DNA origami: a quantum leap for self-assembly of complex structures

DNA Nanostructure-Guided Plasmon Coupling Architectures

Intervention studies in L1 language arts and literature classrooms are pivotal to investigate the effects of instructional approaches that have been purposefully designed to achieve certain learning outcomes. Ideally, design principles, design procedures and the resulting interventions (i.e., lessons, projects, materials) would be comprehensively described in research papers. Unfortunately, intervention research in the education sciences are often focused on empirical intervention effects rather than the content and mode of instruction. Even now that journals provide more room for additional digital information about instructional materials and measurement, information on critical design choices made in interventions for reading and literary instruction remains underwhelming (see Schrijvers, Janssen, Fialho, & Rijlaarsdam,2016). Yet, it is important to shed light on the content and structure of evidence based instructional programs for reading and literary instruction, for two aims and audiences: research and practice. First, insight in the key elements of an intervention enhances the opportunities for both theory building as well as conducting replication studies in different contexts. Research that explicitly and coherently reports the theoretical, practical and contextual choices in the instructional design provides a deeper understanding about the relation between basic design principles (the instruction) and the desired and realized learning outcomes. These basic design principles, presented in an argumentative structure, must be judged by the research community from the perspective of construct validity: the perspective is then on the extent into which the basic principles in the study under review do represent the theory. The second layer of the report, on the contextual operationalizations – adaptations to specific aims, age group of students and cultural traditions – provides information that may prove invaluable in the evaluation of content validity: to which extent the operationalizations match the theoretical construct. These theories may serve as the steppingstones for other researchers, in other national, regional and cultural traditions, to establish studies in their particular context to improve literacy instruction. Such studies do not replicate the original study but adapt the theory to cultural contexts and contribute to the generalizability of instructional theories in literacy education. Second, educational studies in the L1 domain do not serve further research only. Intervention studies are mostly set up with the same aim as all educational practices: to change something, somewhere, in someone. Teachers who prepare a literature lesson, considering which story to introduce – or which stories, because different students might be affected by different stories – are driven by a desire for accomplishing change in their students. A lesson is meant to contribute to a student’s new understanding, to new affect, or to check assumptions (De Groot,1980; see for an application Schrijvers, Janssen, Fialho & Rijlaarsdam, 2016, p. 9). According to De Groot(1980), education contributes to several types of learning experiences including the construction of rules and the exceptions to rules as they apply to the inside and outside world. Further, education is about affecting positive change in the life trajectories of students, and the education sciences, through intervention studies, explicitly aim to contribute to the improvement or enhancement of language arts and literature teachers’ daily practices, directly or via change agents like national in-service training institutes. To support further implementation of evidence-based, theoretically underpinned learning programs, mere availability of concrete instructional activities is insufficient. Teachers and teacher educators must understand these activities in the context of the theoretical framework: the design principles, embedded in research literature, in terms of key-learning activities that must take place; the instructional acts to generate these learning activities; and the changes in the learner that are intended. Practice must be fully informed, as providing materials is not enough to change teachers’ understandings and beliefs (e.g., Nieveen, 1999; O’Donnell, 2008). Although design research has built a certain tradition, reporting instructional designs and materials is not an easy task in doing research likely due in part to underdeveloped instructional theories in the literacy domain as well as the lack of generally accepted reporting formats. A research tradition of reporting intervention designs is yet to take hold.

Metal-organic nanotubes: Designs, structures and functions

The Architecture Design Course 1 (KKSB1116) is the main subject course for the Bachelor of Architecture Science (BSc Arch) program at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM). This course is offered in the first semester of year one and it is fundamental to the process of producing architectural design. The application of an experimental learning style is one of the ways to build awareness, knowledge and skills in the design learning process. This paper investigates the experiential learning style applied in the project of translating elements of nature into a self-portrait artwork using basic principles of design which are the lines and basic shapes of geometry. In this project, students were exposed to various learning methods such as experiential trip in nature, the use of sketch method in the form of mind map and the workshop environment. The research methodologies used are the combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches, where qualitative (in-depth interview and unstructured observation) is the main method. The findings showed that the students successfully translated objects from the elements of nature into the design project. It can be seen through a sketch of a graphic mind map and the production of a two-dimensional artwork design that highlights the basic principles of geometric design from a multidirectional combination of line sketches. This method of learning can be the benchmark for first year (basic) architectural education program especially for a bachelor of sciences level. The study suggests how the concept of the mind map approach and skills of workshop can be developed for the following year that is adapted to the program complexity.

