PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

New approach to form non-equilibrium structures

By injecting energy through oscillations, Northwestern University researchers can force particles to self assemble under non-equilibrium conditions

2014-07-24
(Press-News.org) Although most natural and synthetic processes prefer to settle into equilibrium—a state of unchanging balance without potential or energy—it is within the realm of non-equilibrium conditions where new possibilities lie. Non-equilibrium systems experience constant changes in energy and phases, such as temperature fluctuations, freezing and melting, or movement. These conditions allow humans to regulate their body temperature, airplanes to fly, and the Earth to rumble with seismic activity.

But even though these conditions exist naturally and are required for the most basic life, they are rarely understood and difficult to find in synthetic materials.

"In equilibrium thermodynamics, we know everything," said Northwestern University's Igal Szleifer. "Non-equilibrium thermodynamics is an old subject, but we don't have a complete set of rules for it. There are no guidelines."

Szleifer is the Christina Enroth-Cugell Professor of Biomedical Engineering and professor of chemical and biological engineering in Northwestern's McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science, professor of chemistry in the Weinberg College of Arts and Science, and professor of medicine at the Feinberg School of Medicine.

Szleifer, his postdoctoral fellow Mario Tagliazucchi, and Emily Weiss, the Irving M. Klotz Research Professor of Chemistry at Weinberg, have developed a new technique for creating non-equilibrium systems, which will bring scientists closer to understanding the fundamentals of the mysterious topic. Their work is described in the paper "Dissipative self-assembly of particles interacting through time-oscillatory potentials," which was featured in the June 23 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Past research has shown that theoretical, non-equilibrium particle structures can self-organize when continuously injected with energy, but strategies for injecting energy were limited.

"Think about us as humans," Szleifer said. "For us to be alive, we need to use energy all the time. In order to do that, we have to be out of equilibrium. We are trying to understand non-equilibrium assembly systems, so we have to give them energy."

Using models and simulations, Tagliazucchi, Weiss, and Szleifer found that they could give equilibrium systems energy by using a mixture of pH-responsive particles. Varying pH levels flipped the electric charges of the particles, causing them to oscillate and create the energy needed to assemble into non-equilibrium structures.

"By controlling the structure of the material, we can control its properties as well," Szleifer said. "The moment you stop the oscillations, the structure disappears."

The oscillatory method has allowed Szleifer and his collaborators to create novel structures that are impossible to find in equilibrium conditions. He said scientists could potentially determine how they want particles to interact and then tailor oscillations to lead to that outcome.

"For a number of years, my group has tried to find rules for self assembly," Szleifer said. "This is building toward that. We want to make guidelines for experimentalists."

INFORMATION: This work was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy.


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Stanford biologist warns of early stages of Earth's 6th mass extinction event

2014-07-24
The planet's current biodiversity, the product of 3.5 billion years of evolutionary trial and error, is the highest in the history of life. But it may be reaching a tipping point. In a new review of scientific literature and analysis of data published in Science, an international team of scientists cautions that the loss and decline of animals is contributing to what appears to be the early days of the planet's sixth mass biological extinction event. Since 1500, more than 320 terrestrial vertebrates have become extinct. Populations of the remaining species show a 25 ...

Antioxidant biomaterial promotes healing

2014-07-24
When a foreign material like a medical device or surgical implant is put inside the human body, the body always responds. According to Northwestern University's Guillermo Ameer, most of the time, that response can be negative and affect the device's function. "You will always get an inflammatory response to some degree," said Ameer, professor of biomedical engineering in Northwestern's McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science and professor of surgery in the Feinberg School of Medicine. "A problem with commonly used plastic materials, in particular, is that ...

Moose drool inhibits growth of toxic fungus: York U research

Moose drool inhibits growth of toxic fungus: York U research
2014-07-24
TORONTO, June 24, 2014 – Some sticky research out of York University shows a surprisingly effective way to fight against a certain species of toxic grass fungus: moose saliva (yes… moose saliva). Published in this month's Biology Letters, "Ungulate saliva inhibits a grass–endophyte mutualism" shows that moose and reindeer saliva, when applied to red fescue grass (which hosts a fungus called epichloë festucae that produces the toxin ergovaline) results in slower fungus growth and less toxicity. "Plants have evolved defense mechanisms to protect themselves, such as thorns, ...

Study shows role of media in sharing life events

2014-07-24
MADISON — To share is human. And the means to share personal news — good and bad — have exploded over the last decade, particularly social media and texting. But until now, all research about what is known as "social sharing," or the act of telling others about the important events in our lives, has been restricted to face-to-face interactions. A new study, published in the current issue of the journal Computers in Human Behavior, investigates what happens when people share via new media. What media do people choose for sharing their important personal events? How ...

Election surprises tend to erode trust in government

2014-07-24
Athens, Ga. – When asked who is going to win an election, people tend to predict their own candidate will come out on top. When that doesn't happen, according to a new study from the University of Georgia, these "surprised losers" often have less trust in government and democracy. And the news media may be partly to blame, according to Barry Hollander, author of the study and UGA professor in the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication. "You need the trust of those in a democracy for democracy to be successful," said Hollander. "We have become more fragmented ...

