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ACS Macro Lett 2022 Mar 17;11(3):329-335. Epub 2022 Feb 17.

Institute of Pharmacy (Pharmaceutical Chemistry), Freie Universität Berlin, Königin-Luise Straße 2-4, 14195Berlin, Germany.

Solvent annealing is a versatile tool to adjust the shape and morphology of block copolymer (BCP) particles. During this process, polar solvents are often used for block-selective swelling. However, such water-miscible solvents can induce (partial) solubilization of one block in the surrounding aqueous medium, thus, causing complex structural variations and even particle disassembly. Read More

Sci Adv 2022 May 13;8(19):eabi6690. Epub 2022 May 13.

IBM Quantum, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, NY 10598, USA.

Scaling the number of qubits while maintaining high-fidelity quantum gates remains a key challenge for quantum computing. Presently, superconducting quantum processors with >50 qubits are actively available. For these systems, fixed-frequency transmons are attractive because of their long coherence and noise immunity. Read More

Sci Rep 2022 May 4;12(1):7252. Epub 2022 May 4.

Department of Electronic Engineering, Kwangwoon University, Seoul, 01897, South Korea.

In silicon photonics, grating-assisted fiber-to-waveguide couplers provide out-of-plane coupling to facilitate wafer-level testing; however, their limited bandwidth and efficiency restrict their use in broadband applications. Alternatively, end-fire couplers overcome these constraints but require a dicing process prior usage, which makes them unsuitable for wafer-level testing. To address this trade-off, a reconfigurable fiber-to-waveguide coupling module is proposed and designed to allow for both grating-assisted and end-fire coupling in the same photonic circuit. Read More

Front Oncol 2022 6;12:850883. Epub 2022 Apr 6.

Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Eugene Applebaum College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, United States.

The vast majority of cancer patients receive DNA-damaging drugs or ionizing radiation (IR) during their course of treatment, yet the efficacy of these therapies is tempered by DNA repair and DNA damage response (DDR) pathways. Aberrations in DNA repair and the DDR are observed in many cancer subtypes and can promote carcinogenesis, genomic instability, and ensuing resistance to current cancer therapy. Additionally, stalled or collapsed DNA replication forks present a unique challenge to the double-strand DNA break (DSB) repair system. Read More

RSC Adv 2021 Mar 10;11(17):10183-10193. Epub 2021 Mar 10.

Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati 781039 India

Micro phase separation in a thin film of a polymer blend leads to interesting patterns on different substrates. A plethora of studies in this field discussed the effect of the surface energy of the underlying tethered polymer brush or substrate on the final morphology of the polymer blend. The conventional process toward the final morphology is rather slow. Read More

Chem Commun (Camb) 2022 Apr 28;58(35):5395-5398. Epub 2022 Apr 28.

Laboratory of Molecular Robotics and Biosensor Materials, SCAMT Institute, ITMO University, Saint-Petersburg, Russia, 9 Lomonosova Str., St. Petersburg, 191002, Russian Federation.

Visual detection of ssRNA and dsDNA amplicons was achieved at room temperature without the need for a probe-analyte annealing stage. This approach uses a DNA nanostructure equipped with two analyte-binding arms. Highly selective binding of the third arm leads to the formation of a G-quadruplex structure capable of changing the solution color. Read More

Materials (Basel) 2022 Mar 30;15(7). Epub 2022 Mar 30.

National Engineering & Technology Research Center for Non-Ferrous Metals Composites, GRINM Group Corporation Limited, Beijing 101407, China.

In order to obtain high-performance aluminum alloy parts fabricated by selective laser melting, this paper investigates the relationship between the process parameters and microstructure properties of AlSi10Mg. The appropriate process parameters are obtained: the layer thickness is 0.03 mm, the laser power is 370 W, the scanning speed is 1454 mm/s, and the hatch spacing is 0. Read More

Materials (Basel) 2022 Mar 28;15(7). Epub 2022 Mar 28.

State Key Laboratory for Oxo Synthesis and Selective Oxidation, Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China.

In order to study the thermal stability of coated carbonyl iron powder (CIP) and its influence on magnetic properties, carbonyl iron powder was coated with a silica layer and then annealed in an air atmosphere at elevated temperatures. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy confirmed the existence of a silicon dioxide layer with a thickness of approximately 80~100 nm. Compared with uncoated CIP, the silicon-coated CIP still maintained a higher absorption performance after annealing, and the calculated impedance matching value Z only slightly decreased. Read More

Nanoscale 2022 Apr 21;14(16):6239-6247. Epub 2022 Apr 21.

