BINA

Efimov trimers are exotic three-body quantum states that emerge from the different types of three-body continua in the vicinity of two-atom Feshbach resonances. In particular, as the strength of the interaction is decreased to a critical point, an Efimov state merges into the atom-dimer threshold and eventually dissociates into an unbound atom-dimer pair. Here we explore the Efimov state in the vicinity of this critical point using coherent few-body spectroscopy in 7Li atoms using a narrow two-body Feshbach resonance. Contrary to the expectation, we find that the 7Li Efimov trimer does not immediately dissociate when passing the threshold, and survives as a metastable state embedded in the atom-dimer continuum. We identify this behavior with a universal phenomenon related to the emergence of a repulsive interaction in the atom-dimer channel which reshapes the three-body interactions in any system …

Liposomes, self-assembled lipid-based nanoparticles, have gained significant attention due to their versatility and potential applications in various biomedical fields. They serve as promising platforms for targeted drug delivery, imaging, and therapeutics. Among the various types of liposomes, radiolabeled liposomes have attracted considerable interest due to their unique capabilities in both therapy and imaging. In therapy, radiolabeled liposomes can effectively transport therapeutic radioactive agents directly to disease sites, allowing for precise and localized treatment. In imaging, radiolabeling enables non-invasive visualization and tracking of liposomes, providing valuable diagnostic information. In this study, we present a technique for surface radiolabeling of liposomes, achieved by introducing a chelating agent onto the liposome surface and optimizing radiolabeling conditions for desired radionuclides …

Gold nanoparticles (GNPs) have garnered significant attention in biomedical applications, particularly as versatile platforms for drug delivery and targeted therapy. The conjugation of GNPs with antibodies offers a promising strategy to enhance their specificity and efficacy in various therapeutic approaches. In this study, we focus on synthesizing different types of GNPs conjugated with antibodies and investigate the influence of various synthesis methods on nanoparticle characterization. The results demonstrated that different synthesis methods lead to different degrees of antibody conjugation on the GNP surface and to varied efficiency on biosystems. This work has the potential to outline design principles that could positively affect the development of targeted nanotherapeutics for various biomedical applications.

Background Bacterial biocontrol agents that antagonize soilborne pathogens are increasingly considered as alternatives to chemical pesticides, but their in-vivo efficacy is often inconsistent, restricting commercial use. The efficacy of a biocontrol agent can depend on rhizosphere competence and its interaction with native microbiomes, which can effect ecosystem functioning. This study investigated the capacity of a Bacillus cereus sensu lato (Bcsl) biocontrol strain (S-25) to persist on roots and in the rhizosphere of cucumber, and evaluated its impact on bacterial and fungal community composition in the rhizosphere, in the absence and presence of Rhizoctonia solani, the causative agent of damping-off disease in young seedlings. Results Following amendment, S-25 abundance in the cucumber rhizosphere decreased by two orders of magnitude, but remained relatively high for the duration of the experiment, in … Background Results

We have recently reported on a non-volatile memory effect we discovered in correlated oxides with temperature-driven insulator-metal transitions (IMT), such as VO 2, V 2 O 3 and NdNiO 3. The memory appears as a resistance increase at predefined temperatures that are set or erased by simple heating-cooling (ie, ramp-reversal) protocols, thus it is coined the ramp reversal memory (RRM)[1]. The characteristics of this memory effect do not coincide with any previously reported history or memory effects in similar systems.We will review the broad range of experimental features of the RRM, including the ability to write multiple memories of the device, the effects of writing and erasing speeds on the memory, and the role of epitaxial coupling to the substrate in limiting the magnitude of the memory [2-4]. From these we conclude that the main ingredients for the effect to arise are the spatial phase-separation of metallic …

BACKGROUND Myocardial infarction (MI) and heart failure are associated with an increased incidence of cancer. However, the mechanism is complex and unclear. Here, we aimed to test our hypothesis that cardiac small extracellular vesicles (sEVs), particularly cardiac mesenchymal stromal cell–derived sEVs (cMSC-sEVs), contribute to the link between post-MI left ventricular dysfunction (LVD) and cancer. METHODS We purified and characterized sEVs from post-MI hearts and cultured cMSCs. Then, we analyzed cMSC-EV cargo and proneoplastic effects on several lines of cancer cells, macrophages, and endothelial cells. Next, we modeled heterotopic and orthotopic lung and breast cancer tumors in mice with post-MI LVD. We transferred cMSC-sEVs to assess sEV biodistribution and its effect on tumor growth. Finally, we tested the effects of sEV depletion and spironolactone treatment on cMSC-EV release …

Light-induced modification of material properties has garnered widespread interest within the scientific community. In fact, several effects can be potentially modified or enhanced when light interacts strongly with matter. As an alternative to ultrafast pump-probe experiments, cavity-mediated light-matter interaction offers the possibility to tailor the steady-state behavior of a material system by designing on-purpose electromagnetic environments.

