Nature Materials contents: November 2013 Volume 12 Number 11 pp 945-1078

Advertisement How to maximise nanopatterning performance of your FIB-SEM? Visit Raith and learn how ELPHY's MultiBeam 's FLEXposureTM patterning modes improve FIB-SEM lithography. TABLE OF CONTENTS November 2013 Volume 12, Issue 11 Editorials Research Highlights News and Views Commentaries Reviews Letters Articles Erratum Advertisement   Frontiers in Chemistry Research Topics are a great opportunity for you to highlight your research focus by creating an online dialogue on a focused research area, with manuscripts encompassing recent advancements, the latest methods, opinions, and more. Our platform makes launching and managing a Research Topic a straightforward process and you will have the full support of the Frontiers editorial office through every step.  You can find out more on how to suggest a Research Topic here  Subscribe   Facebook   RSS   Recommend to library   Twitter   Advertisement Nature Communications is ranked #3 in the Multidisciplinary Sciences with an Impact Factor of 10.015* Your research. Our reach. Together we make an impact.  nature.com/naturecommunications  *2012 Journal Citation Reports® (Thomson Reuters, 2013)   Insight Top Nature Materials Insight – Drug delivery Insight issue: November 2013 Volume 12 No 11 Table of Contents The design and use of biocompatible materials to parcel up and deliver drugs to specific locations in the human body is at the forefront of biomedical research. The collection of articles in this Insight discusses the latest advances and current challenges in the design of materials for the delivery of therapeutics, with a focus on clinical translation. Editorials Top A disappointing reform   p945 doi:10.1038/nmat3797 French research requires a deeper reform with a vision — instead of limited organizational changes that do not provide a new competitive impulse to further develop research capabilities. Research Highlights Top Aerobic oxidation | Shake to order | Crack healing by disclinations | Corona creation | Frustrating helium News and Views Top Conjugated polymers: Long and winding polymeric roads   pp947 - 948 Vitaly Podzorov doi:10.1038/nmat3790 Poorly ordered films of conjugated polymers that show high charge mobility recently challenged the idea that disorder is detrimental for electrical conduction. Systematic studies now reveal that long polymeric chains can bridge small crystalline domains thus supporting charge transport on length scales relevant for device operation. See also: Article by Noriega et al. Cellular mechanosensing: Sharing the force   pp948 - 949 Andreas R. Bausch and Ulrich S. Schwarz doi:10.1038/nmat3791 Cells can sense their environment by applying and responding to mechanical forces, yet how these forces are transmitted through the cell's cytoskeleton is largely unknown. Now, a combination of experiments and computer simulations shows how forces applied to the cell cortex are synergistically shared by motor proteins and crosslinkers. See also: Article by Luo et al. Material witness: Improving pore performance   p950 Philip Ball doi:10.1038/nmat3796 Bioactive hydrogels: Lighting the way   pp950 - 952 Daniel L. Alge and Kristi S. Anseth doi:10.1038/nmat3794 Advances in photochemistry have profoundly impacted the way in which biology is studied. Now, a photoactivated enzymatic patterning method that offers spatiotemporal control over the presentation of bioactive proteins to direct cells in three-dimensional culture significantly expands the available chemical toolbox. See also: Article by Mosiewicz et al. Structural transitions: 'Ferroelectricity' in a metal   pp952 - 953 Veerle Keppens doi:10.1038/nmat3774 The discovery of a ferroelectric-like structural transition in metallic LiOsO3 identifies a new class of materials with unconventional properties, providing an exotic playground for theorists and experimentalists. See also: Letter by Shi et al. Nature Materials JOBS of the week Assistant Professor in Electronic / Photonic Materials UC Santa Barbara Postdoctoral Position for a Polymer / Materials Chemist University of Michigan Postdoctoral Position in