An in vitro transposon system for highly regulated gene expression: construction of Escherichia coli strains with arabinose-dependent growth at low temperatures.

Placing a gene of interest under the control of an inducible promoter greatly aids the purification, localization and functional analysis of proteins but usually requires the sub-cloning of the gene of interest into an appropriate expression vector. Here, we describe an alternative approach employing in vitro transposition of Tn Omega P(BAD) to place the highly regulable, arabinose inducible P(BAD) promoter upstream of the gene to be expressed. The method is rapid, simple and facilitates the optimization of expression by producing constructs with variable distances between the P(BAD) promoter and the gene. To illustrate the use of this approach, we describe the construction of a strain of Escherichia coli in which growth at low temperatures on solid media is dependent on threshold levels of arabinose. Other uses of the transposable promoter are also discussed.

Hafnia nanoparticles - a model system for graphene growth on a dielectric

We study graphene growth on hafnia (HfO2) nanoparticles by chemical vapour deposition using optical microscopy, high resolution transmission electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy. We find that monoclinic HfO2 nanoparticles neither reduce to a metal nor form a carbide while nucleating nanometer domain-sized few layer graphene. Hence we regard this as an interesting non-metallic catalyst model system with the potential to explore graphene growth directly on a (high-k) dielectric. HfO2 nanoparticles coated with few layer graphene by atmospheric pressure CVD with methane and hydrogen at 950 °C. (© 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) Graphene growth on hafnia (HfO2) nanoparticles by chemical vapour deposition (CVD) is studied. It is found that monoclinic HfO2 nanoparticles neither reduce to a metal nor form a carbide while nucleating nanometer domain-sized few layer graphene. Hence the authors of this Letter regard this as an interesting non-metallic catalyst model system with the potential to explore graphene growth directly on a (high-k) dielectric. © 2011 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Low-temperature growth of carbon nanotubes by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition

Vertically aligned carbon nanotubes were grown at temperatures as low as 120degreesC by plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition. A systematic study of the temperature dependence of the growth rate and the structure of the as-grown nanotubes is presented using a C2H2/NH3 system and nickel as the catalyst. The activation energy for the growth rate was found to be 0.23 eV, much less than for thermal chemical vapor deposition (1.2-1.5 eV). This suggests growth occurs by surface diffusion of carbon on nickel. The result could allow direct growth of nanotubes onto low-temperature substrates like plastics, and facilitate the integration in sensitive nanoelectronic devices. (C) 2003 American Institute of Physics.

Formation of metastable liquid catalyst during subeutectic growth of germanium nanowires.

Lattice-resolved, video-rate environmental transmission electron microscopy shows the formation of a liquid Au-Ge layer on sub-30-nm Au catalyst crystals and the transition of this two-phase Au-Ge/Au coexistence to a completely liquid Au-Ge droplet during isothermal digermane exposure at temperatures far below the bulk Au-Ge eutectic temperature. Upon Ge crystal nucleation and subsequent Ge nanowire growth, the catalyst either recrystallizes or remains liquid, apparently stabilized by the Ge supersaturation. We argue that there is a large energy barrier to nucleate diamond-cubic Ge, but not to nucleate the Au-Ge liquid. As a result, the system follows the more kinetically accessible path, forming a liquid even at 240 degrees C, although there is no liquid along the most thermodynamically favorable path below 360 degrees C.

Selective epitaxial growth in silicon on insulator: Planarity and mass flow

Seeded zone-melt recrystallization using a dual electron beam system has been performed on silicon-on-insulator material, which was prepared with single-crystal silicon filling of the seed windows by selective epitaxial growth. The crystal quality has been assessed by a variety of microscopic techniques, and it is shown that single-crystal films 0.5-1.0 μm thick over 1.0 μm of isolating oxide may be prepared by this method. These films have considerably less lateral variation in thickness than standard material, in which the windows are not so filled. The filling method is suitable for both single- and multiple-layer silicon-on-insulator, and gives the advantages of excellent layer uniformity after recrystallization and improved planarity of the whole chip structure. Experiments using various amounts of seed window filling have shown that the lateral variations of silicon film thickness seen in unplanarized material are due to stress relief in the cap oxide when the silicon film is molten, rather than the effect previously postulated in which they were assumed to be due to the contraction of silicon on melting.

