The blood-type-mismatch problem, in addition to shortage of blood donation, in blood transfusion has prompted the researchers to develop universal blood that does not require blood typing. In this work, the “cell-in-shell” (i.e., artificial spore) approach is utilized to shield the immune-provoking epitopes on the surface of red blood cells (RBCs). Individual RBCs are successfully coated with s...

One process limiting the performance of solar cells is rapid cooling (thermalization) of hot carriers generated by higher-energy solar photons. In principle, the thermalization losses can be reduced by converting the kinetic energy of energetic carriers into additional electron-hole pairs via carrier multiplication (CM). While being inefficient in bulk semiconductors this process is enhanced in...

In a novel design of lithium-ion batteries, hollow electrode particles coated with stiff shells are used to mitigate mechanical and chemical degradation. In particular, silicon anodes of such coreeshell nanostructures have been cycled thousands of times with little capacity fading. To reduce weight and to facilitate lithium diffusion, the shell should be thin. However, to avert fracture and deb...

We present the first optical images of scattered light from large, detached gas/dust shells around two carbon stars, R Scl and U Ant, obtained in narrow band filters centred on the resonance lines of neutral K and Na, and in a Strömgren b filter (only U Ant). They confirm results obtained in CO radio line observations, but also reveal new and interesting structures. Towards R Scl the scattering...

In vivo biological application of upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) prefers excitation of 700-850 nm, instead of 980 nm, due to the absorption of water. Recently approach in constructing robust Nd doped UCNPs subject to 808 nm excitation relies on a thick Nd sensitized shell. However, for the very 10 important and popular Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET)-based applications, such as pho...

Core-shell nanoparticles attract continuously growing interest due to their numerous applications, which are driven by the possibility of tuning their functionalities by adjusting structural and morphological parameters. However, despite the critical role interdiffused interfaces may have in the properties, these are usually only estimated in indirect ways. Here we directly evidence the existen...

We explore a simple model for the high luminosity of SN 2006gy involving photon diffusion of shock-deposited thermal energy. The distinguishing property of the model is that the large “stellar” radius of ∼160 AU required to prevent adiabatic losses is not the true stellar radius, but rather, it is the radius of an opaque, unbound circumstellar envelope, created when ∼10 M, was ejected in the de...

The quality of Pharaoh quail eggs obtained at 8, 13, 18 and 23 weeks of age was evaluated. Eggs laid by the oldest quail were characterized by the greatest weight (12.2 g), length (32.6 mm), width (25.8 mm) and shell surface area (25.3 cm2). The lowest shell weight was found in eggs from the youngest quail (0.9 g), and the lowest shell proportion (8.2%) was characteristic of eggs from the oldes...

A strong electron-hole exchange interaction (EI) in semiconductor nanocrystals (NCs) gives rise to a large (up to tens of meV) splitting between optically active ('bright') and optically passive ('dark') excitons. This dark-bright splitting has a significant effect on the optical properties of band-edge excitons and leads to a pronounced temperature and magnetic field dependence of radiative de...

We present a unified model for optical, ultraviolet (UV), and X-ray light curves of V1974 Cygni (Nova Cygni 1992). Based on an optically thick wind model of nova outbursts, we have calculated light curves and searched for the best fit model that is consistent with optical, UV, and X-ray observations. Our best fit model is a white dwarf (WD) of mass 1.05 M⊙ with a chemical composition of X = 0.4...