Fabrication of non-biofouling polyethylene glycol micro- and nanochannels by ultraviolet-assisted irreversible sealing

We present a simple and widely applicable method to fabricate micro- and nanochannels comprised entirely of crosslinked polyethylene glycol (PEG) by using UV-assisted irreversible sealing to bond partially crosslinked PEG surfaces. The method developed here can be used to form channels as small as approximately 50 nm in diameter without using a sophisticated experimental setup. The manufactured channel is a homogeneous conduit made completely from non-biofouling PEG, exhibits robust sealing with minimal swelling and can be used without additional surface modification chemistries, thus significantly enhancing reliability and durability of microfluidic devices. Furthermore, we demonstrate simple analytical assays using PEG microchannels combined with patterned arrays of supported lipid bilayers (SLBs) to detect ligand (biotin)-receptor (streptavidin) interactions.     

Size-selective shell cross-linked interior functionalized siloxane nanocages

A new structure, consisting of a shell cross-linked, 2 nm size siloxane nanocage containing propylamine groups tethered to the interior face of the shell was synthesized, starting with micelles of the surfactant molecule, (triethoxysilyl)propylcetylcarbamate. After hydrolysis of the ethoxysilyl groups and condensation and capping of the silanols to form a cross-linked, one-atom-layer-thick siloxane shell, the carbamate was converted to amine, releasing the cetyl group from the structure and resulting in the desired spherical nanocage. The intermediates in the synthesis process and the final structure were characterized by 1H and 29Si NMR, DLS, TEM, and mass spectroscopy. The amine groups tethered to the interior surface of the shell react readily with ninhydrin but do not interact with the larger ZnTPP, indicating molecular size selectivity by the cross-linked shell. The structure also exhibits confinement effect in the amine-catalyzed decarboxylation of acetoacetic acid, exhibiting higher activity and higher selectivity for acetal than (aminopropyl)triethoxysilane.     

Steric control of a bridging ligand for high-nuclearity metallamacrocycle formation: a highly puckered 60-membered icosanuclear metalladiazamacrocycle

A novel S4-symmetric icosanuclear manganese metalladiazamacrocycle was synthesized using a pentadentate ligand, N-3-phenyl-trans-2-propenoylsalicylhydrazide (H3L), that has a rigid and bulky terminal N-acyl group. A 20 cyclic repeat of an--(Mn-N-N)--linkage resulted in a highly puckered diaza-bridged 60-membered icosanuclear metallamacrocycle. The steric interaction between the ligands in the cyclic system leads to five consecutive Mn(III) centers in a chemically different--(Mn(A)Mn(B)Mn(C)Mn(D)Mn(E))--environment, with the chiralities of the metal centers being in a rather complicated--(LambdaLambdaDeltaLambdaLambda)(DeltaDeltaLambdaDeltaDelta)--sequence.     

Spectral studies of SnO2 nanofibres prepared by electrospinning method

Tin oxide nanofibres with 100-150 nm diameter has been prepared, for the first time by calcination of poly(vinyl acetate) (PVAc)/SnO2 composite fibres prepared by electrospinning method as precursor. Scanning electron microscopic images revealed cylindrical morphology of the fibres after calcination at 600 degrees C. Both, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman spectral data confirmed the presence of phase pure tetragonal rutile tin oxide after calcination process. Room temperature photoluminescence (PL) spectra of tin oxide nanofibres under excitation at 325 nm wavelength show a strong green emission at 525 nm with a band gap of 2.41 eV. FT-IR spectra confirmed the formation of pure tin oxide after calcination at 600 degrees C and complete removal of PVAc during calcination. UV-vis spectrum of the fibres showed absorption at 315 nm due to the direct electron transfer in tin oxide.     

Formation of regular nanoscale undulations on a thin polymer film imprinted by a soft mold

We observed the formation of regular nanoscale undulations on a polystyrene film when imprinted by a soft poly(dimethylsiloxane) mold above the polymer's glass transition temperature. The shape of the wave was reminiscent of a buckling wave frequently observed for a metal film supported on an elastomeric substrate. We derived a simple theoretical model based on an anisotropic buckling of the polymer film rigidly bound to a substrate, which agrees well with the experiment.     

