Biologically controlled mineralization features an orchestrated balance among various controlling factors such as spatial delineation, template promotion, crystal growth modification and cessation, and so on. Highly ordered calcium carbonate lamellae formed in the nacreous layers of mollusk (aragonite), the foliated calcitic layers of mollusk (calcite), or the semi-nacre of brachiopods (calcite...

A line-length balanced palinspastic reconstruction across the Himachal Himalaya is presented, highlighting different phases of Himalayan tectonic development: Eocene shortening of the north Indian margin, Early–Middle Miocene emplacement of the crystalline core, and subsequent growth of the range by underplating. The total preserved shortening is 518 km (72%). The reconstruction demonstrates ge...

Gluconacetobacter hansenii, a Gram-negative bacterium, produces and secrets highly crystalline cellulose into growth medium, and has long been used as a model system for studying cellulose synthesis in higher plants. Cellulose synthesis involves the formation of β-1,4 glucan chains via the polymerization of glucose units by a multi-enzyme cellulose synthase complex (CSC). These glucan chains as...

The recent work of Fishman, Wilhelmi, and Russell (1,2) has made available a crystalline growth hormone isolated from the bovine anterior pituitary gland. It was of considerable interest to determine the sedimentation behavior of this protein in the ultracentrifuge and, at the same time, to obtain the molecular weight by this method. The amorphous preparation of Li, Evans, and Simpson (3) has n...

The growth of polymer domains in the isotropic, nematic, and smectic matrices is studied by the light scattering. In the smectic and isotropic matrices the growth is diffusive, and in the nematic matrix it is influenced by the elastic forces. The scaling is obeyed. A crossover to the wetting fast-mode hydrodynamic regime is also observed at long times. In order to perform these measurements we ...

Crystalline, yet smooth, sphere-like morphologies of small molecular compounds are desirable in a wide range of applications but are very challenging to obtain using common growth techniques, where either amorphous films or faceted crystallites are the norm. Here we show solvent-free, guard flow-assisted organic vapour jet printing of non-faceted, crystalline microspheroids of archetypal small ...

Si heteroepitaxy on CaF2 was studied with x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and diffraction and low-energy electron diffraction to determine the interface bonding and silicon overlayer growth mode. The CaF2 surface was prepared by irradiation with low-energy electrons and exposure to arsenic, which replaced surface fluorine atoms with arsenic. Thin Si films ~1.3 nm! were subsequently deposited a...

Small-diameter (<5 nm), single-crystalline SnO2 nanorods were synthesized in solution with a mean length of 17 +/- 4 nm (mean aspect ratio of 4:1) with the [001] direction along the major axis. Two characteristic peaks at 576 and 356 cm-1 in the Raman spectrum further confirmed the small crystal size. The SnO2 nanorods exhibit a red emission at 580 nm.

The growth of ZnO nanotubes and nanosquids is obtained by conventional thermal chemical vapor deposition (CVD) without the use of catalysts or templates. Characterization of these ZnO nanostructures was conducted by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), Raman spectroscopy, and photoluminescence (PL). Results indicate that these ZnO nanostructures m...

Inhalation of crystalline silica particles leads to pulmonary fibrosis, eventually resulting in respiratory failure and death. There are few effective drugs that can delay the progression of this disease; thus, patients with silicosis are usually only offered supportive care. Dioscin, a steroidal saponin, exhibits many biological activities and health benefits including its protective effects a...