Surface-enhanced Raman scattering from individual au nanoparticles and nanoparticle dimer substrates

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) intensities for individual Au nanospheres, nanoshells, and nanosphere and nanoshell dimers coated with nonresonant molecules are measured, where the precise nanoscale geometry of each monomer and dimer is identified through in situ atomic force microscopy. The observed intensities correlate with the integrated quartic local electromagnetic field calculated for each specific nanostructure geometry. In this study, we find that suitably fabricated nanoshells can provide SERS enhancements comparable to nanosphere dimers.     

Direct observation of anion-mediated translocation of fluorescent oligoarginine carriers into and across bulk liquid and anionic bilayer membranes

The recent hypothesis that counteranion-mediated dynamic inversion of charge and solubility might contribute to diverse functions of oligoarginines in biomembranes was tested with two fluorescently labelled oligomers, FL-R(8), one of the most active cell-penetrating peptides, and its longer version, FL-R(16). We report evidence for counteranion-mediated phase transfer from water into bulk chloroform and anionic lipid-bilayer membranes as well as reverse-phase transfer from bulk chloroform and across intact lipid-bilayer membranes into water. The differences found between FL-R(8) and FL-R(16) with regard to location in the bilayer and reverse-phase transfer from bulk and lipid-bilayer membranes into water implied that the reported results may be relevant for biological function.     

Transient induced creep for irradiated fuels

Creep of nuclear fuels under irradiation has generally been considered as an athermal process. A transient state of irradiation induced creep, however, was treated with kinetic equations based on thermodynamics. For this purpose, the kinetic equations for enhanced diffusion, annihilation of excess vacancies and migration probability under irradiation were derived. Effective works were introduced to the above processes as a result of the fission damage, and reduced activation energies for each process were defined. Based on the knowledge obtained in the transient state, the effective activation energies in the steady state were discussed. The above concepts were examined using the experiments of Clough.     

Phase transitions in R2 SnCl6-type crystals (R = NH3 C2H3, NH3C2H5 and N(CH3)4)

The thermal dilatation in (NH₃ ·CH₃) SnCl₆, (NH₃ · C₂H₅) SnCl₆ and [N(CH₃)] SnCl₆ was measured, and as the results it has turned out that (NH₃ ⁶·C₂H₅) SnCl₆ and [N(CH₃)₄]₂ SnCl₆ undergo the first order transitions at 128 K and 158 K, respectively. The low temperature phases of (NH · C₂H₅) SnCl₆ and [N(CH₃)₄]₂ SnC1₆ are found to be monoclinic and tetragonal, respectively, No phase transition was observed in (NH₃ ·CH₃)₂ SnCl₆ down to 77 K.     

Cupid's misses: Relational vicissitudes in the analyses of single women.

Addresses the interface between adult needs for intimacy and the psychoanalytic process between a certain population of single female patients and their male analysts. Relational vicissitudes of this patient–analyst pairing are discussed from a perspective that is both psychoanalytic and psychosocial. Influences of gender differences, sociological factors, and the existential nature of prolonged unchosen singlehood on the female analysand's subjective experience are discussed. This discussion is followed by an exploration of the ramifications of singlehood for the analytic process and for the analytic relationship. The concepts of primary intimacy and a primary relational void are introduced, and clinical illustrations are incorporated. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Immunolocalization of multiple membrane proteins on a carbon replica with STEM and EDX

We present a method for immunolabeling of multiple species of membrane proteins with high spatial resolution. It allows differentiation of equally sized very small markers with different chemical compositions, which leads to high labeling efficiency and reduces steric hindrance of closely spaced immunolabeled biomolecules. Markers such as CdSe/ZnS semiconductor quantum dots and colloidal gold particles are distinguished by differential contrast in high-angle annular detector dark-field STEM mode or by EDX microanalysis of their elemental contents. This method was tested by observation of labeled AMPA- and NMDA-type glutamate receptors on sodium-dodecyl-sulfate-digested replica prepared from rat hippocampus. To improve particle visibility and detectability, the replica films were made exclusively with carbon to avoid the high background of conventional platinum/carbon replica. Extension of the method is suggested by detection of 1.4 nm nanogold particles and its potential application in the biological imaging research.     

Nanoshells with Targeted Simultaneous Enhancement of Magnetic and Optical Imaging and Photothermal Therapeutic Response

Integrating multiple functionalities into individual nanoscale complexes is of tremendous importance in biomedicine, expanding the capabilities of nanoscale structures to perform multiple parallel tasks. Here, the ability to enhance two different imaging technologies simultaneously—fluorescence optical imaging and magnetic resonance imaging—with antibody targeting and photothermal therapeutic actuation is combined all within the same nanoshell‐based complex. The nanocomplexes are constructed by coating a gold nanoshell with a silica epilayer doped with Fe₃O₄ and the fluorophore ICG, which results in a high T₂ relaxivity (390 mM ^?1 s^?1) and 45× fluorescence enhancement of ICG. Bioconjugate nanocomplexes target HER2+ cells and induce photothermal cell death upon near‐IR illumination.     

Race differences in nicotine dependence in the Collaborative Genetic study of Nicotine Dependence (COGEND)

In a general population sample from the Detroit site of the Collaborative Genetic Study of Nicotine Dependence (COGEND), we tested Black-White differences in nicotine dependence, measured by "how soon after wake-up the smokers smoked their first cigarette (time to first cigarette TTFC)", and its relationship with number of cigarettes per day (CPD). Analysis was conducted on respondents who have smoked > or =100 cigarettes in lifetime and were current smokers (n = 1,442; 1,087 Whites and 355 Blacks). In univariate analysis, we found no significant race differences on time to first cigarette (chi2 = 2.9, p value = 0.41), but significant race differences on CPD (chi2 = 154.3, p<.01), both categorized by the Fagerstr?m Test of Nicotine Dependence (FTND) cutoffs. We estimated the probability of TTFC < or =30 min given CPD using probit models. The interactions between race and CPD indicated significant differences in dependence at various levels of CPD. The same probability of nicotine dependence was associated with smaller increments in CPD for Blacks than for Whites. The data support the hypothesis that the relationship between CPD and nicotine dependence as reflected in relapse varies by race, and that Black smokers are dependent at lower levels of CPD than Whites.