Influence of surfactant and lipid chain length on the solubilisation of phosphatidylcholine vesicles by micelles comprised of polyoxyethylene sorbitan monoesters

Photon correlation spectroscopy and freeze-fracture electron microscopy have been used to determine the ability of a range of micelle-forming, polyoxyethylene (20) sorbitan monoesters (Tweens) to solubilise vesicles prepared from phosphatidylcholines of different acyl chain lengths and degrees of saturation with a view to rationalising (in terms of their membrane toxicity) which of the micelle-forming surfactants to use as drug delivery vehicles. The phosphatidylcholines used were dimyristoyl-, dipalmitoyl-, distearoyl- and dioleoylphosphatidylcholine (DMPC, DPPC, DSPC and DOPC, respectively) while the nonionic polyoxyethylene sorbitan monoesters studied were polyoxyethylene (20) sorbitan monolaurate (Tween 20), a 9:1 weight ratio mixture of polyoxyethylene (20) sorbitan monopalmitate and monostearate (Tween 40), a 1:1 weight ratio mixture of polyoxyethylene (20) sorbitan monopalmitate and monostearate (Tween 60), and polyoxyethylene (20) sorbitan monooleate (Tween 80). The ability of the Tween micelles to solubilise phospholipid vesicles was found to depend both upon the length of the surfactant acyl chain and the length of the acyl chains of the phospholipid comprising the vesicle. Vesicles composed of long saturated diacyl chain phospholipids, namely DSPC and DPPC, were the most resistant to solubilisation, while those prepared from the shorter acyl chained DMPC were more readily solubilised. In terms of their solubilisation behaviour, vesicles made from phospholipids containing long, unsaturated acyl chains, namely DOPC behaved more akin to those vesicles prepared from DMPC. None of the Tween surfactants were effective at solubilising vesicles prepared from DPPC or DSPC. In contrast, there were clear differences in the ability of the various surfactants to solubilise vesicles prepared from DMPC and DOPC, in that micelles formed from Tween 20 were the most effective solubilising agent while those formed by Tween 60 were the least effective. As a consequence of these observations it was considered that Tween 60 was the surfactant least likely to cause membrane damage in vivo and, therefore, is the most suitable surfactant for use as a micellar drug delivery vehicle.     

Fingering phenomena during spreading of surfactant solutions

Fingering instabilities are observed at the contact line of drops of surfactant solutions spreading spontaneously on solid surfaces coated by a film of solvent. The occurrences of instabilities, and the characteristics of the instability pattern, are controlled by the surfactant concentration and the thickness of the film adsorbed or deposited on the substrate. This work provides experimental data as a basis for forthcoming theoretical analyses.     

Rheooptical investigation of the crystallization of poly(ethylene terephthalate) under tensile strain

The crystallization of poly(ethylene terephthalate) under uniaxial tensile strain at different extension rates was investigated with optical polarimetry in a temperature range between the glass-transition temperature and the quiescent crystallization temperature. The evolution of the optical properties of the polymer, including the turbidity, birefringence, and dichroism, were monitored simultaneously with the mechanical parameters. To complete the semicrystalline microstructure characterization of the polymer under strain, an online wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD) technique was used in separate experiments, which were performed under the same thermomechanical conditions. For real-time measurements, a high-energy synchrotron radiation source was used. The optical properties provided information about both the crystalline and amorphous phases, whereas the WAXD patterns essentially gave information about the crystalline phase. The two experimental techniques were then used in a complementary way to characterize the semicrystalline microstructure. Significant deviations from the stress-optical rule were found. This was attributed to both transient effects and the appearance of crystallites, which consisted of highly oriented molecular segments that could contribute to the optical anisotropy but not necessarily to the stress. The behavior of the optical dichroism was found to be qualitatively different from that of the birefringence. The latter monotonically increased with the strain, whereas the former first increased with the strain, passed through a maximum, and then decreased to a steady-state value. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 42: 1915–1927, 2004     

Structure,morphology, and crystallization process of isotactic polypropylene/hydrogenated hydrocarbon resin blends

The structure, morphology, and isothermal and nonisothermal crystallization of isotactic polypropylene/low‐molecular‐mass hydrocarbon resin blends (iPP/HR) (up to 20% in weight of HR) have been studied, using optical and electron microscopy, wide‐ and small‐angle X‐ray and differential scanning calorimetry. New structures and morphologies can be activated, using appropriate preparation and crystallization conditions and blend composition. For every composition and crystallization condition, iPP crystallizes in α‐form, with a spherulitic morphology. The size of iPP spherulites increases with resin content, whereas the long period decreases. In the range of crystallization temperatures investigated, HR modifies the birefringence of iPP spherulites, favoring the formation of radial lamellae and changing the ratio between tangential and radial lamellae. Spherulitic radial growth rates, overall crystallization rates, and melting temperatures are strongly affected by resin, monotonically decreasing with resin content. This confirms miscibility in the melt between the two components of the blends. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 42: 3368–3379, 2004     

Ferritin immunosensing on microfabricated electrodes based on the integration of immunoprecipitation and electrochemical signaling reactions.

