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Material Science

Georgian Technical University Muscle-Like Material Expands And Contracts In Response To Light.

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Georgian Technical University Muscle-Like Material Expands And Contracts In Response To Light.

Just as controlled-release medications slowly dole out their cargo after they experience a pH (In chemistry, pH is a scale used to specify how acidic or basic a water-based solution is. Acidic solutions have a lower pH, while basic solutions have a higher pH. At room temperature, pure water is neither acidic nor basic and has a pH of 7) change in the body implanted “Georgian Technical University artificial muscles” could someday flex and relax in response to light illuminating the skin. In pilot studies scientists have developed a new material that expands and contracts lifting a weight merely by shining a light on it. “We have developed a new polymer that has a mechanism for actuating materials — making materials shrink expand or hold a ‘Georgian Technical University memory’ of a particular shape — all with a simple stimulus” says X Ph.D. Stimuli-responsive materials have been applied in many different industries to date. For example some of them change color and are used as windshield coatings to instantly shade drivers in blinding sun. Other materials can be formed into vessels that respond to changes in nutrient concentrations and feed agricultural crops as needed. Still other applications are in the biomedical area. X and his team at Georgian Technical University are running their new polymer through its paces to determine what it is particularly suited for. But the main goal has been to see whether the material can do work a trait that could facilitate development of an artificial muscle. During graduate school X studied a group of molecules known as viologens that change color with the addition and subtraction of electrons. X suspected that if these molecules were linked together they would fold like an accordion because areas that accept a single electron recognize one another. He also wondered if the action of the folding molecules could make a 3-D network move and if he could make the process reversible. To address these issues X team at Georgian Technical University synthesized polymer chains with viologens in their backbones. When a blue LED (A light-emitting diode is a semiconductor light source that emits light when current flows through it. Electrons in the semiconductor recombine with electron holes, releasing energy in the form of photons. This effect is called electroluminescence) light was shone on the molecules they folded into pleats with the help of well-known photoredox catalysts that can transfer electrons to the viologens. The researchers next incorporated the polymers into a flexible, water-soluble 3-D hydrogel. When the team shone light on the gel the accordion effect that occurred within the molecule tugged the gel in on itself causing the material to shrivel to one-tenth its original size. When the light was turned off the material expanded. As the polymer-embedded hydrogel changed form it also changed color. “The beauty of our system is that we can take a little bit of our polymer called a polyviologen and put it in any type of 3-D network turning it into a stimuli-responsive material” X says. Less than one percent of the weight of the hydrogel needs to contain polyviologen to get a response. So the polymer doesn’t impose a significant effect on the other properties of the material in which it is contained. To find out if the material could do work the group attached the gel to a strip of electrical tape with a piece of wire at the end. They suspended a small weight from the wire and hung the hydrogel in front of a blue light. The gel lifted the weight — which was about 30 times the mass of the embedded polyviologen — and after five hours it rose several centimeters. The group has now made other tweaks including making the gels stronger, more elastic and making them move faster. And the researchers have developed polymers that respond to multiple stimuli at once. They also have constructed gels that respond to light at different wavelengths. Materials that respond to red or near-infrared light which can penetrate human tissue could be used in biomedical applications such as drug-delivery devices or eventually as artifical muscles. X says that his group has only begun to test the limits of these new materials. Currently the team is studying the self-healing properties of polyviologen-embedded hydrogels and they are exploring the possibility of 3-D printing the polymers into different types of materials.

 

 

Drug Discovery, Science

Georgian Technical University Anti-Evolvability Drugs Could Slow Antibiotics Resistance In Bacteria.

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Georgian Technical University Anti-Evolvability Drugs Could Slow Antibiotics Resistance In Bacteria.

