Design of Turn-On Near-Infrared Fluorescent Probes for Highly Sensitive and Selective Monitoring of Biopolymers

Simple, sensitive, and selective detection of specific biopolymers is critical in a broad range of biomedical and technological areas. We present a design of turn-on near-infrared (NIR) fluorescent probes with intrinsically high signal-to-background ratio. The fluorescent signal generation mechanism is based on the aggregation/de-aggregation of phthalocyanine chromophores controlled by selective binding of small-molecule “anchor” groups to a specific binding site of a target biopolymer. As a proof-of-concept, we demonstrate a design of a sensor for EGFR tyrosine kinase—an important target in cancer research. The universality of the fluorescent signal generation mechanism, as well as the dependence of the response selectivity on the choice of the small-molecule “anchor” group, make it possible to use this approach to design reliable turn-on NIR fluorescent sensors for detecting specific protein targets present in the low-nanomolar concentration range.     

Differentiation Properties of Symmetric Measures

Let μ be a singular symmetric measure on a Euclidian space. Given 0 < a ≤ b < + ∞, the set, where the lower derivative of the measure μ is equal to a and the upper derivative is equal to b, is large in the sense of the Hausdorff dimension. Partially supported by RFBR.     

Stochastic radiative transfer in Markovian mixtures: Past, present, and future

The Markovian approach, originally suggested in the early 1900s, has widespread practical use in many of our present-day studies and allows one to build bridges between diverse research areas such as statistical physics, astronomy, and computational science. This overview takes a broad sweep of several important examples with the emphasis on the stochastic radiative transfer in a cloudy atmosphere. In particular, the overview (i) highlights important contributions made by Pomraning and Titov to the neutron and radiation transport theory in a stochastic medium with homogeneous statistics and (ii) illustrates that ideas and tools introduced by these two distinguished scientists are gaining increasing impact and recognition in the atmospheric science.     

Characterization of EUV periodic multilayers

Nanometric Co/Mg, Co/Mg/B₄C, Al/SiC and Al/Mo/SiC periodic multilayers deposited by magnetron sputtering are studied in order to correlate their optical performances in the extreme ultraviolet (EUV) range to their structural quality. To that purpose, our recently developed methodology based on high‐resolution X‐ray emission spectroscopy (XES) and X‐ray and EUV reflectometry is now extended to nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and time‐of‐flight secondary ions mass spectrometry (ToF‐SIMS). The analysis of the Co Lαβ and Mg Kβ emission spectra shows that the Co and Mg atoms within the multilayers are in a chemical state equivalent to that of the atoms in the pure Co and Mg references, respectively. But NMR spectra give evidence for a reaction between Co atoms and B and/or C atoms from B₄C. The Al and Si Kβ emission spectra do not reveal the formation of an interfacial compound in Al/SiC and Al/Mo/SiC. Only the roughness limits the optical quality of Al/SiC. The comparative analysis of the ToF‐SIMS spectra of Al/SiC and Al/Mo/SiC indicates that the structural quality is enhanced when Mo is introduced within the stack. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

On the Initiation Mechanism of Syndiospecific Styrene Polymerization Catalyzed by Single‐Component ansa‐Lanthanidocenes

Single‐site catalysts : Syndiospecific styrene polymerization promoted by single‐site ansa‐lanthanidocene catalysts proceeds selectively in a secondary (2,1) fashion, both at the initiation and propagation steps. The steric hindrance between the phenyl ring of the incoming styrene monomer and the ancillary ligands (Cp′, Flu′), induced by the change of either the bridge or the “active” R ligand in the catalyst precursor, is proposed to control the reactivity of the complexes (see scheme).

     

STRONG COMPACTNESS OF APPROXIMATE SOLUTIONS TO DEGENERATE ELLIPTIC-HYPERBOLIC EQUATIONS WITH DISCONTINUOUS FLUX FUNCTION

Under a non-degeneracy condition on the nonlinearities we show that sequences of approximate entropy solutions of mixed elliptic-hyperbolic equations are strongly precompact in the general case of a Caratheodory flux vector. The proofs are based on deriving localization principles for H-measures associated to sequences of measurevalued functions. This main result implies existence of solutions to degenerate parabolic convection-diffusion equations with discontinuous flux. Moreover, it provides a framework in which one can prove convergence of various types of approximate solutions, such as those generated by the vanishing viscosity method and numerical schemes.     

Kolmogorov-Arnold-Moser transition and laser action on scar modes in semiconductor diode lasers with deformed resonators

Measurements of the optical spectra of semiconductor injection lasers with deformed cylinder resonators show strong indications of the classical Kolmogorov-Arnold-Moser transition from integrability to chaos for devices with small deformation. At larger deformation, evidence for laser action on scar modes is obtained. The diode lasers operate with TE polarization, resulting in laser action on (partially) chaotic whispering-gallery modes for all deformations.     

Leibenzon's backward shift and composition operators

We apply Leibenzon's backward shift to show that the composition operator on the unit ball of always maps the weighted Hardy space into the Hardy class .