Chameleon-Inspired Mechanochromic Photonic Films Composed of Non-Close-Packed Colloidal Arrays

Chameleons use a non-close-packed array of guanine nanocrystals in iridophores to develop and tune skin colors in the full visible range. Inspired by the biological process uncovered in panther chameleons, we designed photonic films containing a non-close-packed face-centered-cubic array of silica particles embedded in an elastomer. The non-close-packed array is formed by interparticle repulsion exerted by solvation layers on the particle surface, which is rapidly captured in the elastomer by photocuring of the dispersion medium. The artificial skin exhibits a structural color that shifts from red to blue under stretching or compression. The separation between inelastic particles enables tuning without experiencing significant rearrangement of particles, providing elastic deformation and reversible color change, as chameleons do. The simple fabrication procedure consists of film casting and UV irradiation, potentially enabling the continuous high-throughput production. The mechanochromic property of the photonic films enables the visualization of deformation or stress with colors, which is potentially beneficial for various applications, including mechanical sensors, sound–vision transformers, and color display

Additional file 1 of Gastroparesis might not be uncommon in patients with diabetes mellitus in a real-world clinical setting: a cohort study

Additional file 1

L'Auto-vélo : automobilisme, cyclisme, athlétisme, yachting, aérostation, escrime, hippisme / dir. Henri Desgranges

18 août 19341934/08/18 (A35,N12298)

Epitaxially Integrating Ferromagnetic Fe_1.3Ge Nanowire Arrays on Few-Layer Graphene

We report vertical growth of ferromagnetic and metallic Fe_1.3Ge nanowire (NW) arrays on few-layer graphene in a large area, induced by a relatively good epitaxial lattice match. Integrating well-aligned NW arrays onto graphene would offer a good opportunity to combine superb material properties of graphene with versatile properties of NWs into novel applications. Fe_1.3Ge NWs are also synthesized on highly ordered pyrolytic graphite (HOPG). Fe_1.3Ge NWs on graphene and HOPG show quite efficient field emission, which are ascribed to the well-interfaced vertical growth, a pointed tip, and high field-enhancement factor (β) of the NWs. The development of ferromagnetic metal NW−graphene hybrid structures would provide an important possibility to develop graphene-based spintronic, electronic, and optoelectronic devices

Switching of Photonic Crystal Lasers by Graphene

Unique features of graphene have motivated the development of graphene-integrated photonic devices. In particular, the electrical tunability of graphene loss enables high-speed modulation of light and tuning of cavity resonances in graphene-integrated waveguides and cavities. However, efficient control of light emission such as lasing, using graphene, remains a challenge. In this work, we demonstrate on/off switching of single- and double-cavity photonic crystal lasers by electrical gating of a monolayer graphene sheet on top of photonic crystal cavities. The optical loss of graphene was controlled by varying the gate voltage <i>V</i>_g, with the ion gel atop the graphene sheet. First, the fundamental properties of graphene were investigated through the transmittance measurement and numerical simulations. Next, optically pumped lasing was demonstrated for a graphene-integrated single photonic crystal cavity at <i>V</i>_g below −0.6 V, exhibiting a low lasing threshold of ∼480 μW, whereas lasing was not observed at <i>V</i>_g above −0.6 V owing to the intrinsic optical loss of graphene. Changing quality factor of the graphene-integrated photonic crystal cavity enables or disables the lasing operation. Moreover, in the double-cavity photonic crystal lasers with graphene, switching of individual cavities with separate graphene sheets was achieved, and these two lasing actions were controlled independently despite the close distance of ∼2.2 μm between adjacent cavities. We believe that our simple and practical approach for switching in graphene-integrated active photonic devices will pave the way toward designing high-contrast and ultracompact photonic integrated circuits

Engineering Electronic Properties of Graphene by Coupling with Si-Rich, Two-Dimensional Islands

