Australian Centre for Advanced Computing and Communications (Australia)

Atherosclerosis, a leading cause of heart attacks and strokes through the formation of vascular blockages, has become a major global healthcare challenge, with patient numbers expected to rise. Balloon-based angioplasty and stenting, the most common clinical treatments, have evolved over decades with advances in material biocompatibility, biodegradability, and device design. However, they still face critical issues such as tissue damage, inflammation, and restenosis, which can lead to implant failure and necessitate repeated surgeries, severely affecting patients' quality of life. To address the urgent need for a long-term stable stent system, we present a deployable 3D-printed vascular stent with surface-catalyzed endogenous nitric oxide (NO) generation (DSENO), offering a promising new direction for stent development. Unlike traditional stents, the DSENO can be deployed remotely using magnetic force and heat, eliminating the need for a catheter or balloon and thereby reducing the risk of tissue injury. Furthermore, its surface is modified to catalyze intracellular NO generation from endogenous S-nitrosothiols, which inhibits smooth muscle cell proliferation to prevent restenosis.

Abstract Zonal Wave‐3 (ZW3) is a key zonally asymmetric component of the large‐scale extratropical atmospheric circulation, facilitating mass and energy exchanges between middle and high latitudes in the Southern Hemisphere. Despite the crucial role of sea‐ice thickness (SIT) in modulating sea‐ice volume and climate feedbacks, its response to ZW3 variability remains largely unexplored compared to the more widely studied sea‐ice concentration. Our research identifies variability in the ZW3 pattern and assesses its influence on Antarctic SIT and concentration using a combination of reanalysis and data from a coupled climate model. We project a doubling in the mean frequency of extreme ZW3 events under a high emission scenario, which is likely to contribute to a decline in SIT, primarily through dynamic mechanisms. These extreme events drive mechanical displacement of sea‐ice more than direct thermodynamic melting. Such displacements may expose the underlying ocean, potentially enhancing basal melting through ocean thermal influences.

<strong class="journal-contentHeaderColor">Abstract.</strong> Anomalous freshwater fluxes from the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets and ice shelves are impacting the surrounding oceans and we need to be able to account for these effects in climate model simulations over the historical period and beyond. In previous phases of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP), models mostly either assumed that the ice sheets were in mass balance, or that discharge from the ice sheets was constant, but in neither case was the observed increasing discharge properly accounted for. In this paper, we present an updateable dataset of absolute and anomalous freshwater mass fluxes from both ice sheets. These fluxes can be implemented in historical climate simulations as a forcing for models that do not (yet) include interactive ice sheets, or used to evaluate models that do. We also make recommendations for how climatological and anomalous fluxes can be implemented in climate models that may have different approaches to interactions with the ice sheets. These forcings are available for CMIP7 simulations and should lead to more robust and coherent simulation of sea surface temperature, sea ice and regional sea level trends in the recent historical period, and improve the credibility of projections.

<strong class="journal-contentHeaderColor">Abstract.</strong> Anomalous freshwater fluxes from the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets and ice shelves are impacting the surrounding oceans and we need to be able to account for these effects in climate model simulations over the historical period and beyond. In previous phases of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP), models mostly either assumed that the ice sheets were in mass balance, or that discharge from the ice sheets was constant, but in neither case was the observed increasing discharge properly accounted for. In this paper, we present an updateable dataset of absolute and anomalous freshwater mass fluxes from both ice sheets. These fluxes can be implemented in historical climate simulations as a forcing for models that do not (yet) include interactive ice sheets, or used to evaluate models that do. We also make recommendations for how climatological and anomalous fluxes can be implemented in climate models that may have different approaches to interactions with the ice sheets. These forcings are available for CMIP7 simulations and should lead to more robust and coherent simulation of sea surface temperature, sea ice and regional sea level trends in the recent historical period, and improve the credibility of projections.

The southwestern tropical Pacific is a key center for the Interdecadal Pacific Oscillation (IPO), which regulates global climate. This study introduces a groundbreaking 627-year coral Sr/Ca sea surface temperature reconstruction from Fiji, representing the IPO's southwestern pole. Merging this record with other Fiji and central tropical Pacific records, we reconstruct the SST gradient between the southwestern and central Pacific (SWCP), providing a reliable proxy for IPO variability from 1370 to 1997. This reconstruction reveals distinct centennial-scale temperature trends and insights into Pacific-wide climate impacts and teleconnections. Notably, the 20th century conditions, marked by simultaneous basin-scale warming and weak tropical Pacific zonal-meridional gradients, deviate from trends observed during the past six centuries. Combined with model simulations, our findings reveal that a weak SWCP gradient most markedly affects IPO-related rainfall patterns in the equatorial Pacific. Persistent synchronous western and central Pacific warming rates could lead to further drying climate across the Coral Sea region, adversely affecting Pacific Island nations.

