Study of MoS as an Electric Field Sensor and the Role of Layer Thickness on the Sensitivity.

In this study, we investigate the scope of molybdenum disulfide (MoS) as an electric field sensor. We show that MoS sensors can be used to identify the polarity as well as to detect the magnitude of the electric field. The response of the sensor is recorded as the change in the drain current when the electric field is applied.

Room temperature thermal rectification in suspended asymmetric graphene ribbon.

Thermal rectifiers are essential in optimizing heat dissipation in solid-state devices to enhance energy efficiency, reliability, and overall performance. In this study, we experimentally investigate the thermal rectification phenomenon in suspended asymmetric graphene ribbons (GRs). The asymmetry within the graphene is introduced by incorporating periodic parallel nanoribbons on one side of the GR while maintaining the other side in a pristine form.

RF Sputtered Nb-Doped MoS Thin Film for Effective Detection of NO Gas Molecules: Theoretical and Experimental Studies.

Doping plays a significant role in affecting the physical and chemical properties of two-dimensional (2D) dichalcogenide materials. Controllable doping is one of the major factors in the modification of the electronic and mechanical properties of 2D materials. MoS 2D materials have gained significant attention in gas sensing owing to their high surface-to-volume ratio.

Revisiting the Mechanism of Electric Field Sensing in Graphene Devices.

Electric field sensing has various real-life applications, such as early prediction of lightning. In this study, we effectively used graphene as an electric field sensor that can detect both positive and negative electric fields. The response of the sensor is recorded as the change in drain current under the application of an electric field.

Interfacial Ammonia Selectivity, Atmospheric Passivation, and Molecular Identification in Graphene-Nanopored Activated Carbon Molecular-Sieve Gas Sensors.

Graphene's inherent nonselectivity and strong atmospheric doping render most graphene-based sensors unsuitable for atmospheric applications in environmental monitoring of pollutants and breath detection of biomarkers for noninvasive medical diagnosis. Hence, demonstrations of graphene's gas sensitivity are often in inert environments such as nitrogen, consequently of little practical relevance. Herein, target gas sensing at the graphene-activated carbon interface of a graphene-nanopored activated carbon molecular-sieve sensor obtained via the postlithographic pyrolysis of Novolac resin residues on graphene nanoribbons is shown to simultaneously induce ammonia selectivity and atmospheric passivation of graphene.

Role of Scx+/Sox9+ cells as potential progenitor cells for postnatal supraspinatus enthesis formation and healing after injury in mice.

A multipotent cell population co-expressing a basic-helix-loop-helix transcription factor scleraxis (Scx) and SRY-box 9 (Sox9) has been shown to contribute to the establishment of entheses (tendon attachment sites) during mouse embryonic development. The present study aimed to investigate the involvement of Scx+/Sox9+ cells in the postnatal formation of fibrocartilaginous entheses and in the healing process after injury, using ScxGFP transgenic mice. We demonstrate that Scx+/Sox9+ cells are localized in layers at the insertion site during the postnatal formation of fibrocartilaginous entheses of supraspinatus tendon until postnatal 3 weeks.

Innovative marking method using novel endoscopic clip equipped with fluorescent resin to locate gastric cancer.

An asymptomatic 76-year-old man presented to our department for the treatment of gastric cancer. Esophagogastroduodenoscopy revealed a superficial elevated lesion with an irregular central depression in the lower third of the stomach; this was confirmed to be adenocarcinoma by biopsy, while abdominal contrast-enhanced CT revealed no abnormal lesions. Based on the patient's clinical diagnosis of early gastric cancer, we planned laparoscopic gastrectomy with preoperative placement of four endoscopic marking clips equipped with indocyanine green-conjugated resin to determine the resection margin.

In-situ electrical conductance measurement of suspended ultra-narrow graphene nanoribbons observed via transmission electron microscopy.

Graphene nanoribbon is an attractive material for nano-electronic devices, as their electrical transport performance can be controlled by their edge structures. However, in most cases, the electrical transport has been investigated only for graphene nanoribbons fabricated on a substrate, which hinders the appearance of intrinsic electrical transport due to screening effects. In this study, we developed special devices based on silicon chips for transmission electron microscopy to observe a monolayer graphene nanoribbon suspended between two gold electrodes.

Design of Graphene Phononic Crystals for Heat Phonon Engineering.

