It is well established that cocaine induces an increase of dendritic spines density in some brain regions. However, few studies have addressed the role of this neuroplastic changes in cocaine rewarding effects and have often led to contradictory results. So, we hypothesized that using a rigorous time- and subject-matched protocol would demonstrate the role of this spine increase in cocaine rewa...

A core-shell particle was fabricated by grafting amino-terminated hyperbranched polymer to the surface of silica nanoparticles. The influences of core-shell particle contents on the tensile and impact strength of the epoxy thermosets modified with amino-terminated hyperbranched polymer were discussed in detail. For comparison, core-shell particle was added into the epoxy/polyamide system for to...

We describe a route to the development of novel PtNiN core-shell catalysts with low Pt content shell and inexpensive NiN core having high activity and stability for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). The PtNiN synthesis involves nitriding Ni nanoparticles and simultaneously encapsulating it by 2-4 monolayer-thick Pt shell. The experimental data and the density functional theory calculations i...

Cortico-basal ganglia circuits are thought to mediate goal-directed learning by a process of outcome evaluation to gradually select appropriate motor actions. We investigated spiking activity in core and shell subregions of the cortical nucleus LMAN during development as juvenile zebra finches are actively engaged in evaluating feedback of self-generated behavior in relation to their memorized ...

Semiconductor nanowires are potential candidates for applications in quantum information processing, Josephson junctions and field-effect transistors and provide a unique test bed for low-dimensional physical phenomena. The ability to fabricate nanowire heterostructures with atomically flat, defect-free interfaces enables energy band engineering in both axial and radial directions. The design o...

Controllable integration of metal nanoparticles (MNPs) and metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) is attracting considerable attention as the obtained composite materials always show synergistic effects in applications of catalysis, delivery, as well as sensing. Herein, a Cu2O-directed in situ growth strategy was developed to integrate Au nanoparticles and HKUST-1. In this strategy, Cu2O@HKUST-1 core-...

Here, we report the preparation of Ce(3+) and Tb(3+) co-doped sodium yttrium fluoride nanorods and NaYF(4):Ce(3+)/Tb(3+) core-shell nanoparticles by the emulsion method. The core-shell nanoparticles are confirmed by X-ray diffraction study and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis. The hexagonal crystal phase of Ce(3+)-doped sodium yttrium fluoride nanocrystals is converted to the cub...

The enhanced electron field emission (EFE) properties of high aspect ratio, vertically aligned SiNW-ZnO core-shell arrays are presented. These core-shell arrays are prepared by a thin, controlled, highly crystalline and conformal coating of zinc oxide as shell using the plasma assisted-atomic layer deposition (PA-ALD) route on vertically aligned silicon nanowire arrays core. The core-shell nano...

CdS/PMMA core/shell nanoparticles were synthesized using dispersion-mediated interfacial polymerization, and the transparent PMMA shell not only maintained the optical properties of CdS core but effectively protected the CdS core from environmental perturbation.

Gold-core/silver-shell nanoparticles featuring core diameters of 13 or 25 nm were prepared in aqueous solution. Silver-coated gold nanoparticles have two distinct plasmon absorption bands whose relative intensities depend on the shell thickness – features that are captured well by classical Mie theory. The core/shell spectra are not simply linear combinations of the pure-component spectra. Theo...