National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, Department of Chemical Physics and Key Laboratory of Surface and Interface Chemistry and Energy Catalysis of Anhui Higher Education Institutes, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230029, P.R. China.

Kagome nanoporous graphenes (NPGs) are fascinating due to their exotic electronic and magnetic properties. The emerging on-surface synthesis (mostly on metal surfaces) provides a new opportunity to fabricate Kagome NPGs with atomic resolution. Previously the Kagome NPGs synthesized on surfaces were largely heteroatom-doped and suffer from morphological defects (evidently on metal surfaces). Read More

Int J Pharm 2022 May 22;619:121694. Epub 2022 Mar 22.

Department of Pharmaceutics, College of Pharmacy, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN 55455, United States. Electronic address:

While arginine hydrochloride (ArgHCl) has emerged as a potential stabilizer of protein drugs in liquid formulations, the purpose of this manuscript was to evaluate its stabilization potential in frozen solutions. The phase behavior of frozen ArgHCl solutions was investigated by differential scanning calorimetry and low temperature powder X-ray diffractometry. The aggregation of β-galactosidase was evaluated following freeze-thaw cycling in ArgHCl solutions with and without mannitol. Read More

J Prosthodont 2022 Mar 18. Epub 2022 Mar 18.

Advanced Specialty Education Program in Implant Dentistry, Loma Linda University, School of Dentistry, California, USA.

Purpose: The effect of annealing and firing cycle on the adaptation of cobalt-chromium (CoCr) restorations fabricated by additive manufacturing has been poorly documented. This study compared the marginal and internal fit of CoCr three-unit fixed dental prostheses before and after firing cycles.

Material And Methods: The first right maxillary premolar (MP) and molar (MM) on a typodont model, were prepared with a circumferential 1. Read More

Nat Commun 2022 03 10;13(1):1260. Epub 2022 Mar 10.

Department of Physics, ETH Zurich, Otto Stern Weg 1, 8093, Zurich, Switzerland.

Nuclear magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) at the atomic scale offers exciting prospects for determining the structure and function of individual molecules and proteins. Quantum defects in diamond have recently emerged as a promising platform towards reaching this goal, and allowed for the detection and localization of single nuclear spins under ambient conditions. Here, we present an efficient strategy for extending imaging to large nuclear spin clusters, fulfilling an important requirement towards a single-molecule MRI technique. Read More

Materials (Basel) 2022 Mar 7;15(5). Epub 2022 Mar 7.

Donát Bánki Faculty of Mechanical and Safety Engineering, Óbuda University, 1081 Budapest, Hungary.

Ti6Al4V (Ti64) alloys manufactured by selective laser melting (SLM) are well known for their susceptibility to failure at a low ductility of less than 10% due to the formation of an (α') martensitic structure. Annealing and solution treatments as post-heat treatments of α' are considered a good way to improve the mechanical performance of SLM-manufactured Ti64 parts. In this research, the effect of heat treatment parameters such as temperature (850 °C and 1020 °C) and cooling rate (furnace and water cooling) on the microstructure and mechanical properties of the SLM Ti64 structure was investigated. Read More

Materials (Basel) 2022 Feb 24;15(5). Epub 2022 Feb 24.

V-NASS, A.S., Halasova 2938/1a, 703 00 Ostrava, Czech Republic.

This work is focused on the influence of heat treatment of a part produced by the SLM (selective laser melting) method of stainless steel, 316L. Two heat treatment regimens were tested and compared with the state without heat treatment. Subsequently, TIG (tungsten inert gas) welds were created on the base materials processed in this way. Read More

Langmuir 2022 Mar 2;38(10):3297-3304. Epub 2022 Mar 2.

Department of Chemical Engineering, University College London, Torrington Place, London WC1E 7JE, U.K.

Mesoporous inorganic thin films are promising materials architectures for a variety of high-value applications, ranging from optical coatings and purification membranes to sensing and energy storage devices. Having precise control over the structural parameters of the porous network is crucial for broadening their applicability. To this end, the use of block copolymers (BCP) as sacrificial structure-directing agents via micelle coassembly is a particularly attractive route, since the resultant pore size is directly related to scaling laws for the radius of gyration of the pore-forming macromolecule. Read More

Micromachines (Basel) 2022 Feb 19;13(2). Epub 2022 Feb 19.

School of Mechanical and Automotive Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510641, China.