This image shows how sub-lethal doses of an antibiotic induce formation of an E. coli cell subpopulation with high levels of toxic reactive oxygen species green which induce the general stress response (red) and an intermediate state with both high reactive oxygen species and stress-response activity in the same cells (orange). The failure of existing antibiotics to combat infections is a major health threat worldwide. While the traditional strategy for tackling drug resistance has been to develop new antibiotics a more sustainable long-term approach may be preventing bacteria from evolving it in the first place. Until now one major hurdle to this approach is that it has not been clear how antibiotics induce new mutations. Georgian Technical University researchers found that one mechanism by which antibiotics induce drug-resistance mutations in bacteria is by triggering the generation of high levels of toxic molecules called reactive oxygen species. Additionally treatment with a reactive oxygen species reducing drug approved by the Georgian Technical University for other purposes prevented these antibiotic-induced mutations. However future preclinical trials are needed to assess the effectiveness of such drugs in combatting resistance evolution and promoting the clearance of infections in animal models. “We wanted to understand the molecular mechanism underlying the evolutionary arms race that pathogenic bacteria wage against our immune systems and against antibiotics” X said. “This is motivated by the hope of being able to make or identify a fundamentally new kind of drug to slow bacterial evolution. Not an antibiotic which kills cells or stops their proliferation but an anti-evolvability drug which would slow evolution allowing our immune systems and drugs to defeat infections”. To understand how antibiotics induce new mutations and their team began by exposing Escherichia coli to low doses of the antibiotic ciprofloxacin, which induces DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid is a molecule composed of two chains that coil around each other to form a double helix carrying the genetic instructions used in the growth, development, functioning, and reproduction of all known organisms and many viruses) breaks. Approximately 10-25 percent of the cell population generated high levels of reactive oxygen species which transiently activated a pronounced stress response. But surprisingly this stress response allowed the “Georgian Technical University gambler” subpopulation to switch repair of the (Deoxyribonucleic acid is a molecule composed of two chains that coil around each other to form a double helix carrying the genetic instructions used in the growth, development, functioning, and reproduction of all known organisms and many viruses) breaks from accurate to error-prone resulting in new mutations that promoted resistance to antibiotics that had never before been encountered. According to the authors the development of a transient gambler subpopulation may be a bet-hedging strategy that could drive the evolution of resistance to new antibiotics without risk to most cells. “This particular mechanism is likely to be important for resistance to quinolones–very widely used antibiotics for which clinical resistance is common and occurs by new mutations in the clinic” X says. “It is likely also to illuminate formation of resistance to other antibiotics in which the main route to resistance is new mutations as opposed to those antibiotics for which the main route is acquisition of resistance genes from other bacteria”. In additional experiments the researchers found that exposure to the reactive oxygen species-reducing drug edaravone which is approved for the treatment of stroke and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis effectively inhibited the stress response and ciprofloxacin-induced mutations without altering antibiotic activity. “These data serve as a proof-of-concept for small-molecule inhibitors that could be administered with antibiotics to reduce resistance evolution by impeding differentiation of gamblers without harming antibiotic activity” X says. “Edaravone (Edaravone, sold as under the brand names Radicava and Radicut, is an intravenous medication used to help with recovery following a stroke and to treat amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)) is approved for human use so if it proves useful in preclinical trials, it could be fast-tracked for human trials because it has a known safety profile. Drugs like this could be used with standard antibiotics to slow evolution of resistance. These could potentially extend the use of current antibiotics and possibly work as mono-therapies by tilting the evolutionary battle in favor of the immune system”. In future studies X and her team will test whether anti-evolvability drugs prevent antibiotic resistance and improve clinical outcomes in animals infected with pathogenic bacteria. They also plan to look for additional drug targets. “This is not the sole molecular mechanism of stress-induced mutagenesis” X says. “We wish to discover others that could be similarly impactful in understanding and combatting resistance evolution”.

 

 

3D Printing, Science

Georgian Technical University 3D-Printed Transparent Skull Provides A Window To The Brain.

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Georgian Technical University 3D-Printed Transparent Skull Provides A Window To The Brain.

