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Hyperthermia plays a significant role in cancer treatment by inducing cell damage through temperature elevation, often used alongside other treatment modalities. During hyperthermia therapy, temperature control is crucial. Here, we report on a simple synthesis route of hybrid plasmonic nanodiamonds either completely wrapped with an Au shell (NV@Au) or densely covered with Au NPs (NV@SiO2@Au). Such integration of nanodiamonds with Au NPs is advantageous both for heating and precise thermometry at nanoscale. After structural and optical investigations, heating abilities of the obtained plasmonic nanodiamonds were thoroughly inspected on glass, in association with living cells, and in tissue slices ex vivo, revealing their effective heat generation under excitation with light using a single excitation source. The developed hybrid plasmonic nanodiamonds were finally applied for local photothermal therapy of melanoma in vivo, demonstrating their efficacy in eradicating cancer cells and monitoring temperature during the process.

Surgery is essential for gastrointestinal (GI) cancer treatment. Many patients lack access to surgical care that optimizes outcomes. Scarce availability and/or low accessibility of appropriate resources may be the reason for this, especially in economically disadvantaged areas. This study aimed to investigate providers’ and survivors’ perspectives on barriers and facilitators to the availability and accessibility of surgical care.

We explore the potential of nanocrystals (a term used equivalently to nanoparticles) as building blocks for nanomaterials, and the current advances and open challenges for fundamental science developments and applications. Nanocrystal assemblies are inherently multiscale, and the generation of revolutionary material properties requires a precise understanding of the relationship between structure and function, the former being determined by classical effects and the latter often by quantum effects. With an emphasis on theory and computation, we discuss challenges that hamper current assembly strategies and to what extent nanocrystal assemblies represent thermodynamic equilibrium or kinetically trapped metastable states. We also examine dynamic effects and optimization of assembly protocols. Finally, we discuss promising material functions and examples of their realization with nanocrystal assemblies.

The progress of the pillar[5]arene chemistry allowed us to set out a new concept on application of the supramolecular assemblies to create antimicrobial films with variable surface morphologies and biological activities. Antibacterial films were derived from the substituted pillar[5]arenes containing nine pharmacophoric guanidine fragments and one thioalkyl substituent. Changing the only thioalkyl fragment in the macrocycle structure made it possible to control the biological activity of the resulting antibacterial coating. Pretreatment of the surface with aqueous solution of the amphiphilic pillar[5]arenes reduced the biofilm thickness by 56 ± 10% of Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureusin the case of the pillar[5]arene containing a thiooctyl fragment and by 52 ± 7% for the biofilm of Gram-negative Klebsiella pneumoniaein the case of pillar[5]arene containing a thiooctadecyl fragment. Meanwhile, the cytotoxicity of the synthesized macrocycles was examined at a concentration of 50 μg/mL, which was significantly lower than that of bis-guanidine-based antimicrobial preparations.

Rapid developments in machine vision technology have impacted a variety of applications, such as medical devices and autonomous driving systems. These achievements, however, typically necessitate digital neural networks with the downside of heavy computational requirements and consequent high energy consumption. As a result, real-time decision-making is hindered when computational resources are not readily accessible. Here we report a meta-imager designed to work together with a digital back end to offload computationally expensive convolution operations into high-speed, low-power optics. In this architecture, metasurfaces enable both angle and polarization multiplexing to create multiple information channels that perform positively and negatively valued convolution operations in a single shot. We use our meta-imager for object classification, achieving 98.6% accuracy in handwritten digits and 88.8% accuracy in fashion images. Owing to its compactness, high speed and low power consumption, our approach could find a wide range of applications in artificial intelligence and machine vision applications.

