Sensitivity Enhancement of Ultra-Wideline NMR by Progressive Saturation of the Proton Reservoir Under Magic-Angle Spinning.

Solid-state NMR of low-γ nuclides is often characterized by low sensitivity and by significant spectral broadenings induced by the quadrupolar and the chemical-shift anisotropy interactions. Herein, we introduce an indirect acquisition method, termed PROgressive Saturation of the Proton Reservoir Under Spinning (PROSPRUS), which could facilitate the acquisition of ultra-wideline NMR spectra under magic-angle spinning (MAS), in systems with a sufficiently long dipolar relaxation time, T. PROSPRUS NMR relies on the generation of so-called second-order dipolar order among abundant protons undergoing MAS, and on the subsequent depletion of this dipolar order by a series of looped cross-polarization events, transferring the proton order into polarization of the low-γ I-nuclei as a function of the latter's offsets.

Cross polarization from dipolar-order under magic angle spinning: The ADRF-CPMAS NMR experiment.

Techniques for enhancing the signals arising from low-γ, insensitive (I) nuclei are central to solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance. One of the leading and best-established methods to sensitize these unreceptive species is Hartmann-Hahn cross polarization (HH-CP), a polarization transfer mechanism often executed under MAS. Herein, we explore the possibility of utilizing the 1H dipolar order created via adiabatic demagnetization in the rotating frame (ADRF), to enhance the unreceptive spins under MAS.

Trends in the Epidemiology of Non-Typhoidal Salmonellosis in Israel between 2010 and 2021.

Non-typhoidal salmonellosis (NTS) is one of the most common foodborne diseases worldwide. In this study, we aimed to analyze trends in the epidemiology of NTS in the last decade in Israel. Laboratory-confirmed cases of NTS at eight sentinel laboratories were reported to the Israel Sentinel Laboratory-Based Surveillance Network, integrated with the serotype identification performed at the National Reference Laboratory of the Ministry of Health.

Indirectly detected satellite-transition quadrupolar NMR via progressive saturation of the proton reservoir.

Static satellite-transitions (ST) NMR line shapes from half-integer quadrupolar nuclei could be very informative: they can deliver insight about local motions over a wide range of timescales, and can report on small changes in the local electronic environments as reflected by variations in the quadrupolar parameters. Satellite transitions, however, are typically "invisible" for half-integer quadrupolar nuclei due to their sheer breadth, leading to low signal-to-noise ratio -especially for unreceptive low-gamma or dilute quadrupolar nuclei. Very recently we have introduced a method for enhancing the NMR sensitivity of unreceptive X nuclei in static solids dubbed PROgressive Saturation of the Proton Reservoir (PROSPR), which opens the possibility of magnifying the signals from such spins by repeatedly imprinting frequency-selective X-driven depolarizations on the much more sensitive H NMR signal.

Mpox Infection in a Developed Country: A Case Report.

This is the first Israeli case report of mpox (monkeypox) disease, as it is manifested in the current outbreak. This manuscript depicts two detailed patient journeys of Israeli men in their 30s who were diagnosed in recent months, depicting their symptoms, presumed exposure, and outcomes. The two cases were atypical compared to the clinical presentation prior to the current outbreak but were similar to other recent reported cases; they differed in their prodromal presentation.

Quadrupolar Isotope-Correlation Spectroscopy in Solid-State NMR.

Quadrupolar solid-state NMR carries a wealth of structural information, including insights about chemical environments arising through the determination of local coupling parameters. Current methods can successfully resolve these parameters for individual sites using sample-spinning methods techniques applicable to quadrupolar ≥ 1 nuclei, provided second-order central transition broadenings do not exceed by much the spinning rate. For large quadrupolar coupling ( ) values, however, static acquisitions are often preferable, leading to challenges in extracting local structural information.

Minimizing treatment-induced emergence of antibiotic resistance in bacterial infections.

Treatment of bacterial infections currently focuses on choosing an antibiotic that matches a pathogen's susceptibility, with less attention paid to the risk that even susceptibility-matched treatments can fail as a result of resistance emerging in response to treatment. Combining whole-genome sequencing of 1113 pre- and posttreatment bacterial isolates with machine-learning analysis of 140,349 urinary tract infections and 7365 wound infections, we found that treatment-induced emergence of resistance could be predicted and minimized at the individual-patient level. Emergence of resistance was common and driven not by de novo resistance evolution but by rapid reinfection with a different strain resistant to the prescribed antibiotic.

HPV Screening Test for the Detection of Precancerous Cervical Lesions and Cervical Cancer in Israeli Women.

