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Van der Waals (vdW) two-dimensional semiconductors exhibit excellent optical properties due to their atomically thin thickness and unique band structures. When they are utilized in optoelectronic device applications, the devices show excellent performance as shown for transition metal dichalcogenides and graphene. However, at telecom frequencies, these demonstrations have been largely missing yet. In this study, we demonstrate that trilayer phosphorene pn-diodes can efficiently emit electroluminescence and generate photocurrent at telecom frequencies. Split gates realize electrically tunable pn-diode devices. Under reverse bias, the device shows prominent photocurrent in the photovoltaic mode. Under forward bias, the device shows prominent electroluminescence at the band edge of 0.82 eV. Interestingly, electroluminescence exhibits strong optical anisotropy due to the crystal anisotropy. Our study shows promising potential of trilayer phosphorene for efficient light emitting and photodetection device applications at telecom frequencies.

Due to the increasing weight of electric vehicles, advanced tyre technology is urgently needed. In particular, there is a need for dynamic contact analysis to determine the energy interaction between tyres and road surfaces. However, the methods developed to date are limited in that they require either numerous contact patches inside the tyre or sensor devices on the ground. In this study, we propose a new method for dynamic tyre-ground contact analysis that overcomes these limitations. By installing a two-dimensional image sensor inside the tyre, deformations can be observed and quantified three-dimensionally during vehicle operation. This method advances tyre engineering through innovative analysis of tyre deformation during operation.

In the field of natural product research, the rediscovery of already-known compounds is one of the significant issues hindering new drug development. Recently, an innovative approach called bioactivity-HiTES has been developed to overcome this limitation, and several new bioactive metabolites have been successfully characterized by this method. In this study, we applied bioactivity-HiTES to Corynebacterium matruchotii, the human oral bacterium, with 3120 clinical drugs as potential elicitors. As a result, we identified two cryptic metabolites, methylindole-3-acetate (MIAA) and indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), elicited by imidafenacin, a urinary antispasmodic drug approved by the Japanese Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency (PMDA). MIAA showed weak antibacterial activity against a pulmonary disease-causing Mycobacterium conceptionensewith an IC50value of 185.7 μM. Unexpectedly, we also found that C. matruchotiimetabolized fludarabine phosphate, a USFDA-approved anticancer drug, to 2-fluoroadenine which displayed moderate antibacterial activity against both Bacillus subtilisand Escherichia coli, with IC50values of 8.9 and 20.1 μM, respectively. Finally, acelarin, a prodrug of the anticancer drug gemcitabine, was found to exhibit unreported antibacterial activity against B. subtiliswith an IC50value of 33.6 μM through the bioactivity-HiTES method as well. These results indicate that bioactivity-HiTES can also be applied to discover biotransformed products in addition to finding cryptic metabolites in microbes.

We reveal the critical effect of ultrashort dephasing on the polarization of high harmonic generation in Dirac fermions. As the elliptically polarized laser pulse falls in or slightly beyond the multiphoton regime, the elliptically polarized high harmonic generation is produced and exhibits a characteristic polarimetry of the polarization ellipse, which is found to depend on the decoherence time T2. T2could then be determined to be a few femtoseconds directly from the experimentally observed polarimetry of high harmonics. This shows a sharp contrast with the semimetal regime of higher pump intensity, where the polarimetry is irrelevant to T2. An access to the dephasing dynamics would extend the prospect of high harmonic generation into the metrology of a femtosecond dynamic process in the coherent quantum control.

Spin nematic is a magnetic analogue of classical liquid crystals, a fourth state of matter exhibiting characteristics of both liquid and solid1,2. Particularly intriguing is a valence-bond spin nematic3–5, in which spins are quantum entangled to form a multipolar order without breaking time-reversal symmetry, but its unambiguous experimental realization remains elusive. Here we establish a spin nematic phase in the square-lattice iridate Sr2IrO4, which approximately realizes a pseudospin one-half Heisenberg antiferromagnet in the strong spin–orbit coupling limit6–9. Upon cooling, the transition into the spin nematic phase at TC≈ 263 K is marked by a divergence in the static spin quadrupole susceptibility extracted from our Raman spectra and concomitant emergence of a collective mode associated with the spontaneous breaking of rotational symmetries. The quadrupolar order persists in the antiferromagnetic phase below TN≈ 230 K and becomes directly observable through its interference with the antiferromagnetic order in resonant X-ray diffraction, which allows us to uniquely determine its spatial structure. Further, we find using resonant inelastic X-ray scattering a complete breakdown of coherent magnon excitations at short-wavelength scales, suggesting a many-body quantum entanglement in the antiferromagnetic state10,11. Taken together, our results reveal a quantum order underlying the Néel antiferromagnet that is widely believed to be intimately connected to the mechanism of high-temperature superconductivity12,13.

Transcriptional regulation controls cellular functions through interactions between transcription factors (TFs) and their chromosomal targets. However, understanding the fate conversion potential of multiple TFs in an inducible manner remains limited. Here, we introduce iTF-seq as a method for identifying individual TFs that can alter cell fate toward specific lineages at a single-cell level. iTF-seq enables time course monitoring of transcriptome changes, and with biotinylated individual TFs, it provides a multi-omics approach to understanding the mechanisms behind TF-mediated cell fate changes. Our iTF-seq study in mouse embryonic stem cells identified multiple TFs that trigger rapid transcriptome changes indicative of differentiation within a day of induction. Moreover, cells expressing these potent TFs often show a slower cell cycle and increased cell death. Further analysis using bioChIP-seq revealed that GCM1 and OTX2 act as pioneer factors and activators by increasing gene accessibility and activating the expression of lineage specification genes during cell fate conversion. iTF-seq has utility in both mapping cell fate conversion and understanding cell fate conversion mechanisms.

