BINA

Pickering emulsion is one of the principal methods for the formation of colloidosomes, offering a high level of control over their size and permeability. In this article, we describe the synthesis of chiral colloidosomes based on chiral silica nanoparticles produced in a sol‐gel process combining a chiral (S)‐N‐1‐phenylethyl‐N′‐triethoxysilylpropylurea precursor with tetraethyl orthosilicate. Chiral colloidosomes with a typical diameter of 1.7 μm were obtained from Pickering assembly of partially hydrophobized nanoparticles, as confirmed by electron microscopy and FTIR spectroscopy. The enantioselectivity of the silica colloidosomes was confirmed by enantioselective adsorption of racemic dichlorprop herbicide solutions onto the capsules, as proved by circular dichroism spectroscopy. Similar chiral colloidosomes could be synthesized in this facile and low‐cost method, which are expected to be of interest in various …

LepI is a novel multifunctional enzyme that catalyzes stereoselective dehydration, Diels–Alder reaction, and retro-Claisen rearrangement. Here we report the crystal structure of LepI in complex with its co-factor S-adenosyl methionine (SAM). LepI forms a tetramer via the N-terminal helical domain and binds to a SAM molecule in the C-terminal catalytic domain. The binding modes of various LepI substrates are investigated by docking simulations, which suggest that the substrates are bound via both hydrophobic and hydrophilic forces, as well as cation–π interactions with the positively charged SAM. The reaction starts with a dehydration step in which H133 possibly deprotonates the pyridone hydroxyl group of the substrate, while D296 might protonate an alkyl-chain hydroxyl group. Subsequent pericyclization may be facilitated by the correct fold of the substrate's alkyl chain and a thermodynamic driving force …

We introduce a model of chemically active particles of a multi-component fluid that can change their interactions with other particles depending on their state. Since such switching of interactions can only be maintained by the input of chemical energy, the system is inherently non-equilibrium. Focusing on a scenario where the equilibrium interactions would lead to condensation into a liquid droplet, and despite the relative simplicity of the interaction rules, these systems display a wealth of interesting and novel behaviors such as oscillations of droplet size and molecular sorting, and raise the possibility of spatio-temporal control of chemical reactions on the nanoscale.

Finding renewable energy sources as alternatives to petroleum-based fuels is a current global challenge. One approach to address the energy shortage problem is through biofuels. A promising family of biofuels that has many of the needed fuel characteristics is terpenes. Herein we present a combined theoretical and statistical model for calculating inherent thermodynamic properties of several promising terpenes, which show high compatibility with many criteria of petroleum-based fuels. We use density functional theory and ab initio quantum chemistry methods to compute the enthalpy of combustion, enthalpy of vaporization, enthalpy of formation, cetane number, boiling point and vapor pressure for a range of terpenes with good accuracy. The current in silico study presents a promising strategy for finding suitable petroleum substitutes, while avoiding costly experimental trial and error approaches.

Rogue waves, which were first discovered in the ocean, constitute an important factor in the dynamics of many physical systems. However, while the ocean can be represented by a scalar field, many physical systems, specifically in optics, are situated on a vector field, and thus, there are several crucial differences which must be considered. For example, twin-peak rogue waves are rare events in the ocean but are commonly observed in optics. We developed a model presenting the differences between the scalar field and the vector field. We show that optical twin-peak rogue waves have peaks with orthogonal states of polarization and measured such rogue waves in fiber lasers showing an agreement between our model and the measured results. This model, which can also be applied to other equivalent systems, explains the formation of rogue wave patterns in a vector field and their dynamics as a function of time.

The synchronization of human networks is essential for our civilization and understanding the motivations, behavior, and basic parameters which govern the dynamics of human networks are important for many aspects of our lives. We studied complex human networks in different configurations with full control over the network connectivity, the coupling strength of each connection and the delay between coupled individuals. Our system is based on coupling violin players in different configurations and measuring the synchronization of their phase, period, frequency and volume. In our system, each player is connecting it's violin output to our computer system and has headphones for the input. We found that humans tend to find a non-trivial solution for frustration situations and spontaneously change the connectivity of the network in order to reach a stable solution. We also found that out-of-phase synchronized state is …

We experimentally demonstrate the first generation of dispersion-engineered periodically poled lithium niobate (PPLN) waveguides. These waveguides achieve ultra-broadband second-harmonic generation (SHG) and multi-octave supercontinuum generation (SCG) with record-low pulse energies.

