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A structural epitope on A-type lamins is significantly more exposed in the apical than in the basal nuclear lamina of human mesenchymal stem cells and fibroblasts under environmental conditions known to upregulate cell contractility.
The use of a chromium oxide interlayer separating the perovskite film from the metal contacts improves the stability of perovskite solar cells in air. Deposited on thin plastic foils, these ultralight devices power model airplanes and dirigibles.
Chemical vapour deposition is used to grow stable, ultrathin crystals of α-Mo2C and other transition metal carbides with lateral size up to 100 μm. α-Mo2C shows a superconducting behaviour with 2D character, strongly dependent on the crystal thickness.
Achieving a Li-ion conductivity in the solid state comparable to existing liquid electrolytes is challenging. A fundamental relationship between anion packing and ionic transport now reveals desirable structural attributes for Li-ion conductors.
An ultrasensitive method that uses a genetically engineered bacteriophage to bind miRNA in a one-to-one manner allows the counting, by the naked eye, of miRNA molecules at attomolar concentrations on Petri dishes.
Although Fe–N–C materials are promising catalysts for oxygen electroreduction in polymer fuel cells, the structure of their active sites is unclear. Quantitative analysis of Fe–N–C now reveals the existence of porphyrin-like FeN4C12 moieties.
The growth of stanene on bismuth telluride has been achieved using molecular beam epitaxy. Photoemission spectroscopy and theoretical calculations are used to investigate the effects of the substrate on the electronic properties of the Sn layers.
Controlled overlap of molecular orbitals in metal–organic frameworks enhances triplet exciton diffusion in these structures, which are now used in solid-state photon upconverters operating under excitation power comparable to solar irradiance.
Vascular smooth muscle cells can harness fluctuations in external cyclic stretching by altering their cytoskeletal organization and the associated mitochondrial network.
A supramolecular elastic polymer that is stable in the acidic environment of the stomach but dissolves in the neutral-pH environment of the intestines is shown to function as a safe gastric-retentive device in pigs.
Superconductivity below 14 K in the vicinity of a metal–insulator transition at about 11 GPa is shown for the iron-based spin-ladder material BaFe2S3, a Mott insulator with striped-type magnetic ordering below ∼120 K.
A minimal matrix model of scars is shown to elicit scar-like phenotypes from mesenchymal stem cells and to exhibit less cell-to-cell noise than homogeneously stiff gels, owing to the slow nuclear exit of a scar-marker mechanorepressor.
The addition of nickel and other metal atoms in the liquid droplets that drive the vapour–liquid–solid growth of silicon nanowires leads to the formation of metal silicide nanocrystals that are epitaxially incorporated inside the nanowires.
Despite similarities in crystallography and electronic structure in titanium and zirconium, it is shown that plasticity proceeds differently between the two, associated with differing dislocation configuration stability.
Observing ionic species at the electrode/electrolyte interface in supercapacitor devices is difficult. In situ NMR is now used to directly quantify anionic and cationic species within a working microporous carbon supercapacitor electrode.
Phase matching in the backward direction—the so-called nonlinear mirror effect—is demonstrated experimentally between the fundamental and second harmonic, using two distinct modes in a metal–dielectric–metal waveguide.
Manipulating strain states to modulate ionic conduction in micro energy devices has proved difficult. Effective net strain is now used to control oxygen ionic transport kinetics in ceria-based electrolyte membranes.
Sub-ångström-resolution indentation measurements and semi-analytical methods indicate that, for few-layer-thick films, the elasticity perpendicular to the plane is sensitive to the films’ structure and the presence of intercalated molecules.
Nanoindentation and spectroscopy measurements show that the impact surface of the dactyl club—a hammer-like device that stomatopods use to shatter hard seashells—has a quasi-plastic response that enhances the damage tolerance of the clubs.