Artificial Antibodies for Bioanalyte Detection—Sensing Viruses and Proteins

Molecular imprinting has become an increasingly popular method for the design of artificial antibodies against a variety of analytes, and especially as a method for detecting viruses and proteins. Self‐assembly of a virus on a stamp enables us to generate patterns on a polymer. Combined with mass‐sensitive transducers, the reinclusion of viruses, such as the tobacco mosaic virus (TMV), the human rhinovirus (HRV), and the parapox ovis virus (PPOV), into the patterned polymer layer can be followed directly. Recognition is favored by a geometrical fit between the analyte and the patterned layer, as well as by noncovalent interactions; the former can be observed by the highly selective enrichment of rod‐shaped TMV and globular HRV on their respective imprints, showing only negligible cross‐sensitivity. The latter is demonstrated by the selective incorporation of different HRV serotypes (HRV‐1a and HRV‐16) that have the same geometric dimensions but nonetheless are clearly distinguished from each other. Similar behavior is observed with protein molecules that are about one order of magnitude smaller than viruses, having molecular dimensions of a few nanometers. When using proteins for imprinting, the resulting materials usually preferably incorporate into their own template.     

Characterization of microporous aluminophosphate IST-1 using (1)H Lee-Goldburg techniques

The presence of two independent methylamine species in microporous aluminophosphate IST-1 (|(CH(3)NH(2))(4)(CH(3)NH(+)(3))(4)(OH(-))(4)|[Al(12)P(12)O(48)]) has been shown previously by synchrotron powder X-ray diffraction. One of these species, [N(1)-C(1)], links to a six-coordinated framework Al-atom [Al(1)], while the other methylamine [N(2)-C(2)] is protonated and hydrogen-bonded to three O-atoms [O(1), O(2) and O(12)]. We revisit the structure of IST-1 and report the complete assignment of the (1)H NMR spectra by combining X-ray data and high-resolution heteronuclear/homonuclear solid-state NMR techniques based on frequency-switched Lee-Goldburg homonuclear decoupling and (31)P-(31)P homonuclear recoupling. Careful analysis of the 2D (1)H-X homonuclear correlation (X=(1)H) and 2D heteronuclear correlation (X=(13)C, (31)P and (27)Al) spectra allowed the distinction of both methylamine species and the assignment of all (31)P and (13)C resonances. For the first time at a relatively high (9.4 T) magnetic field, symmetric doublet patterns have been observed in the (13)C spectra, caused by the influence of the (14)N second-order quadrupolar interaction.     

Controlled synthesis of titanium nanochains using a template

Nanochains have unique properties due to their organized structures. We synthesized nanochains of titanium using crown ether as a template exploiting a simple sliding technique. The nanochains of Ti were formed with an average diameter of the sphere nodes around 80 nm separated by organic molecules with a space of 1–5 nm. The method developed here is the simplest reported to date. This process can be used for making nanostructures of different metallic materials. Trapping titanium ion particles is important to reduce the risk of the same material in the biomedical applications. The metallic nanochains are potentially applicable for making electronic and optical devices.     

Replicating the Structure of a Crosslinked Polyferrocenylsilane Inverse Opal in the Form of a Magnetic Ceramic

Crosslinked polyferrocenylsilane inverse opals have been prepared by the thermal ring‐opening polymerization of spirocyclic [1]silaferrocenophanes confined within the interstitial void spaces of silica crystal colloidal templates. These organometallic polymer inverse opals were converted to magnetic ceramic replicas through pyrolysis at 900 °C in high yields.     

Arrays of Ordered Pb Nanowires and Their Optical Properties for Laminated Polarizers

A laminated micropolarizer of Pb nanowire arrays was fabricated within an anodic alumina membrane (AAM) by anodization of the pure Al foil and subsequent electrodeposition of Pb. X‐ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, selected‐area electron diffraction, and high‐resolution electron microscopy investigations reveal that the ordered Pb nanowires are essentially single crystal, and have an average diameter of 40 nm. Spectrophotometry measurements show that the Pb nanowire arrays embedded in AAM can only transmit polarized light vertical to the wires. An extinction ratio of 17 to 18 dB and an average insertion loss of 0.4 dB cm^–1 in the wavelength range of 1 to 2.2 μm were obtained, respectively. Therefore, these Pb nanowire/AAM composites can be used as a wire grid type micropolarizer.     