Objectives: This work is aimed to summarize the first year of the high-risk human papillomavirus (hrHPV) screening test and compare it to the cytology screening test, regarding positivity rates and premalignant lesions diagnosed in the Israeli population. A specific consideration is for the age group 25-30 that is not considered mandatory for the HPV primary screening testing.

Methods: A retrospective study was performed in women who were screened for prevention of cervical cancer in Maccabi HealthCare HMO from March 2017 to March 2019.

Kinetics of SARS-CoV-2 anti-S IgG after BNT162b2 vaccination.

Deployment of the BNT162b2 mRNA Covid-19 Vaccine in Israel began in December 2020. This is a retrospective analysis of serological data, showing SARS-CoV-2 anti-S IgG kinetics in 116 Israeli health care workers receiving BNT162b2. Sero-conversion occurred in 14 days in all study participants, with IgG levels peaking approximately 30 days after initiation of the vaccination series.

Initial report of decreased SARS-CoV-2 viral load after inoculation with the BNT162b2 vaccine.

Beyond their substantial protection of individual vaccinees, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines might reduce viral load in breakthrough infection and thereby further suppress onward transmission. In this analysis of a real-world dataset of positive severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) test results after inoculation with the BNT162b2 messenger RNA vaccine, we found that the viral load was substantially reduced for infections occurring 12-37 d after the first dose of vaccine. These reduced viral loads hint at a potentially lower infectiousness, further contributing to vaccine effect on virus spread.

Multi-center nationwide comparison of seven serology assays reveals a SARS-CoV-2 non-responding seronegative subpopulation.

Background: An Israeli national taskforce performed a multi-center clinical and analytical validation of seven serology assays to determine their utility and limitations for SARS-CoV-2 diagnosis.

Methods: Serology assays from Roche, Abbott, Diasorin, BioMerieux, Beckman-Coulter, Siemens, and an in-house RBD ELISA were included. Negative samples from 2391 individuals representative of the Israeli population, and 698 SARS-CoV-2 PCR positive patients, collected between March and May 2020, were analyzed.

Endogenous Dynamic Nuclear Polarization for Natural Abundance O and Lithium NMR in the Bulk of Inorganic Solids.

In recent years magic angle spinning-dynamic nuclear polarization (MAS-DNP) has developed as an excellent approach for boosting the sensitivity of solid-state NMR (ssNMR) spectroscopy, thereby enabling the characterization of challenging systems in biology and chemistry. Most commonly, MAS-DNP is based on the use of nitroxide biradicals as polarizing agents. In materials science, since the use of nitroxides often limits the signal enhancement to the materials' surface and subsurface layers, there is need for hyperpolarization approaches which will provide sensitivity in the bulk of micron sized particles.

Free-Standing Nanocrystalline Materials Assembled from Small Molecules.

We demonstrate a solution-based fabrication of centimeter-size free-standing films assembled from organic nanocrystals based on common organic dyes (perylene diimides, PDIs). These nanostructured films exhibit good mechanical stability, and thermal robustness superior to most plastics, retaining the crystalline microstructure and macroscopic shape upon heating up to 250-300 °C. The films show nonlinear optical response and can be used as ultrafiltration membranes.

Identification of dopant site and its effect on electrochemical activity in Mn-doped lithium titanate.

Doped metal oxide materials are commonly used for applications in energy storage and conversion, such as batteries and solid oxide fuel cells. The knowledge of the electronic properties of dopants and their local environment is essential for understanding the effects of doping on the electrochemical properties. Using a combination of X-ray absorption near-edge structure spectroscopy (XANES) experiment and theoretical modeling we demonstrate that in the dilute (1 at.

First Israeli National Iodine Survey Demonstrates Iodine Deficiency Among School-Aged Children and Pregnant Women.

Background: National data on iodine status in Israel are lacking. Reliance on iodine-depleted desalinated water, the absence of a salt iodization program, and reports of increased use of thyroid medication in Israel suggest that the population's iodine intake is likely inadequate. The aims of this study were therefore to determine the iodine status of Israeli school-age children (SAC) and pregnant women (PW) in a nationally representative sample obtained by a novel approach of using pre-discard urinalysis samples collected from a centralized national laboratory.

Effect of temperature on the structure of charged membranes.

Interactions between charged and neutral self-assembled phospholipid membranes are well understood and take into account temperature dependence. Yet, the manner in which the structure of the membrane is affected by temperature was hardly studied. Here we study the effect of temperature on the thickness, area per lipid, and volume per lipid of charged membranes.