Metal Transport in Beneficial Plant-Microbe Interactions Universidad Politécnica de Madrid Lipid / Saccharide composite materials for nanomedicine CEA - LETI Postdoctoral Fellows Harbin Institute of Technology Shenzhen Graduate School More Science jobs from Nature Materials EVENT Frontiers of Computer Simulation in Chemistry and Materials Science 06.02.14 Newport Pagnell, UK More science events from Editorial Top Materials for drug delivery   p957 Pep Pàmies and Alison Stoddart doi:10.1038/nmat3798 Commentaries Top Strategies for advancing cancer nanomedicine   pp958 - 962 Vikash P. Chauhan and Rakesh K. Jain doi:10.1038/nmat3792 Cancer nanomedicines approved so far minimize toxicity, but their efficacy is often limited by physiological barriers posed by the tumour microenvironment. Here, we discuss how these barriers can be overcome through innovative nanomedicine design and through creative manipulation of the tumour microenvironment. Translating materials design to the clinic   pp963 - 966 Jeffrey A. Hubbell and Robert Langer doi:10.1038/nmat3788 Many materials-based therapeutic systems have reached the clinic or are in clinical trials. Here we describe materials design principles and the construction of delivery vehicles, as well as their adaptation and evaluation for human use. Reviews Top Delivery materials for siRNA therapeutics   pp967 - 977 Rosemary Kanasty, Joseph Robert Dorkin, Arturo Vegas and Daniel Anderson doi:10.1038/nmat3765 Therapeutics based on small interfering RNA (siRNA), which in principle are able to reversibly silence any gene of interest, are under development for the treatment of cancers, viral infections, hereditary disorders and many other diseases. This Review discusses the biological challenges that siRNA delivery materials aim to overcome, as well as the most clinically advanced classes of siRNA delivery systems, including cyclodextrin–polymer nanoparticles, lipid nanoparticles and siRNA conjugates. Engineering synthetic vaccines using cues from natural immunity   pp978 - 990 Darrell J. Irvine, Melody A. Swartz and Gregory L. Szeto doi:10.1038/nmat3775 The clinical application of vaccines has expanded from infectious diseases to cancer, enhancing our vision of how the immune system can be used to prevent and treat disease. This Review highlights recent developments, clinical successes and future challenges in the design of prophylactic, therapeutic and tolerance-inducing synthetic vaccines with inspiration from the natural immune system. Stimuli-responsive nanocarriers for drug delivery   pp991 - 1003 Simona Mura, Julien Nicolas and Patrick Couvreur doi:10.1038/nmat3776 Nanoscale materials that deliver drugs in response to specific stimuli offer enhanced control of the drugs' release profile and distribution. This Review provides a comprehensive discussion of progress during the past five years in the design of nanoscale systems that can respond to exogenous stimuli such as temperature or variations in light or magnetic-field intensities, or to endogenous stimuli such as redox gradients or changes in pH or enzyme concentration. Macroscale delivery systems for molecular and cellular payloads   pp1004 - 1017 Cathal J. Kearney and David J. Mooney doi:10.1038/nmat3758 The use of macroscopic depots to deliver drugs — including small molecules, protein and cells — at the desired treatment site by using a carrier whose physical and chemical properties control the presentation of the drug increases drug effectiveness and reduces side effects. This Review discusses the advantages of macroscopic drug-delivery systems, the associated mechanisms of spatiotemporal control of drug presentation, and the design and use of multifunctional macroscopic drug-delivery devices. Letters Top Persistence of magnetic excitations in La2−xSrxCuO4 from the undoped insulator to the heavily overdoped non-superconducting metal   pp1019 - 1023 M. P. M. Dean, G. Dellea, R. S. Springell, F. Yakhou-Harris, K. Kummer, N. B. Brookes, X. Liu, Y-J. Sun, J. Strle, T. Schmitt, L. Braicovich, G. Ghiringhelli, I. Božović & J. P. Hill doi:10.1038/nmat3723 The interplay between magnetism and superconductivity in