Jun 2024 • Nucleic Acids Research
Meshi Ridnik, Elisheva Abberbock, Veronica Alipov, Shelly Ziv Lhermann, Shoham Kaufman, Maor Lubman, Francis Poulat, Nitzan Gonen
Male development in mammals depends on the activity of the two SOX gene: Sry and Sox9, in the embryonic testis. As deletion of Enhancer 13 (Enh13) of the Sox9 gene results in XY male-to-female sex reversal, we explored the critical elements necessary for its function and hence, for testis and male development. Here, we demonstrate that while microdeletions of individual transcription factor binding sites (TFBS) in Enh13 lead to normal testicular development, combined microdeletions of just two SRY/SOX binding motifs can alone fully abolish Enh13 activity leading to XY male-to-female sex reversal. This suggests that for proper male development to occur, these few nucleotides of non-coding DNA must be intact. Interestingly, we show that depending on the nature of these TFBS mutations, dramatically different phenotypic outcomes can occur, providing a molecular explanation for the distinct clinical …
Show moreJun 2024 • Nonlinear Optics and its Applications 2024, PC1300408, 2024
Moti Fridman
Temporal optics revolutionize the field of ultrafast detection with time-lens and time-stretch schemes. We developed a temporal interferometer that enables us to measure ultrafast phase shifts. With this interferometer, we measured phase shifts of correlated beams traveling in different temporal trajectories. This allows us to demonstrate the Aharonov-Bohm effect in the time domain. We developed the theoretical basis of this temporal Aharonov-Bohm effect and showed it in experimental measurements. In the talk, we will explain this effect, describe the experimental setup, and show the results.
Show moreJun 2024 • Quantum Technologies 2024, PC129930R, 2024
Francesco Atzori, Salvatore Virzì, Enrico Rebufello, Alessio Avella, Fabrizio Piacentini, Rudi Lussana, Iris Cusini, Francesco Madonini, Federica Villa, Marco Gramegna, Eliahu Cohen, Ivo Pietro Degiovanni, Marco Genovese
Bell tests serve as a fundamental tool in both quantum technologies and quantum foundations investigation. The traditional Bell test framework involves the use of projective measurements, which, because of the wavefunction collapse and the Heisenberg uncertainty principle, do not allow for the full estimation of the Bell parameter from each entangled pair. In this work, we propose a novel weak-measurement-based scheme enabling the complete estimation of the entire Bell parameter from each entangled pair. Moreover, this approach prevents the collapse of the quantum state wavefunction, thereby preserving the entanglement within it. Our results, showing a 6 standard deviations violation of the Bell inequality tested, are obtained while leaving the entanglement within the photon pair almost unaltered after the weak measurement scheme (as demonstrated by our quantum tomographic reconstructions), allowing …
Show moreJun 2024 • Quantum 2.0, QW3A. 42, 2024
Yoel Olivier, Dan Cohen, Leonid Vidro, Hagai Eisenberg, Matan Slook, Mirit Hen, Avi Zadok
We characterize the spectral response of a silicon chip integrated non-perfect directional coupler by measuring the biphoton joint spectrum at the Hong-Ou-Mandel dip and show the resulting spectral coupling dependency.
Show moreJun 2024 • Specialty Optical Fibres VIII, PC130010C, 2024
Avi Zadok
A new concept for the sensing of media outside the cladding boundary of standard unmodified fibers will be presented. Light in the single optical mode is used to stimulate mechanical modes of the entire cladding cross-section. The boundary conditions for the oscillations of the mechanical modes are modified by surrounding substances: the outward dissipation of mechanical waves manifests in faster decay rates. The process is monitored through photoelastic scattering of additional optical probe waves. Point-measurements, spatially distributed analysis, and monitoring of coating layers will be presented.