Recent studies have underscored the pivotal role of adenosine-to-inosine RNA editing, catalyzed by ADAR1, in suppressing innate immune interferon responses triggered by cellular double-stranded RNA (dsRNA). However, the specific ADAR1 editing targets crucial for this regulatory function remain elusive. We review analyses of transcriptome-wide ADAR1 editing patterns and their evolutionary dynamics, which offer valuable insights into this unresolved query. The growing appreciation of the significance of immunogenic dsRNAs and their editing in inflammatory and autoimmune diseases and cancer calls for a more comprehensive understanding of dsRNA immunogenicity, which may promote our understanding of these diseases and open doors to therapeutic avenues.

Adenosine deaminases acting on RNA (ADARs) are endogenous enzymes catalyzing the deamination of adenosines to inosines, which are then read as guanosines during translation. This ability to recode makes ADAR an attractive therapeutic tool to edit genetic mutations and reprogram genetic information at the mRNA level. Using the endogenous ADARs and guiding them to a selected target has promising therapeutic potential. Indeed, different studies have reported several site-directed RNA-editing approaches for making targeted base changes in RNA molecules. The basic strategy has been to use guide RNAs (gRNAs) that hybridize and form a double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) structure with the desired RNA target because of ADAR activity in regions of dsRNA formation. Here we report on a novel pipeline for identifying disease-causing variants as candidates for RNA editing, using a yeast-based screening …

In previous work, we introduced an elegant approach for bromide recovery from water by the introduction of a hybrid physical adsorption and capacitive deionization processes for selective removal and recovery of boron from water. In this paper, we show that the harsh environment of water contaminated with bromine-moieties adversely affects the longevity of relevant electrodes, with close to 100 consecutive work hours of bromides removal without noticeable degradation. To extend the lifespan of electrodes, we used an asymmetric CDI cell with a 1:5 positive/negative electrodes ratio in which a polarity switch between electrodes is applied every six adsorption-desorption cycles in a way that in each adsorption-desorption cycle, a different electrode of the six electrodes, functions as the positive electrode. We deduce that the polarity switch reduces oxidation and subsequent degradation of the positive electrodes …

Traditional methods for measuring blood oxygen use multiple wavelengths, which produce an intrinsic error due to ratiometric measurements. These methods assume that the absorption changes with the wavelength, but in fact the scattering changes as well and cannot be neglected. We found that if one measures in a specific angle around a cylindrical tissue, called the iso-pathlength (IPL) point, the reemitted light intensity is unaffected by the tissue’s scattering. Therefore, the absorption can be isolated from the scattering, which allows the extraction of the subject’s oxygen saturation. In this work, we designed an optical biosensor for reading the light intensity reemitted from the tissue, using a single light source and multiple photodetectors (PDs), with one of them in the IPL point’s location. Using this bio-device, we developed a methodology to extract the arterial oxygen saturation using a single wavelength light source. We proved this method is not dependent on the light source and is applicable to different measurement locations on the body, with an error of 0.5%. Moreover, we tested thirty-eight males and females with the biosensor under normal conditions. Finally, we show the results of measuring subjects in a hypoxic chamber that simulates extreme conditions with low oxygen.

Efimov trimers are exotic three-body quantum states that emerge from the different types of three-body continua in the vicinity of two-atom Feshbach resonances. In particular, as the strength of the interaction is decreased to a critical point, an Efimov state merges into the atom-dimer threshold and eventually dissociates into an unbound atom-dimer pair. Here we explore the Efimov state in the vicinity of this critical point using coherent few-body spectroscopy in 7Li atoms using a narrow two-body Feshbach resonance. Contrary to the expectation, we find that the 7Li Efimov trimer does not immediately dissociate when passing the threshold, and survives as a metastable state embedded in the atom-dimer continuum. We identify this behavior with a universal phenomenon related to the emergence of a repulsive interaction in the atom-dimer channel which reshapes the three-body interactions in any system …

Background Bacterial biocontrol agents that antagonize soilborne pathogens are increasingly considered as alternatives to chemical pesticides, but their in-vivo efficacy is often inconsistent, restricting commercial use. The efficacy of a biocontrol agent can depend on rhizosphere competence and its interaction with native microbiomes, which can effect ecosystem functioning. This study investigated the capacity of a Bacillus cereus sensu lato (Bcsl) biocontrol strain (S-25) to persist on roots and in the rhizosphere of cucumber, and evaluated its impact on bacterial and fungal community composition in the rhizosphere, in the absence and presence of Rhizoctonia solani, the causative agent of damping-off disease in young seedlings. Results Following amendment, S-25 abundance in the cucumber rhizosphere decreased by two orders of magnitude, but remained relatively high for the duration of the experiment, in …

Fluorescence-based imaging is a powerful tool for studying biological systems, but its application in vivo is hindered by tissue scattering and autofluorescence. To enhance the usefulness of non-invasive in vivo fluorescence imaging, a comprehensive understanding of these factors is crucial. This presentation introduces a diffusion model that represents a fluorophore within tissue, verified using Monte Carlo simulations and experimental measurements with tissue-like phantom slabs of varying reduced scattering coefficients and thicknesses. The study reveals a correlation between fluorescence intensity (FI) and thickness, confirming the expected decay. Surprisingly, the exponential decay rate decreases with increasing scattering coefficient, contradicting intuition. This counterintuitive finding suggests that highly scattering media result in weaker FI decay dependence on tissue depth, reducing fluorescence artifacts …