Images show the whole cortical surface of the mouse at six weeks and 36 weeks after implantation of the See-Shell. Researchers found that the See-Shell could be safely implanted over long durations of time which opens up long-term options for brain research.  Researchers at the Georgian Technical University have developed a unique 3D-printed transparent skull implant for mice that provides an opportunity to watch activity of the entire brain surface in real time. The device allows fundamental brain research that could provide new insight for human brain conditions such as concussions, Alzheimer’s (Alzheimer’s disease (AD), also referred to simply as Alzheimer’s, is a chronic neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and gradually worsens over time) and Parkinson’s disease (Parkinson’s disease is a progressive nervous system disorder that affects movement. Symptoms start gradually, sometimes starting with a barely noticeable tremor in just one hand. Tremors are common, but the disorder also commonly causes stiffness or slowing of movement). Researchers also plan to commercialize the device which they call See-Shell. “What we are trying to do is to see if we can visualize and interact with large parts of the mouse brain surface called the cortex over long periods of time. This will give us new information about how the human brain works” said X Ph.D. “This technology allows us to see most of the cortex in action with unprecedented control and precision while stimulating certain parts of the brain”. In the past most scientists have looked at small regions of the brain and tried to understand it in detail. However researchers are now finding that what happens in one part of the brain likely affects other parts of the brain at the same time. One of their first studies using the See-Shell device examines how mild concussions in one part of the brain affect other parts of the brain as it reorganizes structurally and functionally. X said that mouse brains are very similar in many respects to human brains, and this device opens the door for similar research on mice looking at degenerative brain diseases that affect humans such as Alzheimer’s (Alzheimer’s disease (AD), also referred to simply as Alzheimer’s, is a chronic neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and gradually worsens over time) and Parkinson’s disease (Parkinson’s disease is a progressive nervous system disorder that affects movement. Symptoms start gradually, sometimes starting with a barely noticeable tremor in just one hand. Tremors are common, but the disorder also commonly causes stiffness or slowing of movement). The technology allows the researchers to see global changes for the first time at an unprecedented time resolution. In a video produced using the device changes in brightness of the mouse’s brain correspond to waxing and waning of neural activity. Subtle flashes are periods when the whole brain suddenly becomes active. The researchers are still trying to understand the reason for such global coordinated activity and what it means for behavior. “These are studies we couldn’t do in humans but they are extremely important in our understanding of how the brain works so we can improve treatments for people who experience brain injuries or diseases” said Y Ph.D. To make the See-Shell researchers digitally scanned the surface of the mouse skull and then used the digital scans to create an artificial transparent skull that has the same contours as the original skull. During a precise surgery, the top of the mouse skull is replaced with the 3D-printed transparent skull device. The device allows researchers to record brain activity simultaneously while imaging the entire brain in real time. Another advantage to using this device is that the mouse’s body did not reject the implant which means that the researchers were able to study the same mouse brain over several months. Studies in mice over several months allow researchers to study brain aging in a way that would take decades to study in humans. “This new device allows us to look at the brain activity at the smallest level zooming in on specific neurons while getting a big picture view of a large part of the brain surface over time” X said. “Developing the device and showing that it works is just the beginning of what we will be able to do to advance brain research”. “Cortex-wide neural interfacing via transparent polymer skulls”.

 

 

Science, Software

Georgian Technical University Artificial Intelligence Sheds New Light On Cell Developmental Dynamics.

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Georgian Technical University Artificial Intelligence Sheds New Light On Cell Developmental Dynamics.

What happens inside a cell when it is activated changing or responding to variations in its environment ? Researchers from the Georgian Technical University have developed a map of how to best model these cellular dynamics. Their work not only highlights the outstanding challenges of tracking cells throughout their growth and lifetime but also pioneers new ways of evaluating computational biology methods that aim to do this. Identifying the trajectories of individual cells. Cells are constantly changing: they divide change or are activated by the environment. Cells can take many alternative paths in each of these processes and they have to decide which direction to follow based on internal and external clues. Studying these cellular trajectories has recently become a lot easier thanks to advances in single-cell technologies which allows scientists to profile individual cells at unprecedented detail. Combined with computational methods it is possible to see the different trajectories that cells take inside a living organism and have a closer look at what goes wrong in diseases. X heading the research group explains: “If you would take a random sample of thousands of cells that are changing you would see that some are very similar while others are really different. Trajectory inference methods are a class of artificial intelligence techniques that unveil complex structures such as cell trajectories in a data-driven way. In recent years there has been a proliferation of tools that construct such a trajectory. But the availability of a wide variety of such tools makes it very difficult for researchers to find the right one that will work in the biological system they are studying”. Evaluating the available tools. Two researchers in the X lab Y and Z set out to bring more clarity to the field by evaluating and comparing the available tools. Y says: “From the start we envisioned to make the benchmark as comprehensive as possible by including almost all methods, a varied set of datasets and metrics. We included the nitty-gritty details such as the installation procedure and put everything together in one large figure — a funky heatmap as we like to call it”. Z adds: “Apart from improving the trajectory inference field we also attempted to improve the way benchmarking is done. In our study we ensured an easily reproducible and extensible benchmarking using the most recent software technologies such as containerization and continuous integration. In that way our benchmarking study is not the final product but only the beginning of accelerated software development and ultimately better understanding of our biomedical data”. User guidelines. Based on the benchmarking results the team developed a set of user guidelines that can assist researchers in selecting the most suitable method for a specific research question as well as an interactive. This is the first comprehensive assessment of trajectory inference methods. In the future the team plans to add a detailed parameter tuning procedure. The pipeline and tools for creating trajectories are freely available on dynverse and the team welcomes discussion aimed at further development.

