Publications

Self-assembly of photo-responsive molecules is a robust technology for reversibly tuning the properties of functional materials. Herein, we probed the crucial role of surface–adsorbate interactions on the adsorption geometry of stilbene-functionalized N-heterocyclic carbenes (stilbene-NHCs) monolayers and its impact on surface potential. Stilbene-NHCs on Au film accumulated in a vertical orientation that enabled high photoisomerization efficiency and reversible changes in surface potential. Strong metal–adsorbate interactions led to flat-lying adsorption geometry of stilbene-NHCs on Pt film, which quenched the photo-isomerization influence on surface potential. It is identified that photo-induced response can be optimized by positioning the photo-active group in proximity to weakly-interacting surfaces.

Self-assembly of photo-responsive molecules is a robust technology for reversibly tuning the properties of functional materials. Herein, we probed the crucial role of surface–adsorbate interactions on the adsorption geometry of stilbene-functionalized N-heterocyclic carbenes (stilbene-NHCs) monolayers and its impact on surface potential. Stilbene-NHCs on Au film accumulated in a vertical orientation that enabled high photoisomerization efficiency and reversible changes in surface potential. Strong metal–adsorbate interactions led to flat-lying adsorption geometry of stilbene-NHCs on Pt film, which quenched the photo-isomerization influence on surface potential. It is identified that photo-induced response can be optimized by positioning the photo-active group in proximity to weakly-interacting surfaces.

Dysregulation of phosphorylation-mediated signaling drives the initiation and progression of many diseases. A substrate-specific kinase assay capable of quantifying the altered site-specific phosphorylation of its phenotype-dependent substrates provides better specificity to monitor a disease state. We report a sensitive and rapid substrate-specific kinase assay by integrating site-specific peptide reporter and multiple reaction monitoring (MRM)-MS platform for relative and absolute quantification of substrate-specific kinase activity at the sensitivity of nanomolar kinase and nanogram cell lysate. Using non-small cell lung cancer as a proof-of-concept, three substrate peptides selected from constitutive phosphorylation in tumors (HDGF-S165, RALY-S135, and NRD1-S94) were designed to demonstrate the feasibility. The assay showed good accuracy (<15% nominal deviation) and reproducibility (<15% CV). In PC9 cells, the measured activity for HDGF-S165 was 3.2 ± 0.2 fmol μg⁻¹ min⁻¹, while RALY-S135 and NRD1-S94 showed 4- and 20-fold higher activity at the sensitivity of 25 ng and 5 ng lysate, respectively, suggesting different endogenous kinases for each substrate peptide. Without the conventional shotgun phosphoproteomics workflow, the overall pipeline from cell lysate to MS data acquisition only takes 3 h. The multiplexed analysis revealed differences in the phenotype-dependent substrate phosphorylation profiles across six NSCLC cell lines and suggested a potential association of HDGF-S165 and NRD1-S94 with TKI resistance. With the ease of design, sensitivity, accuracy, and reproducibility, this approach may offer rapid and sensitive assays for targeted quantification of the multiplexed substrate-specific kinase activity of small amounts of sample.

International investment agreements (IIAs) are a significant manifestation of the impact of legal globalization on national public policy. These are thousands of (mostly) bilateral treaties through which states commit to protect the rights of foreign investors. Moreover, these obligations can be enforced by a system of binding international investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS), which allows investors to file claims against host countries that allegedly violated their obligations under their IIAs. The legitimacy of IIAs and ISDS is highly contested, however. On the one hand, they encroach on states’ regulatory space (SRS) and delegate legal authority to ad-hoc arbitration bodies, which lack transparency and accountability. On the other hand, their alleged positive effect on foreign investment is uncertain. As a party to about forty IIAs, Israel’s SRS is certainly affected by IIAs. Such potential impact came to the fore when an American company, Noble Energy, indicated that it might turn to ISDS against the Israeli government in relations to a disputed gas exploration project. This article examines the implications of IIAs and ISDS to SRS both globally and with respect to Israel. After elaborating on and illustrating these relationships in the global arena, we present a measure of SRS that facilitates a systematic comparison of IIAs across time and space on this key dimension. We show that, of late, states around the world conclude IIAs with greater regulatory space and that Israel tracks this global trend. A legal analysis of two investment disputes in the energy sector suggests that Israeli IIAs expose the country to costly ISDS claims and potentially limit its ability to regulate in important policy areas. We conclude that Israel will do well to sign or renegotiate IIAs with greater regulatory space. 

