Integral equation formulation for buoyancy-driven convection problems

An integral equation formulation for buoyancy-driven convection problems is developed and illustrated. Buoyancy-driven convection in a bounded cylindrical geometry with a free surface is studied for a range of aspect ratios and Nusselt numbers. The critical Rayleigh number, the nature of the cellular motion, and the heat transfer enhancement are computed using linear theory. Green's functions are used to convert the linear problem into linear Fredholm integral equations. Theorems are proved which establish the properties of the eigenvalues and eigenfunctions of the linear integral operator which appears in these equations.     

Permanently oriented antibody immobilization for digoxin determination with a flow-through fluoroimmunosensor

This paper reports a new flow-through fluoroimmunosensor, the function of which is based on antibodies immobilized on an inmunoreactor of controlled-pore glass (CPG), for determination of digoxin, used in the treatment of congestive heart failure and artery disease. The immunosensor has a detection limit of 1.20 microg L(-1) and provides high reproducibility (RSD=4.5% for a concentration of 0.0025 mg L(-1), and RSD=6.7% for 0.01 mg L(-1)). The optimum working concentration range was found to be 1.2 x 10(-3)-4.0 x 10(-2) mg L(-1). The lifetime of the immunosensor was about 50 immunoassays; if stored unused its lifetime can be extended to three months. A sample speed of about 10-12 samples per hour can be attained. Possible interference from substances with structures similar to digoxin (morphine, heroin, tebaine, codeine, pentazocine and narcotine) was investigated. No cross-reactivity was seen at the highest digoxin: interferent ratio studied (1:100). The proposed fluoroimmunosensor was successfully used to determine digoxin concentrations in human serum samples.     

A second-harmonic-active unnatural amino acid as a structural probe of biomolecules on surfaces

Second-harmonic generation (SHG) is highly sensitive to the net, average orientation of SH-active molecules on surfaces and has recently emerged as a technique for detecting biomolecules and their conformational changes. As most biomolecules are not intrinsically SH-active, they must be labeled with probes to render them detectable. To date, exogenous probes have been used to do this, but second-harmonic-active unnatural amino acids offer important advantages for the long-range goal of precisely and directly determining structural changes in real time and may be used for both buried and surface sites. Results of the first known SH-active unnatural amino acid, Aladan, are presented here. Aladan is found to be SH-active by detecting it at an interface, both alone and incorporated into the B1 domain of protein G (GB1), a globular immunoglobulin-binding protein, at both buried and exposed sites. The tilt angle of Aladan alone adsorbed on a mica surface is determined by polarization experiments, and its nonlinear polarizability alpha((2)) is found to be ca. 10(-30) esu. Aladan GB1 mutants are detectable by SHG, either when coupled covalently to a derivatized glass surface or bound to IgG immobilized via protein A. Addition of an Fc domain to this GB1 complex causes a small but defined change in the SH signal when Aladan is incorporated at site Ala(24), but not at Leu(7), consistent with a local conformational change of GB1. This structural change is not apparent in either X-ray crystallography or fluorescence studies, demonstrating that SHG can detect subtle orientational changes, including protein-protein interactions in which no significant rearrangements occur.     

Photoinduced charge separation and recombination in a conjugated polymer-semiconductor nanocrystal composite

Semiconductor nanocrystals and conjugated polymers are classes of well-known materials with optoelectronic properties. We demonstrate that in a nanocrystalline TiO₂/poly(p-phenylene vinylene) (PPV) composite, excitons photogenerated in the polymer can be dissociated at the interface between the components, with electrons transferred to the nanocrystals. We show this and also follow the subsequent recombination using a time-resolved microwave conductivity technique. Recombination proceeds in a complex manner with roughly half of the initial amplitude decaying in 600 ns and the remainder in a biexponential process with time constants and relative amplitudes of 4.3 (0.7) and 80 μs (0.3). Photovoltaic devices were made from the composite films and their properties are discussed in light of the measured recombination rate and a simple carrier transport model.     

Human Neuroepithelial Cells Express NMDA Receptors

L-glutamate, an excitatory neurotransmitter, binds to both ionotropic and metabotropic glutamate receptors. In certain parts of the brain the BBB contains two normally impermeable barriers: 1) cerebral endothelial barrier and 2) cerebral epithelial barrier. Human cerebral endothelial cells express NMDA receptors; however, to date, human cerebral epithelial cells (neuroepithelial cells) have not been shown to express NMDA receptor message or protein. In this study, human hypothalamic sections were examined for NMDA receptors (NMDAR) expression via immunohistochemistry and murine neuroepithelial cell line (V1) were examined for NMDAR via RT-PCR and Western analysis. We found that human cerebral epithelium express protein and cultured mouse neuroepithelial cells express both mRNA and protein for the NMDA receptor. These findings may have important consequences for neuroepithelial responses during excitotoxicity and in disease.