In atomically thin van der Waals materials, grain boundaries—the line defects between adjacent crystal grains with tilted in-plane rotations—are omnipresent. When the tilting angles are arbitrary, the grain boundaries form inhomogeneous sublattices, giving rise to local electronic states that are not controlled. Here we report on epitaxial realizations of deterministic MoS2mirror twin boundaries (MTBs) at which two adjoining crystals are reflection mirroring by an exactly 60° rotation by position-controlled epitaxy. We showed that these epitaxial MTBs are one-dimensionally metallic to a circuit length scale. By utilizing the ultimate one-dimensional (1D) feature (width ~0.4 nm and length up to a few tens of micrometres), we incorporated the epitaxial MTBs as a 1D gate to build integrated two-dimensional field-effect transistors (FETs). The critical role of the 1D MTB gate was verified to scale the depletion channel length down to 3.9 nm, resulting in a substantially lowered channel off-current at lower gate voltages. With that, in both individual and array FETs, we demonstrated state-of-the-art performances for low-power logics. The 1D epitaxial MTB gates in this work suggest a novel synthetic pathway for the integration of two-dimensional FETs—that are immune to high gate capacitance—towards ultimate scaling.

•Four functional subsets of monocytes were identified by tracking myeloid progenitor clonal descendants.•Interconversion between monocyte subsets is infrequent even with in vivo stress.

Embodying bosonic and interactive characteristics in two-dimensional space, excitons in transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) have garnered considerable attention. The utilization of the strong-correlation effects, long-range transport, and valley-dependent properties requires customizing exciton decay dynamics. Vacuum-field manipulation allows radiative decay engineering without disturbing intrinsic material properties. However, conventional flat mirrors cannot customize the radiative decay landscape in TMDC’s plane or support vacuum-field interference with desired spectrum and polarization properties. Here, we present a meta-mirror platform resolving the issues with more optical degrees of freedom. For neutral excitons of the monolayer MoSe2, the optical layout formed by meta-mirrors manipulated the radiative decay rate in space by 2 orders of magnitude and revealed the statistical correlation between emission intensity and spectral line width. Moreover, the anisotropic meta-mirror demonstrated polarization-dependent radiative decay control. Our platform would be promising to tailor two-dimensional distributions of lifetime, density, diffusion, and polarization of TMDC excitons in advanced opto-excitonic applications.

Curved cylindrical structures such as elbows have a non-uniform thickness distribution due to their fabrication process, and as a result have a number of complex mode shapes, including circumferential and axial nodal patterns. In nuclear power plants, material degradation is induced in pipes by flow accelerated erosion and corrosion, causing the wall thickness of carbon steel elbows to gradually thin. The corresponding frequencies of each mode shape vary according to the wall thinning state. Therefore, the thinning state can be estimated by monitoring the varying modal characteristics of the elbow. This study investigated the varying modal characteristics of artificially thinned carbon steel elbows for each thinning state using numerical simulation and experimental methods (MRIT, Multiple Reference Impact Test). The natural frequencies of specified mode shapes were extracted, and results confirmed they linearly decreased with increasing thinning. In addition, by comparing single FRF (Frequency Response Function) data with the results of MRIT, a concise and cost effective thinning estimation method was suggested.

Balsamisides A–D (1–4) are anti-inflammatory and neurotrophic biflavonoidal glycosides originally proposed to possess an epoxide functionality at the C-2/C-3 position. However, there are inconsistencies in their 13C NMR chemical shift values with those of previously reported analogs, indicating that reanalysis of NMR data for structures of 1–4is necessary. Computational methods aided by the DP4+ probability technique and ECD calculations enabled structural reassignment of 1–4to have a 2,3-dihydro-3-hydroxyfuran (3-DHF) instead of an epoxide. Additionally, two new biflavonoidal glycosides, balsamisides E and F (14and 18), possessing a 2,3-dihydro-2-hydroxyfuran (2-DHF) and a 1,4-dioxane ring, respectively, were characterized by conventional NMR and MS data analysis as well as DP4+ and ECD methods. Systematic 13C NMR analysis was performed on the four aforementioned classes of biflavonoids with a 2- or 3-DHF, epoxide, or 1,4-dioxane. As a result, diagnostic 13C NMR chemical shift values of C-2/C-3 for rapid determination of these four biflavonoid classes were formulated, and based on this first empirical rule for (bi)flavonoids eight previously reported ones were structurally revised.

Ultrathin layered crystals of coordinated chromium(III) are promising not only as two-dimensional (2D) magnets but also as 2D near-infrared (NIR) emitters due to long-range spin correlation and efficient transition between high- and low-spin excited states of Cr3+ions. In this study, we report on the dual-band NIR photoluminescence (PL) of CrPS4and show that its excitonic emission bifurcates into fluorescence and phosphorescence depending on thickness, temperature, and defect density. In addition to the spectral branching, the biexponential decay of PL transients, also affected by the three factors, could be well described within a three-level kinetic model for Cr(III). In essence, the PL bifurcations are governed by activated reverse intersystem crossing from the low- to high-spin states, and the transition barrier becomes lower for thinner 2D samples because of surface-localized defects. Our findings can be generalized to 2D solids of coordinated metals and will be valuable in realizing groundbreaking magneto-optic functions and devices.

