US – Page 405 – TechConnect Briefs

Electrostatic Force Microscopy Study of Open-Circuit Photovoltage from a bR/ITO Heterostructure

Crittenden S., Hillebrecht J., Howell S., Birge R.R., Reifenberger R., Purdue University, US

Bioelectronics offers a potential alternative to Si-based technology because natural evolution and selection have optimized many biological molecules to perform tasks that can only be mimicked by complicated electronic circuits. Purple membrane (PM) patches containing [...]

Nanofiber Structures as Mimics for Cellular Membranes

Doktycz M.J., Zhang L., Melechko A.V, Klein K., McKnight T.E., Britt P.F., Guillorn M.A., Merkulov V.I., Lowndes D.H., Simpson M.L., Oak Ridge National Laboratory, US

We are investigating the use of vertically aligned carbon nanofibers (VACNFs) as a material for controlling molecular transport in a manner analogous to natural cell membranes. VACNFs can be synthesized with nanometer scale dimensions, can [...]

Fabrication of Nanopipes using Vertically Aligned Carbon Nanofiber Templates and their Properties

Melechko A.V, McKnight T.E., Guillorn M.A., Ilic B., Merkulov V.I., Doktycz M.J., Warmac B., McCorkle D., Lowndes D.H., Simpson M.L., University of Tennessee, Knoxville, US

Fluidic structures with submicron dimensions have potential applications for sorting DNA molecules, electroanalytical sensing, and detecting and characterizing single molecule events. The fabrication of devices that function on the nanometer scale requires new approaches when [...]

Structure-Function Relations in Self-Assembled Sphingolipids at Gas-Water Interfaces

Vaknin D., Ames Lab, and Iowa State University, US

The development in understanding cell membrane structure and function has been historically intertwined with that of the monomolecular Langmuir layer of amphiphiles at air-aqueous interfaces. Here, we present synchrotron structural studies of a variety of [...]

MembraneChipTM : Arrays of Natively Displayed Membrane Targets for Novel Drug Discovery

Yamazaki V., Nguyen L.T., Schafer R.J., Ulman N., Groves J.T., Proteomic Systems, Inc., US

For the first time, naturally fluid and functional biological membranes have been integrated into a scaleable system. Previously-inaccessible membrane targets can be presented in their native environment. Domains of membrane targets naturally displayed in cell [...]

Mimicking Immune Processes by Positioning Antibodies on Surfaces — A Nanoengineering Approach

Liu G-y., Liu M., Amro N., Komanicky V., Liu G-y., Liu M., University of California Davis, US

Antibody-antigen interaction is one of the most fundamental biospecific interactions. While the antibody-antigen monovalent and divalent bindings are relatively well-known in solution phase, controlling the valency on surfaces has not been attempted. Using scanning probe [...]

Converging Technologies (NBIC)

Bainbridge W.S., National Science Foundation, US

The convergence of nanotechnology, biotechnology, information technology and cognitive science can greatly improve human performance over the next ten to twenty years. The chief areas of application include: expanding human cognition and communication, improving human [...]

A Fokker-Planck Approach For Modeling Integrated NanoBio Systems

Jenkins J.W., Sundaram S., CFD Research Corporation, US

Physics-based, high-fidelity simulations have emerged as indispensable tools in the design of complex, microfluidic devices (lab-on-chip). However, ab-initio analysis becomes increasingly complicated as the dimensions of the device approach nanoscales and molecular information/interactions must be [...]

Biologically Inspired Controls over Assembly of Crystalline Nanostructures

De Yoreo J.J., Orme C.A., Qiu R., Dove P.M., Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, US

By utilizing small molecules and proteins to modulate crystal nucleation and growth, living organisms produce single nanocrystals and nanocrystal composites that exhibit control over the location, phase and crystallographic orientation of the nuclei, as well [...]

DNA base damage: A Car-Parrinello Molecular Dynamics Study of Guanine and Thymine with an OH Radical

Wu Y., Mundy C.J., Colvin M.E., Car R., Lawrence Livermore National Labs, US

Understanding the basic chemistry of radicals and DNA bases is an important step in characterizing the potential damage to DNA. The chemical level understanding of such damage has far reaching implications for radiation therapy, health [...]