Control over the optical properties of atomically thin two-dimensional (2D) layers, including those of transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), is needed for future optoelectronic applications. Here, the near-field coupling between TMDs and graphene/graphite is used to engineer the exciton line shape and charge state. Fano-like asymmetric spectral features are produced in WS2, MoSe2, and WSe2 van der Waals heterostructures combined with graphene, graphite, or jointly with hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) as supporting or encapsulating layers. Furthermore, trion emission is suppressed in h-BN encapsulated WSe2/graphene with a neutral exciton red shift (44 meV) and binding energy reduction (30 meV). The response of these systems to electron beam and light probes is well-described in terms of 2D optical conductivities of the involved materials. Beyond fundamental insights into the interaction of TMD …

Reliable disease models are critical for medicine advancement. Here, we established a versatile human disease model system using patient-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs), which transfer a pathology-inducing cargo from a patient to a recipient naïve model organism. As a proof of principle, we applied EVs from the serum of patients with muscular dystrophy to Caenorhabditis elegans and demonstrated their capability to induce a spectrum of muscle pathologies, including lifespan shortening and robust impairment of muscle organization and function. This demonstrates that patient-derived EVs can deliver disease-relevant pathologies between species and can be exploited for establishing novel and personalized models of human disease. Such models can potentially be used for disease diagnosis, prognosis, analyzing treatment responses, drug screening and identification of the disease-transmitting cargo of …

Gold nanoparticles (GNPs) have garnered significant attention in biomedical applications, particularly as versatile platforms for drug delivery and targeted therapy. The conjugation of GNPs with antibodies offers a promising strategy to enhance their specificity and efficacy in various therapeutic approaches. In this study, we focus on synthesizing different types of GNPs conjugated with antibodies and investigate the influence of various synthesis methods on nanoparticle characterization. The results demonstrated that different synthesis methods lead to different degrees of antibody conjugation on the GNP surface and to varied efficiency on biosystems. This work has the potential to outline design principles that could positively affect the development of targeted nanotherapeutics for various biomedical applications.

Rapid, highly sensitive, and high-throughput detection of biomarkers at low concentrations is invaluable for the early diagnosis of various diseases. In many sensitive immunoassays, the protocol is time-consuming and requires a complicated and expensive detection system. Previously, we presented a high-throughput optical modulation biosensing (ht-OMB) system, which enables reading a 96-well plate within 10 minutes. In ht-OMB, to aggregate and immobilize the magnetic beads to one spot, a single cylindrical permanent magnet with a sharp tip is positioned under a 96-well plate. To reduce washing and separation steps, the laser beam is manipulated relative to the fixed magnetic beads. Recently, MagBiosense Inc., which commercializes the ht-OMB technology, provided us with a fully automated OMBi detection system. Here, we show the use of the OMBi system for highly sensitive serological (clinical anti …

The development of new nanoparticle-based antibiotics with biocompatible properties is an emerging advance in nanotechnology. This study advocated the development of carbon dots (CDs) doped with nitrogen, nitrogen with sulfur, and nitrogen with boron (N, NS, and NB-CDs). This led to changes in the properties of the CDs, both chemically and biologically. A facile hydrothermal technique was used to synthesize CDs and the formation of CDs was confirmed through various analytical techniques. The CDs had sizes ranging from 3.2–4.8 nm and ζ-potential values of +13 to 27 mV. The doped CDs exhibited moderate changes in fluorescence behaviors depending on the excitation wavelength (λex). The N- and NB-doped CDs were effective at eliminating gram-negative pathogens (E. coli and K. pneumoniae), with minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) of 300 µg/mL and 400 µg/mL, respectively. The bactericidal …

Chemotherapy is the gold standard for cancer treatment. However, the specific and safe delivery of chemotherapies to cancer cells remains a great challenge. Gold nanoparticles (GNPs) offer a promising solution as carriers for chemotherapy due to their biocompatibility and distinctive physicochemical properties that facilitate precise drug binding and enhanced tumor penetration through the enhanced permeability and retention effect. Here, we have designed GNPs bound to chemotherapies together with glucose coating and studied their cancer cell killing efficacy in a head and neck squamous cell carcinoma cell line. We found that the GNPs bound to chemotherapy had a higher cancer cell killing efficacy as compared to controls, as well as a bystander effect. This GNP-based platform holds promise, for advancing chemotherapy-based cancer treatments.

Quantum reference frames have attracted renewed interest recently, as their exploration is relevant and instructive in many areas of quantum theory. Among the different types, position and time reference frames have captivated special attention. Here, we introduce and analyze a nonrelativistic framework in which each system contains an internal clock in addition to its external (spatial) degree of freedom and, hence, can be used as a spatiotemporal quantum reference frame. We present expressions for expectation values and variances of relevant observables in different perspectives, as well as relations between these quantities in different perspectives in scenarios with no interactions. In particular, we show that even in these simple scenarios the relative uncertainty between clocks affects the relative spatial spread of the systems.