In this paper, we report the synthesis and self-assembly behavior of coil-rod-coil molecules, consisting of three biphenyls linked through a vinylene unit as a conjugated rod segment and poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) with a degree of polymerization (DP) of 7, 12 and 17, incorporating lateral methyl groups between the rod and coil segments as the coil segment. Self-organized investigation of these ...

We perform Brownian dynamics simulations to study the gelation of suspensions of attractive, rod-like particles. We show that in detail the rod-rod surface interactions can dramatically affect the dynamics of gelation and the structure and mechanics of the networks that form. If the attraction between the rods is perfectly smooth along their length, they will collapse into compact bundles. If t...

A wrapping-on-a-rod technique is presented and demonstrated successfully to realize broadband microfiber-based highly birefringent (Hi-Bi) devices with 3D geometry. By wrapping a circular microfiber (MF) on a Teflon-coated rod (2 mm in diameter), a large and broadband birefringence can be obtained utilizing a rod-microfiber-air (RMA) structure. Wavelength scanning method is used to measure the ...

Gold nanorods have significant technological potential and are of broad interest to the nanotechnology community. The discovery of the seeded, wet-chemical synthetic process to produce them may be regarded as a landmark in the control of metal nanoparticle shape. However, the mechanism by which the initial spherical gold seeds acquire anisotropy is a critical, yet poorly understood, factor. Her...

Myosin II is the major component of the muscle thick filament. It consists of two N-terminal S1 subfragments (‘‘heads’’) connected to a long dimeric coiled-coil rod. The rod is in itself twofold symmetric, but in the filament, the two heads point away from the filament surface and are therefore not equivalent. This breaking of symmetry requires the initial section of the rod, subfragment 2 (S2)...

A cellulolytic and thermophilic anaerobe was isolated from soil. This bacterium made a halo on a roll-tube culture containing Avicel. Analysis of the PCR-based 16S rRNA gene sequence showed that the bacterium was closely related to Moorella thermoacetica. Scanning electron microscopy showed the bacterium is a rod and has no protuberant structure on the surface of cells growing on cellulose, sug...

Two cell surface mutants of Escherichia coli isolated through supersensitivity to sodium dodecyl sulfate were found to be agglutinated by concanavalin A in the intact rod form. By using these strains, the assay method for the concanavalin A-dependent agglutination was greatly simplified since neither spheroplast formation nor protease treatment is needed. This rod cell agglutination was charact...

It has been hypothesized that the light-evoked rod hyperpolarization (the receptor potential) initiates the light-evoked decrease in extracellular potassium ion concentration, [K+]o, in the distal retina. The hypothesis was tested using the isolated, superfused retina of the toad, Bufo marinus; the receptor potential was recorded intracellularly from red rods, and [K+]o was measured in the phot...

Application of hydroxyapatite (HAp) nanoparticles to repair damaged enamel has attracted recent attention. In this study, HAp nanoparticles with various morphologies (spherical, short-rod, long-rod and fiber morphologies) were synthesized via chemical precipitation methods without the addition of template molecules, and the adsorption/desorption behaviors of a cationic antibacterial agent, cety...