Introduction: The study aimed to investigate the effects of low concentrations of mitochondrial uncouplers in endothelial cells on the CpG dinucleotide methylation of the ICAM1 gene promoter. The excessive inflammatory response in the endothelium is responsible for the development of many cardiovascular diseases. Mitochondria are important regulators of endothelial cell functions. Mild uncoupling of oxidative phosphorylation and respiration in endothelial mitochondria exerts a long lasting anti-inflammatory effect. However, the detailed mechanism of the anti-inflammatory activity of mitochondrial uncouplers remains unclear.We hypothesized that mild mitochondrial uncoupling leads to epigenetic changes in genomic DNA contributing to the anti-inflammatory response.Methods: We studied the long-term effects of mitochondria-targeted compounds with the uncoupler’s activities: the antioxidant plastoquinonyl-decyltriphenylphosphonium (SkQ1), dodecyl-triphenylphosphonium (C12TPP), and 2,4-dinitrophenol (DNP). The mRNA expression of the intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM1), a marker of inflammatory activation of endothelial cells, was measured by RT-qPCR. Cytosine methylation in the CpG sites of the ICAM1 gene promoter was estimated by bisulfite sequencing of individual clones.Results: It was found that downregulation of ICAM1 expression caused by DNP and C12TPP was accompanied by an increase in the methylation of CpG sites in the ICAM1 gene promoter. None of the compounds affected intracellular or intramitochondrial ATP levels.Conclusion: Low concentrations of mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation uncouplers are able to increase methylation of ICAM1 gene promoter, which corresponds to the observed decrease in the levels of mRNA of this gene. Thus, the change in methylation of the ICAM1 gene promoter may underlie the mechanism of decreased ICAM1 expression caused by mild mitochondrial depolarization. Mitochondrial uncouplers may be exploited as possible therapeutic candidates to treat excessive inflammation in endothelium, by changing the methylation status of genomic DNA.

The paper proposes a fundamentally new approach to the introduction of copper(I) ions into sodium liquid glass NaOH·SiO2, as well as to the solid-phase synthesis of tricopper silicide Cu3Si. The possibility of forming a composite based on a sodium boron silicate matrix and tricopper silicide Cu3Si formed in situ during the thermolysis of the NaCuI[B10H10]/NaOH·SiO2system is shown. The latter has been obtained by a cation metathesis when copper(I) complex {(Et3NH)CuI[B10H10]}nhas been allowed to react with a 30% solution of sodium liquid glass (NaOH·SiO2). Thermolysis of NaCuI[B10H10]/NaOH·SiO2has been carried out in an argon atmosphere at 900 °C. It is established that this process is accompanied by a redox transformation and leads to the formation of binary copper compound Cu3Si encapsulated in a sodium boron silicate matrix. The initial system and the annealed product have been identified by a complex of physicochemical methods: TGA, IR spectroscopy, X-ray powder diffraction, and X-ray spectral fluorescence. The morphology of the product has been studied.

This paper is devoted to the development of Beckenbach’s theory of meromorphic minimal surfaces. We get an estimate of the sum of Petrenko’s deviations of the meromorphic minimal surface of finite lower order in term of Valiron’s defect Δ(0,Su). We also give an example showing that the estimate is sharp.

Improved understanding of the shared genetic architecture between psychiatric disorders and brain white matter may provide mechanistic insights for observed phenotypic associations. Our objective is to characterize the shared genetic architecture of bipolar disorder (BD), major depression (MD), and schizophrenia (SZ) with white matter fractional anisotropy (FA) and identify shared genetic loci to uncover biological underpinnings. We used genome-wide association study (GWAS) summary statistics for BD (n= 413,466), MD (n= 420,359), SZ (n= 320,404), and white matter FA (n= 33,292) to uncover the genetic architecture (i.e., polygenicity and discoverability) of each phenotype and their genetic overlap (i.e., genetic correlations, overlapping trait-influencing variants, and shared loci). This revealed that BD, MD, and SZ are at least 7-times more polygenic and less genetically discoverable than average FA. Even in the presence of weak genetic correlations (range = −0.05 to −0.09), average FA shared an estimated 42.5%, 43.0%, and 90.7% of trait-influencing variants as well as 12, 4, and 28 shared loci with BD, MD, and SZ, respectively. Shared variants were mapped to genes and tested for enrichment among gene-sets which implicated neurodevelopmental expression, neural cell types, myelin, and cell adhesion molecules. For BD and SZ, case vs control tract-level differences in FA associated with genetic correlations between those same tracts and the respective disorder (rBD= 0.83, p= 4.99e-7 and rSZ= 0.65, p= 5.79e-4). Genetic overlap at the tract-level was consistent with average FA results. Overall, these findings suggest a genetic basis for the involvement of brain white matter aberrations in the pathophysiology of psychiatric disorders.

