Microbiosensors based on DNA modified single-walled carbon nanotube and Pt black nanocomposites

Glucose and ATP biosensors have important applications in diagnostics and research. Biosensors based on conventional materials suffer from low sensitivity and low spatial resolution. Our previous work has shown that combining single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) with Pt nanoparticles can significantly enhance the performance of electrochemical biosensors. The immobilization of SWCNTs on biosensors remains challenging due to the aqueous insolubility originating from van der Waals forces. In this study, we used single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) to modify SWCNTs to increase solubility in water. This allowed us to explore new schemes of combining ssDNA-SWCNT and Pt black in aqueous media systems. The result is a nanocomposite with enhanced biosensor performance. The surface morphology, electroactive surface area, and electrocatalytic performance of different fabrication protocols were studied and compared. The ssDNA-SWCNT/Pt black nanocomposite constructed by a layered scheme proved most effective in terms of biosensor activity. The key feature of this protocol is the exploitation of ssDNA-SWCNTs as molecular templates for Pt black electrodeposition. The glucose and ATP microbiosensors fabricated on this platform exhibited high sensitivity (817.3 nA/mM and 45.6 nA/mM, respectively), wide linear range (up to 7 mM and 510 μM), low limit of detection (1 μM and 2 μM) and desirable selectivity. This work is significant to biosensor development because this is the first demonstration of ssDNA-SWCNT/Pt black nanocomposite as a platform for constructing both single-enzyme and multi-enzyme biosensors for physiological applications.     

Microproteomic analysis of 10,000 laser captured microdissected breast tumor cells using short-range sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and porous layer open tubular liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry

Precise proteomic profiling of limited levels of disease tissue represents an extremely challenging task. Here, we present an effective and reproducible microproteomic workflow for sample sizes of only 10,000 cells that integrates selective sample procurement via laser capture microdissection (LCM), sample clean-up and protein level fractionation using short-range SDS-PAGE, followed by ultrasensitive LC-MS/MS analysis using a 10 μm i.d. porous layer open tubular (PLOT) column. With 10,000 LCM captured mouse hepatocytes for method development and performance assessment, only 10% of the in-gel digest, equivalent to ～1000 cells, was needed per LC-MS/MS analysis. The optimized workflow was applied to the differential proteomic analysis of 10,000 LCM collected primary and metastatic breast cancer cells from the same patient. More than 1100 proteins were identified from each injection with >1700 proteins identified from three LCM samples of 10,000 cells from the same patient (1123 with at least two unique peptides). Label free quantitation (spectral counting) was performed to identify differential protein expression between the primary and metastatic cell populations. Informatics analysis of the resulting data indicated that vesicular transport and extracellular remodeling processes were significantly altered between the two cell types. The ability to extract meaningful biological information from limited, but highly informative cell populations demonstrates the significant benefits of the described microproteomic workflow.     

The effect of conjugating RGD into 3D alginate hydrogels on adipogenic differentiation of human adipose-derived stromal cells

The effects of RGD peptide conjugation to alginate hydrogel on the adipogenic differentiation of ASCs was investigated. After 3 d of culture, RGD-modified alginate hydrogels significantly stimulated FAK and integrin α1 gene expressions and vinculin expression in ASCs. In addition, RGD-modified alginate hydrogels significantly enhanced the adipogenic differentiation of human ASCs to exhibit higher expression levels of oil red O staining and adipogenic genes compared to those of the control group (unmodified gels). These results suggest potential applications of RGD-modified alginate gels for adipose tissue regeneration.     

On a Stochastic Survival Model for a System Under Randomly Variable Environment

In many cases, the survival probability of a system depends not only on the intrinsic characteristic of the system itself but also on the randomly variable external environment under which the system is being operated. In this paper we study a stochastic survival model for a system under random shock process which affects the survival of the system in a complicated way. The lifetime distribution of the system is derived, and the effect of environmental factors on the failure process of the system is also investigated.     

铋系超导体反常晶格膨胀X射线衍射研究

本文利用变温X射线衍射方法研究了室温至液氮温度区间铋系超导体晶格热膨胀与畸变特性.在从正常态向超导态转变过程中,铋系2223相和2212相均在高温区和低温区发生反常热膨胀.发生在超导转变前的晶格反常热膨胀与Mossbauer谱和超声内耗测量得到晶格软化温度相对应,这种结构上的反常行为是超导转变的前驱效应.     

Photoluminescence Study of Functionalized Polysiloxane Gel

Photoluminescence of a polysiloxane gel film incorporating a partially conjugated copolymer polyether-polyphenylenevinylene (PEPPV) has been studied and compared with results obtained from bulk and vacuum evaporated films of the same starting material. The evaporation clearly affects the distribution of lengths of the conjugated parts, yet the incorporation in the gel matrix induces only slight changes in the spectroscopic properties of the polymer.     

高功率激光稳定腔选模分析

讨论了在有限菲涅耳数时，稳定凹－凸腔的高功率激光选模特性，研究表明当稳定凹－凸腔工作在临近界稳区时，基模体积显著提高，具有良好的选模效果。     

Single-path interferometer for measuring fluid flows in real time with low-quality optics

An interferometric concept based on a modified version of the Fabry–Perot interferometry is proposed for measuring flow fields in real-time and some results are presented for demonstration. Being based on a single-path configuration of interfering beams, it is very convenient to build a simple compact measurement system. While allowing the deployment of low-quality optics including test-section windows through compensation of system errors, it is also immune to external vibration. In addition, it can easily allow large aperture and long pathlength of probing beams with good precision. These aforementioned features are very appropriate for measuring large flow fields including wind tunnel testing as well as conducting laboratory experiments without elaborate equipment.