Gold Nanoparticles Sliding on Recyclable Nanohoodoos—Engineered for Surface‐Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy

Robust, macroscopically uniform, and highly sensitive substrates for surface‐enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) are fabricated using wafer‐scale block copolymer lithography. The substrate consists of gold nanoparticles that can slide and aggregate on dense and recyclable alumina/silicon nanohoodoos. Hot‐spot engineering is conducted to maximize the SERS performance of the substrate. The substrate demonstrates remarkably large surface‐averaged SERS enhancements, greater than 10⁷ (>10⁸ in hot spots), with unrivalled macroscopic signal uniformity as characterized by a coefficient of variation of only 6% across 4 cm. After SERS analyses, the nanohoodoos can be recycled by complete removal of gold via a one‐step, simple, and robust wet etching process without compromising performance. After eight times of recycling, the substrate still exhibits identical SERS performance in comparison to a new substrate. The macroscopic uniformity combined with recyclability at conserved high performance is expected to contribute significantly on the overall competitivity of the substrates. These findings show that the gold nanoparticles sliding on recyclable nanohoodoo substrate is a very strong candidate for obtaining cost‐effective, high‐quality, and reliable SERS spectra, facilitating a wide and simple use of SERS for both laboratorial and commercial applications.     

Integration of biofuels intermediates production and nutrients recycling in the processing of a marine algae

The cost‐effective production of liquid biofuels from microalgae is limited by several factors such as recovery of the lipid fractions as well as nutrients management. Flash hydrolysis, a rapid hydrothermal process, has been successfully applied to fractionate the microalgal biomass into solid biofuels intermediates while recovering a large amount of the nutrients in the aqueous phase (hydrolyzate) in a continuous flow reactor. The aim of the work is to enhance the quality of a high‐ash containing marine algae Nannochloropsis gaditana as biofuel feedstock while recycling nutrients directly for algae cultivation. Characterization of products demonstrated an increase in extractable lipids from 33.5 to 65.5 wt % (dry basis) while retaining the same fatty acid methyl ester profile, in addition to diminution of more than 70 wt % of ash compared to raw microalgae. Moreover, the hydrolyzate was directly used to grow a microalga of the same genus. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 63: 1494–1502, 2017     

Water quality and diatom communities in two catalan rivers (N.E. Spain)

Benthic diatom assemblages have been used to evaluate the water quality of two rivers subjected to marked human influences. These rivers, the Llobregat and the Ter, are located in N.E. Spain, and supply water for industrial, agricultural and urban requirements of roughly three million people. The diatom communities in the headwaters are similar in both rivers (Achnanthes minutissima, Cymbella ventricosa, Gomphonema anguslatum). Species of Navicula, Nitzschia and Gomphonema develop in the middle reaches of both rivers when not disrupted by extraneous factors. In the river Ter significant pollution modifies this community and Nitzschia palea, Nitzschia gandersheimiensis and Gomphonema parvulum appear as the most tolerant species. In the Llobregat, the pollution from the salt mine operations also modifies the diatom assemblage and Nitzschia frustulum, Surirella ovata, Navicula atomus are the most abundant species. Reservoirs in the river Ter improve the quality of water and a community of Fragilaria sp. pl. becomes dominant downstream.     

Failure Resistance of the Historic Stone Bridge Structure of Charles Bridge. I: Susceptibility to Nonstress Effects

The monitoring of deformations of the stone structure of Charles Bridge in Prague proved the gravity and relevance of nonstress effects (temperature, moisture content) on cyclic deformations and permanent strain accompanied by a gradual disintegration of its stone masonry, growing tilt of the breast walls, and development of cracks in the masonry of the stone bridge structure. Each deformation cycle is accompanied by a gradual growth in permanent deformations. The “unmanifested” primary deformation due to, e.g., a temperature change causes a mechanical state of tension, and it is mainly the tensile stresses thus arising that contribute to the development of tensile cracks in the stone masonry.     

Light and Strong SiC Networks

The directional freezing of microfiber suspensions is used to assemble highly porous (porosities ranging between 92% and 98%) SiC networks. These networks exhibit a unique hierarchical architecture in which thin layers with honeycomb‐like structure and internal strut length in the order of 1–10 μm in size are aligned with an interlayer spacing ranging between 15 and 50 μm. The resulting structures exhibit strengths (up to 3 MPa) and stiffness (up to 0.3 GPa) that are higher than aerogels of similar density and comparable to other ceramic microlattices fabricated by vapor deposition. Furthermore, this wet processing technique allows the fabrication of large‐size samples that are stable at high temperature, with acoustic impedance that can be manipulated over one order of magnitude (0.03–0.3 MRayl), electrically conductive and with very low thermal conductivity. The approach can be extended to other ceramic materials and opens new opportunities for the fabrication of ultralight structures with unique mechanical and functional properties in practical dimensions.     

