Italian Institute of Technology

Elevated prenatal IL-6 levels disrupt early patterns of hippocampal electrical activity and chloride homeostasis by targeting GABAergic signaling at perinatal stage

Abstract Early patterns of neuronal electrical activity are fundamental for driving critical developmental processes, including neuronal maturation and synapse formation. While genetic programs are key in orchestrating these events, the influence of environmental stressors remain...

Mechanistic Insights Into Noble Metal Nanoparticle Antimicrobial Activity through Correlative SEM–SEI‐XPS Analysis

This article presents a correlative analytical strategy for studying nanoparticle-microbe interactions. Understanding the intracellular transformations of metallic nanoparticles (MNPs) provides critical insights into their antimicrobial mechanisms and informs the design of safe,...

α- and β-Pinene as a Solvent for Metal Halide Nanocrystal Synthesis

Abstract The hot-injection method is widely employed for the synthesis of high-quality nanocrystals, offering fine control over critical parameters that determine their morphology and properties. However, its major drawback lies in the large volume of waste generated, primarily f...

Advanced background removal methods in single molecule localization microscopy using scattering networks and SVD

Accurate background estimation is a key challenge in single-molecule localization microscopy (SMLM), as it directly affects the quality of molecular localization and sample reconstruction. A coarse separation between background and relevant signal can often be obtained by contras...

Comprehensive profiling of brain dynamics during anesthesia across phylogeny

Abstract The behavioral effects of anesthetics are highly conserved across species, hinting at shared and fundamental underlying mechanisms. Here we compile a dataset of multiscale neural activity during wakefulness and anesthesia, encompassing human, macaque, marmoset, mouse, ze...

Cell-type-specific mechanoadaptation to sustained hydrostatic pressure and flow in glioblastoma cells and astrocytes

Abstract Mechanical forces are increasingly recognized as regulators of cellular behavior, yet their impact on glioblastoma cells and astrocytes remains incompletely understood. Here, we investigated the effects of fluid flow and hydrostatic pressure (HP) on human glioblastoma U8...

What Drives the Selectivity of 5-(Hydroxymethyl)furfural Electroreduction over Copper in Mildly Basic Medium?

Abstract 2,5-Bishydroxymethylfuran (BHMF) is an important bio-based monomer that can be produced via the electrochemical reduction of 5-(hydroxymethyl)furfural (HMF) on Cu electrocatalysts. Under mildly alkaline conditions, however, BHMF formation competes with hydrodimerization...

A Scoping Review of Neurobiological and Brain Structural Alterations Following Child Exposure to Intimate Partner Violence

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is one global issue that can lead to neurobiological consequences and affect brain development across the lifetime. However, evidence is scattered across domains and age groups, making it difficult to map the breadth of empirical findings regarding...

Deformable discoidal polymeric nanoconstructs: Design principles, therapeutic applications, and translational perspectives

Abstract Deformable Discoidal Polymeric Nanoconstructs (DPN) represent a biomimetic drug-delivery platform designed to overcome the limitations of conventional spherical nanoparticles. Their discoidal geometry, tunable deformability, and PLGA/PEG-based composition promote vascula...

Toeplitz‐Based Spectral Methods for Data‐driven Dynamical Systems

ABSTRACT We introduce a Toeplitz‐based framework for data‐driven spectral estimation of linear evolution operators in dynamical systems. Focusing on transfer and Koopman operators from equilibrium trajectories without access to the underlying equations of motion, our method appli...

Enhancing motor prosthesis training through a gamified mixed-reality system

Abstract During the advanced stages of hand prosthesis training, amputees strive to perfect their movements to enhance fine motor skills, increase speed, and achieve fluid and continuous actions. However, this training typically occurs in abstract, low-engagement scenarios, limit...

The role of multisensory integration in child development: Perception, cognition, and action

Multisensory integration (MSI) is a cornerstone of human development, essential for how children perceive, interact with, and understand the world. This review proposes that the developmental trajectory of MSI is characterized by asynchronous maturation of the different sensory s...

Zero-Dimensional Bismuth Halide Thin Films with High Orientation and Broadband Emission

Abstract Lead-free low-dimensional metal halides are emerging as highly tunable materials for optoelectronic applications. Here, we report a new class of zero-dimensional bismuth halides incorporating phenethylammonium (PEA) cations, namely PEA4BiI7 and PEA4BiBr7, and investigate...

Torsionator: Dihedral Parameterization and Conformer Search Made Easy

Abstract Neural network potentials (NNPs), trained on quantum mechanical (QM) data, can deliver near QM-level accuracy while being much faster than QM calculations. In this work, we introduce a new software tool, Torsionator, which currently supports MACE, OBIWAN, and UMA NNPs fo...

3D Imaging Without Light-Sheet: An Accessible Tissue-Clearing and Confocal Workflow for Human Cortical and Retinal Organoids

Human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived neural organoids have emerged as valuable models for investigating human neurodevelopment and neurological disorders. However, their complex three-dimensional architecture poses significant challenges for conventional histologica...

Growing Up With Social Robots: Scientific, Ethical, and Theological Anthropological Perspectives on Social Robots, AI Companions, and Child and Adolescent Development

We discuss the increasing presence of social robots (SRs) and artificial intelligence (AI) companions in the contemporary ecology of youth development and the role of parasocial relationships created by youth with these technical artifacts, emphasizing the links between parasocia...

Foot segments motion during uneven terrain walking and influence on lower limb biomechanics

Abstract Human locomotion has been extensively studied on flat ground; however, everyday walking often occurs on uneven terrain, which poses additional biomechanical challenges. The role of foot segmental mobility under these conditions remains underexplored. This study investiga...

Synergistic Effects of pH and Temperature on Dengue Virus Envelope Dimers: Insights from Microsecond Molecular Dynamics Simulations

Abstract Dengue pathogenesis depends on a conformational rearrangement of the envelope glycoprotein (pE) induced by low pH. However, how pH and temperature cooperate to destabilize the dimeric form of the pE, a fundamental step that enables the formation of the fusion-active trim...

Visual dysfunction and psychosis: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Objectives Visual impairment and broader visual-related abnormalities have been implicated in psychosis, but the consistency, specificity, and direction of this association remain unclear. We systematically reviewed evidence linking clinically defined visual impairment, visual-pr...

Configuration-space Bayesian optimisation for stress-critical pose identification on a hyper-redundant robot

Abstract Serial manipulators can have strongly varying internal stresses within their configuration space, making the identification of stress-critical poses important for structural design.Because each candidate configuration requires a computationally expensive Finite Element A...