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Feb 2023 • npj Quantum Information

Fundamental quantum limits of magnetic nearfield measurements

Chen Mechel, Jonathan Nemirovsky, Eliahu Cohen, Ido Kaminer

Major advances in the precision of magnetic measurements bring us closer to quantum detection of individual spins at the single-atom level. On the quest for reducing both classical and quantum measurement noise, it is intriguing to look forward and search for precision limits arising from the fundamental quantum nature of the measurement process itself. Here, we present the limits of magnetic quantum measurements arising from quantum information considerations, and apply these limits to a concrete example of magnetic force microscopy (MFM). We show how such microscopes have a fundamental limit on their precision arising from the theory of imperfect quantum cloning, manifested by the entanglement between the measured system and the measurement probe. We show that counterintuitively, increasing the probe complexity decreases both the measurement noise and back action, and a judicious design …

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Feb 2023 • Cold Spring Harbor Protocols

Measurement of Drosophila Reproductive Behaviors

Anne C von Philipsborn, Galit Shohat-Ophir, Carolina Rezaval

Courtship behaviors in Drosophila melanogaster are innate and contain highly stereotyped but also experience-and state-dependent elements. They have been the subject of intense study for more than 100 years. The power of Drosophila as a genetic experimental system has allowed the dissection of reproductive behaviors at a molecular, cellular, and physiological level. As a result, we know a great deal about how flies perceive sensory cues from potential mates, how this information is integrated in higher brain centers to execute reproductive decisions, and how state and social contexts modulate these responses. The simplicity of the assay has allowed for its broad application. Here, we introduce methods for studying male and female innate reproductive behaviors as well as their plastic responses.

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Feb 2023 • Nature Communications

Phonon-driven intra-exciton Rabi oscillations in CsPbBr3 halide perovskites

Xuan Trung Nguyen, Katrin Winte, Daniel Timmer, Yevgeny Rakita, Davide Raffaele Ceratti, Sigalit Aharon, Muhammad Sufyan Ramzan, Caterina Cocchi, Michael Lorke, Frank Jahnke, David Cahen, Christoph Lienau, Antonietta De Sio

Coupling electromagnetic radiation with matter, e.g., by resonant light fields in external optical cavities, is highly promising for tailoring the optoelectronic properties of functional materials on the nanoscale. Here, we demonstrate that even internal fields induced by coherent lattice motions can be used to control the transient excitonic optical response in CsPbBr3 halide perovskite crystals. Upon resonant photoexcitation, two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy reveals an excitonic peak structure oscillating persistently with a 100-fs period for up to ~2 ps which does not match the frequency of any phonon modes of the crystals. Only at later times, beyond 2 ps, two low-frequency phonons of the lead-bromide lattice dominate the dynamics. We rationalize these findings by an unusual exciton-phonon coupling inducing off-resonant 100-fs Rabi oscillations between 1s and 2p excitons driven by the low-frequency …

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Feb 2023 • The Journal of Physical Chemistry B

Experimental Data Confirm Carrier-Cascade Model for Solid-State Conductance across Proteins

Eszter Papp, Gábor Vattay, Carlos Romero-Muñiz, Linda A Zotti, Jerry A Fereiro, Mordechai Sheves, David Cahen

The finding that electronic conductance across ultrathin protein films between metallic electrodes remains nearly constant from room temperature to just a few degrees Kelvin has posed a challenge. We show that a model based on a generalized Landauer formula explains the nearly constant conductance and predicts an Arrhenius-like dependence for low temperatures. A critical aspect of the model is that the relevant activation energy for conductance is either the difference between the HOMO and HOMO–1 or the LUMO+1 and LUMO energies instead of the HOMO–LUMO gap of the proteins. Analysis of experimental data confirms the Arrhenius-like law and allows us to extract the activation energies. We then calculate the energy differences with advanced DFT methods for proteins used in the experiments. Our main result is that the experimental and theoretical activation energies for these three different proteins …

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Feb 2023 • Results in Surfaces and Interfaces

