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In a rapidly growing field, electrospun biodegradable polymeric nanofibers are being used in scaffolds for engineering various tissues such as nerves, cartilages or bone. Recent research by scientists in Singapore offers new insights into the nanostructures and mechanical properties of single nanofibers.
Researchers from the Zhengzhou Institute of Aeronautical Industry Management have developed a set of techniques to reduce the high cost of fabricating carbon nanotube field emission displays.
It still is a huge challenge to treat neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer, Parkinson or Huntington, which are increasingly affecting our society as the average life-span of our population increases. One of the main obstacles for successful therapy of these disorders is safe and effective drug delivery to the central nervous system.
Tightly focused femtosecond laser pulses have been used to modify transparent dielectric materials, to form voids, and to polymerize resists and resins for more than a decade. A high sub-100-nm spatial resolution has now been reached making it potentially a nano-fabrication tool.
Researchers at the University of New Mexico have demonstrated a new, simple, and facile approach to the fabrication of various nanopatterned films composed of nanoparticles. The findings could lead to nanoparticle sensors for both biological and chemical species.
Contouring measurement methods are important for high quality, high speed and productivity machining in order to achieve the high precision required. Among the most commonly used methods, no measuring techniques have been available with nanometer resolution except for the grating encoder measurement system.
Researchers at Cornell University have developed a novel quantitative nanoparticle-based sensor of chemical concentrations based on organic dye molecules covalently integrated into the matrix of silica nanoparticles. This is the first work that implements an optimized core-shell architecture for such sensor particles.
Gold nanoparticles have shown promise for cancer therapy by virtue of their ability to absorb laser light, heat up and thus kill the tumor. However, in order for the gold nanoparticles to have their therapeutic effect they need to be taken up specifically by tumor cells. Researchers have now used targeted viral vectors as carriers to bring the gold nanoparticles to the location where they need to work.