BINA

Nanofabrication research pursues the miniaturization of patterned feature size. In the current state of the art, micron scale areas can be patterned with features down to ~30 nm pitch using electron beam lithography. Here, we demonstrate a nanofabrication technique which allows patterning periodic structures with a pitch down to 16 nm. It is based on focused ion beam milling of suspended membranes, with minimal proximity effects typical to standard electron beam lithography. The membranes are then transferred and used as hard etching masks. We benchmark our technique by electrostatically inducing a superlattice potential in graphene and observe bandstructure modification in electronic transport. Our technique opens the path towards the realization of very short period superlattices in 2D materials, but with the ability to control lattice symmetries and strength. This can pave the way for a versatile solid-state …

Herein, centrosymmetric aluminum plasmonic structures composed of triangular cavities are studied and their long‐range coupling by cathodoluminescence nanoscopy are visualized. Four different plasmonic structures containing the same subunit are studied. The plasmonic modes of the individual triangular subunits are localized at the triangle sides rather than at the vertices, in agreement with other studies. Yet, upon strong interaction between the cavities, a redistribution of the electromagnetic field is observed such that it delocalizes around the cavities in the form of a contour, providing a mode enhancement and a pronounced nonlinear response as observed by second harmonic generation. Comparison between plasmonic structures made of either silver or aluminum reveals that the metal dielectric function plays an important role in the interaction between the cavities. This work provides a rationale for …

An approach to aberrarone, an antimalarial diterpenoid natural product with tetracyclic skeleton is reported. Key to the stereoselective preparation of the 6-5-5 tricyclic skeleton includes the mediation of Nagata reagent for constructing the C1 all-carbon quaternary centers and gold-catalyzed cyclopentenone synthesis through C–H insertion.

Low-wavenumber Raman (LWR) spectroscopy determines signatures in structural information and layer-to-layer dependency of transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs). It supports proper 2D TMDC analysis and subsequent layer verification. The nondestructive nature and ultrafast detection make LWR measurements imperative for layer variations and defect investigations. Interference-enhanced Raman scattering utilizes a metal–dielectric layer to enhance the Raman signal. This has been used to study graphene, C60, and Te. Here, we investigate using Al/Al2O3 coatings to enhance the LWR scattering of different 2H-WS2 layers and understand the structures of these large-area nanosheets. Phase-pure WS2 is synthesized by CVD, and the layers are exfoliated via ultrasonication at 80 kHz. Layers were drop-casted on Al/Al2O3 coatings of different thicknesses of Al2O3 to study differences in bilayers up to a …

As Kate Atkinson has Effie say in Emotionally Weird, adapting John Donne,‘No woman is an island’(EW 219). Genuine thanks to Paul Clark at Manchester University Press and the anonymous experts and reader for supporting the project. Warm-hearted thanks are due to family, colleagues and friends for their support and notably to Josephine McNamara for her generous encouragement and faith, to Georges Letissier and Isabelle Roblin for their valuable advice, to Andrew Guy and Sandra Robinson for their helpful proof-reading, to James and Jacques McNamara for simply being there.

This book, the first dedicated to the topic, provides a comprehensive treatment of forward stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) in standard optical fibers. SBS interactions between guided light and sound waves have drawn much attention for over fifty years, and optical fibers provide an excellent playground for the study of Brillouin scattering as they support guided modes of both wave types and provide long interaction lengths. This book is dedicated to forward SBS processes that are driven by co-propagating optical fields. The physics of forward SBS is explained in detail, starting from the fundamentals of interactions between guided optical and acoustic waves, with emphasis given to the acoustic modes that are stimulated in the processes. The realization of forward SBS in standard single-mode, polarization-maintaining and multi-core fibers is then discussed in depth. Innovative potential applications in sensors, monitoring of coating layers, lasers, and radio-frequency oscillators are presented. This book introduces the subject to graduate students in optics and applied physics, and it will be of interest to scientists working in fiber-optics, nonlinear optics and opto-mechanics. Provides the first treatment of forward stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) in book form; Reflects the dramatic recent increase in interest in forward SBS processes, driven in part by the promise of new fiber sensing concepts; Delivers a solid and comprehensive grounding in the physics of forward SBS along with detailed experimental set-ups, measurement protocols, and applications.