This work investigated the influence of process parameters on the densification, microstructure, and mechanical properties of a Ti-6Al-4V alloy printed by selective laser melting (SLM), followed by annealing heat treatment. In particular, the evolution mechanisms of the microstructure and mechanical properties of the printed alloy with respect to the annealing temperature near the β phase transition temperature were investigated. The process parameter optimization of SLM can lead to the densification of the printed Ti-6Al-4V alloy with a relative density of 99. Read More

Bioconjug Chem 2022 02 7;33(2):333-342. Epub 2022 Feb 7.

Interdisciplinary Nanoscience Center (iNANO) and Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Aarhus University, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark.

Albumin-nucleic acid biomolecular drug designs offer modular multifunctionalization and extended circulatory half-life. However, stability issues associated with conventional DNA nucleotides and maleimide bioconjugation chemistries limit the clinical potential. This work aims to improve the stability of this thiol conjugation and nucleic acid assembly by employing a fast-hydrolyzing monobromomaleimide (MBM) linker and nuclease-resistant nucleotide analogues, respectively. Read More

Chem Sci 2022 Jan 2;13(2):396-409. Epub 2021 Dec 2.

Department of Chemistry, University of Toronto Toronto Ontario M5S 3H6 Canada +1-416-978-6495.

Self-assembly of crystalline-coil block copolymers (BCPs) in selective solvents is often carried out by heating the mixture until the sample appears to dissolve and then allowing the solution to cool back to room temperature. In self-seeding experiments, some crystallites persist during sample annealing and nucleate the growth of core-crystalline micelles upon cooling. There is evidence in the literature that the nature of the self-assembled structures formed is independent of the annealing time at a particular temperature. Read More

Nanotechnology 2022 Feb 21;33(20). Epub 2022 Feb 21.

Department Electronic Engineering, Hanyang University, Seoul 04763, Republic of Korea.

Low-temperature process compatibility is a key factor in successfully constructing additional functional circuits on top of pre-existing circuitry without corrupting characteristics thereof, a technique that typically requires die-to-die (wafer-to-wafer) stacking and interconnecting. And against thermal annealing, which is mandatory and is possible only globally for activating amorphous oxide semiconductors, the selective control of electrical characteristics of the oxide thin-films for integrated circuit applications is challenging. Here, a low-temperature process that enables n-type doping of the designed region of insulating InOthin-film is demonstrated. Read More

Inorg Chem 2022 Feb 2;61(6):2719-2723. Epub 2022 Feb 2.

Department of Chemistry, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China.

Supported bimetallic nanoparticle catalysts with small size have attracted wide research attention in catalysis but are difficult to synthesize because high-temperature annealing required for alloying inevitably accelerates metal sintering and leads to larger particles. Here, we report a simple and scalable "critical interparticle distance" method for the synthesis of a family of bimetallic nanocluster catalysts with an average particle size of only 1.5 nm by using large-surface-area carbon black supports at high temperatures, which consist of 12 diverse combinations of 3 noble metals (Pt, Ru, and Rh) and 4 other metals (Cr, Fe, Zr, and Sn). Read More

Anal Chim Acta 2022 Feb 13;1192:339371. Epub 2021 Dec 13.

College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Northwest Normal University, Lanzhou, 730070, China; Key Lab of Bioelectrochemistry & Environmental Analysis of Gansu, Lanzhou, 730070, China. Electronic address:

The flower-like hierarchical cobalt nickel oxide nanoflakes (CoNiONFs) with a porous structure were fabricated on Nitinol (NiTi) fiber substrate by a hydrothermal reaction and subsequent annealing treatment. The morphology affected by the molar ratios of Ni to Co and counter ions in starting precursors as well as hydrothermal reaction temperature and time was investigated in detail. The obtained CoNiONFs coating exhibited outstanding performance for the selective extraction of PAHs. Read More

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces 2022 Feb 20;14(4):5624-5633. Epub 2022 Jan 20.

MOE Key Laboratory of Materials Physics and Chemistry under Extraordinary Conditions, Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi'an 710072, China.

Color-selective photodetectors are widely applied in several fields; however, they suffer from complex fabrication and low resolution. Herein, we propose a simple and convenient design to achieve a logical color-selective heterojunction photodetector composed of CdS and Se with a crystalline/amorphous mixed state. The as-deposited amorphous Se top layer in the heterojunction is partly transformed to trigonal crystalline Se by localized in situ phase transformation during annealing. Read More

Sci Rep 2022 Jan 19;12(1):959. Epub 2022 Jan 19.

Department of Biomedical Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, 1 University Road, Tainan, 701, Taiwan.

