Abstract ᴅ-cycloserine (DCS), an FDA-approved medicine for the treatment of tuberculosis, is also a partial agonist at the glycine recognition site of N-methyl-ᴅ-aspartate (NMDA) receptor and has shown significant treatment efficacy for central nervous system (CNS) disorders including depression, schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s disease, and post-traumatic stress disorder. The physicochemical properties of DCS, however, limit the options of formulation and medicinal applications of DCS, and warrants further investigation for the development of CNS therapeutics. Nanocrystals play an important role in ..read more

Abstract We report the superconducting properties of Co/Pb/Co heterostructures with thin insulating interlayers. The main specific feature of these structures is the intentional oxidation of both superconductor/ferromagnet (S/F) interfaces. We study the variation of the critical temperature of our systems due to switching between parallel and antiparallel configurations of the magnetizations of the two magnetic layers. Common knowledge suggests that this spin valve effect, which is due to the S/F proximity effect, is most pronounced in the case of perfect metallic contacts at the interfaces. N ..read more

Abstract Structures fabricated using focused electron beam-induced deposition (FEBID) have sloped sidewalls because of the very nature of the deposition process. For applications this is highly undesirable, especially when neighboring structures are interconnected. A new technique combining FEBID and focused electron beam-induced etching (FEBIE) has been developed to fabricate structures with vertical sidewalls. The sidewalls of carbon FEBID structures have been modified by etching with water and it is shown, using transmission electron microscopy imaging, that the sidewall angle can be tuned ..read more

Abstract Deep eutectic solvents (DESs) have recently emerged as an alternative solvent for nanoparticle synthesis. There have been numerous advancements in the fabrication of silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs), but the potential of DESs in Ag NP synthesis was neither considered nor studied carefully. In this study, we present a novel strategy to fabricate Ag NPs in a DES (Ag NPs-DES). The DES composed of ᴅ-glucose, urea, and glycerol does not contain any anions to precipitate with Ag+ cations. Our Ag NPs-DES sample is used in a surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) sensor. The two analytes for S ..read more

Abstract Low-energy argon ion bombardment of graphene on Ir(111) induces atomic-scale defects at the surface. Using a scanning tunneling microscope, the two smallest defects appear as a depression without discernible interior structure suggesting the presence of vacancy sites in the graphene lattice. With an atomic force microscope, however, only one kind can be identified as a vacancy defect with four missing carbon atoms, while the other kind reveals an intact graphene sheet. Spatially resolved spectroscopy of the differential conductance and the measurement of total-force variations as a fu ..read more

Abstract Antioxidants play an important role in the prevention of oxidative stress and have been widely used in medicine and healthcare. However, natural antioxidants have several limitations such as low stability, difficult long-term storage, and high cost of large-scale production. Along with significant advances in nanotechnology, nanomaterials have emerged as a promising solution to improve the limitations of natural antioxidants because of their high stability, easy storage, time effectiveness, and low cost. Among various types of nanomaterials exhibiting antioxidant activity, metal-based ..read more

Abstract This study focuses on experimental testing of the contamination hypothesis and examines how the contamination of insect adhesive pads with three-dimensional epicuticular waxes of different plant species contributes to the reduction of insect attachment. We measured traction forces of tethered Chrysolina fastuosa male beetles having hairy adhesive pads on nine wax-bearing plant surfaces differing in both shape and dimensions of the wax structures and examined insect adhesive organs after they have contacted waxy substrates. For comparison, we performed the experiments with the same bee ..read more

Abstract Strain sensors are sensitive to mechanical deformations and enable the detection of strain also within integrated electronics. For flexible displays, the use of a seamlessly integrated strain sensor would be beneficial, and graphene is already in use as a transparent and flexible conductor. However, graphene intrinsically lacks a strong response, and only by engineering defects, such as grain boundaries, one can induce piezoresistivity. Nanocrystalline graphene (NCG), a derivative form of graphene, exhibits a high density of defects in the form of grain boundaries. It holds an advanta ..read more

Abstract Desired modifications of surfaces at the nanoscale may be achieved using energetic ion beams. In the present work, a complete study of self-assembled ripple pattern fabrication on Si and Ge by 100 keV Ar+ ion beam bombardment is discussed. The irradiation was performed in the ion fluence range of ≈3 × 1017 to 9 × 1017 ions/cm2 and at an incident angle of θ ≈ 60° with respect to the surface normal. The investigation focuses on topographical studies of pattern formation using atomic force microscopy, and induced damage profiles inside Si and Ge by Rutherford backscattering spectrometry ..read more

Abstract Chagas disease (CD) is the most important endemic parasitosis in South America and represents a great socioeconomic burden for the chronically ill and their families. The only currently available treatment against CD is based on the oral administration of benznidazole, an agent, developed in 1971, of controversial effectiveness on chronically ill patients and toxic to adults. So far, conventional pharmacological approaches have failed to offer more effective and less toxic alternatives to benznidazole. Nanomedicines reduce toxicity and increase the effectiveness of current oncological ..read more