Surface plasmons polaritons (SPP) hold great promise for the next generation of fast nanoscale optoelectronic devices, as silicon-based electronic devices approach fundamental speed and scaling limitations. However, in order to fully exploit the potential of plasmonics, devices and material systems capable of actively controlling and manipulating plasmonic response is essential. Here, we demonstrate active control of the electric field distribution of a micro antenna by coupling SPP to a photosynthetic protein with outstanding optoelectronic properties and long range and efficient exciton transfer ability. The hybrid bio-solid state active platform is able to tune and modulate the optical activity of a micro plasmonic antenna via interaction of the bioactive material with plasmon oscillations occurring in the antennae. In addition, we demonstrate that the effect of the coupling can be further enhanced and controlled by an external potential applied to the micro antenna Photosynthetic hybrid system.

Magnetic field sensing plays vital role in vast range of areas such as navigation, military, and biomedical sciences. In recent times, optical sensors have made great advances, resulting in the development of magnetic field sensors based on optical principles due to their non-susceptibility to electromagnetic interference. Here, a simple and inexpensive approach for sensing magnetic field, that converts the magnetic field into a mechanical translation (of the sensing element) and then change into optical signals is presented. These optical signals are speckle patterns generated using a laser beam reflected off an optically rough metal cantilever which is exposed to the magnetic field. Magnetic field is quantified by measuring the changes in the speckle pattern using the intensity correlation technique. The approach can measure the static and time varying magnetic fields. The proposed system has a resolution of 2.2 and can measure magnetic fields with less than a 2% error.

Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) is a γ-oncogenic herpesvirus, and both lytic and latent infections play important roles in its pathogenesis and tumorigenic properties. Multiple cellular pathways and diverse mediators are hijacked by viral proteins and are used to support KSHV lytic replication. In previous studies, we revealed that KSHV ORF45 promoted KSHV transcription and translation by inducing sustained p90 ribosomal S6 kinase (RSK) activation and the phosphorylation of its substrates c-Fos and eIF4B. However, the cellular mediators required for lytic replication remain largely unknown. Here, we reveal that ORF45 activates eIF2α phosphorylation and ATF4 translation and then upregulates the expression of lysosome-associated membrane protein 3 (LAMP3) in an ATF4-dependent manner during KSHV lytic replication. Consequently, LAMP3 promotes Akt and ERK activation and then …

We present a multi-head spray pyrolysis system and its application in high-throughput combinatorial synthesis for research of solid Li-ion conductors. Each spraying nozzle is fed with a separate precursor solution. The overlap of areas that are sprayed leads to unprecedented composition flexibility of the films obtained after pyrolysis. Thus, a library with a continuous composition spread of a Li-La-P-O model system is formed. The Li-ion conduction was determined on 169 cells of the library, using high throughput impedance measurements in a controlled environment. While the activation energies that were found were relatively small, Li-ion conduction was still low. This low mobility is hypothesized to originate from the sub-optimal occupation of Li sites in the non-stoichiometric materials' lattices, and/or porosity and tortuosity issues, which in turn, reduces their effective concentration and contribution to ion transport. In …

Osteoarthritis implies a progressive degeneration of the whole joint. Cartilage is particularly affected, with in ammation playing a pivotal role1. In recent years, cartilage regeneration has been pursued through several bioengineering strategies and using different stem cell types2-6. Adipose-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (ASCs) constitute an intriguing and minimally invasive option. However, the use of ASCs for cartilage regeneration is hampered by a relatively ine cient expression of key chondrogenic markers7. Thus, new strategies to boost both in situ targeting and chondrogenesis of ASCs are highly desirable. Here we show that ASCs embedded in a nanocomposite hydrogel including piezoelectric nanomaterials and graphene oxide nano akes, and stimulated with ultrasound waves with precisely controlled parameters (1 MHz and 250 mW/cm2, for 5 min once every two days for a period of 10 days) dramatically boost cell chondrogenic commitment. Furthermore, this stimulation regimen also has a considerable anti-in ammatory effect. The proposed nanocomposite hydrogel also shows excellent biocompatibility in vivo. Our results show for the rst time the chondrogenic potential of the combined piezoelectric nanoparticle-ultrasound stimulus; the proposed paradigm has the potential to trigger cartilage regeneration in osteoarthritis, focal cartilage defects and other pathological conditions involving cartilage lesions and degeneration. Future efforts should expand preclinical data, and target clinical applications of this therapeutic strategy.

