Hybrid Spider Silk with Inorganic Nanomaterials.

High-performance functional biomaterials are becoming increasingly requested. Numerous natural and artificial polymers have already demonstrated their ability to serve as a basis for bio-composites. Spider silk offers a unique combination of desirable aspects such as biocompatibility, extraordinary mechanical properties, and tunable biodegradability, which are superior to those of most natural and engineered materials.

Functional Mammalian Amyloids and Amyloid-Like Proteins.

Amyloids are highly ordered fibrous cross-β protein aggregates that are notorious primarily because of association with a variety of incurable human and animal diseases (termed amyloidoses), including Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD), type 2 diabetes (T2D), and prion diseases. Some amyloid-associated diseases, in particular T2D and AD, are widespread and affect hundreds of millions of people all over the world. However, recently it has become evident that many amyloids, termed "functional amyloids," are involved in various activities that are beneficial to organisms.

Promethium: To Strive, to Seek, to Find and Not to Yield.

Promethium (Pm), element #61, got its name from the Greek Titan Prometheus, who stole fire from Zeus and passed it to people. The only element in the lanthanide series of the periodic table with no stable isotopes, Pm has found an impressive number of applications since its announcement in 1947 after World War II. Despite promethium having 38 known isotopes, Pm is by far the most utilized and useful one.

Helium's placement in the Periodic Table from a crystal structure viewpoint.

The present paper indicates that helium has more in common with the alkaline earths than is often considered. Not only does it share an analogous electron configuration but it also has an analogous crystal structure to that of beryllium and magnesium which is, in contrast, characteristic of the bulk material rather than of isolated atoms.

Structural and genetic characterization of the colitose-containing O-specific polysaccharide from the lipopolysaccharide of Herbaspirillum frisingense GSF30.

The lipopolysaccharide (LPS) of Herbaspirillum frisingense GSF30 (HfGSF30), a non-pathogenic diazotrophic endobiont, was isolated by phenol-water extraction from bacterial cells and was characterized by chemical analyses and SDS PAGE. The O-specific polysaccharide (OPS, O-antigen), obtained by mild acid hydrolysis of the LPS, was examined by sugar and methylation analysis, along with H and C NMR spectroscopy, including 2D H,H COSY, H,H TOCSY, H,H ROESY, H,C HSQC, and H,C HMBC experiments. The OPS was found to consist of branched tetrasaccharide repeating units of the following structure: [Formula: see text] This structure is unique among the known bacterial polysaccharide structures.

Silicon Quantum Dots: Synthesis, Encapsulation, and Application in Light-Emitting Diodes.

Silicon quantum dots (SiQDs) are semiconductor Si nanoparticles ranging from 1 to 10 nm that hold great applicative potential as optoelectronic devices and fluorescent bio-marking agents due to their ability to fluoresce blue and red light. Their biocompatibility compared to conventional toxic Group II-VI and III-V metal-based quantum dots makes their practical utilization even more attractive to prevent environmental pollution and harm to living organisms. This work focuses on their possible use for light-emitting diode (LED) manufacturing.

Mn-Doped BaTiOCeramics: Thermal and Electrical Properties for Multicaloric Applications.

Multiferroic materialsare widely used in microelectronics because they are sensitive to elastic, magnetic, and electric fields and there is an intrinsic coupling between them. In particular, transition metal-doped BaTiO is consideredas a viable multiferroic because of the simultaneous presence of ferroelectricity and magnetism.In this work, we study the electrical and thermal properties of Mn-doped BaTiO ceramics that can be used for multicaloric applications.

Alfred Werner: Overlooked Genius of the Periodic System.

2019, which was proclaimed by the United Nations as the International Year of the Periodic Table, sees one hundred years since Alfred Werner, the first Swiss to receive a Nobel Prize in chemistry, passed away. The undoubted father of coordination chemistry, he is also well-known for influencing many other fields of chemistry, including organic, inorganic, organometallic, bioinorganic, and stereochemistry. However, one of his more rare and unique contributions to chemistry, his 1905 version of the periodic system, to this day remains overlooked.