic graphite, and more rough and heterogeneous surfaces such as iron particles or patterns of TiO2 nanoparticles on silicon were used. In the first part, we addressed the well-known issue that AFM adhesion experiments show wide distributions of adhesion forces rather than a single value. Our experiments show that variations in adhesion forces comprise fast (i.e., from one force curve to the next) random fluctuations and slower fluctuations, which occur over tens or hundreds of consecutive measurements. Slow fluctuations are not likely to be the result of variations in external factors such as lateral position, temperature, humidity, and so forth because those were kept constant. Even if two solid bodies are brought into contact under precisely the same conditions (same place, load, direction, etc.) the result of such a measurement will often not be the same as that of the previous contact. The measurement itself will induce structural changes in the contact region, which can change the value for the next adhesion force measurement. In the second part, we studied the influence of humidity on the adhesion of nanocontacts. Humidity was adjusted relatively fast to minimize tip wear during one experiment. For hydrophobic surfaces, no signification change in adhesion force with humidity was observed. Adhesion force versus humidity curves recorded with hydrophilic surfaces either showed a maximum or continuously increased. We demonstrate that the results can be interpreted with simple continuum theory of the meniscus force. The meniscus force is calculated based on a model that includes surface roughness and takes into account different AFM tip (or particle) shapes by a two-sphere model. Experimental and theoretical results show that the precise contact geometry has a critical influence on the humidity dependence of the adhesion force. Changes in tip geometry on the sub-10-nm length scale can completely change adhesion force versus humidity curves. Our model can also explain the differences between earlier AFM studies, where different dependencies of the adhesion force on humidity were observed.     

Study of oxidation of alloy 1.4306S (SS-304L) in air and steam at 1200°C using the Mössbauer technique

The Mössbauer technique has been used to study the oxidation of alloy 1.4306S (SS-304L) at 1200°C exposed in atmospheres of air and steam, for, 1, 6, 24, 100 and 400 hours. By oxidation in air the major products are -FE₂O₃, -FE₂O₃, and Fe₃O₄ while, during oxidation in steam they are -FeOOH, -Fe₂O₃ and Fe₃O₄. A minor phase detected following both kinds of oxidation may be ascribed to MnCrFeO₄, Cr₂FeO₄, -FeOOH and -FeOOH produced in steam only while the base material is found following air oxidation. The proportion of Fe₃O₄ on the scale remains constant for all exposure durations in air oxidation, while it becomes constant in steam oxidation only in cases where the entire sample has been oxidized.     

Efficient Ru(II)-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation of simple ketones with C2-symmetric planar chiral metallocenyl phosphinooxazoline ligands

C₂-symmetric metallocenyl planar phosphinooxazoline ligands (2 and 3) have been applied in the Ru(II)-catalyzed asymmetric hydrogenation of simple ketones. This type of ligands enjoys the advantages of dual reaction sites as well as larger steric hindrance than their corresponding C₁-symmetric counterparts. As a result, almost quantitative conversions and excellent enantioselectivities were obtained for a series of simple ketones. Under the optimal reaction conditions, up to 99.7% ee was obtained in many cases. It was also confirmed that hydrogen rather than reaction solvent i-PrOH is at work in the hydrogenation procedure.     

Effect of the molecular structure on the hierarchical self-assembly of semifluorinated alkanes at the air/water interface

Semifluorinated alkanes (C(n)F(2n+1)C(m)H(2m+1)), short FnHm display local phase separation of mutually incompatible hydrocarbon and fluorocarbon chain moieties, which has been utilized as a structure-forming motif in supramolecular architectures. The packing of semifluorinated alkanes, nominally based on dodecyl subunits, such as perfluoro(dodecyl)dodecane (F12H12) and perfluoro(dodecyl)eicosane (F12H20), as well as a core extended analogue, 1,4-dibromo-2-((perfluoroundecyl)methoxy)-5-(dodecyloxy)benzene) (F11H1-core-H12), was studied at the air/water interface. Langmuir monolayers were investigated by means of neutron reflectivity directly at the air/water interface and scanning force microscopy after transfer to silicon wafers. Narrowly disperse surface micelles formed in all three cases; however, they were found to bear different morphologies with respect to molecular orientation and assembly dimensionality, which gives rise to different hierarchical aggregate topologies. For F12H12, micelles of ca. 30 nm in diameter, composed of several circular or "spherical cap" substructures, were observed and a monolayer model with the fluorocarbon block oriented toward air is proposed. F12H20 molecules formed larger (ca. 50 nm diameter) hexagonally shaped surface micelles that were hexagonally, densely packed, besides more elongated but tightly interlocked wormlike structures. Conversely, F11H1-core-H12 films organized into linear rows of elongated surface micelles with comparable width, but an average length of ca. 400 nm, apparently formed by antiparallel molecular packing.     

Room-temperature polariton lasing in semiconductor microcavities

We observe a room-temperature low-threshold transition to a coherent polariton state in bulk GaN microcavities in the strong-coupling regime. Nonresonant pulsed optical pumping produces rapid thermalization and yields a clear emission threshold of 1 mW, corresponding to an absorbed energy density of 29 microJ cm-2, 1 order of magnitude smaller than the best optically pumped (In,Ga)N quantum-well surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs). Angular and spectrally resolved luminescence show that the polariton emission is beamed in the normal direction with an angular width of +/-5 degrees and spatial size around 5 microm.