Halide perovskites (HaPs) are functional semiconductors that can be prepared in a simple, near-room-temperature process. With thin polycrystalline HaP films, excellent solar cells, light-emitting diodes (LEDs), and (also as single crystals) high-energy radiation detectors have been demonstrated. The very low single-crystal defect densities make HaP thin single crystals (TSCs), instead of polycrystalline HaP films an attractive option, to boost device performances and for fundamental research. However, growing TSCs is challenging primarily because of random multiple nucleations, which, in the often-used space-confined geometry, is favored at the substrate boundaries, where loss of organo-amines and solvents occurs. We show that fewer and better-quality thin crystals nucleate and grow reproducibly away from the substrate edges in the substrate center, if we localize the heating (needed for inverse-temperature …

We study the performance of spin-component-scaled second-order Møller–Plesset perturbation theory (SCS-MP2) for the prediction of the lattice constant, bulk modulus, and cohesive energy of 12 simple, three-dimensional covalent and ionic semiconductors and insulators. We find that SCS-MP2 and the simpler scaled opposite-spin MP2 (SOS-MP2) yield predictions that are significantly improved over the already good performance of MP2. Specifically, when compared to experimental values with zero-point vibrational corrections, SCS-MP2 (SOS-MP2) yields mean absolute errors of 0.015 (0.017) Å for the lattice constant, 3.8 (3.7) GPa for the bulk modulus, and 0.06 (0.08) eV for the cohesive energy, which are smaller than those of leading density functionals by about a factor of two or more. We consider a reparameterization of the spin-scaling parameters and find that the optimal parameters for these solids are …

Inherited retinal diseases (IRDs) are a clinically complex and heterogenous group of visual impairment phenotypes caused by pathogenic variants in at least 277 nuclear and mitochondrial genes, affecting different retinal regions, and depleting the vision of affected individuals. Genes that cause IRDs when mutated are unique by possessing differing genotype-phenotype correlations, varying inheritance patterns, hypomorphic alleles, and modifier genes thus complicating genetic interpretation. Next-generation sequencing has greatly advanced the identification of novel IRD-related genes and pathogenic variants in the last decade. For this review, we performed an in-depth literature search which allowed for compilation of the Global Retinal Inherited Disease (GRID) dataset containing 4,798 discrete variants and 17,299 alleles published in 31 papers, showing a wide range of frequencies and complexities among …

We present a multi-head spray pyrolysis system and its application in high-throughput combinatorial synthesis for research of solid Li-ion conductors. Each spraying nozzle is fed with a separate precursor solution. The overlap of areas that are sprayed leads to unprecedented composition flexibility of the films obtained after pyrolysis. Thus, a library with a continuous composition spread of a Li-La-P-O model system is formed. The Li-ion conduction was determined on 169 cells of the library, using high throughput impedance measurements in a controlled environment. While the activation energies that were found were relatively small, Li-ion conduction was still low. This low mobility is hypothesized to originate from the sub-optimal occupation of Li sites in the non-stoichiometric materials' lattices, and/or porosity and tortuosity issues, which in turn, reduces their effective concentration and contribution to ion transport. In …

Heteroatom-doped carbon dot (CD)-reinforced flexible, antioxidant, and UV-resistant polymeric thin films have been fabricated by a facile physical compounding strategy associated with the ‘cast and peel’ technique. The prepared CDs were found to be stable in aqueous media because of their zeta potential value (−5.85 mV). There was no significant change in the zeta potential values during 7 days of storage, indicating the long-term stability of CPCDs. CD-reinforced thermoplastic starch (TPS)/κ-carrageenan hybrid films have been developed as antioxidants to improve the shelf-life of agro-products. Besides this, they also qualified for mechanical strength (>40 MPa), transparency (∼77%), nondeteriorative dimensional integrity at a high relative humidity (∼97%), and UV-resistant properties. For assessing the food preservation behavior, the leaching of CDs also has been studied by time-dependent sustained …