Recent theoretical and experimental studies demonstrated that breaking of the sublattice symmetry in graphene produces an energy gap at the former Dirac point. We describe the synthesis of graphene sheets decorated with ultrathin, Si-rich two-dimensional (2D) islands (<i>i.e.</i>, Gr:Si sheets), in which the electronic property of graphene is modulated by coupling with the Si-islands. Analyses based on transmission electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and electron and optical spectroscopies confirmed that Si-islands with thicknesses of ∼2 to 4 nm and a lateral size of several tens of nm were bonded to graphene <i>via</i> van der Waals interactions. Field-effect transistors (FETs) based on Gr:Si sheets exhibited enhanced transconductance and maximum-to-minimum current level compared to bare-graphene FETs, and their magnitudes gradually increased with increasing coverage of Si layers on the graphene. The temperature dependent current–voltage measurements of the Gr:Si sheet showed approximately a 2-fold increase in the resistance by decreasing the temperature from 250 to 10 K, which confirmed the opening of the substantial bandgap (∼2.5–3.2 meV) in graphene by coupling with Si islands

Facile Synthesis of Free-Standing Silicon Membranes with Three-Dimensional Nanoarchitecture for Anodes of Lithium Ion Batteries

We propose a facile method for synthesizing a novel Si membrane structure with good mechanical strength and three-dimensional (3D) configuration that is capable of accommodating the large volume changes associated with lithiation in lithium ion battery applications. The membrane electrodes demonstrated a reversible charge capacity as high as 2414 mAh/g after 100 cycles at current density of 0.1 C, maintaining 82.3% of the initial charge capacity. Moreover, the membrane electrodes showed superiority in function at high current density, indicating a charge capacity >1220 mAh/g even at 8 C. The high performance of the Si membrane anode is assigned to their characteristic 3D features, which is further supported by mechanical simulation that revealed the evolution of strain distribution in the membrane during lithiation reaction. This study could provide a model system for rational and precise design of the structure and dimensions of Si membrane structures for use in high-performance lithium ion batteries

Facile Synthesis of Free-Standing Silicon Membranes with Three-Dimensional Nanoarchitecture for Anodes of Lithium Ion Batteries

We propose a facile method for synthesizing a novel Si membrane structure with good mechanical strength and three-dimensional (3D) configuration that is capable of accommodating the large volume changes associated with lithiation in lithium ion battery applications. The membrane electrodes demonstrated a reversible charge capacity as high as 2414 mAh/g after 100 cycles at current density of 0.1 C, maintaining 82.3% of the initial charge capacity. Moreover, the membrane electrodes showed superiority in function at high current density, indicating a charge capacity >1220 mAh/g even at 8 C. The high performance of the Si membrane anode is assigned to their characteristic 3D features, which is further supported by mechanical simulation that revealed the evolution of strain distribution in the membrane during lithiation reaction. This study could provide a model system for rational and precise design of the structure and dimensions of Si membrane structures for use in high-performance lithium ion batteries

Serum LECT2 levels in mice with β-catenin gene mutated HCC.

<p>A. Representative picture of β-catenin (left panel) and GS (right panel) immunohistochemistry of liver of a tumor bearing mouse at 8 months after DEN/PB treatment. Magnification, 100×. B. Using frozen tissue from a representative tumor, β-catenin gene exon-3 mutation affecting codon 33 (red box) was confirmed by direct sequencing. C. Serum LECT2 levels were significantly (*) increased in tumor bearing versus non-tumor bearing DEN/PB treated mice as analyzed by ELISA. (* <i>p</i><0.01). D. Representative pictures of frozen sections from which tumors (T1-T3) were scraped for direct sequencing. E. Sequence analysis from three tumor lesions (T1-T3) show S33Y-β-catenin gene mutations in codon 33 (red boxes) by direct sequencing. F. <i>Glutamine Synthetase (Glul)</i> and <i>Lect2</i> expression in three tumor lesions (T1-T3) were assessed by qRT-PCR. Gene expression of background liver tissues surrounding tumor are shown as N.</p

The role of serum LECT2 level as a diagnostic biomarker in HCC.

<p>A. Serum LECT2 levels in all HCC patients as compared to patients with chronic liver fibrosis (CH/LC), and healthy volunteer (HV) as assessed by ELISA. (*<i>p</i><0.01). B. ROC analysis for the utility of LECT2 as a diagnostic marker of HCC with AUC = 0.82. C. Fisher's Exact test shows that based on the cut-off value of serum LECT2 level at 50 ng/mL, sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value for the diagnosis of HCC were 59.3%, 96.1%, 97.0%, and 53.2%, respectively.</p