Realization and characterization of porous gold for increased protein coverage on acoustic sensors

Immunosensors show great potential for the direct detection of biological molecules. The sensitivity of these affinity-based biosensors is dictated by the amount of receptor molecules immobilized on the sensor surface. An enlargement of the sensor area would allow for an increase of the binding capacity, hence a larger amount of immobilized receptor molecules. To this end, we use electrochemically deposited "gold black" as a porous sensor surface for the immobilization of proteins. In this paper, we have analyzed the different parameters that define the electrochemical growth of porous gold, starting from flat gold surfaces, using different characterization techniques. Applied potentials of -0.5 V versus a reference electrode were found to constitute the most adequate conditions to grow porous gold surfaces. Using cyclic voltammetry, a 16 times increase of the surface area was observed under these electrochemical deposition conditions. In addition, we have assessed the immobilization degree of alkanethiols and of proteins on these different porous surfaces. The optimized deposition conditions for realizing porous gold substrates lead to a 11.4-fold increase of thiol adsorption and a 3.3-fold increase of protein adsorption, using the quartz crystal microbalance (QCM-D) as a biological transducer system. Hence, it follows that the high specific area of the porous gold can amplify the final sensitivity of the original flat surface device.     

Judged happiness: Effects of mode of recall of positive and negative experiences.

Obtained ratings of happiness with life in general from 159 undergraduate Ss before or after estimates of how often they felt either delight or annoyance. Estimates were made both in terms of absolute frequency categories and in self-ratings, and half of the Ss were instructed to base their frequency ratings on detailed memories for actual events. Comparative ratings of delight were positively related to overall happiness, regardless of experimental condition, although the direction of correlation between comparative ratings of annoyance and overall happiness depended on the condition. For Ss who rated annoyance before happiness, those who reported relatively more annoyance than others gave lower ratings of general happiness when using vivid, detailed, recalled events, but not under nonvivid recall. The pattern was reversed when happiness was rated before annoyance. (French abstract) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

EPR and Magnetic Susceptibility Studies pf Cr~(3+) Ions in the 70TeO_2·25B_2O_3·5PbO Glass Matrix

By using EPR and magnetic susceptibility measurements, the Cr ion distribution in the xCr2O3.(1-x)[70TeO2·25B2O3·5PbO] glasses with 03 mol%, the Cr3+ ions participate in superexchange interactions and are predominantly antiferromagnetically coupled.     

Recovery,recrystallization and grain growth in 0.03 C, 1.8 Si, 0.3 Al steels with and without addition of 0.05% of antimony

The investigation was carried out on two laboratory steels elaborated from identical base materials, one with 0.05% Sb and an industrial steel as-delivered and after decarburisation. Cold rolled 0.5 mm sheets were prepared by laboratory rolling and investigated after annealing in temperature range 550 to 800°C for 0.5 to 60 m. Antimony has no effect on recovery in temperature range 550 to 625°C. Rare recrystallization nuclei were found at grain boundaries only in the decarburized steel, in all other steels nucleii appeared and grew only inside of deformed grains. At recrystallization finished grains were coarser in antimony and decarburized steels. The explanation is that less numerous nuclei grew for a longer time in the deformed matrix. The size of recrystallized grains was proportional to the square root of the annealing time. Recrystallized grain growth was faster in antimony-free laboratory and in decarburized industrial steels, while the growth activation energy is very similar in antimony and decarburized steels. The growth activation energy was greater in antimony-free laboratory and in as-delivered industrial steels. It was similar to the activation energy of part of the recovery and near to the activation energy of iron self-diffusion in ferrite. No difference was found in grain growth topology between the antimony and the comparative laboratory steels. Results indicate a similar effect of the presence of 0.05% of antimony and the decreased carbon content in steel.     

Job shop scheduling optimization in real-time production control

An optimization algorithm using simulation as an evaluation procedure of the criterion to obtain an optimal schedule of jobs within a workshop is presented. The algorithm, which is recommended for middle-size problems, is embedded in a dedicated minicomputer-based practical system meant for real time production control in a discrete part manufacturing system environment.     

