15 research outputs found
Social Transfer of Pathogenic Fungus Promotes Active Immunisation in Ant Colonies
Social contact with fungus-exposed ants leads to pathogen transfer to healthy nest-mates, causing low-level infections. These micro-infections promote pathogen-specific immune gene expression and protective immunization of nest-mates
Influence of crop rotation, intermediate crops, and organic fertilizers on the soil enzymatic activity and humus content in organic farming systems
A Dramatic Effect of Aryloxo Ligands on the Titanium-Catalyzed Hydroamination of Alkynes
Synthesis of Condensed Pyrroloindoles via Pd-Catalyzed Intramolecular C−H Bond Functionalization of Pyrroles
The minimum amount of "matrix " needed for matrix-assisted pulsed laser deposition of biomolecules
The ability of matrix-assisted pulsed
laser evaporation (MAPLE)
technique to transfer and deposit high-quality thin organic, bioorganic,
and composite films with minimum chemical modification of the target
material has been utilized in numerous applications. One of the outstanding
problems in MAPLE film deposition, however, is the presence of residual
solvent (matrix) codeposited with the polymer material and adversely
affecting the quality of the deposited films. In this work, we investigate
the possibility of alleviating this problem by reducing the amount
of matrix in the target. A series of coarse-grained molecular dynamics
simulations are performed for a model lysozyme–water system,
where the water serves the role of volatile “matrix”
that drives the ejection of the biomolecules. The simulations reveal
a remarkable ability of a small (5–10 wt %) amount of matrix
to cause the ejection of intact bioorganic molecules. The results
obtained for different laser fluences and water concentrations are
used to establish a “processing map” of the regimes
of molecular ejection in matrix-assisted pulsed laser deposition.
The computational predictions are supported by the experimental observation
of the ejection of intact lysozyme molecules from pressed lysozyme
targets containing small amounts of residual water. The results of
this study suggest a new approach for deposition of thin films of
bioorganic molecules with minimum chemical modification of the molecular
structure and minimum involvement of solvent into the deposition process