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At present, an enormous characterization gap exists between the study of the crystal structure of a material and its bulk properties. Individual particles falling within this gap cannot be fully characterized in a correlative manner by current methods. The authors address this problem by exploiting the noninvasive nature of optical microscopy and spectroscopy for the correlative analysis of metal-organic framework particles in situ. They probe the intrinsic as well as extrinsic properties in a correlated manner. The authors show that the crystal shape of MIL-88A strongly impacts its optical absorption. Furthermore, the question of how homogeneously water is distributed and adsorbed within one of the most promising materials for harvesting water from humid air, MOF-801, is addressed. The results demonstrate the considerable importance of the particle level and how it can affect the property of the material.

Summary The mechanical properties of the extracellular matrix strongly influence tumor progression and invasion. Yes-associated protein (YAP) has been shown to be a key regulator of this process translating mechanical cues from the extracellular matrix into intracellular signals. Despite its apparent role in tumor progression and metastasis, it is not clear yet, whether YAP activation can actively trigger the onset of invasion. To address this question, we designed a photo-activatable YAP (optoYAP), which allows for spatiotemporal control of its activation. The activation mechanism of optoYAP is based on optically triggered nuclear translocation of the protein. Activation of optoYAP induces downstream signaling for several hours and leads to increased proliferation in two- and three-dimensional cultures. Applied to cancer spheroids, optoYAP activation induces invasion. Site-selective activation of optoYAP in cancer spheroids strikingly directs invasion into the activated direction. Thus, nuclear translocation of YAP may be enough to trigger the onset of invasion., Graphical Abstract, Highlights • Photoactivation of nuclear translocation of yes-associated protein (YAP) • Photoactivation of YAP induces downstream signaling • Site-selective activation of YAP triggers directed invasion of cancer spheroids, Molecular Biology; Cell Biology; Biological Sciences Tools

Amongst other threats, the world’s oceans are faced with man-made pollution, including an increasing number of microparticulate pollutants. Sponges, aquatic filter-feeding animals, are able to incorporate fine foreign particles, and thus may be a potential bioindicator for microparticulate pollutants. To address this question, 15 coral reef demosponges sampled around Bangka Island (North Sulawesi, Indonesia) were analyzed for the nature of their foreign particle content using traditional histological methods, advanced light microscopy, and Raman spectroscopy. Sampled sponges accumulated and embedded the very fine sediment fraction (< 200 µm), absent in the surrounding sand, in the ectosome (outer epithelia) and spongin fibers (skeletal elements), which was confirmed by two-photon microscopy. A total of 34 different particle types were identified, of which degraded man-made products, i.e., polystyrene, cotton, titanium dioxide and blue-pigmented particles, were incorporated by eight specimens at concentrations between 91 to 612 particle/g dry sponge tissue. As sponges can weigh several hundreds of grams, we conservatively extrapolate that sponges can incorporate on average 10,000 microparticulate pollutants in their tissue. The uptake of particles, however, appears independent of the material, which suggests that the fluctuation in material ratios is due to the spatial variation of surrounding microparticles. Therefore, sponges have a strong potential to biomonitor microparticulate pollutants, such as microplastics and other degraded industrial products.

Let $D$ be a straight-line drawing of a graph. The rectilinear 2-colored crossing number of $D$ is the minimum number of crossings between edges of the same color, taken over all possible 2-colorings of the edges of $D$. First, we show lower and upper bounds on the rectilinear 2-colored crossing number for the complete graph $K_n$. To obtain this result, we prove that asymptotic bounds can be derived from optimal and near-optimal instances with few vertices. We obtain such instances using a combination of heuristics and integer programming. Second, for any fixed drawing of $K_n$, we improve the bound on the ratio between its rectilinear 2-colored crossing number and its rectilinear crossing number., Comment: Appears in the Proceedings of the 27th International Symposium on Graph Drawing and Network Visualization (GD 2019)

An optically pumped semiconductor ring laser having a plurality of reflective elements optically aligned with one another to form a ring-shaped resonant cavity. A semiconductor lasing medium is mounted within the ring-shaped resonant cavity by a transparent, heat conductive mount located within a vacuum/cooling chamber of the type which allows the passage of a laser beam therethrough. A pump beam initiates a lasing action within the ring-shaped resonant cavity to produce said laser beam and said laser beam exits the resonant cavity as a pair of outputs. An alternate embodiment of the above described semiconductor ring laser provides a semblance of unidirectional lasing operation.