There is, I think, something ethereal about i —the square root of minus one. I remember first hearing about it at school. It seemed an odd beast at that time—an intruder hovering on the edge of reality.

Usually familiarity dulls this sense of the bizarre, but in the case of i it was the reverse: over the years the sense of its surreal nature intensified. It seemed that it was impossible to write mathematics that described the real world in …

I and i

抗原变异可使得多种致病微生物易于逃避宿主免疫应答。表达在感染红细胞表面的恶性疟原虫红细胞表面蛋白1（PfPMP1）与感染红细胞、内皮细胞、树突状细胞以及胎盘的单个或多个受体作用，在黏附及免疫逃避中起关键的作用。每个单倍体基因组var基因家族编码约60种成员，通过启动转录不同的var基因变异体为抗原变异提供了分子基础。

疟原虫var基因转换速率变化导致抗原变异[英]／Paul H, Robert P, Christodoulou Z, et al//Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A

Although gold is the subject of one of the most ancient themes of investigation in science, its renaissance now leads to an exponentially increasing number of publications, especially in the context of emerging nanoscience and nanotechnology with nanoparticles and self-assembled monolayers (SAMs). We will limit the present review to gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), also called gold colloids. AuNPs are the most stable metal nanoparticles, and they present fascinating aspects such as their assembly of multiple types involving materials science, the behavior of the individual particles, size-related electronic, magnetic and optical properties (quantum size effect), and their applications to catalysis and biology. Their promises are in these fields as well as in the bottom-up approach of nanotechnology, and they will be key materials and building block in the 21st century. Whereas the extraction of gold started in the 5th millennium B.C. near Varna (Bulgaria) and reached 10 tons per year in Egypt around 1200-1300 B.C. when the marvelous statue of Touthankamon was constructed, it is probable that “soluble” gold appeared around the 5th or 4th century B.C. in Egypt and China. In antiquity, materials were used in an ecological sense for both aesthetic and curative purposes. Colloidal gold was used to make ruby glass 293 Chem. Rev. 2004, 104, 293−346

Gold nanoparticles: assembly, supramolecular chemistry, quantum-size-related properties, and applications toward biology, catalysis, and nanotechnology.

Detection of chemical and biological agents plays a fundamental role in biomedical, forensic and environmental sciences1–4 as well as in anti bioterrorism applications.5–7 The development of highly sensitive, cost effective, miniature sensors is therefore in high demand which requires advanced technology coupled with fundamental knowledge in chemistry, biology and material sciences.8–13

In general, sensors feature two functional components: a recognition element to provide selective/specific binding with the target analytes and a transducer component for signaling the binding event. An efficient sensor relies heavily on these two essential components for the recognition process in terms of response time, signal to noise (S/N) ratio, selectivity and limits of detection (LOD).14,15 Therefore, designing sensors with higher efficacy depends on the development of novel materials to improve both the recognition and transduction processes. Nanomaterials feature unique physicochemical properties that can be of great utility in creating new recognition and transduction processes for chemical and biological sensors15–27 as well as improving the S/N ratio by miniaturization of the sensor elements.28

Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) possess distinct physical and chemical attributes that make them excellent scaffolds for the fabrication of novel chemical and biological sensors (Figure 1).29–36 First, AuNPs can be synthesized in a straightforward manner and can be made highly stable. Second, they possess unique optoelectronic properties. Third, they provide high surface-to-volume ratio with excellent biocompatibility using appropriate ligands.30 Fourth, these properties of AuNPs can be readily tuned varying their size, shape and the surrounding chemical environment. For example, the binding event between recognition element and the analyte can alter physicochemical properties of transducer AuNPs, such as plasmon resonance absorption, conductivity, redox behavior, etc. that in turn can generate a detectable response signal. Finally, AuNPs offer a suitable platform for multi-functionalization with a wide range of organic or biological ligands for the selective binding and detection of small molecules and biological targets.30–32,36 Each of these attributes of AuNPs has allowed researchers to develop novel sensing strategies with improved sensitivity, stability and selectivity. In the last decade of research, the advent of AuNP as a sensory element provided us a broad spectrum of innovative approaches for the detection of metal ions, small molecules, proteins, nucleic acids, malignant cells, etc. in a rapid and efficient manner.37



Figure 1

Physical properties of AuNPs and schematic illustration of an AuNP-based detection system.



