Ikerbasque

About: Ikerbasque is a other organization based out in Bilbao, Spain. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Graphene & Quantum. The organization has 713 authors who have published 7967 publications receiving 231990 citations. The organization is also known as: Basque Foundation for Science.

Stimuli-responsive self-assembly of nanoparticles

Abstract: The capacity to respond or adapt to environmental changes is an intrinsic property of living systems that comprise highly-connected subcomponents communicating through chemical networks. The development of responsive synthetic systems is a relatively new research area that covers different disciplines, among which nanochemistry brings conceptually new demonstrations. Especially attractive are ligand-protected gold nanoparticles, which have been extensively used over the last decade as building blocks in constructing superlattices or dynamic aggregates, under the effect of an applied stimulus. To reflect the importance of surface chemistry and nanoparticle core composition in the dynamic self-assembly of nanoparticles, we provide here an overview of various available stimuli, as tools for synthetic chemists to exploit. Along with this task, the review starts with the use of chemical stimuli such as solvent, pH, gases, metal ions or biomolecules. It then focuses on physical stimuli: temperature, magnetic and electric fields, as well as light. To reflect on the increasing complexity of current architectures, we discuss systems that are responsive to more than one stimulus, to finally encourage further research by proposing future challenges.

Wnt–β-catenin signalling in liver development, health and disease

Abstract: The canonical Wnt–β-catenin pathway is a complex, evolutionarily conserved signalling mechanism that regulates fundamental physiological and pathological processes. Wnt–β-catenin signalling tightly controls embryogenesis, including hepatobiliary development, maturation and zonation. In the mature healthy liver, the Wnt–β-catenin pathway is mostly inactive but can become re-activated during cell renewal and/or regenerative processes, as well as in certain pathological conditions, diseases, pre-malignant conditions and cancer. In hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and cholangiocarcinoma (CCA), the two most prevalent primary liver tumours in adults, Wnt–β-catenin signalling is frequently hyperactivated and promotes tumour growth and dissemination. A substantial proportion of liver tumours (mainly HCC and, to a lesser extent, CCA) have mutations in genes encoding key components of the Wnt–β-catenin signalling pathway. Likewise, hepatoblastoma, the most common paediatric liver cancer, is characterized by Wnt–β-catenin activation, mostly as a result of β-catenin mutations. In this Review, we discuss the most relevant molecular mechanisms of action and regulation of Wnt–β-catenin signalling in liver development and pathophysiology. Moreover, we highlight important preclinical and clinical studies and future directions in basic and clinical research. The Wnt–β-catenin pathway is a highly conserved pathway that regulates embryogenesis and key regenerative processes in adult organs. Here, the authors discuss the role of Wnt–β-catenin signalling in liver development and disease, including in liver cancer, NAFLD and liver fibrosis.

Bottom-up synthesis of multifunctional nanoporous graphene

Abstract: Nanosize pores can turn semimetallic graphene into a semiconductor and, from being impermeable, into the most efficient molecular-sieve membrane. However, scaling the pores down to the nanometer, while fulfilling the tight structural constraints imposed by applications, represents an enormous challenge for present top-down strategies. Here we report a bottom-up method to synthesize nanoporous graphene comprising an ordered array of pores separated by ribbons, which can be tuned down to the 1-nanometer range. The size, density, morphology, and chemical composition of the pores are defined with atomic precision by the design of the molecular precursors. Our electronic characterization further reveals a highly anisotropic electronic structure, where orthogonal one-dimensional electronic bands with an energy gap of ∼1 electron volt coexist with confined pore states, making the nanoporous graphene a highly versatile semiconductor for simultaneous sieving and electrical sensing of molecular species.

Tensor networks for complex quantum systems

Abstract: Originally developed in the context of condensed-matter physics and based on renormalization group ideas, tensor networks have been revived thanks to quantum information theory and the progress in understanding the role of entanglement in quantum many-body systems. Moreover, tensor network states have turned out to play a key role in other scientific disciplines. In this context, here I provide an overview of the basic concepts and key developments in the field. I briefly discuss the most important tensor network structures and algorithms, together with an outline of advances related to global and gauge symmetries, fermions, topological order, classification of phases, entanglement Hamiltonians, holografic duality, artificial intelligence, the 2D Hubbard model, 2D quantum antiferromagnets, conformal field theory, quantum chemistry, disordered systems and many-body localization. Understanding entanglement in many-body systems provided a description of complex quantum states in terms of tensor networks. This Review revisits the main tensor network structures, key ideas behind their numerical methods and their application in fields beyond condensed matter physics.