BINA

Raman spectra were measured in various adjacent groups of monolayer graphene samples: “supported” by a SiO2 substrate or suspended over pre-made pits (“free-standing” monolayer). Different groups of samples were irradiated with protons, or with helium ions (He+), with energies of 0.7 MeV and 2.8 MeV respectively, specially selected to provide the same velocity of incident ions. It is shown that in “free-standing” samples, the positions of all Raman lines are shifted towards low frequencies (“redshift”), which is the same for irradiation with protons or He+. This coincidence is considered as a manifestation of an electronic mechanism for changing the structure of graphene, which depends on the charge and velocity of the incident ion, but not on its mass. It was proposed that the redshift is due to tensile deformation that occurs in a free-standing film after accumulation of defects. Deformation of the irradiated film …

Photonic integrated circuits play a central role in current and future applications such as communications, sensing, ranging, and information processing. Photonic quantum computing will also likely require an integrated optics architecture for improved stability, scalability, and performance. Fault-tolerant quantum computing mandates very accurate and robust quantum gates. In this work, we demonstrate high-fidelity directional couplers for single-qubit gates in photonic integrated waveguides, utilizing a novel scheme of detuning-modulated composite segments. Specific designs for reduced sensitivity to wavelength variations and real-world geometrical fabrication errors in waveguides width and depth are presented. Enhanced wavelength tolerance is demonstrated experimentally. The concept shows great promise for scaling high fidelity gates as part of integrated quantum optics architectures.

Integrated, discrete time microwave filters are realized in surface acoustic wave photonic devices in standard silicon on insulator. The devices are scaled to 16 and 32 taps. A single 7 MHz-wide passband is demonstrated.

Tailoring the precise construction of non‐precious metals and carbon‐based heterogeneous catalysts for electrochemical oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) is crucial for energy conversion applications. Herein, this work reports the composite of Ni doped Fe2O3 (Ni−Fe2O3) with mildly oxidized multi‐walled CNT (O−CNT) as an outstanding Mott‐Schottky catalyst for OER and MOR. O−CNT acts as a co‐catalyst which effectively regulates the charge transfer in Ni−Fe2O3 and thus enhances the electrocatalytic performance. Ni−Fe2O3/O−CNT exhibits a low onset potential of 260 mV and overpotential 310 mV @ 10 mA cm−2 for oxygen evolution. Being a Mott‐Schottky catalyst, it achieves the higher flat band potential of −1.15 V with the carrier density of 0.173×1024 cm−3. Further, in presence of 1 M CH3OH, it delivers the MOR current density of 10 mA cm−2 at 1.46 V …

The TP53 gene is mutated in approximately 60% of all colorectal cancer (CRC) cases. Over 20% of all TP53-mutated CRC tumors carry missense mutations at position R175 or R273. Here we report that CRC tumors harboring R273 mutations are more prone to progress to metastatic disease, with decreased survival, than those with R175 mutations. We identify a distinct transcriptional signature orchestrated by p53R273H, implicating activation of oncogenic signaling pathways and predicting worse outcome. These features are shared also with the hotspot mutants p53R248Q and p53R248W. p53R273H selectively promotes rapid CRC cell spreading, migration, invasion and metastasis. The transcriptional output of p53R273H is associated with preferential binding to regulatory elements of R273 signature genes. Thus, different TP53 missense mutations contribute differently to cancer progression. Elucidation of the …

In this work, we demonstrate optomechanical measurements of radiation induced alterations of the acoustic velocity in a fluoroacrylate polymer coating of a silica optical fiber. The optomechanical measurement is based on forward Brillouin scattering initiated in the fiber core which stimulates acoustic waves that reach the fiber coating. The measurement may serve as an additional metric to quantify the dose of ionizing radiation to which the fiber was exposed. We have demonstrated that the stiffness of the coating increases following gamma irradiation, as measured by the time of flight of radial acoustic waves through the coating. The measurement was performed on few meters long fiber, but can be extended to a spatially distributed analysis in longer fibers. The tests showed a linear dependence of the acoustic time-of flight on the overall dosage of gamma irradiation. The time of flight decreased by as much as 15 …

Terpene synthases are responsible for the biosynthesis of terpenes, the largest family of natural products. Hydropyrene synthase generates hydropyrene and hydropyrenol as its main products along with two byproducts, isoelisabethatriene A and B. Fascinatingly, a single active site mutation (M75L) diverts the product distribution towards isoelisabethatriene A and B. In the current work, we study the competing pathways leading to these products using quantum chemical calculations in the gas-phase. We show that there is a great thermodynamic preference for hydropyrene and hydropyrenol formation, and hence most likely in the synthesis of the isoelisabethatriene products kinetic control is at play.

We demonstrate experimentally symmetry breaking in a linear cavity mode-locking laser due to a non-local Kerr-lens, which is expressed in deviation from the soliton model. The effect is backed by numerical simulation with quantitative agreement.

We explore experimentally synchronization and persistent beating dynamics in coupled non-degenerate parametric oscillators. We demonstrate that synchronization is completely prevented due to mode competition, which is unique to non-degenerate oscillators.

A first fiber laser based on forward Brillouin scattering is proposed and demonstrated. The laser is based on inter-modal scattering in a standard panda type polarization maintaining fiber. Single-mode and multi-mode regimes are demonstrated.

The clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) technology provides the means for accurate genomic editing. It has been applied in many kinds of cells and animals for functional genomic studies and for precise selective breeding. Nonetheless, this method has not yet been applied in one of the most important – and well studied – decapod crustacean aquaculture species, the giant freshwater prawn Macrobrachium rosenbergii. We thus established two CRISPR platforms for M. rosenbergii—the first through direct injection into early-stage embryos (entire organism genome editing) and the second by electroporation of a primary embryonic cell culture. The systems were calibrated by optimizing Cas9 concentrations, delivery methods and editing efficiencies. Editing patterns utilizing multiple guides were examined through next generation sequencing. Our results showed a wide range of …

We report on the progress of experimental cluster-state generation in the optical frequency comb of a single, phase-modulated optical parametric oscillator.

Direct, distributed analysis of forward scattering is demonstrated for the first time in any optical medium, using inter-modal nonlinear coupling in polarization maintaining fibers. Local spectra of forward Brillouin scattering and Kerr effect are resolved.