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Biological sensory organelles are often structurally optimized for high sensitivity. Tactile hairs or bristles are ubiquitous mechanosensory organelles in insects. The bristle features a tapering spine that not only serves as a lever arm to promote signal transduction, but also a clever design to protect it from mechanical breaking. A hierarchical distribution over the body further improves the signal detection from all directions. We mimic these features by using synthetic zinc oxide microparticles, each having spherically-distributed, high-aspect-ratio, and high-density nanostructured spines resembling biological bristles. Sensors based on thin films assembled from these microparticles achieve static-pressure detection down to 0.015 Pa, sensitivity up to 121 kPa −1 , and a strain gauge factor >10 4 , showing supreme overall performance. Other properties including a robust cyclability >2000, fast response time ~7 ms, and low-temperature synthesis compatible to various integrations further indicate the potential of this sensor technology in applying to wearable technologies and human interfaces. The potential of electromechanical sensors has been limited by low volumetric density in sensing sites. Here, the authors demonstrate ultrasensitive pressure and strain sensors using ZnO microparticles that have high-aspect ratio and high-density nanostructured spines mimicking bristles in insects.

Humanity has transitioned from the industrial era to the era of the digital intelligence economy. In this context, the Chinese government has emphasized the need to “accelerate the development of the digital intelligence economy and promote its deep integration with the real economy.” For enterprises, this integration fundamentally entails a process of digital intelligence transformation. Simultaneously, ESG performance plays a critical role in enabling this enterprise transformation. Together, digital intelligence transformation and ESG form a synergistic relationship, empowering enterprises to secure a favorable position in innovation-driven competition. Based on a sample of A-share listed companies spanning from 2004 to 2023, this paper empirically investigates the impact of digital transformation and ESG performance on corporate innovation performance. The findings reveal an inverted U-shaped relationship between enterprise digitalization and innovation performance, while ESG performance positively influences innovation performance. Furthermore, digital transformation and ESG performance positively reinforce each other, thereby collectively enhancing enterprise innovation performance.

Two graphene monolayers twisted by a small magic angle exhibit nearly flat bands, leading to correlated electronic states. Here we study a related but different system with reduced symmetry - twisted double bilayer graphene (TDBG), consisting of two Bernal stacked bilayer graphenes, twisted with respect to one another. Unlike the monolayer case, we show that isolated flat bands only appear on application of a vertical displacement field. We construct a phase diagram as a function of twist angle and displacement field, incorporating interactions via a Hartree-Fock approximation. At half-filling, ferromagnetic insulators are stabilized with valley Chern number C v = ± 2 . Upon doping, ferromagnetic fluctuations are argued to lead to spin-triplet superconductivity from pairing between opposite valleys. We highlight a novel orbital effect arising from in-plane fields plays an important role in interpreting experiments. Combined with recent experimental findings, our results establish TDBG as a tunable platform to realize rare phases in conventional solids. Twisted bilayer graphene exhibits correlated electronic phases and superconductivity, but its precise nature is under debate. Here, Lee and Khalaf et al. study a twisted double bilayer graphene, where ferromagnetic insulator and spin triplet superconducting phases can be stabilized.

An electronic double layer, subjected to a high magnetic field, can form an exciton condensate: a Bose–Einstein condensate of Coulomb-bound electron–hole pairs. Now, exciton condensation is reported for a graphene/boron-nitride/graphene structure. An exciton condensate is a Bose–Einstein condensate of electron and hole pairs bound by the Coulomb interaction 1 , 2 . In an electronic double layer (EDL) subject to strong magnetic fields, filled Landau states in one layer bind with empty states of the other layer to form an exciton condensate 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 . Here we report exciton condensation in a bilayer graphene EDL separated by hexagonal boron nitride. Driving current in one graphene layer generates a near-quantized Hall voltage in the other layer, resulting in coherent exciton transport 4 , 6 . Owing to the strong Coulomb coupling across the atomically thin dielectric, quantum Hall drag in graphene appears at a temperature ten times higher than previously observed in a GaAs EDL. The wide-range tunability of densities and displacement fields enables exploration of a rich phase diagram of Bose–Einstein condensates across Landau levels with different filling factors and internal quantum degrees of freedom. The observed robust exciton condensation opens up opportunities to investigate various many-body exciton phases.

