Improved conditions for silver–ammonia staining of DNA in polyacrylamide gel

An improved silver–ammonia staining method for DNA on polyacrylamide gels is described. In this method, staining of DNA using silver–ammonia complex allows high sensitivity, low cost, low toxicity, and simple protocol without requiring fixation and sensitization steps. The protocol takes less than 40 min to complete, with a detection limit of 1.5 pg of single DNA band on polyacrylamide gels, approximately 30‐fold higher than that of original silver–ammonia staining method. Furthermore, this novel technique not only exhibits high sensitivity for large DNA fragment, but also shows a better trend to detect low‐base‐pair DNA compared with other silver staining methods.     

Cucurbitane‐type triterpene glycosides from the fruits of Momordica charantia

The chemical study of Momordica charantia fruits led to the isolation of three new cucurbitane triterpene glycosides, momordicosides U, V, and W (1–3). The structures of these compounds were determined to be (19R, 23R)‐5β, 19‐epoxy‐19‐methoxycucurbita‐6,24‐diene‐3β, 23‐diol 3‐O‐β‐D‐allopyranoside (1), (23R)‐5β, 19‐epoxycucurbita‐6,24‐diene‐3β, 23‐diol 3‐O‐β‐D‐allopyranoside (2), and (19R)‐5β, 19‐epoxy‐19,25‐dihydroxycucurbita‐6,23(E)‐diene‐3β‐ol 3‐O‐β‐D‐glucopyranoside (3), by chemical and spectroscopic methods. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Anomalous magnetic and superconducting properties in a Ru-based double perovskite

We have studied the double perovskite [1] structure Sr₂Y(Ru_1-x Cu_x)O₆ system. The parent compound is an antiferromagnetic insulator with Neel temperature ～ 26 K. Partially substituted the Ru ion by Cu the compounds increase their conductivity drastically and eventually become superconducting. More intriguingly is the observation of the coexistence of superconductivity and magnetic ordering. The superconducting transition temperature T _c and the magnetic ordering temperature T _m are of the same order. The observed magnetic structure and superconductivity of these compounds can be understood in terms of a plausible theoretical model based on the double exchange idea.     

On Leray's Self‐Similar Solutions of the Navier‐Stokes Equations Satisfying Local Energy Estimates

This paper proves that Leray's self‐similar solutions of the three‐dimensional Navier‐Stokes equations must be trivial under very general assumptions, for example, if they satisfy local energy estimates. (Accepted April 7, 1997)     

Breaking the limitation of composition change during isothermal mass-transfer processes at the spinodal

A governing equation describing the mass-transfer fluxes in practical membrane formation is derived using Markoffian and Onsager's thermodynamic systems. This equation unambiguously demonstrates that isothermal mass-transfer fluxes at the spinodal composition may not be zero for systems operated in the gravitational field. This study suggests that the mass transfer equations derived by Cheng and Gryte are a special case of the present study and are not fully capable of describing the mass transfer in practical membrane formation. Experimental results published in previous literature qualitatively support our assessment. The limitations of using Markoffian and Onsager's thermodynamic systems for membrane formation study are also reviewed. In conclusion, new thermodynamic theories for polymer solutions are needed to quantitatively describe the mass transfer fluxes in practical membrane formation.     

弦张量与奇异粒子产生

用一种参数化的形式研究了弦上具有硬胶子纽结所导致的有效弦张量的增长，在此种形式下强子一强子碰撞中有效弦张量随碰撞能量的增加而增加是来自碰撞中微喷注的产生，这种机制既能解释强子一强子碰撞奇异夸克压低因嵶铀媾鲎材芰恐龆龅男形帜芙馐停澹澹蚊恢懈靡蜃佑肽芰拷莆薰氐南窒蟆     

Plasma desorption mass spectroscopy of thiol-passivated gold nanoparticles

Plasma desorption mass spectrometry has been applied to characterization of dodecanthiol-passivated gold nanoparticles. An overview of the experimental set-up and mass analyses for the nanoparticles prepared in different conditions are shown. Mass distributions were found to shift to higher mass regions with increasing reaction temperature and reaction period. The results are consistent with those of transmission electron microscopy observations, UV-visible absorption spectra and also with a reported laser desorption mass spectrometry.     

Parameter Estimation with the Augmented Lagrangian Method for a Parabolic Equation

In this paper, we investigate the numerical identification of the diffusion parameters in a linear parabolic problem. The identification is formulated as a constrained minimization problem. By using the augmented Lagrangian method, the inverse problem is reduced to a coupled nonlinear algebraic system, which can be solved efficiently with the preconditioned conjugate gradient method. Finally, we present some numerical experiments to show the efficiency of the proposed methods, even for identifying highly discontinuous parameters.This work was partially supported by the Research Council of Norway, Grant NFR-128224/431.