Discovering Hidden Material Properties of MgCl2 at Atomic Resolution with Structured Temporal Electron Illumination of Picosecond Time Resolution

A combination of atomic resolution phase contrast electron microscopy and pulsed electron beams reveals pristine properties of MgCl₂ at 1.7 Å resolution that were previously masked by air and beam damage. Both the inter‐ and intra‐layer bonding in pristine MgCl₂ are weak, which leads to uncommonly large local orientation variations that characterize this Ziegler–Natta catalyst support. By delivering electrons with 1–10 ps pulses and ≈160 ps delay times, phonons induced by the electron irradiation in the material are allowed to dissipate before the subsequent delivery of the next electron packet, thus mitigating phonon accumulations. As a result, the total electron dose can be extended by a factor of 80–100 to study genuine material properties at atomic resolution without causing object alterations, which is more effective than reducing the sample temperature. In conditions of minimal damage, beam currents approach femtoamperes with dose rates around 1 eÅ^?2 s^?1. Generally, the utilization of pulsed electron beams is introduced herein to access genuine material properties while minimizing beam damage.     

Design of High Dynamic Range Fully Integratable Translinear Filters

This paper addresses the non-linear noise and dynamic-range properties of bipolar and MOS (both in weak and in strong inversion) translinear integrators, following a systematic top-down approach. Several design principles to achieve an optimal dynamic range are derived. A qualitative comparison of a bipolar or weak-inversion class-AB translinear integrator and the well-known linear g _m – C integrator reveals that the former is an interesting candidate, especially for low-voltage and/or low-power operation. As an example, a ±1.65-V bipolar translinear integrator is presented that makes dynamic-range optimization possible by adjusting just one bias current. Its application in an audio filter yields a 63-dB dynamic range and a virtual dynamic range of 76 dB, while the current consumption can be as low as 310 nA.     

Zero-Power Defense Done Right: Shielding IMDs from Battery-Depletion Attacks

The wireless capabilities of modern Implantable Medical Devices (IMDs) make them vulnerable to security attacks. One prominent attack, which has disastrous consequences for the patient’s wellbeing, is the battery Denial-of-Service attack whereby the IMD is occupied with continuous authentication requests from an adversary with the aim of depleting its battery. Zero-Power Defense (ZPD), based on energy harvesting, is known to be an excellent protection against these attacks. This paper raises essential design considerations for employing ZPD techniques in commercial IMDs, offers a critical review of ZPD techniques found in literature and, subsequently, gives crucial recommendations for developing comprehensive ZPD solutions.

     

A Printable Photopolymerizable Thermosensitive p(HPMAm‐lactate)‐PEG Hydrogel for Tissue Engineering

Bioprinting is a new technology in regenerative medicine that allows the engineering of tissues by specific placement of cells in biomaterials. Importantly, the porosity and the relatively small dimensions of the fibers allow rapid diffusion of nutrients and metabolites. This technology requires the availability of hydrogels that ensure viability of encapsulated cells and have adequate mechanical properties for the preparation of structurally stable and well‐defined three‐dimensional constructs. The aim of this study is to evaluate the suitability of a biodegradable, photopolymerizable and thermosensitive A–B–A triblock copolymer hydrogel as a synthetic extracellular matrix for engineering tissues by means of three dimensional fiber deposition. The polymer is composed of poly(N‐(2‐hydroxypropyl)methacrylamide lactate) A‐blocks, partly derivatized with methacrylate groups, and hydrophilic poly(ethylene glycol) B‐blocks of a molecular weight of 10 kDa. Gels are obtained by thermal gelation and stabilized with additional chemical cross‐links by photopolymerization of the methacrylate groups coupled to the polymer. A power law dependence of the storage plateau modulus of the studied hydrogels on polymer concentration is observed for both thermally and chemically cross‐linked hydrogels. The hydrogels demonstrated mechanical characteristics similar to natural semi‐flexible polymers, including collagen. Moreover, the hydrogel shows suitable mechanical properties for bioprinting, allowing subsequent layer‐by‐layer deposition of gel fibers to form stable constructs up to at least 0.6 cm (height) with different patterns and strand spacing. The resulting constructs have reproducible vertical porosity and the ability to maintain separate localization of encapsulated fluorescent microspheres. Moreover, the constructs show an elastic modulus of 119 kPa (25 wt% polymer content) and a degradation time of approximately 190 days. Furthermore, high viability is observed for encapsulated chondrocytes after 1 and 3 days of culture. In summary, we conclude that the evaluated hydrogel is an interesting candidate for bioprinting applications.     

