A statistical model has been developed and applied to interpret thermodynamic processes typically presented from the macroscopic, classical perspective. Through this model, students learn and apply the concepts of statistical mechanics, quantum mechanics, and classical thermodynamics in the analysis of the (i) constant volume heating, (ii)…

Over the last few decades, smart materials have become increasingly important in the design of products. Essentially, a smart material is one that has been designed to respond to a stimulus, such as a change in temperature or magnetic field, in a particular and useful way. This article looks at a range of smart materials that are relatively…

The Holy Grail in CVD community is to find precursors that can afford the following: good nucleation on a desired substrate and conformal deposition in high AR features. Good nucleation is not only necessary for getting ultra-thin films at low thicknesses; it also offers films that are smooth at higher thickness values. On the other hand,…

The concept of Lewis base activation of selenium Lewis acids has been effectively reduced to practice in the Lewis base catalyzed selenofunctionalization of unactivated olefins. In this reaction, the weakly acidic species, "N"-phenylselenyl succinimide, is cooperatively activated by the addition of a "soft" Lewis base donor (phosphine sulfides,…

Biochemistry education relies heavily on students' ability to visualize abstract cellular and molecular processes, mechanisms, and components. As such, biochemistry educators often turn to external representations to provide tangible, working models from which students' internal representations (mental models) can be constructed, evaluated, and…

A significant body of the literature in science education examines students' conceptions of the dissolution of ionic solids in water, often showing that students lack proper understanding of the particulate nature of dissolving materials as well as holding numerous misconceptions about the dissolution process. Consequently, chemical educators have…

An educational demonstration shows the combustion of carbon to carbon dioxide and then the reduction of carbon dioxide to carbon. A melee diamond is the source of the carbon and the reaction is carried out in a closed flask. The demonstration helps students to realize that diamonds are made of carbon and that atoms do not change or vanish in…

The electrochemical hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is growing in significance as society begins to rely more on renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power. Thus, research on designing new, inexpensive, and abundant HER catalysts is important. Here, we describe how a simple experiment combined with results from density functional…

Public funding for biomedical research is often justified as a means to encourage development of more (and better) treatments for disease. However, few studies have investigated the relationship between these expenditures and downstream pharmaceutical innovation. In particular, although recent analyses have shown a clear contribution of federally…

Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder consisting of a constellation of symptoms that sometimes occur as part of a complex disorder characterized by impairments in social interaction, communication and behavioral domains. It is a highly disabling disorder and there is a need for treatment targeting the core symptoms. Although autism is accepted…

One of the striking characteristics of fundamental biological processes, such as genetic inheritance, development and primary metabolism, is the limited amount of variation in the molecules involved. Natural selective pressures act strongly on these core processes and individuals carrying mutations and producing slightly sub-optimal versions of…

In a dynamic environment, there is an adaptive value in the ability of animals to acquire and express memories. That both simple and complex animals can learn is therefore not surprising. How animals have solved this problem genetically and anatomically probably lies somewhere in a range between a single molecular/anatomical mechanism that applies…

Background: Current genotype-phenotype correlations in Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) are struggling to give an explanation of the diversity in phenotype and there is a need to move towards a molecular understanding of PWS. A range of functions related to glycoproteins are involved in the pathophysiology of PWS and it may be that abnormal…

In this review, we trace the origins and follow the development of mitochondrial medicine from the premolecular era (1962-1988) based on clinical clues, muscle morphology, and biochemistry into the molecular era that started in 1988 and is still advancing at a brisk pace. We have tried to stress conceptual advances, such as endosymbiosis,…

The extensive conservation of mitochondrial structure, composition, and function across evolution offers a unique opportunity to expand our understanding of human mitochondrial biology and disease. By investigating the biology of much simpler model organisms, it is often possible to answer questions that are unreachable at the clinical level.…