Reviews & Analysis

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  • This PrimeView highlights how the diversity, composition and clonal architecture of the adaptive immune receptor repertoire can be used in identifying disease states and response to treatment.

    PrimeView
  • The adaptive immune receptor repertoire (AIRR) drives adaptive immune responses, which could determine disease outcomes, infectious disease and cancer. Mhanna, Bashour et al. outline the approaches and challenges in AIRR analysis, as well as future developments towards predicting adaptive immune responses.

    • Vanessa Mhanna
    • Habib Bashour
    • Encarnita Mariotti-Ferrandiz
    Primer
  • This PrimeView highlights the different features of dielectric waveguides that can affect the reproducibility of waveguide-enhanced Raman spectroscopy

    PrimeView
  • Waveguide-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (WERS) exploits the electromagnetic enhancement that can be achieved at the surface of suitably designed waveguides to enhance Raman intensity. In this Primer, Ettabib et al. describe methods for data collection and quantitative analysis of waveguide-enhanced Raman spectra.

    • Mohamed A. Ettabib
    • Zhen Liu
    • James S. Wilkinson
    Primer
  • Ultra-fine nanofibres can be produced by manipulating polymer solutions, melts or suspensions with a strong electric field. This electrospinning process enables the properties of nanofibres to be tuned. In this Primer, electrospinning technology is explored, including the underlying principles, experimental techniques, characterization and applications in biomedicine, wearables and environmental purification.

    • Dongxiao Ji
    • Yagai Lin
    • Seeram Ramakrishna
    Primer
  • This PrimeView highlights the NMR analysis of living organisms, from microbes and plants to freshwater fleas and freshwater shrimp.

    PrimeView
  • In vivo NMR spectroscopy of whole, living multicellular organisms involves maintaining live organisms within an NMR spectrometer and analysing their metabolic profiles in real time. In this Primer, Lysak and colleagues describe experimental approaches for in vivo NMR, including solution-state and magic-angle spinning NMR.

    • Daniel H. Lysak
    • Katelyn Downey
    • Andre J. Simpson
    Primer
  • This PrimeView highlights the application of astronomical radio interferometry for the sensitive study of celestial objects.

    PrimeView
  • Arrays of element antennas in radio interferometry enable the study of celestial objects with angular resolutions comparable with, or surpassing, optical imaging at wavelengths thousands of times shorter. In this Primer, Asaki et al. describe aperture synthesis, the basic instrumental components and data calibration.

    • Yoshiharu Asaki
    • Belén Alcalde Pampliega
    • Eric J. Murphy
    Primer
  • This PrimeView highlights different applications of muographic imaging, cryptography, positioning, navigation and timing.

    PrimeView
  • Muography takes advantage of the high penetrating power and relativistic nature of cosmic-ray muons for imagery; positioning, navigation, timing; and secured communications. This Primer provides an overview of muography techniques, describing how they are used in Earth and planetary sciences, computer science and social science.

    • Hiroyuki K. M. Tanaka
    • Cristiano Bozza
    • Dezső Varga
    Primer
  • Using multiple liquid chromatography columns can improve separations and enable complex samples to be analysed. This Primer introduces comprehensive 2D chromatography, including instrument setups for different applications.

    • Luigi Mondello
    • Paola Dugo
    • Oliver J. Schmitz
    Primer
  • Two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy (2DES) is an optical technique that can investigate ultrafast dynamics with femtosecond time resolution. This Primer describes the underlying physical principles behind 2DES and explains how it can be applied to study different dynamic photophysical processes.

    • Elisa Fresch
    • Franco V. A. Camargo
    • Elisabetta Collini
    Primer
  • Studying materials at high temperature and pressure provides information about phase transitions, with different X-ray probes to characterize material properties. This Primer describes how static and dynamic compression at synchrotrons and X-ray free-electron lasers can be used to reach high temperature, high pressure states and probe matter under extreme conditions.

    • Sakura Pascarelli
    • Malcolm McMahon
    • Paul Loubeyre
    Primer