Protease‐Triggered,Integrin‐Targeted Cellular Uptake of Recombinant Protein Micelles

Targeting nanoparticles for drug delivery has great potential for improving efficacy and reducing side effects from systemic toxicity. New developments in the assembly of materials afford the opportunity to expose cryptic targeting domains in tissue‐specific microenvironments in which certain proteases are expressed. Here, recombinant proteins are designed to combine the responsiveness to environmental proteases with specific targeting. Materials made recombinantly allow complete control over amino acid sequence, in which each molecule is identically functionalized. Previously, oleosin, a naturally occurring plant protein that acts as a surfactant, has been engineered to self‐assemble into spherical micelles—a useful structure for drug delivery. To make oleosins that are locally activated to bind receptors, oleosin is genetically modified to incorporate the integrin‐binding motif RGDS just behind a domain cleavable by thrombin. The resulting modified oleosin self‐assembles into spherical micelles in aqueous environments, with the RGDS motif protected by the thrombin‐cleavable domain. Upon the addition of thrombin, the RGDS is exposed and the binding of the spherical micelles to breast cancer cells is increased fourfold.

     

Measuring magnetic fields in single aluminum wire plasmas with time-resolved optical spectroscopy

Using time-resolved emission spectroscopy at visible wavelengths, we explored the conditions of plasmas generated by current-driven explosions of single aluminum wires. The experiments were carried out with 15 μm aluminum wires driven by the Low Current Pulser 3 (LCP3) at Cornell University.The plasma conditions were studied as a function of time and radial position, including electron temperature, electron density, ionization state, and magnetic field. To determine the magnetic field, we are working toward employing a new diagnostic method which makes use of Zeeman-effect-produced differences in the line shapes of two fine structure components of a multiplet that are equally broadened by Stark effect and by Doppler broadening. Preliminary results and data collected by a spectroscopy system with 3.2 Å resolution are presented.     

Slow Light Excitation in Tapered 1D Photonic Crystals: Theory

Slow light (SL) states corresponding to wavelength regions near the bandgap edge of grated structures are known to show strong field enhancement. Such states may be excited efficiently by well-optimized adiabatic transitions in grated structures, e.g., by slowly turning on the modulation depth. To study adiabatic excitations, a detailed research in 1D is performed to obtain insight into the relation between the device parameters and properties like enhancement and modal reflection. The results enable the design of an adiabatic device for efficient excitation of SL states in 1D. The effect of small wavelength variations as well as small fluctuations in the modulation depth of the grating has been investigated.     

Finite element approximation of a model for phase separation of a multi-component alloy with a concentration-dependent mobility matrix

We consider a model for phase separation of a multi-componentalloy with a concentration-dependent mobility matrix and logarithmicfree energy. In particular we prove that there exists a uniquesolution for sufficiently smooth initial data. Further, we provean error bound for a fully practical piecewise linear finiteelement approximation in one and two space dimensions. Finallynumerical experiments with three components in one space dimensionare presented.     

Analytic approach to dielectric optical bent slab waveguides

A rigorous classical analytic frequency domain model of confined optical wave propagation along 2D bent slab waveguides and curved dielectric interfaces is investigated, based on a piecewise ansatz for bend mode profiles in terms of Bessel and Hankel functions. This approach provides a clear picture of the behaviour of bend modes, concerning their decay for large radial arguments or effects of varying bend radius. Fast and accurate routines are required to evaluate Bessel functions with large complex orders and large arguments. Our implementation enabled detailed studies of bent waveguide properties, including higher order bend modes and whispering gallery modes, their interference patterns, and issues related to bend mode normalization and orthogonality properties.