Static Electricity

We study theI-Vcharacteristic of mesoscopic systems or quantum dot (QD) attached to a pair of superconducting leads. Interaction effects in the QD are considered through the charging energy of the QD; that is, the treatment of current transport under a voltage bias is performed within a coupled Poisson nonequilibrium Green function (PNEGF) formalism. We derive the expression for the current in full generality but consider only the regime where transport occurs only via a single particle current. We show for this case and for various charging energies valuesU0and associated capacitances of the QD the effect on theI-Vcharacteristic. Also the influence of the coupling constants on theI-Vcharacteristic is investigated. Our approach puts forward a novel interpretation of experiments in the strong Coulomb regime.

Membrane-permeable calmodulin inhibitors, such as the napthalenesulfonamide derivatives W-7/W-13, trifluoperazine, and calmidazolium, are used widely to investigate the role of calcium/calmodulin (Ca 2+/CaM) in living cells. If two chemically different inhibitors ...

The chromatographic capacity factors (k') of 10 beta-adrenoceptor antagonists ("beta-blockers") were measured on three different immobilized artificial membrane-phosphatidylcholine (IAM-PC) HPLC stationary phases, namely IAM-PC-MG, IAM-PC-DD2, and IAM-PC-DD. The two former phases are made of phosphatidylcholine as found in biomembranes and differ each other in end-capping of free propylamino residues whereas the latter is made of single-chain phosphatidylcholine analogues. On IAM-PC-DD2 we found that structurally unrelated neutral compounds give a single correlation between logk' values and the respective octanol/water partition coefficients (logP), as previously observed on IAM-PC-MG phase. This was not observed on the IAM-PC-DD phase. IAM chromatography was performed at a pH of the aqueous eluent (7.0) close to the physiological pH 7.4. Retention on all IAM phases showed a biphasic pattern, being proportional to logP(N) (lipophilicity of neutral forms) for more l...

Classic immunohematology approaches, based on agglutination techniques, have been used in manual and automated immunohematology laboratory routines. Red blood cell (RBC) agglutination depends on intermolecular attractive forces (hydrophobic bonds, Van der Walls, electrostatic forces and hydrogen bonds) and repulsive interactions (zeta potential). The aim of this study was to measure the force involved in RBC aggregation using double optical tweezers, in normal serum, in the presence of erythrocyte antibodies and associated to agglutination potentiator solutions (Dextran, low ionic strength solution [LISS] and enzymes). The optical tweezers consisted of a neodymium:yattrium aluminium garnet (Nd:YAG) laser beam focused through a microscope equipped with a minicam, which registered the trapped cell image in a computer where they could be analyzed using a software. For measuring RBC aggregation, a silica bead attached to RBCs was trapped and the force needed to slide one RBC over the other, as a function of the velocities, was determined. The median of the RBC aggregation force measured in normal serum (control) was 1 × 10(-3) (0.1-2.5) poise.cm. The samples analyzed with anti-D showed 2 × 10(-3) (1.0-4.0) poise.cm (p < 0.001). RBC diluted in potentiator solutions (Dextran 0.15%, Bromelain and LISS) in the absence of erythrocyte antibodies, did not present agglutination. High adherence was observed when RBCs were treated with papain. Results are in agreement with the imunohematological routine, in which non-specific results are not observed when using LISS, Dextran and Bromelain. Nevertheless, false positive results are frequently observed in manual and automated microplate analyzer using papain enzyme. The methodology proposed is simple and could provide specific information with the possibility of meansuration regarding RBC interaction.

Vesicular systems are novel means of delivering drug in controlled manner to enhance bioavailability and get therapeutic effect over a longer period of time. Niosomes are such hydrated vesicular systems containing nonionic surfactants along with cholesterol or other lipids delivering drug to targeted site which are non toxic, requiring less production cost, stable over a longer period of time in different conditions, so overcomes drawbacks of liposome. Present review describes history, all factors affecting niosome formulation, manufacturing conditions, characterization, stability, administration routes and also their comparison with liposome. This review also gives relevant information regarding various applications of niosomes in gene delivery, vaccine delivery, anticancer drug delivery, etc.

The article reviews the significant contributions to, and the present status of, applications of computational methods for the characterization and prediction of protein-carbohydrate interactions. After a presentation of the specific features of carbohydrate modeling, along with a brief description of the experimental data and general features of carbohydrate-protein interactions, the survey provides a thorough coverage of the available computational methods and tools. At the quantum-mechanical level, the use of both molecular orbitals and density-functional theory is critically assessed. These are followed by a presentation and critical evaluation of the applications of semiempirical and empirical methods: QM/MM, molecular dynamics, free-energy calculations, metadynamics, molecular robotics, and others. The usefulness of molecular docking in structural glycobiology is evaluated by considering recent docking- validation studies on a range of protein targets. The range of application...