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Monoamine neurotransmitters, such as serotonin and melatonin, are of significant scientific interest due to their widespread influence across various tissues. They play crucial roles in the hormonal and neuronal systems, controlling numerous physiological processes, including antioxidant, neuroprotective, anticancer, cardiovascular function, platelet aggregation, and psychiatric disorders. In this study, we present a direct analysis revealing the nonlinear optical properties of serotonin and melatonin under femtosecond (fs) pulsed laser excitation through the Z-scan and quantum chemical methods. Under the specified Z-scan experimental conditions, these monoamine neurotransmitters exhibit positive refractive and absorptive nonlinearities. Here, the origin of this nonlinearity is attributed to the electronic polarization effect. Specifically, nonlinear refraction is influenced by the self-focusing effect, while nonlinear absorption is governed by the reverse saturable absorption effect (RSA). The experimental data from the Z-scan method correlate with the quantum chemical method, and we observe that, at the highest experimental concentration (550 mM), the theoretical values of ⟨γ⟩ for serotonin and melatonin are approximately 15.78% and 33.84%, respectively, of the experimental values. Several novel chemical reactivity descriptors are calculated using the quantum chemical method to comprehend various aspects of pharmacological science. Furthermore, molecular docking simulations are carried out to conduct a thorough investigation into the binding affinity and poses of serotonin and melatonin with their receptors. The prediction of non-bonding weak interactions of serotonin and melatonin assures potent binding with their receptors. The findings of this research could provide valuable understanding, aiding in the development of novel therapeutic approaches focused on processes regulated by serotonin and melatonin.

To meet the demands of the contemporary world, lead-free and non-toxic materials must be found in the pursuit of sustainable energy. Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) based on FAMASnI3 appear to be a promising alternative because they are non-toxic and inexpensive. Computational modeling enables efficient analysis of perovskite solar cell performance, optimizing materials, interfaces, and device architectures without extensive experimental trials. It accelerates innovation by providing insights into mechanisms like charge transport, recombination, and defect dynamics, saving time and costs. In the present study, the evaluation of FAMASnI3-based PSCs with organic electron transport layers (ETLs), such as FNiPc, BrNiPc, and C60, has been presented with SCAPS-1D software. Optimizing the absorber layer thickness (300nm) and defect density (1×1013cm-3), the performance of these PSCs has been enhanced. Furthermore, the effect of ETL thickness on solar cell efficiency is also studied. The results shows that the maximum power conversion efficiency of the PSCs is 22.89%, with a VOC of 0.94 V, JSC of 28.54 mA/cm2, and FF of 85.06%, is achieved by utilizing BrNiPc as the ETL material and FAMASnI3 as the absorber layer. These results show that great efficiency may be achieved at cheaper manufacturing costs and with little environmental impact when tin-based lead-free PSCs are produced.

Substantial impacts on climate have been documented for soot‒sulfuric acid (H 2 SO 4 ) interactions in terms of optical and hygroscopic properties of soot aerosols. However, the influence of H 2 SO 4 on heterogeneous chemistry on soot remains unexplored. Additionally, oxidation rate coefficients for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons intrinsic to the atmospheric particles evaluated in laboratory experiments seem to overestimate their degradation in ambient atmosphere, possibly due to matrix effects which are hitherto not mimicked in laboratory experiments. For the first time, our kinetics study reports significant influence of H 2 SO 4 coating on heterogeneous ozonation of benzo(a)pyrene (BaP) deposited on model soot, representative to atmospheric particles. The approximate specific surface area of model soot (5 m 2 g −1 ) was estimated as a measure of the availability of surface molecules to a typical gaseous atmospheric oxidant. Heterogeneous bimolecular reaction kinetics and Raman spectroscopy studies suggested plausible reasons for decreased BaP ozonation rate in presence of H 2 SO 4 : 1. decreased partitioning of O 3 on soot surface and 2. shielding of BaP molecules to gaseous O 3 by acid-BaP reaction or O 3 oxidation products.

