The effects of surface heterogeneity on erosion and sedimentation and their implications for of soil properties at postmining sites.

Erosion is often mentioned as a serious problem namely in vegetation free areas such as post mining soils. Much less attention has been paid to the role of erosion and deposition on habitat formation. Study describes the effect of erosion and deposition on soil chemical and physical properties in sites with various topography using an array of artificial postmining catchments located near Sokolov (Czech Republic).

Aqueous Supercapacitor with Wide-Temperature Operability and over 100,000 Cycles Enabled by Water-in-Salt Electrolyte.

Supercapacitors are crucial in renewable energy integration, satellite power systems, and rapid power delivery applications for mitigating voltage fluctuations and storing excess energy. Aqueous electrolytes offer a promising solution for low-cost and safe supercapacitors. However, they still face limitations in cycle life and wide-temperature range performance.

Fibrillar extracellular matrix produced by pericyte-like cells facilitates glioma cell dissemination.

Gliomagenesis induces profound changes in the composition of the extracellular matrix (ECM) of the brain. In this study, we identified a cellular population responsible for the increased deposition of collagen I and fibronectin in glioblastoma. Elevated levels of the fibrillar proteins collagen I and fibronectin were associated with the expression of fibroblast activation protein (FAP), which is predominantly found in pericyte-like cells in glioblastoma.

Anderson Localization of Phonons in Thermally Superinsulating Graphene Aerogels with Metal-Like Electrical Conductivity.

In the quest to improve energy efficiency and design better thermal insulators, various engineering strategies have been extensively investigated to minimize heat transfer through a material. Yet, the suppression of thermal transport in a material remains elusive because heat can be transferred by multiple energy carriers. Here, the realization of Anderson localization of phonons in a random 3D elastic network of graphene is reported.

Pivotal temperature is not for everyone: Evidence for temperature-dependent sex determination in three gecko species.

The prevalence of environmental sex determination (ESD) in squamate reptiles is often overestimated in the literature. This is surprising because we have reliable data demonstrating ESD in only a few species. The documentation of ESD in three species of geckos presented here has significantly increased our knowledge, given that satisfactory evidence for ESD existed in only eight other gecko species.

Universal Strategy for Reversing Aging and Defects in Graphene Oxide for Highly Conductive Graphene Aerogels.

The production of highly stable, defect-free, and electrically conducting 3D graphene structures from graphene oxide precursors is challenging. This is because graphene oxide is a metastable material whose structure and chemistry evolve due to aging. Aging changes the relative composition of oxygen functional groups attached to the graphene oxide and negatively impacts the fabrication and properties of reduced graphene oxide.

Terahertz charge transport dynamics in 3D graphene networks with localization and band regimes.

Terahertz steady-state and time-resolved conductivity and permittivity spectra were measured in 3D graphene networks assembled in free-standing covalently cross-linked graphene aerogels. Investigation of a transition between reduced-graphene oxide and graphene controlled by means of high-temperature annealing allowed us to elucidate the role of defects in the charge carrier transport in the materials. The THz spectra reveal increasing conductivity and decreasing permittivity with frequency.

Electrostatic Gating of Monolayer Graphene by Concentrated Aqueous Electrolytes.

Electrostatic gating using electrolytes is a powerful approach for controlling the electronic properties of atomically thin two-dimensional materials such as graphene. However, the role of the ionic type, size, and concentration and the resulting gating efficiency is unclear due to the complex interplay of electrochemical processes and charge doping. Understanding these relationships facilitates the successful design of electrolyte gates and supercapacitors.

Examining the influence of bare soil UAV imagery combined with auxiliary datasets to estimate and map soil organic carbon distribution in an erosion-prone agricultural field.

Soil organic content (SOC), an indicator of soil fertility, can be estimated quickly and accurately with remote sensing (RS) datasets; however, the issue of vegetation cover on the field still remains a major concern. In order to minimize the effects of vegetation cover, studies relating reflectance spectra to SOC may require bare soil. However, acquiring satellite images devoid of vegetation is still an enormous challenge for RS techniques.

The Effects of Ultrasound Treatment of Graphite on the Reversibility of the (De)Intercalation of an Anion from Aqueous Electrolyte Solution.

Low cycling stability is one of the most crucial issues in rechargeable batteries. Herein, we study the effects of a simple ultrasound treatment of graphite for the reversible (de)intercalation of a ClO anion from a 2.4 M Al(ClO) aqueous solution.

High-Temperature Fire Resistance and Self-Extinguishing Behavior of Cellular Graphene.