Being key components of the building envelope, glazing products with tunable optical properties are in great demand because of their potential for boosting energy efficiency and privacy features while enabling the main function of allowing natural light indoors. However, windows and skylights with electric switching of haze and transparency are rare and often require high voltages or electric currents, as well as not fully meet the stringent technical requirements for glazing applications. Here, by introducing a predesigned gel material we describe an approach dubbed “Haze-Switch” that involves low-voltage tuning of the haze coefficient in a broad range of 2–90% while maintaining high visible-range optical transmittance. The approach is based on a nanocellulose fiber gel network infiltrated by a nematic liquid crystal, which can be switched between polydomain and monodomain spatial patterns of optical axis via a dielectric coupling between the nematic domains and the applied external electric field. By utilizing a nanocellulose network of nanofibers ∼10 nm in diameter we achieve <10 V dielectric switching and <2% haze in the clear state, as needed for applications in window products. We characterize physical properties relevant to window and smart glass technologies, like the color rendering index, haze coefficient, and switching times, demonstrating that our material and envisaged products can meet the stringent requirements of the glass industry, including applications such as privacy windows, skylights, sunroofs, and daylighting.

The effects of headspace height and specific gas flow rate on the performance of ethanol removal by CO2stripping in a bubble column bioreactor were investigated. Stripping experiments were carried out using an ethanol solution with the liquid and gas phase compositions being monitored over time. The results showed that the ethanol removal constant (kE) increased with the increase of the reactor headspace. A dimensionless correlation for the Sherwood number was obtained, enabling the prediction of kEby considering different design variables and operating conditions. A good agreement was obtained between the experimental data and the values predicted by the model, indicating that the correlation was able to describe the behavior of the process with high accuracy. Simulations of extractive ethanol fermentations showed an increase of 13.5% in volumetric ethanol productivity when the headspace height with respect to the total height increased almost three times, in an extractive fed-batch fermentation performed with a high substrate concentration in the must feed. The specific energy values for ethanol production in the new system were 76.3 and 78.4% lower for the simulated extractive ethanol fermentations conducted in batch and fed-batch modes, respectively. Therefore, the greater the headspace height, the greater the ethanol volumetric productivity, and the lower the energy requirement for ethanol production.

Doping of nano- and microparticles of oxides with rare earth elements (REEs) is used to fine-tune their structural, optical, and electrochemical properties. On the way to establish the structure–property relationship, we dope tantalum oxide (Ta2O5) particles with REEs to study their effect on the oxide structure and luminescence. Ta2O5is highly perspective in medicine, catalysis, and optics, but its crystal structure is insufficiently studied. Two synthesis approaches (sol–gel and solvothermal) were used to obtain powders with different textures. Experimental and theoretical studies of amorphous and crystallized tantalum oxide NPs by means of X-ray powder diffraction, Rietveld analysis, EXAFS/XANES spectroscopy, and density functional theory calculations were performed. All samples (doped and undoped) crystallized in orthorhombic phase with no admixtures. It was demonstrated that Ta2O5is a promising wide-spectrum luminescent material: by combining REEs, both Stokes and anti-Stokes luminescence in the visible region were obtained. By means of optical absorption spectroscopy, it was shown that the prepared samples could be classified as wide band gap semiconductors.

Topological solitons commonly appear as energy-minimizing field configurations, but examples of stable, spatially localized objects with coexisting solitonic structures and singular defects are rare. Here we use a nonpolar chiral liquid crystal system to show how twist domain walls can co-self-assemble with vortices to form spatially localized topological objects with spontaneous folding. These soliton–vortex assemblies, which we call ‘möbiusons’, have a topology of the molecular alignment field resembling that of the Möbius strip’s surface and package localized field excitations into folded structures within a confinement-frustrated uniform far-field background. Upon supplying energy in the form of electric pulses, möbiusons with different overall symmetries of structure exhibit folding-dependent rotational and translational motions, as well as topological cargo-carrying abilities that can be controlled by tuning the amplitude and frequency of the applied fields. We demonstrate on-demand transformations between various möbiusons and show examples of encoding information by manipulating folds in such structures. A model based on the energetics of solitons and vortices provides insights into the origins of the folding instability, whereas minimization of the Landau–de Gennes free energy closely reproduces details of their internal structure. Our findings may provide a route towards topology-enabled light-steering designs.

