BINA

The two-dimensional electron system found between LaAlO3 and SrTiO3 hosts a variety of physical phenomena that can be tuned through external stimuli. This allows for electronic devices controlling magnetism, spin–orbit coupling, and superconductivity. Controlling the electron density by varying donor concentrations and using electrostatic gating are convenient handles to modify the electronic properties, but the impact on the microscopic scale, particularly of the former, remains underexplored. Here, we image the current distribution at 4.2 K in amorphous-LaAlO3/SrTiO3 using scanning superconducting quantum interference device microscopy while changing the carrier density in situ using electrostatic gating and oxygen annealing. We show how potential disorder affects the current and how homogeneous 2D flow evolves into several parallel conducting channels when approaching the metal-to-insulator …

The interest in nanomaterials resides in the fact that they can be used to create smaller, faster, and more portable systems. Nanotechnology is already transforming health care. Nanoparticles are being used by scientists to target malignancies, improve drug delivery systems, and improve medical imaging. Integration of biomolecular logic gates with nanostructures has opened new paths in illness detection and therapy that need precise control of complicated components. Most studies have used fluorescence intensity techniques to implement the logic function. Its drawbacks, mainly when working with nanoparticles in intracellular media, include fluctuations in excitation power, fluorophore concentration dependence, and interference from cell autofluorescence. We suggest using fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) in order to circumvent these constraints. Designing a nanohybrid composed of gold …

Fog accumulation on surfaces typically has a negative effect by reducing their transparency and efficiency. Applications such as plastic packaging, agricultural films, and particularly many optical devices suffer from these negative effects. One way to prevent fogging is to coat the substrate with an antifogging coating having a smooth surface and hydrophilic surface chemical groups. This causes the fog water droplets that come into contact with the substrate to completely flatten across its surface, thus retaining transparency. These coatings are mostly relegated to laboratory research due to their insufficient stability and costly synthetic processes. We proposed the use of organically modified silica particles consisting of a mixture of tetraethyl orthosilicate and methacryloxypropyltriethoxysilane, which were grown in situ in the presence of a corona-activated polyethylene film, thus providing a thin siloxane coating …

High-performance electrolytes are at the heart of magnesium battery development. Long-term stability along with the low potential difference between plating and stripping processes are needed to consider them for next-generation battery devices. Within this work, we perform an in-depth characterization of the novel Mg[Al(hfip)4]2 salt in different glyme-based electrolytes. Specific importance is given to the influence of water content and the role of additives in the electrolyte. Mg[Al(hfip)4]2-based electrolytes exemplify high tolerance to water presence and the beneficial effect of additives under aggravated cycling conditions. Finally, electrolyte compatibility is tested with three different types of Mg cathodes, spanning different types of electrochemical mechanisms (Chevrel phase, organic cathode, sulfur). Benchmarking with an electrolyte containing a state-of-the-art Mg[B(hfip)4]2 salt exemplifies an improved …

Recent research points to mesenchymal stem cells’ potential for treating neurological disorders, especially drug addiction. We examined the longitudinal effect of placenta-derived mesenchymal stromal-like cells (PLX-PAD) in a rat model for cocaine addiction. Sprague–Dawley male rats were trained to self-administer cocaine or saline daily until stable maintenance. Before the extinction phase, PLX-PAD cells were administered by intracerebroventricular or intranasal routes. Neurogenesis was evaluated, as was behavioral monitoring for craving. We labeled the PLX-PAD cells with gold nanoparticles and followed their longitudinal migration in the brain parallel to their infiltration of essential peripheral organs both by micro-CT and by inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry. Cell locations in the brain were confirmed by immunohistochemistry. We found that PLX-PAD cells attenuated cocaine-seeking behavior through their capacity to migrate to specific mesolimbic regions, homed on the parenchyma in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus, and restored neurogenesis. We believe that intranasal cell therapy is a safe and effective approach to treating addiction and may offer a novel and efficient approach to rehabilitation.

The immune system matures throughout childhood to achieve full functionality in protecting our bodies against threats. The immune system has a strong reciprocal symbiosis with the host bacterial population and the two systems co-develop, shaping each other. Despite their fundamental role in health physiology, the ontogeny of these systems is poorly characterized. In this study, we investigated the development of the BCR repertoire by analyzing high-throughput sequencing of their receptors in several time points of young C57BL/6J mice. In parallel, we explored the development of the gut microbiome. We discovered that the gut IgA repertoires change from birth to adolescence, including an increase in CDR3 lengths and somatic hypermutation levels. This contrasts with the spleen IgM repertoires that remain stable and distinct from the IgA repertoires in the gut. We also discovered that large clones that germinate …

Lysozyme is widely known to promote the formation of condensed silica networks from solutions containing silicic acid, in a reproducible and cost-effective way. However, little is known about the fate of the protein after the formation of the silica particles. Also, the relative arrangement of the different components in the resulting material is a matter of debate. In this study, we investigate the nature of the protein–silica interactions by means of solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, small-angle X-ray scattering, and electron microscopy. We find that lysozyme and silica are in intimate contact and strongly interacting, but their interaction is neither covalent nor electrostatic: lysozyme is mostly trapped inside the silica by steric effects.

