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According to embodiments of the present invention, an optical coupling device is provided. The optical coupling device includes a substrate, and a grating arrangement including a plurality of grating elements, the plurality of grating elements being defined on one surface of the substrate, wherein the plurality of grating elements are arranged to have a first period along a first direction, and a second period along a second direction orthogonal to the first direction, the first period being different from the second period. According to further embodiments of the present invention, a photonic integrated circuit and a method of forming an optical coupling device are also provided.

A method of detecting one or more analytes comprising or consisting of hydrogen peroxide using surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) is provided. The method includes providing a SERS-active substrate having at least one metal carbonyl cluster compound attached thereon; contacting one or more analytes with the SERS-active substrate; and detecting changes in surface enhanced Raman signal from the at least one metal carbonyl cluster compound as an indication of the presence of one or more analytes comprising or consisting of hydrogen peroxide.

The invention relates to a catalyst, comprising a catalytic element disposed on a substrate, wherein said substrate has formula Ce1-xMxO2, wherein x is between about 0 and about 0.3, optionally between about 0.01 and about 0.3, and wherein M, if present, is a metallic element other than Ce, when used for catalysing a methanation reaction. There is also described use of the catalyst for catalysing a methanation reaction and a method for methanation of a feedstock including carbon monoxide and hydrogen, said method comprising contacting the feedstock with the catalyst.

A method for fabrication of metal film with nanoapertures is provided. The method includes the steps of providing a nanopatterned template including a plurality of nanostructures, depositing of the metal film onto the nanopatterned template, and thermally induced dewetting of the metal film to define the nanoapertures in the metal film by diffusion and reflow of the metal film.

A method of purifying a sample that includes a desired virus includes the steps of (i) providing a packed chromatographic column having negatively charged porous particles, (ii) equilibrating the column to the conditions to which the desired virus in the sample is to elute, (iii) contacting the sample with the packed chromatographic column such that the sample volume applied to the packed chromatographic column is less than or equal to the interparticle space of the negatively charged porous particles within the packed chromatographic column, (iv) eluting the desired virus from the packed chromatographic column, where the desired virus is in a purer state and in the conditions to which the packed chromatographic column was equilibrated.

Amphiphilic block copolymers (BCPs) were prepared comprising a poly(ethylene oxide) block and a biodegradable polycarbonate block functionalized with disulfide groups and carboxylic acid groups. The BCPs form self-assembled micellar particles in aqueous solution that can be loaded with hydrophobic drugs for therapeutic drug delivery. The loaded particles have small particle sizes (<100 nm), narrow particle size distributions, and high drug loading capacity (up to about 50 wt %) based on total dry weight of the loaded particles. Particles loaded with DOX released the DOX in response to changes in pH and glutathione (GSH) redox chemistry. The loaded particles efficiently delivered and released DOX within tumor cells, effectively suppressing growth of the tumor cells at a similar or even lower drug concentration than free DOX. Blank particles containing no DOX did not induce cytotoxicity to cells.

The present disclosure relates to a catalyst for a metal air battery or fuel cell comprising a mixed metal oxide consisting of at least one lanthanide element and at least two different transition metal elements. The catalyst may further comprise a conducting additive. The present disclosure further provides an air electrode, metal air battery or fuel cell comprising the disclosed catalyst, and methods for forming the disclosed catalyst.

A method of reducing the dimension of an imprint structure on a substrate, the method comprising the steps of: (a) providing a substrate having at least one imprint structure thereon, said structure being formed of an inorganic-organic compound comprising an inorganic moiety and a polymer moiety, said polymer moiety having a lower vaporization temperature than the melting point of said inorganic moiety; and (b) selectively removing at least part of the polymer moiety while enabling at least part of the inorganic moiety to form a substantially continuous inorganic phase in said imprint structure, wherein the removal of the at least part of the polymer moiety from the imprint structure reduces the dimension of the imprint structure.

A method of producing a metal carbonate from an ultramafic rock material is provided. The method includes providing an ultramafic rock material comprising a metal silicate; reacting the ultramafic rock material with an acid to form a mixture comprising a salt of the metal; contacting the mixture comprising a salt of the metal with oxygen so as to aerate impurities in the mixture and/or to remove residual acid from the mixture; heating the resultant mixture to decompose the salt of the metal to form metal oxide; and reacting the metal oxide with aqueous ammonium carbonate to obtain the metal carbonate. A system for producing a metal carbonate from ultramafic rock material is also provided.

There is provided a method of detecting defects in an object based on active thermography, the method including heating a surface of the object at a plurality of localized regions thereof, selecting at least one of the localized regions as a reference region, selecting at least another one of the localized regions as a comparison region, comparing a thermal response at the comparison region to a thermal response at the reference region due to the heating, and determining whether the object has a defect based on the comparison. There is also provided a corresponding system for detecting defects in an object.