Supersonic cluster beam fabrication of metal–ionogel nanocomposites for soft robotics

Soft robotics is an emerging field targeting at the development of robotic bodies and architectures characterized by flexibility, adaptability, and motility typical of that of biological systems. The use of electroactive ionic polymer–metal nanocomposites able to reversibly deform in response to low-intensity electric fields constitutes a promising solution for the implementation of actuators into soft robots. Currently, the use of this class of nanocomposites is hampered by several drawbacks, mainly related to the mismatch between the mechanical properties of the polymer and the metallic electrodes compromising their stability and resilience upon cyclic deformation.Here, we report and discuss on the use of supersonic cluster beam implantation (SCBI) as an effective strategy for the fabrication of soft electroactive ionic polymeric nanocomposite actuators. SCBI relies on the use of supersonically accelerated beams of neutral metal nanoparticles that can be aerodynamically collimated and directed onto a polymeric target to generate thin nanostructured metal layers physically interpenetrating with the polymer.Soft electroactive actuators based on engineered ionogel and ionogel-based hybrid nanocomposites provided with monolithically integrated cluster-assembled gold electrodes will be discussed. These systems can undergo long-term bending deformation in a low-voltage regime, due to the nanostructured electrode resilience. The use of cluster-assembled nanostructured electrodes opens new opportunities for the high-throughput manufacturing of soft ionic actuators with excellent mechanical resiliency, high-performance actuation, and high durability.     

A Phosphinine-Derived 1-Phospha-7-Bora-Norbornadiene: Frustrated Lewis Pair Type Activation of Triple Bonds

Salt metathesis of 1-methyl-2,4,6-triphenylphosphacyclohexadienyl lithium and chlorobis(pentafluorophenyl)borane affords a 1-phospha-7-bora-norbornadiene derivative 2 . The C≡N triple bonds of nitriles insert into the P−B bond of 2 with concomitant C−B bond cleavage, whereas the C≡C bonds of phenylacetylenes react with 2 to form λ⁴-phosphabarrelenes. Even though 2 must formally be regarded as a classical Lewis adduct, the C≡N and C≡C activation processes observed (and the mild conditions under which they occur) are reminiscent of the reactivity of frustrated Lewis pairs. Indeed, NMR and computational studies give insight into the mechanism of the reactions and reveal the labile nature of the phosphorus–boron bond in 2 , which is also suggested by detailed NMR spectroscopic studies on this compound. Nitrile insertion is thus preceded by ring opening of the bicycle of 2 through P−B bond splitting with a low energy barrier. By contrast, the reaction with alkynes involves formation of a reactive zwitterionic methylphosphininium borate intermediate, which readily undergoes alkyne 1,4-addition.     

Nonassociative Star Product Deformations for D-Brane World-Volumes in Curved Backgrounds

We investigate the deformation of D-brane world-volumes in curved backgrounds. We calculate the leading corrections to the boundary conformal field theory involving the background fields, and in particular we study the correlation functions of the resulting system. This allows us to obtain the world-volume deformation, identifying the open string metric and the noncommutative deformation parameter. The picture that unfolds is the following: when the gauge invariant combination ω=B+F is constant one obtains the standard Moyal deformation of the brane world-volume. Similarly, when dω= 0 one obtains the noncommutative Kontsevich deformation, physically corresponding to a curved brane in a flat background. When the background is curved, H=dω≠ 0, we find that the relevant algebraic structure is still based on the Kontsevich expansion, which now defines a nonassociative star product with an A _∞ homotopy associative algebraic structure. We then recover, within this formalism, some known results of Matrix theory in curved backgrounds. In particular, we show how the effective action obtained in this framework describes, as expected, the dielectric effect of D-branes. The polarized branes are interpreted as a soliton, associated to the condensation of the brane gauge field. Received: 22 March 2001 / Accepted: 13 July 2001     

Sub-Rayleigh imaging via N-photon detection

The Rayleigh diffraction bound sets the minimum separation for two point objects to be distinguishable in a conventional imaging system. We demonstrate sub-Rayleigh resolution by scanning a focused beam--in an arbitrary, object-covering pattern that is unknown to the imager--and using N-photon photodetection implemented with a single-photon avalanche detector array. Experiments show resolution improvement by a factor ～(N-N(max))(?) beyond the Rayleigh bound, where N(max) is the maximum average detected photon number in the image, in good agreement with theory.     

