Glyco-acrylate copolymers for bilayer tethering on benzophenone-modified substrates

Model biological membranes are becoming increasingly important for studying fundamental biophysical phenomena and developing membrane-based devices. To address the anticipated problem of non-physiological interactions between membrane proteins and substrates seen in “solid-supported lipid bilayers” that are formed directly on hydrophilic substrates, we have developed a polymer-tethered lipid bilayer system based on a random copolymer with multiple lipid analogue anchors and a glyco-acrylate backbone. This system is targeted at applications that, most importantly, require stability and robustness since each copolymer has multiple lipid analogues that insert into the bilayer. We have combined this copolymer with a flexible photochemical coupling scheme that covalently attaches the copolymer to the substrate. The Langmuir isotherms of mixed copolymer/free lipid monolayers measured at the air–water interface indicate that the alkyl chains of the copolymer lipid analogues and the free lipids dominate the film behavior. In addition, no significant phase transitions are seen in the isotherms, while hysteresis experiments confirm that no irreversible states are formed during the monolayer compression. Isobaric creep experiments at the air–water interface and AFM experiments of the transferred monolayer are used to guide processing parameters for creating a fluid, homogeneous bilayer. Bilayer homogeneity and fluidity are monitored using fluorescence microscopy. Continuous bilayers with lateral diffusion coefficients of 0.6 μm²/s for both leaflets of the bilayer are observed for a 5% copolymer system.     

Time-resolved imaging of the electrical breakdown of planar microelectrode gap in atmospheric air

The aim of this study was to obtain time-resolved images of the electrical breakdown of a planar microelectrode gap along the surface of a glass substrate in atmospheric air. The obtained images revealed details of the events leading to the breakdown. First, a point light emission appeared at the cathode, indicating breakdown initiated by the field emission of electrons from the cathode under extremely high electric fields. Then, a flare-like broad light emission was generated at the anode. Finally, breakdown occurred over the entire gap by the expansion and merger of the two emissions.     

聚变堆高热流部件超汽化换热实验研究

搭建了常压水超汽化实验回路(HVL-Ⅰ),采用平面激光诱导荧光(PLIF)、高速摄影、微距摄影、粒子成像测速(PIV)等先进测量技术,开展聚变堆面对等离子体部件(第一壁、偏滤器)在高热流过冷沸腾工况下强化换热特性实验研究。选择三角形和矩形翅片的铬锆铜超汽化样件,实验工况为常压室温(296K),若丹明B 水溶液流速 0.3～0.5m•s⁻¹ 连续可调,热流密度～5MW•m⁻²。实验结果表明同等工况下,矩形翅片比三角形翅片换热效果显著增强,性能提升约30%～50%。微距摄影显示翅根涡流形态保持时间越短,越有利于小汽泡充分扩散,从而使换热得到强化。     

基于平板波导的小型红外光栅光谱仪光学设计

为实现红外光谱仪器的小型化,通过分析现有小型光谱仪,提出了一种基于平板波导的小型红外光栅光谱仪的设计方法。平板波导光谱仪的小型化原理与一般的微小型光谱仪不同。在平板波导光谱仪中,光束被限制在一层薄薄的平板波导介质中传播,看起来像是整个光学系统被压扁了。在垂直于平板波导的方向上光学元件的尺寸可以做到很小,从而显著减小光学系统的尺寸。该系统的设计可分为Czerny-Turner结构设计、波导结构设计。先根据像差理论设计Czerny-Turner结构,目标是保证光谱分辨率及校正像差;然后根据几何光学理论设计波导结构,包括平板波导和两个柱面透镜,目标是压缩光束并校正像散;最后将它们输入Zemax软件中进行综合优化,以获得最优的光学系统。据此方法设计了一个平板波导红外光栅光谱仪,工作波段为8~12 μm,数值孔径为0.22,采用线阵探测器。通过Zemax软件对结果进行分析和评价,表明仪器光学系统的尺寸为130 mm×125 mm×20 mm,工作波段内光谱分辨率达到80 nm,满足设计指标要求。证明了该优化设计方法是可行的,所得系统尺寸小、性能高。     

The effect of total reflection in PLIF imaging of annular thin films

Planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) imaging techniques are increasingly used to study wavy annular flows in vertical and horizontal pipes. We present a ray-tracing study that analyzes the imaging properties of the PLIF technique for uniform and wavy annular films. Part of the emitted fluorescence will hit the water–air interface at angles greater than the critical angle of total reflection. As a consequence, PLIF imaging probes the film twice: From bottom to top and then again from top to bottom. Deflected fluorescence widens PLIF images of uniform films by about 30%. Surface waves further increase the contribution of deflected rays to the overall signal. At the steep slopes of large amplitude axial waves, total reflection might widen PLIF signals by up to a factor of two.     