copper oxide superconductors has been a topic of intense research. Now, a systematic resonant inelastic X-ray scattering study of strontium-doped lanthanum cuprate shows that high-energy magnetic excitations persist over a wide doping range. A ferroelectric-like structural transition in a metal   pp1024 - 1027 Youguo Shi, Yanfeng Guo, Xia Wang, Andrew J. Princep, Dmitry Khalyavin, Pascal Manuel, Yuichi Michiue, Akira Sato, Kenji Tsuda, Shan Yu, Masao Arai, Yuichi Shirako, Masaki Akaogi, Nanlin Wang, Kazunari Yamaura & Andrew T. Boothroyd doi:10.1038/nmat3754 Although metals cannot be ferroelectric in the strict sense of the term, it has long been predicted that they can undergo structural transitions that share similarities with ferroelectricity. LiOsO3 is now shown to be an experimental realization of such a ferroelectric-like metal. See also: News and Views by Keppens Suppression of thermal conductivity by rattling modes in thermoelectric sodium cobaltate   pp1028 - 1032 D. J. Voneshen, K. Refson, E. Borissenko, M. Krisch, A. Bosak, A. Piovano, E. Cemal, M. Enderle, M. J. Gutmann, M. Hoesch, M. Roger, L. Gannon, A. T. Boothroyd, S. Uthayakumar, D. G. Porter & J. P. Goff doi:10.1038/nmat3739 Sodium cobaltate has latterly received attention due to its appealing thermoelectric properties. By combining inelastic X-ray and neutron scattering results with detailed first-principles calculations, it is now shown that low-energy rattling modes of sodium ions within multi-vacancy clusters play a central role in determining the low thermal conductivity of this material. Onsager’s Wien effect on a lattice   pp1033 - 1037 V. Kaiser, S. T. Bramwell, P. C. W. Holdsworth and R. Moessner doi:10.1038/nmat3729 The nonlinear response of a weak electrolyte to an applied electric field is known as the Wien effect. This is now simulated on a lattice Coulomb gas, therefore providing a platform for investigating system-specific corrections to the firmly established theory accounting for it. Articles Top A general relationship between disorder, aggregation and charge transport in conjugated polymers   pp1038 - 1044 Rodrigo Noriega, Jonathan Rivnay, Koen Vandewal, Felix P. V. Koch, Natalie Stingelin, Paul Smith, Michael F. Toney & Alberto Salleo doi:10.1038/nmat3722 The recent demonstration that highly disordered polymer films can transport charges as effectively as polycrystalline semiconductors has called into question the relationship between structural order and mobility in organic materials. It is now shown that, in high-molecular-weight polymers, efficient charge transport is allowed due to a network of interconnected aggregates that are characterized by short-range order. See also: News and Views by Podzorov Measurement of molecular motion in organic semiconductors by thermal diffuse electron scattering   pp1045 - 1049 Alexander S. Eggeman, Steffen Illig, Alessandro Troisi, Henning Sirringhaus and Paul A. Midgley doi:10.1038/nmat3710 The relative displacement of conducting molecules influences their electronic coupling and therefore the charge-transport properties of organic thin films. Electron diffraction patterns now reveal the dominant lattice vibrational modes in organic semiconductors with subnanometre precision and help predict the electronic behaviour of these materials. A stable cathode for the aprotic Li–O2 battery   pp1050 - 1056 Muhammed M. Ottakam Thotiyl, Stefan A. Freunberger, Zhangquan Peng, Yuhui Chen, Zheng Liu & Peter G. Bruce doi:10.1038/nmat3737 Although rechargeable lithium–air batteries are receiving significant attention because of their high theoretical specific energy, carbon cathodes that are currently used decompose during oxidation and promote electrolyte decomposition on cycling. A titanium carbide-based cathode is now shown to reduce side-reactions, and exhibits enhanced reversible formation and decomposition of Li2O2. Reversible redox reactions in an epitaxially stabilized SrCoOx oxygen sponge   pp1057 - 1063 Hyoungjeen Jeen, Woo Seok Choi, Michael D. Biegalski, Chad M. Folkman, I-Cheng Tung, Dillon D. Fong, John W. Freeland, Dongwon Shin, Hiromichi Ohta, Matthew F. Chisholm & Ho Nyung