Background Respiratory diseases are a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the horses of all ages including foals. There is limited understanding of the expression of immune molecules such as tetraspanins and surfactant proteins (SP) and the regulation of the immune responses in the lungs of the foals. Therefore, the expression of CD9, SP-A and SP-D in foal lungs was examined. Results Lungs from one day old ( n  = 6) and 30 days old ( n  = 5) foals were examined for the expression of CD9, SP-A, and SP-D with immunohistology and Western blots. Western blot data showed significant increase in the amount of CD9 protein ( p = 0.0397) but not of SP-A and SP-D at 30 days of age compared to one day. Immunohistology detected CD9 in the alveolar septa and vascular endothelium but not the bronchiolar epithelium in the lungs of the foals in both age groups. SP-A and SP-D expression was localized throughout the alveolar septa including type II alveolar epithelial cells and the vascular endothelium of the lungs in all the foals. Compared to one day old foals, the expression of SP-A and SP-D appeared to be increased in the bronchiolar epithelium of 30 day old foals. Pulmonary intravascular macrophages were also positive for SP-A and SP-D in 30 days old foals and these cells are not developed in the day old foals. Conclusions This is the first data on the expression of CD9, SP-A and SP-D in the lungs of foals.

Among all excitonic complexes in transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), dark and semi-dark trions are poised to play a stellar role in future quantum technologies due to their long lifetimes, about two orders of magnitude greater than those of their bright counterparts. In monolayer (ML) tungsten disulphide (WS\\(_2\\)), accessing these states via a suitable brightening mechanism remains challenging, specially, at elevated temperatures. Here, we demonstrate the brightening of dark trions from ML WS\\(_2\\) over the temperature range, 83 K-115 K, enabled by localized surface plasmon modes in a disordered gold substrate. The resulting photoluminescence (PL) spectrum reveals a distinct spectral doublet with the twin peaks of semi-dark and bright trion states, separated by \\(\\sim\\) 45 meV. The origin of the semi-dark trion state lies in intervalley electron-electron scatterings, while its visibility in the PL spectrum is made possible by the enhanced out-of-plane electromagnetic field associated with plasmon localization. We also report on the negative degree of circular polarization in ML WS\\(_2\\) at the energy of the semi-dark trion state. Our results establish a scalable plasmonic route to access valley-polarized semi-dark trions, opening new opportunities for quantum and valleytronic applications.

There is a growing imperative to understand the neurophysiological impact of our rapidly changing and diverse technological, social, chemical, and physical environments. To untangle the multidimensional and interacting effects requires data at scale across diverse populations, taking measurement out of a controlled lab environment and into the field. Electroencephalography (EEG), which has correlates with various environmental factors as well as cognitive and mental health outcomes, has the advantage of both portability and cost-effectiveness for this purpose. However, with numerous field researchers spread across diverse locations, data quality issues and researcher idle time due to insufficient participants can quickly become unmanageable and expensive problems. In programs we have established in India and Tanzania, we demonstrate that with appropriate training, structured teams, and daily automated analysis and feedback on data quality, non-specialists can reliably collect EEG data alongside various survey and assessments with consistently high throughput and quality. Over a 30-week period, research teams were able to maintain an average of 25.6 subjects per week, collecting data from a diverse sample of 7,933 participants ranging from Hadzabe hunter-gatherers to office workers. Furthermore, data quality, computed on the first 2,400 records using two common methods, PREP and FASTER, was comparable to benchmark datasets from controlled lab conditions. Altogether this resulted in a cost per subject of under $50, a fraction of the cost typical of such data collection, opening up the possibility for large-scale programs particularly in low- and middle-income countries.Competing Interest StatementThe authors have declared no competing interest.

LaAgSb\\(_{2}\\) is a rare material, which offers the opportunity to investigate the complex interplay between charge density wave (CDW) ordering and topology protected electronic band structure. As both of these phenomena are governed by the structural symmetries, a comprehensive study of the lattice dynamics is highly desirable. In this report, we present the results of temperature and pressure dependent Raman spectroscopy and x-ray diffraction in single crystalline LaAgSb\\(_{2}\\). Our results confirm that Raman spectroscopy is a highly sensitive tool to probe CDW ordering phenomenon, particularly the low-temperature second CDW transition in LaAgSb\\(_{2}\\), which appears as a very weak anomaly in most experiments. The crystal orientation-dependent measurements provide the evolution of Raman modes with crystallographic symmetries and can be further studied through group symmetry analysis. The low-temperature x-ray diffraction data show the emergence of structural modulations corresponding to the CDW instability. The combined high-pressure Raman spectroscopy and synchrotron x-ray diffraction reveal multiple structural phase transitions through lowering of crystalline symmetries, which are also expected to lead to electronic topological transitions.