The Case Against Commodity Agreements

Depth sensing nano-indentation investigations have been performed to determine the radial dependence of the hardness through the cross section of a Fe-based bulk glassy rod. We have found the hardness of the material decreases along radius from the center to the outermost surface. This phenomenon is attributed to the ‘cooling rate induced surface softening’.  Furthermore, a significant change (~15 %) in elastic modulus is noticed along the radius as well. QC 20120906Hero-

Intermediate filament-like proteins in bacteria and a cytoskeletal function in Streptomyces

Actin and tubulin cytoskeletons are conserved and widespread in bacteria. A strikingly intermediate filament (IF)-like cytoskeleton, composed of crescentin, is also present in Caulobacter crescentus and determines its specific cell shape. However, the broader significance of this finding remained obscure, because crescentin appeared to be unique to Caulobacter. Here we demonstrate that IF-like function is probably a more widespread phenomenon in bacteria. First, we show that 21 genomes of 26 phylogenetically diverse species encoded uncharacterized proteins with a central segmented coiled coil rod domain, which we regarded as a key structural feature of IF proteins and crescentin. Experimental studies of three in silico predicted candidates from Mycobacterium and other actinomycetes revealed a common IF-like property to spontaneously assemble into filaments in vitro. Furthermore, the IF-like protein FilP formed cytoskeletal structures in the model actinomycete Streptomyces coelicolor and was needed for normal growth and morphogenesis. Atomic force microscopy of living cells revealed that the FilP cytoskeleton contributed to mechanical fitness of the hyphae, thus closely resembling the function of metazoan IF. Together, the bioinformatic and experimental data suggest that an IF-like protein architecture is a versatile design that is generally present in bacteria and utilized to perform diverse cytoskeletal tasks

Roles of curli, cellulose and BapA in Salmonella biofilm morphology studied by atomic force microscopy

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Curli, cellulose and the cell surface protein BapA are matrix components in <it>Salmonella </it>biofilms. In this study we have investigated the roles of these components for the morphology of bacteria grown as colonies on agar plates and within a biofilm on submerged mica surfaces by applying atomic force microscopy (AFM) and light microscopy.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>AFM imaging was performed on colonies of <it>Salmonella </it>Typhimurium grown on agar plates for 24 h and on biofilms grown for 4, 8, 16 or 24 h on mica slides submerged in standing cultures. Our data show that in the wild type curli were visible as extracellular material on and between the cells and as fimbrial structures at the edges of biofilms grown for 16 h and 24 h. In contrast to the wild type, which formed a three-dimensional biofilm within 24 h, a curli mutant and a strain mutated in the global regulator CsgD were severely impaired in biofilm formation. A mutant in cellulose production retained some capability to form cell aggregates, but not a confluent biofilm. Extracellular matrix was observed in this mutant to almost the same extent as in the wild type. Overexpression of CsgD led to a much thicker and a more rapidly growing biofilm. Disruption of BapA altered neither colony and biofilm morphology nor the ability to form a biofilm within 24 h on the submerged surfaces. Besides curli, the expression of flagella and pili as well as changes in cell shape and cell size could be monitored in the growing biofilms.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our work demonstrates that atomic force microscopy can efficiently be used as a tool to monitor the morphology of bacteria grown as colonies on agar plates or within biofilms formed in a liquid at high resolution.</p

Solution-Route Inkjet Fabrication of CeO₂ Thin Films with Tunable Microstructure

We report the fabrication and characterization of solution-route CeO2 thin films with a tunable porosity and microstructure. Films were deposited by means of inkjet printing technique using 0.2 M, 0.4 M and 0.6 M concentration inks prepared from Ce(NO3)3·6H2O precursor. Printing was performed at two different temperatures of 60 °C and 300 °C to study the variation in structure. Printing parameters were adjusted for the consecutive deposition of layers, resulting in ≈140 nm and ≈185 nm thick single layers for 60 °C and 300 °C printing temperatures, respectively. We compared the microstructure of printed films for different concentrations, printing temperatures, solvents and substrates. The formation of the cubic fluorite structure of the printed films was confirmed via XRD characterization. We suggest this technique as an advanced method for high-quality film fabrication with a controlled microstructure and with a minimal waste of materials. Through adjusting printing parameters, both dense and porous films can be produced for use in different applications

Thickness dependent magnetic transitions in pristine MgO and ZnO sputtered thin films

We report a systematic study of the thickness dependency of room temperature ferromagnetism in pristine MgO (~100–500 nm) and ZnO (~100–1000 nm) thin films deposited by reactive magnetron sputtering technique under the respective identical controlled optimum oxygen ambience. As far as we know this is the first such report on ferromagnetic pure MgO thin films, a result which should be of significance in understanding the functional aspects of magnetic tunnelling characteristics in devices using MgO dielectrics. From the magnetic characterization we observe a distinct variation in the saturation magnetization (MS) with increasing film thickness. In the case of MgO thin films MS values vary in the range 0.04–1.58 emu/g (i.e. 0.0012–0.046 μB/unit cell) with increasing film thickness showing the highest MS value for the 170 nm thick film. Above this thickness MS is found to decrease and eventually above 420 nm the films show a paramagnetic behaviour followed by the well known diamagnetic property for the bulk (>500 nm). It is obvious that since initially the MS values increase with thickness, there has to be a maximum before the films become diamagnetic at some finite thickness. We also note that the MS values observed for MgO are the highest (more than twice the value observed for ZnO) to be reported for such a defect induced ferromagnetism in a pristine oxide. The origin of ferromagnetic order in both the oxides appears to arise from the respective cat-ion vacancies. The discovery of film thickness dependent ferromagnetic order should be very useful in developing multifunctional devices based on the technologically important materials MgO and ZnO

