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Stranded student helps design synthetic polymers to combat fungal infections

Every year, more than 2 million people are affected by invasive fungal infections, which are often caused by Candida species and are associated with high mortality rates. The development of new therapies is progressing very slowly. Demand is increasing, however, especially as drug resistance is becoming more and more common. An interdisciplinary research team led by Dr. Sascha Brunke from the Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology–Hans Knöll Institute (Leibniz-HKI) has now investigated the mode of action and therapeutic potential of synthetic polymers. These long-chain chemical compounds mimic naturally occurring peptides and inhibit the growth of microorganisms. The exact mechanism of action was previously unclear. However, the mystery has now been solved—all thanks to the coronavirus pandemic.

materialsscienceandengineering

Method used in water simulations can cause errors, study confirms

More than a year ago, computational scientists at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory published a study in the Journal of Chemical Theory and Computation that raised a serious question about a long-standing methodology used by researchers who conduct molecular dynamics simulations involving water. What if using the standard 2 femtosecond (2 quadrillionths of a second) time step—the time interval at which computer simulations are analyzed—leads to inaccurate results? Now, the same ORNL team has published a new study in the journal Chemical Science that reaffirms their original observations by showing how using these "standard" time steps can affect simulations of liquid water. The team's calculations reveal that the potential for errors caused by using a 2 (or more) femtosecond time step is even greater than they had anticipated. "I was a little bit surprised. I was hoping for much more subdued effects, but the errors can be big," said co-author Dilip Asthagiri, a senior computational biomedical scientist in ORNL's Advanced Computing for Life Sciences and Engineering group.

materialsscienceandengineering

The Meissner Effect Mapped at High Pressure

A new data-analysis method allows researchers to visualize a superconductor expelling an applied magnetic field under high-pressure conditions. [...] Except in limited regions, magnetic fields cannot penetrate a superconductor―a phenomenon known as the Meissner effect. Researchers routinely make use of this effect to detect defects in the material, which are sites that can trap the magnetic field. However, some materials require high pressures to be coerced into superconducting states, making magnetic-field measurements impractical. Now Cassandra Dailledouze from the University of Paris-Saclay and her colleagues have mapped a magnetic field contorting around a superconductor under a pressure of 4 gigapascals [1]. Their result was made possible by the development of a fast and robust data-analysis method.

materialsscienceandengineering

AI pinpoints promising materials that capture only CO₂ from air

In order to help prevent the climate crisis, actively reducing already-emitted CO₂ is essential. Accordingly, direct air capture (DAC)—a technology that directly extracts only CO₂ from the air—is gaining attention. However, effectively capturing pure CO₂ is not easy due to water vapor (H₂O) present in the air. KAIST researchers have successfully used AI-driven machine learning techniques to identify the most promising CO₂-capturing materials among metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), a key class of materials studied for this technology. The research team, led by Professor Jihan Kim from the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, in collaboration with a team at Imperial College London, published their research in the journal Matter.

materialsscienceandengineering

Decoding thermal behavior in crystals: Insights from thalidomide

Understanding how molecular arrangements within crystals influence their thermal behavior is a fundamental question in solid-state chemistry. This topic is especially relevant in pharmaceuticals existing as enantiomers, molecules in two forms that are mirror images of one another but cannot be superimposed, which can exhibit distinct physical and chemical properties depending on their crystalline form. Thalidomide is a notable example. Initially introduced as a sedative, it was withdrawn due to its devastating effects on embryos. However, in recent years, thalidomide has regained clinical importance as a treatment for conditions such as multiple myeloma and leprosy. Despite this renewed relevance, the physicochemical behavior of thalidomide in the solid state remains insufficiently explored.

materialsscienceandengineering

Near-perfect defects in 2D material could serve as quantum bits

Scientists across the world are working to make quantum technologies viable at scale—an achievement that requires a reliable way to generate qubits, or quantum bits, which are the fundamental units of information in quantum computing. The task has so far remained elusive, but one of the materials that has garnered a lot of attention as a possible qubit platform is hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN), a 2D material that can host solid-state single-photon emitters (SPEs). Like the name indicates, SPEs are atomic structures in solid materials that can produce individual photons. In a new study published in Science Advances, researchers at Rice University and collaborators at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Technology, Sydney report the first demonstration of low noise, room-temperature quantum emitters in h-BN made through a scalable growth technique.