Introduction:Inappropriate design of experimental studies in medicine inevitably leads to inaccurate or false results, which serve as basis for erroneous and biased conclusions.AimThe aim of our study was to investigate prevalence of implementing basic principles of experimental design (local control, replication and randomization) in preclinical experimental studies, performed either on animals in vivo, or animal/human material in vitro.Material and MethodsPreclinical experimental studies were retrieved from the PubMed database, and the sample for analysis was randomly chosen from the retrieved publications. Implementation rate of basic experimental research principles (local control, randomization and replication) was established by careful reading of the sampled publications and their checking against predefined criteria.ResultsOur study showed that only a minority of experimental preclinical studies had basic principles of design completely implemented (7%), while implementation rate of single aspects of appropriate experimental design varied from as low as 9% to maximum 86%. Average impact factor of the surveyed studies was high, and publication date relatively recent, suggesting generalizability of our results to highly ranked contemporary journals.ConclusionPrevalence of experimental preclinical studies that did not implement completely basic principles of research design is high, raising suspicion to validity of their results. If incorrect and biased, results of published studies may mislead authors of future studies and cause conduction of fruitless research that will waste precious resources.

CONSPECTUS: Eight years have passed since the striking debut of the DNA origami technique ( Rothemund, P. W. K. Nature 2006 , 440 , 297 - 302 ), in which long single-stranded DNA is folded into a designed nanostructure, in either 2D or 3D, with the aid of many short staple strands. The number of proposals for new design principles for DNA origami structures seems to have already reached a peak. It is apparent that DNA origami study is now entering the second phase of creating practical applications. The development of functional nanomechanical molecular devices using the DNA origami technique is one such application attracting significant interest from researchers in the field. Nanomechanical DNA origami devices, which maintain the characteristics of DNA origami structures, have various advantages over conventional DNA nanomachines. Comparatively high assembly yield, relatively large size visible via atomic force microscopy (AFM) or transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and the capability to assemble multiple functional groups with precision using multiple staple strands are some of the advantages of the DNA origami technique for constructing sophisticated molecular devices. This Account describes the recent developments of such nanomechanical DNA origami devices and reviews the emerging target of DNA origami studies. First, simple "dynamic" DNA origami structures with transformation capability, such as DNA origami boxes and a DNA origami hatch with structure control, are briefly summarized. More elaborate nanomechanical DNA origami devices are then reviewed. The first example describes DNA origami pinching devices that can be used as "single-molecule" beacons to detect a variety of biorelated molecules, from metal ions at the size of a few tens of atomic mass number units to relatively gigantic proteins with a molecular mass greater than a hundred kilodaltons, all on a single platform. Clamshell-like DNA nanorobots equipped with logic gates can discriminate different cell lines, open their shell, and bind to their target. An intelligent DNA origami "sheath" can mimic the function of suppressors in a transcription regulation system to control the expression of a loaded gene. DNA origami "rolls" are created to construct precisely arranged plasmonic devices with metal nanoparticles. All of their functions are derived from their nanomechanical movement, which is programmable by designing the DNA sequence or by using the significant repository of technical achievements in nucleic acid chemistry. Finally, some studies on detailed structural parameters of DNA origami or their mechanical properties in nanoscale are discussed, which may be useful and inspiring for readers who intend to design new nanomechanical DNA origami devices.

<p style="text-align:justify">The different aspects of architectural design and music that act in support of one another have governed the inspiration and utilization of music in design education. This paper describes a Basic Design Studio assignment that involves visualizing music by organizing linear and planar units using basic design principles, with the aim of contributing to the transformation of conceptual thinking to physical formation by the integration of domain material taught in basic design courses. Dealing with music as a design tool, the study relates the perceptional and structural analogy between music and design and discusses its contribution to basic design achievements. The visual expression of the products and the manner in which it relates to appropriate basic design principles and elements qualities are evaluated in the context of organization, abstraction and uniqueness. The assignment given to the students to conduct this evaluation strengthened their ability to transform abstract thinking into physical representation, helped them to understand multidimensional thinking and how to engage in creative thinking, contributed to their architectural education and improved their study skills by giving them experience in coordinating design elements, principles and materials, all of which served to stimulate improvisation and reflection of emotions. From the results of this study, it is recommended that music, which has similar approaches and principles to those of architectural design, can be used as a tool in design and architectural education to support different phases of the creation and expression process.</p>

