BINA

Tattoos are highly trendy in western culture, but many people regret their tattoos for many reasons. It is essential to be aware of the ink location in advance to reduce the long and short‐term side effects. In this study, diffuse reflectance (DR) experiments were conducted on two‐layer (2L) tissue‐mimicking phantoms, where ink was sandwiched between the layers. An appreciable difference in the DR profile was found between the 2L phantom with and without the tattoo ink using the crossover point (Cp) method. Our technique was applied to ex vivo porcine skin. A point of intersection was found, between the skin and the tattooed skin. In the shorter wavelengths (500‐600 nm), a distinguishable 2L behavior was found, and in longer wavelengths (600‐850 nm), a single layer behavior was found between the tattooed skin before and after the intersection. In biological tissue, this Cp indeed finds the tattoo ink without …

As highlighted by the recent roadmaps from the European Union and the United States, water electrolysis is the most valuable high‐intensity technology for producing green hydrogen. Currently, two commercial low‐temperature water electrolyzer technologies exist: alkaline water electrolyzer (A‐WE) and proton‐exchange membrane water electrolyzer (PEM‐WE). However, both have major drawbacks. A‐WE shows low productivity and efficiency, while PEM‐WE uses a significant amount of critical raw materials. Lately, the use of anion‐exchange membrane water electrolyzers (AEM‐WE) has been proposed to overcome the limitations of the current commercial systems. AEM‐WE could become the cornerstone to achieve an intense, safe, and resilient green hydrogen production to fulfill the hydrogen targets to achieve the 2050 decarbonization goals. Here, the status of AEM‐WE development is discussed, with a …

We formalize the concept of the modular energy operator within the Page and Wootters timeless framework. As a result, this operator is elevated to the same status as the more studied modular operators of position and momentum. In analogy with dynamical nonlocality in space associated with the modular momentum, we introduce and analyze the nonlocality in time associated with the modular energy operator. Some applications of our formalization are provided through illustrative examples.

The magnesium (Mg2+) ion is the second most abundant intracellular cation after potassium, and it is involved in a variety of biological processes and physiological functions. Because of the different effects which are dependent on Mg2+ ion concentration, it is critical to monitor Mg2+ ion levels in biological systems. Here, we report the hydrothermal synthesis of photoluminescent N-doped carbon dots (NCDs) using 4-Hydroxybenzaldehyde and 1, 2, 4, 5-benzenetetramine tetrahydrochloride as carbon and nitrogen sources, respectively. The as-synthesized NCDs demonstrated excitation dependent photoluminescence (PL) with a quantum yield of 16.2%. Because of water dispersibility and chelating functional groups, NCDs were used for highly selective detection of Mg2+ ions using ratiometric PL enhancement with a detection limit of 60 μM. Following that, based on highly biocompatibility and sensing of Mg2+ ions …

Damage and loss of crops and plants caused by pathogens are global problems that have major effects on the food supply of many countries. Environmentally friendly viricide approaches are gaining in popularity to combat these problems. This study proposes the use of environmentally friendly hydrogen peroxide (HP) as a pesticide entrapped in a poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA)/polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) hydrogel for controlled release in agricultural applications. The hydrogel was prepared as a matrix of PVA and PVP containing HP. Freeze–thaw cycles of the PVA/PVP/HP hydrogel improve the mechanical properties and thereby decrease the HP release rate. The hydrogel chemical composition, morphology, and HP release rate through direct and indirect (gas phase) contact were investigated. Viricide capabilities were tested, indicating a high efficiency against ToBRFV on tobacco and tomato plants. Additionally, low …

Magnetism in two-dimensional (2D) van der Waals (vdW) materials has recently emerged as one of the most promising areas in condensed matter research, with many exciting emerging properties and significant potential for applications ranging from topological magnonics to low-power spintronics, quantum computing, and optical communications. In the brief time after their discovery, 2D magnets have blossomed into a rich area for investigation, where fundamental concepts in magnetism are challenged by the behavior of spins that can develop at the single layer limit. However, much effort is still needed in multiple fronts before 2D magnets can be routinely used for practical implementations. In this comprehensive review, prominent authors with expertise in complementary fields of 2D magnetism (i.e., synthesis, device engineering, magneto-optics, imaging, transport, mechanics, spin excitations, and theory and …