Magnesium ion (Mg2+) is one of the most significant cations in living systems with involvement in many biochemical reactions and cellular processes and hence, sensitive and specific detection of Mg2+ is therefore essential for various applications. Here, we report the solvothermal synthesis of boron‐doped carbon dots (BC10) with more oxygen surface states by using salicylaldehyde and naphthalene‐1‐boronic acid. The as‐prepared BC10 showed greenish‐white luminescence under 365 nm UV illumination with quantum yield (QY) of 5.5 % at optimum dilution with dimethyl sulfur oxide (DMSO) solvent. The BC10 in DMSO (DS‐BC10) have shown high selectivity and sensitivity towards Mg2+ ion through the increased PL intensity due to chelation‐enhanced photoluminescence (CHEP). The enhanced PL intensity was further supported by the increased QY by a factor of 12 after the addition of Mg2+ ions to 65 …

Information about action costs is critical for real-world AI planning applications. Rather than rely solely on declarative action models, recent approaches also use black-box external action cost estimators, often learned from data, that are applied during the planning phase. These, however, can be computationally expensive, and produce uncertain values. In this paper we suggest a generalization of deterministic planning with action costs that allows selecting between multiple estimators for action cost, to balance computation time against bounded estimation uncertainty. This enables a much richer -- and correspondingly more realistic -- problem representation. Importantly, it allows planners to bound plan accuracy, thereby increasing reliability, while reducing unnecessary computational burden, which is critical for scaling to large problems. We introduce a search algorithm, generalizing , that solves such planning problems, and additional algorithmic extensions. In addition to theoretical guarantees, extensive experiments show considerable savings in runtime compared to alternatives.

The definition and representation of planning problems is at the heart of AI planning research. A key part is the representation of action models. Decades of advances improving declarative action model representations resulted in numerous theoretical advances, and capable, working, domain-independent planners. However, despite the maturity of the field, AI planning technology is still rarely used outside the research community, suggesting that current representations fail to capture real-world requirements, such as utilizing complex mathematical functions and models learned from data. We argue that this is because the modeling process is assumed to have taken place and completed prior to the planning process, i.e., offline modeling for offline planning. There are several challenges inherent to this approach, including: limited expressiveness of declarative modeling languages; early commitment to modeling choices and computation, that preclude using the most appropriate resolution for each action model -- which can only be known during planning; and difficulty in reliably using non-declarative, learned, models. We therefore suggest to change the AI planning process, such that is carries out online modeling in offline planning, i.e., the use of action models that are computed or even generated as part of the planning process, as they are accessed. This generalizes the existing approach (offline modeling). The proposed definition admits novel planning processes, and we suggest one concrete implementation, demonstrating the approach. We sketch initial results that were obtained as part of a first attempt to follow this approach by planning …

We present our current understanding of various aspects of Efimov physics originating from the complex multichannel hyperfine structure and overlap of Feshbach resonances for 7Li atoms. This further help us to explain puzzling experimental observations with ultracold gases. We have characterized the energies of Efimov states and corresponding interference and resonance scattering phenomena associated to them as a function of an external magnetic field. Our results also indicate that Efimov states in the 7Li system can have a unique mixed hyperfine character which strongly affect their near-threshold behavior for repulsive interatomic interactions.[1] Y. Yudkin, R. Elbaz, L. Khaykovich, arXiv: 2004.02723.

We present our current understanding of various aspects of Efimov physics originating from the complex multichannel hyperfine structure and overlap of Feshbach resonances for 7Li atoms. This further help us to explain puzzling experimental observations with ultracold gases. We have characterized the energies of Efimov states and corresponding interference and resonance scattering phenomena associated to them as a function of an external magnetic field. Our results also indicate that Efimov states in the 7Li system can have a unique mixed hyperfine character which strongly affect their near-threshold behavior for repulsive interatomic interactions.[1] Y. Yudkin, R. Elbaz, L. Khaykovich, arXiv: 2004.02723.

treated with NaCl and HNO3 solutions were obtained to extract Na+ and K+ ions from saline water. The physicochemical characteristics of the obtained sorbents were studied by SEM, EDAX, and BET methods. It was found that successive treatment with NaCl and HNO3 solutions has a positive effect on the sorption properties of the studied materials. The maximum increase in the specific surface area from 4.5 m2/g to 39.3 m2/g is observed for acid-treated Z, and the specific surface area of ​​ChC also increases almost 2-fold from 8.4 m2/g to 15.3 m2/g. Na+ and K+ ions are extracted from water due to ion exchange with Z and ChC cations. As a result of determining the cation exchange capacity (CEC) of the studied sorbents, it was found that treatment with a NaCl solution improves the ion exchange properties of the sorbent and leads to the formation of a “homoionic” form of aluminosilicates. Due to that the sorbents more easily enter ion exchange reactions. The authors established the sorption activity of the obtained materials based on natural Z and ChC with respect to Na+ and K+ cations. The maximum recovery rate is 28.45% for Na+ ions with the ChC-Na-H sorbent and 76.28% for K+ ions with the ChC-Na sorbent. Among Z-based sorbents, the most effective forms are Z-Na-H (15.44% Na+ recovery) and Z-Na (60.47% K+ recovery).