We demonstrated a proton-based 3-terminal synapse device which shows symmetric conductance change characteristics. Using the optimized device, we successfully confirmed the improved classification accuracy of neural networks for on-chip training.

Exosomes are enclosed compartments that are released from cells and that can transport biological contents for the purpose of intercellular communications. Research into exosomes is hindered by their rarity. In this article, we introduce a device that uses centrifugal force and a filter with micro-sized pores to generate a large quantity of cell-derived nanovesicles. The device has a simple polycarbonate structure to hold the filter, and operates in a common centrifuge. Nanovesicles are similar in size and membrane structure to exosomes. Nanovesicles contain intracellular RNAs ranging from microRNA to mRNA, intracellular proteins, and plasma membrane proteins. The quantity of nanovesicles produced using the device is 250 times the quantity of naturally secreted exosomes. Also, the quantity of intracellular contents in nanovesicles is twice that in exosomes. Nanovesicles generated from murine embryonic stem cells can transfer RNAs to target cells. Therefore, this novel device and the nanovesicles that it generates are expected to be used in exosome-related research, and can be applied in various applications such as drug delivery and cell-based therapy.

Indoor dust EV, especially derived from Gram-negative bacteria, is a possible causative agent of neutrophilic airway diseases.

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A new hybrid-type micro-gripper that uses an integrated force sensor to control the gripping force was developed for handling micro-objects. The micro-gripper is composed of a piezoelectric multilayer bender for actuating the gripper fingers, silicon fingertips fabricated by use of silicon-based micromachining, and supplementary supports. The micro-gripper is referred to as a hybrid-type micro-gripper because it is composed of two main components: micro-fingertips fabricated using micromachining technology to integrate a very sensitive force sensor for measuring the gripping force, and piezoelectric gripper finger actuators that are capable of large gripping forces and moving strokes. A systematic design approach was applied to the design of each of components of the developed gripper, which made it possible to establish the functional requirements and design parameters of the micro-gripper. The micro-gripper was installed on a manual manipulator to assess its performance in tasks such as moving micro-objects from one position to a desired position. The gripping force signal was found to have a sensitivity of 667 lN/V and several micro-objects were successfully moved (grasped and released) with the developed gripper. It was found during the testing experiments that the frictional forces between the working plane and the micro-object could be utilized to facilitate the release of micro-objects from the micro-gripper.

Iron is one of the most studied chemical elements due to its sociotechnological and planetary importance; hence, understanding its structural transition dynamics is of vital interest. By combining a short pulse optical laser and an ultrashort free electron laser pulse, we have observed the subnanosecond structural dynamics of iron from high-quality x-ray diffraction data measured at 50-ps intervals up to 2500 ps. We unequivocally identify a three-wave structure during the initial compression and a two-wave structure during the decaying shock, involving all of the known structural types of iron (α-, γ-, and ε-phase). In the final stage, negative lattice pressures are generated by the propagation of rarefaction waves, leading to the formation of expanded phases and the recovery of γ-phase. Our observations demonstrate the unique capability of measuring the atomistic evolution during the entire lattice compression and release processes at unprecedented time and strain rate.

X-ray and neutron scattering studies were performed on DyB4 which exhibits both a quadrupolar ordering and a macroscopic lattice distortion. A forbidden reflection at 7.792 keV near the Dy L3 absorption edge is identified as a quadrupolar ordering peak, and the quadrupolar order and a monoclinic structural distortion develop concomitantly below 12.3 K as second-order-type phase transitions. Coupling between the quadrupolar order and the strain in DyB4 is directly demonstrated by observing that both order parameters are proportional to each other.

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