Heterogeneous condensation of the Lennard-Jones vapor onto a nanoscale seed particle

The heterogeneous condensation of a Lennard-Jones vapor onto a nanoscale seed particle is studied using molecular dynamics simulations. Measuring the nucleation rate and the height of the free energy barrier using the mean first passage time method shows that the presence of a weakly interacting seed has little effect on the work of forming very small cluster embryos but accelerates the rate by lowering the barrier for larger clusters. We suggest that this results from a competition between the energetic and entropic features of cluster formation in the bulk and at the heterogeneity. As the interaction is increased, the free energy of formation is reduced for all cluster sizes. We also develop a simple phenomenological model of film formation on a small seed that captures the general features of the nucleation process for small heterogeneities. A comparison of our simulation results with the model shows that heterogeneous classical nucleation theory provides a good estimate of the critical size of the film but significantly overestimates the size of the barrier.     

The influence of transducer operating point on distortion generation in the cochlea

Distortion generated by the cochlea can provide a valuable indicator of its functional state. In the present study, the dependence of distortion on the operating point of the cochlear transducer and its relevance to endolymph volume disturbances has been investigated. Calculations have suggested that as the operating point moves away from zero, second harmonic distortion would increase. Cochlear microphonic waveforms were analyzed to derive the cochlear transducer operating point and to quantify harmonic distortions. Changes in operating point and distortion were measured during endolymph manipulations that included 200-Hz tone exposures at 115-dB SPL, injections of artificial endolymph into scala media at 80, 200, or 400 nl/min, and treatment with furosemide given intravenously or locally into the cochlea. Results were compared with other functional changes that included action potential thresholds at 2.8 or 8 kHz, summating potential, endocochlear potential, and the 2 f1-f2 and f2-f1 acoustic emissions. The results demonstrated that volume disturbances caused changes in the operating point that resulted in predictable changes in distortion. Understanding the factors influencing operating point is important in the interpretation of distortion measurements and may lead to tests that can detect abnormal endolymph volume states.     

Bulk and boundary effects in a one-dimensional water-like fluid

Sites of a one-dimensional lattice may be either vacant or occupied by molecules with two orientational states, a ‘monomer’ state taking up one site and a ‘dimer’ state taking up two sites. There is a nearest-neighbour energy — ε for all molecules and an additional bonding energy — ω for adjacent dimers. Hence low temperatures and pressures favour an open structure with molecules predominantly in the dimer state. Bulk behaviour is investigated by both matrix and combinatorial methods and maxima in density isobars and minima in isothermal compressibility curves are found at certain parameter values. These are anomalous properties similar to those occurring in fluid water.

Boundary effects in a chain with end sites are calculated by matrix methods for several types of boundary condition. The effect on the open structure is measured by the change in the number of dimer-dimer bonds due to the presence of the boundary. For a ‘structure-breaking’ boundary, which forces the adjacent molecule into the monomer state, occupation probabilities near the boundary are compared with bulk values. It is concluded that boundary effects in the fluid are confined to the first few layers of molecules.     

Efficient on-chip isolation of HIV subtypes

HIV has caused a global pandemic over the last three decades. There is an unmet need to develop point-of-care (POC) viral load diagnostics to initiate and monitor antiretroviral treatment in resource-constrained settings. Particularly, geographical distribution of HIV subtypes poses significant challenges for POC immunoassays. Here, we demonstrated a microfluidic device that can effectively capture various subtypes of HIV particles through anti-gp120 antibodies, which were immobilized on the microchannel surface. We first optimized an antibody immobilization process using fluorescent antibodies, quantum dot staining and AFM studies. The results showed that anti-gp120 antibodies were immobilized on the microchannel surface with an elevated antibody density and uniform antibody orientation using a Protein G-based surface chemistry. Further, RT-qPCR analysis showed that HIV particles of subtypes A, B and C were captured repeatably with high efficiencies of 77.2 ± 13.2%, 82.1 ± 18.8, and 80.9 ± 14.0% from culture supernatant, and 73.2 ± 13.6, 74.4 ± 14.6 and 78.3 ± 13.3% from spiked whole blood at a viral load of 1000 copies per mL, respectively. HIV particles of subtypes A, B and C were captured with high efficiencies of 81.8 ± 9.4%, 72.5 ± 18.7, and 87.8 ± 3.2% from culture supernatant, and 74.6 ± 12.9, 75.5 ± 6.7 and 69.7 ± 9.5% from spiked whole blood at a viral load of 10,000 copies per mL, respectively. The presented immuno-sensing device enables the development of POC on-chip technologies to monitor viral load and guide antiretroviral treatment (ART) in resource-constrained settings.     

