BINA

Humans develop immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies to the foods they consume. In the context of food allergy, allergen-specific IgG antibodies can sequentially class-switch to pathogenic IgE. However, the mechanism underlying the antigenicity of food proteins remains uncharacterized. Here, we identified convergent antibodies arising from different antibody gene rearrangements that bind to the immunodominant peanut allergen Ara h 2 and characterized allelic and junctional constraints on germline antibody specificity. Structurally, we found similar epitope-paratope interactions across multiple gene rearrangements. We demonstrate that these germline-encoded epitope-specific convergent antibodies to peanut occur commonly in the population because of the worldwide prevalence of the relevant gene rearrangements, allelic independence, and junctional malleability. As a result, serum IgG to this public epitope …

The split-well resonant phonon (SWRP) THz quantum cascade laser (QCL) is a novel design scheme introduced in previous studies, demonstrating significant potential due to its reduced overlap between doped regions and active laser states. This structural advantage was expected to mitigate ionized impurity scattering (IIS) and improve overall device performance, motivating a detailed investigation of the transport mechanisms. Here, we analyze the SWRP design using nonequilibrium Green's function (NEGF) simulations. Our analysis of the SWRP-based THz QCL design reveals key mechanisms limiting its high-temperature performance and provides a pathway for significant improvement. In our study, we found that the injector level and the upper laser level (ULL) exhibit different population distributions, suggesting that injection coupling can be further enhanced to improve the temperature performance …

Gene therapy for clinical applications necessitates a comprehensive, accurate, and precise measurement of gene-edited drug products. State-of-the-art pipelines for evaluating editing outcomes rely primarily on bulk sequencing approaches, which are limited to population-level assessment. Here, we leveraged Tapestri, a single-cell sequencing technology for an in-depth analysis of editing outcomes. Using this platform, we characterized the genotype of triple-edited cells simultaneously at more than 100 loci, including editing zygosity, structural variations, and cell clonality. Our findings revealed a unique editing pattern in nearly every edited cell, highlighting the importance of single-cell resolution measurement to ensure the highest safety standards.

The recurrence time is the time a process first returns to its initial state. Using quantum walks on a graph, the recurrence time is defined through the stroboscopic monitoring of the arrival of the particle to a node of the system. When the time interval between repeated measurements is tuned in such a way that the eigenvalues of the unitary become degenerate, the mean recurrence time exhibits resonances. These resonances imply faster mean recurrence times, which were recorded on quantum computers. The resonance broadening is captured by a restart uncertainty relation [Yin et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 122, e2402912121 (2025)]. To ensure a comprehensive analysis, we extend our investigation to include the impact of system size on the widened resonances, showing how the connectivity and energy spectrum structure of a system influence the restart uncertainty relation. Breaking the symmetry of the …

Significance Integrating multiple biosensors improves the sensitivity and precision of physiological measurements in healthcare monitoring. By combining sensors that target different physiological parameters, a more comprehensive assessment of a subject’s health can be achieved. Aim We evaluate the performance of two biosensors for extracting cardiac parameters: a textile-based strain sensor for measuring respiratory rate and an optical sensor for measuring heart rate, , and respiratory rate. The objective is to determine optimal placement conditions for each sensor and assess their feasibility for integration into a single wearable system. Approach Two experimental setups were tested. In the first, the strain sensor was placed on the subject’s shirt, while the optical sensor was positioned on the external wrist. In the second, both sensors were placed on the chest, under the shirt. The accuracy and performance …

The electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) technique is applied to study the effect of NOx contamination on polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEMFCs). The analysis is done by finding the underlying distribution function of relaxation times (DFRT, a.k.a. DRT) utilizing impedance spectroscopy genetic programming (ISGP). NO2-contaminated PEMFCs generate negative loops (or “inductive loops”, although that term is inaccurate) in the Nyquist plot. ISGP can resolve these loops into negative peaks in the DFRT, i.e., negative effective resistances and capacitances. It has been suggested that these negative resistances are due to competing reactions during the operation. Here we verify that this is a plausible hypothesis by deriving the impedance equation for fuel cells in the presence of NO2 contamination and then comparing it with the experimental results. The simulated impedance data interpret the causality of …

Zinc-air batteries (ZABs) with non-alkaline electrolytes can offer enhanced stability and safety compared to their alkaline counterparts, addressing challenges like irreversible CO2 uptake and uneven zinc deposition. However, their adoption is hindered by sluggish kinetics of oxygen reduction and evolution reactions (ORR and OER). This study explores the structure-performance relationships of nitrogen-doped and Fe-N-doped carbon catalysts derived from zeolitic imidazolate framework ZIF-8 in non-alkaline ZABs. Using ZIF-8 particles of varying sizes (50 nm, 200 nm, 1 μm) and systematically doping with up to 2 wt. % of Fe, we identify critical parameters that optimize the catalytic performance. Doping with just ∼0.03–0.2 wt. % of iron significantly improves the ORR kinetics, while smaller particle sizes lower the overpotentials for both ORR and OER. Optimal materials achieve roundtrip energy efficiency of 75-77 …