ABSTRACTIn two experiments, we investigated a cross-task transfer of implicit knowledge between two dissimilar tasks requiring manual motor activity. In the first experiment, participants were aware of the relevance of their experience in one task for the solution of the other. In this condition, we observed transfer. In the second experiment, the participants did not know about the relationships between the two tasks, and the transfer did not occur. Concurrent verbalisation was harmful in the first experiment but helped participants in the second experiment. We conclude that one has to be metacognitively aware that one has a relevant representation to allow for its transfer between two dissimilar tasks. We discuss the obtained results within recent theories of analogous transfer from different research domains, such as problem-solving, implicit learning, and motor control.

In this paper, we consider skew-Hermitian solution of coupled generalized Sylvester matrix equations encompassing ∗-hermicity over complex field. The compact formula of the general solution of this system is presented in terms of generalized inverses when some necessary and sufficient conditions are fulfilled. An algorithm and a numerical example are provided to validate our findings. A numerical example is carried out using determinantal representations of the Moore–Penrose inverse.

Liquid crystals are widely known for their technological uses in displays, electro-optics, photonics and nonlinear optics, but these applications typically rely on defining and switching non-topological spatial patterns of the optical axis. Here, we demonstrate how a liquid crystal’s optical axis patterns with singular vortex lines can robustly steer beams of light. External stimuli, including an electric field and light itself, allow us to reconfigure these unusual light–matter interactions. Periodic arrays of vortices obtained by photo-patterning enable the vortex-mediated fission of optical solitons, yielding their lightning-like propagation patterns. Predesigned patterns and spatial trajectories of vortex lines in high-birefringence liquid crystals can steer light into closed loops or even knots. Our vortex lattices might find technological uses in beam steering, telecommunications, virtual reality implementations and anticounterfeiting, as well as possibly offering a model system for probing the interaction of light with defects, including the theoretically predicted, imagination-capturing light-steering action of cosmic strings, elusive defects in cosmology.

Optical metasurfaces offer a compact platform for manipulation of the amplitude, phase, and polarization state of light. Independent control over these properties, however, is hindered by the symmetric transmission matrix associated with single-layer metasurfaces. Here, we utilize multilayer birefringent meta-optics to realize high-efficiency, independent control over the amplitude, phase, and polarization state of light. High-efficiency control is enabled by redistributing the wavefront between cascaded metasurfaces, while end-to-end inverse design is used to realize independent complex-valued functions for orthogonal polarization states. Based on this platform, we demonstrate spatial mode division multiplexing, optical mode conversion, and universal vectorial holograms, all with diffraction efficiencies over 80%. This meta-optic platform expands the design space of flat optics and could lead to advances in optical communications, quantum entanglement, and information encryption.

The nanosized (50–70 nm) pyrochlore Bi1.5Fe0.5Ti2O7−δwas prepared by a coprecipitation technique. Characterization of Bi1.5Fe0.5Ti2O7−δwas carried out by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), Raman spectroscopy, Mössbauer spectroscopy, and magnetic susceptibility measurements. The study of Fe doping in Bi2Ti2O7was performed by means of density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The nanosized Bi1.5Fe0.5Ti2O7−δsample crystallizes in the structural type of pyrochlore (Fd3̅m). The distribution of Fe atoms over the sites of Bi and Ti was studied from DFT simulations and then confirmed by the XRD analysis and Mössbauer method. The local distribution, electronic structure, and magnetic behavior of nanosized Bi1.5Fe0.5Ti2O7−δare determined by the local microstructure of the metastable nanosized sample. Based on the examination of the Mössbauer spectrum of the Bi1.5Fe0.5Ti2O7−δnanopowder, the following states of oxidation were revealed for iron atoms: Fe4+in the titanium sites with a fraction of ∼5.7% and two states of Fe3+(in the Bi and Ti sites) with different geometries of the oxygen surrounding. The ratio of Fe3+distributed over the sites correlates well with the distribution in the ceramic sample. The presence of Fe4+was found only in the nanosized Bi1.5Fe0.5Ti2O7−δ. The experimental effective magnetic moment of Fe atoms in the nanosized Bi1.5Fe0.5Ti2O7−δappeared noticeably lower than that in the ceramic sample. The temperature dependence of μeffwithin the temperature range of 50–300 K is adequately described by the model of coexistence of Fe3+and Fe4+and the existence of clusters.