The enabled homolog gene polymorphisms are associated with susceptibility and progression of childhood IgA nephropathy

The enabled homolog gene (ENAH, hMena) is abundantly expressed in mesangial tissue, and might play an important role in inflammatory processes of IgA nephropathy (IgAN). The present study was conducted to investigate the association between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the ENAH and childhood IgAN. We analyzed 12 SNPs of ENAH in 176 patients with childhood IgAN and 397 healthy controls. In addition, IgAN patients were dichotomized and compared with respect to several clinical and pathological parameters. Genotyping data showed significant differences between IgAN patients and controls in the frequency of rs2039620, rs12034829, and rs3795443. On comparison of patients with proteinuria to those without proteinuria (≤ or > 4 mg/m²/h), rs12043633 was significantly different between the two groups. With regard to maximum proteinuria (≤ or > 4 mg/m²/h), rs3795443, rs4653643, rs6751, rs10799319, rs7555139, rs576861, and rs487591 showed significant allele frequency differences. For patients with and without gross hematuria, rs4653643, rs6751, rs10799319, rs7555139, rs576861, and rs487591 showed significant allele frequency differences. The rs3795443 was found to be associated with progression of pathological findings. Our results suggest that ENAH polymorphisms are associated with increased susceptibility, development of proteinuria and gross hematuria, and pathological progression of childhood IgAN.     

Numerical simulation for a long-range dispersion of a pollutant using Chernobyl data

A Lagrangian particle model has been developed and applied to a long-range atmospheric dispersion. The developed numerical model has been tested by comparing its predictions with the ¹³⁷Cs air concentrations recorded over European areas during the Chernobyl accident. Sensitivity studies were performed to investigate the numerical accuracy according to a variation of the parameters such as the mixing height and diffusion coefficient in the model. From a comparative study, the calculated concentration distributions were more sensitive to a variation of the mixing height than to the changes of the diffusion coefficient values. Also, the calculated concentrations agreed with the time series of the measured ones at some sampling points.     

Ionic‐Liquid‐Assisted Formation of Silver Nanowires

Down to the wire : A simple and effective method to synthesize silver nanowires through an ionic‐liquid‐assisted polyol process is developed (see scheme; scale bar=5 nm). The ionic liquids are tuned to provide the anisotropic growth of silver nanoparticles into nanowires.

     

Temporal and spectral responses of a softening Duffing oscillator undergoing route-to-chaos

Because nonlinear responses are oftentimes transient and consist of complex amplitude and frequency modulations, linearization would inevitably obscure the temporal transition attributable to the nonlinear terms, thus also making all inherent nonlinear effects inconspicuous. It is shown that linearization of a softening Duffing oscillator underestimates the variation of the frequency response, thereby concealing the underlying evolution from bifurcation to chaos. In addition, Fourier analysis falls short of capturing the time evolution of the route-to-chaos and also misinterprets the corresponding response with fictitious frequencies. Instantaneous frequency along with the empirical mode decomposition is adopted to unravel the multi-components that underlie the bifurcation-to-chaos transition, while retaining the physical features of each component. Through considering time and frequency responses simultaneously, a better understanding of the particular Duffing oscillator is achieved.     

A novel tunable optical oscillator for broadband signals

A tunable optical oscillator that generates signals at the micro- to millimeter-wave band for wireless communication applications is suggested. It uses directly modulated semiconductor lasers, in which sideband modes and four-wave mixing (FWM) conjugate modes are injection locked by the simple control of the applied modulation power. The signals at 15 GHz with phase noise of below ?95 dBc/Hz at an offset frequency of 100 kHz were experimentally obtained. The frequency of the generated signal is tunable, and the maximum achievable signal frequency is limited mainly by the bandwidth of the receiver.