Synthesis, conformation and biological evaluation of the enantiomers of 3-fluoro-gamma-aminobutyric acid ((R)- and (S)-3F-GABA): an analogue of the neurotransmitter GABA

Gamma-aminobutyric acid or GABA (1) is one of the major inhibitory amino acid neurotransmitters of the central nervous system. This article describes the first synthesis of both the (R)- and (S)- enantiomers of 3-fluoro-GABA (2, 3F-GABA). DFT calculations were carried out in a continuum solvent model (PCM-B3LYP) to estimate the preferred conformations of 3F-GABA in aqueous solution. NMR coupling constants were calculated for each conformer and were then used to simulate the NMR spectra to evaluate the solution conformation of 3F-GABA. A preliminary evaluation of the 3F-GABA enantiomers shows that they act similarly as agonists of cloned GABA(A) receptors; however, they behave quite differently in a whole animal (Xenopus laevis tadpole model).     

Reduced-illuminance autofluorescence imaging in ABCA4-associated retinal degenerations

The health of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) can be estimated with autofluorescence (AF) imaging of lipofuscin, which accumulates as a byproduct of retinal exposure to light. Lipofuscin may be toxic to the RPE, and its toxicity may be enhanced by short-wavelength (SW) illumination. The high-intensity and SW excitation light used in conventional AF imaging could, at least in principle, increase the rate of lipofuscin accumulation and/or increase its toxicity. We considered two reduced-illuminance AF imaging (RAFI) methods as alternatives to conventional AF imaging. RAFI methods use either near-infrared (NIR) light or reduced-radiance SW illumination for excitation of fluorophores. We quantified the distribution of RAFI signals in relation to retinal structure and function in patients with the prototypical lipofuscin accumulation disease caused by mutations in ABCA4. There was evidence for two subclinical stages of macular ABCA4 disease involving hyperautofluorescence of both SW- and NIR-RAFI with and without associated loss of visual function. Use of RAFI methods and microperimetry in future clinical trials involving lipofuscinopathies should allow quantification of subclinical disease expression and progression without subjecting the diseased retina/RPE to undue light exposure.     

Titanium–tin oxide protective films on a black cobalt photothermal absorber

We report the effect of covering an electrodeposited black cobalt absorber film with a Ti : Sn oxide film at various atomic ratios prepared by the sol–gel dip process. The resulting composite was characterized in its optical, structural and morphological properties. After thermal treatment at 400°C, the uncoated black cobalt film is oxidized and Co₃O₄ is formed. Samples covered with Ti : Sn films and thermally treated at the same temperature suffered lower oxidation maintaining in great extent the original metallic cobalt structure. The optical properties of the resulting material were affected by the presence of the Ti : Sn coating, and the best protective film obtained was a transparent Ti : Sn (8 : 2) atomic ratio oxide film, with a 210 nm thickness. This composite system exhibits an absorptance value of 0.91 and an emittance value of 0.34 after a 100 h, 400°C thermal treatment. A photothermal material composed of a layer of black cobalt and a protective oxide film coating seems then a promising solar energy absorber capable of withstanding high operating temperatures (400°C).     

Extracellular Prion Protein Aggregates in Nine Gerstmann–Sträussler–Scheinker Syndrome Subjects with Mutation P102L: A Micromorphological Study and Comparison with Literature Data

Gerstmann–Sträussler–Scheinker syndrome (GSS) is a hereditary neurodegenerative disease characterized by extracellular aggregations of pathological prion protein (PrP) forming characteristic plaques. Our study aimed to evaluate the micromorphology and protein composition of these plaques in relation to age, disease duration, and co-expression of other pathogenic proteins related to other neurodegenerations. Hippocampal regions of nine clinically, neuropathologically, and genetically confirmed GSS subjects were investigated using immunohistochemistry and multichannel confocal fluorescent microscopy. Most pathognomic prion protein plaques were small (2–10 µm), condensed, globous, and did not contain any of the other investigated proteinaceous components, particularly dystrophic neurites. Equally rare (in two cases out of nine) were plaques over 50 µm having predominantly fibrillar structure and exhibit the presence of dystrophic neuritic structures; in one case, the plaques also included bulbous dystrophic neurites. Co-expression with hyperphosphorylated protein tau protein or amyloid beta-peptide (Aβ) in GSS PrP plaques is generally a rare observation, even in cases with comorbid neuropathology. The dominant picture of the GSS brain is small, condensed plaques, often multicentric, while presence of dystrophic neuritic changes accumulating hyperphosphorylated protein tau or Aβ in the PrP plaques are rare and, thus, their presence probably constitutes a trivial observation without any relationship to GSS development and progression.