University of York View Institution's Website 6 articles published in JoVE Chemistry From Molecules to Materials: Engineering New Ionic Liquid Crystals Through Halogen Bonding Gabriella Cavallo1, Duncan W. Bruce2, Giancarlo Terraneo1, Giuseppe Resnati3, Pierangelo Metrangolo1 1Laboratory of Supramolecular and Bio-Nanomaterials (SBNLab), Department of Chemistry, Materials, and Chemical Engineering "Giulio Natta", Politecnico di Milano, 2Department of Chemistry, University of York, 3Laboratory of Nanostructured Fluorinated Materials (NFMLab), Department of Chemistry, Materials, and Chemical Engineering "Giulio Natta", Politecnico di Milano A protocol for the synthesis of a new type of mesogens, based on the halogen-bonded supramolecular anion [CnF2n+1-I···I···I-CnF2n+1]−, is reported. Engineering An Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Setup to Investigate the Reactive Species Formation Yury Gorbanev1,2, Robert Soriano2, Deborah O'Connell2, Victor Chechik1 1Department of Chemistry, University of York, 2York Plasma Institute, Department of Physics, University of York An experimental setup was created for the helium-operated kHz frequency plasma jet. The setup includes a cage for the plasma power supply and jet and an in-house built reactor to monitor plasma-induced reactive species without the interference of the ambient atmosphere. Behavior The 4 Mountains Test: A Short Test of Spatial Memory with High Sensitivity for the Diagnosis of Pre-dementia Alzheimer's Disease Dennis Chan1, Laura Marie Gallaher2, Kuven Moodley2, Ludovico Minati3, Neil Burgess4, Tom Hartley5 1Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Cambridge, 2Clinical Imaging Sciences Centre, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, 3U.O. Direzione Scientifica, Fondazione IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta, 4Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, University College London, 5Department of Psychology, University of York This article describes the 4 Mountains Test (4MT), a hippocampus-dependent test of working allocentric spatial memory. The hippocampus is affected early in Alzheimer's disease (AD) and this article outlines the 4MT methodology and results of patient testing, which demonstrates the value of the 4MT in the diagnosis of pre-dementia AD. Developmental Biology Using Confocal Analysis of Xenopus laevis to Investigate Modulators of Wnt and Shh Morphogen Gradients Simon W. Fellgett1, Simon A. Ramsbottom2, Richard J. Maguire3, Stephen Cross4, Peter O'Toole5, Mary E. Pownall5 1Department of Biomedical Science, The Bateson Centre, University of Sheffield, 2Institute of Genetic Medicine, Newcastle University, 3Department of Cardiovascular Science, The Bateson Centre, University of Sheffield, 4School of Biochemistry, University of Bristol, 5Biology Department, University of York The manuscript here provides a simple set of methods for analysing the secretion and diffusion of fluorescently tagged ligands in Xenopus. This provides a context for testing the ability of other proteins to modify ligand distribution and allowing experiments that may give insight into mechanisms regulating morphogen gradients. Immunology and Infection A Method for Labeling Vasculature in Embryonic Mice Jerrod L. Bryson1, Mark C. Coles2, Nancy R. Manley3 1Department of Cellular Biology, University of Georgia, 2Centre for Immunology and Infection, Department of Biology and HYMS, University of York, 3Department of Genetics, University of Georgia This article describes a method for labeling embryonic skin and thymus blood vessels. Biology High-throughput Saccharification Assay for Lignocellulosic Materials Leonardo D. Gomez1, Caragh Whitehead1, Philip Roberts1, Simon J. McQueen-Mason1 1Center for Novel Agricultural Products, University of York A simple, rapid method for determining the saccharification potential of large numbers of plant biomass samples is described. The automated platform for this analysis involves the preparation of the plant biomass for analysis in 96 well plates and the subsequent performance of pretreatment, hydrolysis and quantification of the sugars released.