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

Three parallel algorithms for classical molecular dynamics are presented. The first assigns each processor a fixed subset of atoms; the second assigns each a fixed subset of inter-atomic forces to compute; the third assigns each a fixed spatial region. The algorithms are suitable for molecular dynamics models which can be difficult to parallelize efficiently—those with short-range forces where the neighbors of each atom change rapidly. They can be implemented on any distributed-memory parallel machine which allows for message-passing of data between independently executing processors. The algorithms are tested on a standard Lennard-Jones benchmark problem for system sizes ranging from 500 to 100,000,000 atoms on several parallel supercomputers--the nCUBE 2, Intel iPSC/860 and Paragon, and Cray T3D. Comparing the results to the fastest reported vectorized Cray Y-MP and C90 algorithm shows that the current generation of parallel machines is competitive with conventional vector supercomputers even for small problems. For large problems, the spatial algorithm achieves parallel efficiencies of 90% and a 1840-node Intel Paragon performs up to 165 faster than a single Cray C9O processor. Trade-offs between the three algorithms and guidelines for adapting them to more complex molecular dynamics simulations are also discussed.

Fast parallel algorithms for short-range molecular dynamics

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.

/pdf/self-assembled-monolayers-of-thiolates-on-metals-as-a-form-1neb0hj3k4.pdf

Self-assembled monolayers of thiolates on metals as a form of nanotechnology.

Fundamentals of Plasmonics.- Electromagnetics of Metals.- Surface Plasmon Polaritons at Metal / Insulator Interfaces.- Excitation of Surface Plasmon Polaritons at Planar Interfaces.- Imaging Surface Plasmon Polariton Propagation.- Localized Surface Plasmons.- Electromagnetic Surface Modes at Low Frequencies.- Applications.- Plasmon Waveguides.- Transmission of Radiation Through Apertures and Films.- Enhancement of Emissive Processes and Nonlinearities.- Spectroscopy and Sensing.- Metamaterials and Imaging with Surface Plasmon Polaritons.- Concluding Remarks.

/pdf/plasmonics-fundamentals-and-applications-4syb9877sr.pdf

Plasmonics: Fundamentals and Applications

Exploiting microfluidic principles, the potential for chip-based multilayer assembly for the synthesis of polymer microcapsules was investigated. We demonstrate that continuous flow microfluidic multilayer synthesis is a fast, efficient, automated alternative to conventional batch synthesis. In this work, we dispersed liquid crystal (LC) molecules (organic phase) as monodisperse droplets in an aqueous continuous phase containing the primary polymer and a suitable surfactant. The primary polymer was coadsorbed with the surfactant at the organic/aqueous interface, stabilizing the LC droplets against coalescence and providing a template for subsequent polymer adsorption. As the droplet templates are transported through the microfluidic channel, the polymer-containing aqueous continuous phase is selectively withdrawn and replaced with rinse solution, and then with an alternative polymer solution. This selective withdrawal and infusion cycle was repeated to assemble polymer multilayers onto the emulsion droplets. The process was followed using fluorescence microscopy of the fluorescently-labelled polymers at the LC interface and of the flowing polymer solutions during the sequential rinse stages. Cross-linking of the multilayers and removal of the dispersed LC phase resulted in polymer capsules retaining the high monodispersity of the droplet templates. This microfluidic approach significantly reduces the multilayer formation time (to <2 min for 3-layer capsules) of well-defined capsules that are envisaged to have benefits in biomedical applications, including drug delivery and encapsulated biochemical reactions.

Microfluidic polymer multilayer adsorption on liquid crystal droplets for microcapsule synthesis.

A novel class of biofunctional fluorescent microparticles for application in immunoassays was constructed by using the layer-by-layer self-assembly method to deposit multiple layers of fluorescently labeled polyelectrolytes onto colloidal particles, followed by deposition of a protein (immunoglobulin G, IgG) layer. Microelectrophoresis experiments revealed alternating negative and positive ζ-potentials with deposition of each successive polyelectrolyte layer, indicating that the alternate electrostatic adsorption of polyelectrolytes of opposite charge was successfully achieved. Transmission electron microscopy images showed a change of the particle surface texture after polyelectrolyte multilayer deposition. Fluorescence microscopy image (FMI) analysis provided direct measurement of the fluorescence intensity of single microparticles. The observed systematic increase of the fluorescence intensity of individual microparticles with increasing polyelectrolyte layer number from FMI analysis further demonstrated the controlled regular adsorption of polyelectrolyte layers onto the polystyrene (PS) particles. Protein immobilization onto the polyelectrolyte multilayer-coated particles was verified by the different surface properties of the microparticles with respect to surface charge under pH conditions above and below the isoelectric point of the proteins. The assembly of IgG and fluorescein isothiocyanate-labeled IgG onto polyelectrolyte multilayer-coated PS microparticles and their potential use was ultimately confirmed by a solid phase immunotest.

Layer-by-layer construction of novel biofunctional fluorescent microparticles for immunoassay applications

Super-soft PEG hydrogel particles with tunable elasticity are prepared via a mesoporous silica templating method. The deformability behavior of these particles, in a microfluidic blood-capillary model, can be tailored to be similar to that of human red blood cells. These results provide a new platform for the design and development of soft hydrogel particles for investigating bio-nano interactions.

https://minerva-access.unimelb.edu.au/bitstream/handle/11343/113736/Caruso_AM_Revised Manuscript.pdf

Super‐Soft Hydrogel Particles with Tunable Elasticity in a Microfluidic Blood Capillary Model

Semiconducting polymer inverse opals prepared by electropolymerization

We report the synthesis and characterization of DNA-grafted poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) micelles, their assembly into multilayered thin films, and the subsequent generation and poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) functionalization of DNA−PNIPAM microcapsules. Multilayer films were assembled by sequentially depositing DNA-grafted PNIPAM micelles containing the cDNA sequences polyA30 or polyT30 (i.e., PNIPAM-A30 or PNIPAM-T30). DNA−polymer microcapsules were obtained by the alternate deposition of PNIPAM-A30 and PNIPAM-T30 onto silica particles, followed by removal of the template core. Upon removal of the silica core particle, shrinkage of between 30 and 50% was observed for the microcapsules. The presence of PNIPAM within the DNA−polymer hybrid film reduces the permeability of the microcapsules to macrosolutes (e.g., dextran) compared with microcapsules made solely of DNA. The hydrophobic core of the DNA-grafted PNIPAM micelles was designed to contain alkyne “click” groups, which were exploited to covale...

Frank Caruso

Papers

Microfluidic polymer multilayer adsorption on liquid crystal droplets for microcapsule synthesis.

Layer-by-layer construction of novel biofunctional fluorescent microparticles for immunoassay applications

Super‐Soft Hydrogel Particles with Tunable Elasticity in a Microfluidic Blood Capillary Model

Semiconducting polymer inverse opals prepared by electropolymerization

Assembly and functionalization of DNA-polymer microcapsules.