AbstractA pipe wall thinning diagnosis method based on vibration characteristics is proposed. Elbow specimens with artificial pipe wall thinning were fabricated and combined in a loop. By running a pump in the loop, vibration was induced by flow, and the vibrational signals were measured with accelerometers. The effect of pipe wall thinning on the vibrational signals was investigated by analyzing the spectral data of the acceleration signals. The analyzed vibration characteristics were difficult to observe because the change in characteristics was small. A convolutional neural network (CNN) specialized for data recognition was applied to recognize the small change in vibrational signal resulting from the pipe wall thinning. A regression model based on CNN was chosen to learn the tendency of change in the vibrational signals with varying thinning. The data types advantageous for training the regression model were identified. An early stopping technique using the validation data set was adopted to regularize the regression model. The trained regression model was able to predict pipe thinning.

A broad range of transition metal dichalcogenide (TMDC) semiconductors are available as monolayer (ML) crystals, so the precise integration of each kind into van der Waals (vdW) superlattices (SLs) could enable the realization of novel structures with previously unexplored functionalities. Here we report the atomic layer-by-layer epitaxial growth of vdW SLs with programmable stacking periodicities, composed of more than two kinds of dissimilar TMDC MLs, such as MoS2, WS2and WSe2. Using kinetics-controlled vdW epitaxy in the near-equilibrium limit by metal–organic chemical vapour depositions, we achieved precise ML-by-ML stacking, free of interlayer atomic mixing, which resulted in tunable two-dimensional vdW electronic systems. As an example, by exploiting the series of type II band alignments at coherent two-dimensional vdW heterointerfaces, we demonstrated valley-polarized carrier excitations—one of the most distinctive electronic features in vdW ML semiconductors—which scale with the stack numbers nin our (MoS2/WS2)nSLs on optical excitations.

Heap randomization, in general, has been a well-trodden area; however, the efficacy of byte-granularity randomization has never been fully explored as misalignment raises various concerns. Modern heap exploits often abuse the determinism in word alignment, and modern CPU architecture better supports unaligned access (since Nehalem). Based on such new developments, we conduct an in-depth analysis of evaluating the efficacy of byte-granularity heap randomization in three folds: (i) security effectiveness, (ii) performance impact, and (iii) compatibility analysis to measure deployment cost. Security discussion is based on 20 CVE case studies. To measure performance details, we conduct cycle-level microbenchmarks and report that the performance cost is highly concentrated to edge cases depending on the L1-cache line. Based on such analysis, we design and implement an allocator suited for byte-granularity heap randomization. On the negative side, our analysis suggests that byte-granularity heap randomization has high deployment cost due to various implementation conflicts. We enumerate the problematic compatibility issues using Coreutils, Nginx, and ChakraCore benchmarks.

The family of group IV–VI monochalcogenides has an atomically puckered layered structure, and their atomic bond configuration suggests the possibility for the realization of various polymorphs. Here, we report the synthesis of the first hexagonal polymorph from the family of group IV–VI monochalcogenides, which is conventionally orthorhombic. Recently predicted four-atomic-thick hexagonal GeSe, so-called γ-GeSe, is synthesized and clearly identified by complementary structural characterizations, including elemental analysis, electron diffraction, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy imaging, and polarized Raman spectroscopy. The electrical and optical measurements indicate that synthesized γ-GeSe exhibits high electrical conductivity of 3 × 105S/m, which is comparable to those of other two-dimensional layered semimetallic crystals. Moreover, γ-GeSe can be directly grown on h-BN substrates, demonstrating a bottom-up approach for constructing vertical van der Waals heterostructures incorporating γ-GeSe. The newly identified crystal symmetry of γ-GeSe warrants further studies on various physical properties of γ-GeSe.

While the acquisition of cellular plasticity in adult stem cells is essential for rapid regeneration after tissue injury, little is known about the underlying mechanisms governing this process. Our data reveal the coordination of airway progenitor differentiation plasticity by inflammatory signals during alveolar regeneration. Following damage, interleukin-1β (IL-1β) signalling-dependent modulation of Jag1and Jag2expression in ciliated cells results in the inhibition of Notch signalling in secretory cells, which drives the reprogramming and acquisition of differentiation plasticity. We identify the transcription factor Fosl2 (also known as Fra2) for secretory cell fate conversion to alveolar type 2 cells that retain the distinct genetic and epigenetic signatures of secretory lineages. We also reveal that human secretory cells positive for KDR (also known as FLK-1) display a conserved capacity to generate alveolar type 2 cells via Notch inhibition. Our results demonstrate the functional role of an IL-1β–Notch–Fosl2 axis in the fate decision of secretory cells during injury repair, proposing a potential therapeutic target for human lung alveolar regeneration.

