Phase separation in binary polymer/liquid crystal mixtures: network breaking and domain growth by coalescence-induced coalescence

A small-angle light scattering (SALS) technique together with optical microscopy observation are used to investigate phase separation kinetics in films of low molecular weight thermotropic liquid crystal (4-cyano-4'-n-octyl-biphenyl, 8CB) with flexible polymer (polystyrene, PS). The growth of domains is studied as a function of time, film thickness, and film composition. The light scattering results are correlated with the images obtained by optical microscopy observation. In this paper, we study the breaking of a bicontinuous network of polymer in liquid crystal into droplets and their further growth via the coalescence-induced coalescence mechanism. The appearance of droplets in the system leads to a strong scattering at small wave vectors, while the bicontinuous network gives a peak at a nonzero wave vector. Superposition of these scattering intensities leads to the appearance of a second peak in the full scattering intensity signal, when the bicontinuous network starts to break up into disjointed elongated domains. Finally, both peaks merge into a single peak, which moves quickly toward zero wave vectors, indicating a complete transformation of elongated domains into spherical droplets of variable size. We found that the separation process does not depend on the size of the system. Irrespective of the sample thickness, the network breaks into fragments always at the same time after temperature quench. On the basis of morphological analysis, we found that the average size of the droplets which formed from the network grows with time, t, as t(alpha), alpha = 0.9 +/- 0.1, in the isotropic phase and in the nematic phase.     

Dependence of turbidity oscillations of self-oscillating polymers on the selective recognition of the crown ether receptors contained in the polymer chain

The turbidity oscillations of self-oscillating polymers in the Belousov-Zhabotinsky (BZ) reaction system depending on the crown ether receptors contained in the polymer network have been studied. The three monomers are copolymerized, namely, N-isopropylacrylamide, the metal catalyst monomer for the BZ reaction, and the crown ether receptor monomer, to prepare the self-oscillating polymers used in this study. The turbidity oscillations are characterized by monitoring the transmittance of the polymer solution in the BZ reaction system at a specific wavelength of 570 nm. The oscillations are varied by crown ether receptors used in the polymerization process, i.e., BCAm(6) or BCAm(5), for the selective recognition of specific cations between potassium and sodium ions in the solution. The selective recognition of the BCAm receptors in the polymer chain for the two ions has brought out a variation in the turbidity oscillations by a change in the hydrophilicity of the polymer chain. The oscillations of the polymer solution composed of the BCAm(5) receptor are more influenced by sodium ion, while the polymer solution of BCAm(6) receptor is affected by potassium ion. However, the oscillation patterns of the redox changes obtained by these solution systems look much alike despite the differences in the polymer chain by crown ether receptors and cations of bromate used for the BZ reaction.     

Movement of proteins in an environment crowded by surfactant micelles: anomalous versus normal diffusion

Small proteins move in crowded cell compartments by anomalous diffusion. In many of them, e.g., the endoplasmic reticulum, the proteins move between lipid membranes in the aqueous lumen. Molecular crowding in vitro offers a systematic way to study anomalous and normal diffusion in a well controlled environment not accessible in vivo. We prepared a crowded environment in vitro consisting of hexaethylene glycol monododecyl ether (C(12)E(6)) nonionic surfactant and water and observed lysozyme diffusion between elongated micelles. We have fitted the data obtained in fluorescence correlation spectroscopy using an anomalous diffusion model and a two-component normal diffusion model. For a small concentration of surfactant (below 4 wt %) the data can be fitted by single-component normal diffusion. For larger concentrations the normal diffusion fit gave two components: one very slow and one fast. The amplitude of the slow component grows with C(12)E(6) concentration. The ratio of diffusion coefficients (slow to fast) is on the order of 0.1 for all concentrations of surfactant in the solution. The fast diffusion is due to free proteins while the slow one is due to the protein-micelle complexes. The protein-micelle interaction is weak since even in a highly concentrated solution (35% of C(12)E(6)) the amplitude of the slow mode is only 10%, despite the fact that the average distance between the micelles is the same as the size of the protein. The anomalous diffusion model gave the anomaly index (r(2)(t) approximately t(alpha)), alpha monotonically decreasing from alpha = 1 (at 4% surfactant) to alpha = 0.88 (at 37% surfactant). The fits for two-component normal diffusion and anomalous diffusion were of equally good quality, but the physical interpretation was only straightforward for the former.     

Photoluminescence of Cd1-xMnxS (x < or = 0.3) nanowires

Cd1-xMnxS (x = 0.1-0.3) nanowires were synthesized by using the chemical vapor deposition method. They all consist of a single-crystalline wurtzite CdS structure with a [010] or [011] growth direction. The X-ray diffraction pattern reveals the contraction of the lattice constants due to the incorporation of Mn. The Mn2+ emission at approximately 2.15 eV, originating from the d-d (4T1 --> 6A1) transition, appears below 50-80 K. Its decay time is in the range of 0.55-1 ms, showing a decrease with increasing Mn content. The Mn doping reduces significantly the decay time of band-edge emission from 590 ps to 20-30 ps. Upon applying magnetic field (up to 7 T), the Mn2+ emission is suppressed and donor-acceptor pair emission becomes dominant, suggesting the energy transfer from the band electrons to the Mn2+ ions.     