Employing renewable materials for fabricating clean energy harvesting devices can further improve sustainability. Microorganisms can be mass produced with renewable feedstocks. Here, we demonstrate that it is possible to engineer microbial biofilms as a cohesive, flexible material for long-term continuous electricity production from evaporating water. Single biofilm sheet (~40 µm thick) serving as the functional component in an electronic device continuously produces power density (~1 μW/cm 2 ) higher than that achieved with thicker engineered materials. The energy output is comparable to that achieved with similar sized biofilms catalyzing current production in microbial fuel cells, without the need for an organic feedstock or maintaining cell viability. The biofilm can be sandwiched between a pair of mesh electrodes for scalable device integration and current production. The devices maintain the energy production in ionic solutions and can be used as skin-patch devices to harvest electricity from sweat and moisture on skin to continuously power wearable devices. Biofilms made from different microbial species show generic current production from water evaporation. These results suggest that we can harness the ubiquity of biofilms in nature as additional sources of biomaterial for evaporation-based electricity generation in diverse aqueous environments. Though water evaporation-driven electricity generation is an attractive sustainable energy production strategy, existing electronic devices suffer from poor performance or is costly. Here, the authors report sustainable biofilms for efficient, low-cost evaporation-based electricity production

Background Chemoresistance is a major factor contributing to the poor prognosis of patients with pancreatic cancer, and cancer stemness is one of the most crucial factors associated with chemoresistance and a very promising direction for cancer treatment. However, the exact molecular mechanisms of cancer stemness have not been completely elucidated. Methods m 6 A-RNA immunoprecipitation and sequencing were used to screen m 6 A-related mRNAs and lncRNAs. qRT-PCR and FISH were utilized to analyse DDIT4-AS1 expression. Spheroid formation, colony formation, Western blot and flow cytometry assays were performed to analyse the cancer stemness and chemosensitivity of PDAC cells. Xenograft experiments were conducted to analyse the tumour formation ratio and growth in vivo. RNA sequencing, Western blot and bioinformatics analyses were used to identify the downstream pathway of DDIT4-AS1. IP, RIP and RNA pulldown assays were performed to test the interaction between DDIT4-AS1, DDIT4 and UPF1. Patient-derived xenograft (PDX) mouse models were generated to evaluate chemosensitivities to GEM. Results DDIT4-AS1 was identified as one of the downstream targets of ALKBH5, and recruitment of HuR onto m 6 A-modified sites is essential for DDIT4-AS1 stabilization. DDIT4-AS1 was upregulated in PDAC and positively correlated with a poor prognosis. DDIT4-AS1 silencing inhibited stemness and enhanced chemosensitivity to GEM (Gemcitabine). Mechanistically, DDIT4-AS1 promoted the phosphorylation of UPF1 by preventing the binding of SMG5 and PP2A to UPF1, which decreased the stability of the DDIT4 mRNA and activated the mTOR pathway. Furthermore, suppression of DDIT4-AS1 in a PDX-derived model enhanced the antitumour effects of GEM on PDAC. Conclusions The ALKBH5-mediated m 6 A modification led to DDIT4-AS1 overexpression in PDAC, and DDIT-AS1 increased cancer stemness and suppressed chemosensitivity to GEM by destabilizing DDIT4 and activating the mTOR pathway. Approaches targeting DDIT4-AS1 and its pathway may be an effective strategy for the treatment of chemoresistance in PDAC.

