Synthetic polymers are widely used materials, as attested by a production of more than 200 millions of tons per year, and are typically composed of linear repeat units. They may also be branched or irregularly crosslinked. Here, we introduce a two-dimensional polymer with internal periodicity composed of areal repeat units. This is an extension of Staudinger's polymerization concept (to form ma...

A novel method was developed for the preparation of highly efficient anion- and cation-exchange microHPLC columns using an on-column polymerization of methacrylates having amine or sulfonic acid functional groups onto monolithic silica capillary columns modified with 3-methacryloxypropyltriethoxysilane as the anchor groups. The chromatographic evaluation of the columns using nucleic acids, nucl...

It is a long-standing challenge to combine mixed monomers into multiblock copolymer (MBC) in a onepot/one-step polymerization manner. We report the first example of MBC with biodegradable polycarbonate and polyester blocks that were synthesized from highly efficient one-pot/one-step polymerization of cyclohexene oxide (CHO), CO2 and 3-caprolactone (3-CL) in the presence of zinc– cobalt double m...

The DNA-templated polymerization of synthetic building blocks provides a potential route to the laboratory evolution of sequence-defined polymers with structures and properties not necessarily limited to those of natural biopolymers. We previously reported the efficient and sequence-specific DNA-templated polymerization of peptide nucleic acid (PNA) aldehydes. Here, we report the enzyme-free, D...

The formation of a growth cone at the tip of a transected axon is a crucial step in the subsequent regeneration of the amputated axon. During this process, the transected axon is transformed from a static segment into a motile growth cone. Despite the importance of this process for regeneration of the severed axon, little is known about the mechanisms underlying this transformation. Recent stud...

Myoblast fusion is an essential step during muscle differentiation. Previous studies in Drosophila have revealed a signaling pathway that relays the fusion signal from the plasma membrane to the actin cytoskeleton. However, the function for the actin cytoskeleton in myoblast fusion remains unclear. Here we describe the characterization of solitary (sltr), a component of the myoblast fusion sign...

Advances in the mechanical properties of composite resins have allowed for their use in posterior teeth. Conventional resins have several problems associated with polymerization shrinkage stress. The development of "bulk-fill" resins has allowed for their use in single increments up to depths of 4 mm, with very low polymerization shrinkage stress. Nevertheless, differences in anatomy and the de...

Polymeric coatings such as polyurethanes, acrylic, epoxies and silicones have been used for over 40 years to protect printed wiring boards (PWB) from moisture, handling and environmental influences. Special semiconductor grade polymers have been developed for chip passivation layers. Polyimide became the standard passivation layer for memory chips and other devices needing surface protection fo...

A theory of drop-wise addition polymerization is developed. Because of the linear growth of the reaction volume V , the system gives rise to a new type of distribution function for cyclic species that can be expressed by the sum of two terms: the conventional distribution term and a extra term due to the dilution effect. The present result is an extension of the conventional homogeneous polymer...

The assembly of protein filaments drives many cellular processes, from nucleoid segregation, growth, and division in single cells to muscle contraction in animals. In eukaryotes, shape and motility are regulated through cycles of polymerization and depolymerization of actin cytoskeletal networks. In bacteria, the actin homolog MreB forms filaments that coordinate the cell-wall synthesis machine...