A novel type of Li/graphene oxide (Li/GO) battery based on a spontaneous redox reaction between Li metal and GO cathode is introduced as an alternative viable primary battery system. Here, we present an efficient synthesis of GO by the modified Hummers method and focus on a comprehensive study of the reduction mechanism. The Li/GO battery was thoroughly analyzed by various physical and electrochemical methods. GO rich in oxygen‐bearing functional groups on graphene layers provided lithium storage sites and delivered a high discharge capacity of around 720 mAh/g at 12 mA/g. Products formed on the surface during reduction were analyzed, and a mechanism was proposed. The results uncovered the reasons underlying the improved electrochemical properties and the contribution of the irreversible capacity of reduced GO in graphene‐based composite electrode materials for metal‐ion batteries …

Light propagating along a reversed path experiences the same transmission coefficient as in the forward direction, independent of the path complexity. This is called the optical reciprocity of light, which is valid for not too intense scattering media as well. Hence, by utilizing the reciprocity principle, the proposed novel technique can achieve axially and laterally tunable focus, non-invasively, through a scattering media without a priori knowledge or modeling of its scattering properties. Moreover, the uniqueness of the proposed technique lies in the fact that the illumination and detection are on the same side of the scattering media.

Bright luminescent hydrophobic carbon dots receive significant attention on account of their potential utility in bio‐imaging, sensors, and creating a full range of colors in displays. Herein, the solvothermal one‐pot synthesis of nitrogen and sulfur‐doped hydrophobic carbon dots (HCDs) from a single precursor, is reported. These HCDs exhibit good dispersibility in different organic solvents and show blue fluorescence in solid and solution states. Notably, HCDs show green color room temperature phosphorescence emission centered at 515 nm with a long average lifetime of 1.1 ms and an ultralong lifetime of 334 ms at 77 K. An intense white light with Commission international de d'Eclairage chromaticity coordinate of (0.32, 0.34) is generated by a simple mixing of HCDs with rhodamine 6G in the solution state. Furthermore, these HCDs are explored for the rapid detection of extremely hazardous and strong explosive …

Supercapacitors are considered potential energy storage devices and have drawn significant attention due to their superior intrinsic advantages. Herein, we report the synthesis of ReS2 embedded in MoS2 nanosheets (RMS-31) by a hydrothermal technique. The prepared RMS-31 electrode material demonstrated superior pseudocapacitive behavior in 1 M KOH electrolyte solution, which is confirmed by the heterostructure of RMS-31 nanosheet architectures. RMS-31 has a specific capacitance of 244 F g–1 at a current density of 1 A g–1 and a greater areal capacitance of 540 mF cm–2 at a current density of 5 mA cm–2. The symmetric supercapacitor device with the RMS-31 electrode delivers an energy density of 28 W h cm–2 with a power density of 1 W cm–2 and reveals long-term stability at a constant current density of 5 mA cm–2 for 10,000 cycles while accomplishing a retention of 66.5%. The high performance …

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.

The physiological acrosome reaction occurs after mammalian spermatozoa undergo a process called capacitation in the female reproductive tract. Only acrosome reacted spermatozoon can penetrate the egg zona-pellucida and fertilize the egg. Sperm also contain several mechanisms that protect it from undergoing spontaneous acrosome reaction (sAR), a process that can occur in sperm before reaching proximity to the egg and that abrogates fertilization. We previously showed that calmodulin-kinase II (CaMKII) and phospholipase D (PLD) are involved in preventing sAR through two distinct pathways that enhance F-actin formation during capacitation. Here, we describe a novel additional pathway involving the tyrosine kinase Fer in a mechanism that also prevents sAR by enhancing actin polymerization during sperm capacitation. We further show that protein-kinase A (PKA) and the tyrosine-kinase Src, as well as …

Establishing causal relationships between genetic alterations of human cancers and specific phenotypes of malignancy remains a challenge. We sequentially introduced mutations into healthy human melanocytes in up to five genes spanning six commonly disrupted melanoma pathways, forming nine genetically distinct cellular models of melanoma. We connected mutant melanocyte genotypes to malignant cell expression programs in vitro and in vivo, replicative immortality, malignancy, rapid tumor growth, pigmentation, metastasis, and histopathology. Mutations in malignant cells also affected tumor microenvironment composition and cell states. Our melanoma models shared genotype-associated expression programs with patient melanomas, and a deep learning model showed that these models partially recapitulated genotype-associated histopathological features as well. Thus, a progressive series of genome …

