594 research outputs found
Protein detection using hydrogel-based molecularly imprinted polymers integrated with dual polarisation interferometry
A polyacrylamide-based molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) was prepared for bovine haemoglobin (BHb). A 3 mg/ml solution of BHb was injected over a dual polarisation interferometer (DPI) sensor to form a physisorbed layer typically of 3.5 ± 0.5 nm thickness. Onto the pre-adsorbed protein layer, MIP and NIP (non-imprinted polymer) were separately injected to monitor the interaction of BHb MIP or NIP particles under different loading conditions with the pre-adsorbed protein layer. In the case of NIP flowing of the protein layer, there was negligible surface stripping of the pre-adsorbed protein. When a protein-eluted sample of MIP particles was flowed over a pre-adsorbed protein layer on the sensor chip, the sensor detected significant decreases in both layer thickness and mass, suggestive that protein was being selectively bound to MIP after being stripped-off from the sensor surface. We also integrated thin-film MIPS for BHb and BSA onto the DPI sensor surface and were able to show that whereas BHb bound selectively and strongly to the BHb MIP thin film (resulting in a sustained increase in thickness and mass), the BHb protein only demonstrated transient and reversible binding on the BSA MIP. MIPs were also tested after biofouling with plasma or serum at various dilutions. We found that serum at 1/100 dilution allowed the MIP to still function selectively. This is the first demonstration of MIPs being integrated with DPI in the development of synthetic receptor-based optical protein sensors. © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved
Nonlinear Realization of Chiral Symmetry on the Lattice
We formulate lattice theories in which chiral symmetry is realized
nonlinearly on the fermion fields. In this framework the fermion mass term does
not break chiral symmetry. This property allows us to use the Wilson term to
remove the doubler fermions while maintaining exact chiral symmetry on the
lattice. Our lattice formulation enables us to address non-perturbative
questions in effective field theories of baryons interacting with pions and in
models involving constituent quarks interacting with pions and gluons. We show
that a system containing a non-zero density of static baryons interacting with
pions can be studied on the lattice without encountering complex action
problems. In our formulation one can also decide non-perturbatively if the
chiral quark model of Georgi and Manohar provides an appropriate low-energy
description of QCD. If so, one could understand why the non-relativistic quark
model works.Comment: 34 pages, 2 figures, revised version to be published in J. High
Energy Phys. (changes in the 1st paragraph, additional descriptions on the
nature of the coordinate singularities in Sec.2, references added
Status, trends, and population demographics of selected sportfish species in the La Grange Reach of the Illinois River
Sportfish species, specifically Yellow Bass Morone mississippiensis, White Bass Morone chrysops, Largemouth Bass Micropterus salmoides, Bluegill Lepomis macrochirus, Black Crappie Pomoxis nigromaculatus, and White Crappie P. annularis, often drive economically valuable fisheries in large river systems, including the Upper Mississippi River System (UMRS). Within the Illinois River, part of the UMRS, these species are routinely sampled by an ongoing long-term fisheries monitoring program. Through this program, we investigated long-term trends (1993-2017) in catch rates and relative weights and quantified demographic rates from 2012-2016. We found all six species, with the exception of Yellow Bass, to have declining catch rates with this decline being most stark in larger, older fishes. Population demographics for Yellow Bass, White Bass, Bluegill, and Black Crappie suggest populations are dominated by younger individuals, with only Black Crappie regularly living to age 3 and older, which may be driving population declines. There are many environmental stressors acting on the Illinois River that could be contributing to the lack of older and larger fishes, including, but not limited to, navigation efforts, altered hydrology, pollution, sedimentation, lack of overwintering habitat, and introduction of invasive species. Results of this study demonstrate that additional research to understand mechanisms driving reduced abundance and stunted age structure are needed to identify effective management actions that would benefit populations of recreationally valuable sportfish species.is peer reviewedOpe