In this current review, we have highlighted the several synthetic routes and properties of AuNPs that make them excellent probes for different sensing strategies. Furthermore, we will discuss various sensing strategies and major advances in the last two decades of research utilizing AuNPs in the detection of variety of target analytes including metal ions, organic molecules, proteins, nucleic acids, and microorganisms.

/pdf/gold-nanoparticles-in-chemical-and-biological-sensing-5e2qojkdzn.pdf

Gold nanoparticles in chemical and biological sensing.

基礎講座 電気泳動(Electrophoresis)

/pdf/new-approaches-to-nanofabrication-molding-printing-and-other-9d730ga5zp.pdf

New approaches to nanofabrication: molding, printing, and other techniques.

This paper describes the influence of the composition of poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) on the attachment and growth of several different types of mammalian cells:  primary human umbilical artery endothelial cells (HUAECs), transformed 3T3 fibroblasts (3T3s), transformed osteoblast-like MC3T3-E1 cells, and HeLa (transformed epithelial) cells. Cells grew on PDMS having different ratios of base to curing agent:  10:1 (normal PDMS, PDMSN), 10:3 (PDMSCA), and 10:0.5 (PDMSB). They were also grown on “extracted PDMS” (normal PDMS that has reduced quantities of low molecular-weight oligomers, PDMSN,EX) and normal PDMS that had been extracted and then oxidized (PDMSN,EX,OX); all surfaces were exposed to a solution of fibronectin prior to cell attachment. Generally, fibronectin-coated PDMS is a suitable substrate for culturing mammalian cells. Compatibility of cells on some surfaces, however, was dependent on the cell type:  PDMSN,EX,OX caused cell detachment of 3T3 fibroblasts and MC3T3-E1 cells, and PDMSCA caused...

Compatibility of mammalian cells on surfaces of poly(dimethylsiloxane).

It is difficult to harness the power generated by biological motors to carry out mechanical work in systems outside the cell. Efforts to capture the mechanical energy of nanomotors ex vivo require in vitro reconstitution of motor proteins and, often, protein engineering. This study presents a method for harnessing the power produced by biological motors that uses intact cells. The unicellular, biflagellated algae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii serve as "microoxen." This method uses surface chemistry to attach loads (1- to 6-microm-diameter polystyrene beads) to cells, phototaxis to steer swimming cells, and photochemistry to release loads. These motile microorganisms can transport microscale loads (3-microm-diameter beads) at velocities of approximately 100-200 microm.sec(-1) and over distances as large as 20 cm.

https://www.pnas.org/content/pnas/102/34/11963.full.pdf

Microoxen: Microorganisms to move microscale loads

This manuscript describes the use of water-soluble polymers for use as sacrificial layers in surface micromachining. Water-soluble polymers have two attractive characteristics for this application: 1) They can be deposited conveniently by spin-coating, and the solvent removed at a low temperature (95-150 degrees C), and 2) the resulting layer can be dissolved in water; no corrosive reagents or organic solvents are required. This technique is therefore compatible with a number of fragile materials, such as organic polymers, metal oxides and metals-materials that might be damaged during typical surface micromachining processes. The carboxylic acid groups of one polymer-poly(acrylic acid) (PAA)-can be transformed by reversible ion-exchange from water-soluble (Na+ counterion) to water-insoluble (Ca2+ counterion) forms. The use of PAA and dextran polymers as sacrificial materials is a useful technique for the fabrication of microstructures: Examples include metallic structures formed by the electrodeposition of nickel, and freestanding, polymeric structures formed by photolithography.

Declan Ryan

Papers

New approaches to nanofabrication: molding, printing, and other techniques.

Compatibility of mammalian cells on surfaces of poly(dimethylsiloxane).

Microoxen: Microorganisms to move microscale loads

Water‐Soluble Sacrificial Layers for Surface Micromachining

New Approaches to Nanofabrication: Molding, Printing, and Other Techniques