Does domestic legal tradition affect international cooperation and legalization? Recent studies indicate that states with Islamic law tradition (ILT) prefer more informal forums to resolve international disputes, compared to states with other legal traditions. We examine this claim in the context of the increasingly important global investment regime. We argue, specifically, that international investment agreements (IIAs) concluded by ILT states are less likely to refer disputes to the highly legalized and formal Centre for the Settlement of Investment Dispute (ICSID), and are more likely to refer them Islamic forums, which tend to be less formal. Employing new data on forum choice in investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) provisions in more than 2,600 IIAs and controlling for a battery of alternative explanations, we find substantial empirical support for the theoretical expectations. These findings underscore the significance of domestic legal traditions to international dispute settlement in the Islamic world and beyond.

Dominance hierarchies are ubiquitous in invertebrates and vertebrates, but little is known on how genes influence dominance rank. Our gaps in knowledge are specifically significant concerning female hierarchies, and in insects. To start filling these gaps, we studied the social bumble bee Bombus terrestris, in which social hierarchies among females are common and functionally significant. Dominance rank in this bee is influenced by multiple factors, including juvenile hormone (JH) that is a major gonadotropin in this species. We tested the hypothesis that the JH responsive transcription factor Krüppel homologue 1 (Kr-h1) mediates hormonal influences on dominance behavior. We first developed and validated a perfluorocarbon nanoparticles-based RNA interference protocol for knocking down Kr-h1 expression. We then used this procedure to show that Kr-h1 mediates the influence of JH not only on oogenesis and wax production, but also on aggression and dominance rank. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study causally linking a gene to dominance rank in social insects, and one of only a few such studies in insects or in female hierarchies. These findings are important for determining whether there are general molecular principles governing dominance rank across gender and taxa.

Criticism of the effects of the international investment regime on state regulatory space (SRS) is on the rise, much of it focusing on the impact of binding arbitration. Specifically, the investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) provisions found in most bilateral investment treaties (BITs) and other investment agreements have a profound effect on the balance between investor rights and state regulatory space (SRS), raising a debate on their legitimacy. We explore how states perceive the legitimacy of ISDS provisions in light of their experiences with the investment regime through the lens of BIT renegotiation and termination. Renegotiation provides an empirical window for understanding how dissatisfaction with BITs translates into concrete decisions by governments to recalibrate their treaty obligations, perhaps rendering them more legitimate. Based on an original data set comprised of 161 renegotiated agreements, we find that states have not made a systematic effort over the years to recalibrate their BITs for the purpose of preserving more regulatory space. In fact, most renegotiations either leave ISDS provisions unchanged or render them more investor-friendly. However, recent renegotiations show a greater tendency to limit investor protections in ISDS provisions.

According to Vladimir Nabokov, exactness of detail in the composition and the reading of literary texts can yield “the sensual spark without which the book is dead”: one needs, for instance, to understand the topography of Mansfield Park in order to respond to Austen’s “stereographic charm.” Speaking after Stuart Gilbert’s chart of the episodes of Joyce’s Ulysses but before Gifford and Seidman’s maps in Ulysses Annotated, Nabokov protested against “the pretentious nonsense of Homeric, chromatic, and visceral chapter headings” and advised careful readers to “prepare maps of Dublin with Bloom’s and Stephen’s intertwining itineraries clearly traced.” Nabokov himself draws maps in his (posthumously published) lecture notes of the 1950s. This paper comments on the “stereographic” implications of his maps and then turns to Nabokov’s biography of Pushkin’s African great grandfather. Studying the possible origins of Abram Gannibal, Nabokov reads maps of Ethiopia. Though his essay is largely a matter of the critique of sources, the course of Ethiopian river-beds seems to give him “the sensual spark” which, despite his vexed insistence on the literal in Ulysses, follows Joyce’s novel in understated transmutation of stereographic detail into symbolism.