Abstract The use of inexpensive, highly efficient, and long‐term stable hole‐transporting layers (HTLs) while facilitating the fabrication process has become a critical issue for PSC commercialization. Among organic HTLs, copper phthalocyanine (CuPc) has been increasingly studied owing to its low cost and excellent thermal stability. Nevertheless, CuPc has a low energy level in the conduction band, resulting in low efficiency due to a poor electron barrier. In this study, an efficient and stable PSC is fabricated by combining CuPc with an ultrathin poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) interlayer, which is deposited on a [(FAPbI3)0.95(MAPbBr3)0.05] absorption layer (here, FAPbI3 and MAPbBr3 denote formamidinium lead triiodide and methylammonium lead tribromide, respectively). PMMA in perovskite has been found to reduce perovskite surface defects and series resistance as well as the electronic barrier to HTL. The optimum concentration of PMMA allows for the fabrication of the PSC with a PCE of 21.3%, which is the highest PCE for PSCs featuring metal phthalocyanines as the HTL reported to date. The stability of the encapsulated PSC exceeds 80% after 760 h at 85 °C under 85% RH conditions.

This work presents the synthesis of a novel photosensitive acrylate monomer for use as both a self-catalyst in the photoinduced electron/energy transfer-reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer (PET-RAFT) polymerisation process and a photosensitiser (PS) for antibacterial applications. Hydrophilic, cationic, and antimicrobial formulations are explored to compare the antibacterial effects between charged and non-charged polymers. Covalent attachment of the catalyst to well-defined linear polymer chains has no effect on polymerisation control or singlet oxygen generation. The addition of the PS to polymers provides activity against S. aureus for all polymer formulations, resulting in up to a 99.99999 % killing efficacy in 30 min. Antimicrobial peptide mimetic polymers previously active against P. aeruginosa, but not S. aureus, gain significant bactericidal activity against S. aureus through the inclusion of PS groups, with 99.998 % killing efficiency after 30 min incubation with light. Thus, a broader spectrum of antimicrobial activity is achieved using two distinct mechanisms of bactericidal activity via the incorporation of a photosensitiser monomer into an antimicrobial polymer.

Abstract The conjugation of hydrophilic low‐fouling polymers to therapeutic molecules and particles is an effective approach to improving their aqueous stability, solubility, and pharmacokinetics. Recent concerns over the immunogenicity of poly(ethylene glycol) has highlighted the importance of identifying alternative low fouling polymers. Now, a new class of synthetic water‐soluble homo‐fluoropolymers are reported with a sulfoxide side‐chain structure. The incorporation of fluorine enables direct imaging of the homopolymer by 19F MRI, negating the need for additional synthetic steps to attach an imaging moiety. These self‐reporting fluoropolymers show outstanding imaging sensitivity and remarkable hydrophilicity, and as such are a new class of low‐fouling polymer for bioconjugation and in vivo tracking.

Abstract Metal foams are highly sought‐after porous structures for heterogeneous catalysis, which are fabricated by templating, injecting gas, or admixing blowing agents into a metallic melt at high temperatures. They also require additional catalytic material coating. Here, a low‐melting‐point liquid metal is devised for the single‐step formation of catalytic foams in mild aqueous environments. A hybrid catalytic foam fabrication process is presented via simultaneous chemical foaming, melting, and sintering reaction of liquid metal nanoparticles. As a model, nanoparticles of tertiary low‐melting‐point eutectic alloy of indium, bismuth, and tin (Field's metal) are processed with sodium hydrogen carbonate, an environmentally benign blowing agent. The competing endothermic foaming and exothermic sintering reactions are triggered by an aqueous acidic bath. The overall foaming process occurs at a localized temperature above 200 °C, producing submicron‐ to micron‐sized open‐cell pore foams with conductive cores and semiconducting surface decorations. The catalytic properties of the metal foams are explored for a range of applications including photo‐electrocatalysis, bacteria electrofiltration, and CO2 electroconversion. In particular, the Field's metal‐based foams show exceptional CO2 electrochemical conversion performance at low applied voltages. The facile process presented here can be extended to other low‐temperature post transition and transition metal alloys.

In this study, an antimicrobial platform in the form of nitric oxide (NO) gas-releasing polydopamine (PDA)-coated iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) is developed for combating bacterial biofilms. NO is bound to the PDA-coated IONPs via the reaction between NO and the secondary amine moieties on PDA to form N-diazeniumdiolate (NONOate) functionality. To impart colloidal stability to the nanoparticles in aqueous solutions (e.g., phosphate buffered saline (PBS) and bacteria cell culture media M9), a polymer bearing hydrophilic and amine pendant groups, P(OEGMA)-b-P(ABA), is synthesized via reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization and is subsequently grafted onto the PDA-coated IONPs by employing the Schiff base/Michael addition reaction between o-quinone and a primary amine. These nanoparticles are able to effectively disperse Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms (up to 79% dispersal) at submicromolar NO concentrations. In addition, the nanoparticles demonstrate excellent bactericidal activity toward P. aeruginosa planktonic and biofilm cells (up to 5-log10 reduction).