King Abdullah University of Science and Technology

About: King Abdullah University of Science and Technology is a education organization based out in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Catalysis & Membrane. The organization has 6221 authors who have published 22019 publications receiving 625706 citations. The organization is also known as: KAUST.

Phosphonic Acids for Interfacial Engineering of Transparent Conductive Oxides

Abstract: Transparent conducting oxides (TCOs), such as indium tin oxide and zinc oxide, play an important role as electrode materials in organic-semiconductor devices. The properties of the inorganic–organic interface—the offset between the TCO Fermi level and the relevant transport level, the extent to which the organic semiconductor can wet the oxide surface, and the influence of the surface on semiconductor morphology—significantly affect device performance. This review surveys the literature on TCO modification with phosphonic acids (PAs), which has increasingly been used to engineer these interfacial properties. The first part outlines the relevance of TCO surface modification to organic electronics, surveys methods for the synthesis of PAs, discusses the modes by which they can bind to TCO surfaces, and compares PAs to alternative organic surface modifiers. The next section discusses methods of PA monolayer deposition, the kinetics of monolayer formation, and structural evidence regarding molecular orientati...

Diet strongly influences the gut microbiota of surgeonfishes.

Abstract: Intestinal tracts are among the most densely populated microbial ecosystems. Gut microbiota and their influence on the host have been well characterized in terrestrial vertebrates but much less so in fish. This is especially true for coral reef fishes, which are among the most abundant groups of vertebrates on earth. Surgeonfishes (family: Acanthuridae) are part of a large and diverse family of reef fish that display a wide range of feeding behaviours, which in turn has a strong impact on the reef ecology. Here, we studied the composition of the gut microbiota of nine surgeonfish and three nonsurgeonfish species from the Red Sea. High-throughput pyrosequencing results showed that members of the phylum Firmicutes, especially of the genus Epulopiscium, were dominant in the gut microbiota of seven surgeonfishes. Even so, there were large inter- and intraspecies differences in the diversity of surgeonfish microbiota. Replicates of the same host species shared only a small number of operational taxonomic units (OTUs), although these accounted for most of the sequences. There was a statistically significant correlation between the phylogeny of the host and their gut microbiota, but the two were not completely congruent. Notably, the gut microbiota of three nonsurgeonfish species clustered with some surgeonfish species. The microbiota of the macro- and microalgavores was distinct, while the microbiota of the others (carnivores, omnivores and detritivores) seemed to be transient and dynamic. Despite some anomalies, both host phylogeny and diet were important drivers for the intestinal microbial community structure of surgeonfishes from the Red Sea.

Designing 3D Biomorphic Nitrogen‐Doped MoSe2/Graphene Composites toward High‐Performance Potassium‐Ion Capacitors

Abstract: Y.Y.Y. and Z.T.S. contributed equally to this work. This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51702225), National Key Research and Development Program (2016YFA0200103), and Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province (BK20170336). The authors acknowledge the support from Suzhou Key Laboratory for Advanced Carbon Materials and Wearable Energy Technologies, Suzhou, China.

CRISPR base editors: genome editing without double-stranded breaks

Abstract: The CRISPR (clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat)/Cas9 adaptive immunity system has been harnessed for genome editing applications across eukaryotic species, but major drawbacks, such as the inefficiency of precise base editing and off-target activities, remain. A catalytically inactive Cas9 variant (dead Cas9, dCas9) has been fused to diverse functional domains for targeting genetic and epigenetic modifications, including base editing, to specific DNA sequences. As base editing does not require the generation of double-strand breaks, dCas9 and Cas9 nickase have been used to target deaminase domains to edit specific loci. Adenine and cytidine deaminases convert their respective nucleotides into other DNA bases, thereby offering many possibilities for DNA editing. Such base-editing enzymes hold great promise for applications in basic biology, trait development in crops, and treatment of genetic diseases. Here, we discuss recent advances in precise gene editing using different platforms as well as their potential applications in basic biology and biotechnology.

Ultrasensitive, Stretchable Strain Sensors Based on Fragmented Carbon Nanotube Papers.

Abstract: The development of strain sensors featuring both ultra high sensitivity and high stretchability is still a challenge. We demonstrate that strain sensors based on fragmented single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) paper embedded in poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) can sustain their sensitivity even at very high strain levels (with a gauge factor of over 107 at 50% strain). This record sensitivity is ascribed to the low initial electrical resistance (5–28 Ω) of the SWCNT paper and the wide change in resistance (up to 106 Ω) governed by the percolated network of SWCNT in the cracked region. The sensor response remains nearly unchanged after 10 000 strain cycles at 20% proving the robustness of this technology. This fragmentation based sensing system brings opportunities to engineer highly sensitive stretchable sensors.