The ability to protect materials from fire is vital to many industrial applications and life safety systems. Although various chemical treatments and protective coatings have proven effective as flame retardants, they provide only temporary prevention, as they do not change the inherent flammability of a given material. In this study, we demonstrate that a simple change of the microstructure can significantly boost the fire resistance of an atomically thin material well above its oxidation stability temperature.

Proteomic Analysis of Human Neural Stem Cell Differentiation by SWATH-MS.

The unique properties of stem cells to self-renew and differentiate hold great promise in disease modelling and regenerative medicine. However, more information about basic stem cell biology and thorough characterization of available stem cell lines is needed. This is especially essential to ensure safety before any possible clinical use of stem cells or partially committed cell lines.

Contact resistance based tactile sensor using covalently cross-linked graphene aerogels.

A movable electrical contact between two materials is one of the most fundamental, simple, and common components in electronics that is used for binary control of a conducting path in an electrical circuit. Here, variable contact resistance between a highly elastic graphene aerogel and a rigid metal electrode is used for the analysis of non-binary pushing and pulling mechanical forces acting on the contact, enabling superior strain and pressure measurements. The variable contact resistance based electromechanical sensors demonstrate superfast, ultrasensitive and quantitative measurements of compressive and tensile stress from -1.

Biomechanical Simulation of Peyronie's Disease.

A pathological disorder of human penile function, known as Peyronie's disease, is characterized by the formation of plaque particles within the tunica albuginea. The plagues in the shape of rigid plate form in the scars as a result of the imperfect healing process. Due to high stiffness, plagues are the source of pain and anomalous deformations during erectile penis function.

Proteomic Characterization of Human Neural Stem Cells and Their Secretome During Differentiation.

Cell therapies represent a promising approach to slow down the progression of currently untreatable neurodegenerative diseases (e.g., Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), as well as to support the reconstruction of functional neural circuits after spinal cord injuries.

Limited Proteolysis-Coupled Mass Spectrometry Identifies Phosphatidylinositol 4,5-Bisphosphate Effectors in Human Nuclear Proteome.

Specific nuclear sub-compartments that are regions of fundamental processes such as gene expression or DNA repair, contain phosphoinositides (PIPs). PIPs thus potentially represent signals for the localization of specific proteins into different nuclear functional domains. We performed limited proteolysis followed by label-free quantitative mass spectrometry and identified nuclear protein effectors of the most abundant PIP-phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2).

Mixed-sex offspring produced via cryptic parthenogenesis in a lizard.

Facultative parthenogenesis in vertebrates is believed to be exceptional, and wherever documented, it always led to single-sex progeny with genome-wide homozygosity. We report the first challenge to this paradigm: frequent facultative parthenogenesis in the previously assumed sexually reproducing tropical night lizard Lepidophyma smithii results in offspring of both sexes and preserves heterozygosity in many loci polymorphic in their mothers. Moreover, we documented a mixture of sexually and parthenogenetically produced progeny in a single clutch, which documents how cryptic a facultative parthenogenesis can be.

Nucleation and growth of metal-catalyzed silicon nanowires under plasma.

We report the results of a microscopic study of the nucleation and early growth stages of metal-catalyzed silicon nanowires in plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition. The nucleation of silicon nanowires is investigated as a function of different deposition conditions and metal catalysts (Sn, In and Au) using correlation of atomic force microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. This correlation method enabled us to visualize individual catalytic nanoparticles before and after the nanowire growth and identify the key parameters influencing the nanowire nucleation under plasma.

Strength and Stability Analysis of Rehabilitated Anterior Cruciate Ligament Individuals.

The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) serves as a vital stabilizer for the human knee, yet it is one of the most injured ligaments in the body. Function of the knee is restored through reconstruction and physical therapy, but long term functional deficits persist in some individuals. To better understand the influence of post rehabilitation outcomes on dynamic balance performance, this study evaluated bilateral differences in strength and stability in 11 participants who have rehabilitated from an ACL reconstruction or repair.

Molecular detection by liquid gated Hall effect measurements of graphene.

Conventional electrical biosensing techniques include Cyclic Voltammetry (CV, amperometric) and ion-sensitive field effect transistors (ISFETs, potentiometric). However, CV is not able to detect electrochemically inactive molecules where there is no redox reaction in solution, and the resistance change in pristine ISFETs in response to low concentration solutions is not observable. Here, we show a very sensitive label-free biosensing method using Hall effect measurements on unfunctionalized graphene devices where the gate electrode is immersed in the solution containing the analyte of interest.