Progress in molecular methods has enabled the monitoring of bacterial populations in time. Nevertheless, understanding community dynamics and its links with ecosystem functioning remains challenging due to the tremendous diversity of microorganisms. Conceptual frameworks that make sense of time series of taxonomically rich bacterial communities, regarding their potential ecological function, are needed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFMany current challenges involve understanding the complex dynamical interplay between the constituents of systems. Typically, the number of such constituents is high, but only limited data sources on them are available. Conventional dynamical models of complex systems are rarely mathematically tractable and their numerical exploration suffers both from computational and data limitations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFVisualizing disease heterogeneity remains a challenging task since most imaging agents are targeted to a single receptor. We describe the development of an MR platform able to report on multiple molecular events. Enzyme activation and enhanced cellular uptake of this modular probe make it suitable for subsequent targeted-reporter imaging applications.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe characterisation of the fluid motion induced by the acoustic streaming effect is of paramount interest for novel microfluidic devices based on surface acoustic waves (SAWs), e.g. for a detailed description of the achievable mixing efficiency and thus the design of such devices.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHere we describe the synthesis of a model compound (1) based upon a previously reported bifunctional 2,2'-bipyridine (2). Ligand pKa and thermodynamic stability constants were investigated by potentiometric titrations for 1 in order to assess the metal-binding capabilities of 2 following subsequent incorporation within a temperature-responsive polymer that functions as a fluorescent metal-ion indicator. While the log KCu1 measured here was found to be 8.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF