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Effectively controlling exciton–polaritons is crucial for advancing them in optical computation. In this work, we propose utilizing the valley-selective optical Stark effect (OSE) as an all-optical way to achieve the spatiotemporal control of polariton flow. We demonstrate the polarization-selective concentration of polaritons at pre-determined locations by wavefront shaping of the polaritons through an in-plane bar-code potential induced by the OSE, which helps overcome the intra-cavity disorder in potential distribution. In addition, a polariton decoder that converts binary inputs to decimal outputs is proposed by expanding the one-dimensional bar-code potential into a two-dimensional quick-response code potential offering enhanced control and encoding, whose robustness and valley selectivity are demonstrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deep venous thrombosis (DVT) has been characterized by a disorder of venous return caused by abnormal blood clotting in deep veins. It often occurs in the lower limbs and is a common complication in orthopaedics. Therefore, relevant professional organizations domestic and overseas had formulated and constantly updated relevant guidelines to prevent the occurrence of DVT. According to the management strategy of the guidelines, the incidence of DVT can be significantly reduced. However, due to the variety of fractures types, the guidelines cannot expound precautions and characteristics of DVT for all fracture types at present, and there are other related unresolved problems. For example, there is still a lack of consistent optimal strategies for the management of DVT following isolated lower extremity fractures with a higher incidence. The best anticoagulant strategies for patients with upper limb fractures, pediatric fractures, and those combined with other injuries are rarely described in orthopaedic guidelines, but such fractures are common in clinical orthopaedics. The long‐term complications after DVT, such as post‐thrombotic syndrome, are not well‐understood. In the absence of clear guidance, orthopaedic surgeons often resort to empiric anticoagulation or conservative treatment, so the prevention effects of DVT are inconsistent. The purpose of this review is to summarize the characteristics of DVT events after isolated lower extremity fractures and to discuss the unsolved issues in the guidelines by reviewing the previous literature and tracing the history of DVT discovery, to provide more scientific and comprehensive recommendations for the prediction and prevention of DVT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) have been reported to serve an important role in the stiffening of cardiac tissues and myocardial cell injury. Serious myocardial cell injury can result in various heart diseases with high mortality. Halofuginone (HF), which possesses marked anti-inflammatory and antifibrotic effects, has recently been applied to inhibit the effects of cardiac stress. The present study aimed to investigate the potential effects of HF and its underlying mechanism in the treatment of AGEs-induced H9C2 cardiomyocyte damage. The western blot results of the present study demonstrated that HF may reduce the expression levels of myocardial injury markers, including myoglobin, creatine kinase MB and cardiac troponin I. In addition, flow cytometric analysis indicated that the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) was significantly decreased by HF. Additionally, endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress was suppressed in response to treatment with HF, as observed by low expression levels of ER stress-associated proapoptotic proteins (CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein homologous protein and cleaved caspase-12); overexpression of prosurvival proteins (growth arrest and DNA damage-inducible protein GADD34 and binding immunoglobulin protein) was also reported. Furthermore, the expression levels of microtubule-associated proteins 1A/1B light chain 3B (LC3)II/LC3I and Beclin 1 were elevated, whereas P62 expression levels were reduced following treatment with HF. These findings, together with immunofluorescence staining of LC3, indicated that HF may induce autophagy. Finally, the protective effects of HF on AGEs-treated H9C2 cells were reversed following treatment with the inhibitor 3-methyladenine, as indicated by inhibition of autophagy, and increases in apoptosis, ROS production and the ER stress response. Collectively, the findings of the present study suggested that the protective effects of HF against AGEs-induced myocardial cell injury may be associated with the induction of autophagy and amelioration of ROS-mediated ER stress and apoptosis. These findings may contribute to the development of a novel therapeutic method to inhibit the progression of myocardial