Horizontally stacked pure-Ge-nanosheet gate-all-around field-effect transistors (GAA FETs) were developed in this study. Large lattice mismatch Ge/Si multilayers were intentionally grown as the starting material rather than Ge/GeSi multilayers to acquire the benefits of the considerable difference in material properties of Ge and Si for realising selective etching. Flat Ge/Si multilayers were grown at a low temperature to preclude island growth. Read More

ACS Appl Bio Mater 2021 08 12;4(8):6371-6380. Epub 2021 Jul 12.

Institute for Organic Chemistry and Macromolecular Chemistry, Heinrich-Heine-University, Universitätsstr. 1, 40225, Düsseldorf, Germany.

The detection of tumor cells from liquid biopsy samples is of critical importance for early cancer diagnosis, malignancy assessment, and treatment. In this work, coatings of hyaluronic acid (HA)-functionalized dual-stimuli responsive poly(-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) microgels are used to study the specificity of breast cancer cell binding and to assess cell friendly release mechanisms for further diagnostic procedures. The microgels are established by straightforward precipitation polymerization with amine bearing comonomers and postfunctionalization with a UV-labile linker that covalently binds HA to the microgel network. Read More

RNA Biol 2022 31;19(1):68-77. Epub 2021 Dec 31.

Department. Of Biochemistry and Gene Center, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, München, Germany.

DNA double-strand breaks are among the most toxic lesions that can occur in a genome and their faithful repair is thus of great importance. Recent findings have uncovered local transcription that initiates at the break and forms a non-coding transcript, called damage-induced long non-coding RNA (dilncRNA), which helps to coordinate the DNA transactions necessary for repair. We provide nascent RNA sequencing-based evidence that RNA polymerase II transcribes the dilncRNA in and that this is more efficient for DNA breaks in an intron-containing gene, consistent with the higher damage-induced siRNA levels downstream of an intron. Read More

J Am Chem Soc 2022 Jan 29;144(2):723-732. Epub 2021 Dec 29.

National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, Department of Chemical Physics and Key Laboratory of Surface and Interface Chemistry and Energy Catalysis of Anhui Higher Education Institutes, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230029, P. R. China.

We report an example that demonstrates the clear interdependence between surface-supported reactions and molecular-adsorption configurations. Two biphenyl-based molecules with two and four bromine substituents, i.e. Read More

iScience 2021 Dec 25;24(12):103512. Epub 2021 Nov 25.

State Key Laboratory of Microbial Metabolism, School of Life Science and Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.

RNAs adopt various conformations to perform different functions in cells. Incapable of acquiring intermediates, the key initiations of ligand recognition in the adenine riboswitch have not been characterized. In this work, stopped-flow fluorescence was used to track structural switches in the full-length adenine riboswitch in real time. Read More

Nanoscale 2022 Jan 6;14(2):482-491. Epub 2022 Jan 6.

Tianjin Key Laboratory of Optoelectronic Sensor and Sensing Network Technology, Department of Electronics, College of Electronic Information and Optical Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin 300350, China.

Indirect monitoring of (LM) a gas sensor that can detect the bacterial metabolite 3-hydroxy-2-butanone (3H-2B) is a newly emerged strategy. However, such sensors are required simultaneously endow with outstanding selectivity, high sensitivity, and ppb-level detection limit, which remains technologically challenging. Herein, we have developed highly selective and sensitive 3H-2B sensors that consist of zinc oxide nanorods decorated with cobaltosic oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NRs/CoO NPs), which have been synthesized by combined optimized hydrothermal and annealing process. Read More

ACS Appl Mater Interfaces 2021 Dec 8;13(50):60144-60153. Epub 2021 Dec 8.

Division of Materials Science and Engineering, Hanyang University, 222 Wangsimni-ro, Seongdong-gu, Seoul 04763, Republic of Korea.

In semiconductor production, the technology node of a device is becoming extremely small below 5 nm. Area selective deposition (ASD) is a promising technique for creating improved overlay or self-alignment, remedying a conventional top-down method. However, the conventional materials and process (self-assembled monolayer, polymer and carbon film fabricated by chemical vapor deposition, and spin coating) for ASD are not suitable for highly conformal deposition. Read More

Biosensors (Basel) 2021 Nov 18;11(11). Epub 2021 Nov 18.

Center for Advanced Materials (CAM), Qatar University, Doha P.O. Box 2713, Qatar.

The assessment of blood glucose levels is necessary for the diagnosis and management of diabetes. The accurate quantification of serum or plasma glucose relies on enzymatic and nonenzymatic methods utilizing electrochemical biosensors. Current research efforts are focused on enhancing the non-invasive detection of glucose in sweat with accuracy, high sensitivity, and stability. Read More