An application of the capacitance matrix method to accommodate masked land areas and island circulations in a primitive equation ocean model

The capacitance matrix method has been implemented in a primitive equation ocean model to accommodate islands and portions of irregular coastal boundaries that cannot be treated adequately by boundary-fitted orthogonal curvilinear co-ordinates. The algorithm preserves the ability to solve the streamfunction equation using fast and accurate elliptic solvers that require a rectangular computational domain. By superposition of a set of island Green functions, the solution is adjusted to ensure continuity of pressure around each island. The implementation is tested by comparison with an analytic solution for wind-driven flow in a closed basin similar to the southwest Pacific Ocean.     

Determination of 25 elements in the complex oxide mineral zirconolite by analytical electron microscopy

In this paper we describe a technique for the determination of 25 elements in natural zirconolite using energy-dispersive analytical electron microscopy (AEM). The method presented here allows one to quantitatively investigate the chemistry of submicron-scale zones in complex oxide minerals. The effects of electron channeling, thickness variability and variations in detector resolution were minimized by using a controlled set of operating procedures and instrument parameters. To provide a high level of accurayy, k_ATI-factors were determined from standards for most of the 25 elements of interest, including all of the major elements. Each analytical spectrum is reduced to a set of raw peak counts (and errors) using a digital top-hat filter to suppress background followed by multiple least squares fitting of reference spectra. Counting times of 12–15 min per analysis were required to provide suitable counting statistics. Results are presented for zirconolite samples from the contact metamorphic aureole of the Bergell granodiorite intrusion, Switzerland-Italy. A comparison of 43 AEM analyses with 15 analyses obtained by wavelength-dispersive electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) shows that there is excellent agreement between the two data sets in the amounts of individual elements present, chemical trends and overall stoichiometry. An assessment of the combined data set shows that the major substitution mechanisms in the Bergell samples are coupled substitutions involving the M5,6- and M8-sites of the zirconolite structure: ^M8Ca²⁺ + ^M5,6Ti⁴⁺→^M8REE³⁺ + ^M5,6(Al,Fe)³⁺ and ^M8Ca²⁺ + ^M5,6Ti⁴⁺→^M8(Th,U)⁴⁺ + ^M5,6 (Mg,Fe)²⁺.     

Synthesis and characterization of thermoresponsive amphiphilic block copolymers incorporating a poly(ethylene oxide‐stat‐propylene oxide) block

Amphiphilic BuO‐(PEO‐stat‐PPO)‐block‐PLA‐OH diblock and MeO‐PEO‐block‐(PEO‐stat‐PPO)‐block‐PLA‐OH triblock copolymers incorporating thermoresponsive poly(ethylene oxide‐stat‐propylene oxide) (PEO‐stat‐PPO) blocks were prepared by ring‐opening polymerization of lactide (LA) initiated by macroinitiators formed from treating BuO‐(PEO‐stat‐PPO)‐OH and MeO‐PEO‐block‐(PEO‐stat‐PPO)‐OH with AlEt₃. MeO‐PEO‐block‐(PEO‐stat‐PPO)‐OH was prepared by coupling MeO‐PEO‐OH and HO‐(PEO‐stat‐PPO)‐OH, followed by chromatographic purification. The cloud points of 0.2% aqueous solutions are between 36 and 46 °C for the diblock copolymers that contain a 50 wt % EO thermoresponsive block and 78 °C for the triblock copolymer that contains a 75 wt % EO thermoresponsive block. Variable temperature ¹H NMR spectra recorded on D₂O solutions of the diblock copolymers display no PLA resonances below the cloud point and fairly sharp PLA resonances above the cloud point, suggesting that desolvation of the thermoresponsive block increases the miscibility of the two blocks. Preliminary characterization of the micelles formed in aqueous solutions of BuO‐(PEO‐stat‐PPO)‐block‐PLA‐OH conducted using laser scanning confocal microscopy and pulsed gradient spin echo NMR point to significant changes in the size of the micellar aggregates as a function of temperature. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 43: 5156–5167, 2005     

A prochelator peptide designed to use heterometallic cooperativity to enhance metal ion affinity

A peptide has been designed so that its chelating affinity for one type of metal ion regulates its affinity for a second, different type of metal ion. The prochelator peptide (PCP), which is a fusion of motifs evocative of calcium loops and zinc fingers, forms a 1 : 2 Zn : peptide complex at pH 7.4 that increases its affinity for Zn²⁺ ∼3-fold in the presence of Tb³⁺ (log β₂ from 13.8 to 14.3), while the 1 : 1 luminescent complex with Tb³⁺ is brighter, longer lived, and 20-fold tighter in the presence of Zn²⁺ (log K from 6.2 to 7.5). This unique example of cooperative, heterometallic allostery in a biologically compatible construct suggests the possibility of designing conditionally active metal-binding agents that could respond to dynamic changes in cellular metal status.     

Utilizing Paper-Based Devices for Antimicrobial-Resistant Bacteria Detection

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR), the ability of a bacterial species to resist the action of an antimicrobial drug, has been on the rise due to the widespread use of antimicrobial agents. Per the World Health Organization, AMR has an estimated annual cost of USD 34 billion in the US and is predicted to be the number one cause of death worldwide by 2050. One way AMR bacteria can spread, and by which individuals can contract AMR infections, is through contaminated water. Monitoring AMR bacteria in the environment currently requires that samples be transported to a central laboratory for slow and labor intensive tests. We have developed an inexpensive assay using paper-based analytical devices (PADs) that can test for the presence of β-lactamase-mediated resistance. To demonstrate viability, the PAD was used to detect β-lactam resistance in wastewater and sewage and identified resistance in individual bacterial species isolated from environmental water sources.