A 0.5-V, 2-nW, 55-dB DR,fourth-order bandpass filter using single branch biquads: An efficient design for FoM enhancement

A compact nano-power fourth-order bandpass filter operating from a 0.5 V supply, with an adjustable center frequency ranging from 125 Hz to 16 kHz, is presented. The filter is constituted from cascadable second-order circuit cells that are realized by a network of three transistors and two capacitors comprising only one branch of bias current. The measurement results of the filter fabricated in a 0.18-μm CMOS IC process indicate that, for a 1 kHz center frequency, a dynamic range of 55 dB is obtained from 2 nW power consumption. These results lead to best figure of merit achieved when compared to other existing designs to date.     

The Use of the Indentation Test for Studying the Solidification Behaviour of Different Semicrystalline Polymers during Injection Molding

Summary: An in‐line method for monitoring the solidification process during injection molding of semicrystalline polymers (demonstrated previously in J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2003 , 89, 3713) is based on a simple device, where an additional ejector pin is pushed on the injection molded part at different times during the solidification phase. The ‘indentation depth profile’, i.e., residual deformation as a function of time, was obtained and allowed to determine the evolution of the solidification front in the mold as a function of the cooling time. The present work shows the reliability and the powerfulness of the aforementioned method for a large variety of different semicrystalline polymers (PET, PBT, polyamide‐6 PA6, isotactic poly(propylene) iPP) characterized also by different molecular weight and/or nucleating agents. The results show that the indentation test may be considered as a ‘predictive’ tool to qualitatively and quantitatively compare the solidification process of different polymers and polymer grades during injection molding.

Comparison of the solid front propagation during injection molding of different materials.     

Models of the behaviour of (thermally stressed) microbial spores in foods: tools to study mechanisms of damage and repair

The ‘Omics’ revolution has brought a wealth of new mechanistic insights in many fields of biology. It offers options to base predictions of microbial behaviour on mechanistic insight. As the cellular mechanisms involved often turn out to be highly intertwined it is crucial that model development aims at identifying the level of complexity that is relevant to work at. For the prediction of microbiologically stable foods insight in the behaviour of bacterial spore formers is crucial. Their chances of germination and likelihood of outgrowth are major food stability indicators, as well as the transition from outgrowth to first cell division and vegetative growth. Current available technology to assess these parameters in a time-resolved manner at the single spore level will be discussed. Tools to study molecular processes operative in heat induced damage will be highlighted.     

Prestress strengthens the shell of Norwalk virus nanoparticles

We investigated the influence of the protruding domain of Norwalk virus-like particles (NVLP) on its overall structural and mechanical stability. Deletion of the protruding domain yields smooth mutant particles and our AFM nanoindentation measurements show a surprisingly altered indentation response of these particles. Notably, the brittle behavior of the NVLP as compared to the plastic behavior of the mutant reveals that the protruding domain drastically changes the capsid's material properties. We conclude that the protruding domain introduces prestress, thereby increasing the stiffness of the NVLP and effectively stabilizing the viral nanoparticles. Our results exemplify the variety of methods that nature has explored to improve the mechanical properties of viral capsids, which in turn provides new insights for developing rationally designed, self-assembled nanodevices.