Tidy up cryo-EM sample grids with 3D printed tools.

Cryo-EM technology has developed to the point of high-throughput structure determination of biological macromolecules embedded in vitreous ice. Nonetheless, challenging targets need extensive sample screening, often of many cryo-EM sample grids prepared under various conditions. We have designed and made tools for manipulating sample grids in storage cases. These tools are made of a plastic fiber using a wide-use 3D printer, a fused deposition modeling type, and polished under acetone gas. A grid case stacker organizes many frozen-hydrated cryo-EM grids and the stackers can be piled up inside a standard 50 mL centrifuge tube. We have also introduced tools that facilitate handling of grid cases under liquid nitrogen and a stocker of the grid retainers contained in a CRYO ARM electron microscope. Blueprints of the tools named CryoGridTools are available from a GitHub site.

The Effect of Water during the Compaction Process on Surface Characteristics of HMA Pavement.

During the compaction process of HMA pavement, it is common to spray cold water on the wheel of a road roller to prevent the mixture from sticking to the wheel, which might deteriorate the bonding strength between the asphalt binder and aggregate, and consequently lead to surface polishing of the pavement. This paper aims to demonstrate whether the water used during the compaction process affects the surface performance of HMA pavement. In this study, the black pixel ratio and mass loss ratio were used to evaluate the water effect on the surface performance of asphalt pavement, considering the water consumption, molding temperature and long-term ageing process. The test results indicated that the water used during the compaction process would increase the risk of surface polishing of HMA pavement. This adverse effect became more significant if the HMA samples were prepared using greater water consumption, a greater molding temperature and a long-term ageing process. Moreover, there exists a certain correlation between the black pixel ratio and mass loss ratio, and their relationships were demonstrated by the experimental results in this study. It is recommended that further research concentrates on the influencing mechanism and the treatment strategy for the adverse effect caused by the water used during the compaction process. The use of more types of asphalt binders, aggregate and methodologies is also recommended in further studies.

Local Deformation-Controlled Fast Directional Metal Outflow in Metal/Ceramic Nanolayer Sandwiches upon Low Temperature Annealing.

Precise nanoindentation on AlN/Cu/AlN nanolayer sandwiches has been conducted by using an atomic force microscope to promote fast and directional metal (Cu) outflow upon heating at low temperatures. Local plastic deformation during indentation results in the generation of high defect densities and stress gradients, which not only effectively reduce the activation energies for fast in-plane diffusion but also direct the in-plane transport of confined Cu to the indent location. In addition, a steep chemical potential gradient of O will be established across the AlN barrier upon exposure to air, which drives fast outward diffusion of Cu along defective pathways in the top AlN layer at the indent location. Selective and fast Cu metal outflow can thus be achieved at the indent locations upon annealing at a relatively low temperature of 350 °C for 5 min in air. The microstructures and phase boundaries of the AlN barrier and confined Cu nanolayers are unperturbed outside the plastically deformed region and remain metastable after annealing at 350 °C. By changing the surface processing modes, patterned nanoparticles and isolated nanowire structures can be fabricated straightforwardly. Such local deformation-controlled directional mass transport phenomena can be utilized to manipulate materials down to the atomic scale for designing functional nanoarchitectures for nanophotonic and nanoelectronic applications.

Revelation of the Excellent Intrinsic Activity of MoS2|NiS|MoO3 Nanowires for Hydrogen Evolution Reaction in Alkaline Medium.

Loading an electrocatalyst on poorly conducting substrate can easily lead to undervaluation of its intrinsic property. In this study, the excellent activity of MoS2|NiS|MoO3 nanowires for hydrogen evolution is revealed. The precursor NiMoO4 synthesized on chemically polished Ti foil can be successfully converted to MoS2|NiS|MoO3 catalyst via gas-phase sulfurization. Without deep polish in sulfuric acid for 2 h, the as-synthesized materials do not show competitive results. After sulfurization, the surface morphology of the precursor is transformed into rough features, and the peripheries of these electrocatalysts are coated by multilayered and misaligned MoS2 with a high density of active sites and conductive component NiS. Further analysis shows that defect MoO3 is embedded inside each nanowire, which may facilitate fast electron transfer. Such nanostructured architecture shows promising results for hydrogen evolution reaction in alkaline medium with only 91 mV overpotential for the current density of 10 mA cm-2 and robust long-term stability during more than 20 h of tests.

