In eukaryotes, coat protein complex II (COPII) proteins are involved in transporting cargo proteins from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) to the Golgi apparatus. The COPII proteins, Sar1, Sec23/24, and Sec13/31 polymerize into a coat that gathers cargo proteins into a coated vesicle. Structures have been recently solved of individual COPII proteins, COPII proteins in complex with cargo, and highe...

The Romane sheep breed proved to be adapted to harsh conditions with high prolificacy and lamb survival in outdoor farming, even under bad climate conditions. This breed shows large variability in its fleece type at birth and it has been suggested that lamb survival could be related to birthcoat type. The aim of the present study was to: i) characterize the coat of the lamb at birth and quantif...

Nanostructured materials are gaining new impetus owing to the advancements in material fabrication techniques and their unique properties (their nanosize, high surface area-to-volume ratio, and high porosity). Such nanostructured materials mimic the subtleties of extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins, creating artifi cial microenvironments which resemble the native niches in the body. On the othe...

In this paper we show that the recently developed nanostructured gradient index (nGRIN) rod microlens can be utilised for the collimation of the beam generated by a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL). The modelling of the nanostructured lens structure is performed using the finite difference time domain (FDTD) method with realistic nGRIN parameters and a Gaussian model of the light ...

This paper reports the implementation of temporal capillary microfluidic patterns and biological nanoscaffolds in autonomous microfabrication of nanostructured symmetric electrochemical supercapacitors. A photoresist layer was first patterned on the substrate, forming a capillary microfluidics layer with two separated interdigitated microchannels. Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) macromolecules suspe...

The research here described presents an investigation over the efficiency of nanostructured TiO2 films as photocatalysts either in air purification systems or to be integrated in light devices, based on the exploitation of UV or Vis irradiation to induce the degradation of hazardous chemical compounds. Gas pollutants (NO) and dyes (rhodamine B) will be considered as model reactants. Several oxi...

Resonant plasmonic and metamaterial structures allow for control of fundamental optical processes such as absorption, emission and refraction at the nanoscale. Considerable recent research has focused on energy absorption processes, and plasmonic nanostructures have been shown to enhance the performance of photovoltaic and thermophotovoltaic cells. Although reducing metallic losses is a widely ...

Boosted by the rapid advances of science and technology in the field of energy materials, Li-ion batteries have achieved significant progress in energy storage performance since their commercial debut in 1991. The development of nanostructured electrode material is regarded as one of the key potentials for the further advancement in Li-ion batteries. This feature article summarizes our recent e...