Electrochemical behavior of active surface layers in AA8xxx aluminum alloys

AA8xxx alloys employed in the HVAC&R sector (heating, ventilating, air conditioning, and refrigerating) were investigated to highlight the effect of active surface layers in heat-exchanger fins. The local behavior of the surface and the bulk of the alloy sheets was studied by means of an electrochemical microcell in combination with glow-discharge optical-emission spectrometry. Surface layers strongly enhance the electrochemical activity of the fin material. This is related to the segregation of Mg and other elements (Sn) strongly impairing the protective behavior of the oxide film generated during thermomechanical processing.     

Sialoside analogue arrays for rapid identification of high affinity siglec ligands

The siglec family of sialic acid binding proteins participates in diverse cell surface biology that includes regulation of immune cell signaling and the interaction of neuronal cells with glial cells. The weak intrinsic affinity of the natural sialoside ligands has hampered the development of synthetic ligand based probes needed to elucidate their roles in siglec function. In this report, we describe a glycan microarray comprising a library of 9-acyl-substituted sialic acids incorporated into sialosides containing the Neu5Acalpha2-3Gal and Neu5Acalpha-6Gal linkages commonly recognized by the siglecs. The array is demonstrated to exhibit utility for detecting 9-acyl substituents that increase the affinity of siglecs for their ligands. Substituents that increase affinity are anticipated to be useful for the design of high affinity ligand based probes of siglec function.     

Hydrophobic bacteria at the hexadecane-water interface: examination of micrometre-scale interfacial properties

Hydrophobic bacteria, like colloidal solids, can spontaneously adsorb onto fluid-fluid interfaces and modify their mechanical properties. In this study, two strains of bacteria--Acinetobacter venetianus RAG-1 and Rhodococcus erythropolis 20S-E1-c--were prepared in their stationary (i.e. non-dividing) phase in the absence of biosurfactants; the cells were then used as emulsifiers to stabilize n-hexadecane droplets in aqueous environments. Using the micropipette technique, colloidal stability of the bacteria-coated droplets was examined through direct-contact experiments. Both types of bacteria were seen to function as effective stabilizers, although the Acinetobacter venetianus RAG-1 film provided stronger resistance to droplet-droplet coalescence. In addition to creating steric barriers, the adsorbed bacteria also interacted with one another at the interface, giving rise to higher order rheological properties. A technique of directly probing the mechanical properties of the emulsion drop surfaces (i.e. the adsorbed films) on the micrometre-scale revealed that (a) the films behaved as purely elastic sheets, and (b) with a reduction in cell concentration in the aqueous phase, less oil was emulsified, but the elastic moduli of the adsorbed films remained unchanged (suggesting an "all or none" adsorption process). These results are in contrast to a previous macroscopic (i.e. millimetre-scale) study, which showed that the absorbed films were viscoelastic, with the apparent elastic moduli depending strongly on cell concentration. The rheological properties of these bacteria-adsorbed interfaces appeared therefore to be length scale-dependent.     

Uptake mechanism of oppositely charged fluorescent nanoparticles in HeLa cells

The endocytotic mechanisms involved in the uptake of charged polystyrene nanoparticles into HeLa cells were investigated. Uptake experiments were done in the presence or absence of drugs known to inhibit various factors in endocytosis. Independent of the particle charge, endocytosis is highly dependent on dynamin, F-actin, and tyrosine-specific protein kinases, which suggests a dynamin-dependent and lipid raft-dependent mechanism. However, cholesterol depletion did not hinder particle uptake. Regarding positively charged particles, macropinocytosis, the microtubule network, and cyclooxygenases are also involved. The clathrin-dependent pathway plays a minor role.     

Computer-assisted identification of small-molecule Bcl-2 modulators

Apoptosis, the programmed cell death, is a highly regulated process, necessary for normal development and homeostasis of the functions of organisms. The Bcl-2 inhibitors BH3I-1 and BH3I-2 were used as lead compounds to find possible Bcl-2 or Bcl-X_L inhibitors by using computer-assisted screening with our in-house database, containing more than four million commercially available molecules. Identified compounds were further investigated regarding their possible application as a drug.