In the past few years, several novel analytical methods with high sensitivity and spatial-temporal resolution that enable qualitative and quantitative analysis at single-cell and subcellular levels have emerged. *
The four major areas of analytical methods usually reported are electrochemical analysis, super-resolution microscopy, mass spectrometry imaging, and microfluidics. *
Electrochemistry offers a distinctive and essential advantage in its ability to combine high sensitivity and easy handling with a light and portable instrumentation, thereby enabling miniaturized devices for micro-biosensor applications. *
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Bacterial cell division is a complex process requiring the coordination of multiple components to allow the appropriate spatial and temporal control of septum formation and cell scission. *
Peptidoglycan (PG) is the major structural component of the septum, and recent studies by Katarzyna Wacnik et al., in the human pathogen Staphylococcus aureus have revealed a complex, multistage PG architecture that develops during septation. *
Penicillin-binding proteins (PBPs) are essential for the final steps of PG biosynthesis; their transpeptidase activity links the peptide side chains of nascent glycan strands. PBP1 is required for cell division in S. aureus. *
Light-induced performance changes in metal halide perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have been studied intensively over the last decade, but little is known about the variation in microscopic optoelectronic properties of the perovskite heterojunctions in a completed device during operation.*
For the article “Operando Characterizations of Light-Induced Junction Evolution in Perovskite Solar Cells “ Chuanxiao Xiao, Yaxin Zhai, Zhaoning Song, Kang Wang, Changlei Wang, Chun-Sheng Jiang, Matthew C. Beard, Yanfa Yan and Mowafak Al-Jassim combined Kelvin probe force microscopy and transient reflection spectroscopy techniques to spatially resolve the evolution of junction properties during the operation of metal-halide PSCs and study the light-soaking effect.
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Ferroelectric polymer thin films crystallize in different phases and microstructures depending on fabrication conditions such as annealing temperature or layer deposition technique.*
In the article “Spherulite-like microstructure observed for spin-cast P(VDF-TrFE) thin films and their ferroelectric characteristics” Davide Disnan, Jonas Hafner, Michael Schneider and Ulrich Schmid demonstrate how the morphology of spin-cast poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene) (P(VDF-TrFE)) thin films changes as a function of annealing temperature from rice-like to spherulite-like microstructure, whereas the latter morphology is closer to the crystallization characteristic of poly(vinylidene-fluoride) (PVDF).*
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