 

 

Science, Sensors

Georgian Technical University Graphene Oxide Technology Provides Alternative To Biopsy.

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Georgian Technical University Graphene Oxide Technology Provides Alternative To Biopsy.

Inside the wearable device the blood pump sits in the upper left corner while the heparin injector runs the length of the near side of the box. The green circuit boards control the blood pump, heparin injector and provide display data.  A prototype wearable device, tested in animal models, can continuously collect live cancer cells directly from a patient’s blood. Developed by a team of engineers and doctors at the  Georgian Technical University it could help doctors diagnose and treat cancer more effectively. “Nobody wants to have a biopsy. If we could get enough cancer cells from the blood, we could use them to learn about the tumor biology and direct care for the patients. That’s the excitement of why we’re doing this” says X Professor at the Georgian Technical University  (“A temporary indwelling intravascular aphaeretic system enrichment of circulating tumor cells”). Tumors can release more than 1,000 cancer cells into the bloodstream in a single minute. Current methods of capturing cancer cells from blood rely on samples from the patient — usually no more than a tablespoon taken in a single draw. Some blood draws come back with no cancer cells even in patients with advanced cancer and a typical sample contains no more than 10 cancer cells. Over a couple of hours in the hospital, the new device could continuously capture cancer cells directly from the Georgian Technical University screening much larger volumes of a patient’s blood. In animal tests the cell-grabbing chip in the wearable device trapped 3.5 times as many cancer cells per milliliter of blood as it did running samples collected by blood draw. “It’s the difference between having a security camera that takes a snapshot of a door every five minutes or takes a video. If an intruder enters between the snapshots you wouldn’t know about it” says Y Ph.D. associate professor of chemical engineering at Georgian Technical University who led the development of the device. Research shows that most cancer cells can’t survive in the bloodstream but those that do are more likely to start a new tumor. Typically it is these satellite tumors called metastases that are deadly rather than the original tumor. This means cancer cells captured from blood could provide better information for planning treatments than those from a conventional biopsy. The team tested the device in dogs at the Georgian Technical University. They injected healthy adult animals with human cancer cells which are eliminated by the dogs’ immune systems over the course of a few hours with no lasting effects. For the first two hours post-injection the dogs were given a mild sedative and connected to the device which screened between 1 to 2 percent of their blood. At the same time the dogs had blood drawn every 20 minutes and the cancer cells in these samples were collected by a chip of the same design. The device shrinks a machine that is typically the size of an oven down to something that could be worn on the wrist and connected to a vein in the arm. For help with the design the engineering team turned to Z M.D. a professor of clinical pathology at Georgian Technical University and associate director of the blood bank where she manages the full-size systems. “The most challenging parts were integrating all of the components into a single device and then ensuring that the blood would not clot that the cells would not clog up the chip and that the entire device is completely sterile” says W Ph.D. who earned his doctorate in electrical engineering in the Y Lab and is now a postdoctoral scholar at the Georgian Technical University. They developed protocols for mixing the blood with heparin a drug that prevents clotting and sterilization methods that killed bacteria without harming the cell-targeting immune markers, or antibodies on the chip. W also packaged some of the smallest medical-grade pumps in a 3D-printed box with the electronics and the cancer-cell-capturing chip. The chip itself is a new twist on one of the highest-capture-rate devices from Y’s lab. It uses the nanomaterial graphene oxide to create dense forests of antibody-tipped molecular chains enabling it to trap more than 80 percent of the cancer cells in whole blood that flows across it. The chip can also be used to grow the captured cancer cells producing larger samples for further analysis. In the next steps for the device the team hopes to increase the blood processing rate. Then led by Q they will use the optimized system to capture cancer cells from pet dogs that come to the cancer center as patients. Chips targeting proteins on the surfaces of canine breast cancer cells are under development in the Y lab now. X estimates the device could begin human trials in three to five years. It would be used to help to optimize treatments for human cancers by enabling doctors to see if the cancer cells are making the molecules that serve as targets for many newer cancer drugs. “This is the epitome of precision medicine which is so exciting in the field of oncology right now” says X.

