Behind the Paper
The real stories behind the latest research papers, from conception to publication, the highs and the lows
Delivery of local anaesthetics by a self-assembled supramolecular system mimicking their interactions with a sodium channel
We designed nanofibers that incorporate the tetrodotoxin binding peptide sequences from the voltage-gated sodium channel. These nanofibers allowed the specific binding and release of tetrodotoxin to achieve prolonged nerve blockade.
Contact tracing is an imperfect tool for controlling COVID-19 transmission
Contact tracing has the benefit of only affecting those that are at a higher risk of infection. However, it hasn't worked well in the UK. In this modelling study we examined why contract tracing has been ineffective and found that the populations adherence to the scheme is the most important factor.
Observation of higher-order non-Hermitian skin effect
An acoustic artificial crystal based on coupled ring waveguide resonators with biased loss presents spin-polarized, higher-order non-Hermitian skin effect in two dimensions.
Achieving adjustable elasticity with non-affine to affine transition
Researchers from the Chinese University of Hong Kong discovered a topology-correlated affinity transition in both 2D and 3D packing-derived networks. Based on this transition, they reveal the strategies to build multifunctional systems with adjustable elasticity.
