Evaluation of droplet-based microfluidic platforms as a convenient tool for lipases and esterases assays.

The accurate estimation of kinetic parameters is of fundamental importance for biochemical studies for research and industry. In this paper, we demonstrate the application of a modular microfluidic system for execution of enzyme assays that allow determining the kinetic parameters of the enzymatic reactions such as - the maximum rate of reaction and - the Michaelis constant. For experiments, the fluorogenic carbonate as a probe for a rapid determination of the kinetic parameters of hydrolases, such as lipases and esterases, was used.

Nanoscale tubular vessels for storage of methane at ambient temperatures.

Novel carbon nanostructures can serve as effective storage media for methane, a source of "clean energy" for the future. We have used Grand Canonical Monte Carlo Simulation for the modeling of methane storage at 293 K and pressures up to 80 MPa in idealized bundles of (10,10) armchair-type single-walled carbon nanotubes and wormlike carbon pores. We have found that these carbon nanomaterials can be treated as the world's smallest high-capacity methane storage vessels.