In-situ design of hierarchical durable silica-based coatings on polypropylene films with superhydrophilic, superhydrophobic and self-cleaning properties

Naftali Kanovsky, Taly Iline-Vul, Shlomo Margel

Superhydrophobic surfaces are receiving increasing attention due to their real-world applications. However, these surfaces suffer from a lack of durability and complicated synthetic processes. This research uses a combination of a simple in-situ coating process between oxygen-activated polypropylene films and unreacted silane monomers. The in-situ process uses a modified Stöber method with the addition of the surfactant cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) which aggregates silica (SiO 2) particles in a basic aqueous solution. This resulted in a layer of covalently bonded hierarchical coating of individual and aggregated SiO 2 “flakes” and particles. These coatings were found to have at least double the surface roughness than samples prepared without CTAB with superhydrophilic properties due to their high surface roughness and hydrophilic surface chemical groups. A second layer of fluorocarbon silane …

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Feb 2023 • Pharmaceutics 15 (2), 686, 2023

Bioimaging Probes Based on Magneto-Fluorescent Nanoparticles

Sayan Ganguly, Shlomo Margel

Novel nanomaterials are of interest in biology, medicine, and imaging applications. Multimodal fluorescent-magnetic nanoparticles demand special attention because they have the potential to be employed as diagnostic and medication-delivery tools, which, in turn, might make it easier to diagnose and treat cancer, as well as a wide variety of other disorders. The most recent advancements in the development of magneto-fluorescent nanocomposites and their applications in the biomedical field are the primary focus of this review. We describe the most current developments in synthetic methodologies and methods for the fabrication of magneto-fluorescent nanocomposites. The primary applications of multimodal magneto-fluorescent nanoparticles in biomedicine, including biological imaging, cancer treatment, and drug administration, are covered in this article, and an overview of the future possibilities for these technologies is provided.

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Feb 2023 • MOLECULAR BIOLOGY OF THE CELL 34 (2), 282-282, 2023

RNA export through the nuclear pore complex is directional

A Ashkenazy-Titelman, Y Shav-Tal, M Atrash, A Boocholez, N Kinor


Feb 2023 • Cold Spring Harbor Protocols

Probing acoustic communication during fly reproductive behaviors

Anne C von Philipsborn, Galit Shohat-Ophir, Carolina Rezaval

During reproduction, male and female flies use wing vibration to generate different acoustic signals. Males produce a courtship song before copulation that is easily recognized by unilateral wing vibration. In copula, females produce a distinct sound pattern (copulation song) with both wings. Sexual rejection of immature virgins and aggressive encounters between males are also accompanied by sound pulses generated by wing flicks. Fly song has frequency ranges audible to the human ear and can be directly listened to after appropriate amplification. When displayed in an oscillogram, audio recordings can be mapped on wing-movement patterns and thus provide a fast and precise method to sample and quantify motor behaviors with high temporal resolution. After recording different fly sounds, their effect on behavior can be tested in playback experiments.

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Feb 2023 • Nanophotonics

Digital laser-induced printing of MoS2

Adamantia Logotheti, Adi Levi, Doron Naveh, Leonidas Tsetseris, Ioanna Zergioti

Due to their atomic-scale thickness, handling and processing of two-dimensional (2D) materials often require multistep techniques whose complexity hampers their large-scale integration in modern device applications. Here we demonstrate that the laser-induced forward transfer (LIFT) method can achieve the one-step, nondestructive printing of the prototypical 2D material MoS2. By selecting the optimal LIFT experimental conditions, we were able to transfer arrays of MoS2 pixels from a metal donor substrate to a dielectric receiver substrate. A combination of various characterization techniques has confirmed that the transfer of intact MoS2 monolayers is not only feasible, but it can also happen without incurring significant defect damage during the process. The successful transfer of MoS2 shows the broad potential the LIFT technique has in the emerging field of printed electronics, including printed devices based …

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Feb 2023 • Physical Review A

Tracking nanoscale perturbation in active disordered media

Renu Yadav, Patrick Sebbah, Maruthi M Brundavanam

Disorder-induced feedback makes random lasers very susceptible to any changes in the scattering medium. The sensitivity of the lasing modes to perturbations in the disordered systems has been utilized to map the regions of perturbation. A tracking parameter that takes into account the cumulative effect of changes in the spatial distribution of the lasing modes of the system has been defined to locate the region in which a scatterer is displaced by a few nanometers. We show numerically that the precision of the method increases with the number of modes. The proposed method opens up the possibility of application of random lasers as a tool for monitoring locations of nanoscale displacement, which can be useful for single-particle detection and monitoring.

