Telomerase Activity Detection with Amplification-Free Single Molecule Stochastic Binding Assay.

Because the elongation of telomeres has been associated with tumorigenesis, it is of great interest to develop rapid and high-confidence telomerase activity detection methods for disease diagnosis. Currently, amplification-based strategies have been extensively explored for telomerase detection in vitro and in vivo. However, amplification is typically associated with poor reproducibility and high background, which hamper further applications of the strategies, particularly for real sample assays. Here, we demonstrate a new amplification-free single molecule imaging method for telomerase activity detection in vitro based on nucleic acid stochastic binding with total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy. The dynamic stochastic binding of a short fluorescent DNA probe with a genuine target yields a distinct kinetic signature from the background noise, allowing us to identify telomerase reaction products (TRPs) at the single molecule level. A limit-of-detection as low as 0.5 fM and a dynamic range of 0.5-500 fM for TRP detection were readily achieved. With this method, telomerase extracted from cancer cells was determined with sensitivity down to 10 cells. Moreover, the length distribution of TRPs was also determined by multiple stochastic probing, which could provide deep insight into the mechanistic study of telomerase catalysis.

Supercurrent transferring through c-axis cuprate Josephson junctions with thick normal-metal bridge.

With a simple but exactly solvable model, we investigate the supercurrent transferring through the c-axis cuprate superconductor-normal metal-superconductor junctions with the clean normal metal much thicker than its coherence length. It is shown that the supercurrent as a function of thickness of the normal metal decreases much slower than the exponential decaying expected by the proximity effect. The present result may account for the giant proximity effect observed in the c-axis cuprate SNS junctions.

Surface states of gapped electron systems and semi-metals.

With a generic lattice model for electrons occupying a semi-infinite crystal with a hard surface, we study the eigenstates of the system with a bulk band gap (or the gap with nodal points). The exact solution to the wave functions of scattering states is obtained. From the scattering states, we derive the criterion for the existence of surface states. The wave functions and the energy of the surface states are then determined. We obtain a connection between the wave functions of the bulk states and the surface states. For electrons in a system with time-reversal symmetry, with this connection, we rigorously prove the correspondence between the change of Kramers degeneracy of the surface states and the bulk time-reversal Z 2 invariant. The theory is applicable to systems of (topological) insulators, superconductors, and semi-metals. Examples for solving the edge states of electrons with/without the spin-orbit interactions in graphene with a hard zigzag edge and that in a two-dimensional d-wave superconductor with a ([Formula: see text]) edge are given in appendices.

Pickering emulsions stabilized by whey protein nanoparticles prepared by thermal cross-linking.

A Pickering (o/w) emulsion was formed and stabilized by whey protein isolate nanoparticles (WPI NPs). Those WPI NPs were prepared by thermal cross-linking of denatured WPI proteins within w/o emulsion droplets at 80°C for 15 min. During heating of w/o emulsions containing 10% (w/v) WPI proteins in the water phase, the emulsions displayed turbid-transparent-turbid phase transitions, which is ascribed to the change in the size of the protein-containing water droplets caused by thermal cross-linking between denatured protein molecules. The transparent stage indicated the formation of WPI NPs. WPI NPs of different sizes were obtained by varying the mixing speed. WPI NPs of 200-500 nm were selected to prepare o/w Pickering emulsions because of their good stability against coalescence. By Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy, it was observed that WPI NPs were closely packed and distributed at the surface of the emulsion droplets. By measuring water contact angles of WPI NPs films, it was found that under most conditions WPI NPs present good partial wetting properties, but that at the isoelectric point (pI) and high ionic strength the particles become more hydrophobic, resulting in less stable Pickering emulsion. Thus, at pH above and below the pI of WPI NPs and low to moderate ionic strengths (1-10 mM), and with a WPI NPs concentration of 2% (w/v), a stable Pickering emulsion can be obtained. The results may provide useful information for applications of WPI NPs in environmentally friendly and food grade applications, notably in food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic products.

Approximation for discrete Fourier transform and application in study of three-dimensional interacting electron gas.

The discrete Fourier transform is approximated by summing over part of the terms with corresponding weights. The approximation reduces significantly the requirement for computer memory storage and enhances the numerical computation efficiency with several orders without losing accuracy. As an example, we apply the algorithm to study the three-dimensional interacting electron gas under the renormalized-ring-diagram approximation where the Green's function needs to be self-consistently solved. We present the results for the chemical potential, compressibility, free energy, entropy, and specific heat of the system. The ground-state energy obtained by the present calculation is compared with the existing results of Monte Carlo simulation and random-phase approximation.

Weak localization of Dirac fermions in graphene.

In the presence of the charged impurities, we study the weak localization effect by evaluating the quantum interference correction to the conductivity of Dirac fermions in graphene. With the inelastic scattering rate due to electron-electron interactions obtained from our previous work, we investigate the dependence of the quantum interference correction on the carrier concentration, the temperature, the magnetic field, and the size of the sample. It is found that weak localization is present in large size samples at finite carrier doping. Its strength becomes weakened or quenched when the sample size is less than a few microns at low temperatures as studied in the experiments. In the region close to zero doping, the system may become delocalized. The minimum conductivity at low temperature for experimental sample sizes is found to be close to the data.

Fluctuation-exchange study of antiferromagnetism in disordered electron-doped cuprate superconductors.

On the basis of the Hubbard model, we extend the fluctuation-exchange (FLEX) approach to investigating the properties of the antiferromagnetic (AF) phase in electron-doped cuprate superconductors. Furthermore, by incorporating the effect of scatterings due to the disordered dopant atoms into the FLEX formalism, our numerical results show that the antiferromagnetic transition temperature, the onset temperature of pseudogap due to spin fluctuations, the spectral density of the single particle near the Fermi surface, and the staggered magnetization in the AF phase as a function of electron doping can consistently account for the experimental measurements.