Film morphology and photophysics of polyfluorene

Journal ArticleWe have studied the interplay between photophysics and film morphology of poly(9,9-dioctyl)fluorene (PFO) using a variety of optical probes. Upon slowly warming a spin-cast PFO film from 80 to 300 K, a fraction of the sample is transformed into a different solid phase, the ß phase. Absorption and electroabsorption measurements show that the ß phase has more extended conjugation than the glassy phase. As a consequence, excited states of the ß phase are redshifted and have higher polarizability. The photoinduced absorption spectrum of a glassy PFO film is dominated by triplet excitons, whereas both polarons and triplet excitons are seen in a sample containing a fraction of the ß phase. The dependence of the photoinduced absorption and photocurrent upon the excitation wavelength shows that there is a clear link between polaron and triplet photogeneration

Trapped modes in a two-layer fluid

Trapped-mode frequencies are computed for submerged horizontal circular cylinders in a two-layer fluid consisting of a finite layer bounded above by a free surface and below by an infinite layer of greater density. Two separate cases are examined. First we consider waves which propagate along the top of a single cylinder at frequencies below the cut-off for wave propagation away from the cylinder, and find modes where the motion is concentrated around the interface, modes which are concentrated around the free surface, and modes which involve significant motion of both the interface and the free surface. Secondly, we compute modes above the cut-off for a pair of submerged cylinders in the lower fluid

Three-dimensional water-wave scattering in two-layer fluids

We consider, using linear water-wave theory, three-dimensional problems concerning the interaction of waves with structures in a fluid which contains a layer of finite depth bounded above by a free surface and below by an infinite layer of fluid of greater density. For such a situation time-harmonic waves can propagate with two different wavenumbers K and k. In a single-layer fluid there are a number of reciprocity relations that exist connecting the various hydrodynamic quantities that arise, and these relations are systematically extended to the two-fluid case. The particular problems of wave radiation and scattering by a submerged sphere in either the upper or lower layer are then solved using multipole expansions

Scattering of oblique waves in a two-layer fluid

We consider problems based on linear water wave theory concerning the interaction of oblique waves with horizontal cylinders in a fluid consisting of a layer of finite depth bounded above by a free surface and below by an infinite layer of fluid of greater density. For such a situation time-harmonic waves can propagate with two different wavenumbers K and k. The particular problems of wave scattering by a horizontal circular cylinder in either the upper or lower layer are solved using multipole expansions

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A Novel Application of Non-Destructive Readout Technology to Localisation Microscopy.

The fitting precision in localisation microscopy is highly dependent on the signal to noise ratio. To increase the quality of the image it is therefore important to increase the signal to noise ratio of the measurements. We present an imaging system for localisation microscopy based on non-destructive readout camera technology that can increase the signal to noise ratio of localisation based microscopy. This approach allows for much higher frame rates through subsampling a traditional camera frame. By matching the effective exposure to both the start time and duration of a single molecule we diminish the effects of read noise and temporal noise. We demonstrate the application of this novel method to localisation microscopy and show both an increase in the attainable signal to noise ratio of data collection and an increase in the number of detected events

Cell wall elongation mode in Gram-negative bacteria is determined by peptidoglycan architecture

Cellular integrity and morphology of most bacteria is maintained by cell wall peptidoglycan, the target of antibiotics essential in modern healthcare. It consists of glycan strands, cross-linked by peptides, whose arrangement determines cell shape, prevents lysis due to turgor pressure and yet remains dynamic to allow insertion of new material, and hence growth. The cellular architecture and insertion pattern of peptidoglycan have remained elusive. Here we determine the peptidoglycan architecture and dynamics during growth in rod-shaped Gram-negative bacteria. Peptidoglycan is made up of circumferentially oriented bands of material interspersed with a more porous network. Super-resolution fluorescence microscopy reveals an unexpected discontinuous, patchy synthesis pattern. We present a consolidated model of growth via architecture-regulated insertion, where we propose only the more porous regions of the peptidoglycan network that are permissive for synthesis

A rotary mechanism for allostery in bacterial hybrid malic enzymes

This project was funded by BBSRC studentship 1500753 to C.J.H. and a BBSRC David Phillips fellowship to P.J.M. (BB/S010122/1).Bacterial hybrid malic enzymes (MaeB grouping, multidomain) catalyse the transformation of malate to pyruvate, and are a major contributor to cellular reducing power and carbon flux. Distinct from other malic enzyme subtypes, the hybrid enzymes are regulated by acetyl-CoA, a molecular indicator of the metabolic state of the cell. Here we solve the structure of a MaeB protein, which reveals hybrid enzymes use the appended phosphotransacetylase (PTA) domain to form a hexameric sensor that communicates acetyl-CoA occupancy to the malic enzyme active site, 60 Å away. We demonstrate that allostery is governed by a large-scale rearrangement that rotates the catalytic subunits 70° between the two states, identifying MaeB as a new model enzyme for the study of ligand-induced conformational change. Our work provides the mechanistic basis for metabolic control of hybrid malic enzymes, and identifies inhibition-insensitive variants that may find utility in synthetic biology.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe