Metabolomic distance between normal and obese children.

This paper presents the metabolomic distance between normal and obese children. Our PCA results quantitatively explain why girls are more prone to obesity than boys.

Ultrasound-dependent kinetics of bone mineralization.

Bone Mineral Density (BMD) is an important parameter in the development of orthopedic fracture-healing methods. A recent article (Inoue, S., et al. Bone. 2023, 177, 116916) investigated the use of higher intensity ultrasound to promote murine bone formation by measuring BMD levels. In this work, we present the numerical values of BMD, which show sigmoid kinetics and hyperbolic asymptotic increase with the application of higher intensity ultrasound. Our analysis may provide a foundation for the understanding and application of ultrasound to the human body.

Comment on "Aggregation Interface and Rigid Spots Sustain the Stable Framework of a Thermophilic N-Demethylase".

The thermal properties of proteins are very important in industrial, agricultural, and food chemistry. A recent article (Li, B., et al. J. Agric. Food Chem. 2023, 71, 5614-5629) examines the thermal denaturation of enzymes TrSOX and BSOX by measuring the enthalpy change and melting temperature in the denaturation. In this work, we report the numerical values of entropy in the denaturation of proteins and show that both proteins TrSOX and BSOX exhibit enthalpy-entropy compensation in thermal denaturation, which results in a limited variation of melting temperature in both proteins. Our analysis may serve to improve our understanding of thermal properties in proteins in food chemistry.

Study of Elastic and Structural Properties of BaFe2As2 Ultrathin Film Using Picosecond Ultrasonics.

We obtain the through-thickness elastic stiffness coefficient (C33) in nominal 9 nm and 60 nm BaFe2As2 (Ba-122) thin films by using picosecond ultrasonics. Particularly, we reveal the increase in elastic stiffness as film thickness decreases from bulk value down to 9 nm, which we attribute to the increase in intrinsic strain near the film-substrate interface. Our density functional theory (DFT) calculations reproduce the observed acoustic oscillation frequencies well. In addition, temperature dependence of longitudinal acoustic (LA) phonon mode frequency for 9 nm Ba-122 thin film is reported. The frequency change is attributed to the change in Ba-122 orthorhombicity (a-b)/(a+b). This conclusion can be corroborated by our previous ultrafast ellipticity measurements in 9 nm Ba-122 thin film, which exhibit strong temperature dependence and indicate the structural phase transition temperature Ts.

Resist-Free Lithography for Monolayer Transition Metal Dichalcogenides.

Photolithography and electron-beam lithography are the most common methods for making nanoscale devices from semiconductors. While these methods are robust for bulk materials, they disturb the electrical properties of two-dimensional (2D) materials, which are highly sensitive to chemicals used during lithography processes. Here, we report a resist-free lithography method, based on direct laser patterning and resist-free electrode transfer, which avoids unintentional modification to the 2D materials throughout the process. We successfully fabricate large arrays of field-effect transistors using MoS2 and WSe2 monolayers, the performance of which reflects the properties of the pristine materials. Furthermore, using these pristine devices as a reference, we reveal that among the various stages of a conventional lithography process, exposure to a solvent like acetone changes the electrical conductivity of MoS2 the most. This new approach will enable a rational design of reproducible processes for making large-scale integrated circuits based on 2D materials and other surface-sensitive materials.

Robotic four-dimensional pixel assembly of van der Waals solids.

