Jožef Stefan Institute

About: Jožef Stefan Institute is a facility organization based out in Ljubljana, Slovenia. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Liquid crystal & Dielectric. The organization has 3828 authors who have published 12614 publications receiving 291025 citations.

Cysteine cathepsins in the immune response

Abstract: Antigen (Ag) processing by major histocompatibility complex class II (MHC) class II molecules is tightly linked with the proteases of the endosomal/lysosomal system Cysteine (Cys) cathepsins, which constitute a major portion of this proteolytic system, have been found to have essential roles in both Ag processing and maturation of the MHC class II molecules In this review, we will cover some specific functions of individual Cys cathepsins and particularly those most relevant to the immune system

From nucleation to nanowires: a single-step process in reactive plasmas

Abstract: This feature article introduces a deterministic approach for the rapid, single-step, direct synthesis of metal oxide nanowires. This approach is based on the exposure of thin metal samples to reactive oxygen plasmas and does not require any intervening processing or external substrate heating. The critical roles of the reactive oxygen plasmas, surface processes, and plasma-surface interactions that enable this growth are critically examined by using a deterministic viewpoint. The essentials of the experimental procedures and reactor design are presented and related to the key process requirements. The nucleation and growth kinetics is discussed for typical solid–liquid–solid and vapor–solid–solid mechanisms related to the synthesis of the oxide nanowires of metals with low (Ga, Cd) and high (Fe) melting points, respectively. Numerical simulations are focused on the possibility to predict the nanowire nucleation points through the interaction of the plasma radicals and ions with the nanoscale morphological features on the surface, as well as to control the localized ‘hot spots’ that in turn determine the nanowire size and shape. This generic approach can be applied to virtually any oxide nanoscale system and further confirms the applicability of the plasma nanoscience approaches for deterministic nanoscale synthesis and processing.