Controlling the heat transport and thermal conductivity through a material is of prime importance for thermoelectric applications. Phononic crystals, which are a nanostructured array of specially designed pores, can suppress heat transportation owing to the phonon wave interference, resulting in bandgap formation in their band structure. To control heat phonon propagation in thermoelectric devices, phononic crystals with a bandgap in the THz regime are desirable.

Adsorbed Molecules as Interchangeable Dopants and Scatterers with a Van der Waals Bonding Memory in Graphene Sensors.

Molecular adsorption-induced doping and scattering play a central role in the detection mechanism of graphene gas sensors. However, while the doping contributions in electric field-enhanced gas sensing is well studied, an understanding of the effects of scattering is still lacking. In this work, the scattering contribution of the graphene-molecule van der Waals (vdW) complex is studied under various electric fields and the associated vdW bonding retention in the complex is investigated.

Novel endoscopic marking clip equipped with resin-conjugated fluorescent indocyanine green during laparoscopic surgery for gastrointestinal cancer.

Purpose: Intraoperative identification of the cancer location is often difficult to conduct during laparoscopic surgery, especially in early-stage cancers. This study aimed to investigate the feasibility and accuracy of a novel endoscopic clip resin-conjugated fluorescent indocyanine green during laparoscopic surgery for gastrointestinal cancer.

Methods: Preoperative placement of endoscopic marking clips equipped with resin-conjugated fluorescent indocyanine green was performed to determine the resection margin in eight patients with gastrointestinal cancer.

Conductance Tunable Suspended Graphene Nanomesh by Helium Ion Beam Milling.

This paper demonstrates that the electrical properties of suspended graphene nanomesh (GNM) can be tuned by systematically changing the porosity with helium ion beam milling (HIBM). The porosity of the GNM is well-controlled by defining the pitch of the periodic nanopores. The defective region surrounding the individual nanopores after HIBM, which limits the minimum pitch achievable between nanopores for a certain dose, is investigated and reported.

Reference values for the locomotive syndrome risk test quantifying mobility of 8681 adults aged 20-89 years: A cross-sectional nationwide study in Japan.

Background: The locomotive syndrome risk test was developed to quantify the decrease in mobility among adults, which could eventually lead to disability. The purpose of this study was to establish reference values for the locomotive syndrome risk test for adults and investigate the influence of age and sex.

Methods: We analyzed 8681 independent community dwellers (3607 men, 5074 women).

Dielectric-Screening Reduction-Induced Large Transport Gap in Suspended Sub-10 nm Graphene Nanoribbon Functional Devices.

The predicted quasiparticle energy gap of more than 1 eV in sub-6 nm graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) is elusive, as it is strongly suppressed by the substrate dielectric screening. The number of techniques that can produce suspended high-quality and electrically contacted GNRs is small. The helium ion beam milling technique is capable of achieving sub-5 nm patterning; however, the functional device fabrication and the electrical characteristics are not yet reported.

Chemical Simultaneous Synthesis Strategy of Two Nitrogen-Rich Carbon Nanomaterials for All-Solid-State Symmetric Supercapacitor.

Present work demonstrates a single step process for simultaneous synthesis of metal-nanoparticle-encapsulated nitrogen-doped bamboo-shaped carbon nanotubes (M/N-BCNTs) and graphitic carbon nitride (G-CN). The synthesis of two different carbon nanostructures in a single step is recognized for the first time. This process involves the use of inexpensive and nontoxic precursors such as melamine as carbon and nitrogen sources for the growth of G-CN and M/N-BCNTs.

Electrically controlled valley states in bilayer graphene.

Valley current, a stable, dissipationless current, originates due to the emergence of Berry curvature in inversion symmetry broken systems. Several theoretical predictions and experimental observations have explored layer symmetry breaking in AB-stacked bilayer graphene due to long-range Coulomb interactions between the electrons. However, none of the experimental studies conducted so far have observed valley current in unbiased bilayer graphene, which makes it vital to study the Berry curvature in unbiased bilayer graphene.

Presynaptic Dysfunction in Neurons Derived from Tay-Sachs iPSCs.