Template-based imitation learning for manipulating symmetric objects

With the rise of small batch production, the need to shorten the development cycle has become urgent. This work aims to allow people without expert knowledge to program the robot in a single demonstration to reduce development costs. The idea of this work is to record frame relations between objects during the demonstration as templates. Then the robot is programmed by the template sequence to simplify the programming process and shorten the development time. Since symmetry will cause uncertainty in pose estimation during execution, a symmetry detection module is developed to detect the rotational symmetry of the objects through inertia tensor and all the rotation matrices are acquired using group theory. After that, a template matching module is designed to measure the distance between the current pose and possible target poses to choose the proper target pose which matches the template to avoid unreachable robot poses and accelerate the executing process. Two pick-and-place tasks, a stacking test, and a sorting task are carried out to verify our system and the results show that our method is feasible and efficient.     

Shape Control of Platinum Nanoparticles

The synthesis of shape controlled platinum nanoparticles has been investigated through an organometallic approach starting from the complex Pt₂(dba)₃ and using a long alkyl chain amine, hexadecylamine (HDA), as stabilizer. The influence of the experimental parameters (reactive gas and solvent nature, stabilizer/metal ratio, reactants concentration, temperature) on the shape of the Pt nanoparticles has been studied. Various shaped platinum nanostructures such as isolated nanoparticles, dendrites or crystalline nanowires were obtained, depending on the reaction conditions. This method takes profit of the mild conditions of chemistry in solution and allows obtaining regular nanostructures, most of them being homogeneous in shape as well as in size (isolated nanoparticles) or diameter/length (nanowires). Transmission electron microscopy and wide‐angle X‐ray scattering were used as characterization techniques. Beside the Knight‐shift effect of platinum, NMR solution investigations clearly evidenced the coordination of the amine at the Pt particles surface and its mobility. This mobility, increased when H₂ is used as reactive gas for the precursor decomposition, favors the particles coalescence into nanowires. This phenomenon is also favored by the “soft” template character of the amine in particular in toluene solution.     

Morphology‐Controlled Growth of Large‐Area Two‐Dimensional Ordered Pore Arrays

A solution‐dipping template strategy for large‐area synthesis of morphology‐controlled, ordered pore arrays is reported. The morphology of the pore array can easily be controlled by concentration of the precursor solution and treatment conditions. With decrease of the concentration from a high level to a very low level nanostructured complex (pore–hole, and pore–particle) arrays, through‐pore arrays, and even ring arrays can, in turn, be obtained. The pore size is adjustable over a large range by changing the diameter of the template's latex spheres. This synthesis route is universal and can be used for various metals, semiconductors and compounds on any substrate. Such structures may be useful in applications such as energy storage or conversion, especially in integrated next‐generation nanophotonics devices, and biomolecular labeling and identification.     

基于笔画细化及图形化的牌照数字字符识别预处理算法

文章介绍了一种牌照数字字符识别预处理算法，该方法根据数字字符笔画的特点，进行模块细化，依据数字笔画的结构信息，构造笔画控制模板，得到图形化的单象素宽字符笔画。     

Preparation and characterization of three-dimensionally ordered macroporous styrene/p-methylstyrene syndiotactic copolymer

Three-dimensionally ordered macroporous (3DOM) styrene/p-methylstyrene syndiotactic copolymer (sPMS) with pore size 170 nm were fabricated by means of silica templates using (dbm)₂ Ti(OPh)₂/MAO catalytic system. The resulting materials were characterized by NMR, SEM, GPC and DSC. The results indicated that the 3DOM sPMS were highly syndiotacic, and the pore contraction was approximately 20.6%. Compared with bulk sPMS, 3DOM sPMS possessed the lower number-average molecular weight and broader molecular weight distribution. In terms of DSC results, the bulk sPMS exhibited the lower glass transition temperature than that of 3DOM one.