A signal registration strategy from micropatterned immunosensors that converts antigen-antibody binding reactions into electrochemical signals was demonstrated. An array-type micropatterned gold electrode on a silicon wafer was fabricated, containing two electrode geometries of rectangular (100 microm x 500 microm) and circular (r. 50 microm) types, exhibiting electrochemical characteristics of bulk and micro-electrodes, respectively. Ferritin was employed as a model analyte for immunosensing because it has an advantageous molecular structure for functionalization to the sensing interface, and is regarded as a general marker protein for tumors and cancer recurrence. With the fabricated and ferritin-functionalized immunosensors, biospecific interactions were performed with antiferritin antiserum and secondary antibody samples, followed by electrochemical signaling via an immunoprecipitation reaction by the label enzyme. Under the optimized affinity-surface construction steps and reaction conditions, both types of microfabricated electrodes exhibited well-defined calibration results as a function of the protein concentration in antiserum samples. Furthermore, circular-type micropatterned immunoelectrodes exhibited voltammetric characteristics of microelectrodes, which is advantageous in terms of sensor operation under a fixed potential and low signal drift during the signaling reaction compared with the bulk-type electrodes. The results support that the employed signaling method with the proposed immunosensor configuration is fit for sensor miniaturization and integration to future biomicrosystems.     

Crystal structure of the 4-chromanone derivative.

The title compound was extracted from a natural product and its structure was characterized by an X-ray diffraction method. It crystallizes in the tetragonal space group P41 with cell parameters a = 15.832(10)A, c = 11.622(10)A, Z = 4; the final residual factor is R1 = 0.0769. The structure has both intra and intermolecular hydrogen bonds.     

Indexing Distributions of Data: Preservice Teachers' Notions of Representativeness

The purpose of the study was to identify strategies used by preservice elementary teachers to index distributions of data. A secondary purpose of the study was to investigate whether representational form influenced the type of representative values constructed. Two hundred eighty‐three preservice teachers were administered a selection of tasks requiring them to construct representative values for a variety of distributional shapes. Participants were asked to provide justifications for their chosen representative measures. Data were analyzed from two perspectives: nature and adequacy of representative measure. Results indicated that when presented with skewed data sets, over half of the participants constructed poorly representative values. Symmetric data sets were best indexed with 67% of participants constructing highly representative values. Representational form played a significant role in determining representative values. Data presented graphically were more likely to be represented using measures of variability than were those presented nongraphically. Conversely, measures of central tendency were more frequently used to represent nongraphical data. The information arising from this study indicates that many preservice teachers construct poorly representative values to index data sets and utilize identical measures of representativeness regardless of distributional shape. The findings of the study highlight the need for exploratory data activities at the preservice level, call for provision of experiences affording insights into construction of representative values, and thus, have implications for the design of preservice mathematics education curricula.     

Three-dimensional structure of Saccharomyces cerevisiae inorganic pyrophosphatase complexed with cobalt and phosphate ions

Crystals of Saccharomyces cerevisiae inorganic pyrophosphatase suitable for X-ray diffraction study were grown by cocrystallization of the enzyme with cobalt chloride and imidodiphosphate. Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a metal-dependent enzyme which catalyzes hydrolysis of inorganic pyrophosphate to orthophosphate. The three-dimensional structure of this enzyme was solved by the molecular-replacement method and refined at 1.8 Å resolution to an R factor of 19.5%. Cobalt and phosphate ions were revealed in the active centers of both identical subunits (A and B) of the pyrophosphatase molecule. In subunit B, a water molecule was found between two cobalt ions. It is believed that this water molecule acts as an attacking nucleophile in the enzymatic cleavage of the pyrophosphate bond. It was demonstrated that cobalt ions and a phosphate group occupy only part of the potential binding sites (two chemically identical and crystallographically independent subunits have different binding sites). The arrangement of ligands and the structure of the nucleophile-binding site are discussed in relation to the mechanism of action of the enzyme and the nature of the metal activator.     

Determination of flutter derivatives via a neural network approach

A neural-network-based method is offered to determine the flutter derivatives of section models under smooth and turbulent flows. The approach uses the observed dynamic responses to train an appropriate neural network. Subsequently, the modal parameters of the model for different mean velocities of wind flow are directly estimated using weight matrices in the neural network. The flutter derivatives can then be determined accurately. The validity of the present method is verified through numerical studies. Finally, the procedure is employed to process experimental data from an inverted-U-type section model, obtained from wind tunnel tests.