Molecular amplification devices

Positive cooperativity is a basic characteristic of molecular amplification devices, since once initiated, the subsequent steps of the assembly are facilitated. It represents a non-linear process and confers features of an error filter, only the correct input will in principle lead to the cooperative structure generation. 

In the following, a number of examples are presented with emphasis on how such amplified imaging device can be built in self-supporting polymer materials. The present photochromic compounds (azobenzene and spiropyran derivatives) are rather common and have been used many times in molecular assemblies without touching upon the concept of image amplification. The most recent references are given(4. - 6). 

Multielectron storage devices can be used as (i) redox catalysts, also called electron mediators, for multielectron processes, (ii) electrochemical sensors with signal amplification, and (iii) molecular batteries that can be foreseen to power molecular machines in the future or that can be used to construct flexible rechargeable batteries.10... 

Signal transduction and amplification systems are useful specimens to study when designing molecular devices because they are based on supramolecular interactions between substances. G-proteins play an important role in bio-... 

If the optical density of a well is off-scale (i.e., >1.5 or 2.0, depending on the plate reader), dilute half the well s contents with an equal volume of water. The dynamic range of the assay can also be extended considerably by monitoring the color development in the amplification step kinetically rather than as an end point (8). This, however, requires a more sophisticated plate reader than is often available. A suitable instrument for kinetic reading is the Molecular Devices (Palo Alto, CA)Vmax. 

The causes of these differences lie on the physicochemical reactivity properties inherent to each probe sequence. For example, a broadly used parameter in molecular genetics for its essential role in primer affinity is the guanine-cytosine percentage (i.e., GC content) of the oligonucleotide. Another cause, in this case associated to the probe-mapping locus, is the distance to the 3 -end of the gene. This was primarily reported by the 3 -IVT designs of Ajfymetrix microarrays. The 3 -poly-A amplification performed before the hybridization in these devices can considerably bias the abundance measures detected,... 

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