Graphene Quantum Dots (GQDs), with their outstanding optoelectronic, chemical, and bio-compatible properties serve as versatile materials for various imaging applications. Intriguing optical properties at ultralow cryogenic temperatures have been observed in other carbon-based nanomaterials suggesting a potential for similar behavior in GQDs. This study explores GQD fluorescence across the visible and near-infrared spectral regions at temperatures ranging from ambient (300 K) down to cryogenic (76K) via experimental measurements supported by complementary DFT calculations. Our findings demonstrate a decreasing linear relationship between integrated density and temperature making GQDs a viable candidate for applications in low-temperature imaging.

Graphene quantum dots (GQDs) represent the forefront of contemporary research within the domain of biophysics. Known for their innumerable applications, these nanoparticles have remarkable functionalities in cellular imaging and drug delivery applications. In our research, we combine NGQDs (Nitrogen-doped GQDs) with the ligand L2 to create a drug delivery system for L2, an anti-Alzheimer’s drug. L2 faces challenges in traversing the blood-brain barrier (BBB) due to its inherent properties. However, the BBB is permeable to NGQDs due to their small size. Hence, we are using NGQDs as a vehicle to facilitate the transport of L2 across the BBB. Furthermore, the intrinsic fluorescence of NGQDs within the body enables us to safely monitor and track the hybrid system, ensuring its successful delivery to the targeted organ – the brain.

Motor preparation deficits are a feature of many neurological disorders in humans. Developing animal models to study deficits in motor preparation is essential to explore the potential therapeutic treatment avenues. Preparation for motor actions involves neural pathways that facilitate neuromuscular planning. In male zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata), song production is controlled by a system of brain areas that are analogous to those areas in humans controlling human speech and language. Neural activity in many of these brain areas precedes the execution of song motor sequences. We aimed to differentiate preparatory motor periods from song execution by interrupting female-directed and song produced in isolation (undirected song) with white noise playback. The amplitude and duration of the white noise was systematically varied along with the timing of playback occurring during song. Song respiratory motor gestures were measured in six birds experiencing the noise disruption events. Transition entropy analyses revealed increased variability in syllable progression in the presence of playback compared to undirected song without playback (control condition). There were significant differences in the frequencies of interruption, continuation, and termination for each syllable of directed and undirected song with playback compared to baseline (Χ2, ps < .05). We observed higher rates of interruption and motif disruption during introductory notes and early syllables as well as later syllables within a song motif. Ascertaining patterns of stereotypy and variability in zebra finch vocalizations can elucidate deficits in motor planning that contribute to autism spectrum disorder, speech apraxia, and other clinical disorders.

Existing literature has highlighted the competing roles of each family dynamics, the patterns of interactions among relatives, and discrimination on the self-esteem and occupational performance of African American and Caucasian populations individually. However, no research to date has examined whether these factors are interconnected. In this study, we aimed to assess the competing roles of family dynamics and experiences of discrimination across a cross-sectional survey. In the study, we surveyed a sample of 178 White and Black participants from Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk). Simple mediation models indicated that higher levels of discrimination were associated with lower levels of self-esteem, self-efficacy, and resilience. Additionally, more positive familial relationships were associated with better outcomes on these measures for White participants alone. Furthermore, self-esteem was positively related to better self-reported occupational performance. That is, our results suggest that perceived discrimination is associated with lower self-esteem, which is then subsequently related to poorer occupational performance. Conversely, the results suggest the opposite pattern for family dynamics, with more positive familial relationships being associated with higher levels of self-esteem among White participants, which is, in turn, associated with better self-reported occupational performance. These findings emphasize the negative role of discrimination in fostering personal well-being and success in occupational settings.

Throughout our evolutionary history, people have used social connections to enhance survival and reproduction, and consequently, the loss of these connections is very detrimental. Existing evidence has found that we have evolved sensitive neural and perceptual systems that detect and respond to threats of ostracism. This experience of distress when viewing another person being ostracized is referred to as vicarious ostracism. Recent work leans on the evolutionary perspective that being excluded by an ingroup member is costlier than being ostracized by an outgroup member. However, this research has produced somewhat conflicting findings, one that observing ostracism of ingroup members by outgroup members is more painful, while others have found the reverse. Further, little research has examined how experiences of vicarious ostracism influence the perceptions of and interactions with targets of ostracism. Thus, the present study aims to analyze the roles of group membership on an individual’s perceptions and observations of vicarious ostracism experiences, and also their thoughts of the person being ostracized. We hypothesized that observing an ingroup member being ostracized by an outgroup member would be seen as more prejudicial than an outgroup member being ostracized by ingroup members, which would, in turn, be related to a more positive view of the ingroup target that was ostracized.
Across two studies sampling Caucasian undergraduates (Study 1) and both Caucasian and African American adults via Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk; Study 2), participants were presented with group-based ostracism vignettes, in which they read about a racial ingroup or outgroup member being ostracized by members of the ingroup or outgroup.
Then, participants completed self-report questionnaires assessing the degree to which they viewed the depicted ostracism as being attributable to prejudice by the sources, as well as their impression of the ostracism target. In both studies, regardless of race, we found that participants in the intergroup black condition viewed ostracism as more prejudicial and liked the target more than people who saw the ostracism in the intergroup white condition.
Further, we found that prejudicial attributions mediated the relationship between the depicted ostracism and participants’ impression of the target, such that when people viewed a black target being excluded by white sources, they rated the ostracism as more prejudicial, which in turn is associated with liking the target more.
Overall, these findings were opposite of our hypotheses and instead suggest that our evolved cognitions for processing experiences of group-based vicarious ostracism may be influenced by contemporary social norms and group dynamics. The implications of this research for understanding the ecological factors that influence behavioral and perceptual outcomes associated with vicarious ostracism, particularly within the context of intergroup conflict, will be discussed.