Single molecule measurements within individual membrane-bound ion channels using a polymer-based bilayer lipid membrane chip

The measurement of single poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) molecules interacting with individual bilayer lipid membrane-bound ion channels is presented. Measurements were performed within a polymer microfluidic system including an open-well bilayer lipid membrane formation site, integrated Ag/AgCl reference electrodes for on-chip electrical measurements, and multiple microchannels for independent ion channel and analyte delivery. Details of chip fabrication, bilayer membrane formation, and alpha-hemolysin ion channel incorporation are discussed, and measurements of interactions between the membrane-bound ion channels and single PEG molecules are presented.     

Berry's phase in the presence of a non-adiabatic environment with an application to magnetic resonance.

We consider a two-level system coupled to an environment that evolves non-adiabatically. We present a non-perturbative method for determining the persistence amplitude whose phase contains all the corrections to Berry's phase produced by the non-adiabatic motion of the environment. Specifically, it includes the effect of transitions between the two energy levels to all orders in the non-adiabatic coupling. The problem of determining all non-adiabatic corrections is reduced to solving an ordinary differential equation to which numerical methods should provide solutions in a variety of situations. We apply our method to a particular example that can be realized as a magnetic resonance experiment, thus raising the possibility of testing our results in the laboratory.     

Study of generalized eigenfunctions of a perturbed isotropic elastic half‐space

We consider the self‐adjoint operator governing the propagation of elastic waves in a perturbed isotropic half‐space (perturbation with compact support of a homogeneous isotropic half‐space) with a free boundary condition. We propose a method to obtain, numerical values included, a complete set of generalized eigenfunctions that diagonalize this operator. The first step gives an explicit representation of these functions using a perturbative method. The unbounded boundary is a new difficulty compared with the method used by Wilcox [25], who set the problem in the complement of bounded open set. The second step is based on a boundary integral equations method which allows us to compute these functions. For this, we need to determine explicitly the Green's function of (A₀ – ω²), where A₀ is the self‐adjoint operator describing elastic waves in a homogeneous isotropic half‐space. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Identification of two coefficients with data of one component for a nonlinear parabolic system

In this article, we consider a nonlinear parabolic system with two components and prove a stability estimate of Lipschitz type in determining two coefficients of the system by data of only one component. The main idea for the proof is a Carleman estimate.     

Surface modification of poly(methyl methacrylate) for improved adsorption of wall coating polymers for microchip electrophoresis

The development of rapid and simple wall coating strategies for high-efficiency electrophoretic separation of DNA is of crucial importance for the successful implementation of miniaturized polymeric DNA analysis systems. In this report, we characterize and compare different methods for the chemical modification of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) surfaces for the application of wall coating polymers. PMMA surfaces coated with 40 mol% diethylacrylamide and 60 mol% dimethylacrylamide are compared to the PMMA surfaces first oxidized and then coated with hydroxypropylmethyl-cellulose or poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA). PMMA oxidation was accomplished with UV/ozone or an aqueous solution of HNO(3) to yield hydrogen-bond donors for the spontaneous adsorption of the coating polymers. Contact angle measurements of UV/ozone exposed PMMA surfaces indicate increase in hydrophilicity, and polymer coated surfaces show a strong dependence on the coating polymer and the oxidation method. Fast and repeatable electrophoretic separations of a 10-base and 20-base DNA ladder were performed in PMMA micro CE devices. All analyses were completed in less than 10 min, resulting in the number of theoretical plates as high as 583 000 in a 7.7 cm long separation channel. The duration of UV/ozone treatment was found to have a considerable impact on separation performance. The microchips irradiated with UV for 10 min and coated with PVA as well as the microchips treated with HNO(3) and coated with HPMC were found to have the best separation performance. These results demonstrate facile and robust methods for the surface modification of PMMA enabling low-cost single use devices for electrophoretic DNA separations.     

A new Carleman inequality for parabolic systems with a single observation and applications

In this Note, we present Carleman estimates for linear reaction–diffusion–convection systems of two equations and linear reaction–diffusion systems of three equations. These estimates are the key for proving controllability results for semilinear reaction–diffusion–convection systems of order 2 and reaction–diffusion systems of order 3. They allow us to derive results for identification of n coefficients by $(n?2)$ observations.     

Cellular immobilization within microfluidic microenvironments: dielectrophoresis with polyelectrolyte multilayers

The development of biomimetic microenvironments will improve cell culture techniques by enabling in vitro cell cultures that mimic in vivo behavior; however, experimental control over attachment, cellular position, or intercellular distances within such microenvironments remains challenging. We report here the rapid and controllable immobilization of suspended mammalian cells within microfabricated environments using a combination of electronic (dielectrophoresis, DEP) and chemical (polyelectrolyte multilayers, PEMS) forces. While cellular position within the microsystem is rapidly patterned via intermittent DEP trapping, persistent adhesion after removal of electronic forces is enabled by surface treatment with PEMS that are amenable to cellular attachment. In contrast to DEP trapping alone, persistent adhesion enables the soluble microenvironment to be systematically varied, facilitating the use of soluble probes of cell state and enabling cellular characterization in response to various soluble stimuli.