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https://www.ncura.edu/Portals/0/Docs/RMR/2025/Vol28_n1_Eck_et_al.pdf 

Abstract Human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) have gained traction in transplantation therapy due to their immunomodulatory, paracrine, immune‐evasive, and multipotent differentiation potential. The inherent heterogeneity of hMSCs poses a challenge for therapeutic treatments and necessitates the identification of robust biomarkers to ensure reproducibility in both in vivo and in vitro experiments. In this study, we utilized dielectrophoresis (DEP), a label‐free electrokinetic phenomenon, to investigate the heterogeneity of hMSCs derived from bone marrow (BM) and adipose tissue (AD). The electrical properties of BM‐hMSCs were compared to homogeneous mouse fibroblasts (NIH‐3T3), human fibroblasts (WS1), and human embryonic kidney cells (HEK‐293). The DEP profile of BM‐hMSCs differed most from HEK‐293 cells. We compared the DEP profiles of BM‐hMSCs and AD‐hMSCs and found that they have similar membrane capacitances, differing cytoplasm conductivity, and transient slopes. Inducing both populations to differentiate into adipocyte and osteoblast cells revealed that they behave differently in response to differentiation‐inducing cytokines. Histology and reverse transcription‐quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT‐qPCR) analyses of the differentiation‐related genes revealed differences in heterogeneity between BM‐hMSCs and AD‐hMSCs. The differentiation profiles correlate well with the DEP profiles developed and indicate differences in the heterogeneity of BM‐hMSCs and AD‐hMSCs. Our results demonstrate that using DEP, membrane capacitance, cytoplasm conductivity, and transient slope can uniquely characterize the inherent heterogeneity of hMSCs to guide robust and reproducible stem cell transplantation therapies. 

Oxynitride perovskites of the type ABO 2 N have attracted considerable attention thanks to their potential ferroelectric behavior and tunable bandgap energy, making them ideal candidates for photocatalysis processes. Therefore, in order to shed light on the origin of their ferroelectric response, here we report a complete analysis of the structural and vibrational properties of SrNbO 2 N and SrTaO 2 N oxynitrides. By employing first-principles calculations, we analyzed the symmetry in-equivalent structures considering the experimentally reported parent I 4/ mcm space group (with a phase a 0 a 0 c − in Glazer's notation). Based on the I 4/ mcm reference within the 20-atoms unit-cell, we found and studied the ensemble of structures where different octahedral anionic orderings are allowed by symmetry. Thus, by exploring the vibrational landscape of the cis - and trans -type configuration structures and supported by the ionic eigendisplacements and the Born effective charges, we explained the mechanism responsible for the appearance of stable ferroelectric phases in both anionic orderings. The latter goes from covalent-driven in the trans -type ordering to the geometrically-driven in the cis -type configuration. Finally, we found in both cases that the biaxial xy epitaxial strain considerably enhances such ferroelectric response. 

We present a search for long-lived particles (LLPs), produced in kaon decays, that decay to two muons inside the ICARUS neutrino detector. This channel would be a signal of hidden sector models that can address outstanding issues in particle physics such as the strong CP problem and the microphysical origin of dark matter. The search is performed with data collected in the Neutrinos at the Main Injector (NuMI) beam at Fermilab corresponding to $2.41\times {10}^{20}$protons-on-target. No new physics signal is observed, and we set world leading limits on heavy QCD axions, as well as for the Higgs portal scalar among dedicated searches. Limits are also presented in a model-independent way applicable to any new physics model predicting the process $K\to \pi +S(\to \mu \mu )$, for a LLP $S$. This result is the first search for new physics performed with the ICARUS detector at Fermilab. It paves the way for the future program of LLP searches at ICARUS. Published by the American Physical Society2025 

Abstract This paper reports on a measurement of electron-ion recombination in liquid argon in the ICARUS liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC). A clear dependence of recombination on the angle of the ionizing particle track relative to the drift electric field is observed. An ellipsoid modified box (EMB) model of recombination describes the data across all measured angles. These measurements are used for the calorimetric energy scale calibration of the ICARUS TPC, which is also presented. The impact of the EMB model is studied on calorimetric particle identification, as well as muon and proton energy measurements. Accounting for the angular dependence in EMB recombination improves the accuracy and precision of these measurements. 

Abstract The ICARUS liquid argon time projection chamber (LArTPC) neutrino detector has been taking physics data since 2022 as part of the Short-Baseline Neutrino (SBN) Program. This paper details the equalization of the response to charge in the ICARUS time projection chamber (TPC), as well as data-driven tuning of the simulation of ionization charge signals and electronics noise. The equalization procedure removes non-uniformities in the ICARUS TPC response to charge in space and time. This work leverages the copious number of cosmic ray muons available to ICARUS at the surface. The ionization signal shape simulation applies a novel procedure that tunes the simulation to match what is measured in data. The end result of the equalization procedure and simulation tuning allows for a comparison of charge measurements in ICARUS between Monte Carlo simulation and data, showing good performance with minimal residual bias between the two.