LE STUDIUM Multidisciplinary Journal

A theoretical prediction of favorable ion exchange between PEDOT:PSS and hard-cation-soft-anion ionic liquids (IL) is confirmed experimentally and computationally by treating PEDOT:PSS with a new IL composed of an extremely hard protic cation MIM+ and an extremely soft anion TCB–. This protic IL significantly improves both conductivity and stretchability of PEDOT:PSS, outperforming its aprotic counterpart, EMIM :TCB, which has been the best IL employed for this purpose so far. This electrical and mechanical enhancement is speculated as a result of the aromatic and protic cation MIM+ which does not only provide efficient ion exchange with PEDOT:PSS but also serves as a molecular glue holding together multiple PEDOT domains by strong ionic as well as hydrogen bonds, because washing MIM+ out of the film degrades the stretchability while keeping the morphology. Our results offer molecular-level insights on the morphological, electrical, and mechanical properties of PEDOT:PSS and a molecular-interaction-based enhancement strategy for intrinsically stretchable conductive polymers.

The Poultry Red Mite is considered the number one arthropod enemy of the poultry industry; despite this, this pest is hardly studied in terms of alternative control. The enormous economic loss they caused worldwide and the inefficacy of its control urge for solid solutions. One of the reasons why Dermanyssus gallinae is so challenging to manage is its hiding nature. Indeed, no treatment can reach them efficiently in their hiding spots. The idea of this project is to study the chemical ecology of the mite to attract it out of its hideouts. Le Studium Foundation has been instrumental in bringing together Prof Patricia Golo, an entomopathogenic-fungi specialist, and Dr. Fotini Koutroumpa, a specialist on arthropod chemosensation. Here, we would like to report preliminary results for optimizing the mite olfactory behavior tests in the laboratory and the first attempt to study one chemosensory gene expression of the mite. Comparison of these assays between fungus-treated and untreated mites was the goal of the project to understand if the entomopathogenic fungi could change the mite chemosensation and, therefore, negatively impact the fungus treatment. Further, we aimed to understand if a generally considered attractive molecule could enhance mite control with the fungus by masking the fungus's eventually repulsive molecules or/and attracting the mite to the fungus source. This collaboration set the base for further exchange to attend to these goals.

This paper explores the significance of photogrammetry as an accessible and innovative imaging technique for preserving and studying written cultural heritage. Focusing on the challenges of traditional digitization methods in capturing the materiality and craftsmanship of manuscripts and books, we present a cost-effective photogrammetry workflow using the 3DF Zephyr software. Demonstrating its potential, we discuss the generation of detailed 3D models and the integration with other software tools. The research findings were presented at the 19th International Seminar on the Care and Conservation of Manuscripts, and the paper is planned for publication in the conference proceedings. This work contributes to the broader discourse on Digital Codicology and encourages interdisciplinary collaboration in cultural heritage studies.

The primary aim of this Le Studium project was a thorough physico-chemical analysis and structural characterization of key phases and compounds of high-temperature fluoride melt/solid interphases. This knowledge is then used for a targeted synthesis and preparation of different compounds and materials (including their physicochemical characterization), based on oxo-fluoro-aluminates of alkali metals. 

Chirality is a recurring cross-disciplinary theme in modern science, from particle physics to biology. In quantum physics, the chirality of fermions is linked to the topology of gauge fields by the chiral anomaly. While the chiral anomaly is usually associated with the short-distance behavior in field theory, recently, it has been realized that it also affects the macroscopic behavior of chiral matter. In particular, the local imbalance between left- and right-handed fermions in the presence of a magnetic field induces non-dissipative transport of electric charge ("the Chiral Magnetic Effect", CME). Recently, the CME has been discovered in Dirac and Weyl semimetals possessing chiral quasi-particles. Here we report on the investigation of related phenomena in non-centrosymmetric superconductors and Josephson junctions and discuss their potential applications in quantum computing.

Chirality is a recurring cross-disciplinary theme in modern science, from particle physics to biology. In quantum physics, the chirality of fermions is linked to the topology of gauge fields by the chiral anomaly. While the chiral anomaly is usually associated with the short-distance behavior in field theory, recently, it has been realized that it also affects the macroscopic behavior of chiral matter. In particular, the local imbalance between left- and right-handed fermions in the presence of a magnetic field induces non-dissipative transport of electric charge ("the Chiral Magnetic Effect", CME). Recently, the CME has been discovered in Dirac and Weyl semimetals possessing chiral quasi-particles. Here we report on the investigation of related phenomena in non-centrosymmetric superconductors and Josephson junctions and discuss their potential applications in quantum computing.

Plasma technology can be applied in different stages of agricultural production with increasing yield and improving quality. The promotion effect of plasma on agriculture depends on the plasma treatment parameters and effective methods of plasma diagnostics. In order to obtain optimized plasma treatment parameters and identify plasma agricultural objects, it is necessary to combine with artificial intelligence (AI), which can play an important role in plasma diagnosis and plasma agricultural applications. In our studies, plasma discharge spectra were effectively identified by building an AI model. In order to identify agricultural objects by plasma treatment at different stages of agricultural production, different AI models were constructed, showing the effectiveness of AI in plasma agriculture. These results also show the practical application and advantages of the plasma-agriculture-AI multidisciplinary combination. 

Two novel solid-state sodium battery electrolyte materials (a polymerised ionic liquid block co-polymer and a zwitterionic plastic crystal) have been characterised by high-field NMR spectroscopy. The results allow the identification of the Na+ solvation environment, which will determine the ion transport mechanism. Additionally, solid-electrolyte interphase products formed in sodium metal batteries containing two different ionic liquid electrolytes have been studied by the same experimental method and a breakdown product of the ionic liquid anion has been tentatively identified. These results demonstrate the power of NMR to provide new insights into sodium battery materials.

This project pursued a comparative examination of the Judeo-Spanish, French and Spanish translations of the lament Dos lid funem oysgehargetn Yidishn folk, written in the antechamber of Auschwitz by the Polish poet Yitzhak Katzenelson (1886-1944).
The study focused on the poetic forms and language of these translations, and offered a sociocultural perspective devoted to analyzing their role in the unearthing, symbolic as well as physical, of the Jewish voice and its reincorporation into the contemporary polyglot Jewish poetic archive. The research explored the intercultural and inter-historical relations that these translations produce, especially in the case of the Judeo-Spanish one and the glottopolitical role it plays when translating between endangered Jewish languages (Yiddish and Judeo-Spanish).
New knowledge was produced on the definition and practice of Jewish translation, its material culture and cultural transmission at the turn of the 20th century and the first decades of the 21st century. Also, light was shed on the epistemic recovery of the Jewish poetic archive through contemporary performances of memory making. In conclusion, this research proposed to recognize Jewish translation within the genre of postmemory.