EPJ E - How to build doughnuts with Lego blocks
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- Published on 10 August 2012
Controlling forces between oppositely charged polymers opens a new route towards creating vectors for gene therapy
Scientists have uncovered how nature minimises energy costs in rings of liquids with an internal nanostructure made of two chemically discordant polymers joined with strong bonds, or di-blocks, deposited on a silicon surface, in an article published in EPJE.
EPJ E - The art of stabilising entangled spaghetti-like materials
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- Published on 10 August 2012
Controlling forces between oppositely charged polymers opens a new route towards creating vectors for gene therapy
Gene therapy can only be effective if delivered by a stable complex molecule. Now, scientists have determined the conditions that would stabilise complex molecular structures that are subject to inherent attractions and repulsions triggered by electric charges at the surfaces of the molecules, in a study published in EPJE, by Valentina Mengarelli and her colleagues from the Solid State Physics Laboratory at the Paris-Sud University in Orsay, France, in collaboration with Paris 7 and Evry Universities scientists.
EPJ E - How biological capsules respond under stress
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- Published on 10 August 2012
Innovative high-precision measuring tool to assess the bending elasticity of liposomes
Cosmetics and pharmaceutical drug delivery systems could be improved thanks to a new method developed to precisely measure the capability of capsule-like biological membranes to change shape under external stress. This work is outlined in a study published in EPJE by Philippe Méléard and Tanja Pott from the Rennes-based Institute of Chemical Sciences at the European University of Brittany and their colleagues from the Center for Biomembrane Physics at the University of Southern Denmark in Odense.EPJ E - How do protein binding sites stay dry in water?
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- Published on 10 August 2012
In a report that has just been published in EPJE, researchers from the National University of the South in Bahía Blanca, Argentina studied the condition for model cavity and tunnel structures resembling the binding sites of proteins to stay dry without losing their ability to react, a prerequisite for proteins to establish stable interactions with other proteins in water.
EPJ E - What makes tires grip the road on a rainy day?
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- Published on 10 August 2012
Scientists examine the flow of liquid at the contact between randomly rough surfaces
A team of scientists from Italy and Germany has recently developed a model to predict the friction occurring when a rough surface in wet conditions (such as a road on a rainy day) is in sliding contact with a rubber material (such as a car tire tread block) in an article that has just been published in EPJE.EPJ E - New complex offers potentially safer alternative for gene therapy delivery
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- Published on 02 September 2011
Spontaneous ordering of DNA fragments in a special matrix holds the key to creating non-toxic gene therapy delivery vectors, according to a study recently published in the European Physical Journal E.
Scientists from the CNRS Paul Pascal Research Centre, an institute of the University of Bordeaux, France, and colleagues from the Institute of Physics at the University of Sao Paolo, have created a complex system designed to hold DNA fragments in solution between the hydrophilic layers of a matrix of fatty substances (also known as lipids) combined with a surfactant (used to soften the layers’ rigidity). One possible application that has yet to be tested is gene therapy.EPJ E - Embryo development obeys the laws of hydrodynamics
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- Published on 22 August 2011
The law of hydrodynamics can contribute to our understanding of how a cluster of embryonic cells can transform into an animal within the first 36 hours of development, according to research recently published in European Physical Journal E.
Vincent Fleury, a researcher at the Paris Diderot University, studied the early stage of development when embryonic cells first form a flat sheet of cells before folding into a U-shape, resembling a folded pancake. He demonstrated that the formation of a chicken’s head is a consequence of the collision between both sides of the embryo flowing at constant speed towards each other.
EPJ E - Compare Motor Models: Two-State versus Crossbridge
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- Published on 18 July 2011
Rigid two-state and crossbridge are two models of motor assemblies widely used in the literature. But up to now they had never been studied and compared systematically. In cells, motor proteins use chemical energy to generate motion and forces. This thorough comparison presented in EPJE shows that theforce response to a small displacement step is similar in both models to the delayed stretch activation observed in oscillating muscles.
EPJ E - Unlocking jams in fluid materials
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- Published on 08 April 2011
A new theoretical model which helps to understand how to best avoid jamming of soft matter.
In a study recently published in the European Physical Journal E (EPJE), a German scientist constructed a theoretical model to understand how to best avoid jamming of soft matter that can be applied in food and cosmetics production.
EPJ E - Pierre Gilles De Gennes Prize awarded to Michael E. Cates
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- Published on 24 March 2011
The second edition of the EPJE - Pierre Gilles De Gennes Lecture Prize will be hosted in Vienna, during the 8th Liquid Matter Conference.