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Feb 2023 • IEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity

Effect of magnetic fields on superconducting microwave coplanar resonators

A Roitman, A Shaulov, Y Yeshurun

Coplanar microwave resonators made of NbN and YBa 2 Cu 3 O 7-δ show similar behavior under the influence of magnetic field. In particular, the two resonators exhibit marked difference between zero-field-cooled (ZFC) and field-cooled (FC) measurements, which is attributed to the presence of screening currents in ZFC but not in FC measurements.

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Feb 2023 • ImmunoInformatics

AIRR community curation and standardised representation for immunoglobulin and T cell receptor germline sets

William D Lees, Scott Christley, Ayelet Peres, Justin T Kos, Brian Corrie, Duncan Ralph, Felix Breden, Lindsay G Cowell, Gur Yaari, Martin Corcoran, Gunilla B Karlsson Hedestam, Mats Ohlin, Andrew M Collins, Corey T Watson, Christian E Busse, The AIRR Community

Analysis of an individual's immunoglobulin or T cell receptor gene repertoire can provide important insights into immune function. High-quality analysis of adaptive immune receptor repertoire sequencing data depends upon accurate and relatively complete germline sets, but current sets are known to be incomplete. Established processes for the review and systematic naming of receptor germline genes and alleles require specific evidence and data types, but the discovery landscape is rapidly changing. To exploit the potential of emerging data, and to provide the field with improved state-of-the-art germline sets, an intermediate approach is needed that will allow the rapid publication of consolidated sets derived from these emerging sources. These sets must use a consistent naming scheme and allow refinement and consolidation into genes as new information emerges. Name changes should be minimised, but …

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Feb 2023 • Angewandte Chemie (International ed. in English)

Peptide Bond Formation in the Protonated Serine Dimer Following Vacuum UV Photon‐Induced Excitation

Ori Licht, Dario Barreiro-Lage, Patrick Rousseau, Alexandre Giuliani, Aleksandar Milosavljevic, Avinoam Isaak, Yitzhak Mastai, Amnon Albeck, Raj Singh, Vy Nguyen, Laurent Nahon, Lara Martinez, Sergio Díaz-Tendero, Yoni Toker

Possible routes for intra-cluster bond formation (ICBF) in protonated serine dimers have been studied. We found no evidence of ICBF following low energy collision induced dissociation (in correspondence with previous works), however, we do observe clear evidence for ICBF following photon absorption in the eV range. Moreover, the comparison of photon induced dissociation measurements of the protonated serine dimer to those of a protonated serine dipeptide provides evidence that ICBF, in this case, involves peptide bond formation (PBF). The experimental results are supported by {\it ab initio} molecular dynamics and exploration of several excited state potential energy surfaces, unravelling a pathway for PBF following photon absorption. The combination of experiments and theory provides insight into the PBF mechanisms in clusters of amino acids, and reveals the importance of electronic excited states reached upon UV/VUV light excitation.