Controlled growth of aligned ZnO nanowires

The growth of vertically aligned zinc oxide nanowires (ZnO NW) using a simple vapor deposition method system is reported. The growth properties are studied as a function of the Au catalyst layer thickness, pressure, deposition temperature, and oxygen ratio. It was found that the diameter and density of the nanowires is controlled mostly by the growth temperature and pressure. The alignment of the nanowires depends on a combination of three factors including the pressure, temperature and the oxygen ratio. Our results implicates the growth occurs by a vapor liquid solid (VLS) process [1].

Measurements of triggering and transient growth in a model lean-premixed gas turbine combustor

Instability triggering and transient growth of thermoacoustic oscillations were experimentally investigated in combination with linear/nonlinear flame transfer function (FTF) methodology in a model lean-premixed gas turbine combustor operated with CH 4 and air at atmospheric pressure. A fully premixed flame with 10kW thermal power and an equivalence ratio of 0.60 was chosen for detailed characterization of the nonlinear transient behaviors. Flame transfer functions were experimentally determined by simultaneous measurements of inlet velocity fluctuations and heat release rate oscillations using a constant temperature anemometer and OH */CH * chemiluminescence emissions, respectively. The phase-resolved variation of the local flame structure at a limit cycle was measured by planar laser-induced fluorescence of OH. Simultaneous measurements of inlet velocity, OH */CH * emission, and acoustic pressure were performed to investigate the temporal evolution of the system from a stable to a limit cycle operation. This measurement allows us to describe an unsteady instability triggering event in terms of several distinct stages: (i) initiation of a small perturbation, (ii) exponential amplification, (iii) saturation, (iv) nonlinear evolution of the perturbations towards a new unstable periodic state, (v) quasi-steady low-amplitude periodic oscillation, and (vi) fully-developed high-amplitude limit cycle oscillation. Phase-plane portraits of instantaneous inlet velocity and heat release rate clearly show the presence of two different attractors. Depending on its initial position in phase space at infinitesimally small amplitude, the system evolves towards either a high-amplitude oscillatory state or a low-amplitude oscillatory state. This transient phenomenon was analyzed using frequency- and amplitude-dependent damping mechanisms, and compared to subcritical and supercritical bifurcation theories. The results presented in this paper experimentally demonstrate the hypothesis proposed by Preetham et al. based on analytical and computational solutions of the nonlinear G-equation [J. Propul. Power 24 (2008) 1390-1402]. Good quantitative agreement was obtained between measurements and predictions in terms of the conditions for the onset of triggering and the amplitude of triggered combustion instabilities. © 2011 The Combustion Institute.

Attenuated Salmonella Typhimurium lacking the pathogenicity island-2 type 3 secretion system grow to high bacterial numbers inside phagocytes in mice.

Intracellular replication within specialized vacuoles and cell-to-cell spread in the tissue are essential for the virulence of Salmonella enterica. By observing infection dynamics at the single-cell level in vivo, we have discovered that the Salmonella pathogenicity island 2 (SPI-2) type 3 secretory system (T3SS) is dispensable for growth to high intracellular densities. This challenges the concept that intracellular replication absolutely requires proteins delivered by SPI-2 T3SS, which has been derived largely by inference from in vitro cell experiments and from unrefined measurement of net growth in mouse organs. Furthermore, we infer from our data that the SPI-2 T3SS mediates exit from infected cells, with consequent formation of new infection foci resulting in bacterial spread in the tissues. This suggests a new role for SPI-2 in vivo as a mediator of bacterial spread in the body. In addition, we demonstrate that very similar net growth rates of attenuated salmonellae in organs can be derived from very different underlying intracellular growth dynamics.