Surface acoustic waves enable long group delays and narrowband analog filtering on-chip, which are difficult to obtain with fast-moving electromagnetic waves. Surface acoustic waves have been introduced to silicon photonics through the absorption of modulated pump light in gratings of metallic elements and subsequent thermoelastic actuation. In this work, acoustic waves are excited through a plasmonic surface lattice of nano-antennas, which exhibits enhanced resonant absorption of incident light. The stronger absorption increases the intensity of the acoustic waves by a factor of 50. The devices are used in an electro-opto-mechanical, microwave-photonic oscillator and improve its linewidth and noise performance by 2–3 orders of magnitude. The results represent a major improvement in surface acoustic wave–photonic devices and a new application for plasmonics within silicon photonic circuits.

This study investigate the remote detection and reconstruction of audio signals using Radio Frequency (RF) emissions, focusing on the implications for eavesdropping detection and prevention. Utilizing the widely used 2.4 GHz continuous wave microwave radiation directed at a speaker membrane, we successfully reassembled human speech and music signals, demonstrating the feasibility of audio reconstruction in real-world scenarios. A series of denoising techniques, including Robust locally weighted scatterplot smoothing (LOWESS), Moving Median, and Wavelet Denoising, were evaluated for their effectiveness in enhancing signal quality, with performance metrics such as root mean square error (RMSE) and signal-to-noise ratio SNR employed for comparison. Our findings reveal that Wavelet denoising outperforms other methods in preserving the integrity of speech signals, while also highlighting the …

Background and objective Methods Key findings and limitations

Humans develop immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies to the foods they consume. In the context of food allergy, allergen-specific IgG antibodies can sequentially class-switch to pathogenic IgE. However, the mechanism underlying the antigenicity of food proteins remains uncharacterized. Here, we identified convergent antibodies arising from different antibody gene rearrangements that bind to the immunodominant peanut allergen Ara h 2 and characterized allelic and junctional constraints on germline antibody specificity. Structurally, we found similar epitope-paratope interactions across multiple gene rearrangements. We demonstrate that these germline-encoded epitope-specific convergent antibodies to peanut occur commonly in the population because of the worldwide prevalence of the relevant gene rearrangements, allelic independence, and junctional malleability. As a result, serum IgG to this public epitope …

Accurate extraction of Radar Cross Section (RCS) from real-world measurements is crucial for various radar applications yet challenged by noise, clutter, near-field effects, and complex scattering phenomena. This paper introduces the Dictionary Pursuit (DP) method based on Compressive Sensing (CS) principles and presents a comprehensive comparison with the classical Fourier-based approach. The DP method employs multiple physical bases—specifically Image and range-Doppler bases—to represent distinct scattering phenomena within a single optimization framework. By leveraging weighted L1-norm regularization through Basis Pursuit Denoising (BPDN), the proposed method effectively separates target signals from environmental contamination while reducing manual intervention requirements. Validation through both numerical simulations and experimental measurements demonstrates that the DP …

Quantum control protocols are typically devised in the time domain, leaving their spectral behavior to emerge only a posteriori. Here, we invert this paradigm. Starting from a target frequency-domain filter, we employ the dynamical-invariant framework to derive the continuous driving fields that enact the chosen spectral response on a qubit. This approach, Quantum Invariant Filtering (QIF), maps arbitrary finite-impulse responses, including multi-band and phase-sensitive profiles, into experimentally feasible Hamiltonian modulations. Implemented on a single nitrogen-vacancy center in diamond, the method realizes the prescribed passbands with high fidelity, suppresses noise, and preserves coherence for milliseconds, two orders of magnitude longer than Carr-Purcell-Meiboom-Gill sequences, while remaining robust to 50% drive-amplitude errors. Our results establish QIF as a broadly applicable framework for enhanced quantum control and sensing across diverse physical platforms, including superconducting qubits, trapped ions, and nuclear magnetic resonance systems.

