Gap junctions contain numerous channels that are clustered in apposed membrane patches of adjacent cells. These cell-to-cell channels are formed by pairing of two hemichannels or connexons, and are also referred to as connexon pairs. We have investigated various detergents for their ability to separately solubilize hemichannels or connexon pairs from isolated ovine lens fiber membranes. The sol...

A new series of composite materials (PLMTPA) based on tungstophosphoric acid (TPA) included in a polymeric matrix polyacrylamide (PLM), with TPA:PLM ratio 20/80, 40/60, and 60/40, were synthesized well characterized by FT-IR, XRD, 31P MAS-NMR, TGA-DSC, SEM-EDAX. Their acidic textural properties determined potentiometric titration nitrogen adsorption–desorption isotherms, respectively. Consideri...

Owing to their highly coherent emission and compact form factor, Brillouin lasers have been identified as a valuable asset for applications including portable atomic clocks, precision sensors, microwave synthesis, energy-efficient approaches communications. While the fundamental linewidth of these can be very narrow, noise within dielectric materials leads drift in carrier frequency, posing vex...

A general protocol is demonstrated for determining the structures of molecularly ordered but noncrystalline solids, which combines constraints provided by X-ray diffraction (XRD), one- and two-dimensional solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, and first-principles quantum chemical calculations. The approach is used to determine the structure(s) of a surfactant-directed layer...