Machines enabled the Industrial Revolution and are central to modern technological progress: A machine's parts transmit forces, motion, and energy to one another in a predetermined manner. Today's engineering frontier, building artificial micromachines that emulate the biological machinery of living organisms, requires faithful assembly and energy consumption at the microscale. Here, we demonstrate the programmable assembly of active particles into autonomous metamachines using optical templates. Metamachines, or machines made of machines, are stable, mobile and autonomous architectures, whose dynamics stems from the geometry. We use the interplay between anisotropic force generation of the active colloids with the control of their orientation by local geometry. This allows autonomous reprogramming of active particles of the metamachines to achieve multiple functions. It permits the modular assembly of metamachines by fusion, reconfiguration of metamachines and, we anticipate, a shift in focus of self-assembly towards active matter and reprogrammable materials.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-26699-6 | DOI Listing |
ACS Appl Mater Interfaces
January 2025
Department of Chemistry and Materials Engineering, Kansai University, 3-3-35 Yamate-cho, Suita, Osaka 564-8680, Japan.
Hydride (H) species on oxides have been extensively studied over the past few decades because of their critical role in various catalytic processes. Their syntheses require high temperatures and the presence of hydrogen, which involves complex equipment, high energy costs, and strict safety protocols. Hydride species tend to decompose in the presence of atmospheric oxygen and water, which reduces their catalytic activities.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFACS Appl Mater Interfaces
January 2025
School of Materials and Energy, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China.
Copper-tantalum (Cu-Ta) immiscible alloy nanoparticles (NPs) have been the subject of extensive research in the field of structural materials, due to their exceptional nanostructural stability and high-temperature creep properties. However, Cu is also a highly active oxidation catalyst due to its abundant valence changes. In this study, we have for the first time obtained homogeneous CuTa ( = 0.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTurk J Haematol
January 2025
Tianjin Medical University General Hospital, Department of Hematology, Tianjin, P. R. China.
Objective: Immune-related pancytopenia (IRP) is characterized by autoantibody-mediated destruction or suppression of bone marrow cells, leading to pancytopenia. This study aimed to explore the role of TRAPPC4 (trafficking protein particle complex subunit 4) as a key autoantigen in IRP, including epitope identification and immune activation mechanisms.
Methods: A total of 90 participants were included in the study, divided into four groups: 30 newly diagnosed IRP patients, 25 IRP remission patients, 20 patients with control hematologic conditions (severe aplastic anemia [SAA] and myelodysplastic syndrome [MDS]), and 15 healthy controls.
Int J Pharm
January 2025
Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Technology, Department of Pharmaceutics, Ghent University, Ottergemsesteenweg 460, B-9000 Ghent, Belgium.
Nowadays, most of the newly developed active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) consist of cohesive particles with a mean particle size of <100μm, a wide particle size distribution (PSD) and a tendency to agglomerate, therefore they are difficult to handle in continuous manufacturing (CM) lines. The current paper focuses on the impact of various glidants on the bulk properties of difficult-to-handle APIs. Three challenging powders were included: two extremely cohesive APIs (acetaminophen micronized (APAPμ) and metoprolol tartrate (MPT)) which previously have shown processing issues during different stages of the continuous direct compression (CDC)-line and a spray dried placebo (SD) powder containing hydroxypropylmethyl cellulose (HPMC), known for its sub-optimal flow with a high specific surface area (SSA) and low density.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Pharm Biomed Anal
January 2025
Sabanci University Nanotechnology Research and Application Center (SUNUM), Istanbul 34956, Turkey.
This study aimed to determine the chromatographic retention and dissociation/protonation constant (pK) values of lapatinib and tamoxifen, key drugs used in metastatic breast cancer treatment, at 37°C using both conventional and green high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) methods. Qualitative analysis was conducted on an XTerra C18 column (250 ×4.6 mm I.
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