Hyperphosphatemia is a typical complication of end-stage renal disease, characterized by elevated and life-threatening serum phosphate levels. Hemodialysis does not enable sufficient clearance of phosphate, due to slow cell-to-plasma kinetics of phosphate ions; moreover, dietary restrictions and conventional treatment with oral phosphate binders have low success rates, together with adverse effects. Here, we developed a new concept of phosphate-trapping liposomes, to improve and prolong the control over serum phosphate levels. We designed liposomes modified with polyethylene glycol and encapsulated with the phosphate binder ferric citrate (FC liposomes). These liposomes were found to trap phosphate ions in their inner core, and thereby lower free phosphate ion concentrations in solution and in serum. The FC liposomes showed higher phosphate binding ability as phosphate concentrations increased. Moreover, these liposomes showed a time-dependent increase in uptake of phosphate, up to 25 h in serum. Thus, our findings demonstrate effective long-term phosphate trapping by FC liposomes, indicating their potential to reduce serum phosphate toxicity and improve current management of hyperphosphatemia.

We detail here some matters arising from the recent paper by Qin et al., Nature 606, pages902–908 (2022). We demonstrate, based on data supplied by Qian et al, and corroborated by theoretical modeling, that one of the central conclusions of the manuscript–namely the behavior of the chiralityinduced spin-selectivity (CISS) effect at low temperatures–can actually be consistently interpreted in a different way, which is in fact opposite to the interpretation proposed by Qian et al.In a recent paper Qian, et al.,[1] demonstrate chiral molecular intercalation superlattices (CMIS) as a new class of solid-state chiral material platform for exploring chirality induced spin selectivity effect (CISS). Notably, they demonstrate state-of-the-art technique for fabricating well-defined, stable and robust chiral devices with the potential to serve as spintronic devices. Specifically, Qian et al. show that CMIS can be used to accurately characterize the CISS effect and explore its dependence on temperature, and other material properties. They show a very high degree of polarization of the spincurrent P (T), that monotonically decreases with increasing temperature, and the average conductance GSI (T)

Genetically engineered T cells are a powerful new modality for cancer immunotherapy. However, their clinical application for solid tumors is challenging, and crucial knowledge on cell functionality in vivo is lacking. Here, we fabricated a nanoprobe composed of dendrimers incorporating a calcium sensor and gold nanoparticles, for dual-modal monitoring of engineered T cells within a solid tumor. T cells engineered to express a melanoma-specific T-cell receptor and loaded with the nanoprobe were longitudinally monitored within melanoma xenografts in mice. Fluorescent imaging of the nanoprobe's calcium sensor revealed increased intra-tumoral activation of the T cells over time, up to 24 h. Computed tomography imaging of the nanoprobe's gold nanoparticles revealed the cells' intra-tumoral distribution pattern. Quantitative analysis revealed the intra-tumoral T cell quantities. Thus, this nanoprobe reveals intra …

In the pursuit of magneto-electronic systems nonstoichiometric magnetic elements commonly introduce disorder and enhance magnetic scattering. We demonstrate the growth of (EuIn)As shells, with a unique crystal structure comprised of a dense net of Eu inversion planes, over InAs and InAs1–xSbx core nanowires. This is imaged with atomic and elemental resolution which reveal a prismatic configuration of the Eu planes. The results are supported by molecular dynamics simulations. Local magnetic and susceptibility mappings show magnetic response in all nanowires, while a subset bearing a DC signal points to ferromagnetic order. These provide a mechanism for enhancing Zeeman responses, operational at zero applied magnetic field. Such properties suggest that the obtained structures can serve as a preferred platform for time-reversal symmetry broken one-dimensional states including intrinsic topological …