Scientists and engineers are developing high-performance materials from eco-friendly sources like plant waste. A key component, lignocellulose—found in wood and many plants—can be easily collected and chemically modified to improve its properties.
By using these kinds of chemical changes, researchers are creating advanced materials and new ways to design and build sustainably. With about 181.5 billion tons of wood produced globally each year, it’s one of the largest renewable material sources.
Plants are susceptible to a wide range of pathogens. For the common potato plant, one such threat is Pectobacterium atrosepticum, a bacterium that causes stems to blacken, tissues to decay, and often leads to plant death, resulting in significant agricultural losses each year.
In 2012, researchers isolated a new virus that infects and kills this bacterium—a bacteriophage named φTE (phiTE). Now, for the first time, scientists have uncovered the atomic structure of φTE, revealing a possible mechanism of infection that may be more complex than previously thought.
The study, published earlier this month in Nature Communications, is the result of a multidisciplinary collaboration between researchers from the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) and the University of Otago. It brings together expertise across several fields, including virology, structural biology, molecular genetics, protein engineering, biochemistry, and biophysics.
Criegee intermediates (CIs)—highly reactive species formed when ozone reacts with alkenes in the atmosphere—play a crucial role in generating hydroxyl radicals (the atmosphere’s “cleansing agents”) and aerosols that impact climate and air quality. The syn-CH3CHOO is particularly important among these intermediates, accounting for 25%–79% of all CIs depending on the season.
Until now, scientists have believed that syn-CH3CHOO primarily disappeared through self-decomposition. However, in a study published in Nature Chemistry, a team led by Profs. Yang Xueming, Zhang Donghui, Dong Wenrui and Fu Bina from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has uncovered a surprising new pathway: syn-CH3CHOO’s reaction with atmospheric water vapor is approximately 100 times faster than previously predicted by theoretical models.
Using advanced laser techniques, the researchers experimentally measured the reaction rate between syn-CH3CHOO and water vapor, and discovered the faster reaction time. To uncover the reason behind this acceleration, they constructed a high-accuracy full-dimensional (27D) potential energy surface using the fundamental invariant-neural network approach and performed full-dimensional dynamical calculations.
Posted in biotech/medical, chemistry, information science, robotics/AI | Leave a Comment on Light signature algorithm offers precise insight on viral proteins, brain disease markers and semiconductors
Researchers at Rice University have developed a new machine learning (ML) algorithm that excels at interpreting the “light signatures” (optical spectra) of molecules, materials and disease biomarkers, potentially enabling faster and more precise medical diagnoses and sample analysis.
“Imagine being able to detect early signs of diseases like Alzheimer’s or COVID-19 just by shining a light on a drop of fluid or a tissue sample,” said Ziyang Wang, an electrical and computer engineering doctoral student at Rice who is a first author on a study published in ACS Nano. “Our work makes this possible by teaching computers how to better ‘read’ the signal of light scattered from tiny molecules.”
Every material or molecule interacts with light in a unique way, producing a distinct pattern, like a fingerprint. Optical spectroscopy, which entails shining a laser on a material to observe how light interacts with it, is widely used in chemistry, materials science and medicine. However, interpreting spectral data can be difficult and time-consuming, especially when differences between samples are subtle. The new algorithm, called Peak-Sensitive Elastic-net Logistic Regression (PSE-LR), is specially designed to analyze light-based data.
A major breakthrough at POSTECH could dramatically boost AI speeds and device efficiency.
Researchers have, for the first time, decoded how Electrochemical Random-Access Memory (ECRAM) works, using a special technique to observe internal electron behavior even at extreme temperatures. This hidden mechanism, where oxygen vacancies act like shortcuts for electrons, could unlock faster AI systems and longer-lasting smartphones, laptops, and tablets.
Breakthrough at POSTECH: boosting AI efficiency.
A new study from researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center shows that blocking a chemical process called nitrosylation could make one of the most aggressive forms of melanoma more treatable.
Many modern industrial processes depend on complex chemistry. Take fertilizer production, for example: to make it, companies must first produce ammonia, a key ingredient.
These chemical processes need ingredients of their own—catalysts, which speed up reactions without being consumed or creating unwanted byproducts.
One emerging type of catalyst—known as a “single-atom” or “atomically dispersed” catalyst—is getting a lot of attention for its potential to make industrial processes cleaner and more efficient. Academic journals are overflowing with studies on them.
Oregon Health & Science University, in collaboration with Oregon State University, has discovered the structural organization and protein components of a lipid-transfer complex known as LPD-3. Findings show that LPD-3 contains an internal tunnel lined with lipid molecules, suggesting a possible mechanism for large-scale lipid movement between cellular membranes.
Cells must constantly manage the structure and makeup of their membranes, which rely heavily on lipids produced in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). These lipids cannot freely float through the cytoplasm due to their hydrophobic nature.
Lipid-transport proteins have been shown to shuttle small numbers of lipid molecules between compartments. A distinct group, called bridge-like lipid-transport proteins (BLTPs), may support bulk lipid transfer by forming long, tunnel-like structures that span between organelles. Structural analysis of these proteins has remained limited due to their size and biochemical complexity.
Our brain’s remarkable ability to form and store memories has long fascinated scientists, yet most of the microscopic mechanisms behind memory and learning processes remain a mystery. Recent research points to the importance of biochemical reactions occurring at postsynaptic densities—specialized areas where neurons connect and communicate. These tiny junctions between brain cells are now thought to be crucial sites where proteins need to organize in specific ways to facilitate learning and memory formation.
More specifically, a 2021 study revealed that memory-related proteins can bind together to form droplet-like structures at postsynaptic densities. What makes these structures particularly intriguing is their unique “droplet-inside-droplet” organization, which scientists believe may be fundamental to how our brains create lasting memories. However, understanding exactly how and why such complex protein arrangements form has remained a significant challenge in neuroscience.
Against this backdrop, a research team has developed an innovative computational model that reproduces these intricate protein structures. Their paper, published online in Cell Reports, explores the mechanisms behind the formation of multilayered protein condensates.
Found in everything from kitchen appliances to sustainable energy infrastructure, stainless steels are used extensively due to their excellent corrosion (rusting) resistance. They’re an important material in many industries, including manufacturing, transportation, oil and gas, nuclear power and chemical processing.
However, stainless steels can undergo a process called sensitization when subjected to a certain range of high temperatures—like during welding—and this substantially deteriorates their corrosion resistance. Left unchecked, corrosion can lead to cracking and structural failure.
“This is a major problem for stainless steels,” says Kumar Sridharan, a professor of nuclear engineering and engineering physics and materials science and engineering at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. “When stainless steel gets corroded, components need to be replaced or remediated. This is an expensive process and causes extended downtime in industry.”