Compared with pristine polymers, bionanocomposites derived from biopolymers and inorganic nanoparticles have significantly improved electrical/magnetic properties, mechanical properties, thermal stability, gas barrier properties, and fire retardance. In this study, poly(lactic acid) (PLA) nanocomposites were prepared by in situ melt polycondensation of L-lactic acid with different loading ratio...

Plasma membrane compartmentalization imposes lateral segregation on membrane proteins that is important for regulating signal transduction. We use computational modeling of immunogold spatial point patterns on intact plasma membrane sheets to test different models of inner plasma membrane organization. We find compartmentalization at the nanoscale level but show that a classical raft model of p...

The development of efficient and economic photovoltaic (PV) systems harvesting solar energy is one of the grand challenges for engineering and scientific researchers. The theoretical conversion limit of a single-junction solar cell is 31% according to Shockley and Queisser (SQ), which the most advanced single-junction PV devices are approaching. Thus it is important to develop new methods and d...

A Ni/meso-MgO catalyst with high surface area and small Ni nanoparticles was synthesized and investigated for hydrogen production by steam reforming of phenol for the first time. Compared to conventional Ni/MgO, the Ni/meso-MgO catalyst showed higher catalytic activity and stability. X-ray Diffraction, N2 adsorption, hydrogen temperature programmed reduction, transmission electron microscopy an...

Antibacterial activity of honey is due to the presence of methylglyoxal (MGO), H2O2, bee defensin as well as polyphenols. High MGO levels in manuka honey are the main source of antibacterial activity. Manuka honey has been reported to reduce the swarming and swimming motility of Pseudomonas aeruginosa due to de-flagellation. Due to the complexity of honey it is unknown if this effect is directl...

Recent studies have reported increases of methylglyoxal (MGO) in peritoneal dialysis patients, and that MGO-mediated inflammation plays an important role in the development of peritoneal fibrosis through production of transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1). Linagliptin, a dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitor, exerts anti-inflammatory effects independent of blood glucose levels. In this study, we ex...

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of modifying aluminum oxide slips with magnesium oxide (MgO) to create a jointing material for In-Ceram Alumina. Jointed In-Ceram Alumina bars with In-Ceram Alumina slips containing 0-1.0 mass% MgO were examined by a three-point bending test. Joint-free bars were also tested as controls. Fracture surfaces were evaluated by scanning electro...

Calculation of the tunneling magnetoresistance ~TMR! of an epitaxial Fe/MgO/Fe~001! junction is reported. The conductances of the junction in its ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic configurations are determined without any approximations from the real-space Kubo formula using tight-binding bands fitted to an ab initio band structure of iron and MgO. The calculated optimistic TMR ratio is in ex...

Fluorescent gold nanoclusters encapsulated by proteins have attracted considerable attention in recent years for their unique properties as new fluorescence probes for biological sensing and imaging. However, fundamental questions, such as the nucleation sites of gold nanoclusters within proteins and the fluorescence mechanism remain unsolved. Here we present a study of the location of gold nan...

An atomic-level strategy is devised to gain insight into the origin of nanogold catalysis by using atomically monodisperse Au(n)(SR)(m) nanoclusters as well-defined catalysts for styrene oxidation. The Au(n)(SR)(m) nanoclusters are emerging as a new class of gold nanocatalyst to overcome the polydispersity of conventional nanoparticle catalysts. The unique atom-packing structure and electronic ...