Scattering is among the most common and widely employed optical phenomena. The spatially resolved analysis of scattering contributions supports distributed sensing of quantities of interest. While optical backscatter events are readily mapped using time-of-flight considerations, the distributed analysis of forward scattering represents a fundamental and long-standing challenge. Interest in distributed analysis of forward scattering has reawakened in recent years, toward optical fiber sensors based on forward-stimulated Brillouin scattering. Existing protocols for distributed analysis of forward Brillouin scattering rely on secondary backscattering mechanisms and mandate the noise-prone differentiation of collected data with respect to position. Here we report on the direct, distributed analysis of forward scattering. The combined contributions of forward-stimulated Brillouin scattering and Kerr effect four-wave mixing are resolved with respect to position along polarization-maintaining fibers. The concept is based on the characteristics of intermodal scattering in such fibers: Forward scattering is initiated by a pair of orthogonally polarized and copropagating pump waves and observed through the nonlinear polarization switching of a counterpropagating probe. Measurements distinguish between dissimilar fibers connected in series, and between air and water outside a polyimide-coated fiber section in a specific location. The measurement range was 1.1 km. The spatial resolution currently achieved is estimated as 60 m, limited by the lifetimes of forward Brillouin scattering. The results provide preliminary proof of concept for distributed forward Brillouin …

BackgroundImplementation of newborn screening (NBS) programs for severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) have advanced diagnosis and management of affected infants and undoubtedly improved their outcomes. Reporting long-term follow-up of such programs is of great importance.ObjectiveHere we report a five-year summary of the NBS program for SCID in Israel.MethodsImmunological and genetic assessments, clinical analyses and outcome data from all infants screened positive were evaluated and summarized.ResultsA total of 937,953 Guthrie cards were screened for SCID. A second Guthrie card was requested on 1169 occasions (0.12%) that resulted in 142 referrals (0.015%) for further validation tests. Flow cytometry immune-phenotyping, TREC measurement in peripheral blood, and expression of TCRVβ repertoire for validation of positive cases revealed specificity and sensitivity of 93.7% and …

Rechargeable Li metal batteries (LMBs) have attracted wide attention as promising candidates for the next generation of energy-storage systems. However, limited Coulombic efficiency and unregulated dendrite growth restrict its application. Here, we report a kind of electrolyte by introducing fluorinated aromatic diluents into high-concentration electrolytes (HCEs). Unlike other localized HCEs, the fluorinated aromatic diluents pairing with anions promote the formation of a homogeneous and robust solid–electrolyte interphase (SEI), which endows Li metal with an ultrahigh Coulombic efficiency of ∼99.8%. The Li||LiNi0.8Co0.1Mn0.1O2 battery holds a capacity retention of >80% over 260 cycles even with a thin Li anode (20 μm) and a high cathode loading (3.5 mAh cm–2). A 1.8 Ah Li||NMC811 pouch cell with a lean electrolyte delivers an energy density of 340 Wh kg–1 and a stable cycling life over 200 cycles. The …

As highlighted by the recent roadmaps from the European Union and the United States, water electrolysis is the most valuable high‐intensity technology for producing green hydrogen. Currently, two commercial low‐temperature water electrolyzer technologies exist ‐ alkaline water electrolyzer (A‐WE) and proton exchange membrane water electrolyzer (PEM‐WE). However, both have major drawbacks. A‐WE shows low productivity and efficiency, while PEM‐WE uses a significant amount of critical raw materials. Lately, the use of anion‐exchange membrane electrolyzers (AEM‐WE) has been proposed to overcome the limitations of the current commercial systems. AEM‐WE could become the cornerstone to achieve an intense, safe and resilient green hydrogen production to fulfill the hydrogen targets to achieve the 2050 decarbonization goals. Here we discuss the status of AEM‐WE development, with a focus on …

Squeezing-enhancement of optical gyroscopic detection was recorded at SPIE Photonics West held in San Francisco, California, United States 2022.

Enormous potential loss and sluggish kinetics of the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) limit the practical implementation of water electrolyser systems. We attempt to address these technical challenges through the synthesis of cobalt–chromium-layered double hydroxide nanosheets (CoCr LDH) on oxidized-carbon nanotube (O-CNT) backbones as efficient OER electrocatalysts. Microscopic and elemental distribution analysis suggests that interconnected sheets of CoCr LDH masks over O-CNTs. We tested various compositions of the CoCr LDH_O-CNT hybrid (by varying the molar ratios of Co and Cr) along with the weight adjustment between CoCr LDH and O-CNTs to obtain an optimal OER activity. Due to the synergistic effect, the CoCr-LDH(3:1)_O-CNT (2:1) exhibits the lowest overpotential of 290 mV at 10 mA cm–2 with a corresponding smaller Tafel slope of 42 mV dec–1, which outperforms the other tested …