Show moreJun 2024 • Physical Review B
Dominik Szombathy, Miklós Antal Werner, Cătălin Paşcu Moca, Örs Legeza, Assaf Hamo, Shahal Ilani, Gergely Zaránd
The collective tunneling of a Wigner necklace—a crystal-like state of a small number of strongly interacting electrons confined to a suspended nanotube and subject to a double-well potential—is theoretically analyzed and compared with experiments in Shapir et al. [Science 364, 870 (2019)0036-807510.1126/science.aat0905]. Density matrix renormalization group computations, exact diagonalization, and instanton theory provide a consistent description of this very strongly interacting system, and show good agreement with experiments. Experimentally extracted and theoretically computed tunneling amplitudes exhibit a scaling collapse. Collective quantum fluctuations renormalize the tunneling, and substantially enhance it as the number of electrons increases.
Show moreJun 2024 • Physical Review Research
Santiago Hernández-Gómez, Stefano Gherardini, Alessio Belenchia, Matteo Lostaglio, Amikam Levy, Nicole Fabbri
Quantum correlation functions are a natural way to encode multitime information, as they are ubiquitous in analysis from fluctuation theorems to information scrambling. Correlation functions can be identified with quasiprobabilities associated to quantum processes. In this work we show how these can be measured via error-cancellation techniques, using projective measurements only and no ancillae. The scheme is implemented in a nitrogen-vacancy center in diamond undergoing a unitary quantum work protocol. We reconstruct quantum-mechanical time correlations encoded in the Margenau-Hills quasiprobabilities by observing work extraction peaks five times those of sequential projective energy measurement schemes and in violation of newly derived stochastic bounds. We interpret the phenomenon via anomalous energy exchanges due to the underlying negativity of the quasiprobability distribution.
Show moreJun 2024 • Genes & Immunity
Eric Engelbrecht, Oscar L Rodriguez, Kaitlyn Shields, Steven Schultze, David Tieri, Uddalok Jana, Gur Yaari, William D Lees, Melissa L Smith, Corey T Watson
Immunoglobulins (IGs), critical components of the human immune system, are composed of heavy and light protein chains encoded at three genomic loci. The IG Kappa (IGK) chain locus consists of two large, inverted segmental duplications. The complexity of the IG loci has hindered use of standard high-throughput methods for characterizing genetic variation within these regions. To overcome these limitations, we use long-read sequencing to create haplotype-resolved IGK assemblies in an ancestrally diverse cohort (n = 36), representing the first comprehensive description of IGK haplotype variation. We identify extensive locus polymorphism, including novel single nucleotide variants (SNVs) and novel structural variants harboring functional IGKV genes. Among 47 functional IGKV genes, we identify 145 alleles, 67 of which were not previously curated. We report inter-population differences in allele frequencies …
Show moreJun 2024 • Biomedical Spectroscopy, Microscopy, and Imaging III 13006, 163-166, 2024
Sammy Apsel, Vika Tarle, Michal Yemini, Zeev Zalevsky, Nisan Ozana
In this paper, an innovative approach for detecting and analyzing speckle pattern signals is demonstrated, based on dynamic speckle analysis using a low-cost and low-framerate rolling shutter (RS) CMOS image sensor. The row scanning mechanism of a rolling shutter camera samples dynamic speckle patterns at a higher rate than typical Global Shutter (GS) cameras. In this research we demonstrate the detection and analysis of vibration signals that arise from an acoustic signal. We will illustrate the process of reconstructing a voice signal by analyzing a vibrating speckle pattern, with a primary focus on detecting and audibly capturing lung sounds.
