Optically transparent and environmentally durable superhydrophobic coating based on functionalized SiO₂ nanoparticles.

Optical surfaces such as mirrors and windows that are exposed to outdoor environmental conditions are susceptible to dust buildup and water condensation. The application of transparent superhydrophobic coatings on optical surfaces can improve outdoor performance via a 'self-cleaning' effect similar to the Lotus effect. The contact angle (CA) of water droplets on a typical hydrophobic flat surface varies from 100° to 120°.

Processing of loose carbon nanotubes into isolated, high density submicron channels.

Loose multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) were processed into a bundle of 19,600 individual channels with an individual channel diameter of 0.4 microm using a fiber drawing process. First, a powder of sodium silicate solution containing purified MWNTs was created.

The Paragon Algorithm, a next generation search engine that uses sequence temperature values and feature probabilities to identify peptides from tandem mass spectra.

The Paragon Algorithm, a novel database search engine for the identification of peptides from tandem mass spectrometry data, is presented. Sequence Temperature Values are computed using a sequence tag algorithm, allowing the degree of implication by an MS/MS spectrum of each region of a database to be determined on a continuum. Counter to conventional approaches, features such as modifications, substitutions, and cleavage events are modeled with probabilities rather than by discrete user-controlled settings to consider or not consider a feature.

Discovering known and unanticipated protein modifications using MS/MS database searching.

We present an MS/MS database search algorithm with the following novel features: (1) a novel protein database structure containing extensive preindexing and (2) zone modification searching, which enables the rapid discovery of protein modifications of known (i.e., user-specified) and unanticipated delta masses.