Open string modes at brane intersections
We study systematically the open string modes of a general class of BPS
intersections of branes. We work in the approximation in which one of the
branes is considered as a probe embedded in the near-horizon geometry generated
by the other type of branes. We mostly concentrate on the D3-D5 and D3-D3
intersections, which are dual to defect theories with a massive hypermultiplet
confined to the defect. In these cases we are able to obtain analytical
expressions for the fluctuation modes of the probe and to compute the
corresponding mass spectra of the dual operators in closed form. Other BPS
intersections are also studied and their fluctuation modes and spectra are
found numerically.Comment: 58 pages, 3 figures, LaTeX;v2: typos correcte
Syngas and HDS catalysts derived from sulphido bimetallic clusters
The clusters, CP2'Mo2Fe2S2(CO)8 (MoFeS) and Cp2'Mo2CO2S3(CO)4 (MoCoS) (Cp' = [eta]-C5H4Me) have been supported on the refractory oxides, Al2O3, SiO2, TiO2, and MgO, and subjected to temperature programmed decomposition (TPDE) under flowing H2. Typically, CO evolution commences near 100[deg]C, followed by evolution of 1-2 Cp-ligands from 180 to 400[deg]C along with small amounts of CO2, CH4, and H2S or Me2S. The resulting compositions are shown to be active catalysts for CO hydrogenation and hydrodesulphurization (HDS) of thiophene. Methane is the principal hydrocarbon product from CO hydrogenation except for MoFeS/MgO where high selectivity for C2 products was observed. The activity and selectivity of MoCoS/Al2O3 for thiophene HDS closely resembles those of conventionally prepared "cobalt molybdate" catalysts. The cluster derived catalysts have been characterized by Mossbauer and X-ray absorption (XANES) and EXAFS) spectroscopies. It is concluded that the clusters undergo oxidation by the surface upon loss of organic ligands.AbstractThe results obtained to date show that sulphido bimetallic clusters are excellent precursors for the formation of uniform catalytic surfaces. The uniformity of the surface species facilitates physical characterization of the active site(s). Our results show that the supported clusters are transformed to surface oxo-ensembles which are active for CO hydrogenation and HDS of organic sulphur compounds.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/27613/1/0000657.pd
Holographic flavor on the Higgs branch
In this paper we study the holographic dual, in several spacetime dimensions,
of the Higgs branch of gauge theories with fundamental matter. These theories
contain defects of various codimensionalities, where the matter fields are
located. In the holographic description the matter is added by considering
flavor brane probes in the supergravity backgrounds generated by color branes,
while the Higgs branch is obtained when the color and flavor branes recombine
with each other. We show that, generically, the holographic dual of the Higgs
phase is realized by means of the addition of extra flux on the flavor branes
and by choosing their appropriate embedding in the background geometry. This
suggests a dielectric interpretation in terms of the color branes, whose vacuum
solutions precisely match the F- and D-flatness conditions obtained on the
field theory side. We further compute the meson mass spectra in several cases
and show that when the defect added has codimension greater than zero it
becomes continuous and gapless.Comment: 59 pages, 1 figure;v2: references adde
Topological and geometrical restrictions, free-boundary problems and self-gravitating fluids
Let (P1) be certain elliptic free-boundary problem on a Riemannian manifold
(M,g). In this paper we study the restrictions on the topology and geometry of
the fibres (the level sets) of the solutions f to (P1). We give a technique
based on certain remarkable property of the fibres (the analytic representation
property) for going from the initial PDE to a global analytical
characterization of the fibres (the equilibrium partition condition). We study
this analytical characterization and obtain several topological and geometrical
properties that the fibres of the solutions must possess, depending on the
topology of M and the metric tensor g. We apply these results to the classical
problem in physics of classifying the equilibrium shapes of both Newtonian and
relativistic static self-gravitating fluids. We also suggest a relationship
with the isometries of a Riemannian manifold.Comment: 36 pages. In this new version the analytic representation hypothesis
is proved. Please address all correspondence to D. Peralta-Sala
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