Show moreJun 2024 • arXiv preprint arXiv:2306.16209
René IP Sedmik, Alexander Urech, Zeev Zalevsky, Itai Carmeli
Casimir forces, related to London-van der Waals forces, arise if the spectrum of electromagnetic fluctuations is restricted by boundaries. There is great interest both from fundamental science and technical applications to control these forces on the nano scale. Scientifically, the Casimir effect being the only known quantum vacuum effect manifesting between macroscopic objects, allows to investigate the poorly known physics of the vacuum. In this work, we experimentally investigate the influence of self-assembled molecular bio and organic thin films on the Casimir force between a plate and a sphere. We find that molecular thin films, despite being a mere few nanometers thick, reduce the Casimir force by up to 14%. To identify the molecular characteristics leading to this reduction, five different bio-molecular films with varying chemical and physical properties were investigated. Spectroscopic data reveal a broad absorption band whose presence can be attributed to the mixing of electronic states of the underlying gold layer and those of the molecular film due to charge rearrangement in the process of self-assembly. Using Lifshitz theory we calculate that the observed change in the Casimir force is consistent with the appearance of the new absorption band due to the formation of molecular layers. The desired Casimir force reduction can be tuned by stacking several monolayers, using a simple self-assembly technique in a solution. The molecules - each a few nanometers long - can penetrate small cavities and holes, and cover any surface with high efficiency. This process seems compatible with current methods in the production of micro …
Show moreJun 2024 • Addiction Neuroscience
Pnina Shirel Itzhak, Hevroni Yael, Erez Matsree, Hilla Pee'r-Nissan, Shira Ofer Lancman, R Barnea, G Luboshits, Menachem Motiei, Oshra Betzer, Iris Gispan, Rachela Popovtzer, Yaakov Anker, MA Firer, G Yadid
Substance use disorder, and particularly cocaine use disorder, is a complex disease that affects societal, economic, and psychological factors. Endogenous β-endorphin released after prolonged cocaine withdrawal has been reported to activate the accumbal delta-opioid receptor (DOR), leading to attenuated cocaine seeking. However, using DOR β-endorphin activation to treat cocaine use disorder is impractical since β-endorphin does not cross the blood-brain barrier. Also, only activation of the sub-group DOR1 efficiently attenuates craving, as activation of DOR2 yields an opposite effect. Here, we isolated a specific peptide, PEP1, from a phage display peptide library with similar biological properties to β–endorphin, demonstrating specificity for DOR1 and functioning as full receptor agonists. Our pharmacodynamic results showed fast trafficking incorporation of DOR into the cell membrane, interpreted as superior …
Show moreJun 2024 • Diabetes
CHUNHUA DAI, AJAY K SINGH, REBEKAH BRANTLEY, AMBER BRADLEY, REGINA JENKINS, DIANE C SAUNDERS, MARCELA BRISSOVA, EREZ LEVANON, AGNES KLOCHENDLER, YUVAL DOR, ALVIN C POWERS
Method: To elucidate the role of ADAR1 in human islets, we first studied ADAR expression and distribution in human pancreas across postnatal developmental timeline (1 day, 4 months, 2, 6, 10, 35 years). Then we transduced human pseudoislets with a shRNA for ADAR and examined their function and gene expression. The transduced pseudoislets were also transplanted into NSG mice. Insulin secretion was measured and grafts were studied.Results: We found that ADAR1 expression at all ages was greater in endocrine cells than acinar cells. Using the shRNA approach, ADAR mRNA levels were reduced by 70%(n= 11 donors). After 7-day culture, expression of dsRNA sensors, IFNB1, IRF7, IRF9, and interferon-stimulated genes was increased while INS and MAFA expression was reduced in ADAR knockdown islets without changes in insulin secretion. However, 3 weeks post transplantation, glucose/arginine …
Show moreJun 2024 • Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience 17, 1371738, 2024
Henry Hess, Allegra Coppini, Alessandro Falconieri, Oz Mualem, Syeda Rubaiya Nasrin, Marine Roudon, Gadiel Saper, Akira Kakugo, Vittoria Raffa, Orit Shefi
Biological structures have evolved to very efficiently generate, transmit, and withstand mechanical forces. These biological examples have inspired mechanical engineers for centuries and led to the development of critical insights and concepts. However, progress in mechanical engineering also raises new questions about biological structures. The past decades have seen the increasing study of failure of engineered structures due to repetitive loading, and its origin in processes such as materials fatigue. Repetitive loading is also experienced by some neurons, for example in the peripheral nervous system. This perspective, after briefly introducing the engineering concept of mechanical fatigue, aims to discuss the potential effects based on our knowledge of cellular responses to mechanical stresses. A particular focus of our discussion are the effects of mechanical stress on axons and their cytoskeletal structures. Furthermore, we highlight the difficulty of imaging these structures and the promise of new microscopy techniques. The identification of repair mechanisms and paradigms underlying long-term stability is an exciting and emerging topic in biology as well as a potential source of inspiration for engineers.
