Manufacturing Free-Standing, Porous Metallic Layers with Dynamic Hydrogen Bubble Templating

The 3D structure (i.e., microstructure) of porous electrodes governs the performance of emerging electrochemical technologies such as fuel cells, electrolysis, and batteries. Sustaining electrochemical reactions and convective-diffusive mass transport at high efficiency is complex and motivates the search for sophisticated microstructures with multimodal pore size distributions and pore size gradients. Here a new synthesis route for porous, metallic layers is presented that combines the characteristics of carbon structures (i.e., pore size, porosity) with the properties of metals (i.e., recyclability, conductivity). Building on the method of dynamic hydrogen bubble templating, a novel approach is engineered to manufacture thin, free-standing layers using an electrochemical flow cell through the introduction of an intermediate layer and optimization of the synthesis parameters. Mechanically stable layers are created with thicknesses ranging from ≈50 to ≈200 µm comprising porous, dendritic structures, arranged to form a vascular network of larger pores with a gradient in radii from ≈5 µm at the bottom and up to ≈36 µm at the top of the material. Using X-ray tomographic data, the morphology is analyzed, and the diffusive transport through the material as a function of liquid filling is simulated and compared to state-of-the-art carbon fiber-based electrodes, showing significantly higher mass transfer properties.</p

Genome-wide association study identifies six new loci influencing pulse pressure and mean arterial pressure.

Numerous genetic loci have been associated with systolic blood pressure (SBP) and diastolic blood pressure (DBP) in Europeans. We now report genome-wide association studies of pulse pressure (PP) and mean arterial pressure (MAP). In discovery (N = 74,064) and follow-up studies (N = 48,607), we identified at genome-wide significance (P = 2.7 × 10(-8) to P = 2.3 × 10(-13)) four new PP loci (at 4q12 near CHIC2, 7q22.3 near PIK3CG, 8q24.12 in NOV and 11q24.3 near ADAMTS8), two new MAP loci (3p21.31 in MAP4 and 10q25.3 near ADRB1) and one locus associated with both of these traits (2q24.3 near FIGN) that has also recently been associated with SBP in east Asians. For three of the new PP loci, the estimated effect for SBP was opposite of that for DBP, in contrast to the majority of common SBP- and DBP-associated variants, which show concordant effects on both traits. These findings suggest new genetic pathways underlying blood pressure variation, some of which may differentially influence SBP and DBP

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead