Category Chemistry/Nanotechnology

Schematic of a laser beam energizing a monolayer semiconductor made up of molybdenum disulfide (MoS2). The red glowing dots are particles excited by the laser. Credit: Der-Hsien Lien Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2015-11-defect-free-molecule-thick.html#jCp

An emerging class of atomically thin materials, monolayer semiconductors has generated a great deal of buzz in the world of materials science. Monolayers hold promise in the development of transparent LED displays, ultra-high efficiency solar cells, photo detectors and nanoscale transistors. Their downside? The films are notoriously riddled with defects, killing their performance.

But a UCLA, Berkeley, and Lawrence Berkeley National Lab team, has found a simple way to fix these defects via an organic superacid...

Figure shows the way that copies of the toxin pack together to form pores in cells. Credit: University of Leicester

It gives hope for developing Rx for pneumococcal diseases such as bacterial pneumonia, meningitis and septicaemia. The 3 yr study involving 4 research groups from across the University has been described as an exciting advance because it points to the possibility of creating therapeutics that block assembly of pneumolysin pores to treat people with pneumococcal disease.

Using X-ray crystallography at Diamond Light Source, UK’s national synchrotron science facility, the Leicester team was able to see the individual atoms of the toxin. The structure not only reveals what the toxin looks like, but also shows how it assembles on the surface of cells to form lethal pores...

In comparison to other organs, the human brain has the highest energy requirements. Credit: Image courtesy of University of Zurich

They show for the 1st time in the intact mouse brain evidence for an exchange of lactate between different brain cells. With this study they were able to confirm a 20-year old hypothesis. In comparison to other organs, the human brain has the highest energy requirements. A hypothesis from the 1990’s postulates, that a well-orchestrated collaboration between astrocytes and neurons, is the basis of brain energy metabolism.

Astrocytes produce lactate, which flows to neurons to cover their high energy needs. Due to a lack of experimental techniques, it remained unclear whether an exchange of lactate existed between astrocytes and neurons...

An artist’s representation of the nanoparticle removal chip developed by researchers in Professor Michael Heller’s lab at the UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering. An oscillating electric field (purple arcs) separates drug-delivery nanoparticles (yellow spheres) from blood (red spheres) and pulls them towards rings surrounding the chip’s electrodes. The image is featured as the inside cover of the Oct. 14 issue of the journal Small. Credit: Stuart Ibsen and Steven Ibsen.

A new technology that uses an oscillating electric field to easily and quickly isolate drug-delivery nanoparticles from blood has been developed by a team of engineers...