An imaging pH optode for cell studies based on covalent attachment of 8-hydroxypyrene-1,3,6-trisulfonate to amino cellulose acetate films

The objective of this study was to create a thin film optode for fast pH measurements that meets the requirements for imaging pH-responses from cells as well as for a future hybrid design for detection of multiple analytes simultaneously. The sensor is based on the covalent attachment of 8-hydroxypyrene-1,3,6-trisulfonate (HPTS) to a film forming cellulose acetate material through a sulfonamide linkage. The synthesis routes of the cellulose material and regio-specific covalent attachment of the dye are described in detail. The sensor was sterilized in two different ways and showed excellent biocompatibility with Chinese hamster ovary cells. Imprints from cells and μm thin cell extensions were visualized when altering pH of the surrounding solution. The sensor was tested together with time-dependent sigmoidal calibrations giving pH determinations with an exceptional precision and accuracy during measurement within pH 6-8. The precision of the optode, calculated as pooled S.D. (n = 8) according to IUPAC recommendations between pH 6.641 and 7.742 was 0.0029. The accuracy was significantly better than the electrode used as reference during the measurements. The response time (0-95%) was 100 s between pH 6.641 and 7.742 and the reverse response (95-0%) was 80 s. The sensor shows great potential for extra-cellular pH determination over time during cell growth and pharmacological exposure.     

Edge-choosability of planar graphs without adjacent triangles or without 7-cycles

A graph G is edge-L-colorable, if for a given edge assignment L={L(e):e∈E(G)}, there exists a proper edge-coloring ? of G such that ?(e)∈L(e) for all e∈E(G). If G is edge-L-colorable for every edge assignment L with |L(e)|≥k for e∈E(G), then G is said to be edge-k-choosable. In this paper, we prove that if G is a planar graph with maximum degree Δ(G)≠5 and without adjacent 3-cycles, or with maximum degree Δ(G)≠5,6 and without 7-cycles, then G is edge-(Δ(G)+1)-choosable.     

Equitable list coloring of planar graphs without 4- and 6-cycles

A graph G is equitably k-choosable if for any k-uniform list assignment L, there exists an L-colorable of G such that each color appears on at most vertices. Kostochka, Pelsmajer and West introduced this notion and conjectured that G is equitably k-choosable for k>Δ(G). We prove this for planar graphs with Δ(G)≥6 and no 4- or 6-cycles.     

Polychromatic Colorings of Plane Graphs

We show that the vertices of any plane graph in which every face is incident to at least g vertices can be colored by ⌊(3g−5)/4⌋ colors so that every color appears in every face. This is nearly tight, as there are plane graphs where all faces are incident to at least g vertices and that admit no vertex coloring of this type with more than ⌊(3g+1)/4⌋ colors. We further show that the problem of determining whether a plane graph admits a vertex coloring by k colors in which all colors appear in every face is in ℘ for k=2 and is -complete for k=3,4. We refine this result for polychromatic 3-colorings restricted to 2-connected graphs which have face sizes from a prescribed (possibly infinite) set of integers. Thereby we find an almost complete characterization of these sets of integers (face sizes) for which the corresponding decision problem is in ℘, and for the others it is -complete. Research of N. Alon was supported in part by the Israel Science Foundation, by a USA–Israeli BSF grant, and by the Hermann Minkowski Minerva Center for Geometry at Tel Aviv University. Research of R. Berke was supported in part by JSPS Global COE program “Computationism as a Foundation for the Sciences.” Research of K. Buchin and M. Buchin was supported by the Netherlands’ Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) under BRICKS/FOCUS project no. 642.065.503. Research of P. Csorba was supported by DIAMANT, an NWO mathematics cluster. Research of B. Speckmann was supported by the Netherlands’ Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) under project no. 639.022.707.