Show moreJun 2024 • Available at SSRN 4769653
Yuval Tamir, Sara Meir, Hamootal Duadi, Moti Fridman
Spatial modes in multimode fibers interact with each other through nonlinear processes leading to various spatio-temporal dynamics. Studying the dynamics of such interactions can open a new route for understanding ultrafast modal phenomena. In this research, we measure the temporal and spatial dynamics of ultrafast multimode signals in a high temporal resolution. We study the modal dynamics of each spatial mode inside multimode fibers as a function of time, intensity, and wavelength. We derive the spatial coupling, identify the energy transfer between the modes, and show that it is possible to transfer the energy even when the overlap integral vanishes and the coupling between the modes is zero.
Show moreJun 2024 • Biomedical Spectroscopy, Microscopy, and Imaging III, PC130061R, 2024
Dror Fixler, Vladimir Katanaev, Martin Lopez Garcia, Maria Godinho, Nicolina Pop, Jelena Radovanovic, Maurizio Dabbicco, George A Mousdis, Ahu Gumrah Parry, Panagiotis E Keivanidis, Dragan Indjin, Ana Almeida, Paweł Wityk, Małgorzata Szczerska
Various biological surfaces are known to be covered by elaborated micro- and nano-structures, serving a number of functions (e.g. anti-reflective, structural coloration, anti-fouling, pro- or anti-adhesive, etc.) and inspiring numerous industrial applications. Recent years have witnessed a remarkable boost in research in this field. To a large extent, this boost owes to the increasing interdisciplinary of approaches being applied to the study of structured biosurfaces. Sciences as different as classical zoology and botany are inseminated with the advances in genetics and molecular biology; biologists collaborate more and more with nanotechnologists, materials scientists and engineers – all these contribute to the widening of the horizons of research on micro- and nano-structured biological surfaces, and to biomimetic and bioengineering applications of these surfaces in industry. We aim at ‘riding the wave’ of these …
Show moreJun 2024 • Molecular Cancer Therapeutics
Hajime Okada, Eran Sdeor, Miriam Karmon, Erez Levanon, Uri Ben-David
Aneuploidy is an abnormal chromosome composition and a general hallmark of human cancer. Aneuploidy causes detrimental cellular stresses, but cancer cells evolve to cope with these stresses. Consequently, targeting such mitigation mechanisms is a promising potential therapeutic strategy. As an abnormal dosage of gene products from altered chromosomes can cause RNA and proteotoxic stress, dosage compensation (DC) of imbalanced gene products was reported to mitigate these stresses in aneuploid cells. However, the mechanisms that regulate DC remain elusive. To address these mechanisms, we focused on the role(s) of stress granules (SGs) and RNA binding proteins (RBPs) in aneuploid cancer cells. Our recent study revealed that aneuploid cancer cells preferentially depend on RNA and protein metabolism, and need to attenuate translation in order to cope with proteotoxic stress (Ippolito & …
Show moreMay 2024 • 2024 Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics (CLEO), 1-2, 2024
Qinghui Yan, Ron Ruimy, Arthur Niedermayr, Tomer Bucher, Harel Nahari, Hanan Herzig Sheinfux, Raphael Dahan, Yuval Adiv, Michael Yannai, Eli Janzen, James H Edgar, Guy Bartal, Shai Tsesses, Frank HL Koppens, Giovanni Maria Vanacore, Ido Kaminer
We experimentally demonstrate the generation of chiral electron beams in an ultrafast transmission electron microscope without the necessity for chiral light or chiral-shaping structures, but by breaking mirror symmetry in the light-electron interaction.