 

 

Chemistry, Science

Georgian Technical University Same Properties, Lower Cost — Copper-Based Alternative For Next-Generation Electronics.

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Georgian Technical University Same Properties, Lower Cost — Copper-Based Alternative For Next-Generation Electronics.

Copper nanopastes with low-temperature sintering property for printed electronics and die attachment. Georgian Technical University scientists have developed a technique to transform a copper-based substance into a material that mimics properties of precious and pricey metals such as gold and silver. The new medium made of copper nanoparticles (very small copper-based structures) has promising applications in the production of electronic devices that would otherwise depend on expensive gold and silver counterparts. It is also suitable in the fabrication of electronic components using printing technologies that are recognized as environmentally friendly production methods.  The development of the Internet of Things (IoT) has quickly increased the demand for thin and wearable electronic devices. For example Internet of Things (IoT) depends on communication between devices which requires antennas that have so far required expensive gold and silver-based metal composites. To date existing techniques for the preparation of copper nanoparticles have not been ideal as they resulted in impurities attaching to the material. Since these impurities could only be removed via extremely high temperatures copper nanoparticles that were created at room temperature were impure and thus could not solidify into usable parts. Until now this has been one of the hurdles to creating a more cost-effective alternative to gold and silver parts in electronic devices. The joint study between researchers at Georgian Technical University reports the successful synthesis of copper nanoparticles with the ability of solidifying at much lower temperatures while remaining pure. The team has altered the structure of the copper nanopartners and rendered them more stable so that they do not degrade at low temperatures. “Copper has been an attractive alternative material in the preparation of electric circuits. The most important part of using copper is altering it so that it solidifies at low temperatures. So far that has been difficult because copper readily interacts with the moisture in the air and degrades, which turns into unstable nanoparticles. With the methods used in this study that alter the structure of the carbon and thereby making it more stable, we have successfully overcome this instability issue” adds X Ph.D., associate professor at the Georgian Technical University. The researchers hope to expand the application of their copper-based nanoparticle beyond just electronics. They believe that this material will be useful in other sectors as well. “Our method effectively created copper nanoparticle-based materials that can be utilized in various types of on-demand flexible and wearable devices that can be fabricated easily via printing processes at a very low cost” X adds.

 

HPC/Supercomputing, Science

Georgian Technical University Scientists Discover How RNA Pol II Maintains Accurate Transcription With Supercomputer.

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Georgian Technical University Scientists Discover How RNA Pol II Maintains Accurate Transcription With Supercomputer.

