Feb 2024 • ACS Applied Nano Materials
Sayan Ganguly, Poushali Das, Seshasai Srinivasan, Amin Reza Rajabzadeh, Xiaowu Shirley Tang, Shlomo Margel
Superparamagnetic nanoparticle-arrested hydrogel matrices have immense significance in smart soft biomaterials. Herein, we report the synthesis of superparamagnetic nanoparticle-loaded magneto-responsive tough elastomeric hydrogels for dual-responsive drug delivery. In the first phase of work, we carried out room-temperature synthesis of amine-functionalized superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs), and in the second phase of work, we demonstrated that IONPs could act as a toughening agent as well as a viscosity modifier for poly(acrylic acid-co-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) copolymer hydrogels. The hydrogel was tested by Fourier transformed infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and continuous-wave-electron paramagnetic resonance (CW-EPR). Moreover, the IONPs affect its gelation time and elasticity significantly, which was also evaluated from its …
Show moreFeb 2024 • ACS Applied Energy Materials
Sri Harsha Akella, Mamta Sham Lal, Yogendra Kumar, Melina Zysler, Dmitry Bravo-Zhivotovskii, Yitzhak Apeloig, Malachi Noked
With an increasing demand for high-energy-density lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), nickel-rich cathodes such as LiNi0.9Mn0.05Co0.05O2 (NMC90) have gained significant interest due to their relatively low cobalt and high specific energy. However, cycling stability is compromised due to parasitic reactions at the electrode–electrolyte interfaces of NMC90. Herein, we demonstrate improved electrochemical properties of NMC90 using di-tert-butylmethyl adamantoyl silane (RSiCOAd: R is tBu(CH3)2 and Ad is 1-Ad) as an additive in a commercial electrolyte. Upon detailed electrochemical and spectroscopic analysis, we demonstrate that the RSiCOAd additive undergoes in situ decomposition to form a fluorinated organosiloxane passivation layer on the NMC90 surface and enhanced fluorination on the lithium anode surface. This phenomenon could significantly mitigate the parasitic reactions at the cathode–electrolyte …
Show moreFeb 2024 • Progress in Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy 142, 1-54, 2024
Nicole Leifer, Doron Aurbach, Steve G Greenbaum
This review focuses on the application of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy in the study of lithium and sodium battery electrolytes. Lithium-ion batteries are widely used in electronic devices, electric vehicles, and renewable energy systems due to their high energy density, long cycle life, and low self-discharge rate. The sodium analog is still in the research phase, but has significant potential for future development. In both cases, the electrolyte plays a critical role in the performance and safety of these batteries. NMR spectroscopy provides a non-invasive and non-destructive method for investigating the structure, dynamics, and interactions of the electrolyte components, including the salts, solvents, and additives, at the molecular level. This work attempts to give a nearly comprehensive overview of the ways that NMR spectroscopy, both liquid and solid state, has been used in past and present studies …
Show moreFeb 2024 • ACS Omega
Alon Tzroya, Hamootal Duadi, Dror Fixler
Water pollution caused by hazardous substances, particularly heavy metal (HM) ions, poses a threat to human health and the environment. Traditional methods for measuring HM in water are expensive and time-consuming and require extensive sample preparation. Therefore, developing robust, simple, and sensitive techniques for the detection and classification of HM is needed. We propose an optical approach that exploits the full scattering profile, meaning the angular intensity distribution, and utilizes the iso-pathlength (IPL) point. This point appears where the intensity is constant for different scattering coefficients, while the absorption coefficient is set. The absorption does not affect the IPL point position, it only reduces its intensity. In this paper, we explore the wavelength influence on the IPL point both in Monte Carlo simulations and experimentally. Next, we present the characterization of ferric chloride (FeCl2 …
Show moreFeb 2024 • Nucleic Acids Research
Mor Angel, Eden Fleshler, Mohammad Khaled Atrash, Noa Kinor, Jennifer IC Benichou, Yaron Shav-Tal
Stress granules (SGs) are cytoplasmic assemblies formed under various stress conditions as a consequence of translation arrest. SGs contain RNA-binding proteins, ribosomal subunits and messenger RNAs (mRNAs). It is well known that mRNAs contribute to SG formation; however, the connection between SG assembly and nuclear processes that involve mRNAs is not well established. Here, we examine the effects of inhibiting mRNA transcription, splicing and export on the assembly of SGs and the related cytoplasmic P body (PB). We demonstrate that inhibition of mRNA transcription, splicing and export reduces the formation of canonical SGs in a eukaryotic initiation factor 2α phosphorylation-independent manner, and alters PB size and quantity. We find that the splicing inhibitor madrasin promotes the assembly of stress-like granules. We show that the addition of synthetic mRNAs directly to the cytoplasm …
Show moreFeb 2024 • ACS Applied Energy Materials
Sri Harsha Akella, Mamta Sham Lal, Yogendra Kumar, Melina Zysler, Dmitry Bravo-Zhivotovskii, Yitzhak Apeloig, Malachi Noked
With an increasing demand for high-energy-density lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), nickel-rich cathodes such as LiNi0.9Mn0.05Co0.05O2 (NMC90) have gained significant interest due to their relatively low cobalt and high specific energy. However, cycling stability is compromised due to parasitic reactions at the electrode–electrolyte interfaces of NMC90. Herein, we demonstrate improved electrochemical properties of NMC90 using di-tert-butylmethyl adamantoyl silane (RSiCOAd: R is tBu(CH3)2 and Ad is 1-Ad) as an additive in a commercial electrolyte. Upon detailed electrochemical and spectroscopic analysis, we demonstrate that the RSiCOAd additive undergoes in situ decomposition to form a fluorinated organosiloxane passivation layer on the NMC90 surface and enhanced fluorination on the lithium anode surface. This phenomenon could significantly mitigate the parasitic reactions at the cathode–electrolyte …
Show moreFeb 2024 • Molecules
Natalie Mounayer, Taly Iline-Vul, Shlomo Margel
The fogging of transparent surfaces—condensation of water vapor in the air to a small liquid surface at specific environmental conditions—scatters incident light, creating a blurry vision. Fogging presents a significant challenge in various industries, adversely affecting numerous applications including plastic packaging, agricultural films, and various optical devices. Superhydrophobic or superhydrophilic coatings are the main strategies used to induce antifogging to minimize light scattering. Here, an innovative approach is introduced to mitigate fogging by modifying the surface properties of polymeric films, focusing on corona-treated polyethylene as a model. Coatings were prepared in two successive steps: the addition of radical co-polymerization of methacryloxypropyltriethoxysilane and N-vinylpyrrolidone followed by the step-growth Stöber polymerization of the formed silane monomer. The polymeric dispersion was spread on oxidized films via a Mayer rod and dried. Scanning and force microscopy, FIB, XPS, and UV-vis spectroscopy revealed a thin coating composed of cross-linked siloxane (Si-O-Si) covalently bonded to surface hydroxyls exposing pyrrolidone groups. Contact angle measurements, hot-fog examination, and durability tests indicated a durable antifogging activity.