Show moreMay 2024 • 2024 Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics (CLEO), 1-2, 2024
Tomer Bucher, Harel Nahari, Hanan Herzig Sheinfux, Ron Ruimy, Arthur Niedermayr, Raphael Dahan, Qinghui Yan, Yuval Adiv, Michael Yannai, Jialin Chen, Yaniv Kurman, Sang Tae Park, Daniel J Masiel, Eli Janzen, James H Edgar, Fabrizio Carbone, Guy Bartal, Shai Tsesses, Frank HL Koppens, Giovanni Maria Vanacore, Ido Kaminer
We present free-electron imaging of sub-cycle spatio-temporal dynamics of 2D polariton wavepackets, demonstrating the first simultaneous time-, space-, and phase-resolved measurement of such phenomena, and resolving their novel features like vortex-anti-vortex singularities for record-low intensities.
Show moreMay 2024 • Journal of Clinical Microbiology
Michael Margulis, Hanan Rohana, Oran Erster, Michal Mandelboim, Asaf Biber, Eli Schwartz, Avi Peretz, Amos Danielli
The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the necessity of fast, sensitive, and efficient methods to test large populations for respiratory viruses. The “gold standard” molecular assays for detecting respiratory viruses, such as quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and reverse transcription qPCR (RT-qPCR), rely on invasive swab samples and require time-consuming and labor-intensive extraction processes. Moreover, the turnaround time for RT-qPCR-based assays is too lengthy for rapid screening. Extraction-free saliva-based methods provide a non-invasive sampling process with a fast turnaround time and are suitable for high-throughput applications. However, when used with a standard RT-qPCR system, the absence of extraction significantly reduces the assays’ sensitivity. Here, using a novel optical modulation biosensing (OMB) platform, we developed a rapid and highly sensitive extraction-free saliva …
Show moreMay 2024 • Angewandte Chemie International Edition
Renana Schwartz, Shani Zev, Dan T Major
Terpene synthases (TPSs) catalyze the first step in the formation of terpenoids, which comprise the largest class of natural products in nature. TPSs employ a family of universal natural substrates, composed of isoprenoid units bound to a diphosphate moiety. The intricate structures generated by TPSs are the result of substrate binding and folding in the active site, enzyme‐controlled carbocation reaction cascades, and final reaction quenching. A key unaddressed question in class I TPSs is the asymmetric nature of the diphosphate‐(Mg2+)3 cluster, which forms a critical part of the active site. In this asymmetric ion cluster, two diphosphate oxygen atoms protrude into the active site pocket. The substrate hydrocarbon tail, which is eventually molded into terpenes, can bind to either of these oxygen atoms, yet to which is unknown. Herein, we employ structural, bioinformatics, and EnzyDock docking tools to address this …
Show moreMay 2024 • Nature Reviews Materials 9 (5), 305-320, 2024
Xia Hu, Zhijia Zhang, Xiang Zhang, Yao Wang, Xu Yang, Xia Wang, Miryam Fayena-Greenstein, Hadas Alon Yehezkel, Steven Langford, Dong Zhou, Baohua Li, Guoxiu Wang, Doron Aurbach
Solid-state lithium metal batteries (SSLBs) using inorganic solid-state electrolytes (SSEs) have attracted extensive scientific and commercial interest owing to their potential to provide higher energy density and safety than conventional Li-ion batteries. These batteries are subject to external pressure during both their manufacturing processes (fabrication pressure) and their operation (stack pressure). This pressure not only affects the intrinsic properties of both the electrolytes (such as ionic conductivity and electrochemical voltage window) and the electrodes (such as ion transport and structural variation) but also determines the cyclability and safety of the whole battery. Hence, understanding the effect of pressure is essential when designing high-performance SSLBs. This Review aims to elucidate the coupling between external pressure and electrochemistry in these batteries. We summarize the effects of external …
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