Td-WTe2(non-centrosymmetric and orthorhombic), a type-II Weyl semimetal, is expected to have higher-order topological phases with topologically protected, helical one-dimensional hinge states when its Weyl points are annihilated. However, the detection of these hinge states is difficult due to the semimetallic behaviour of the bulk. In this study, we have spatially resolved the hinge states by analysing the magnetic field interference of the supercurrent in Nb–WTe2–Nb proximity Josephson junctions. The Josephson current along the aaxis of the WTe2crystal, but not along the baxis, showed a sharp enhancement at the edges of the junction, and the amount of enhanced Josephson current was comparable to the upper limits of a single one-dimensional helical channel. Our experimental observations suggest a higher-order topological phase in WTe2and its corresponding anisotropic topological hinge states, in agreement with theoretical calculations. Our work paves the way for the study of hinge states in topological transition-metal dichalcogenides and analogous phases.

Defects in wide bandgap materials have emerged as promising candidates for solid-state quantum optical technologies. Electrical excitation of single emitters may lead to scalable on-chip devices and therefore is highly sought after. However, most wide bandgap materials are not amenable to efficient doping, posing challenges for electrical excitation and on-chip integration. Here, we demonstrate narrowband electroluminescence from visible and near-infrared color centers in hexagonal boron nitride (hBN). We harness van der Waals tunnel junctions of graphene–hBN–graphene. Charge carriers are electrically injected into hBN, exciting localized defects that emit nonclassical light, as characterized by the second order correlation measurement. Remarkably, the devices operate at room temperature and produce robust, narrowband emission spanning from visible to the near-infrared. Our work marks an important milestone in vdW materials and their promising attributes for integrated quantum technologies and on-chip photonic circuits.

A family of pyrazinone metabolites (1–11) were characterized from Staphylococcus xylosusATCC 29971. Six of them were hydroxylated or methoxylated, which were proposed to be produced by the rare noncatalytic oxa-Michael addition reaction with a water or methanol molecule. It was confirmed that isopropyl alcohol can also be the Michael donor of the reaction. 1–7and the synthetic precursor 2ashowed significant inhibition of breast cancer cell migration.

The sequence tag analysis of genomic enrichment (STAGE) used to identify transcription factor binding sites in the human genome is found to be more efficient than other techniques. It is vital in the cellular response such as cell proliferation, apoptosis and immune response.

The genomic regions having regulatory activity are isolated by a using a novel technique of cross linking the chromatin with formaldehyde.

Overexpression of MYConcogene is highly prevalent in many malignancies such as aggressive triple-negative breast cancers (TNBCs) and it is associated with very poor outcome. Despite decades of research, attempts to effectively inhibit MYC, particularly with small molecules, still remain challenging due to the featureless nature of its protein structure. Herein, we describe the engineering of the dominant-negative MYC peptide (OmoMYC) linked to a functional penetrating ‘Phylomer’ peptide (FPPa) as a therapeutic strategy to inhibit MYC in TNBC. We found FPPa-OmoMYC to be a potent inducer of apoptosis (with IC50from 1–2 µM) in TNBC cells with negligible effects in non-tumorigenic cells. Transcriptome analysis of FPPa-OmoMYC-treated cells indicated that the fusion protein inhibited MYC-dependent networks, inducing dynamic changes in transcriptional, metabolic, and apoptotic processes. We demonstrated the efficacy of FPPa-OmoMYC in inhibiting breast cancer growth when injected orthotopically in TNBC allografts. Lastly, we identified strong pharmacological synergisms between FPPa-OmoMYC and chemotherapeutic agents. This study highlights a novel therapeutic approach to target highly aggressive and chemoresistant MYC-activated cancers.

Ataxia-telangiectasia mutated (ATM) is a serine/threonine kinase that coordinates the response to DNA double-strand breaks and oxidative stress. NKX3.1, a prostate-specific transcription factor, was recently shown to directly stimulate ATM kinase activity through its highly conserved homeodomain. Here, we show that other members of the homeodomain family can also regulate ATM kinase activity. We found that six representative homeodomain proteins (NKX3.1, NKX2.2, TTF1, NKX2.5, HOXB7, and CDX2) physically and functionally interact with ATM and with the Mre11-Rad50-Nbs1 (MRN) complex that activates ATM in combination with DNA double-strand breaks. The binding between homeodomain proteins and ATM stimulates oxidation-induced ATM activation in vitrobut inhibits ATM kinase activity in the presence of MRN and DNA and in human cells. These findings suggest that many tissue-specific homeodomain proteins may regulate ATM activity during development and differentiation and that this is a unique mechanism for the control of the DNA damage response.

Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), which are used to produce transplantable tissues, may particularly benefit older patients, who are more likely to suffer from degenerative diseases. However, iPSCs generated from aged donors (A-iPSCs) exhibit higher genomic instability, defects in apoptosis and a blunted DNA damage response compared with iPSCs generated from younger donors. We demonstrated that A-iPSCs exhibit excessive glutathione-mediated reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging activity, which blocks the DNA damage response and apoptosis and permits survival of cells with genomic instability. We found that the pluripotency factor ZSCAN10 is poorly expressed in A-iPSCs and addition of ZSCAN10 to the four Yamanaka factors (OCT4, SOX2, KLF4 and c-MYC) during A-iPSC reprogramming normalizes ROS–glutathione homeostasis and the DNA damage response, and recovers genomic stability. Correcting the genomic instability of A-iPSCs will ultimately enhance our ability to produce histocompatible functional tissues from older patients’ own cells that are safe for transplantation.