Link between ritual circumcision procedure and herpes infection in infants examined

2014-07-24
PHILADELPHA—A rare procedure occasionally performed during Jewish circumcisions that involves direct oral suction is a likely source of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) transmissions documented in infants between 1988 and 2012, a literature review conducted by Penn Medicine researchers and published online in the Journal of the Pediatric Infectious Disease Society found. The reviewers, from Penn's Center for Evidence-based Practice, identified 30 reported cases in New York, Canada and Israel. The practice—known as metzitzah b'peh—and its link to HSV-1 infections ...

Penn study: Incisionless transcatheter aortic valve replacement surgery cuts hospital length of stay

2014-07-24
PHILADELPHIA – New research from Penn Medicine shows that incisionless transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) surgery cuts length of hospital stay by 30 percent and has no impact on post-operative vascular complication rates when compared with conventional transfemoral TAVR, which requires an incision in the groin. The complete study is available in the current issue of Circulation: Cardiovascular Interventions. TAVR involves the replacement of the aortic valve without a traditional open-heart surgical approach. It is a treatment for aortic stenosis, a narrowing ...

Piggy-backing cells hold clue to skin cancer growth

2014-07-24
Skin Cancer cells work together to spread further and faster, according to a new study published in Cell Reports. The discovery could lead to new drugs to tackle melanoma, the most deadly form of skin cancer. Cancer Research UK scientists at The University of Manchester found that some melanoma cells are particularly fast growing, but not very good at invading the surrounding tissue, while other melanoma cells are the opposite – highly invasive but slow-growing. In a tumour, the faster growing cells 'piggy-back' along with the more invasive cells, so together they ...

Rutgers study explores attitudes, preferences toward post-Sandy rebuilding

2014-07-24
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. – A yearlong study funded by the New Jersey Recovery Fund and conducted by researchers at the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University has found that individual property owners in Sandy-affected towns are skeptical about the likelihood of community-based rebuilding solutions. Of the more than 400 online survey respondents, 45 percent indicated they were "pessimistic" or "very pessimistic" that the parts of their town affected by Superstorm Sandy would be rebuilt better than they were before the storm; another 24 ...

Joblessness could kill you, but recessions could be good for your health

Joblessness could kill you, but recessions could be good for your health
2014-07-24
Being unemployed increases your risk of death, but recessions decrease it. Sound paradoxical? Researchers thought so too. While previous studies of individuals have shown that employees who lose their jobs have a higher mortality rate, more comprehensive studies have shown, unexpectedly, that population mortality actually declines as unemployment rates increase. Researchers from Drexel University and the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor set out to better understand these seemingly contradictory findings. Using a nationally representative panel of individuals across ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Thirty-year mystery of dissonance in the “ringing” of black holes explained

Less intensive works best for agricultural soil

Arctic rivers project receives “national champion” designation from frontiers foundation

Computational biology paves the way for new ALS tests

Study offers new hope for babies born with opioid withdrawal syndrome

UT, Volkswagen Group of America celebrate research partnership

New Medicare program could dramatically improve affordability for cancer drugs – if patients enroll

Are ‘zombie’ skin cells harmful or helpful? The answer may be in their shapes

University of Cincinnati Cancer Center presents research at AACR 2025

Head and neck, breast, lung and survivorship studies headline Dana-Farber research at AACR Annual Meeting 2025

AACR: Researchers share promising results from MD Anderson clinical trials

New research explains why our waistlines expand in middle age

Advancements in muon detection: Taishan Antineutrino Observatory's innovative top veto tracker

Chips off the old block

Microvascular decompression combined with nerve combing for atypical trigeminal neuralgia

Cutting the complexity from digital carpentry

Lung immune cell type “quietly” controls inflammation in COVID-19

Fiscal impact of expanded Medicare coverage for GLP-1 receptor agonists to treat obesity

State and sociodemographic trends in US cigarette smoking with future projections

Young adults drive historic decline in smoking

NFCR congratulates Dr. Robert C. Bast, Jr. on receiving the AACR-Daniel D. Von Hoff Award for Outstanding Contributions to Education and Training in Cancer Research

Chimpanzee stem cells offer new insights into early embryonic development

This injected protein-like polymer helps tissues heal after a heart attack

FlexTech inaugural issue launches, pioneering interdisciplinary innovation in flexible technology

In Down syndrome mice, 40Hz light and sound improve cognition, neurogenesis, connectivity

Methyl eugenol: potential to inhibit oxidative stress, address related diseases, and its toxicological effects

A vascularized multilayer chip reveals shear stress-induced angiogenesis in diverse fluid conditions

AI helps unravel a cause of Alzheimer's disease and identify a therapeutic candidate

Coalition of Autism Scientists critiques US Department of Health and Human Services Autism Research Initiative

Structure dictates effectiveness, safety in nanomedicine

[Press-News.org] New approach to form non-equilibrium structures
By injecting energy through oscillations, Northwestern University researchers can force particles to self assemble under non-equilibrium conditions