Particle-free inkjet printing of nanostructured porous indium tin oxide thin films

International audienceWe report a simple, low-cost, single-step inkjet printing method for the fabrication of nanostructured, highly transparent and conductive ITO films, which completely avoids the use of ITO particles in the fabrication process. In our method, the inks are formed from a liquid solution presenting a properly selected mixture of indium and tin acetates. After jet printing, the ink is decomposed during a subsequent annealing step, in which the released CO2 gas bubbles control the ITO nucleation process to provide a porous film texture. We show that the fabricated ITO films are highly crystalline, stoichiometric, and nanoporous with controlled porosity. Electrical measurements show relatively low resistivity values for the films (down to 0.029 Omega cm) comparable to those of the best ITO thin films fabricated by other methods. Optical ellipsometry tests demonstrate a relatively high refractive index (1.5-1.7) and high transparency of the films over a wide region of the spectrum ranging from 500 to 1700 nm. Since the method does not require any pre-fabricated ITO particles, masks or templates, and enables the deposition of films on substrates of various materials and shapes, it can be employed for fabrication of nanoporous ITO films for a diversity of applications, including solar cell, bio- and chemical sensing, etc

The effect of Ni-substitution on physical Properties of Fe72-xB24Nb4Nix Bulk Metallic Glassy Alloys

We have succeeded in producing bulk metallic glass by partial substitution of Fe with Ni in Fe-B-Nb alloys which could otherwise be only melt spun into amorphous ribbons. Substitution by Ni in the Fe72-xB24Nb4Nix alloys with (x ~2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 and 14) improves the glass forming ability of the materials and as a result rods of same compositions can be fabricated. Magnetically the BMG alloys remain soft with coercivity below 500mOe. However, the electrical resistivity of the system decreases significantly by as much as a factor of two with the increase of Ni concentration, and becomes more metallic like with a positive temperature coefficient. QC 20120906Hero-

Ordered coalescence of nano-crystals in alkaline niobate ceramics with high remanent polarization

Lead-free alkali niobates Na0.5K0.5NbO3 (NKN) ceramics, with significantly enhanced ferroelectric remanent polarization (Pr), were prepared using Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS). Three types of boundaries were observed in the ceramics, being grain boundaries between faceted grains, domain boundaries that separate ferroelectric domains inside individual grains, and nanoscale sub-grain boundaries that reveal the nano-scale mosaicity of individual grains. Part of the sub-grain boundaries were from initial powder particles. The other sub-grain boundaries were built by ordered coalescence of nano-crystals during rapid SPS process. It was worthwhile to emphasize that the ordered coalescence of nano-crystals in bulk ceramics during sintering takes place and completes within minutes. These sub-grain features would disappear at higher temperature by long time sintering. Rapid Spark Plasma Sintering allowed us to capture this transient microstructure. The significantly enhanced ferroelectric Pr of NKN was attributed to nanoscale sub-boundaries, which stimulated the dynamics of ferroelectric domain formation and switching

A comparative study of room temperature ferromagnetism in MgO films deposited by rf/dc sputtering using high purity Mg and MgO targets

Thin films of nanocrystalline MgO were deposited on glass/Si substrates by rf/dc sputtering from metallic Mg, and ceramic MgO targets. The purpose of this study is to identify the differences in the properties, magnetic in particular, of MgO films obtained on sputter deposition from 99.99% pure metallic Mg target in a controlled Nitrogen + Oxygen partial pressure (O(2)pp)] atmosphere as against those deposited using an equally pure ceramic MgO target in argon + identical oxygen ambience conditions while maintaining the same total pressure in the chamber in both cases. Characterization of the films was carried out by X-ray diffraction, focussed ion beam cross sectioning, atomic force microscopy and SQUID-magnetometry. The `as-obtained' films from pure Mg target are found to be predominantly X-ray amorphous, while the ceramic MgO target gives crystalline films, (002) oriented with respect to the film plane. The films consisted of nano-crystalline grains of size in the range of about 0.4 to 4.15 nm with the films from metallic target being more homogeneous and consisting of mostly subnanometer grains. Both the types of films are found to be ferromagnetic to much above room temperature. We observe unusually high maximum saturation magnetization (MS) values of 13.75 emu/g and similar to 4.2 emu/g, respectively for the MgO films prepared from Mg, and MgO targets. The origin of magnetism in MgO films is attributed to Mg vacancy (V-Mg), and 2p holes localized on oxygen sites. The role of nitrogen in enhancing the magnetic moments is also discussed