Engineering layer–layer interactions provides a powerful way to realize novel and designable quantum phenomena in van der Waals heterostructures. Interlayer electron–electron interactions, for example, have enabled fascinating physics that is difficult to achieve in a single material, such as the Hofstadter’s butterfly in graphene/boron nitride (hBN) heterostructures. In addition to electron–electron interactions, interlayer electron–phonon interactions allow for further control of the physical properties of van der Waals heterostructures. Here we report an interlayer electron–phonon interaction in WSe2/hBN heterostructures, where optically silent hBN phonons emerge in Raman spectra with strong intensities through resonant coupling to WSe2electronic transitions. Excitation spectroscopy reveals the double-resonance nature of such enhancement, and identifies the two resonant states to be the A exciton transition of monolayer WSe2and a new hybrid state present only in WSe2/hBN heterostructures. The observation of an interlayer electron–phonon interaction could open up new ways to engineer electrons and phonons for device applications.

Phosphorene, a single atomic layer of black phosphorus, has recently emerged as a new two-dimensional (2D) material that holds promise for electronic and photonic technologies. Here we experimentally demonstrate that the electronic structure of few-layer phosphorene varies significantly with the number of layers, in good agreement with theoretical predictions. The interband optical transitions cover a wide, technologically important spectral range from the visible to the mid-infrared. In addition, we observe strong photoluminescence in few-layer phosphorene at energies that closely match the absorption edge, indicating that they are direct bandgap semiconductors. The strongly layer-dependent electronic structure of phosphorene, in combination with its high electrical mobility, gives it distinct advantages over other 2D materials in electronic and opto-electronic applications.

The advances in information technology have been affecting people’s consultation behaviors and thus shaping the direction of development of Korean online dictionaries. This paper aims (1) to describe the development of Korean online dictionaries by analyzing a case study of the dictionary services of Naver, South Korea’s biggest web portal site; (2) to identify the characteristics of the online dictionary evolution; and (3) to provide primary data for further research. In order to provide background information on the evolution of Naver dictionary services, it introduces the history of Korean online dictionaries and identifies the changes in the sizes and characteristics of the audiences, which were affected by the shift from the personal computer to mobile devices. Then, the development of Naver dictionary services is examined in terms of the development phases, entry data acquisition methods, and the development of tool features. This study reveals three findings: (1) the history could be divided into three periods: the formation period (1999–2004), the growth period (2005–2009), and the expansion period (2010–now). The expansion period is characterized by the popularity of smartphones, the enlargement of dictionary services, and the emergence of mechanical translation; (2) the four main sources for entries in the dictionary services are learner dictionaries, terminological–technical dictionaries, machine-generated data such as web-crawled data and parallel texts collected from the internet, and user-participated entries; (3) most of the tool features appeared during the growth period, and they are now evolving in the direction towards appification and individualization. These findings may allow predictions about the future of Korean online dictionaries.

Layer-stacking domain walls in bilayer graphene are emerging as a fascinating one-dimensional system that features stacking solitons structurally and quantum valley Hall boundary states electronically. The interactions between electrons in the 2D graphene domains and the one-dimensional domain-wall solitons can lead to further new quantum phenomena. Domain-wall solitons of varied local structures exist along different crystallographic orientations, which can exhibit distinct electrical, mechanical and optical properties. Here we report soliton-dependent 2D graphene plasmon reflection at different 1D domain-wall solitons in bilayer graphene using near-field infrared nanoscopy. We observe various domain-wall structures in mechanically exfoliated graphene bilayers, including network-forming triangular lattices, individual straight or bent lines, and even closed circles. The near-field infrared contrast of domain-wall solitons arises from plasmon reflection at domain walls, and exhibits markedly different behaviours at the tensile- and shear-type domain-wall solitons. In addition, the plasmon reflection at domain walls exhibits a peculiar dependence on electrostatic gating. Our study demonstrates the unusual and tunable coupling between 2D graphene plasmons and domain-wall solitons.

In heterojunction silicon solar cells (HJ-SCs), there is a possibility to reduce contact resistance at the front electrode by using a high-conductivity (${\sigma _d}$ ) emitter. A hydrogen bonding configuration in the doped layers shows an increase in defect density with the doping, although the doping increases ${\sigma _d}$ within a certain limit. Hence, a two-layer stacked emitter was used: one with a higher ${\sigma _d}$ and the other with a reduced defect density. The emitter was stacked as a 3-nm-thick 3% doped (p2) layer with 7-nm-thick 0.5% doped (p1) double layer. A higher hydrogenation of the p2 layer showed better device performance, as it reduces series resistance from 2.4 to 1.5 Ω⋅cm2. Furthermore, the carrier lifetime measurement, the atomic distribution across various layers, and the high-resolution transmission electron microscopy images show that the higher hydrogenation of the p2 layer might also have improved the a-Si:H/c-Si interface passivation, consequently improving the open-circuit voltage (${V_{{\rm{oc}}}}$ ) and efficiency (η) of the HJ-SCs. The experimental results were found to be consistent with simulation results. Finally, the HJ-SCs with the hydrogen diluted p2/p1 stacked emitter show ${V_{{\rm{oc}}}}$ of 710 mV, fill factor of 75.43%, and η close to 21%.

