Specific iron binding to natural sphingomyelin membrane induced by non-specific co-solutes.

Hypothesis: Sphingomyelin (SPM), a crucial phospholipid in the myelin sheath, plays a vital role in insulating nerve fibers. We hypothesize that iron ions selectively bind to the phosphatidylcholine (PC) template within the SPM membrane under near-physiological conditions, resulting in disruptions to membrane organization. These interactions could potentially contribute to the degradation of the myelin sheath, thereby playing a role in the development of neurodegenerative diseases.

Atomic-Scale Characterization of Dilute Dopants in Topological Insulators via STEM-EDS Using Registration and Cell Averaging Techniques.

Magnetic dopants in three-dimensional topological insulators (TIs) offer a promising avenue for realizing the quantum anomalous Hall effect (QAHE) without the necessity for an external magnetic field. Understanding the relationship between site occupancy of magnetic dopant elements and their effect on macroscopic property is crucial for controlling the QAHE. By combining atomic-scale energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) maps obtained by aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy (AC-STEM) and novel data processing methodologies, including semi-automatic lattice averaging and frame registration, we have determined the substitutional sites of Mn atoms within the 1.

Nanocrystal Assemblies: Current Advances and Open Problems.

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.

Assembling PNIPAM-Capped Gold Nanoparticles in Aqueous Solutions.

Employing small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), we explore the conditions under which assembly of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) grafted with the thermosensitive polymer poly(-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) emerges. We find that short-range order assembly emerges by combining the addition of electrolytes or polyelectrolytes with raising the temperature of the suspensions above the lower-critical solution temperature (LCST) of PNIPAM. Our results show that the longer the PNIPAM chain is, the better organization in the assembled clusters.

Contextual reinstatement affects semantic organization.

The Context Dependency Effect is the well-established finding in which memory performance is enhanced under conditions in which the encoding and retrieval contexts overlap (i.e., Same-Context) and diminished when the overlap between encoding and retrieval contexts is low (i.