Overview of Nanocosmetics with Emphasis on those Incorporating Natural Extracts.

The cosmetic industry is rapidly rising worldwide. To overcome certain deficiencies of conventional cosmetics, nanomaterials have been introduced to formulations of nails, lips, hair, and skin for treating/alleviating hyperpigmentation, hair loss, acne, dandruff, wrinkles, photoaging, etc. Innovative nanocarrier materials applied in the cosmetic sector for carrying the active ingredients include niosomes, fullerenes, liposomes, carbon nanotubes, and nanoemulsions.

A Review of Medical Image Registration for Different Modalities.

Medical image registration has become pivotal in recent years with the integration of various imaging modalities like X-ray, ultrasound, MRI, and CT scans, enabling comprehensive analysis and diagnosis of biological structures. This paper provides a comprehensive review of registration techniques for medical images, with an in-depth focus on 2D-2D image registration methods. While 3D registration is briefly touched upon, the primary emphasis remains on 2D techniques and their applications.

Imaging Diffractometric Biosensors for Label-Free, Multi-Molecular Interaction Analysis.

Biosensors are used for the specific and sensitive detection of biomolecules. In conventional approaches, the suspected target molecules are bound to selected capture molecules and successful binding is indicated by additional labelling to enable optical readout. This labelling requires additional processing steps tailored to the application.

Variations in CTAC batches from different suppliers highly affect the shape yield in seed-mediated synthesis of gold nanotriangles.

The rapidly developing miniaturization in numerous fields require low-demanding but robust methods of nanomaterial production. Colloidal synthesis provides great flexibility in product material, size, and shape. Gold nanoparticle synthesis has been thoroughly studied, however, recent reports on mechanistic insights of crystal formation have been hindered by the numerous procedures and parameter optimization works.

Alkyne-tagged imidazolium-based membrane cholesterol analogs for Raman imaging applications.

Cholesterol is an important lipid playing a crucial role in mediating essential cellular processes as well as maintaining the basic structural integrity of biological membranes. Given its vast biological importance, there is an unabated need for sophisticated strategies to investigate cholesterol-mediated biological processes. Raman-tagged sterol analogs offer the advantage of being visualizable without the need for a bulky dye that potentially affects natural membrane integration and cellular interactions as it is the case for many conventionally used fluorescent analogs.

Cytotoxic and pro-oxidant profile of a photosensitive ruthenium nitrosyl candidate for NO delivery in healthy human fibroblasts.

Ruthenium nitrosyl (Ru-NO) complexes are of interest as photoactive nitric oxide (NO) donor candidates for local therapeutic applications. NO plays a crucial regulatory role in skin homeostasis, concentration-dependently affecting processes like the proliferation, apoptosis, autophagy and redox balance. In this context, we investigated HE-10, a ruthenium-based photoinducible NO donor, for its pro-oxidant and cytotoxic effects under light and dark conditions in VH10 human foreskin fibroblast cells.

Cyanide Linkage Isomerization Induced by Cobalt Oxidation-State Changes at a Co-Fe Prussian-Blue Analogue/ZnO Interface.

Understanding the interfacial composition in heterostructures is crucial for tailoring heterogenous electrochemical and photoelectrochemical processes. This work aims to elucidate the structure of a series of Co-Fe Prussian blue analogue modified ZnO (PBA/ZnO) electrodes with interface-sensitive vibrational sum frequency generation (VSFG) spectroscopy. Our measurements revealed, for the first time, a cyanide linkage isomerism at the PBA/ZnO interface, when the composite is fabricated at elevated temperatures.

Memristive True Random Number Generator for Security Applications.

This study explores memristor-based true random number generators (TRNGs) through their evolution and optimization, stemming from the concept of memristors first introduced by Leon Chua in 1971 and realized in 2008. We will consider memristor TRNGs coming from various entropy sources for producing high-quality random numbers. However, we must take into account both their strengths and weaknesses.

Vacancy-Engineered 1D Nanorods with Spatially Segregated Dual Redox Sites for Visible-Light-Driven Cooperative CO Reduction.

Cooperative CO photoreduction with tailored organic synthesis offers a potent avenue for harnessing concurrently generated electrons and holes, facilitating the creation of both solar fuels and specialized chemical compounds. However, controlling the crystallization and morphologies of metal-free molecular nanostructures with exceptional photocatalytic activities toward CO reduction remains a significant challenge. These hurdles encompass insufficient CO activation potential, sluggish multielectron processes, delayed charge-separation kinetics, inadequate storage of long-lived photoexcitons, unfavorable thermodynamic conditions, and the precise control of product selectivity.

Biomedical SERS - the current state and future trends.

Surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) is meeting the requirements in biomedical science being a highly sensitive and specific analytical tool. By employing portable Raman systems in combination with customized sample pre-treatment, point-of-care-testing (POCT) becomes feasible. Powerful SERS-active sensing surfaces with high stability and modification layers if required are available for testing and application in complex biological matrices such as body fluids, cells or tissues.

Understanding Advanced Attenuated Total Reflection Correction: The Low Absorbance Assumption.

We present an attenuated total reflection (ATR) correction scheme capable of rectifying ATR spectra while considering the polarization state for arbitrary angles of incidence, provided that this angle exceeds the critical angle for the entire ATR spectrum. Due to its reliance on the weak absorption approximation, it cannot achieve perfect correction of the ATR spectra. However, comprehending its functionality may offer valuable insights into the concept behind the weak absorption approximation.

Standoff Identification of Plastic Waste Using a Low-Cost Compact Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) Detection System.

We report the standoff/remote identification of post-consumer plastic waste by utilizing a low-cost and compact standoff laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (ST-LIBS) detection system. A single plano-convex lens is used for collecting the optical emissions from the plasma at a standoff distance of 6.5 m.

