We introduce a high-order dynamical decoupling (DD) scheme for arbitrary bounded system-bath interactions in the weak-coupling regime. Given any decoupling group G that averages the interaction to zero, our construction guarantees the existence of pulse sequences with at most (|G|-1)K pulses, while canceling all error terms linear in the system-bath coupling strength up to order K in the total evolution time. As a corollary, for an n-qubit system with k-local system-bath interactions, we obtain an O(n^{k-1}K)-pulse sequence, a significant improvement over existing schemes with O(exp(n)) pulses [for k=O(1)]. The construction is obtained via a mapping to the continuous necklace-splitting problem, which asks how to cut a multicolored interval into pieces that give each party the same share of every color. We provide explicit pulse sequences for suppressing general single-qubit decoherence, prove that the pulse count is asymptotically optimal, and verify the predicted error scaling in numerical simulations. For the same number of pulses, we observe that our sequences outperform the state-of-the-art quadratic DD in the weak-coupling regime. We also construct explicit high-order sequences for suppressing representative 2-local noise models. Finally, the same construction extends to suppress slow, time-dependent classical noise and to filter-function design.

The fabrication of stable and highly performing enzyme-based electrodes is key for the effective generation of biodevices and bioelectronics, such as electrochemical biosensors. In this context, redox-active lyotropic liquid crystals based on 3D nanomaterials, known as lipid cubic phases (LCP), hold great potential due to the large specific surface area and the possibility of being functionalized. In this study, we functionalized a monoolein (MO) LCP matrix by incorporating an amphiphilic redox shuttle within its matrix with the aim of enhancing the electrochemical performance of a glucose oxidase (GOx) based electrode, and we investigated the stability of the overall system. The use of dodecyl(ferrocenylmethyl)dimethylammonium bromide (Fc12-Br) resulted in a progressive attenuation of its redox response during repeated potential cycling, consistent with cycling-induced blocking potentially involving Br- electrosorption. To address this instability, counterion exchange from Br- to hexafluorophosphate (PF6-) yielded Fc12-PF6/MO. Both formulations were subsequently used to entrap GOx, and the resulting bioelectrodes were evaluated for their electrochemical responses to glucose. Although the initial glucose sensitivities of the Fc12-Br/MO/GOx and Fc12-PF6/MO/GOx systems were comparable, the latter showed improved retention of its amperometric response during storage, retaining 80% ± 5% of its initial response to 6 mM glucose at day 20 under the tested conditions. Together with the improved electrochemical reversibility of the Fc12-PF6/MO system under repeated redox cycling, these observations support counterion engineering as a promising strategy for improving the durability of redox-active lipid cubic phase bioelectrodes.

A two-step, size-controlled method is described for synthesizing uniform, quasi-spherical, and monodisperse gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) with diameters ranging from 15 to 22 nm, using a combination of triethylamine (TEA) and cyclodextrins (α, β, and γCD). The first step of sonication was conducted in a modified ultrasonic cleaner equipped with a dummy beaker to absorb excess energy from the adjacent transducer and a reaction beaker for the reduction process. Lower sonication energy settings (frequency = 37 kHz, P acoustic = 30%) enable more predictable and controlled surface plasmon resonance (SPR) in solution by avoiding the purple-to-blue color associated with the larger AuNP size. Hence, the emergence of a light-purple reaction mixture in the first step indicates the optimal time to transfer the solution to a water bath for subsequent heating in the second step. The resulting AuNPs typically exhibit a red wine color (λ = 515-525 nm). Among the systems evaluated, the ternary AuNPs-TEA-γCD system yielded the smallest nanoparticles, high stability, and noninclusion interactions between TEA and γCD, as evidenced by FT-IR and 2D-ROESY. More importantly, observation of AuNPs-TEA exhibited completely different SPR responses if subjected to only one step of the procedure. This procedure demonstrates high repeatability in producing smaller and more predictable aminated gold nanoparticles from the reactants used.