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Feb 2023 • Cold Spring Harbor Protocols

Female fly postmating behaviors

Anne C von Philipsborn, Galit Shohat-Ophir, Carolina Rezaval

Upon copulation, females undergo a switch-like change in their behavior and physiology, known as “postmating responses.” These strong behavioral and physiological changes are triggered by the transfer of male seminal proteins during copulation. Postmating response is associated with strong reduction in receptivity, indicated by the females kicking their legs toward the suitor and curving their abdomen downward to hide their genitalia from them and extruding their ovipositor at the tip of the abdomen, which physically prevents copulation. The transfer of male-specific pheromones, such as 11-cis-vaccenyl-acetate, during copulation further reduces female attractiveness. In addition, mated females exhibit increased ovulation, egg-laying behavior, enhanced feeding behavior, and changes in food preference. However, females increase their rate of remating when they are in social groups or in the presence of food …

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Feb 2023 • Batteries 9 (2), 110, 2023

Recent Progress in Solid Electrolytes for All-Solid-State Metal (Li/Na)–Sulfur Batteries

Ravindra Kumar Bhardwaj, David Zitoun

Background:This is an early access version, the complete PDF, HTML, and XML versions will be available soon.

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Feb 2023 • Biophysical Journal

Towards precise optical measurements of steady state of and small changes in resting membrane potentials

Debjit Roy, Xavier Michalet, Kiran Bharadwaj, Evan W Miller, Yijie Wang, Arjun Deb, Michael A Wayne, Claudio Bruschini, Edoardo Charbon, Mahbanoo Vakili, Robert Gunsalus, Robert T Clubb, Shimon Weiss

While great progress has been achieved in developing optical methods for measuring fast changes in membrane potential (like action potentials) in excitable cells, less progress has been made in precise (and calibrated) measurements of steady state resting membrane potentials (RMPs) and small changes in RMPs (in excitable or non-excitable cells). In excitable cells, small changes in RMPs are associated with multiple physiological processes such as sub-threshold events in neuronal signaling and in synaptic plasticity. They also play an important role in cell differentiation and proliferation of cardiomyocytes. In non-excitable cells, such as bacterial colonies, RMP changes play important roles in intercellular communication, coordination, metabolism, and stress response. Accurate and precise recordings of minute RMP changes require noise-immune optical tools. We have been developing an RMP (calibrated …

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Feb 2023 • Journal of Power Sources

Lignin-derived bimetallic platinum group metal-free oxygen reduction reaction electrocatalysts for acid and alkaline fuel cells

Mohsin Muhyuddin, Ariel Friedman, Federico Poli, Elisabetta Petri, Hilah Honig, Francesco Basile, Andrea Fasolini, Roberto Lorenzi, Enrico Berretti, Marco Bellini, Alessandro Lavacchi, Lior Elbaz, Carlo Santoro, Francesca Soavi

Metal-nitrogen-carbons (M-N-Cs) as a reliable substitution for platinum-group-metals (PGMs) for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) are emerging candidates to rationalize the technology of fuel cells. The development of M-N-Cs can further be economized by consuming waste biomass as an inexpensive carbon source for the electrocatalyst support. Herein, we report the simple fabrication and in-depth characterization of electrocatalysts using lignin-derived activated char. The activated char (LAC) was functionalized with metal phthalocyanine (FePc and MnPc) via atmosphere-controlled pyrolysis to produce monometallic M-N-Cs (L_Mn and L_Fe) and bimetallic M1-M2-N-Cs (L_FeMn) electrocatalysts. Raman spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) revealed a defect-rich architecture. XPS confirmed the coexistence of various nitrogen-containing active moieties. L_Fe and L_FeMn demonstrated …

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Feb 2023 • The Journal of Physical Chemistry C

Conductive Ytterbium Metal–Organic Framework Composite: A Lanthanide-Based Complex ORR Catalyst

Shmuel Gonen, Oran Lori, Noam Zion, Lior Elbaz

Extensive research work has been invested in the past decade in finding replacements for platinum-based electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction in fuel cells. The majority of these alternative electrocatalysts are based on transition-metal ions coordinated by organic ligands. Different from previously reported approaches for electrocatalysts, we describe here the synthesis, characterization, and oxygen reduction reaction activity of lanthanide complex electrocatalyst with ytterbium as the metal center. A metal–organic framework of Yb and benzene tricarboxylic acid as a ligand was synthesized on activated carbon (Yb(III)BTC@AC) to achieve electrical conductivity in a procedure similar to M-BTC@AC electrocatalysts with transition-metal centers. The Yb complex in activated carbon presents oxygen reduction reaction activity in alkaline solution with high onset potential relative to other nonpyrolyzed …