Explainable artificial intelligence for spectroscopy data: a review.

Explainable artificial intelligence (XAI) has gained significant attention in various domains, including natural and medical image analysis. However, its application in spectroscopy remains relatively unexplored. This systematic review aims to fill this gap by providing a comprehensive overview of the current landscape of XAI in spectroscopy and identifying potential benefits and challenges associated with its implementation.

Interfacial Electrochemistry of Catalyst-Coordinated Graphene Nanoribbons.

The immobilization of molecular electrocatalysts on conductive electrodes is an appealing strategy for enhancing their overall activity relative to those of analogous molecular compounds. In this study, we report on the interfacial electrochemistry of self-assembled two-dimensional nanosheets of graphene nanoribbons () and analogs containing a Rh-based hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) catalyst () immobilized on conductive electrodes. Proton-coupled electron transfer (PCET) taking place at N-centers of the nanoribbons was utilized as an indirect reporter of the interfacial electric fields experienced by the monolayer nanosheet located within the electric double layer.

Raman-Activated, Interactive Sorting of Isotope-Labeled Bacteria.

Due to its high spatial resolution, Raman microspectroscopy allows for the analysis of single microbial cells. Since Raman spectroscopy analyzes the whole cell content, this method is phenotypic and can therefore be used to evaluate cellular changes. In particular, labeling with stable isotopes (SIPs) enables the versatile use and observation of different metabolic states in microbes.

Room-temperature quantum nanoplasmonic coherent perfect absorption.

Light-matter superposition states obtained via strong coupling play a decisive role in quantum information processing, but the deleterious effects of material dissipation and environment-induced decoherence inevitably destroy coherent light-matter polaritons over time. Here, we propose the use of coherent perfect absorption under near-field driving to prepare and protect the polaritonic states of a single quantum emitter interacting with a plasmonic nanocavity at room temperature. Our scheme of quantum nanoplasmonic coherent perfect absorption leverages an inherent frequency specificity to selectively initialize the coupled system in a chosen plasmon-emitter dressed state, while the coherent, unidirectional and non-perturbing near-field energy transfer from a proximal plasmonic waveguide can in principle render the dressed state robust against dynamic dissipation under ambient conditions.

An Integrated and Modular Compartmentalized Microfluidic System with Tunable Electrospun Porous Membranes for Epithelialized Organs-on-a-Chip.

A modular and 3D compartmentalized microfluidic system with electrospun porous membranes (PMs) for epithelialized organ-on-a-chip systems is presented. Our novel approach involves direct deposition of polymer nanofibers onto a patterned poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) substrate using electrospinning, resulting in an integrated PM within the microfluidic chip. The in situ deposition of the PM eliminates the need for additional assembly processes.

Red-to-Blue Triplet-Triplet Annihilation Upconversion for Calcium Sensing.

Triplet-triplet annihilation upconversion is a bimolecular process converting low-energy photons into high-energy photons. Here, we report a calcium-sensing system working via triplet-triplet annihilation (TTA) upconverted emission. The probe itself was obtained by covalent conjugation of a blue emitter, perylene, with a calcium-chelating moiety, and it was sensitized by the red-light-absorbing photosensitizer palladium(II) tetraphenyltetrabenzoporphyrin (PdTPTBP).

Volcanic Eruption in the Nanoworld: Efficient Oxygen Exchange at the Si/SnO Interface.

Here, a phenomenon of efficient oxygen exchange between a silicon surface and a thin layer of tin dioxide during chemical vapor deposition is presented, which leads to a unique Sn:SiO layer. Under thermodynamic conditions in the temperature range of 725-735 °C, the formation of nanostructures with volcano-like shapes in "active" and "dormant" states are observed. Extensive characterization techniques, such as electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, synchrotron radiation-based X-ray photoelectron, and X-ray absorption near-edge structure spectroscopy, are applied to study the formation.

Estimation of biological variance in coherent Raman microscopy data of two cell lines using chemometrics.

Broadband Coherent Anti-Stokes Raman Scattering (BCARS) is a valuable spectroscopic imaging tool for visualizing cellular structures and lipid distributions in biomedical applications. However, the inevitable biological changes in the samples (cells/tissues/lipids) introduce spectral variations in BCARS data and make analysis challenging. In this work, we conducted a systematic study to estimate the biological variance in BCARS data of two commonly used cell lines (HEK293 and HepG2) in biomedical research.

Sequencing a CC239-MRSA-III with a novel composite SCC mec element from Kuwait.

Staphylococcus aureus CC239-MRSA-III is an ancient pandemic strain of hospital-associated, methicillin-resistant S. aureus that spread globally for decades and that still can be found in some parts of the world. In Kuwait, microarray-based surveillance identified from 2019 to 2022 a series of isolates of a hitherto unknown variant of this strain that carried a second set of recombinase genes, ccrA/B-2.

Beyond the First Coordination Sphere─Manipulating the Excited-State Landscape in Iron(II) Chromophores with Protons.

Molecular transition metal chromophores play a central role in light harvesting and energy conversion. Recently, earth-abundant transition-metal-based chromophores have begun to challenge the dominance of platinum group metal complexes in this area. However, the development of new chromophores with optimized photophysical properties is still limited by a lack of synthetic methods, especially with respect to heteroleptic complexes with functional ligands.

Ultrabroadband two-beam coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering and spontaneous Raman spectroscopy of organic fluids: A comparative study.

Spontaneous Raman spectroscopy is a well-established diagnostic tool, allowing for the identification of all Raman active species with a single measurement. Yet, it may suffer from low-signal intensity and fluorescent background. In contrast, coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) offers laser-like signals, but the traditional approach lacks the multiplex capability of spontaneous Raman spectroscopy.