Mammalian-Cell-Driven Polymerisation of Pyrrole

A model cancer cell line was used to initiate polymerisation of pyrrole to form the conducting material polypyrrole. The polymerisation was shown to occur through the action of cytosolic exudates rather than that of the membrane redox sites that normally control the oxidation state of iron as ferricyanide or ferrocyanide. The data demonstrate for the first time that mammalian cells can be used to initiate synthesis of conducting polymers and suggest a possible route to detection of cell damage and/or transcellular processes through in situ and amplifiable signal generation.     

Nanoparticle Transport in Epithelial Cells: Pathway Switching Through Bioconjugation

The understanding and control of nanoparticle transport into and through cellular compartments is central to biomedical applications of nanotechnology. Here, it is shown that the transport pathway of 50 nm polystyrene nanoparticles decorated with vitamin B₁₂ in epithelial cells is different compared to both soluble B₁₂ ligand and unmodified nanoparticles, and this is not attributable to B₁₂ recognition alone. Importantly, the study indicates that vitamin B₁₂‐conjugated nanoparticles circumnavigate the lysosomal compartment, the destination of soluble vitamin B₁₂ ligand. Whereas cellular trafficking of soluble B₁₂ is confirmed to occur via the clathrin‐mediated pathway, transport of B₁₂‐conjugated nanoparticles appears to predominantly take place by a route that is perturbed by caveolae‐specific inhibitors. This data suggests that, following its conjugation to nanoparticles, in addition to dramatically increasing the cellular uptake of nanoparticles, the normal cell trafficking of B₁₂ is switched to an alternative pathway, omitting the lysosomal stage: a result with important implications for oral delivery of nanoparticulate diagnostics and therapeutics.     

PEGylated chitosan derivatives: Synthesis, characterizations and pharmaceutical applications

This review sets out to describe and discuss the synthetic approaches and the fields of application of PEGylated chitosan copolymers especially for medical use. The PEGylation of chitosan and chitosan derivatives is able to add new physicochemical properties to the cationic polysaccharide polymers, thereby overcoming some limitations, especially regarding their solubility and their use in drug and gene delivery (DNA and siRNA). All methods of derivatization have been considered and described together with the different methods of characterization of the copolymers. The capacities of PEGylated chitosan to reduce chitosan toxicity, to enhance membrane permeation and to form thermosensitive hydrogels have also been discussed.     

Effect of a high energy electrical pulse on the dynamic stress-strain behavior of a copper alloy

Electromagnetic launchers (EML) dispatch projectiles at extreme velocities (Mach 7-8), using copper/copper alloy rails which are subjected to high rates of loading under a high energy electrical pulse. Results from Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar (SHPB) testing of a copper alloy at high strain rates in the order of 10³ s^− 1 with simultaneous application of a high energy electrical pulse show that the plastic deformation of the copper alloy is increased and a higher degree of work hardening is observed under these conditions.     

Deep inelastic neutron scattering from liquid4He in aerogel glass

We report highQ inelastic neutron scattering studies of liquid⁴He confined inside porous aerogel glass in both the normal and superfluid phases. The scattering consists of a broad component, which we interpret as due to atoms localized on the surface of the glass, and a narrow component, which we interpret as due to the confined liquid inside the pores. The broad component is quite small, and no quantitative analysis is attempted. However, the narrow component due to the confined liquid is sufficiently large that information on the kinetic energy and condensate fraction may be obtained. The measurements are at large enoughQ (23 Å^–1) that the incoherent approximation may be used to directly extract the kinetic energy. Furthermore, the observed scattering is consistent with the impulse approximation, allowing information on both the momentum distribution and the condensate fraction to be extracted. The kinetic energy of the confined liquid is close to previous measurements of the kinetic energy in the bulk liquid. The condensate fraction of the confined liquid, which is estimated using a modification of a method due to Sears, is close to previous estimates of the condensate fraction in the bulk liquid.     

Light Emission from Highly Reflective Porous Silicon Multilayer Structures

Porous silicon photoluminescence and electroluminescence can be controlled by periodically modulating the material porosity to form high quality multilayer stacks and microcavities. Important issues not yet fully addressed are (a) the precise role played by this microstructuring, given that the luminescence is distributed throughout the entire structure and that the low porosity layers are highly absorbing at short wavelengths, and (b) whether the quality of such microcavities could be sufficient to support lasing. Using both experimental and theoretical techniques, the emission and reflection properties of different porous silicon single and multilayer structures have been investigated in order to understand further and exploit the nature of light propagation within them.     

World psychology and the role of the Office of Naval Research.

Supports M. R. Rosenzweig's (1984) argument for increased communication between US psychologists and psychologists in other parts of the world and notes that Rosenzweig failed to mention the Liaison Science Program of the US Office of Naval Research (ONR), which promotes the exact type of international communication espoused by Rosenzweig. Liaison activities of the ONR are detailed, and problems faced by the ONR behavioral scientist (a post held by the present author) are identified. Three ways in which individuals and organizations (i.e., the American Psychological Association) can participate in and promote international psychology are suggested. (4 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A multi-protocol campus time server

A time server system has been constructed at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne which may be accessed by users of the campus Ethernet. It uses a commercially available radio clock to receive an accurate time signal from the MSF transmitter at Rugby, and can respond to requests from users of the network using a number of different protocols. This paper describes the server system, both hardware and software, and discusses some network management issues raised as a result of the associated experimentation and testing of the system.