Propositionalization-based relational subgroup discovery with RSD

Relational rule learning algorithms are typically designed to construct classification and prediction rules. However, relational rule learning can be adapted also to subgroup discovery. This paper proposes a propositionalization approach to relational subgroup discovery, achieved through appropriately adapting rule learning and first-order feature construction. The proposed approach was successfully applied to standard ILP problems (East-West trains, King-Rook-King chess endgame and mutagenicity prediction) and two real-life problems (analysis of telephone calls and traffic accident analysis). Editors: Hendrik Blockeel, David Jensen and Stefan Kramer An erratum to this article is available at .     

Molecular Architecture Effects on Bulk Nanostructure in Bis(Orthoborate) Ionic Liquids

A series of 19 ionic liquids (ILs) based on phosphonium and imidazolium cations of varying alkyl-chain lengths with the orthoborate anions bis(oxalato)borate [BOB]⁻, bis(mandelato)borate, [BMB]⁻ and bis(salicylato)borate, [BScB]⁻, are synthesized and studied using small-angle neutron scattering (SANS). All measured systems display nanostructuring, with 1-methyl-3-n-alkyl imidazolium-orthoborates forming clearly bicontinuous L₃ spongelike phases when the alkyl chains are longer than C₆ (hexyl). L₃ phases are fitted using the Teubner and Strey model, and diffusely-nanostructured systems are primarily fitted using the Ornstein-Zernicke correlation length model. Strongly-nanostructured systems have a strong dependence on the cation, with molecular architecture variation explored to determine the driving forces for self-assembly. The ability to form well-defined complex phases is effectively extinguished in several ways: methylation of the most acidic imidazolium ring proton, replacing the imidazolium 3-methyl group with a longer hydrocarbon chain, substitution of [BOB]⁻ by [BMB]⁻, or exchanging the imidazolium for phosphonium systems, irrespective of phosphonium architecture. The results suggest there is only a small window of opportunity, in terms of molecular amphiphilicity and cation:anion volume matching, for the formation of stable extensive bicontinuous domains in pure bulk orthoborate-based ILs. Particularly important for self-assembly processes appear to be the ability to form H-bonding networks, which offer additional versatility in imidazolium systems.     

Tracking by Deblatting

International Journal of Computer Vision - Objects moving at high speed along complex trajectories often appear in videos, especially videos of sports. Such objects travel a considerable distance...     

Nano-Nutrition of Chicken Embryos. The Effect of in Ovo Administration of Diamond Nanoparticles and l-Glutamine on Molecular Responses in Chicken Embryo Pectoral Muscles

It has been demonstrated that the content of certain amino acids in eggs is not sufficient to fully support embryonic development. One possibility to supply the embryo with extra nutrients and energy is in ovo administration of nutrients. Nanoparticles of diamond are highly biocompatible non-toxic carbonic structures, and we hypothesized that bio-complexes of diamond nanoparticles with l-glutamine may affect molecular responses in breast muscle. The objective of the investigation was to evaluate the effect of diamond nanoparticle (ND) and l-glutamine (Gln) on expression of growth and differentiation factors of chicken embryo pectoral muscles. ND, Gln, and Gln/ND solutions (50 mg/L) were injected into fertilized broiler chicken eggs at the beginning of embryogenesis. Muscle tissue was dissected at day 20 of incubation and analysed for gene expression of FGF2, VEGF-A, and MyoD1. ND and especially Gln/ND up-regulated expression of genes related to muscle cell proliferation (FGF2) and differentiation (MyoD1). Furthermore, the ratio between FGF2 and MyoD1 was highest in the Gln/ND group. At the end of embryogenesis, Gln/ND enhanced both proliferation and differentiation of pectoral muscle cells and differentiation dominated over proliferation. These preliminary results suggest that the bio-complex of glutamine and diamond nanoparticles may accelerate growth and maturation of muscle cells.