Recent advances in data acquiring technologies in biology have led to major challenges in mining relevant information from large datasets. For example, single-cell RNA sequencing technologies are producing expression and sequence information from tens of thousands of cells in every single experiment. A common task in analyzing biological data is to cluster samples or features (e.g., genes) into groups sharing common characteristics. This is an NP-hard problem for which numerous heuristic algorithms have been developed. However, in many cases, the clusters created by these algorithms do not reflect biological reality. To overcome this, a Networks Based Clustering (NBC) approach was recently proposed, by which the samples or genes in the dataset are first mapped to a network and then community detection (CD) algorithms are used to identify clusters of nodes. Here, we created an open …

The construction of low cost, printable compatible, solution processed, of high performance, stable solar cells is one of the scientific milestones of the next ten years. The discovery of graphene launched a new era in the materials science, and the research implemented in the exceptional properties of the two-dimensional (2D) materials. The chemical, physical, electrical and mechanical properties of 2D materials match with the requirements that the various building blocks of the third-generation photovoltaics should have in order for these devices to deliver exceptional performance and become attractive alternatives to silicon-based solar cells. The 2D library of materials expands in a very high pace and nowadays includes 150 exotic layered materials. Among them are the transition metal dichalcogenides (2D-TMDs). Recent advances in atomically thin 2D-TMDs (e.g., MoS2, WS2, MoSe2 and WSe2) have …

Coverage is a canonical task where a robot or a group of robots are required to visit every point in a given work area, typically within the shortest possible time. Previous work on offline coverage highlighted the benefits of determining a circular coverage path, divided into segments for different robots (if more than one). This paper contributes a number of significant improvements to the planning and utilization of circular coverage paths with single and multiple robots. We focus on circular paths that exactly decompose the environment into cells, where each obstacle-free cell is covered in a back-and-forth movement. We show that locally changing the coverage direction (alignment) in each cell can improve coverage time, and that this allows for merging bordering cells into larger cells, significantly reducing the number of turns taken by the robots. We additionally present a novel data structure to compactly …

The ability of our immune system to recognize ever-evolving threats is critical to survival. Initial recognition of pathogens depends on generating a diverse repertoire of antibodies (a.k.a. immunoglobulins, Igs) through recombination of gene segments, followed by dynamic modifications as activated B cells undergo cycles of division, somatic hypermutation and affinity-dependent selection. This affinity maturation produces expanded memory B cell clones expressing mutated Igs with high-affinity for the pathogen. Recent developments in high-throughput sequencing bring exciting possibilities, allowing for large-scale characterization of Ig repertoires. Analyzing Ig repertoires offers insights into the infection history of individuals, teaches us about fundamental immune processes and reveals dysregulations. Ig repertoire sequencing and analysis (REP-seq) require dedicated experimental protocols and computational …

Epitaxially grown films of VO 2 are one of the most promising materials for oxide electronics due to a very convenient temperature and remarkable controllability of the insulator-to-metal phase transition (IMT) by doping, strain, photo excitations or applying an electric field. Scaling the IMT-based devices down to submicron size is a technological challenge because of the high variability of the resulted functional characteristics from device to device. Our work focuses on the structural and morphological origins of such variations. We used X-ray nano diffraction mapping to study the evolution of mosaicity, strain and phase coexistence in 70 nm thick VO 2 film (r-cut Al 2O 3) during thermal cycling and annealing. We found high anisotropy in the grain and crack network structure which remarkably resonates with anisotropy of transport properties. We were able to distinguish a persistent morphological pattern due to the film …

Particles at disordered droplet interfaces were extensively investigated, aiming both at their fundamental physics and at their applications in particle-stabilized pharmaceuticals and aerosols. Yet, particles residing at the ubiquitous ordered interfaces have never been studied. We study the dynamics of tracer colloids, incorporated into a curved 2nm-thick crystal, forming at T= T s 26 o C at the interface of liquid oil-in-water emulsion droplets. We demonstrate the particles to be spontaneously dragged to particular surface locations, identified with topological defects within the crystalline structure. At T= T d< T s, the droplets undergo an unprecedented sphere-to-icosahedron shape transformation, with their bulk remaining liquid. At T d, the attractors self-position onto the vertices of the icosahedra and fix there the colloids' positions. At an even lower temperature, the particles are spontaneously expelled from the droplets …

Development of high power devices with improved energy density is a highly desired target for advanced energy storage applications. Herein we propose a new strategy of triply-hybridized supercapacitive energy storage device composed of hybrid battery–supercapacitor negative electrode [Mo6S8 (Chevrel-phase)/Ti3C2 (MXene)] coupled with positive nanoporous carbon electrode, integrated with novel yet unexplored saturated (14 M) aqueous solution of LiCl. The electrochemical stability window of this electrolyte solution (2.70 V) significantly exceeds the cell voltage (2.05 V) relevant for the asymmetrical (hybrid anode vs. carbon cathode) cells. The aqueous 14 M LiCl solution has far superior characteristics to that of the previously studies 21 m LiTFSI aqueous solution. The paper is also focused on a deep electroanalytical analysis of a peculiar redox/capacitive heterogeneity of hybrid electrodes. It establishes …