PurposeThe study investigates the effectiveness of an adaptive reflective framework that shifts the learning process toward a student-centered approach within an interdisciplinary learning environment. It aims to promote the learning process within an interdisciplinary learning environment that could promote the students’ design competencies.Design/methodology/approachThe experiment was conducted at Basic Design studio, investigating three concepts of basic design principles: harmony, repetition and rhythm. A total of 80 first-year architectural students were enrolled in this study and placed into two equal groups: the “control group” received the traditional learning method and in contrast, the “experimental group” received an interdisciplinary reflective learning method using music as a relevant discipline.FindingsThe results showed that utilizing “Music Animation Machine” in the learning process significantly promoted students’ cognitive skills, engagement and design competencies. In addition, there was obvious evidence of excellent progress in learning basic design principles using the proposed reflective approach within a student-centered learning environment.Originality/valueMany researchers focus on the importance of using music as a design tool. However, there is a crucial demand for investigating it as a learning tool. This research raised music effectiveness in the learning process of design principles. Thus, it incites to test more disciplines interconnected with architectural design. Other researchers could utilize this approach to ensure its effect on enhancing design competencies in the basic design and other architectural design courses.

In this paper test results of low voltage Molded Case Circuit Breakers (MCCB) are discussed with respect to two basic design principles: single-break design and double-break design. Experiment were carried out using a discharge bank test system at three different prospective fault current levels 10 kA, 24 kA, and 37 kA. Test results show that the two basic design principles have different influences on characteristic switching parameters such as arc voltage, arc current, I <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup> t, VIdt, and pressure. At low current levels, the single-break design has advantages over the double-break design because the double-break design re-closes during short circuit events. The contact re-closing causes higher I <sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup> t and VIdt in comparison with those of the single-break design. While strong interaction between arc and chamber material in a small arc chamber volume as well as two arcs generated by the double-break design leads to effective current limiting with fast rise of arc voltage to a high arc voltage level, but it also causes strong material evaporation and high pressure. Test results also indicate that MCCB performance can vary significantly even though using the same design principle due to other design variations. In order to fully evaluate performances of these two design principles, power tests such as high fault current interruption, overload, and temperature rise tests required by UL or IEC standards need to be carried out.

Electrically conductive 2D covalent organic frameworks

Recent advances in experimental DNA origami have dramatically expanded the horizon of DNA nanotechnology. Complex 3D suprastructures have been designed and developed using DNA origami with applications in biomaterial science, nanomedicine, nanorobotics, and molecular computation. Ribonucleic acid (RNA) origami has recently been realized as a new approach. Similar to DNA, RNA molecules can be designed to form complex 3D structures through complementary base pairings. RNA origami structures are, however, more compact and more thermodynamically stable due to RNA's non-canonical base pairing and tertiary interactions. With all these advantages, the development of RNA origami lags behind DNA origami by a large gap. Furthermore, although computational methods have proven to be effective in designing DNA and RNA origami structures and in their evaluation, advances in computational nucleic acid origami is even more limited. In this paper, we review major milestones in experimental and computational DNA and RNA origami and present current challenges in these fields. We believe collaboration between experimental nanotechnologists and computer scientists are critical for advancing these new research paradigms.

Floating structures are prominent features in many ports, serving as floating docks for small-craft berthing and sometimes as piers or wharves for larger oceangoing vessels. There are also floating dry docks, breakwaters, mooring aandnd navigation buoys, camels and separators, containment booms, and plant and equipment of a wide variety. This chapter is primarily concerned with basic design principles that apply in general to all floating-structure types, with particular regard to floating pier applications. Basic principles of buoyancy, stability, motion response, and certain aspects of structural design are reviewed. Mooring and anchoring systems are of major importance in floating pier design, so their basic design principles are presented. Means of access to floating piers; ancillary systems such as ballast control, pumping, and flooding; and miscellaneous design features are reviewed. The final section of this chapter is devoted to floating docks for marinas and small-craft facilities.

