Reusable Localized Surface Plasmon Sensors Based on Ultrastable Nanostructures

Nanoparticle arrays created by nanosphere lithography are widely used in sensing applications since their localized surface plasmon resonances are extremely sensitive to changes in the local dielectric environment. A major drawback for any biologically oriented sensing application of conventionally produced particle arrays is the lack of stability of the nanoparticles in aqueous media and buffer solutions. Here, a robust and reusable nanoscale sensing platform based on localized surface plasmon resonances of gold nanoparticles embedded in a silicon dioxide matrix is presented. The architecture exhibits extremely high stability in aqueous environments and can be regenerated several times by simple mechanical cleaning of the surface. The platforms surface is ultraflat by design, thus making it an ideal substrate for any bio‐oriented sensing application.     

Pharmacokinetics and retinal toxicity of intravitreal liposome-encapsulated 5-fluorouridine

Relationships from benefits-costs analyses in radiography are presented. The impact of several factors (equipment, frequency of examinations, ...) on the planning of a department and special financial aspects, e.g., leasing of equipment, are discussed. The cost relationships of conventional versus digital radiography are demonstrated for the example of a 1000-bed hospital.     

The emperor's new clothes: Sociopolitical diversity in psychology.

Comments on the article by R. E. Redding (see record 2001-00465-001) which argues that psychology lacks sociopolitical diversity and that conservatives are vastly underrepresented in the profession. The current authors agree with Redding's argument but were surprised to note that he did not draw stronger connections between his examples of biases, the graduate school training process, and the subsequent therapeutic services psychologists provide to their clients. It is maintained that in this arena, biases of any nature could potentially damage students, clients, scientific inquiry, and certainly the profession. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Exploratory research on the role of national and professionalcultures in a distributed learning project

The impact of differing national and professional cultural backgrounds is a salient issue that interacts with technological support of distributed teams. As we prepare for the world of the future it becomes imperative that we give students the experience of working in multicultural distributed teams. In order to gain experience in this area, a project between ten teams of students from the City University of Hong Kong and the Eindhoven University of Technology in The Netherlands was initiated. A variety of group support technologies, primarily Group Systems, were used to service the teams as they learned to work together. This paper documents experiences from the Hong Kong-Netherlands project. Eight out of ten student teams successfully concluded a seven-week exercise resulting in an integrated report related to software engineering. Data collected on the process are reported and discussed. Those student teams who succeeded were found to be particularly attuned and accommodating to aspects of national and professional culture     

Tryptophan fluorescence of calmodulin binding domain peptides interacting with calmodulin containing unnatural methionine analogues

The interactions between the abundant methionine residues ofthe calcium regulatory protein calmodulin (CaM) and severalof its binding targets were probed using fluorescence spectroscopy.Tryptophan steady-state fluorescence from peptides encompassingthe CaM-binding domains of the target proteins myosin lightchain kinase (MLCK), cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterase (PDE)and caldesmon site A and B (CaD A, CaD B), and the model peptidemelittin showed Ca²⁺-dependent blue-shifts in their maximumemission wavelength when complexed with wild-type CaM. Blue-shiftswere also observed for complexes in which the CaM methionineresidues were replaced by selenomethionine, norleucine and ethionine,and when a quadruple methionine to leucine C-terminal mutantof CaM was studied. Quenching of the tryptophan fluorescenceintensity was observed with selenomethionine, but not with norleucineor ethionine substituted protein. Fluorescence quenching studieswith added potassium iodide (KI) demonstrate that the non-nativeproteins limit the solvent accessibility of the Trp in the MLCKpeptide to levels close to that of the wild-type CaM–MLCKinteraction. Our results show that the methionine residues fromCaM are highly sensitive to the target peptide in question,confirming the importance of their role in binding interactions.In addition, we provide evidence that the nature of bindingin the CaM–CaD B complex is unique compared with the othercomplexes studied, as the Trp residue of this peptide remainspartially solvent exposed upon binding to CaM.     

Alfalfa seed oil

Herein reported are the initial results of an attempt to clarify conflicting statements on the nature and composition of alfalfa seed oil. Its unsaturated acid fraction contains representatives of three common types, linolenic and linoleic acids, neither of which, apparently, is present there in isomeric form, and oleic acid. The study is being continued.