Core pluripotency factors, such as Oct4, Sox2, and Nanog, play important roles in maintaining embryonic stem cell (ESC) identity by autoregulatory feedforward loops. Nevertheless, the mechanism that provides precise control of the levels of the ESC core factors without indefinite amplification has remained elusive. Here, we report the direct repression of core pluripotency factors by Tgif1, a previously known terminal repressor of TGFβ/activin/nodal signaling. Overexpression of Tgif1 reduces the levels of ESC core factors, whereas its depletion leads to the induction of the pluripotency factors. We confirm the existence of physical associations between Tgif1 and Oct4, Nanog, and HDAC1/2 and further show the level of Tgif1 is not significantly altered by treatment with an activator/inhibitor of the TGFβ/activin/nodal signaling. Collectively, our findings establish Tgif1 as an integral member of the core regulatory circuitry of mouse ESCs that counterbalances the levels of the core pluripotency factors in a TGFβ/activin/nodal-independent manner.

Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 (PRC2) function and DNA methylation (DNAme) are typically correlated with gene repression. Here, we show that PRC2 is required to maintain expression of maternal microRNAs (miRNAs) and long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) from the Gtl2-Rian-Mirglocus, which is essential for full pluripotency of iPSCs. In the absence of PRC2, the entire locus becomes transcriptionally repressed due to gain of DNAme at the intergenic differentially methylated regions (IG-DMRs). Furthermore, we demonstrate that the IG-DMR serves as an enhancer of the maternal Gtl2-Rian-Mirglocus. Further analysis reveals that PRC2 interacts physically with Dnmt3 methyltransferases and reduces recruitment to and subsequent DNAme at the IG-DMR, thereby allowing for proper expression of the maternal Gtl2-Rian-Mirglocus. Our observations are consistent with a mechanism through which PRC2 counteracts the action of Dnmt3 methyltransferases at an imprinted locus required for full pluripotency.

Age-associated thymic involution results in diminished T cell output and function in aged individuals. However, molecular mediators contributing to the decline in thymic function during early thymic involution remain largely unknown. Here, we present transcriptional profiling of purified thymic stromal subsets from mice 1, 3, and 6 months of age spanning early thymic involution. The data implicate unanticipated biological functions for a subset of thymic epithelial cells. The predominant transcriptional signature of early thymic involution is decreased expression of cell-cycle-associated genes and E2F3 transcriptional targets in thymic epithelial subsets. Also, expression of proinflammatory genes increases with age in thymic dendritic cells. Many genes previously implicated in late involution are already deregulated by 3–6 months of age. We provide these thymic stromal data sets, along with thymocyte data sets, in a readily searchable web-based platform, as a resource for investigations into thymocyte:stromal interactions and mechanisms of thymic involution.

30B2O3-70V2O5binary-system glass was prepared, and variations in structural and electrical property were examined using crystallization. While different related research studies exist, few have evaluated the variations in the structure and properties with changes in the crystallization rate. 30B2O3-70V2O5glass was annealed in the graphite mold above the glass transition temperature for 2 h and heat-treated at each crystallization temperature for 3 h. 30B2O3-70V2O5glass showed predominantly electronic conductive characteristic. FTIR was preferentially used for analyzing the structural changes of B-O bond after crystallization, while XRD was utilized to verify the inferred changes in the structure array (BO3+ V2O5↔ BO4+ 2VO2). Structural changes induced by heat treatment were confirmed by analyzing the molecular volume determined from the sample density, and conductance was measured to correlate structural and property changes. Conductivity is discussed based on the migration of vanadate ions with different valence states because of the increase in VO2crystallinity at 130°C, which, however, was not observed at 170°C. After VO2structures were reinforced, a 1.8-fold increase in conductance was observed (as compared to the annealed sample) after crystallization at 130°C for 3 h.

Self‐renewal and pluripotency are hallmark properties of pluripotent stem cells, including embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and iPS cells. Previous studies revealed the ESC‐specific core transcription circuitry and showed that these core factors (e.g., Oct3/4, Sox2, and Nanog) regulate not only self‐renewal but also pluripotent differentiation. However, it remains elusive how these two cell states are regulated and balanced during in vitro replication and differentiation. Here, we report that the transcription elongation factor Tcea3is highly enriched in mouse ESCs (mESCs) and plays important roles in regulating the differentiation. Strikingly, altering Tcea3expression in mESCs did not affect self‐renewal under nondifferentiating condition; however, upon exposure to differentiating cues, its overexpression impaired in vitro differentiation capacity, and its knockdown biased differentiation toward mesodermal and endodermal fates. Furthermore, we identified Lefty1as a downstream target of Tcea3and showed that the Tcea3‐Lefty1‐Nodal‐Smad2 pathway is an innate program critically regulating cell fate choices between self‐replication and differentiation commitment. Together, we propose that Tcea3critically regulates pluripotent differentiation of mESCs as a molecular rheostat of Nodal‐Smad2/3 signaling. STEMCELLS2013;31:282–292

To study the compositional dependence of the optical properties and atomic structure of glasses, the CdOB2O3-SiO2ternary glasses, which are known as highly photoconductive glasses, have been investigated. The photoconductivity of glasses containing CdO was investigated in a previous study, because of their potential applications in photoelectronic devices. The thermo-mechanical analysis and the Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectra of the glass samples were measured to determine the structural variation of these glasses. Using transmittance measurements, we calculated the optical energy band gap. This paper presents results for control of the optical energy band gap 3.8 ∼ 3.2 eV in cadmium-borosilicate glass system while the structural properties undergo monotonic changes.

