High Probe Intensity Photobleaching Measurement of Lateral Diffusion in Cell Membranes

Lateral diffusion measurements, most commonly accomplished through Fluorescence Photobleaching Recovery (FPR or FRAP), provide important information on cell membrane molecules' size, environment and participation in intermolecular interactions. However, serious difficulties arise when these techniques are applied to weakly expressed proteins of either of two types: fusions of membrane receptors with visible fluorescent proteins or membrane molecules on autofluorescent cells. To achieve adequate sensitivity in these cases, techniques such as interference fringe FPR are needed. However, in such measurements, cytoplasmic species contribute to the fluorescence recovery signal and thus yield diffusion parameters not properly representing the small number of surface molecules. A new method helps eliminate these difficulties. High Probe Intensity (HPI)-FPR measurements retain the intrinsic confocality of spot measurements to eliminate interference from fluorescent cytoplasmic species. However, HPI-FPR methods lift the previous requirement that FPR procedures be performed at probe beam intensities low enough to not induce bleaching in samples during measurements. The high probe intensities now employed provide much larger fluorescence signals and thus more information on molecular diffusion from each measurement. We report successful measurement of membrane dynamics by this technique.     

Generation of bright two-color continuous variable entanglement

We present the first measurement of squeezed-state entanglement between the twin beams produced in an optical parametric oscillator operating above threshold. In addition to the usual squeezing in the intensity difference between the twin beams, we have measured squeezing in the sum of phase quadratures. Our scheme enables us to measure such phase anticorrelations between fields of different frequencies. In the present measurements, wavelengths differ by approximately 1 nm. Entanglement is demonstrated according to the Duan et al. criterion [Phys. Rev. Lett. 84, 2722 (2000)] Delta2p- + Delta2q+ = 1.41(2) < 2. This experiment opens the way for new potential applications such as the transfer of quantum information between different parts of the electromagnetic spectrum.     

Microcionamides A and B, bioactive peptides from the philippine sponge Clathria (Thalysias) abietina

Microcionamides A (1) and B (2) have been isolated from the Philippine marine sponge Clathria (Thalysias) abietina. These new linear peptides are cyclized via a cystine moiety and have their C-terminus blocked by a 2-phenylethylenamine group. Their total structures, including absolute stereochemistry, were determined by a combination of spectral and chemical methods. Compound 1 was shown to slowly isomerize about the C-36/C-37 double bond when stored in DMSO. Microcionamides A (1) and B (2) exhibited significant cytotoxicity against the human breast tumor cells lines MCF-7 and SKBR-3 and displayed inhibitory activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H(37)Ra.     

Domain growth in ternary fluids: A level set approach

We analyze phase separation in ternary systems in the asymptotic hydrodynamic regime when the volume fractions and concentrations are constant. The multiphase Navier-Stokes equations are solved using a level set method. A new projection method was developed to treat multiple junctions for systems with more than two phases. It is found that surface tension ratios can alter the growth mechanism of a minority phase in the presence of two majority phases. When the minority phase wets the interface of the majority phases the domain growth rate of all three phases is initially similar to that of a symmetric binary fluid but slows down at later times.     

Anisotropic ferromagnetism induced in rutile single crystals by Co implantation

The magnetic and electrical properties of Co-implanted single crystalline TiO₂ rutile are presented. For fluences of the order of 10¹⁷ cm^-2 and implantation energy of 150 keV the maximum atomic concentration of cobalt is 13 at% at a depth of 65 nm from the surface. The as implanted single crystals exhibit superparamagnetic behaviour attributed to the formation of nanosized cobalt clusters. After annealing at 1073 K an anisotropic ferromagnetic behaviour emerges with the easy magnetization axis lying in the (001) plane of rutile. The ferromagnetic behaviour is associated with oriented cobalt aggregates. Electrical conductivity of the implanted samples annealed in vacuum also exhibits anisotropic behaviour at low temperatures, but no magnetoresistive effects were detected.     

An attempt to correlate fat and protein content of biological samples with residual carbon after microwave-assisted digestion

The residual carbon content of a variety of bovine-derived samples and forage was determined by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry with radial view configuration (ICP-OES) after microwave-assisted digestion under high pressure in a closed vessel. The original carbon concentration in the samples was determined by elemental analysis. The highest amount of original carbon content (64%) was found in viscera. After digestion, up to 75% of it was destroyed. Viscera presented the highest ether extract and blood exhibited a high crude protein content of up to 99%. The efficiency in destroying the organic matter in biological materials seemed to be related to their fat content and showed no significant difficulty for protein-rich samples. The correlation coefficient between the fat content of the samples and the residual carbon after acid decomposition was 0.9173 indicating a fair fit. However, no correlation was observed between % RC and the protein content.     

Novel suberin‐based biopolyesters: From synthesis to properties

This article reports the successful synthesis and characterization of two types of completely biobased polymers prepared by the polycondensation or polytransesterification of suberin fragments, isolated by different procedures and from two different vegetable sources. These polymerizations were conducted with different experimental conditions in terms of the type of catalyst, the reaction medium and temperature, as well as the molar ratio between the reactive moieties. The ensuing linear or partly crosslinked polyesters were characterized by conventional spectroscopic techniques, SEC, DSC, XRD, DMA, and TGA. These hydrophobic materials represent an original contribution to the growing field of polymers from renewable resources. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2011     

Direct estimate for positive linear operators in polynomial weighted spaces

We present direct theorems for some sequences of positive linear operators in weighted spaces. The results, given in terms of some Ditzian–Totik moduli of smoothness, include estimations in norms and Becker type estimations.