This paper reports a nucleic acid sandwich hybridization assay with a quantum dot (QD)-induced fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) reporter system. Two label-free hemagglutinin H5 sequences (60-mer DNA and 630-nt cDNA fragment) of avian influenza viruses were used as the targets in this work. Two oligonucleotides (16 mers and 18 mers) that specifically recognize two separate but neigh...

The objective of this study was to select appropriate surfactants or blends of surfactants and oil to study the ternary phase diagram behavior and identify various phases obtained from the oil and surfactant/surfactant mixture combinations of different HLB. The phases include conventional emulsion, gel/viscous and transparent/translucent microemulsion. Pseudoternary phase diagrams of water, oil...

Standing modes of light in front of the reflecting surface of silicon modulate the excitation and emission of fluorescent dyes. This effect was used to determine the distance of a biomembrane from an oxidized silicon chip. The membrane of a red blood cell (ghost) was stained with a cyanine dye and attached with poly-lysine to a surface structured with microscopic steps of silicon dioxide on sil...

The Caenorhabditis elegans embryo is particularly amenable to microscopy and embryological studies because of its short developmental time, transparent shell, and nonpigmented cells. Identification of cell contacts is important for understanding how cells within the embryo can be polarized by their neighbors. This protocol describes a technique for identifying cell membranes and potential conta...

The need for novel design strategies for fluorescent nanomaterials to improve our understanding of biological activities at the molecular level is increasing rapidly. Dye-doped fluorescent silica nanoparticles (SiNPs) emerge with great potential for developing fluorescence imaging techniques as a novel and ideal platform for the monitoring of living cells and the whole body. Organic dye-contain...

One-dimensional (1-D) TiO(2) nanorod arrays (NRAs) with large inner surface area are desired in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). So far, good performance of DSSCs based on 1-D rutile TiO(2) NRAs remains a challenge mainly owing to their low dye-loading ability resulting from the insufficient specific surface area of 1-D TiO(2) nanostructures. In this paper, densely aligned TiO(2) NRAs with t...

To quantify the diffusion constant of small molecules in the plant cell wall, fluorescence from carboxyfluorescein (CF) in the intact roots of Arabidopsis thaliana was recorded. Roots were immersed in a solution of the fluorescent dye and viewed through a confocal fluorescence microscope. These roots are sufficiently transparent that much of the apoplast can be imaged. The diffusion coefficient...

PURPOSE To examine the response of the lens to varying sizes of perforating injury. METHODS Four-week-old mice were used. Injuries consisted of pricking in the central region of the lens by transcorneal insertion of needles of two different sizes. After injury, the eyeballs were removed sequentially at various intervals up to 30 days and examined morphologically. RESULTS The mouse lens show...

A simple and versatile methodology has been developed for the simultaneous measurement of multiple concentration profiles of colourants in transparent microfluidic systems, using a conventional transmitted light microscope, a digital colour (RGB) camera and numerical image processing combined with multicomponent analysis. Rigorous application of the Beer-Lambert law would require monochromatic ...

Transparent TiO(2) and TiO(2)-ZrO(2) (molar ratio Zr/Ti = 0.1) thin films were produced by low-temperature sol-gel processing from nanocrystalline aqueous based solutions. The structural features and compositions of the films treated at room temperature, 100 degrees C and 500 degrees C were investigated by X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and thermal analysis. Addition of zir...