Cytoplasmic stress granules (SGs) induced by various stresses have been linked to cancer and other disorders. Which active energy pathways are required for SG formation remains unclear. We used nutrient deprivation to show that glutamine is the sole amino acid source governing whether cancer cells form SGs. Metabolic profiling revealed the essential functions of glutamine and glucose in SG formation under limiting metabolic conditions. Providing glutamine during metabolic stress restored ATP levels in cancer cells and revived many essential gene expression patterns. Myc, a known regulator of the shift between glucose and glutamine metabolism, showed increased expression as cells moved to glutamine uptake. Inhibition of MYC prevented SG formation even with glutamine present and increased cell death after arsenite exposure. The RNA-binding proteins G3BP1/2 were required for glutamine utilization …

The back-focal plane (BFP) of a high-numerical aperture objective contains the fluoro-phore radiation pattern, which encodes information about the axial fluorophore position, molecular orientation and the local refractive index of the embedding medium. BFP image acquisition and analysis are common to conoscopy, k-space imaging, supercritical-angle fluorescence (SAF) and single-molecule detection, but they are rarely being used in biological fluorescence. This work addresses a critical gap in quantitative microscopy by enabling reliable, real-time BFP imaging under low-light conditions and/or short exposure times, typical of biological experiments. By systematically analyzing how key parameters - such as Bertrand lens position, defocus, pixel size, and binning - affect BFP image quality and SAF/UAF ratios, we provide a robust framework for accurate axial fluorophore localization and near-membrane refractive-index measurements. The described hardware- and software integration allows for multi-dimensional image-series and online quality control, reducing experimental error and enhancing reproducibility. Our contributions lay the foundation for standardized BFP imaging across laboratories, expanding its application to dynamic biological systems, and opening the door to machine learning-based analysis pipelines. Ultimately, this work transforms BFP imaging from an expert-dependent technique into a reproducible and scalable tool for surface-sensitive fluorescence microscopy.

Zinc-bromine batteries (ZBBs) hold great potential for large-scale energy storage due to their high energy density, sustainability, and cost-effectiveness. However, the practical application of flowless ZBBs is hindered by self-discharge (SD) from uncontrolled bromine diffusion and the overlap of the Br⁻/Br2 redox potential with the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Additionally, the limited solubility of bromine complexing agents (BCAs) in aqueous media poses a significant challenge. Here, we introduce a targeted localized presence (TLP) strategy, encapsulating hydrophobic BCAs within porous activated carbon electrodes to address these limitations. By examining three BCA structures, we demonstrate that TLP effectively reduces SD and increases coulombic efficiency. We show that the formation of hydrophobic phases within the pores can be controlled by manipulating the BCA alkyl chain length. This tailored TLP approach minimizes OER susceptibility and extends the voltage window to 2.7V (0.1M ZnBr2). Nuclear magnetic resonance analysis highlights the aggregation behavior of BCAs, elucidating their role in stabilizing the system. Remarkably, insoluble BCAs with hexyl side chains achieved >98% CE at 200 mAh/g over 1000 cycles at 1 A/g. This work presents a robust pathway for advancing aqueous zinc-halide batteries towards scalable and durable energy storage solutions.

Developing non‐invasive techniques that can probe how solvents modulate the nucleation pathways of bioorganic molecules in solution remains an active and open area of research. Herein, we investigate the crystallization of the amino acid L‐Cysteine and show that both the structure of the crystal and its intrinsic fluorescence can be drastically altered by solvent isotope effects. Crystals formed in heavy water exhibit markedly different intermolecular packing as well as strikingly different monomer conformations compared to those in light water. Remarkably, these differences in the supramolecular packing result in significantly elevated intrinsic fluorescence in the crystal that is formed in heavy water. Using a combination of experimental techniques and advanced electronic structure approaches, we elucidate the molecular interactions within the crystals that govern both the electronic origins and the intensity of their …

Despite possessing a high gravimetric capacity above 230 mAh g–1, Li-rich NMC oxides suffer from the bottleneck of capacity fading and a decrease in the discharge voltage upon cycling. Therefore, suppressing the discharge voltage decay is a major concern for employing these cathodes in Li-ion cells. To understand the structural change during initial cycles, the ex-situ X-ray diffraction investigation of Li-rich NMC cathodes at different charged states (4.0, 4.4, and 4.6 V) after completing one cycle in the potential domain of 2.0–4.7 V is conducted, which reveals the generation of a spinel phase only when polarized to above 4.4 V. Hence, Li-rich Li1.2Ni0.13Mn0.54Co0.13O2 cathodes herein are investigated across three different voltage ranges: 2.0–4.6 V, 2.7–4.6 V, and 2.7–4.4 V versus Li, after being activated first by polarization up to 4.7 V, to assess the suitable operational voltage range for their stable cycling …

The ability of bacteria to commit to surface colonization and biofilm formation is a highly regulated process. In this study, we characterized the activity and structure of SadB, initially identified as a key regulator in the transition from reversible to irreversible surface attachment. Our results show that SadB acts as an adaptor protein that tightly regulates the master regulator AmrZ at the post-translational level. SadB directly binds to the C-terminal domain of AmrZ, leading to its rapid degradation, primarily by the Lon protease. Structural analysis suggests that SadB does not directly interact with small molecules upon signal transduction, differing from previous findings in Pseudomonas fluorescens. Instead, the SadB structure supports its role in mediating protein-protein interactions, establishing it as a major checkpoint for biofilm commitment.