Cavity-Enhanced Ultrafast Transient Absorption Spectroscopy

We present a new technique using a frequency comb laser and optical cavities for performing ultrafast transient absorption spectroscopy with improved sensitivity. Resonantly enhancing the probe pulses, we demonstrate a sensitivity of $\Delta$OD = 1 \times 10^{-9}/\sqrt{\mbox{Hz}} for averaging times as long as 30 s per delay point ($\Delta$OD$_{min} = 2 \times 10^{-10}$). Resonantly enhancing the pump pulses allows us to produce a high excitation fraction at high repetition-rate, so that signals can be recorded from samples with optical densities as low as OD $\approx 10^{-8}$, or column densities $< 10^{10}$ molecules/cm$^2$. This high sensitivity enables new directions for ultrafast spectroscopy

The effect of substituted benzene dicarboxylic acid linkers on the optical band gap energy and magnetic coupling in manganese trimer metal organic frameworks

We have systematically studied a series of eight metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) in which the secondary building unit is a manganese trimer cluster, and the linkers are differently substituted benzene dicarboxylic acids (BDC). The optical band gap energy of the compounds vary from 2.62 eV to 3.57 eV, and theoretical studies find that different functional groups result in new states in the conduction band, which lie in the gap and lower the optical band gap energy. The optical absorption between the filled Mn 3d states and the ligands is weak due to minimal overlap of the states, and the measured optical band gap energy is due to transitions on the BDC linker. The Mn atoms in the MOFs have local moments of 5 mu B, and selected MOFs are found to be antiferromagnetic, with weak coupling between the cluster units, and paramagnetic above 10 K

Differences in intrinsic tubulin dynamic properties contribute to spindle length control in Xenopus species

© The Author(s), 2020. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Hirst, W. G., Biswas, A., Mahalingan, K. K., & Reber, S. Differences in intrinsic tubulin dynamic properties contribute to spindle length control in Xenopus species. Current Biology, 30(11), (2020): 2184-2190.e5, doi: 10.1016/j.cub.2020.03.067.The function of cellular organelles relates not only to their molecular composition but also to their size. However, how the size of dynamic mesoscale structures is established and maintained remains poorly understood [1, 2, 3]. Mitotic spindle length, for example, varies several-fold among cell types and among different organisms [4]. Although most studies on spindle size control focus on changes in proteins that regulate microtubule dynamics [5, 6, 7, 8], the contribution of the spindle’s main building block, the αβ-tubulin heterodimer, has yet to be studied. Apart from microtubule-associated proteins and motors, two factors have been shown to contribute to the heterogeneity of microtubule dynamics: tubulin isoform composition [9, 10] and post-translational modifications [11]. In the past, studying the contribution of tubulin and microtubules to spindle assembly has been limited by the fact that physiologically relevant tubulins were not available. Here, we show that tubulins purified from two closely related frogs, Xenopus laevis and Xenopus tropicalis, have surprisingly different microtubule dynamics in vitro. X. laevis microtubules combine very fast growth and infrequent catastrophes. In contrast, X. tropicalis microtubules grow slower and catastrophe more frequently. We show that spindle length and microtubule mass can be controlled by titrating the ratios of the tubulins from the two frog species. Furthermore, we combine our in vitro reconstitution assay and egg extract experiments with computational modeling to show that differences in intrinsic properties of different tubulins contribute to the control of microtubule mass and therefore set steady-state spindle length.This article was prompted by our stay at the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL), Woods Hole, MA in the summer of 2016 funded by the Princeton-Humboldt Strategic Partnership Grant together with the lab of Sabine Petry (Princeton University). We thank Jeff Woodruff (UT Southwestern), David Drechsel (IMP), and Marcus J. Taylor (MPI IB) for constructive criticism and comments on the manuscript and Helena Jambor for constructive comments on figure design. We thank the AMBIO imaging facility (Charité, Berlin) and Nikon at MBL for imaging support, Aliona Bogdanova and Barbara Borgonovo (MPI CBG) for their help with protein purification, and Francois Nedelec (University of Cambridge) for help with Cytosim. We are grateful to the Görlich lab (MPI BPC), in particular Bastian Hülsmann and Jens Krull, and the NXR for supply with X. tropicalis frogs. We thank Antonina Roll-Mecak (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke) for help with mass spectrometry analysis and discussions and Duck-Yeon Lee in the Biochemistry Core (National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute) for access to mass spectrometers. For mass spectrometry, we would like to acknowledge the assistance of Benno Kuropka and Chris Weise from the Core Facility BioSupraMol supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG). We thank all former and current members of the Reber lab for discussion and helpful advice, in particular, Christoph Hentschel and Soma Zsoter for technical assistance and Sebastian Reusch for help with tubulin purification. S.R. acknowledges funding from the IRI Life Sciences (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Excellence Initiative/DFG). W.G.H. was supported by the Alliance Berlin Canberra co-funded by a grant from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) for the International Research Training Group (IRTG) 2290 and the Australian National University. K.K.M. was supported by funds in the Roll-Mecak lab, intramural program of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

Quantum Lattice Fluctuations and Luminescence in C_60

We consider luminescence in photo-excited neutral C_60 using the Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model applied to a single C_60 molecule. To calculate the luminescence we use a collective coordinate method where our collective coordinate resembles the displacement of the carbon atoms of the Hg(8) phonon mode and extrapolates between the ground state "dimerisation" and the exciton polaron. There is good agreement for the existing luminescence peak spacing and fair agreement for the relative intensity. We predict the existence of further peaks not yet resolved in experiment. PACS Numbers : 78.65.Hc, 74.70.Kn, 36.90+

Improving Access to Clean Water Through Autonomous Monitoring of Hand Pump Operation

Millions of people in developing countries rely on hand pumps for access to clean water. Proper maintenance of these pumps is impossible without timely reporting on the pump’s operation and state of repair. The Intelligent Water System, which improves access to clean water by autonomously monitoring and reporting on the health of hand pumps, has been under development for several years. The next stage for the IWP team is to prepare for field testing in Zimbabwe. Because of this, the team has been working on improving the accuracy of the calculations made by the Intelligent Water System as well as simplifying the installation procedures to allow installation by in-country pump technicians. This poster shows the progress made by the IWP team during this stage of development including the improvements in the volume calculation algorithm as well as the installation jig and procedures. Funding for this work provided by The Collaboratory for Strategic Partnerships and Applied Research.https://mosaic.messiah.edu/engr2022/1008/thumbnail.jp