Show moreFeb 2024 • Journal of The Electrochemical Society
Ananya Maddegalla, Yogendra Kumar, Sri Harsha Akella, Sarah Taragin, Dmitry Brav-Zhivotovksii, Hari Krishna Sadhanala, Doron Aurbach, Malachi Noked
Organometallic complex-based magnesium electrolytes in ethereal solutions have been extensively studied in the context of rechargeable magnesium batteries (RMBs) due to their ability to facilitate highly reversible magnesium deposition while demonstrating wide enough electrochemical stability windows. However, these solutions containing a unique mixture of organo-halo aluminate complexes have a detrimental effect on the anodic stability of metallic current collectors for cathodes, like Ni and Al foils. We were able to synthesize and isolate Mg2Cl3(THF)6Ph2AlCl2/THF electrolyte as the sole electroactive species using simple precursors: Ph2AlCl and MgCl2 in THF, via atom efficient mono-chloro abstraction Schlenk technique. We characterized the anodic stability of Ni, Ni@C, Al, and Al@C current collectors by monitoring their electrochemical behavior. Additionally, we investigated the anodic stability …
Show moreFeb 2024 • JOURNAL OF THE ELECTROCHEMICAL SOCIETY
Ananya Maddegalla, Yogendra Kumar, Sri Harsha Akella, Sarah Taragin, Dmitry Bravo-Zhivotovskii, Hari Krishna Sadhanala, Doron Aurbach, Malachi Noked
Rechargeable magnesium batteries (RMBs) have the potential to contribute towards alternative energy storage due to their low cost, high abundance, dendrites free deposition of Mg and high volumetric energy density. Organometallic complex-based electrolytes in ethereal solutions have been extensively studied in the context of RMBs due to their ability to facilitate highly reversible magnesium deposition in rechargeable magnesium batteries, while demonstrating wide enough electrochemical stability windows. However, these solutions containing unique mixture of organo-halo aluminate complexes have detrimental effect on the anodic stability of metallic current collectors for cathodes, like Ni and Al foils. In this work, we were able to synthesize and isolate Mg2Cl3(THF)(6)Ph2AlCl2/THF electrolyte as the sole electroactive species using simple precursors: Ph2AlCl and MgCl2 in THF, via atom efficient mono …
Show moreFeb 2024 • Journal of The Electrochemical Society
Ortal Breuer, Ido Rozen, Nicole Leifer, Gayathri peta, Miryam Fayena-Greenstein, Doron Aurbach, Gil Goobes
Polymeric electrolytes are currently at the forefront of research for the next generation of lithium all-solid-state batteries. Polyethylene oxide (PEO), a commonly used polymer for these batteries, operates at elevated temperatures at which it reacts with active metal electrodes (e.g., lithium). Rich surface chemistry is developed at the Li-PEO interfaces, thereby controlling these batteries' electrochemical behavior. Interfacial studies are essential to comprehend batteries' stabilization or capacity fading mechanisms. For that, post-mortem analysis with an emphasis on interfaces is a necessary approach to underpinning these mechanisms. While it can be readily done with liquid electrolytes, post-mortem characterization of similar interfaces with solid electrolytes is hampered by the Li-PEO stack firm adhesion, which is impossible to separate. Here, various methods were attempted to separate polymer electrolytes from …
Show moreFeb 2024 • Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery
R Blessy Pricilla, Moorthy Maruthapandi, Arulappan Durairaj, Ivo Kuritka, John HT Luong, Aharon Gedanken
Carbon dots (CDs) with an average diameter of 6.3 nm were synthesized from the medicinal seed extract of Syzygium cumini L. using one-pot hydrothermal synthesis. The prepared CDs exhibited excitation-dependent emission characteristics with photoluminescence (PL) emission maxima at an excitation of 340 nm. The CDs at 500 µg/mL displayed antimicrobial activities against four common pathogens. Both Staphylococcus aureus and S. epidermidis were completely eradicated by CDs within 12 h, compared to 24 h for Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumonia. The release of various oxygen species (ROS) was postulated to play a critical role in bacterial eradication. The CDs decorated on cotton fabric by ultrasonication also displayed good antibacterial activities against the above bacteria. The finding opens a plausible use of CDs in biomedical textiles with potent antimicrobial properties against both Gram …
Show moreFeb 2024 • Journal of the Electrochemical Society
Ananya Maddegalla, Yogendra Kumar, Sri Harsha Akella, Sarah Taragin, Dmitry Bravo-Zhivotovskii, Hari Krishna Sadhanala, Doron Aurbach, Malachi Noked
Rechargeable magnesium batteries (RMBs) have the potential to contribute towards alternative energy storage due to their low cost, high abundance, dendrites free deposition of Mg and high volumetric energy density. Organometallic complex-based electrolytes in ethereal solutions have been extensively studied in the context of RMBs due to their ability to facilitate highly reversible magnesium deposition in rechargeable magnesium batteries, while demonstrating wide enough electrochemical stability windows. However, these solutions containing unique mixture of organo-halo aluminate complexes have detrimental effect on the anodic stability of metallic current collectors for cathodes, like Ni and Al foils. In this work, we were able to synthesize and isolate Mg 2 Cl 3 (THF) 6 Ph 2 AlCl 2/THF electrolyte as the sole electroactive species using simple precursors: Ph 2 AlCl and MgCl 2 in THF, via atom efficient mono …
Show moreFeb 2024 • arXiv preprint arXiv:2302.00726
Loris Maria Cangemi, Chitrak Bhadra, Amikam Levy
Engines are systems and devices that convert one form of energy into another, typically into a more useful form that can perform work. In the classical setup, physical, chemical, and biological engines largely involve the conversion of heat into work. This energy conversion is at the core of thermodynamic laws and principles and is codified in textbook material. In the quantum regime, however, the principles of energy conversion become ambiguous, since quantum phenomena come into play. As with classical thermodynamics, fundamental principles can be explored through engines and refrigerators, but, in the quantum case, these devices are miniaturized and their operations involve uniquely quantum effects. Our work provides a broad overview of this active field of quantum engines and refrigerators, reviewing the latest theoretical proposals and experimental realizations. We cover myriad aspects of these devices, starting with the basic concepts of quantum analogs to the classical thermodynamic cycle and continuing with different quantum features of energy conversion that span many branches of quantum mechanics. These features include quantum fluctuations that become dominant in the microscale, non-thermal resources that fuel the engines, and the possibility of scaling up the working medium's size, to account for collective phenomena in many-body heat engines. Furthermore, we review studies of quantum engines operating in the strong system-bath coupling regime and those that include non-Markovian phenomena. Recent advances in thermoelectric devices and quantum information perspectives, including quantum measurement …
Show moreFeb 2024 • ACS Applied Nano Materials
Sayan Ganguly, Poushali Das, Seshasai Srinivasan, Amin Reza Rajabzadeh, Xiaowu Shirley Tang, Shlomo Margel