Continuous Stirred Tank Reactors (CSTRs) are widely used in chemical process industries, where precise temperature control is crucial for product quality, operational effectiveness, and safety. However, the accuracy of strict first-principle models is limited by the extremely nonlinear thermal behavior brought on by Arrhenius-based kinetics, measurement noise, transport delay, and feed fluctuations. In order to overcome this, the current study uses multivariate pilot-plant time-series data to create a high-fidelity nonlinear autoregressive model with exogenous inputs (NARX). Twin Delayed Deep Deterministic Policy Gradient (TD3) and Soft Actor-Critic (SAC) are used in the NARX model as a reinforcement learning environment for closed-loop temperature regulation. Feed temperatures, feed flow rates, and hot-oil-bath actuation are among the various manipulated-variable combinations that are assessed. The suggested NARX-RL framework effectively tracks set points, according to the results. Both SAC and TD3 exhibit acceptable closed-loop performance, according to a comparative analysis; however, TD3 consistently outperforms SAC in tracking indices, convergence speed, and control stability across the majority of manipulated-variable combinations. Overall, the proposed NARX-based reinforcement learning technique provides a feasible option for flexible, data-driven, and practically implementable temperature regulation in lab-scale CSTR systems.

Injectable in situ forming gels are promising for biomedical applications requiring minimally invasive delivery and localized structural stability. Lipid-based systems are particularly attractive due to their ability to self-assemble into ordered nanostructures. Here, we report a photocurable monoolein (MO)-poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA) system that integrates lipid self-assembly with ultraviolet (UV) curing to yield injectable, in situ forming nanostructured gels. Small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) analysis revealed that hydration-induced self-assembly of monoolein is preserved within the photocurable matrix, producing lamellar, cubic, and hexagonal phases depending on composition and water content. Liquid-in-liquid 3D printing demonstrated that monoolein precursors spontaneously form nanostructured gels upon injection into a water bath, while subsequent UV curing stabilizes the printed architecture and enables retrieval of complex constructs. Mechanical testing showed that monoolein to PEGDA ratios control compressive moduli, with lower monoolein concentrations producing stiffer gels and higher concentrations yielding more flexible constructs. Rheological characterization showed Newtonian behavior before hydration and shear-thinning behavior of the samples after hydration. Swelling and biodegradation assays confirmed fluid uptake and enzymatic degradation under physiological conditions, indicating potential for controlled disintegration in vivo. Together, these findings establish a versatile injectable monoolein-PEGDA platform that combines lipid nanostructure with photocurable stability, enabling next-generation applications in drug delivery, tissue engineering, and localized therapeutic depots.

In 1973, the Food and Drug Administration first tried to regulate asbestos in talc, provoking a vigorous response from the cosmetics industry, which used talc in a variety of body, baby, and bath powders as well as cosmetics. The industry's claim that asbestos in talc was not a danger gained legitimacy when The Lancet, perhaps the world's leading medical journal, in 1977, published an unsigned commentary that Johnson & Johnson called an "editorial" that asserted that there was no need for regulation because the cosmetic industries in the United States and Britain had made sure that their products were virtually free of asbestos fibers. The company also succeeded in persuading a nonprofit scientific organization to remove a warning from its Talc Monograph, in part by citing The Lancet editorial. In March 2026, The Lancet retracted the nearly 50-year-old unsigned publication that affirmed the safety of cosmetic talc. The editors did so after we alerted them through correspondence that the piece had been written by a consultant to Johnson & Johnson. (Am J Public Health. Published online ahead of print October 1, 2026:e1-e4. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2026.308708).

In this article, we propose the concept of ultrafast cooling under sudden electric field quenching based on the use of binuclear mixed valence (MV) molecules. The formalism earlier developed in the study of molecular quantum cellular automata is used by considering the scenario in which one polarized MV dimer ("driver-cell") creates a dipole electric field acting on the adjacent dimer ("working cell"). To describe such dimers, the conventional vibronic theory of MV compounds adapted to the present case is applied. The considered process includes two distinct stages: (1) sudden decrease in the driver-cell polarization leading to a violation of the thermal equilibrium, and (2) subsequent dielectric relaxation restoring the thermal equilibrium, accompanied by the heat exchange between the dimers and the phonon bath. In search of a switching regime under which such a two-step process is accompanied by heat absorption (cooling), we face the need to suppress as much as possible the transitions between the ground and excited vibronic states. This is shown to be possible if the fast partial quenching of the driver-cell polarization occurs without changing its sign and also provided that the polarization does not approach too close to the avoided crossing point of two low-lying vibronic levels vs field. For this switching regime, the heat absorption arises from decreasing the energy gap between the two low-lying levels, which creates underpopulation of the excited level, resulting in heat transfer from the phonon bath to the quantum subsystem, i.e., cooling of the environment. It is shown that for systems with a strong vibronic coupling and/or weak electron transfer, this type of cooling is possible for a wider range of the driver-cell polarization variation, which makes MV systems with weak delocalization promising candidates for performing ultrafast cooling.