Tomography of injection and acceleration of monoenergetic electrons in a laser-wakefield accelerator

A tomographic diagnosis method was developed to systematically resolve the injection and acceleration processes of a monoenergetic electron beam in a laser-wakefield accelerator. It was found that all the monoenergetic electrons are injected at the same location in the plasma column and accelerated from 5 to 55 MeV energy in 200 microm distance. This is a direct measurement of the real acceleration gradient in a laser-wakefield accelerator, and the experimental data are consistent with the model of transverse wave breaking and beam loading for monoenergetic electron injection.     

Vortices in superfluid fermi gases through the BEC to BCS crossover

We have analyzed a single vortex at T=0 in a 3D superfluid atomic Fermi gas across a Feshbach resonance. On the BCS side, the order parameter varies on two scales: k(F)(-1)and the coherence length xi, while only variation on the scale of xi is seen away from the BCS limit. The circulating current has a peak value jmax which is a nonmonotonic function of 1/k(F)a(s) implying a maximum critical velocity approximately v(F) at unitarity. The number of fermionic bound states in the core decreases as we move from the BCS to the BEC regime. Remarkably, a bound state branch persists even on the BEC side reflecting the composite nature of bosonic molecules.     

Recirculating flow accelerates DNA microarray hybridization in a microfluidic device

A recirculating microfluidic device fabricated by laminating Mylar and glass was developed for the analysis of hybridization of oligonucleotides to DNA microarrays. The device is part of a system that provides controlled hybridization to DNA probes immobilized in a microarray of polyacrylamide gel pads using recirculation and temperature control. The system was used to obtain real-time kinetics of DNA hybridization and more accurate melting profiles of target-probe duplexes than possible using a static hybridization format. Recirculation shortened the time of perfect match target-probe hybridization from 6 hours to 2 hours and shifted the Td by 1.54 degrees C, relative to static conditions. The experimental results were consistent with a three-dimensional simulation of hybridization using a recirculating buffer system.     

Microchip-based one step DNA extraction and real-time PCR in one chamber for rapid pathogen identification

Optimal detection of a pathogen present in biological samples depends on the ability to extract DNA molecules rapidly and efficiently. In this paper, we report a novel method for efficient DNA extraction and subsequent real-time detection in a single microchip by combining laser irradiation and magnetic beads. By using a 808 nm laser and carboxyl-terminated magnetic beads, we demonstrate that a single pulse of 40 seconds lysed pathogens including E. coli and Gram-positive bacterial cells as well as the hepatitis B virus mixed with human serum. We further demonstrate that the real-time pathogen detection was performed with pre-mixed PCR reagents in a real-time PCR machine using the same microchip, after laser irradiation in a hand-held device equipped with a small laser diode. These results suggest that the new sample preparation method is well suited to be integrated into lab-on-a-chip application of the pathogen detection system.     

Extended application of a chiral stationary phase based on (+)-(1 8-crown-6)-2,3,11,12-tetracarboxylic acid to the resolution of N-(substituted benzoyl)-alpha-amino acid amides

A chiral stationary phase (CSP 1) based on (+)-(18-crown-6)-2,3,11,12-tetracarboxylic acid was applied to the resolution of N-(substituted benzoyl)-alpha-amino acid amides and esters. N-(Substituted benzoyl)-alpha-amino acid amides were well resolved using a mixture of acetic acid-triethylamine-acetonitrile (0.01:0.05:100, v/v/v) as an optimum mobile phase while N-(substituted benzoyl)-alpha-amino acid esters were not resolved at all. In contrast, both N-(substituted benzoyl)-alpha-amino acid amides and esters were not resolved at all or resolved very poorly on another CSP (CSP 2), which lacks the two N-H hydrogens of the amide tethers of CSP 1. Among the substituents on the benzoyl group of analytes, the nitro group was the best for good resolution of analytes on CSP 1. From these results, the two N-H hydrogens of the amide tethers of CSP 1, the carbonyl oxygen of the amide group of analytes, and the nitro group on the benzoyl group of analytes were concluded to play significant roles in chiral recognition. In addition, various N-(3,5-dinitrobenzoyl)leucine amides with different lengths of N-alkylamide chains were resolved on CSP 1 and N-(3,5-dinitrobenzoyl) leucine N-propylamide was found to show the best chiral recognition in terms of the separation (alpha = 1.30) and the resolution factor (Rs= 3.17).     

Lysophosphatidylcholine suppresses apoptosis and induces neurite outgrowth in PC12 cells through activation of phospholipase D2

Lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC) is a bioactive lipid generated by phospholipase A2-mediated hydrolysis of phosphatidylcholine. In the present study, we demonstrate that LPC stimulates phospholipase D2 (PLD2) activity in rat pheochromocytoma PC12 cells. Serum deprivation induced cell death of PC12 cells, as demonstrated by decreased viability, DNA fragmentation, and increased sub-G1 fraction of cell cycle. LPC treatment protected PC12 cells partially from the cell death and induced neurite outgrowth of the cells. Overexpression of PLD2 drastically enhanced the LPC-induced inhibition of apoptosis and neuritogenesis. Pretreatment of the cells with 1-butanol, a PLD inhibitor, completely abrogated the LPC-induced inhibition of apoptosis and neurite outgrowth in PC12 cells overexpressing PLD2. These results indicate that LPC possesses the neurotrophic effects, such as anti-apoptosis and neurite outgrowth, through activation of PLD2.