Electrical biosensing with synthetic nanopores and nanochannels

The integration of constriction structures such as nanopores and nanochannels into fluidic devices discloses powerful biosensing capabilities that can be tuned to a wide range of analytes through conceptually simple size calibrations. The practical implementation of this tuning requires a nontrivial manipulation of matter at nanoscale with further requirements for low complexity and low-cost procedures that may be adapted to industrial production. Here, we review the recent progress on the fabrication techniques of nanopores and nanochannels, together with the efforts to realize their full biosensing potential by understanding and amending the problems still afflicting the measurement performed during operation.     

Calcul de la fonction correlation de phonon pour la diffraction d'une particule par un solide

A method of calculating expressions of the type $\text{<T exp[?i}\text{k}{}_1\text{u}{}_{\ln }\text{(t}{}_1\text{)] ... exp [?i}\text{k}{}_{\mathrm{n}}\text{u}{}_{\ln }\text{(t}{}_{\mathrm{n}}\text{>}$ which is simpler than that based on Wick's theorem is proposed. Expressions of the above type are widely used in studying the effects of temperature in electron and neutron diffraction.     

Detection of hypophosphite, phosphite, and orthophosphate in natural geothermal water by ion chromatography

Current doctrine states that phosphorus is incorporated into cells in the pentavalent(V) oxidation state as orthophosphate. However, recent studies show that microorganisms contain enzymes used to metabolize reduced forms of phosphorous, including phosphite(III) and hypophosphite(I), which suggests that there is a natural source for these chemical species. This paper will discuss suppressed conductivity ion chromatography methods developed to detect hypophosphite, phosphite, and orthophosphate in a geothermal water matrix containing fluoride, chloride, bromide, nitrate, hydrogen carbonate and sulfate. All peaks were clearly resolved, and calibrations were linear with estimated 3sigma detection limits of 0.83, 0.39, and 0.35 microM for hypophosphite, phosphite, and orthophosphate, respectively.     

Early out-of-equilibrium beam-plasma evolution

We solve analytically the out-of-equilibrium initial stage that follows the injection of a radially finite electron beam into a plasma at rest and test it against particle-in-cell simulations. For initial large beam edge gradients and not too large beam radius, compared to the electron skin depth, the electron beam is shown to evolve into a ring structure. For low enough transverse temperatures, the filamentation instability eventually proceeds and saturates when transverse isotropy is reached. The analysis accounts for the variety of very recent experimental beam transverse observations.     

New pi-complexation adsorbents for propane-propylene separation

New adsorbents were prepared and tested for the separation of propane-propylene mixtures by adsorption. The ordered mesoporous material SBA-15 was used as the starting material for silver-ion deposition for pi-complexation with propylene. Two different loadings of silver were evaluated. Adsorption equilibrium and kinetic measurements of propane and propylene in the matrix (pure SBA-15) and the silver-modified adsorbents were performed at 323, 343, and 373 K. In this temperature range, the selectivity of propylene in one of the materials (Ag/SBA-15 = 0.5) is in the range 13-22 because the amount of propane adsorbed is very small, 0.095 mmol/g of propane versus 1.12 mmol/g of propylene at 100 kPa and 343 K. The diffusivity of both hydrocarbons is not seriously affected by the introduction of silver into the mesoporous structure.     

Phase transition in the collisionless damping regime for wave-particle interaction

Gibbs statistical mechanics is derived for the Hamiltonian system coupling a wave to N particles self-consistently. This identifies Landau damping with a regime where a second order phase transition occurs. For nonequilibrium initial data with warm particles, a critical initial wave intensity is found: above it, thermodynamics predicts a finite wave amplitude in the limit N-->infinity; below it, the equilibrium amplitude vanishes. Simulations support these predictions providing new insight into the long-time nonlinear fate of the wave due to Landau damping in plasmas.     

DNA detection with a polymeric nanochannel device

We present the development and the electrical characterization of a polymeric nanochannel device. Standard microfabrication coupled to Focused Ion Beam (FIB) nanofabrication is used to fabricate a silicon master, which can be then replicated in a polymeric material by soft lithography. Such an elastomeric nanochannel device is used to study DNA translocation events during electrophoresis experiments. Our results demonstrate that an easy and low cost fabrication technique allows creation of a low noise device for single molecule analysis.     

Characterization of the initial filamentation of a relativistic electron beam passing through a plasma

The linear instability that induces a relativistic electron beam passing through a plasma with return current to filament transversely is often related to some filamentation mode with the wave vector normal to the beam or confused with Weibel modes. We show that these modes may not be relevant in this matter and identify the most unstable mode on the two-stream or filamentation branch as the main trigger for filamentation. This sets both the characteristic transverse and longitudinal filamentation scales in the nonresistive initial stage.     

A second-order phase transition in a monolayer of rectangle particles

Summary To describe the surface pressure-area isotherms of monolayers of amphiphilic molecules a two-dimensional gas of rectangular particles is proposed. Using theZwanzig's simplication of theOnsager's virial expansion analysis we found a second-order transition. Then introducing attractive potentials of different shapes, surrounding the hard core we may change the position of the critical points. The calculated isotherms have similar profiles than those obtained experimentally. With the more refined potential well, this depending on the area overlap of the wells, the interaction parameters have the same order of magnitude than those given in the literature. It is shown that this orientational transition is obtained only with particles which are asymmetrical enough.On leave from UER Pluridisciplinaire de Luminy Université d'Aix-Marseille II.