Nanopore/electrode structures for single-molecule biosensing

Biological and solid-state nanopores have recently attracted much interest as ultrafast DNA fragment sizing and sequencing devices. Their potential however goes far beyond DNA sequencing. In particular, nanopores offer perspectives of single-molecule (bio)sensing at physiologically relevant concentrations, which is key for studying protein/protein or protein/DNA interactions. Integration of electrode structures into solid-state nanopore devices moreover enables control and fast switching of the pore properties, e.g. for active control of biopolymer transport through the nanopore. We present some of recent work in this area, namely the fabrication and characterization of nanopore/electrode architectures for single-(bio)molecule sensing. Specifically, we introduce a new technique to fabricate ultra-small metal nanopores with diameters smaller than 20 nm based on ion current feedback (ICF) controlled electrodeposition. It offers precise control of the pore conductance, is easily multiplexed, and can be extended to a wide range of different metals.     

Scaling analysis of baseline dual-axis cervical accelerometry signals

Dual-axis cervical accelerometry is an emerging approach for the assessment of swallowing difficulties. However, the baseline signals, i.e., vibration signals with only quiet breathing or apnea but without swallowing, are not well understood. In particular, to comprehend the contaminant effects of head motion on cervical accelerometry, we need to study the scaling behavior of these baseline signals. Dual-axis accelerometry data were collected from 50 healthy adult participants under conditions of quiet breathing, apnea and selected head motions, all in the absence of swallowing. The denoised cervical vibrations were subjected to detrended fluctuation analysis with empirically determined first-order detrending. Strong persistence was identified in cervical vibration signals in both anterior-posterior (A-P) and superior-inferior (S-I) directions, under all the above experimental conditions. Vibrations in the A-P axes exhibited stronger correlations than those in the S-I axes, possibly as a result of axis-specific effects of vasomotion. In both axes, stronger correlations were found in the presence of head motion than without, suggesting that head movement significantly impacts baseline cervical accelerometry. No gender or age effects were found on statistical persistence of either vibration axes. Future developments of cervical accelerometry-based medical devices should actively mitigate the effects of head movement.     

An EPR study of free radical generation during maceration of uncooked vegetables

Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy has been used to study free radicals formed in a range of plant tissues as a result of physical damage, with the objective of gaining some insight into the free radical chemistry that is initiated when uncooked vegetable products (eg salads) are eaten. Chemical spin traps were used to aid the detection of unstable free radicals; more stable radicals were detected directly. Commonly observed ‘stable’ species were the monodehydroascorbate radical, which has a characteristic doublet spectrum, and a single‐peak resonance, which is presumed to come from free radical centres stabilised in macromolecules. In mushrooms (Agaricus spp), spin‐trapping experiments using either α‐(4‐pyridyl‐1‐oxide)‐N‐t‐butyl‐nitrone (4‐POBN) or phenyl‐t‐butyl‐nitrone (PBN) showed the formation of large quantities of adducts of the radical from 4‐hydroxymethylbenzene diazonium salts. Pleurotus species, in contrast, gave signals consistent with the formation of unidentified C‐centred radicals. With other foodstuffs, reaction with 4‐POBN was complex and signals from 4 ? POBN· and adducts were observed along with the t‐butylhydronitroxide radical (an adduct breakdown product). Investigation of carrot hypocotyl rootstock in the presence of 5‐(diethoxyphosphoryl),5‐methyl‐1‐pyrroline‐N‐oxide (DEPMPO) revealed adducts of ·OH and unidentified C‐centred radicals. Free radical interactions between food components were demonstrated by the suppression of the signal from the 4‐POBN adducts of lettuce by onion, garlic, satsuma or vinaigrette, but not by olive oil. In addition, an appreciable decrease in spectral intensity of the 4‐POBN adduct from lettuce was observed in the presence of saliva, which suggests that saliva contains free radical scavengers which are able to compete successfully with the spin trap. © 2002 Society of Chemical Industry     

DNA tunneling detector embedded in a nanopore

We report on the fabrication and characterization of a DNA nanopore detector with integrated tunneling electrodes. Functional tunneling devices were identified by tunneling spectroscopy in different solvents and then used in proof-of-principle experiments demonstrating, for the first time, concurrent tunneling detection and ionic current detection of DNA molecules in a nanopore platform. This is an important step toward ultrafast DNA sequencing by tunneling.     

A comparative analysis of the categorization of multidimensional stimuli: I. Unidimensional classification does not necessarily imply analytic processing; evidence from pigeons (Columba livia), squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis), and humans (Homo sapiens).

Pigeons (Columba livia), gray squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis), and undergraduates (Homo sapiens) learned discrimination tasks involving multiple mutually redundant dimensions. First, pigeons and undergraduates learned conditional discriminations between stimuli composed of three spatially separated dimensions, after first learning to discriminate the individual elements of the stimuli. When subsequently tested with stimuli in which one of the dimensions took an anomalous value, the majority of both species categorized test stimuli by their overall similarity to training stimuli. However some individuals of both species categorized them according to a single dimension. In a second set of experiments, squirrels, pigeons, and undergraduates learned go/no-go discriminations using multiple simultaneous presentations of stimuli composed of three spatially integrated, highly salient dimensions. The tendency to categorize test stimuli including anomalous dimension values unidimensionally was higher than in the first set of experiments and did not differ significantly between species. The authors conclude that unidimensional categorization of multidimensional stimuli is not diagnostic for analytic cognitive processing, and that any differences between human’s and pigeons’ behavior in such tasks are not due to special features of avian visual cognition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

(n−3) and (n−6) polyunsaturated fatty acids in the phosphoglycerides of salt-secreting epithelia from two marine fish species

Fatty acid analyses were carried out on phosphoglycerides isolated from microsomal fractions of the rectal gland of the dogfish,Scyliorthinus canicula, and gills of the cod,Gadus morhua. Ratios of (n−3)/(n−6) polyunsaturated fatty acids were ca. 10 for phosphatidylcholine, (PC), phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) and phosphatidylserine (PS) from cod gills, reflecting high concentrations of 20∶5 (n−3) and 22∶6(n−3). The ratio for phosphatidylinositol (PI) from cod gills was 1.3, reflecting high concentrations of 20∶4(n−6) as well as (n−3) polyunsaturates. PC, PE and PS from rectal glands all had much lower (n−3)/(n−6) ratios than in cod gills, reflecting higher concentrations of 20∶4(n−6), but the lowest ratio was again present in PI. The latter phospholipid had high concentrations of 18∶0 in both tissues. The relative constancy of the fatty acid composition of PI in the two salt-secreting tissues and its similarity to mammalian phospholipids is considered to reflect its specialized role in biomembranes.