Tay-Sachs disease (TSD) is a GM2 gangliosidosis lysosomal storage disease caused by a loss of lysosomal hexosaminidase-A (HEXA) activity and characterized by progressive neurodegeneration due to the massive accumulation of GM2 ganglioside in the brain. Here, we generated iPSCs derived from patients with TSD, and found similar potential for neural differentiation between TSD-iPSCs and normal iPSCs, although neural progenitor cells (NPCs) derived from the TSD-iPSCs exhibited enlarged lysosomes and upregulation of the lysosomal marker, LAMP1, caused by the accumulation of GM2 ganglioside. The NPCs derived from TSD-iPSCs also had an increased incidence of oxidative stress-induced cell death.

Quantum Dot Formation in Controllably Doped Graphene Nanoribbon.

We introduce the controllable doping from hydrogen silsesquioxane (HSQ) to graphene by changing its electron-beam exposure dose. Using HSQ as the dopant, a fine-resolution electron-beam resist allows us to selectively dope graphene with an extremely high spatial resolution of a few nanometers. Therefore, we can design and demonstrate the single quantum dot (QD)-like transport in the graphene nanoribbon (GNR) with the opening of the energy gap.

Fibroblast Growth Factor 2 Enhances Tendon-to-Bone Healing in a Rat Rotator Cuff Repair of Chronic Tears.

Background: The effects of fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF-2) on healing after surgical repair of chronic rotator cuff (RC) tears remain unclear.

Hypothesis: FGF-2 enhances tenogenic healing response, leading to biomechanical and histological improvement of repaired chronic RC tears in rats.

Study Design: Controlled laboratory study.

Fabry-Pérot resonances and a crossover to the quantum Hall regime in ballistic graphene quantum point contacts.

We report on the observation of quantum transport and interference in a graphene device that is attached with a pair of split gates to form an electrostatically-defined quantum point contact (QPC). In the low magnetic field regime, the resistance exhibited Fabry-Pérot (FP) resonances due to np'n(pn'p) cavities formed by the top gate. In the quantum Hall (QH) regime with a high magnetic field, the edge states governed the phenomena, presenting a unique condition where the edge channels of electrons and holes along a p-n junction acted as a solid-state analogue of a monochromatic light beam.

Enhanced Sodium Ion Storage in Interlayer Expanded Multiwall Carbon Nanotubes.

We report an effective approach of utilizing multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) as an active anode material in sodium ion batteries by expanding the interlayer distance in a few outer layers of multiwalled carbon nanotubes. The performance enhancement was investigated using a density functional tight binding (DFTB) molecular dynamics simulation. It is found that a sodium atom forms a stable bonding with the partially expanded MWCNT (PECNT) with the binding energy of -1.

Matrix metalloproteinase promotes elastic fiber degradation in ligamentum flavum degeneration.

Ligamentum flavum (LF) hypertrophy in lumbar spinal canal stenosis (LSCS) is characterized by a loss of elastic fibers and fibrosis. Chronic inflammation is thought to be responsible for the histological change but the mechanism underlying elastic fiber degradation remains unclear. Given that matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 and -9 have elastolytic activity and are partly regulated by inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin (IL)-6, in this study, we investigated whether MMPs mediate LF degeneration using 52 LF samples obtained during lumbar surgery, including 31 LSCS and 21 control specimens.

Mesenchymal stem cells derived from human iPS cells via mesoderm and neuroepithelium have different features and therapeutic potentials.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) isolated from adult human tissues are capable of proliferating in vitro and maintaining their multipotency, making them attractive cell sources for regenerative medicine. However, the availability and capability of self-renewal under current preparation regimes are limited. Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) now offer an alternative, similar cell source to MSCs.

SIRT7 has a critical role in bone formation by regulating lysine acylation of SP7/Osterix.

SP7/Osterix (OSX) is a master regulatory transcription factor that activates a variety of genes during differentiation of osteoblasts. However, the influence of post-translational modifications on the regulation of its transactivation activity is largely unknown. Here, we report that sirtuins, which are NAD(+)-dependent deacylases, regulate lysine deacylation-mediated transactivation of OSX.

Fabrication of a three-terminal graphene nanoelectromechanical switch using two-dimensional materials.

An alternative three-terminal (3T) subthermal subthreshold slope (SS) switch is required to overcome the exponential increase in leakage current with an increase in the drive current of CMOS devices. In this study, we present a 3T graphene nanoelectromechanical (3T-GNEM) switch with a physically isolated channel in the off-state by using heterogeneously stacked two-dimensional (2D) materials. Hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) was used as a dielectric layer, and graphene was used as a the top double-clamped beam drain, gate and source electrode material; the drain, gate, and source layers were stacked vertically to achieve a small footprint.