Interactions between poly(ethylene oxide) and fatty acids sodium salts studied by surface tension measurements

This work focuses onto the interactions between poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) and fatty acids, in order to set their potential role of contaminants for PEO-based retention systems. Surface tension measurements were used to investigate PEO-fatty acid systems and they made it possible to clearly point out the interactions between the polymer and the sodium octadecylcarboxylates with different degrees of unsaturation. The observed interaction seems to be dependent on the fatty acids' solubility, the increase of which leads to less pronounced phenomena, which are, in contrast, emphasized by the increase in PEO chain length.     

Aromatic heterocycles XII. Semiempirical PM3 study of Diels-Alder cycloaddition reaction of substituted phosphabenzenes

We report the results of a semiempirical PM3 study of the 1,4 cycloaddition reaction of substituted λ³-phosphabenzenes with alkynes. The influence of the nature, position and steric hindrance of substituents on the reaction energy is studied. Except for some values, the results are in reasonable agreement with experimental observations and electronic effects of substituents.     

An Acoustically Driven Microliter Flow Chamber on a Chip (μFCC) for Cell–Cell and Cell–Surface Interaction Studies

A novel method for pumping very small volumes of liquid by using surface acoustic waves is employed to create a microfluidic flow chamber on a chip. It holds a volume of only a few μl and its planar design provides complete architectural freedom. This allows for the reconstruction of even complex flow scenarios (e.g. curvatures, bifurcations and stenosis). Addition of polymer walls to the planar fluidic track enables cell culturing on the chip surface and the investigation of cell–cell adhesion dynamics under flow. We demonstrate the flexibility of the system for application in many areas of microfluidic investigations including blood clotting phenomena under various flow conditions and the investigation of different stages of cell adhesion.     

Planar chip device for PCR and hybridization with surface acoustic wave pump

We have developed a microfluidic device operating at a planar surface instead of a closed channel network. The fluid is transported in single droplets using surface acoustic waves (SAW) on a piezoelectric LiNbO(3) substrate. The surface of the piezo is chemically structured to induce high contact angles of the droplets or enclose areas where the liquid can wet the substrate. Combining the SAW technique with thin film resistance heaters, a biological analysis chip with integrated DNA amplification by PCR and hybridization was designed. To prevent evaporation of the PCR reagents at high temperatures the sample is enclosed in droplets of mineral oil. On this chip the SAW resolves dried primers, shifts the oil capped liquid between the two heaters and mixes during hybridization. The chip is able to perform a highly sensitive, fast and specific PCR with a volume as low as 200 nl. During the temperature cycles an online monitoring of the DNA concentration is feasible with an optical unit, providing a sensitivity of 0.1 ng. After PCR the product is moved to the second heater for the hybridization on a spotted DNA array. With our chip we were able to detect a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) responsible for the Leiden Factor V syndrome from human blood.     

Dissociation Energy Computations for Saline Bonds Implied in Interactions Mediated by Peptidoglicans

Summary: Dissociation energy and hydration energy calculations, in water solution, are presented for saline bonds mediated by Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺ ions with Brőnstedt type bases ( COO ,  OSO₃ ,  OH). A computationally intensive method, Polarisable Continuum Model (PCM) using 6-31G^* basis set, was applied. Hydration energies were computed by various methods, as well as dissociation energies of some L₂M complexes. L₂Ca complexes result as more stable against dissociation than L₂Mg complexes. Hydration energy calculation results, for some of the methods, here used, seem rather reliable as compared to experimental results.     

Polarized optical gain and polarization-narrowing of heavily oxidized porous silicon

We report on a polarization-sensitive optical gain in a blue-emitting Si/SiO(2) nanocrystalline system having a high degree of emission polarization memory. This system can show a positive optical gain or optical loss depending on the polarization state of the pump and emitted light. Under optical gain conditions, the degree of polarization of the amplified spontaneous emission increases with the pumping fluence. This effect has been attributed to an increase in the stimulated emission efficiency occurring for the linearly polarized emission component characterized by high photon occupation numbers (stimulating photon flux). This finding is independently supported by other experimental observations. The occurrence of polarization dependent stimulated emission strongly indicates the relevance of morphological effects in light emission from ultrasmall elongated silicon nanostructures.