Wavelength and coherence effects on the growth mechanism of silicon nanopillars and their use in the modification of spontaneous lifetime emission of BODIPY dye molecules

Silicon nanopillars are grown by an electrochemical anodization of p-type silicon wafers at low current densities in a hydrofluoric acid solution. CW, white light, and various UV pulsed lasers are employed as illumination sources in sample preparation to study wavelength and coherence effects on the growth mechanism of the nanopillars. Coherence is observed to be the foundation of regularity in obtaining conical shapes. The pillar size is found to be almost linearly proportional to the employed illumination wavelength during their growth. BODIPY dye molecules are chemically attached to these silicon nanopillars and the radiative decay rates are investigated by means of a time-resolved fluorescence experiment. The decay rate of the dye molecules embedded in the vicinity of various size pillar tips is significantly affected due to different apex angles of the conical nature. It is demonstrated that the pillar size and the separation between pillars can be adjusted if one uses a coherent light source with an appropriate wavelength during the course of fabrication process. Since change in the decay rate is due to tips of the pillars only, separation of a few micrometers between pillar tips allows one to directly monitor a dye, which is embedded to the tip of a single nanopillar, via a confocal microscopic method for the spontaneous lifetime measurements, without having needed to any extra efforts for an in situ imaging process. It is observed that as the pillar size gets smaller, the inhibition in the spontaneous lifetime of BODIPY is more pronounced. In addition, a more regular pillar structure yields nonvarying decay rates of the dye molecules throughout the silicon sample.     

An axially symmetric scalar field and teleparallelism

An axially symmetric scalar field is considered in teleparallel gravity. We calculate, respectively, the tensor, the vector and the axial-vector parts of torsion and energy, momentum and angular momentum in the ASSF. We find the vector parts are in the radial and \(\hat{e}_{\theta}\) directions, the axial-vector, momentum and angular momentum vanish identically, but the energy distribution is different from zero. The vanishing axial-vector part of torsion gives us the result that there occurs no deviation in the spherical symmetry of the spacetime. Consequently, there exists no inertia field with respect to a Dirac particle, and the spin vector of a Dirac particle becomes constant. The result for the energy is the same as obtained by Radinschi. Next, this work also (a) supports the viewpoint of Lessner that the Møller energy-momentum complex is a powerful concept for the energy-momentum, (b) sustains the importance of the energy-momentum definitions in the evaluation of the energy distribution of a given spacetime, and (c) supports the hypothesis by Cooperstock that the energy is confined to the region of non-vanishing energy-momentum tensor of the matter and all non-gravitational fields.     

Synthesis of novel 1,2,3-thiadizoles and 1,2,3-selenadiazoles as new antimicrobial agents

Abstract

A series of novel 1,2,3-thiadiazoles and 1,2,3-selenadiazoles having a long alkyl chain were synthesized by reacting semicarbazones with SOCl₂ and SeO₂, respectively. The structures of the target compounds 5–12 were confirmed by spectroscopy (IR, ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, and MS) and elemental analysis. Their antibacterial and antifungal activities were evaluated against six bacteria (Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Proteus mirabilis, Enterococcus faecalis, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Staphylococcus aureus) and three fungi (Candida albicans, Candida parapsilosis, Candida tropicalis). The results of bioassays indicated that the compounds 5-Dodecyl-4-(4-methoxy-phenyl)-[1-3]selenadiazole (7), 4-Methyl-5-tetradecyl-[1-3]selenadiazole (8) and 5-Dodecyl-4-(4-methoxy-phenyl)-[1-3]thiadiazole (11) displayed moderate antibacterial activity against S. Epidermidis. On the other hand, according to antifungal screening results, compounds 5-Dodecyl-4-phenyl-[1-3]selenadiazole (5), 4-p-Tolyl-5-undecyl-[1-3]selenadiazole (6), and 5-Dodecyl-4-(4-methoxy-phenyl)-[1-3]selenadiazole (7) exhibited significant antifungal activities studied yeast strains.