Magnetically gated microelectrodes

Microelectrodes fabricated in the center of single-coil microelectromagnetic traps are described. Magnetic particles are then used to reversibly gate transport of an electroactive species to the surface of the electrode or as a means to produce an ON/OFF bioelectrocatalytic glucose sensor.     

Heuristic solution methods for the stochastic flow shop problem

We investigate the stochastic flow shop problem with m machines and general distributions for processing times. No analytic method exists for solving this problem, so we looked instead at heuristic methods. We devised three constructive procedures with modest computational requirements, each based on approaches that have been successful at solving the deterministic counterpart. We compared the performance of these procedures experimentally on a set of test problems and found that all of them achieve near-optimal performance.     

A Personal Perspective on the Last Half-Century of Critical Phenomena

One of the crowning achievements of mathematical, statistical physics over the past half century has been the discovery of the many aspects of structure of the critical point. It has been an exciting time and was only possible through the combined efforts of many excellent people. This article contains brief reviews of some of the parts in which I have been most interested and to which I have made some contributions.     

Periodic solutions of non-linear discrete Volterra equations with finite memory

In this paper we discuss the existence of periodic solutions of discrete (and discretized) non-linear Volterra equations with finite memory. The literature contains a number of results on periodic solutions of non-linear Volterra integral equations with finite memory, of a type that arises in biomathematics. The “summation” equations studied here can arise as discrete models in their own right but are (as we demonstrate) of a type that arise from the discretization of such integral equations. Our main results are in two parts: (i) results for discrete equations and (ii) consequences for quadrature methods applied to integral equations. The first set of results are obtained using a variety of fixed-point theorems. The second set of results address the preservation of properties of integral equations on discretizing them. The effect of weak singularities is addressed in a final section. The detail that is presented, which is supplemented using appendices, reflects the differing prerequisites of functional analysis and numerical analysis that contribute to the outcomes.     

Gas chromatography/flame ionisation detection mass spectrometry for the detection of endogenous urine metabolites for metabonomic studies and its use as a complementary tool to nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy

Metabonomics is a relatively new field of research in which the total pool of metabolites in body fluids or tissues from different patient groups is subjected to comparative analysis. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is the technology that is currently most widely used for the analysis of these highly complex metabolite mixtures, and hundreds of metabolites can be detected without any upfront separation. We have investigated in this study whether gas chromatography (GC) separation in combination with flame ionisation detection (FID) and mass spectrometry (MS) detection can be used for metabolite profiling from urine. We show that although GC sample preparation is much more involved than for NMR, hundreds of metabolites can reproducibly be detected and analysed by GC. We show that the data quality is sufficiently high--particularly if appropriate baseline correction and time-warping methods are applied--to allow for data comparison by chemometrics methods. A sample set of urines from eleven healthy human volunteers was analysed independently by GC and NMR, and subsequent chemometrics analysis of the two datasets showed some similar features. As judged by NIST database searches of the GC/MS data some of the major metabolites that are detected by NMR are also visible by GC/MS. Since in contrast to NMR every peak in GC corresponds to a single metabolite, the electron ionisation spectra can be used to quickly identify metabolites of interest if their reference spectra are present in a searchable database. In summary, we show that GC is a method that can be used as a complementary tool to NMR for metabolite profiling of urine samples.     

Reactions of group 3 transition metal atoms with CS2 and OCS: Matrix isolation infrared spectra and density-functional calculations of SMCS, SM-(eta2-CS), SMCO, and SM-(eta2-CO) in solid argon

Laser-ablated scandium, yttrium, and lanthanum atoms were reacted with CS2 and OCS molecules in an argon matrix. Products of the type SMCX and S-M(eta2-CX) (X = S or O) were formed on sample deposition. Photolysis favored the S-M(eta(2)-CX) complex, while annealing increased the more stable SMCX isomer. Product absorptions are identified by density-functional frequency calculations and isotopic substitutions. This work reports the first vibrational spectroscopic characterization of Sc, Y, and La reaction products with CS2 and OCS and the subsequent interconversion between SMCX and S-M(eta2-CX) structural isomers.     

A solvent induced mechanism for conformational change

Molecular dynamics simulations have been used to investigate the dynamic behaviour of two small molecule neurotransmitter analogues in aqueous solution, leading to the elucidation of a mechanism for conformational change which is driven by the presence of the solvent molecules.     

Biosensing with conically shaped nanopores and nanotubes

In this review we consider recent results from our group that are directed towards developing "smart" synthetic nanopores that can mimic the functions of biological nanopores (transmembrane proteins). We first discuss the preparation and characterization of conical nanopores synthesized using the track-etch process. We then consider the design and function of conical nanopores that can rectify the ionic current that flows through these pores under an applied transmembrane potential. Finally, two types of sensors that we have developed with these conical nanopores are described. The first sensor makes use of molecular recognition elements that are bound to the nanopore mouth to selectively block the nanopore tip, thus detecting the presence of the analyte. The second sensor makes use of conical nanopores in a resistive-pulse type experiment, detecting the analyte via transient blockages in ionic current.     

Tomographic reconstruction of high-energy-density plasmas with picosecond temporal resolution

Three-dimensional reconstruction of the electron density in a plasma can be obtained by passing multiple beams at different field angles simultaneously through a plasma and performing a tomographic reconstruction of the measured field-dependent phase profiles. A relatively simple experimental setup is proposed and simulations are carried out to verify the technique. The plasma distribution is modeled as a discrete number of phase screens, and a Zernike polynomial representation of the phase screens is used to reconstruct the plasma profile.