V2O5-B2O3-P2O5glasses with various compositions were prepared using a normal melt quenching technique, and their characteristics and structural properties were investigated using different techniques. Replacement of P2O5by B2O3was found to improve the thermal properties, chemical durability, and room-temperature conductivity. The observed variations in the properties may be correlated with changes in the internal glass network as a result of changes in the chemical composition. Vanadium ions are believed to be present in three possible valence states, namely V3+, V4+, and V5+, and the ratios of these states depend on the glass composition. The observed increases in chemical durability and room-temperature conductivity are assumed to be related to increases in the mean crosslinking density, increases in the number of bridging oxygens, and electron hopping between vanadate ions in different valence states.

In this paper, we propose stereo vision-based obstacle detection method on the road using a dense disparity map. We use the dense disparity map to detect obstacles robustly in real traffic situations. Our method consists of three stages, namely road feature extraction, column detection, obstacle segmentation. First, we extract a road feature from a v- disparity map calculated from a dense disparity map. And we perform a column detection using the extracted road feature as a criterion that decides whether obstacles exist or not. Finally, we perform a segmentation using a bird's-eye view mapping to divide the merged obstacle into each obstacle accurately. We conduct experiments to verify our method in the real traffic situations.

The molecular mechanisms underlying erythroid-specific gene regulation remain incompletely understood. Closely spaced binding sites for GATA, NF-E2/maf, and CACCC interacting transcription factors play functionally important roles in globin and other erythroid-specific gene expression. We and others recently identified the CACCC-binding transcription factor ZBP-89 as a novel GATA-1 and NF-E2/mafK interacting partner. Here, we examined the role of ZBP-89 in human globin gene regulation and erythroid maturation using a primary CD34+cell ex vivo differentiation system. We show that ZBP-89 protein levels rise dramatically during human erythroid differentiation and that ZBP-89 occupies key cis-regulatory elements within the globin and other erythroid gene loci. ZBP-89 binding correlates strongly with RNA Pol II occupancy, active histone marks, and high-level gene expression. ZBP-89 physically associates with the histone acetyltransferases p300 and Gcn5/Trrap, and occupies common sites with Gcn5 within the human globin loci. Lentiviral short hairpin RNAs knockdown of ZBP-89 results in reduced Gcn5 occupancy, decreased acetylated histone 3 levels, lower globin and erythroid-specific gene expression, and impaired erythroid maturation. Addition of the histone deacetylase inhibitor valproic acid partially reverses the reduced globin gene expression. These findings reveal an activating role for ZBP-89 in human globin gene regulation and erythroid differentiation.

In gene regulation, proteins function as members of protein complexes to recognize chromosomal target DNA loci. In dissecting the pluripotent state in mouse embryonic stem (mES) cells, we have used in vivo biotinylation of critical transcription factors for affinity purification of protein complexes and chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP)-on-chip for target identification, respectively. Here, we describe detailed procedures for such studies to dissect protein–protein and protein–DNA interactions in mES cells. Specifically, the following three procedures will be described: (i) in vivo biotinylation system setup in mES cells; (ii) affinity purification of multiprotein complexes by one-step streptavidin capture and tandem anti-FLAG/streptavidin affinity purification; (iii) biotin-mediated ChIP (bioChIP). The system setup takes ∼50 d to complete, and it takes another ∼15 d and ∼3 d to perform affinity purification of protein complexes and bioChIP, respectively.

The interaction between neutrophils and endothelial cells is critical for the pathogenesis of vascular inflammation. However, the regulation of neutrophil adhesive function remains not fully understood. Intravital microscopy demonstrates that neutrophil DREAM promotes neutrophil recruitment to sites of inflammation induced by TNF-α but not MIP-2 or fMLP. We observe that neutrophil DREAM represses expression of A20, a negative regulator of NF-κB activity, and enhances expression of pro-inflammatory molecules and phosphorylation of IκB kinase (IKK) after TNF-α stimulation. Studies using genetic and pharmacologic approaches reveal that DREAM deficiency and IKKβ inhibition significantly diminish the ligand-binding activity of β2 integrins in TNF-α–stimulated neutrophils or neutrophil-like HL-60 cells. Neutrophil DREAM promotes degranulation through IKKβ-mediated SNAP-23 phosphorylation. Using sickle cell disease mice lacking DREAM, we show that hematopoietic DREAM promotes vaso-occlusive events in microvessels following TNF-α challenge. Our study provides evidence that targeting DREAM might be a novel therapeutic strategy to reduce excessive neutrophil recruitment in inflammatory diseases.

The paper discusses the results of steam explosion experiments of TROI-13, TROI-14, and TROI-15, which were performed under the research program named “Test for Real cOrium Interaction with water (TROI).” TROI-13 and TROI-14 used corium, which is a mixture of UO2and ZrO2at a 70:30wt%, while TROI-15 used ZrO2. These three cases resulted in spontaneous steam explosions. It is an important observation from the aspect of the explosivity of prototypic material, as it was not observed in the previous experiments. Various aspects of the test results including cold crucible melting, hydrogen generation, melt temperature measurement, debris morphology, size distribution of the debris, dynamic pressure, dynamic force, shape of the melt jet, location of the trigger, response of the vessel pressure, and the response of the water pool temperature are discussed. The potential contributors to the explosivity of corium are suggested.