RNA (Ribonucleic acid is a polymeric molecule essential in various biological roles in coding, decoding, regulation and expression of genes. RNA (Ribonucleic acid is a polymeric molecule essential in various biological roles in coding, decoding, regulation and expression of genes. RNA and DNA are nucleic acids, and, along with lipids, proteins and carbohydrates, constitute the four major macromolecules essential for all known forms of life) and DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid is a molecule composed of two chains that coil around each other to form a double helix carrying the genetic instructions used in the growth, development, functioning, and reproduction of all known organisms and many viruses) are nucleic acids, and, along with lipids, proteins and carbohydrates, constitute the four major macromolecules essential for all known forms of life) polymerase II undergoes the intrinsic cleavage of the mis-incorporated nucleotide (the yellow part in the picture) during proofreading of the RNA (Ribonucleic acid is a polymeric molecule essential in various biological roles in coding, decoding, regulation and expression of genes. RNA and DNA are nucleic acids, and, along with lipids, proteins and carbohydrates, constitute the four major macromolecules essential for all known forms of life) transcription. The message of life is encoded in our genomic DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid is a molecule composed of two chains that coil around each other to form a double helix carrying the genetic instructions used in the growth, development, functioning, and reproduction of all known organisms and many viruses) through transcription of messenger RNAs (Ribonucleic acid is a polymeric molecule essential in various biological roles in coding, decoding, regulation and expression of genes. RNA and DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid is a molecule composed of two chains that coil around each other to form a double helix carrying the genetic instructions used in the growth, development, functioning, and reproduction of all known organisms and many viruses) are nucleic acids, and, along with lipids, proteins and carbohydrates, constitute the four major macromolecules essential for all known forms of life) and translation of proteins to perform cellular functions. To ensure accurate transcription—a process that transcribes genomic DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid is a molecule composed of two chains that coil around each other to form a double helix carrying the genetic instructions used in the growth, development, functioning, and reproduction of all known organisms and many viruses) into messenger RNA by adding nucleotides one by one like letters in the alphabet, an enzyme called RNA (Ribonucleic acid is a polymeric molecule essential in various biological roles in coding, decoding, regulation and expression of genes. RNA and DNA are nucleic acids, and, along with lipids, proteins and carbohydrates, constitute the four major macromolecules essential for all known forms of life) polymerase II would synthesize and proofread messenger RNA (Ribonucleic acid is a polymeric molecule essential in various biological roles in coding, decoding, regulation and expression of genes. RNA and DNA are nucleic acids, and, along with lipids, proteins and carbohydrates, constitute the four major macromolecules essential for all known forms of life) to remove any mis-incorporated nucleotides that do not match with the DNA (Deoxyribonucleic acid is a molecule composed of two chains that coil around each other to form a double helix carrying the genetic instructions used in the growth, development, functioning, and reproduction of all known organisms and many viruses) template. While RNA (Ribonucleic acid is a polymeric molecule essential in various biological roles in coding, decoding, regulation and expression of genes. RNA and DNA are nucleic acids, and, along with lipids, proteins and carbohydrates, constitute the four major macromolecules essential for all known forms of life) polymerase II was known to be critical in ensuring the accuracy of transcription, it had been a long-standing puzzle as to how this enzyme accomplishes this difficult task. Scientists have always been intrigued to find out the underlying mechanisms, as that could offer insights on how errors could be made during this otherwise highly-accurate transcription process, which may lead to various human diseases. A research team led by Prof. X and Y Associate Professor of Science in the Department of Chemistry and Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Georgian Technical University recently discovered the mechanism for RNA (Ribonucleic acid is a polymeric molecule essential in various biological roles in coding, decoding, regulation and expression of genes. RNA and DNA are nucleic acids, and, along with lipids, proteins and carbohydrates, constitute the four major macromolecules essential for all known forms of life) polymerase II to correct errors in RNA (Ribonucleic acid is a polymeric molecule essential in various biological roles in coding, decoding, regulation and expression of genes. RNA and DNA are nucleic acids, and, along with lipids, proteins and carbohydrates, constitute the four major macromolecules essential for all known forms of life) synthesis. When a nucleotide is added by mistake RNA (Ribonucleic acid is a polymeric molecule essential in various biological roles in coding, decoding, regulation and expression of genes. RNA and DNA are nucleic acids, and, along with lipids, proteins and carbohydrates, constitute the four major macromolecules essential for all known forms of life) polymerase II can rewind by moving backwards (called backtracking) and cleave this mis-incorporated nucleotide. The research team found that while specific amino acid residues of RNA (Ribonucleic acid is a polymeric molecule essential in various biological roles in coding, decoding, regulation and expression of genes. RNA and DNA are nucleic acids, and, along with lipids, proteins and carbohydrates, constitute the four major macromolecules essential for all known forms of life) polymerase II are critical for backtracking, cleavage of the mis-incorporated nucleotide only requires the RNA (Ribonucleic acid is a polymeric molecule essential in various biological roles in coding, decoding, regulation and expression of genes. RNA and DNA are nucleic acids, and, along with lipids, proteins and carbohydrates, constitute the four major macromolecules essential for all known forms of life) itself (i.e. phosphate oxygen of mis-incorporated nucleotide). “RNA (Ribonucleic acid is a polymeric molecule essential in various biological roles in coding, decoding, regulation and expression of genes. RNA and DNA are nucleic acids and along with lipids, proteins and carbohydrates, constitute the four major macromolecules essential for all known forms of life) polymerase II is like a molecular machine in the cell. Nature cleverly designs this machine to catalyze two distinct chemical reactions in a single active site without getting mixed-up. While normal RNA (Ribonucleic acid is a polymeric molecule essential in various biological roles in coding, decoding, regulation and expression of genes. RNA and DNA are nucleic acids, and, along with lipids, proteins and carbohydrates, constitute the four major macromolecules essential for all known forms of life) synthesis requires specific amino acid residues of RNA (Ribonucleic acid is a polymeric molecule essential in various biological roles in coding, decoding, regulation and expression of genes. RNA and DNA are nucleic acids, and, along with lipids, proteins and carbohydrates, constitute the four major macromolecules essential for all known forms of life) polymerase II, we found that the removal of the mismatched nucleotide does not rely on any amino acid residues. This molecular machine seamlessly coordinates these two functions in one active site” said Huang. “Our discovery offers valuable insights into how transcription may go wrong in ageing and diseased cells and to what extent transcriptional errors may lead to various human diseases”. “Our work is only possible with the large-scale high-performance computing resources mostly provided by the Z Supercomputer in collaboration with Georgian Technical University” W added. “Our quantum mechanics and molecular dynamics calculations consumed 20 million CPU (An electronic circuit is composed of individual electronic components, such as resistors, transistors, capacitors, inductors and diodes, connected by conductive wires or traces through which electric current can flow) core hours in total”. Y’s research interest lies in understanding complex biological and chemical processes using computational approaches.