Van der Waals (vdW) solids can be engineered with atomically precise vertical composition through the assembly of layered two-dimensional materials1,2. However, the artisanal assembly of structures from micromechanically exfoliated flakes3,4 is not compatible with scalable and rapid manufacturing. Further engineering of vdW solids requires precisely designed and controlled composition over all three spatial dimensions and interlayer rotation. Here, we report a robotic four-dimensional pixel assembly method for manufacturing vdW solids with unprecedented speed, deliberate design, large area and angle control. We used the robotic assembly of prepatterned 'pixels' made from atomically thin two-dimensional components. Wafer-scale two-dimensional material films were grown, patterned through a clean, contact-free process and assembled using engineered adhesive stamps actuated by a high-vacuum robot. We fabricated vdW solids with up to 80 individual layers, consisting of 100 × 100 µm2 areas with predesigned patterned shapes, laterally/vertically programmed composition and controlled interlayer angle. This enabled efficient optical spectroscopic assays of the vdW solids, revealing new excitonic and absorbance layer dependencies in MoS2. Furthermore, we fabricated twisted N-layer assemblies, where we observed atomic reconstruction of twisted four-layer WS2 at high interlayer twist angles of ≥4°. Our method enables the rapid manufacturing of atomically resolved quantum materials, which could help realize the full potential of vdW heterostructures as a platform for novel physics2,5,6 and advanced electronic technologies7,8.

Enthalpy-entropy compensation in the denaturation of proteins of bovine masseter and cutaneous trunci.

Thermal properties of muscles are of great interest in meat science. A recent article (Vaskoska et al., 2021) examines the thermal denaturation of proteins in bovine muscles, masseter and cutaneous trunci, by measuring the enthalpy and melting temperature of the denaturation. In the present article, we report the numerical values of entropy in the denaturation of proteins. Furthermore, we describe a characteristic phenomenon, enthalpy-entropy compensation in the denaturation of bovine proteins. To our knowledge, this is the first observation of the compensation in situ condition. The analysis shown in this paper may develop a new approach in meat science by introducing a new parameter, entropy, that is rarely reported in relation to differential scanning calorimetry results in this field of research. Therefore, it may enhance our understanding of the thermal properties of meat from a physical chemistry perspective.

Atomically Thin, Optically Isotropic Films with 3D Nanotopography.

Flat optics aims for the on-chip miniaturization of optical systems for high-speed and low-power operation, with integration of thin and lightweight components. Here, we present atomically thin yet optically isotropic films realized by using three-dimensional (3D) topographic reconstruction of anisotropic two-dimensional (2D) films to balance the out-of-plane and in-plane optical responses on the subwavelength scale. We achieve this by conformal growth of monolayer transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) films on nanodome-structured substrates. The resulting films show an order-of-magnitude increase in the out-of-plane susceptibility for enhanced angular performance, displaying polarization isotropy in the off-axis absorption, as well as improved photoluminescence emission profiles, compared to their flat-film counterparts. We further show that such 3D geometric programming of optical properties is applicable to different TMD materials, offering spectral generalization over for the entire visible range. Our approach presents a powerful platform for advancing the development of atomically thin flat optics with custom-designed light-matter interactions.

The Roles of Superoxide on At-Level Spinal Cord Injury Pain in Rats.

BACKGROUND: In the present study, we examined superoxide-mediated excitatory nociceptive transmission on at-level neuropathic pain following spinal thoracic 10 contusion injury (SCI) in male Sprague Dawley rats. METHODS: Mechanical sensitivity at body trunk, neuronal firing activity, and expression of superoxide marker/ionotropic glutamate receptors (iGluRs)/CamKII were measured in the T7/8 dorsal horn, respectively. RESULTS: Topical treatment of superoxide donor t-BOOH (0.4 mg/kg) increased neuronal firing rates and pCamKII expression in the naïve group, whereas superoxide scavenger Tempol (1 mg/kg) and non-specific ROS scavenger PBN (3 mg/kg) decreased firing rates in the SCI group (* p < 0.05). SCI showed increases of iGluRs-mediated neuronal firing rates and pCamKII expression (* p < 0.05); however, t-BOOH treatment did not show significant changes in the naïve group. The mechanical sensitivity at the body trunk in the SCI group (6.2 ± 0.5) was attenuated by CamKII inhibitor KN-93 (50 µg, 3.9 ± 0.4) or Tempol (1 mg, 4 ± 0.4) treatment (* p < 0.05). In addition, the level of superoxide marker Dhet showed significant increase in SCI rats compared to the sham group (11.7 ± 1.7 vs. 6.6 ± 1.5, * p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Superoxide and the pCamKII pathway contribute to chronic at-level neuropathic pain without involvement of iGluRs following SCI.