SANS studies of liquid crystalline microemulsion gels

We have investigated by small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) the ternary system containing water, alkane and the surfactant mixture benzyltetradecyldimethylammonium chloride and tetradecyltrimethylammonium bromide, which we have found to form a cubic liquid crystalline phase. A contrast variation experiment with equal volume fractions of water and oil showed three Bragg reflections varying in agreement with theoretically calculated scattering amplitudes for an infinite periodic minimal surface (IPMS) with cubic symmetry. We have, in addition, studied the “ringing” gel phases of the system water/octane/didodecyldimethylammonium bromide by SANS and electron microscopy

NK cells and cancer: you can teach innate cells new tricks

Natural killer (NK) cells are the prototype innate lymphoid cells endowed with potent cytolytic function that provide host defence against microbial infection and tumours. Here, we review evidence for the role of NK cells in immune surveillance against cancer and highlight new therapeutic approaches for targeting NK cells in the treatment of cancer

STRUCTURAL FEATURES OF THE CUBIC PHASE OF A TERNARY SURFACTANT SYSTEM

We have studied the cubic phase formed by the ternary system water/didodecyldimethylammonium bromide/octane using small-angle x-ray and neutron scattering. We have observed the existence of more than one symmetry in this cubic region, with a transition from primitive to body centred cubic symmetry on increasing the water content of the system. Our results are consistent with a bicontinuous periodic structure of constant mean curvature. We also report rheological measurements which indicate that the ringing behaviour of the cubic samples is associated with a sharp increase in the quality factor as audible frequencies are approached