Análise da rugosidade superficial de diferentes marcas comerciais de resina acrílica para coroas provisórias / Surface roughness analysis of acrylic resin for provisional crowns under different commercial brands

As coroas provisórias apresentam algumas características que podem comprometer a estética e facilitar aderência de microorganismos e formação de placa. Estudos prévios demonstraram que a forma de processamento influi na rugosidade e porosidade de uma marca comercial de resina acrílica comumente utilizada para a confecção de provisórias. Como diferentes marcas comerciais apresentam diferenças de qualidade, o presente estudo teve como objetivo principal avaliar a rugosidade superficial de quatro marcas comerciais de resina acrílica utilizadas na confecção de coroas provisórias (Dencor, Vipi, Duralay e Alike) de acordo com quatro técnicas de manipulação, diretas e indiretas. Os processamentos avaliados foram: GRUPO I autopolimerização sob pressão em matriz de silicona; GRUPO II - autopolimerização térmica em mufla; GRUPO III autopolimerização utilizando a técnica do pincel; GRUPO IV autopolimerização pela mistura em pote dappen. Para cada tipo de processamento foram confeccionados 12 corpos-deprova de cada material, totalizando 48 corpos-de-prova para cada grupo e 192 espécimes ao total. Logo após a confecção dos espécimes foi realizado o teste de rugosidade de superfície (Ra) através de um rugosímetro/perfilômetro. Posteriormente, a superfície dos mesmos foi uniformizada e polida com a utilização de politriz, realizando-se novamente os mesmos testes de rugosidade. Antes do acabamento e polimento de superfície, os resultados encontrados apontaram a maior rugosidade para resina Vipi (4,074 ± 0,541) e técnica da mistura em dappen gupo IV (3,538 ± 0,509), enquanto que a menor rugosidade foi encontrada para resina Alike (2,671 ± 0,512) e técnica da prensagem em mufla grupo II (2,733 ± 0,470). Após acabamento e polimento, a maior rugosidade foi encontrada para resina Vipi (0,207 ± 0,032) e técnica da pressão grupo I (0,172 ± 0,037), enquanto que a menor rugosidade para resina Alike (0,113 ± 0,036) e técnica da prensagem em...

Provisional crowns have some features that may compromise aesthetics and favors adherence of microorganisms and dental plaque formation. Previous studies have shown that processing may influence roughness and porosity of acrylic resins commonly used make provisional crowns. Because the several commercial resins available present differences in their quality the aim of this study was to evaluate the surface roughness of four commercial brands of acrylic resins (Dencor, Vipi, Duralay and Alike) according to four manipulation techniques (two direct and two indirect): GROUP I - autopolimerization under pressure in a silicone matrix; GROUP II autppolimerization in flask; GROUP III - autopolimerization using the bead brush technique; GROUP IV - autopolimerization after mixing in dappen dish. For each type of processing 12 specimens were made of each material, being 48 specimens for each group and 192 specimens in total. After specimens preparation, surface roughness tests (Ra) was performed using a rugosimeter / profilometer. Posteriorly, all surfaces were polished for standardization and same roughness tests were performed again. Before finishing and polishing, the results pointed out that Vipi resin presented the highest roughness (4.074 ± 0.541). Mixing the resin in dappen dish group IV (3.538 ± 0.509) also presented the highest roughness values regarding the technique. The lowest roughness values were found with Alike resin (2.671 ± 0.512) and flask technique group II (2.733 ± 0.470). After finishing and polishing techniques, the highest roughness was found with Vipi resin (0.207 ± 0.032) and the autopolimetization under pressure in silicone matrix technique - group I (0.172 ± 0.037). The lowest roughness values were found with Alike resin (0.113 ± 0.036) and flask technique group II (0.138 ± 0.027). With these results, it was possible to conclude that the best combination for making provisional crowns was the flask technique associated with Alike resin.