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UCLA chemistry graduate student ready for her Nobel journey

By Guest PostJune 17, 2013Education, Scienceamericans, anastassia alexandrova, antelope valley, artificial enzymes, biochemistry, california nanosystems institute, catalysis, chemistry, crystal valdez, east los angeles, electronic structure, Germany, graduate student, lindau, medieval city, miguel garcia garibay, modern science, molecular, nano levels, nobel journey, nobel laureates, synthetic step, ucla

Crystal Valdez selected to meet with 34 laureates at international conference

From the time she was a young girl, Crystal Valdez was fascinated by science. “When I first learned we are composed of cells and that cells are composed of molecules and atoms, I was amazed and wanted to understand how it all works,” the chemistry graduate student recalled.

That curiosity ultimately led her to the laboratory of Anastassia Alexandrova at UCLA, where Valdez has earned a reputation for her research on the design and function of enzymes. (more…)

Earthquakes, Glue and Grappling Hooks: Scientists Dissect the Movement of Bacteria

By Guest PostFebruary 15, 2013Scienceanti infective, avalanche motions, california nanosystems institute, combat harmful microbes, combat microbial pathogenesis, earthquakes, frequency, fruiting body, gerard wong, glide along surface, glue, grappling hooks, henry samueli school, human tissue, intensity, karin a dahmen, max gibiansky, microscopic bacteria, molecular glue, molecular mechanism, movement of bacteria, myxococcus xanthus, pathogenic bacteria, social structures, tectonic plates, tectonic plates move, therapeutic strategies, ucla, university of Illinois, urbana-champaign, wei hu, wenyuan shi

A team led by researchers from the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science has discovered that microscopic bacteria have a lot in common with earthquakes — when it comes to their jolting movements.

In a new study published in the peer-reviewed Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the scientists also report that a molecular “glue” produced by the bacteria to help them adhere to surfaces also acts as a sort of transportation lubricant, helping them move and organize into rudimentary social structures. These discoveries, they say, could lead to new ways to combat harmful microbes in the long term. (more…)

UCLA’s New Nano-Lens Microscopes Can Detect Viruses, Other Objects at Nanoscale

By Guest PostJanuary 28, 2013Scienceadenoviruses, ahmet f coskun, alon greenbaum, aydogan ozcan, california nanosystems institute, cea leti, cedric p allier, computational reconstruction techniques, electron microscopy, euan mcleod, france, H1N1, henry samueli school, human hair, influenza viral particles, led, light emitting diode, liquid lenses, microscopic objects, nanoscale lenses, nanoscale objects, onur mudanyali, optical microscopy method, optical microscopy platform, polystyrene nanoparticles, single viruses, sparse population, special liquid composition, square millimeters, ucla, volume of samples, wei luo, yves hennequin

By using tiny liquid lenses that self-assemble around microscopic objects, a team from UCLA’s Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science has created an optical microscopy method that allows users to directly see objects more than 1,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair.

Coupled with computer-based computational reconstruction techniques, this portable and cost-effective platform, which has a wide field of view, can detect individual viruses and nanoparticles, making it potentially useful in the diagnosis of diseases in point-of-care settings or areas where medical resources are limited. (more…)

UCLA Engineers Create Tandem Polymer Solar Cells That Set Record For Energy-Conversion

By Guest PostFebruary 18, 2012Scienceabsorption, california nanosystems institute, cnsi, conductive, conversion, electricity, gang li, Japan, organic polymers, photovoltaic solar cells, polymer solar cells, shuji doi, solar energy, solar spectrum, sumitomo chemical, sunlight, tandem solar cell technology, tandem structure, yang yang

In the effort to convert sunlight into electricity, photovoltaic solar cells that use conductive organic polymers for light absorption and conversion have shown great potential. Organic polymers can be produced in high volumes at low cost, resulting in photovoltaic devices that are cheap, lightweight and flexible.

In the last few years, much work has been done to improve the efficiency with which these devices convert sunlight into power, including the development of new materials, device structures and processing techniques. (more…)

Breaking the Chain: ‘Molecular cap’ Blocks Processes that Lead to Alzheimer’s, HIV

By Guest PostJune 24, 2011Health, Sciencealzheimer disease, amino acids, amyloid diseases, amyloid fibers, biochemists, brain cells, california nanosystems institute, david baker, david eisenberg, disease, enzymes, fatal diseases, Germany, hiv infection, jan münch, jie liu, jorge barrio, lin jiang, lou gehrig, mad cow disease, meytal landau, microcrystallography, molecular inhibitors, onofrio zirafi, orange g, parkinson disease, proteins, semen derived enhancer of viral infection, sevi, sexual transmission of hiv, steric zippers, stuart sievers, synthetic amino acids, tau protein, treatments, united states, university of ulm, vqivyk

A new advance by UCLA biochemists has brought scientists one step closer to developing treatments that could delay the onset of Alzheimer’s disease and prevent the sexual transmission of HIV.

The researchers report that they have designed molecular inhibitors that target specific proteins associated with Alzheimer’s disease and HIV to prevent them from forming amyloid fibers, the elongated chains of interlocking proteins that play a key role in more than two dozen degenerative and often fatal diseases. (more…)

Tag Archives: california nanosystems institute

UCLA chemistry graduate student ready for her Nobel journey

Earthquakes, Glue and Grappling Hooks: Scientists Dissect the Movement of Bacteria

UCLA’s New Nano-Lens Microscopes Can Detect Viruses, Other Objects at Nanoscale

UCLA Engineers Create Tandem Polymer Solar Cells That Set Record For Energy-Conversion

Breaking the Chain: ‘Molecular cap’ Blocks Processes that Lead to Alzheimer’s, HIV