Paenibacillus is a large genus of Gram-positive, facultative anaerobic, endospore-forming bacteria. The genus Paenibacillus currently comprises more than 150 named species, approximately 20 of which have nitrogen-fixation ability. The N 2 -fixing Paenibacillus strains have potential uses as a bacterial fertilizer in agriculture. In this study, 179 bacterial strains were isolated by using nitrogen-free medium after heating at 85 °C for 10 min from 69 soil samples collected from different plant rhizospheres in different areas. Of the 179 bacterial strains, 25 Paenibacillus strains had nifH gene encoding Fe protein of nitrogenase and showed nitrogenase activities. Of the 25 N 2 -fixing Paenibacillus strains, 22 strains produced indole-3-acetic acid (IAA). 21 strains out of the 25 N 2 -fixing Paenibacillus strains inhibited at least one of the 6 plant pathogens Rhizoctonia cerealis , Fusarium graminearum , Gibberella zeae , Fusarium solani , Colletotrichum gossypii and Alternaria longipes . 18 strains inhibited 5 plant pathogens and Paenibacillus sp. SZ-13b could inhibit the growth of all of the 6 plant pathogens. According to the nitrogenase activities, antibacterial capacities and IAA production, we chose eight strains to inoculate wheat, cucumber and tomato. Our results showed that the 5 strains Paenibacillus sp. JS-4, Paenibacillus sp. SZ-10, Paenibacillus sp. SZ-14, Paenibacillus sp. BJ-4 and Paenibacillus sp. SZ-15 significantly promoted plant growth and enhanced the dry weight of plants. Hence, the five strains have the greater potential to be used as good candidates for biofertilizer to facilitate sustainable development of agriculture.

Memristive devices are promising candidates to emulate biological computing. However, the typical switching voltages (0.2-2 V) in previously described devices are much higher than the amplitude in biological counterparts. Here we demonstrate a type of diffusive memristor, fabricated from the protein nanowires harvested from the bacterium Geobacter sulfurreducens , that functions at the biological voltages of 40-100 mV. Memristive function at biological voltages is possible because the protein nanowires catalyze metallization. Artificial neurons built from these memristors not only function at biological action potentials (e.g., 100 mV, 1 ms) but also exhibit temporal integration close to that in biological neurons. The potential of using the memristor to directly process biosensing signals is also demonstrated. Designing energy efficient systems capable to directly process signals at biological voltages remains a challenge. Here, the authors propose a bio-compatible memristor device based on protein-nanowire dielectric, harvested from the bacterium Geobactor sulfurreducens, working at biological voltages.

When a strong magnetic field is applied to a two-dimensional electron system, interactions between the electrons can cause fractional quantum Hall (FQH) effects1,2. Bringing two two-dimensional conductors close to each other, a new set of correlated states can emerge due to interactions between electrons in the same and opposite layers3–6. Here we report interlayer-correlated FQH states in a device consisting of two parallel graphene layers separated by a thin insulator. Current flow in one layer generates different quantized Hall signals in the two layers. This result is interpreted using composite fermion (CF) theory7 with different intralayer and interlayer Chern–Simons gauge-field couplings. We observe FQH states corresponding to integer values of CF Landau level (LL) filling in both layers, as well as ‘semiquantized’ states, where a full CF LL couples to a continuously varying partially filled CF LL. We also find a quantized state between two coupled half-filled CF LLs and attribute it to an interlayer CF exciton condensate.

Cardiac microtissues provide a promising platform for disease modeling and developmental studies, which require the close monitoring of the multimodal excitation-contraction dynamics. However, no existing assessing tool can track these multimodal dynamics across the live tissue. We develop a tissue-like mesh bioelectronic system to track these multimodal dynamics. The mesh system has tissue-level softness and cell-level dimensions to enable stable embedment in the tissue. It is integrated with an array of graphene sensors, which uniquely converges both bioelectrical and biomechanical sensing functionalities in one device. The system achieves stable tracking of the excitation-contraction dynamics across the tissue and throughout the developmental process, offering comprehensive assessments for tissue maturation, drug effects, and disease modeling. It holds the promise to provide more accurate quantification of the functional, developmental, and pathophysiological states in cardiac tissues, creating an instrumental tool for improving tissue engineering and studies. Tracking electrical and mechanical activity in in-vitro cardiac microtissues is challenging. Here, authors develop tissue-like electronics that can ‘grow’ with the cardiac microtissues and realize the simultaneous tracking of both signals.