Lee doi:10.1038/nmat3736 Low-temperature redox reactions in solids resulting in no thermomechanical degradation can be used to enhance the performance and lifetime of energy devices. Rapid and reversible redox activity has now been demonstrated at temperatures as low as 200 °C in both epitaxially stabilized oxygen-vacancy-ordered SrCoO2.5 and thermodynamically unfavourable perovskite SrCoO3−δ single-crystalline thin films. Molecular mechanisms of cellular mechanosensing   pp1064 - 1071 Tianzhi Luo, Krithika Mohan, Pablo A. Iglesias and Douglas N. Robinson doi:10.1038/nmat3772 Cells can sense and respond to their environment through mechanical forces. However, how the cell’s cytoskeleton transmits forces and how cytoskeletal proteins respond to forces is largely unknown. Now, a combination of mechanical perturbations and multiscale modelling offers insights into the molecular mechanisms behind the observed variations in the accumulation kinetics of the involved proteins in response to different types of deformation. See also: News and Views by Bausch & Schwarz In situ cell manipulation through enzymatic hydrogel photopatterning   pp1072 - 1078 Katarzyna A. Mosiewicz, Laura Kolb, André J. van der Vlies, Mikaël M. Martino, Philipp S. Lienemann, Jeffrey A. Hubbell, Martin Ehrbar & Matthias P. Lutolf doi:10.1038/nmat3766 Patterning physiologically relevant proteins in three-dimensional hydrogels without affecting the activity and stability of the proteins has been difficult. Now, by using enzymatic crosslinking reactions, in situ control over the phototriggered immobilization of virtually any desired protein in a synthetic hydrogel is demonstrated. The approach can be used to manipulate cells, as demonstrated by the three-dimensional control of the invasion of mesenchymal stem cells within poly(ethylene glycol) hydrogels. See also: News and Views by Alge & Anseth Erratum Top Ultrathin conformal devices for precise and continuous thermal characterization of human skin   p1078 R. Chad Webb, Andrew P. Bonifas, Alex Behnaz, Yihui Zhang, Ki Jun Yu, Huanyu Cheng, Mingxing Shi, Zuguang Bian, Zhuangjian Liu, Yun-Soung Kim, Woon-Hong Yeo, Jae Suk Park, Jizhou Song, Yuhang Li, Yonggang Huang, Alexander M. Gorbach & John A. Rogers doi:10.1038/nmat3779 Top Advertisement Choose Scientific Reports for fast, efficient, open access publishing  94% of authors said they are likely or very likely to recommend Scientific Reports to their colleagues* 91% of authors would publish in Scientific Reports again*  SUBMIT your paper today!  *Nature Publishing Group author survey, data correct as of September 2013   Natureevents is a fully searchable, multi-disciplinary database designed to maximise exposure for events organisers. The contents of the Natureevents Directory are now live. The digital version is available here. Find the latest scientific conferences, courses, meetings and symposia on natureevents.com. For event advertising opportunities across the Nature Publishing Group portfolio please contact natureevents@nature.com More Nature Events

You have been sent this Table of Contents Alert because you have opted in to receive it. You can change or discontinue your e-mail alerts at any time, by modifying your preferences on your nature.com account at: www.nature.com/myaccount (You will need to log in to be recognised as a nature.com registrant) For further technical assistance, please contact our registration department For print subscription enquiries, please contact our subscription department For other enquiries, please contact our customer feedback department Nature Publishing Group | 75 Varick Street, 9th Floor | New York | NY 10013-1917 | USA Nature Publishing Group's worldwide offices: London - Paris - Munich - New Delhi - Tokyo - Melbourne San Diego - San Francisco - Washington - New York - Boston Macmillan Publishers Limited is a company incorporated in England and Wales under company number 785998 and whose registered office is located at Brunel Road, Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS. © 2013 Nature Publishing Group, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited. All Rights Reserved.