Potential-of-mean-force (PMF)-matched coarse graining (CG) can make a retained coordinate structurally correct but dynamically wrong. Eliminated bath degrees of freedom carry projected memory and friction that control response curves, relaxation times, kinetics, and transport. We ask whether the observable part of this missing friction can be recovered cheaply without harming generated dynamics. Residual-force fits and scalar rescalings alone cannot answer that question because they may expose the signal or improve one summary while worsening another. We distinguish the measured finite-window error between the high-resolution reference (labeled AA throughout) and CG dynamics from the component supported by residual-memory diagnostics, formulate that component as an observable projected-memory object, and approximate its consequence with a finite-history or surrogate candidate. The candidate is deployed only when held-out continuation rollouts improve both response-curve and relaxation-time errors. In two complete experiments, the fitted increment was added to the same detailed-balance PMF transition used as the uncorrected baseline. For C6 and C5 end-to-end distances, selected strength 0.10 retained PMF histogram L1 distances of 0.054 and 0.061, and the one-sided 5% lower bounds of both dynamical error reductions were positive. Separate precorrection diagnostics assigned acetone C-O to a richer state description and ethanol heavy-atom end-to-end to a finite memory kernel, so neither received the low-cost correction. The 13-coordinate breadth panel and diagnosis-informed tests provide breadth and selectivity evidence. Against a C6-calibrated scalar clock, the finite-history candidates improved both errors in 4/4 point-estimate comparisons versus 3/4 and gave 2.8 times the mean joint gain; experiment-specific uncertainty is reported separately. A distinct OpenFF 2.3.0/OpenMM surrogate showed the same point-estimate improvement on four molecules. The resulting reproducible, cost-bounded rule corrects only when structural and rollout evidence support correction.

Pharmaceuticals and their human metabolites are widely detected in municipal wastewater, serving as indicators of both population-level use and wastewater treatment performance. Within the PARC project, a coordinated pan-European wastewater monitoring campaign was conducted at 30 wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in 15 countries, integrating multi-laboratory targeted analysis of >400 pharmaceuticals and metabolites, covering a broad range of relevant compounds. Influent pharmaceutical load profiles indicate that regional prescribing practices contribute substantially to pharmaceutical patterns in municipal wastewater, whereas seasonal variability contributes only modestly, and sewer catchment size has little influence. These patterns were driven by complex mixtures of pharmaceuticals across multiple therapeutic classes rather than individual compounds. Comparison with national prescription statistics highlighted substantial limitations in the comparability of pharmaceutical use data across Europe, underscoring the value of wastewater-based epidemiology as an independent and complementary data source. Case studies demonstrated the interpretative power of wastewater data: Sacubitrilat was detected in all 30 WWTPs, enabling the first quantitative pan-European assessment of its increasing use and widespread occurrence across 15 countries, including its loads and removal. In contrast, sartan profiles varied markedly between countries, reflecting national prescribing preferences and demonstrating that indicators based solely on defined daily doses can misrepresent environmental relevance. For the sartan case study, wastewater-derived consumption estimates based on the summed loads of seven sartans agreed well with reported national statistics, generally within a factor of three across the investigated countries despite uncertainties inherent to wastewater-based back-calculation. Across treatment technologies, mean pharmaceutical removal efficiencies were comparable (41-53%). However, pronounced variability among WWTPs suggests that treatment performance may be influenced by site-specific operational factors (e.g., process configuration, hydraulic retention time, and sludge age), although these effects could not be robustly disentangled from differences in treatment technology and other site-level characteristics in the present dataset. Overall, this study represents one of the largest multi-compound and multi-country wastewater monitoring efforts to date and demonstrates that harmonized wastewater monitoring can provide reliable, actionable insights into pharmaceutical use and fate across Europe, supporting both epidemiological surveillance and identifying pharmaceuticals that may warrant further environmental risk assessment.