An isothermal amplification reactor with an integrated isolation membrane for point-of-care detection of infectious diseases

A simple, point of care, inexpensive, disposable cassette for the detection of nucleic acids extracted from pathogens was designed, constructed, and tested. The cassette utilizes a single reaction chamber for isothermal amplification of nucleic acids. The chamber is equipped with an integrated, flow-through, Flinders Technology Associates (Whatman FTA?) membrane for the isolation, concentration, and purification of DNA and/or RNA. The nucleic acids captured by the membrane are used directly as templates for amplification without elution, thus simplifying the cassette's flow control. The FTA membrane also serves another critical role-enabling the removal of inhibitors that dramatically reduce detection sensitivity. Thermal control is provided with a thin film heater external to the cassette. The amplification process was monitored in real time with a portable, compact fluorescent reader. The utility of the integrated, single-chamber cassette was demonstrated by detecting the presence of HIV-1 in oral fluids. The HIV RNA was reverse transcribed and subjected to loop-mediated, isothermal amplification (LAMP). A detection limit of less than 10 HIV particles was demonstrated. The cassette is particularly suitable for resource poor regions, where funds and trained personnel are in short supply. The cassette can be readily modified to detect nucleic acids associated with other pathogens borne in saliva, urine, and other body fluids as well as in water and food.     

Probing intrazeolite space

Molecular sieves are inorganic framework structures generally composed of crystalline aluminosilicate tetrahedra which are arranged to form channels of 2–10 Å, diameters and cages with dimensions from 6–15 Å. Absorption of probe molecules of varying geometries and sizes is used to characterize the framework dimensions and topography in concert with X-ray diffraction identification of the specific structure. From unit cell dimensions and assumptions about the size of the framework forming species, a pore volume can be calculated. The volumes of the absorbed probe molecules, using their liquid densities, are then compared to the calculated pore volume. The constraint on the packing of the absorbed molecules is quantified by comparing their packing density to their density in the liquid state. Further, the packing of different probe molecules into the same pore volume is compared via a ratio technique called the packing ratio. The effect of the lattice geometry and framework dimensions on the packing ratios is to provide a set of characteristic values for a given molecular sieve. The packing ratios for zeolites rho and ZSM-5 are presented as expectation values for other scientists to use as bases of comparison.     

Search for lepton-flavor violation in the decay tau- --> l- l+ l-

A search for the lepton-flavor-violating decay of the tau into three charged leptons has been performed using 91.5 fb(-1) of data collected at an e(+)e(-)center-of-mass energy around 10.58 GeV with the BABAR detector at the SLAC storage ring PEP-II. In all six decay modes considered, the numbers of events found in data are compatible with the background expectations. Upper limits on the branching fractions are set in the range (1-3)x10(-7) at 90% confidence level.     

Synthesis, optical properties, and growth mechanism of blue-emitting CdSe nanorods

Blue-emitting, cubic phase CdSe nanorods with an approximate diameter of 2.5 nm and lengths up to 12 nm have been synthesized at low temperature (100 degrees C) in a single surfactant using a single-source molecular precursor. Transmission electron microscopy and dynamic light scattering measurements indicate that the nanorods are formed from self-assembly of isotropic nanoclusters. Anisotropic growth in a single surfactant appears to be favored when growth occurs below the thermal decomposition temperature of the single-source precursor.     

Measurements of branching fractions and time-dependent CP-violating asymmetries in B --> eta'K decays

We present measurements of the B --> eta(')K branching fractions; for B(+) --> eta(')K(+) we measure also the time-integrated charge asymmetry Alpha(ch), and for B(0) --> eta(')K(0)(S) the time-dependent CP-violation parameters S and C. The data sample corresponds to 232 x 10(6) BB pairs produced by e(+)e(-) annihilation at the Upsilon (4S). The results are Beta(B --> eta(')K(+)) = (68.9 +/- 2.0 +/- 3.2) x 10(-6), Beta(B(0) --> eta(')K(0)) = (67.4 +/- 3.2) x 10(-6), Alpha(ch) = 0.033 +/- 0.028 +/- 0.005, S = 0.30 +/- 0.140 +/- 0.02, and C = -0.21 +/- 0.10 +/- 0.02, where the first error quoted is statistical and the second is systematic.     

Theoretical studies on “acetylenic zipper” reaction intermediates

Nonempirical molecular orbital studies on a series of isomeric octyn-1-ols indicated that the anomalous stability of the alkoxide of 3-octyn-1-ol isomer is probably related to stereochemical and polarization properties of the molecule. The calculations correlated with the experimental observation that the least stable isomer should be the terminal alkyne, 7-octyn-1-ol.     

Pion pair production in photon-photon collisions at spear

We report a measurement of the cross section for the process γγ→π⁺π^? at invariant masses 500 MeV/c² < m_ππ<2000 MeV/c². A value for the radiative width of the f(1270) tensor meson Γ_f→γγ = 3.6 ± 0.3 ± 0.5 KeV (helicity λ = 2) has been obtained from a fit to the observed ππ mass spectrum.     

Inclusive production of D-mesons in e+e− annihilation at 7 GeV

Inclusive momentum and energy spectra of neutral and charged D-mesons produced in e⁺e^? annihilation at energies near 7 GeV are presented. The slope of the energy spectrum is similar to the charged pion spectrum at the same energy. The inclusive cross section σ(e⁺e^?→ D or $\text{D}$ + anything) at 7 GeV is 4.8±1.3 nb.