The effective shear viscosity and frequency-dependent dynamic oscillatory shear spectra of water containing monovalent or divalent ions (ionic strength 25 mM), confined between mica crystals at 1-2 water molecules thickness, oscillated with twist angle with the period expected for the pseudohexagonal surface lattice. The effective viscosity varied by orders of magnitude as the twist angle was c...

The opening of DNA double strands is extremely relevant to several biological functions, such as replication and transcription or binding of specific proteins. Such opening phenomenon is particularly sensitive to the aqueous solvent conditions in which the DNA molecule is dispersed, as it can be observed by considering the classical dependence of DNA melting temperature on pH and salt concentra...

The extension of DNA confined to nanochannels has been studied intensively and in detail. However, quantitative comparisons between experiments and model calculations are difficult because most theoretical predictions involve undetermined prefactors, and because the model parameters (contour length, Kuhn length, effective width) are difficult to compute reliably, leading to substantial uncertai...

Electrostatic forces between small groups of colloidal particles are measured using blinking optical tweezers. When the electrostatic screening length is longer than the interparticle separation, forces are found to be non-pairwise-additive. Both pair and multiparticle forces are well described by the linearized Poisson-Boltzmann equation with constant potential boundary conditions. These findi...

A reversible electrochemical switching has been displayed at smart polymer brush interfaces, which was responsive to temperature, ionic strength and pH stimuli, independently or simultaneously.

The hydrolysis of cadmium nitrate was studied spectrophotometrically at different ionic strengthsof sodium perchlorate in a wide pH range, 1-12, and at 25 C. Least squares calculations areconsistent with the formation of M(OH)+, M(OH)2, M(OH)3- and M(OH)42- species, which M isCd2+. The dependency on ionic strength in the background electrolyte solutions was taken intoaccount by using a Debye-Hu...

Histone H 1-depleted chromatin made from acid extracted, intact nuclei was exposed to various ionic strengths. NaCl concentrations above 0.3 M sufficed to generate novel oligonucleosomes formerly characterized as "compact oligomers" and "spacerless dinucleosomes". Such particles could not be identified within H 1-depleted nuclei or chromatin at low ionic strengths. Their formation, proceeding w...

Ionic liquids, as reaction media, and sonochemistry are two recently developing fields of chemistry that present some similarities. Firstly, they constitute separately unconventional approaches to reaction chemistry that, in many cases, generate improvements in yield, rate and selectivity compared to classical chemistry, or even change the mechanisms or products expected. In addition, both are ...