Previous studies established that vaccinia virus could enter cells by fusion with the plasma membrane at neutral pH. However, low pH triggers fusion of vaccinia virus-infected cells, a hallmark of viruses that enter by the endosomal route. Here, we demonstrate that entry of mature vaccinia virions is accelerated by brief low-pH treatment and severely reduced by inhibitors of endosomal acidifica...

Bi-magnetic core/shell nanoparticles are gaining increasing interest due to their foreseen applications. Inverse antiferromagnetic(AFM)/ferrimagnetic(FiM) core/shell nanoparticles are particularly appealing since they may overcome some of the limitations of conventional FiM/AFM systems. However, virtually no simulations exist on this type of morphology. Here we present systematic Metropolis Mon...

Cu-Ag particles with homogeneous cover-silver layer were synthesized by electroless plating of copper particles with silver sulfate using eco-friendly sodium citrate (SC) as reducing agent, dispersant and chelating agent in an aqueous system. The influences of sodium citrate/Cu and sodium citrate/Ag ratios on Ag coatings of Cu powders were investigated. Ag formed a dense coating on the surface ...

Core-shell microgels made of the thermoresponsive polymer poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) and silica nanoparticles as inorganic cores were investigated by dynamic light scattering (DLS) and small angle neutron scattering (SANS). In order to study the response of the particles upon changes of temperature, experiments were done in a temperature interval close to the volume phase transition t...

When two vortices cross, each of them breaks into two parts and exchanges part of itself for part of the other. This process, called vortex reconnection, occurs in classical and superfluids, and in magnetized plasmas and superconductors. We present the first experimental observations of reconnection between quantized vortices in superfluid helium. We do so by imaging micrometer-sized solid hydr...

A facile synthetic method has been developed for the formation of Au-Pd core-shell nanocrystals in aqueous solution in just 0.5-2 h at 50 °C with systematic shape evolution from cubic to truncated cubic, cuboctahedral, truncated octahedral, and octahedral structures using octahedral gold cores. By adjusting the amounts of H2PdCl4, ascorbic acid, and sometimes surfactants and gold cores added, t...

Coated vesicles prepared by using isotonic gradients retain their contents. Ferritin, transferrin, and immunoglobulin G have been detected in human placental coated vesicles. Triton X-100 extraction of crude coated vesicles removes contaminating uncoated membranes, leaving coated particles and their associated proteins apparently intact; this provides an efficient means of preparing large quant...

Attempts to detect hepatitis B antigen in faeces and bile should take into account the degradation and disappearance of the surface antigens in an environment containing proteolytic enzymes in the presence of bile salts as in the intestinal lumen. The cores of the Dane particles are much more stable than the surface antigens and these may best be identified by immune electron microscopy using c...