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mindblowingscience

Exploiting the remarkable capability of viruses to transport gene therapies past what until now has been a circulatory roadblock is at the h

Exploiting the remarkable capability of viruses to transport gene therapies past what until now has been a circulatory roadblock is at the heart of a University of Alberta-led discovery that promises to re-energize the field of genetic medicine. John Lewis, an oncologist in the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry and the lead author of the study describing the advance, explains that the primary obstacle to safely and effectively distributing therapeutic agents throughout the body is the liver.

materialsscienceandengineering

Simple table salt enhances new adhesive polymer technology

Adhesives are everywhere, from the tape used in households to the bonding materials in vehicles and electronics. The search for stronger, more adaptable adhesives is ongoing and may come down to adding a dash of salt to two special polymer ingredients known as polyzwitterions, or PZIs. New research from a FAMU-FSU College of Engineering team led by Hoyong Chung, an associate professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, shows a new way to create adhesives by using the natural attraction between positively and negatively charged materials. The work was recently published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. "We want to create stronger and more versatile adhesives using a strategy involving electrostatic interactions," Chung said. "Our research centers around two special polymers, known as PZIs, with the goal of getting them to bond more effectively."

materialsscienceandengineering

Low-cost method removes micro- and nanoplastics from water

Researchers at the University of São Paulo (USP) in Brazil have developed a novel nanotechnology-based solution for the removal of micro- and nanoplastics from water. Their research is published in the journal Micron. Tiny plastic particles are ubiquitous in the world today and may currently be one of the most important environmental problems, after the climate emergency and the accelerating extinction of species and ecosystems. Microplastics are in the soil, water and air, and in the bodies of animals and humans. They come from everyday consumer goods and from wear-and-tear on larger materials. They are found everywhere and in every kind of environment. A major source is the water used to wash clothes made of synthetic fibers. Microplastics currently cannot be filtered out of wastewater and eventually penetrate the soil, water table, rivers, oceans and atmosphere.

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materialsscienceandengineering

Modeling system could enable future generations of self-sensing materials

Research that eliminates the guesswork in developing advanced 3D printed materials could help accelerate the development of new forms of "self-sensing" airplanes, robots, bridges and more. A team of engineers led by researchers from the University of Glasgow have developed the first system capable of modeling the complex physics of 3D-printed composites capable of detecting strain, load, and damage using nothing more than a measure of electrical current. By allowing material scientists to predict in advance for the first time how new structures can be fine-tuned to produce specific combinations of strength, stiffness, and self-sensing properties, it could help catalyze the development of revolutionary new applications for the technology.

materialsscienceandengineering

Quality control: Neatly arranging crystal growth to make fine thin films

Table salt and refined sugar look white to our eyes, but that is only because their individual colorless crystals scatter visible light. This feature of crystals is not always desirable when it comes to materials for optical and electrical devices, however. Metal-organic frameworks are one such material. Crystalline with micropores, thin films of these nanomaterials have been attracting attention as a next-generation material that could also have an impact on environmental issues such as hydrogen storage and carbon dioxide capture. An Osaka Metropolitan University Graduate School of Engineering team has found a way to control the growth of crystals on such thin films so that light scattering is reduced significantly.

materialsscienceandengineering

3D-printed blood vessels bring artificial organs closer to reality

Growing functional human organs outside the body is a long-sought "holy grail" of organ transplantation medicine that remains elusive. New research from Harvard's Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering and John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Science (SEAS) brings that quest one big step closer to completion. A team of scientists has created a new method to 3D-print vascular networks that consist of interconnected blood vessels possessing a distinct "shell" of smooth muscle cells and endothelial cells surrounding a hollow "core" through which fluid can flow, embedded inside a human cardiac tissue. This vascular architecture closely mimics that of naturally occurring blood vessels and represents significant progress toward being able to manufacture implantable human organs.

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