Colloidal systems are abundant in technology, in biomedical settings, and in our daily life. The so-called “colloidal atoms” paradigm exploits interparticle interactions to self-assemble colloidal analogs of atomic and molecular crystals, liquid crystal glasses, and other types of condensed matter from nanometer- or micrometer-sized colloidal building blocks. Nematic colloids, which comprise colloidal particles dispersed within an anisotropic nematic fluid host medium, provide a particularly rich variety of physical behaviors at the mesoscale, not only matching but even exceeding the diversity of structural and phase behavior in conventional atomic and molecular systems. This feature article, using primarily examples of works from our own group, highlights recent developments in the design, fabrication, and self-assembly of nematic colloidal particles, including the capabilities of preprogramming their behavior by controlling the particle’s surface boundary conditions for liquid crystal molecules at the colloidal surfaces as well as by defining the shape and topology of the colloidal particles. Recent progress in defining particle-induced defects, elastic multipoles, self-assembly, and dynamics is discussed along with open issues and challenges within this research field.

Inorganic–organic hybrid luminescent materials have received great attention for their potential applications in a wide range of clean/renewable energy-related areas, including photovoltaics and solid-state lighting. Herein, we present a unique and general “Mn + Cu” approach by blending two earth-abundant luminogenic metals, manganese and copper, within a single ionic structure to construct a remarkable family of low-cost and multifunctional hybrid materials featuring dual emission, as well as triboluminescence and second-harmonic generation response. The novel hybrid materials are made of diphosphine dioxide-chelated [Mn(O∧O)3]2+cations and various anionic [CuxIy](y−x)–clusters, ensuring manifestation of dual phosphorescence streamed from octahedral Mn2+ions (605–648 nm) and iodocuprate anions (480–728 nm). Noteworthily, the relative ratio of the emission bands, and hence a resulting emission chromaticity, can be tuned in a wide range through modification of cluster [CuxIy](y−x)–modules. The structural diversity, enhanced robustness, and up to 100% luminescence quantum yield make the designed materials promising phosphors for lighting and sensing applications.

Widely known for their uses in displays and electro-optics, liquid crystals are more than just technological marvels. They vividly reveal the topology and structure of various solitonic and singular field configurations, often markedly resembling the ones arising in many field theories and in the areas ranging from particle physics to optics, hard condensed matter and cosmology. In this review, we focus on chiral nematic liquid crystals to show how these experimentally highly accessible systems provide valuable insights into the structure and behavior of fractional, full, and multi-integer two-dimensional skyrmions, dislocations and both abelian and non-abelian defect lines, as well as various three-dimensionally localized, often knotted structures that include hopfions, heliknotons, torons and twistions. We provide comparisons of some of these field configurations with their topological counterparts in chiral magnets, discussing close analogies between these two condensed matter systems.

•FreeSurfer version-dependent variability on brain age predictions is on average small when varying training-test splits.•FreeSurfer version differences can introduce variability in brain age dependent on the algorithm and individual differences.•The advantage of repeated random train-test splitting is highlighted.•Shuffling of FreeSurfer version-dependent data increases performance and generalizability of the brain age prediction model.

During the course of adulthood and aging, white matter (WM) structure and organization are characterized by slow degradation processes such as demyelination and shrinkage. An acceleration of such aging processes has been linked to the development of a range of diseases. Thus, an accurate description of healthy brain maturation, particularly in terms of WM features, is fundamental to the understanding of aging.

Solitons attract a great deal of interest in many fields, ranging from optics to fluid mechanics, cosmology, particle physics and condensed matter. However, solitons of these very different types rarely coexist and interact with each other. Here we develop a system that hosts optical solitons coexisting with topological solitonic structures localized in the molecular alignment field of a soft birefringent medium. We experimentally demonstrate and theoretically explain optomechanical interactions between such optical and topological solitons, mediated by the local transfer of momentum between light and matter and the nonlocal orientational elasticity of the liquid-crystal phase used in our system. We show that the delicate balance arising from these different contributions to the optomechanical force enables facile dynamical control and spatial localization of topological solitons. Our findings reveal unusual solitonic tractor beams and emergent light–matter self-patterning phenomena that could aid in creating new breeds of nonlinear photonic materials and devices.