Smart electronics have developed ubiquitously to assist people in everything from navigation to health monitoring. The rise of complex electronics relied on rational design of platforms to build ever larger and more complex circuit networks and for frameworks to test those electronics. Biochemical circuits have also seen dramatic advancement in the last two decades within the field of DNA nanotechnology. As with electronics, DNA nanotechnology applied rational design to DNA molecules to build ever more complex biochemical networks that, beyond current electronics, also retain a significant measure of biological compatibility and plasticity akin to many networks of biological origin. Well situated for promising applications in diagnostics and therapeutics, advancing DNA nanotechnology devices will also rely upon larger platforms and testing frameworks. In roughly the last decade, researchers have been building upon the invention of DNA origami, a technique allowing the robust construction of biomolecular nano-structures capable of precise nanometer positioning of proteins, nanoparticles, and other molecules. DNA circuits have computed on the nanostructures; DNA robots have moved nanoparticles, made choices, and have even sorted cargo on the surface of a nanostructure. The complexity of circuits and devices continues to rise. In this thesis, we will discuss our contributions to the field of DNA nanotechnology by developing design rules and systematic approaches to controlling nanostructure complex assembly. These rules and approaches allow for the construction of molecular structures with a tunable diversity, large systems approaching the size of bacteria yet retaining nanometer precision, and biological plasticity inspired dynamic systems for arbitrary reconfiguration. Using a DNA origami tile tailored for array formation with a high continuous surface area, we create a framework inspired from molecular stochasticity for programming DNA array formation and gaining control over diversity of global properties through simple local rules. Three general forms of planar networks, random loops, mazes, and trees, were manipulated on the micron scale upon the self-assembled DNA arrays. We demonstrate control of several properties of the networks, such as branching rules, growth directions, the proximity between adjacent networks, and size distributions. The large diversity, in principle, allows for a wide, but tunable, testing environment for molecular circuits. By further applying these principles to subunits of finite assemblies, variable components may be mixed with fixed components potentially opening additional applications in high throughput device or drug screening. Next we turned to expanding the platform size biochemical circuits may be built upon. While DNA origami allows nanometer precise placement, the size remains roughly below 0.05 um2. Toward making large arbitrarily complex structures with only a set of simple tiles, multi-stage self-assembly has been explored in theory and for small DNA tiles. None were successful experimentally with DNA origami. We developed a strategy for DNA origami: a simple rule set applied recursively in each stage of a hierarchical self-assembly process, and to significantly reduce costs, a constant set of unique DNA strands regardless of size. We also developed a software tool to automatically compile a designed surface pattern into experimental protocols. We experimentally demonstrated DNA origami arrays approaching the size of small bacteria, 0.5 um2, with several arbitrary patterns, each consisting of 8,704 specifically chosen pixel locations with nanometer precision, including a bacteria sized portrait of a bacteria. The large platform opens the door to more advanced molecular circuits for applications such as diagnostics. Finally we demonstrated control over the dynamics of DNA origami reconfiguration in tile arrays. In an approach we call DNA tile displacement, we showed that a DNA origami array may have tiles arbitrarily replaced by another tile, including tiles of another shape or surface pattern. We also demonstrated control over the kinetics of tile displacement and performed several general purpose reconfigurations of DNA nanostructures. Examples include sequential reconfiguration, competitive reconfiguration, cooperative reconfiguration, and finally the scalability of multi-step reconfiguration as demonstrated through a fully playable nano-scale biomolecular tic-tac-toe game. The major ramifications are a plasticity more common to biology than to electronics—molecular platforms with arbitrary patterning that can reconfigure an arbitrary part of the nanostructure in an arbitrary order based on environmental signals. In principle, such reconfiguration can allow advanced circuits with the capacity to adapt to environmental needs or heal damaged components.

This article presents the basic design course applications based on the design education of first-year interior architecture students. This study aims to emphasize the importance of education in the design-oriented thinking process with practice through the content of the basic design course. Within the scope of the study, art-based research in interior architecture education was carried out and the intersections of its results are described. In the studio, basic design elements and principles were conveyed with the techniques commonly taught in schools and architectural movements were given to students as term papers for research. The study directs the student to create 2D and 3D compositions by combining the studies he/she has done during the term and the research assignment. The findings show that students can reflect on their research on architectural movements to new three-dimensional abstract spaces by combining them with basic design education. While grounding this reflection, design process of the students is based on form and elements without color. The results also show a significant correlation between students’ practices and Gestalt Principles. This article emphasizes the importance of applying basic elements and principles of design and being integrated with field-specific studies to achieve better results in design education. This study is an experimental and original studio product. With the basic design education given only in the first semester, the students were given examples to determine and understand forms and approaches without color knowledge, especially through basic principles, using architectural movements instead of abstract expression.

In this study, basic design concepts related to Gestalt principles were examined. In the first phase of the work, the principles that Gestalt theory developed in the field of visual perception are introduced and the basic design principles are explained by various abstract examples. In the second phase, gestalt principles have been tested with concrete examples of the various existing implementations. As a study area; In Turkey, various examples of religious architectural buildings were selected. These types of structures; Early and classical mosque, medrese and tomb examples. As a result of the analysis of the religious architecture samples taken into consideration; The types of structures are expressed in basic design principles, which are related to guttal theory. After all; The importance of implementing design concepts related to gestalt principles in the construction has been emphasized.