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Feb 2023

CRISPR-Cas9 RAG2 Correction via Coding Sequence Replacement to Preserve Endogenous Gene Regulation and Locus Structure

Daniel Allen, Orli Knop, Bryan Itkowitz, Ortal Iancu, Katia Beider, Yu Nee Lee, Arnon Nagler, Raz Somech, Ayal Hendel

RAG2-SCID is a primary immunode ciency caused by mutations in Recombination-activating gene 2 (RAG2), a gene intimately involved in the process of lymphocyte maturation and function. ex-vivo manipulation of a patient’s own hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) using CRISPR-Cas9/rAAV6 gene editing could provide a therapeutic alternative to the only current treatment, allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Here we show a rst-of-its-kind RAG2 correction strategy that replaces the entire endogenous coding sequence (CDS) to preserve the critical endogenous spatiotemporal gene regulation and locus architecture. Expression of the corrective transgene led to successful development into CD3+TCRαβ+ and CD3+TCRγδ+ T cells and promoted the establishment of highly diverse TRB and TRG repertoires in an in-vitro T-cell differentiation platform. We believe that a CDS replacement technique to correct tightly regulated genes, like RAG2, while maintaining critical regulatory elements and conserving the locus structure could bring safer gene therapy techniques closer to the clinic.

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Jan 2023 • Materials Reports: Energy, 100178, 2023

Recent progress in C–N coupling for electrochemical CO2 reduction with inorganic nitrogenous species in aqueous solution

Shuxia Liu, Tanyuan Wang, Lior Elbaz, Qing Li

The electrocatalytic CO2 reduction in aqueous solution mainly involves bond cleavage and formation between C, H and O, and it is highly desirable to expand the bond formation reaction of C with other atoms to obtain novel and valuable chemicals. The electrochemical synthesis of N-containing organic chemicals in electrocatalytic CO2 reduction via introducing N sources is an effective strategy to expand the product scope, since chemicals containing C–N bonds (e.g. amides and amines) are important reactants/products for medicine, agriculture and industry. This article focuses on the research progress of C–N coupling from CO2 and inorganic nitrogenous species in aqueous solution. Firstly, the reaction pathways related to the reaction intermediates for urea, formamide, acetamide, methylamine and ethylamine are highlighted. Then, the electrocatalytic performance of different catalysts for these several N …

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Jan 2023 • Optics Express

Thermo-elastic gigahertz-frequency oscillator through surface acoustic wave-silicon photonics

Maayan Priel, Saawan Kumar Bag, Matan Slook, Leroy Dokhanian, Inbar Shafir, Mirit Hen, Moshe Katzman, Etai Grunwald, Dvir Munk, Moshe Feldberg, Tali Sharabani, Naor Inbar, Gil Bashan, Avi Zadok

Opto-electronic oscillators are sources of microwave-frequency tones that may reach very low noise levels. Much effort is being dedicated to the realization of oscillators based on photonic integrated devices. In this work, we propose and demonstrate a thermo-elastic opto-electronic oscillator at 2.213 GHz frequency based on a standard silicon-photonic integrated circuit. A microwave-frequency electrical signal modulates an optical pump wave carrier. The modulated waveform launches surface acoustic waves in a silicon-on-insulator substrate, through absorption in a metallic grating and thermo-elastic actuation. The waveform is reconverted to the optical domain through photoelastic modulation of an optical probe wave carrier in a standard racetrack resonator waveguide. Both the thermo-elastic actuation and the photoelastic modulation are radio-frequency selective. The output probe wave is detected, and the receiver voltage is amplified and fed back to modulate the optical pump input. Sufficient gain drives the loop into oscillations. The oscillator does not involve piezoelectricity and can be realized on any substrate. Long acoustic delays may be implemented in compact devices. The frequency of operation is scalable to tens of GHz. The principle may be useful in integrated microwave-photonic signal processing and in the elastic analysis of surfaces and thin layers.

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