Superparamagnetic nanoparticle-arrested hydrogel matrices have immense significance in smart soft biomaterials. Herein, we report the synthesis of superparamagnetic nanoparticle-loaded magneto-responsive tough elastomeric hydrogels for dual-responsive drug delivery. In the first phase of work, we carried out room-temperature synthesis of amine-functionalized superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs), and in the second phase of work, we demonstrated that IONPs could act as a toughening agent as well as a viscosity modifier for poly(acrylic acid-co-hydroxyethyl methacrylate) copolymer hydrogels. The hydrogel was tested by Fourier transformed infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and continuous-wave-electron paramagnetic resonance (CW-EPR). Moreover, the IONPs affect its gelation time and elasticity significantly, which was also evaluated from its …
Show moreFeb 2024 • npj Genomic Medicine
Ariel Dadush, Rona Merdler-Rabinowicz, David Gorelik, Ariel Feiglin, Ilana Buchumenski, Lipika R Pal, Shay Ben-Aroya, Eytan Ruppin, Erez Y Levanon
The majority of human genetic diseases are caused by single nucleotide variants (SNVs) in the genome sequence. Excitingly, new genomic techniques known as base editing have opened efficient pathways to correct erroneous nucleotides. Due to reliance on deaminases, which have the capability to convert A to I(G) and C to U, the direct applicability of base editing might seem constrained in terms of the range of mutations that can be reverted. In this evaluation, we assess the potential of DNA and RNA base editing methods for treating human genetic diseases. Our findings indicate that 62% of pathogenic SNVs found within genes can be amended by base editing; 30% are G>A and T>C SNVs that can be corrected by DNA base editing, and most of them by RNA base editing as well, and 29% are C>T and A>G SNVs that can be corrected by DNA base editing directed to the complementary strand. For each, we …
Show moreFeb 2024 • Journal of extracellular vesicles
Joshua A Welsh, Deborah CI Goberdhan, Lorraine O'Driscoll, Edit I Buzas, Cherie Blenkiron, Benedetta Bussolati, Houjian Cai, Dolores Di Vizio, Tom AP Driedonks, Uta Erdbrügger, Juan M Falcon‐Perez, Qing‐Ling Fu, Andrew F Hill, Metka Lenassi, Sai Kiang Lim, Mỹ G Mahoney, Sujata Mohanty, Andreas Möller, Rienk Nieuwland, Takahiro Ochiya, Susmita Sahoo, Ana C Torrecilhas, Lei Zheng, Andries Zijlstra, Sarah Abuelreich, Reem Bagabas, Paolo Bergese, Esther M Bridges, Marco Brucale, Dylan Burger, Randy P Carney, Emanuele Cocucci, Rossella Crescitelli, Edveena Hanser, Adrian L Harris, Norman J Haughey, An Hendrix, Alexander R Ivanov, Tijana Jovanovic‐Talisman, Nicole A Kruh‐Garcia, Vroniqa Ku'ulei‐Lyn Faustino, Diego Kyburz, Cecilia Lässer, Kathleen M Lennon, Jan Lötvall, Adam L Maddox, Elena S Martens‐Uzunova, Rachel R Mizenko, Lauren A Newman, Andrea Ridolfi, Eva Rohde, Tatu Rojalin, Andrew Rowland, Andras Saftics, Ursula S Sandau, Julie A Saugstad, Faezeh Shekari, Simon Swift, Dmitry Ter‐Ovanesyan, Juan P Tosar, Zivile Useckaite, Francesco Valle, Zoltan Varga, Edwin van der Pol, Martijn JC van Herwijnen, Marca HM Wauben, Ann M Wehman, Sarah Williams, Andrea Zendrini, Alan J Zimmerman, MISEV Consortium, Sarah Abuelreich, Samar Ahmad, Dina AK Ahmed, Sarah H Ahmed, Elena Aikawa, Naveed Akbar, Kazunari Akiyoshi, David P Al‐Adra, Maimonah E Al‐Masawa, Manuel Albanese, Ainhoa Alberro, María José Alcaraz, Jen Alexander‐Brett, Kimberley L Alexander, Nilufar Ali, Faisal J Alibhai, Susann Allelein, Mark C Allenby, Fausto Almeida, Luis Pereira de Almeida, Sameh W Almousa, Nihal Altan‐Bonnet, Wanessa F Altei, Gloria Alvarez‐Llamas, Cora L Alvarez, Hyo Jung An, Krishnan Anand, Samir EL Andaloussi, Johnathon D Anderson, Ramaroson Andriantsitohaina, Khairul I Ansari, Achille Anselmo, Anna Antoniou, Farrukh Aqil, Tanina Arab, Fabienne Archer, Syrine Arif, David A Armstrong, Onno J Arntz, Pierre Arsène, Luis Arteaga‐Blanco, Nandini Asokan, Trude Aspelin, Georgia K Atkin‐Smith, Dimitri Aubert, Kanchana K Ayyar, Maryam Azlan, Ioannis Azoidis, Anaïs Bécot, Jean‐Marie Bach, Daniel Bachurski, Seoyoon Bae, Reem Bagabas, Roger Olofsson Bagge, Monika Baj‐Krzyworzeka, Leonora Balaj, Carolina Balbi, Bas WM van Balkom, Abhijna R Ballal, Afsareen Bano, Sébastien Banzet, Yonis Bare, Lucio Barile, Bahnisikha Barman, Isabel Barranco, Valeria Barreca, Geneviève Bart, Natasha S Barteneva, Manuela Basso, Mona Batish, Natalie R Bauer, Amy A Baxter, Wilfried W Bazié, Erica Bazzan, Joel EJ Beaumont, Mary Bebawy, Maarten P Bebelman, Apolonija Bedina‐Zavec, Danielle J Beetler