Biomimetic calcium carbonate-gelatin composites as a model system for eggshell mineralization

The composite nature of mineralized natural materials is achieved through both the microstructural inclusion of an organic component and an overall microstructure that is controlled by templating onto organic macromolecules. A modification of an existing laboratory technique is developed for the codeposition of a CaCO3-gelatin composite with a controllable organic content. First, calibration curves are developed to determine the organic content of a CaCO3-gelatin composite from infrared spectra. Second, a CaCO3-gelatin composite is deposited on either glass coverslips or demineralized eggshell membranes using an automated alternating soaking process. Electron microscopy images and use of the infrared spectra calibration curves show that by altering the amount of gelatin in the ionic growth solutions, the final organic component of the mineral can be regulated over the range of 1-10%, similar to that of natural eggshell. © 2012 Materials Research Societ.

Sensitivity analysis of a time-delayed thermo-acoustic system via an adjoint-based approach

We apply adjoint-based sensitivity analysis to a time-delayed thermo-acoustic system: a Rijke tube containing a hot wire. We calculate how the growth rate and frequency of small oscillations about a base state are affected either by a generic passive control element in the system (the structural sensitivity analysis) or by a generic change to its base state (the base-state sensitivity analysis). We illustrate the structural sensitivity by calculating the effect of a second hot wire with a small heat-release parameter. In a single calculation, this shows how the second hot wire changes the growth rate and frequency of the small oscillations, as a function of its position in the tube. We then examine the components of the structural sensitivity in order to determine the passive control mechanism that has the strongest influence on the growth rate. We find that a force applied to the acoustic momentum equation in the opposite direction to the instantaneous velocity is the most stabilizing feedback mechanism. We also find that its effect is maximized when it is placed at the downstream end of the tube. This feedback mechanism could be supplied, for example, by an adiabatic mesh. We illustrate the base-state sensitivity by calculating the effects of small variations in the damping factor, the heat-release time-delay coefficient, the heat-release parameter, and the hot-wire location. The successful application of sensitivity analysis to thermo-acoustics opens up new possibilities for the passive control of thermo-acoustic oscillations by providing gradient information that can be combined with constrained optimization algorithms in order to reduce linear growth rates. © Cambridge University Press 2013.

Twin plane re-entrant mechanism for catalytic nanowire growth.

A twin-plane based nanowire growth mechanism is established using Au catalyzed Ge nanowire growth as a model system. Video-rate lattice-resolved environmental transmission electron microscopy shows a convex, V-shaped liquid catalyst-nanowire growth interface for a ⟨112⟩ growth direction that is composed of two Ge {111} planes that meet at a twin boundary. Unlike bulk crystals, the nanowire geometry allows steady-state growth with a single twin boundary at the nanowire center. We suggest that the nucleation barrier at the twin-plane re-entrant groove is effectively reduced by the line energy, and hence the twin acts as a preferential nucleation site that dictates the lateral step flow cycle which constitutes nanowire growth.

In-Situ grown carbon nanotubes for enhanced CO2 detection in non-dispersive-infra-red system

Non-dispersive-infra-red (NDIR) sensors are believed to be one of the most selective and robust solutions for CO2 detection, though cost prohibits their broader integration. In this paper we propose a commercially viable silicon-on-insulator (SOI) complementary metal-oxide (CMOS) micro-electro-mechanical (MEMS) technology for an IR thermal emitter. For the first time, vertically aligned multi walled carbon nanotubes (VA-MWCNTs) are suggested as a possible coating for the enhancement of the emission intensity of the optical source of a NDIR system. VA-MWCNTs have been grown in situ by chemical vapour deposition (CVD) exclusively on the heater area. Optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy have been used to verify the quality of the VA-MWCNTs growth. The CNT-coated emitter demonstrated an increased response to CO2 of approx. 60%. Furthermore, we show that the VA-MWCNTs are stable up to temperatures of 500°C for up to 100 hours. © 2013 IEEE.