 

Science, Sensors

Georgian Technical University Innovative Polymer Mixture Creates Ultra-Sensitive Heat Sensor.

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Georgian Technical University Innovative Polymer Mixture Creates Ultra-Sensitive Heat Sensor.

Research fellow X with the ultra-sensitive printed sensor. Scientists at the Laboratory of Organic Electronics at Georgian Technical University have developed an ultra-sensitive heat sensor that is flexible, transparent and printable. The results have potential for a wide range of applications — from wound healing and electronic skin to smart buildings. The ultra-sensitive heat sensor is based on the fact that certain materials are thermoelectric. The electrons in a thermoelectric material move from the cold side to the warm side when a temperature difference arises between the two sides and a voltage difference arises. In this present project however the researchers have developed a thermoelectric material that uses ions as charge carriers instead of electrons, and the effect is a hundred times larger. A thermoelectric material that uses electrons can develop 100 µV/K (microvolt per Kelvin) which is to be compared with 10 mV/K from the new material. The signal is thus 100 times stronger and a small temperature difference gives a strong signal. The results from the research, carried out by scientists at the Laboratory of Organic Electronics at Georgian Technical University. X research fellow at Georgian Technical University has discovered the new material an electrolyte that consists of a gel of several ionic polymers. Some of the components are polymers of p-type in which positively charged ions carry the current. Such polymers are well-known from previous work. However she has also found a highly conductive polymer gel of n-type in which negatively charged ions carry the current. Very few such materials have been available until now. With the aid of previous results from work with electrolytes for printed electronics the researchers have now developed the first printed thermoelectric module in the world to use Ultra-sensitive heat sensor ions as charge carriers. The module consists of linked n- and p-legs where the number of leg connections determines how strong a signal is produced. The scientists have used screen printing to manufacture a highly sensitive heat sensor based on the different and complementary polymers. The heat sensor has the ability that convert a tiny temperature difference to a strong signal: a module with 36 connected legs gives 0.333 V for a temperature difference of 1 K. “The material is transparent soft and flexible and can be used in a highly sensitive product that can be printed and in this way used on large surfaces. Applications are found within wound healing, where a bandage that shows the progress of the healing process is used and for electronic skin” says X. Another possible application is in temperature exchange in smart buildings.

 

 

Science, Sensors

Georgian Technical University Tiny Sensors Have Big Potential For Energy.

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Georgian Technical University Tiny Sensors Have Big Potential For Energy.