Extracellular vesicles (EVs), through their complex cargo, can reflect the state of their cell of origin and change the functions and phenotypes of other cells. These features indicate strong biomarker and therapeutic potential and have generated broad interest, as evidenced by the steady year‐on‐year increase in the numbers of scientific publications about EVs. Important advances have been made in EV metrology and in understanding and applying EV biology. However, hurdles remain to realising the potential of EVs in domains ranging from basic biology to clinical applications due to challenges in EV nomenclature, separation from non‐vesicular extracellular particles, characterisation and functional studies. To address the challenges and opportunities in this rapidly evolving field, the International Society for Extracellular Vesicles (ISEV) updates its ‘Minimal Information for Studies of Extracellular Vesicles’, which …
Show moreFeb 2024 • Communications Materials
Michael T Enders, Mitradeep Sarkar, Maxime Giteau, Aleksandra Deeva, Hanan Herzig Sheinfux, Mehrdad Shokooh-Saremi, Frank HL Koppens, Georgia T Papadakis
Phase retardation is a cornerstone of modern optics, yet, at mid-infrared (mid-IR) frequencies, it remains a major challenge due to the scarcity of simultaneously transparent and birefringent crystals. Most materials resonantly absorb due to lattice vibrations occurring at mid-IR frequencies, and natural birefringence is weak, calling for hundreds of microns to millimeters-thick phase retarders for sufficient polarization rotation. Here, we demonstrate mid-IR phase retardation with flakes of α-MoO3 that are more than ten times thinner than the operational wavelength, achieving 90 degrees polarization rotation within one micrometer of material. We report conversion ratios above 50% in reflection or transmission mode, and wavelength tunability by several micrometers. Our results showcase that exfoliated flakes of low-dimensional crystals can serve as a platform for mid-IR miniaturized integrated low-loss polarization control.
Show moreFeb 2024 • arXiv preprint arXiv:2402.14023
O Sefi, A Ben Yehuda, Y Klein, S Bloch, H Schwartz, E Cohen, S Shwartz
Hard x-ray imaging is indispensable across diverse fields owing to its high penetrability. However, the resolution of traditional x-ray imaging modalities, such as computed tomography (CT) systems, is constrained by factors including beam properties, the absence of optical components, and detection resolution. As a result, typical resolution in commercial imaging systems is limited to a few hundred microns. This study advances high-photon-energy imaging by extending the concept of computational ghost imaging to multipixel ghost imaging with x-rays. We demonstrate a remarkable enhancement in resolution from 500 microns to approximately 20 microns for an image spanning 0.9 by 1 cm^2, comprised of 400,000 pixels and involving only 1000 realizations. Furthermore, we present a high-resolution CT reconstruction using our method, revealing enhanced visibility and resolution. Our achievement is facilitated by an innovative x-ray lithography technique and the computed tiling of images captured by each detector pixel. Importantly, this method can be scaled up for larger images without sacrificing the short measurement time, thereby opening intriguing possibilities for noninvasive high-resolution imaging of small features that are invisible with the present modalities.