Myeloid cells are the most evolutionarily ancient aspect of a specialized immune system and the cornerstone of innate immunity in vertebrates. Innate immunity serves at the front line of host defense playing essential roles in directly clearing infection while also activating adaptive immune cell populations. Even with the importance in its roles, the myeloid system has often been regarded as the ‘dumb brute’ side of cell-based immunity with limited specificity and variability of responses. Heterogeneity in innate immune cells is increasingly recognized but still modest compared to other cell types and constrained by limited investigative tools.

The interaction between neutrophils and endothelial cells (ECs) is critical for the pathogenesis of vascular inflammation. Neutrophil recruitment to inflamed tissues is initiated by rolling on activated ECs through the interactions between P-/E-selectins and their ligands. Subsequently, activated integrins (mainly αLβ2 and αMβ2) and chemokine receptors bind to their ligands on ECs and mediate slow-rolling, adhesion, crawling, and transmigration of neutrophils. Although many neutrophil adhesion receptors have been identified, the regulation of their ligand-binding function remains not fully understood. Using real-time intravital microscopy with mice lacking downstream regulatory element antagonist modulator (DREAM) and their bone marrow chimeric mice, we demonstrated that hematopoietic cell DREAM contributes to neutrophil recruitment to sites of vascular inflammation induced by TNF-α- but not a G protein-coupled receptor ligand, MIP-2 or fMLP. Our studies using adoptive neutrophil transfers and flow chamber assays revealed that neutrophil DREAM positively regulates the neutrophil recruitment processes under TNF-α-induced inflammatory conditions. Using RNA-seq and biochemical and cell biological studies, we found that neutrophil DREAM upregulates numerous pro-inflammatory molecules and down-regulates anti-inflammatory molecules after TNF-α treatment. In particular, neutrophil DREAM repressed expression of A20, a negative regulator of NF-κB signaling, and enhanced phosphorylation of IκB kinase (IKK) in response to TNF-α, suggesting the role of neutrophil DREAM in NF-κB activity. Furthermore, we observed that DREAM deletion and IKK inhibition significantly diminishes the ligand-binding activity of β2 integrins in neutrophils after short-term treatment with TNF-α and that deletion of neutrophil DREAM does not affect the expression of other neutrophil adhesion receptors, such as PSGL-1, L-selectin, CD44, CXCR2, and CXCR4. As assessed by flow cytometry using conformation-specific reporter antibodies, knockdown of DREAM in neutrophil-like HL-60 cells decreased TNF-α-induced activation of β2 integrins. Neutrophil DREAM promoted degranulation through IKK-mediated SNAP-23 phosphorylation after short-term treatment with TNF-α, implying the role of neutrophil DREAM-IKK signaling in NF-κB-independent signaling. Using intravital microscopy with Berkeley mice (a mouse model of sickle cell disease) deficient in hematopoietic or nonhematopoietic DREAM, we demonstrated that hematopoietic cell DREAM is crucial for inducing intravascular cell-cell aggregation and vaso-occlusive events in microvessels following the TNF-α challenge. Furthermore, infusion of DREAM KO neutrophils, compared with WT neutrophils, significantly reduced neutrophil recruitment and vaso-occlusive events in TNF-α-challenged SCD mice. These results demonstrate that neutrophil DREAM positively regulates β2 integrin function and promotes neutrophil recruitment during sterile inflammation via NF-κB-dependent and independent mechanisms. Our study provides evidence that targeting DREAM might be a novel therapeutic strategy to reduce excessive neutrophil recruitment in inflammatory diseases.

In the version of this Article originally published, Supplementary Fig. 6j showed incorrect values for the LS and AG4 glutathione samples, and Fig. 5c and Supplementary Fig. 6j did not include all n= 6 samples for the hESC, Y-hiPSC and AG4-ZSCAN10 groups as was stated in the legend. In addition, the bars for hESC, Y-hiPSC, AG4-ZCNAN10, AG4 and LS in Supplementary Fig. 6i and j have been reproduced from Fig. 5b and c, respectively. Fig. 6e was also reproduced in the lower panel of Supplementary Fig. 6h, to enable direct comparison of the data, however this was not explained in the original figure legends. The correct versions of these figures and their legends are shown below, and Supplementary Table 5 has been updated with the source data for all numerical data in the manuscript.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

In the original publication, one of the reference texts was incorrectly published as “Tono, Y. 2009.

The myeloid system has often been regarded as the ‘dumb brute’ side of cell-based immunity with limited specificity and variability of responses. Heterogeneity in innate immune cells is increasingly-recognized but still modest compared to other cell types and constrained by limited investigative tools. Here, we show that myeloid cells have inherent, restricted capabilities that can be defined and potentially exploited for the development of myeloid cell-based therapies.

RNA-binding proteins (RBPs) play essential roles in biology and are frequently associated with human disease. Although recent studies have systematically identified individual RNA-binding proteins, their higher-order assembly into ribonucleoprotein (RNP) complexes has not been systematically investigated. Here, we describe a proteomics method for systematic identification of RNP complexes in human cells. We identify 1,428 protein complexes that associate with RNA, indicating that more than 20% of known human protein complexes contain RNA. To explore the role of RNA in the assembly of each complex, we identify complexes that dissociate, change composition, or form stable protein-only complexes in the absence of RNA. We use our method to systematically identify cell-type-specific RNA-associated proteins in mouse embryonic stem cells and finally, distribute our resource, rna.MAP, in an easy-to-use online interface (rna.proteincomplexes.org). Our system thus provides a methodology for explorations across human tissues, disease states, and throughout all domains of life.