Plocamenone,a unique halogenated monoterpene from the red alga,plocamium

The unique halogenated monoterpene, 7-bromo-2,6-dimethyl-4,4,8-trichloro-1,5(z)-octadiene-3-one, was isolated from the marine red alga $\text{Plocamium}$.     

Equisetin biosynthesis in Fusarium heterosporum

An iterative polyketide synthase-peptide synthetase hybrid assembles the HIV-1 integrase inhibitory tetramic acid, equisetin, in the filamentous fungus Fusarium heterosporum.     

Lateral membrane waves constitute a universal dynamic pattern of motile cells

We have monitored active movements of the cell circumference on specifically coated substrates for a variety of cells including mouse embryonic fibroblasts and T cells, as well as wing disk cells from fruit flies. Despite having different functions and being from multiple phyla, these cell types share a common spatiotemporal pattern in their normal membrane velocity; we show that protrusion and retraction events are organized in lateral waves along the cell membrane. These wave patterns indicate both spatial and temporal long-range periodic correlations of the actomyosin gel.     

Theoretical analysis of the onset of liquid entrainment for slots of finite width

The onset of liquid entrainment during discharge from large reservoirs containing a stratified mixture of two immiscible fluids through a side slot of a finite width is considered theoretically. A previously reported analysis in which the slot was approximated as a two-dimensional line sink has been extended to account for the finite width of the slot. The model resulting from the present analysis is expressed in terms of two simple algebraic equations suitable for hand calculations. According to the present results, the ratio of the critical height to the slot width is dependent only on the Froude number. Numerical results show that the present model approaches the correct physical limits at low Froude numbers and it converges to the predictions of the previously reported simple model at high Froude numbers.     

Radiochemical analyses of radiologically-contaminated soil samples in support of transport modeling

In 1951, unsaturated prairie soil was contaminated with fission products and actinides. Fifty years later, in 2001, soil samples were collected from the contaminated site. This paper describes the techniques used to analyze these samples, including gamma-spectroscopy (GS) for ¹³⁷Cs, neutron activation analysis (NAA/GS) for ²³⁸U, liquid scintillation counting (LSC) for ⁹⁰Sr and inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS) for ²³⁸U and ^113mCd. As expected, ICP-MS was found to have the lowest detection level, while the techniques were ranked in order of increasing uncertainty as GS, NAA/GS, ICP-MS and LSC.     

Simple photografting method to chemically modify and micropattern the surface of SU-8 photoresist

SU-8 has gained widespread acceptance as a negative photoresist. It is also finding increasing use as a structural material in microanalytical devices. Consequently, methods to tailor the surface properties of SU-8 as well as to micropattern coatings on the surface of SU-8 are needed. The SU-8 photoresist consists of EPON SU-8 resin mixed with the photoacid generator triarylsulfonium hexafluoroantimonate. This photoacid generator can also serve as a photoinitiator generating free radicals when illuminated with UV light. Under the appropriate conditions, sufficient triarylsulfonium hexafluoroantimonate remains within cured SU-8 to act as a source of free radicals and initiate UV-mediated grafting of polymers onto the surface of the SU-8. UV-mediated grafting was used to coat SU-8 surfaces with poly(acrylic acid) and other water-soluble monomers. The SU-8 surface was chemically micropatterned by placing a mask between the UV light and SU-8. The X-Y spatial resolution of micropatterned poly(acrylic acid) on the SU-8 surface was 2 mum. Three applications of these chemically modified SU-8 surfaces were demonstrated. In the first, poly(ethylene glycol) was used to protect the SU-8 from interactions with proteins, yielding a surface resistant to biofouling. In the second demonstration, the SU-8 surface was micropatterned with a cell-resistant layer to guide cellular attachment and growth. In the final application, SU-8 micropallets were encoded with polymer lines. The bar codes were read by either absorbance or fluorescence measurements. Thus, UV-mediated graft polymerization is an efficient and effective method to micropattern coatings onto the surface of SU-8.