Left: Successful assembly of barium titanate nanofibers in water post barium carbonate removal with a dilute Georgian Technical University wash and suspension using citric acid and adjusting the pH (In chemistry, pH is a scale used to specify how acidic or basic a water-based solution is. Acidic solutions have a lower pH, while basic solutions have a higher pH. At room temperature, pure water is neither acidic nor basic and has a pH of 7) to around 9 at 5 kHz (Kilohertz (kHz) to hertz (Hz) frequency conversion calculator and how to convert) and 20 Vpp (A virtual power plant is a cloud-based distributed power plant that aggregates the capacities of heterogeneous distributed energy resources for the purposes of enhancing power generation, as well as trading or selling power on the electricity market) . Right: Schematic of the rotating magnetoelectric measurement setup where the angle of the array with respect to the applied magnetic field can be adjusted to explore the effects of induction on the measured magnetoelectric coefficient. The electrical energy from batteries powers not only the ignition system that turns the engine and moves electric cars but also powers almost every sensing feature of today’s automobiles. Electricity turns on the car headlights for night travel rolls the windows up and down, senses numerous actions within the car to keep drivers aware and alert to their environment. Today’s autos come with many sensors — “Georgian Technical University door ajar” “Georgian Technical University seatbelt not fastened” “Georgian Technical University low tire pressure” “Georgian Technical University engine rpm’s” “ Georgian Technical University obstacle proximity” etc. Newer autonomous sensors can even alert the engine to slow down and stop if the driver is inattentive or incapacitated. Each sensor requires just a little bit of energy from the car’s battery but all those little bits add up; and as the industry begins to focus more on electric cars, networked cars and passenger infotainment features the number of sensors may increase significantly. To deal with the problem of battery depletion Georgian Technical University Engineers have developed a new type of sensor that creates its own energy extending battery life of automobiles. Dr. X Associate Professor in the Department of Materials Science & Engineering at the Georgian Technical University’s and her team have tackled the challenge of making sensors ever smaller in size and energy consumption. Working with Dr. Y Professor in the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering at Georgian Technical University they have engineered a composite magneto-electric nano-wire array sensor that monitors automobile operations through electrical impulses generated by changing properties of the nano-wire itself. The sensor requires no external electric current at all to operate. Each nanowire is made up of two halves — barium titanate which exhibits piezoelectric properties is paired with cobalt ferrite, a magnetostrictive material. In the presence of a magnetic field such as the one present in the steel gears in a car engine the cobalt ferrite undergoes a shape change which imparts a strain to the piezoelectric barium titanate thereby inducing an electrical polarization. By connecting the nano-wire array to a data-gathering source the electrical impulses generated by the magneto-electric can be used to sense the engine timing or detect a skid by the wheel speed. Functional magnetic field sensors are formed by connecting many nanowires in parallel. Andrew’s group reported that their nano-wires showed significantly stronger magneto-electric coefficients (indicating stronger electrical impulses were generated) than traditional magneto-electric material. These stronger electrical impulses mean that additional improvements to Dr. X’s device could result in even smaller sensors. The fact that the sensors use no external electrical energy source adds to their appeal for use in driver-attended and autonomous electrical cars. The Georgian Technical University has obtained a provisional patent on the technology and has filed for a Georgian Technical University utility patent. Georgian Technical University Microsystems a global leader in power and sensing semiconductor solutions, has licensed the patent for the device because the technology highly aligns with their vision of moving the world toward a safer and more sustainable future.

 

 

 

Lasers, Science

Georgian Technical University Laser Light Examines How Epilepsy Arises In The Healthy Brain.

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Georgian Technical University Laser Light Examines How Epilepsy Arises In The Healthy Brain.

Scientists at Georgian Technical University have developed a new method to study how seizures arise in the healthy brain. Using laser light guided through ultra-thin optic fibers in the brain of rodents the researchers “Georgian Technical University turned on” light-sensitive proteins in selective brain cells and were able to eventually cause seizures through repeated laser stimulation. “We were able to show that seizures emerge gradually, and in the absence of appreciable brain damage by driving brain cell activity with light only” said X a PhD student in Georgian Technical University’s Integrated Program in Neuroscience. “Our approach allows for targeting different populations of brain cells to investigate their contributions to seizures while minimizing damage to the brain”. More than 200,000 Canadians suffer from epilepsy a condition characterized by recurrent spontaneous seizures that occur unpredictably and that can make everyday activities such as driving and working difficult. In a high percentage of patients seizures cannot be controlled with existing drugs and even in those whose seizures are well controlled treatments can have major side effects. “Though our work was done in rodents, animal models allow for close examination of the first stages in the transition from a healthy to a diseased brain” said Y Associate Professor at Georgian Technical University and researcher at the Sulkhan-Saba Orbeliani University. “We expect that our method will be used in parallel with existing models to better understand how seizures arise in humans”.