Show moreFeb 2024 • Frontiers in Immunology
Andrew M Collins, Mats Ohlin, Martin Corcoran, James M Heather, Duncan Ralph, Mansun Law, Jesus Martínez-Barnetche, Jian Ye, Eve Richardson, William S Gibson, Oscar L Rodriguez, Ayelet Peres, Gur Yaari, Corey T Watson, William D Lees
IntroductionAnalysis of an individual’s immunoglobulin (IG) gene repertoire requires the use of high-quality germline gene reference sets. When sets only contain alleles supported by strong evidence, AIRR sequencing (AIRR-seq) data analysis is more accurate and studies of the evolution of IG genes, their allelic variants and the expressed immune repertoire is therefore facilitated.MethodsThe Adaptive Immune Receptor Repertoire Community (AIRR-C) IG Reference Sets have been developed by including only human IG heavy and light chain alleles that have been confirmed by evidence from multiple high-quality sources. To further improve AIRR-seq analysis, some alleles have been extended to deal with short 3’ or 5’ truncations that can lead them to be overlooked by alignment utilities. To avoid other challenges for analysis programs, exact paralogs (e.g. IGHV1-69*01 and IGHV1-69D*01) are only represented once in each set, though alternative sequence names are noted in accompanying metadata.Results and discussionThe Reference Sets include less than half the previously recognised IG alleles (e.g. just 198 IGHV sequences), and also include a number of novel alleles: 8 IGHV alleles, 2 IGKV alleles and 5 IGLV alleles. Despite their smaller sizes, erroneous calls were eliminated, and excellent coverage was achieved when a set of repertoires comprising over 4 million V(D)J rearrangements from 99 individuals were analyzed using the Sets. The version-tracked AIRR-C IG Reference Sets are freely available at the OGRDB website (https://ogrdb.airr-community.org/germline_sets/Human) and will be regularly updated to include newly …
Show moreFeb 2024 • Frontiers in Immunology
Andrew M Collins, Mats Ohlin, Martin Corcoran, James M Heather, Duncan Ralph, Mansun Law, Jesus Martínez-Barnetche, Jian Ye, Eve Richardson, William S Gibson, Oscar L Rodriguez, Ayelet Peres, Gur Yaari, Corey T Watson, William D Lees
IntroductionAnalysis of an individual’s immunoglobulin (IG) gene repertoire requires the use of high-quality germline gene reference sets. When sets only contain alleles supported by strong evidence, AIRR sequencing (AIRR-seq) data analysis is more accurate and studies of the evolution of IG genes, their allelic variants and the expressed immune repertoire is therefore facilitated.MethodsThe Adaptive Immune Receptor Repertoire Community (AIRR-C) IG Reference Sets have been developed by including only human IG heavy and light chain alleles that have been confirmed by evidence from multiple high-quality sources. To further improve AIRR-seq analysis, some alleles have been extended to deal with short 3’ or 5’ truncations that can lead them to be overlooked by alignment utilities. To avoid other challenges for analysis programs, exact paralogs (e.g. IGHV1-69*01 and IGHV1-69D*01) are only represented once in each set, though alternative sequence names are noted in accompanying metadata.Results and discussionThe Reference Sets include less than half the previously recognised IG alleles (e.g. just 198 IGHV sequences), and also include a number of novel alleles: 8 IGHV alleles, 2 IGKV alleles and 5 IGLV alleles. Despite their smaller sizes, erroneous calls were eliminated, and excellent coverage was achieved when a set of repertoires comprising over 4 million V(D)J rearrangements from 99 individuals were analyzed using the Sets. The version-tracked AIRR-C IG Reference Sets are freely available at the OGRDB website (https://ogrdb.airr-community.org/germline_sets/Human) and will be regularly updated to include newly …
Show moreFeb 2024 • Molecules
Natalie Mounayer, Taly Iline-Vul, Shlomo Margel
The fogging of transparent surfaces—condensation of water vapor in the air to a small liquid surface at specific environmental conditions—scatters incident light, creating a blurry vision. Fogging presents a significant challenge in various industries, adversely affecting numerous applications including plastic packaging, agricultural films, and various optical devices. Superhydrophobic or superhydrophilic coatings are the main strategies used to induce antifogging to minimize light scattering. Here, an innovative approach is introduced to mitigate fogging by modifying the surface properties of polymeric films, focusing on corona-treated polyethylene as a model. Coatings were prepared in two successive steps: the addition of radical co-polymerization of methacryloxypropyltriethoxysilane and N-vinylpyrrolidone followed by the step-growth Stöber polymerization of the formed silane monomer. The polymeric dispersion was spread on oxidized films via a Mayer rod and dried. Scanning and force microscopy, FIB, XPS, and UV-vis spectroscopy revealed a thin coating composed of cross-linked siloxane (Si-O-Si) covalently bonded to surface hydroxyls exposing pyrrolidone groups. Contact angle measurements, hot-fog examination, and durability tests indicated a durable antifogging activity.
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