Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia

About: Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia is a facility organization based out in Genoa, Italy. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Humanoid robot & Robot. The organization has 4561 authors who have published 14595 publications receiving 437558 citations. The organization is also known as: Italian Institute of Technology & IIT.

Working Memory Deficits, Increased Anxiety-Like Traits, and Seizure Susceptibility in BDNF Overexpressing Mice.

Abstract: BDNF regulates components of cognitive processes and has been implicated in psychiatric disorders. Here we report that genetic overexpression of the BDNF mature isoform (BDNF-tg) in female mice impaired working memory functions while sparing components of fear conditioning. BDNF-tg mice also displayed reduced breeding efficiency, higher anxiety-like scores, high self-grooming, impaired prepulse inhibition, and higher susceptibility to seizures when placed in a new empty cage, as compared with wild-type (WT) littermate controls. Control measures of general health, locomotor activity, motor coordination, depression-related behaviors, and sociability did not differ between genotypes. The present findings, indicating detrimental effects of life-long increased BDNF in mice, may inform human studies evaluating the role of BDNF functional genetic variations on cognitive abilities and vulnerability to psychiatric disorders.

Advances in optoplasmonic sensors - combining optical nano/microcavities and photonic crystals with plasmonic nanostructures and nanoparticles

Abstract: Abstract Nanophotonic device building blocks, such as optical nano/microcavities and plasmonic nanostructures, lie at the forefront of sensing and spectrometry of trace biological and chemical substances. A new class of nanophotonic architecture has emerged by combining optically resonant dielectric nano/microcavities with plasmonically resonant metal nanostructures to enable detection at the nanoscale with extraordinary sensitivity. Initial demonstrations include single-molecule detection and even single-ion sensing. The coupled photonic-plasmonic resonator system promises a leap forward in the nanoscale analysis of physical, chemical, and biological entities. These optoplasmonic sensor structures could be the centrepiece of miniaturised analytical laboratories, on a chip, with detection capabilities that are beyond the current state of the art. In this paper, we review this burgeoning field of optoplasmonic biosensors. We first focus on the state of the art in nanoplasmonic sensor structures, high quality factor optical microcavities, and photonic crystals separately before proceeding to an outline of the most recent advances in hybrid sensor systems. We discuss the physics of this modality in brief and each of its underlying parts, then the prospects as well as challenges when integrating dielectric nano/microcavities with metal nanostructures. In Section 5, we hint to possible future applications of optoplasmonic sensing platforms which offer many degrees of freedom towards biomedical diagnostics at the level of single molecules.

Design and NMR-Based Screening of LEF, a Library of Chemical Fragments with Different Local Environment of Fluorine

Abstract: A novel strategy for the design of a fluorinated fragment library that takes into account the local environment of fluorine is described The procedure, based on a fluorine fingerprints descriptor, and the criteria used in the design, selection, and construction of the library are presented The library, named LEF (Local Environment of Fluorine), combined with 19F NMR ligand-based screening experiments represents an efficient and sensitive approach for the initial fragment identification within a fragment-based drug discovery project and for probing the presence of fluorophilic protein environments Proper setup of the method, according to described theoretical simulations, allows the detection of very weak-affinity ligands and the detection of multiple ligands present within the same tested mixture, thus capturing all the potential fragments interacting with the receptor These NMR hits are then used in the FAXS experiments for the fragment optimization process and for the follow-up screening aimed at id

Bright-Emitting Perovskite Films by Large-Scale Synthesis and Photoinduced Solid-State Transformation of CsPbBr3 Nanoplatelets.

Abstract: Lead halide perovskite nanocrystals are an emerging class of materials that have gained wide interest due to their facile color tuning and high photoluminescence quantum yield. However, the lack of techniques to translate the high performance of nanocrystals into solid films restricts the successful exploitation of such materials in optoelectronics applications. Here, we report a heat-up and large-scale synthesis of quantum-confined, blue-emitting CsPbBr3 nanoplatelets (NPLs) that self-assemble into stacked lamellar structures. Spin-coated films fabricated from these NPLs show a stable blue emission with a photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) of 25%. The morphology and the optoelectronic properties of such films can be dramatically modified by UV-light irradiation under ambient conditions at a high power, which transforms the self-assembled stacks of NPLs into much larger structures, such as square-shaped disks and nanobelts. The emission from the transformed thin films falls within the green spectral r...