cell injury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces a new Cournot duopoly game and gives an applied study for price discrimination in a market by dynamic methods. One of two oligopolies has two different prices for a homogeneous product, while the other charges one kind of price. It is found that there is only one stable equilibrium for the discrete dynamic system, and a corresponding stable condition is given. Using a discriminative price is not always beneficial to a firm in equilibrium. If both oligopolies carry out price discrimination, the market's average price is lower than when only one oligopoly does it. The results are verified by numerical simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Nocardiosis, despite its rarity and underreporting, is significant due to its severe impact, characterized by high morbidity and mortality rates. The development of a precise, reliable, rapid, and straightforward technique for identifying the pathogenic agent in clinical specimens is crucial to reduce fatality rates and facilitate timely antimicrobial treatment. In this study, we aimed to identify Nocardia spp. in clinical isolates, using MALDI-TOF MS as the primary method, with molecular methods as the gold standard. Clinical Nocardia isolates were identified using 16S rRNA/hsp65/gyrB/secA1/rpoB gene sequencing. Identification performance of the Bruker MALDI Biotyper 3.1 (V09.0.0.0_8468) and MBT Compass 4.1 (V11.0.0.0_10833) for Nocardia identification was evaluated. Results: Seventy-six Nocardia isolates were classified into 12 species through gene sequencing. The MALDI Biotyper 3.1 (V09.0.0.0_8468) achieved 100% genus-level accuracy and 84.2% species accuracy (64/76). The MBT Compass 4.1 with the BDAL Database (V11.0.0.0_10833) improved species identification to 98.7% (75/76). The updated database enhanced species level identification with scores > 1.7, increasing from 77.6% (59/76) to 94.7% (72/76), a significant improvement (P = 0.001). The new and simplified extraction increased the proportion of strains identified to the species level with scores > 1.7 from 62.0% (18/29) to 86.2% (25/29) (P = 0.016). An in-house library construction ensured accurate species identification for all isolates. Conclusions: The Bruker mass spectrometer can accurately identify Nocardia species, albeit with some variations observed between different database versions. The MALDI Biotyper 3.1 (V09.0.0.0_8468) has limitations in identifying Nocardia brasiliensis, with some strains only identifiable to the genus level. MBT Compass 4.1 (V11.0.0.0_10833) effectively addresses this shortfall, improving species identification accuracy to 98.7%, and offering quick and reliable identification of Nocardia. Both database versions incorrectly identified the clinically less common Nocardia sputorum as Nocardia araoensis. For laboratories that have not upgraded their databases and are unable to achieve satisfactory identification results for Nocardia, employing the new and simplified extraction method can provide a degree of improvement in identification outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the potential factors associated with adherence to colonoscopy among participants who were preliminarily screened positive in a community‐based colorectal cancer screening program in China. Methods: This study analyzed data from 1219 out of 6971 community residents who were identified as positive cases by the well‐validated high‐risk factor questionnaire (HRFQ) or fecal immunochemical test (FIT) in the preliminary screening stage for colorectal neoplasms. Patients showing adherence to colonoscopy were defined as those who received positive results in a preliminary screening for colorectal neoplasms and later received a colonoscopy examination as required. The associations of social‐demographic factors, lifestyle behaviors, history of diabetes, body mass index (BMI), and risk factors in the HRFQ with adherence to colonoscopy were evaluated using logistic regression models. Results: Among 1219 participants who preliminarily screened positive, the top five risk factors reported by the participants were chronic constipation (25.9%), hematochezia (23.5%), family history of CRC in first‐degree relatives (22.1%), chronic diarrhea (21.8%), and history of polyps (16.6%). Around 14.2% of participants who preliminarily screened positive reported three or more risk factors, and the proportion was 26.2% among participants who were positive according to both HRFQ and FIT. Among all participants who were preliminarily screened positive, the multivariable results showed that those who were married (OR = 1.58, 95% CI: 1.12, 2.25, p = 0.01), had chronic diarrhea (OR = 1.34, 95% CI: 1.00, 1.78, p = 0.047), and had a positive FIT (OR = 1.60, 95% CI: 1.21, 2.10, p < 0.001 for patients who were negative according to HRFQ but positive according to FIT; OR = 2.12, 95% CI: 1.33, 2.78, p = 0.002 for patients who were positive for both HRFQ and FIT) were more likely to adhere to colonoscopy, while participants with a history of cancer (OR: 0.50, 95% CI: 0.31, 0.79, p = 0.003) were less likely to adhere to colonoscopy. The results among participants who were tested positive according to only HRFQ were similar to those among all participants who were tested positive according to HRFQ or FIT. However, among participants who were tested positive according to only FIT, we only found that those who were married (OR = 2.52, 95% CI: 1.08, 5.90, p = 0.033) had a higher odds of adhering to colonoscopy, while those with a history of diabetes (OR = 0.35, 95% CI: 0.13, 0.96, p = 0.042) were less likely to adhere to colonoscopy. Conclusion: Our findings provide evidence supporting the development of tailored interventional strategies that aim to improve adherence to colonoscopy for individuals with a high risk of colorectal neoplasms. Both barriers and facilitators associated with adherence to colonoscopy should be considered in supportive systems and health policies. However, further well‐designed prospective studies are warranted to confirm our findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a weighted clique evolution model based on clique (maximal complete subgraph) growth and edge-weight driven for complex networks. The model simulates the scheme of real-world networks that the evolution of networks is likely to be driven by the flow, such as traffic or information flow needs, as well as considers that real-world networks commonly consist of communities. At each time step of a network's evolution progress, an edge is randomly selected according to a preferential scheme. Then a new clique which contains the edge is added into the network while the weight of the edge is adjusted to simulate the flow change brought by the new clique addition. We give the theoretical analysis based on the mean field theory, as well as some numerical simulation for this model. The result shows that the model can generate networks with scale-free distributions, such as edge weight distribution and node strength distribution, which can be found in many real-world networks. It indicates that the evolution rule of the model may attribute to the formation of real-world networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new type of cavity polariton, the optical Tamm state (OTS) polariton, is proposed to be realized by sandwiching a quantum well (QW) between a gold layer and a distributed Bragg reflector (DBR). It is shown that OTS polaritons can be generated from the strong couplings between the QW excitons and the free OTSs. In addition, if a second gold layer is introduced into the bottom of the DBR, two independent free OTSs can interact strongly with the QW excitons to produce extra OTS polaritons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: P450 11β-hydroxylase, encoded by P450(11β) gene, is a key mitochondrial enzyme to produce 11β-hydroxy testosterone, substrate for the production of 11-ketotestosterone (11-KT), which has been shown to be potent androgen in several fish species. In the present work, two alternative splicing isoforms i.e. P450(11β)-1 and P450(11β)-2 cDNAs were cloned from the Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus. They were 1614 and 1227bp in length with open reading frames encoding proteins of 537 and 408 amino acids, respectively. In contrast to P450(11β)-1, which derived from 9 exons of the P450(11β) gene, the 7th and 8th exons were absent in P450(11β)-2. Tilapia P450(11β)-1 shares the highest homology with that of medaka, Oryzias latipes. Expressions of P450(11β)-1 and -2 were detected in the kidney and head kidney of both sexes, and in the testis but not in the ovary, with P450(11β)-2 lower than P450(11β)-1. Ontogenic expressions of both isoforms were detected in testis from 50dah onwards. P450(11β)-1 and -2 were strongly expressed in sex reversed XX testis after fadrozole and tamoxifen treatment, but completely inhibited in 17β-estradiol induced XY ovary. The existence of two alternatively spliced isoforms and the sexual dimorphic expression of P450(11β)s were further confirmed by Northern blot. Strong expression signals in Leydig cells and weak signals in spermatogonia were detected by in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry. Taken together, our data suggest a role for P450(11β) in the spermatogenesis of tilapia through the production of 11-KT in testis, in addition to cortisol production in head kidney. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: A major parameter for quality of pork is its waterholding capacity (WHC). Prediction of WHC immediately after slaughter would be of benefit both to slaughterhouses for reasons of better logistics and/or branding of premium-meat, and to consumers for improved quality of meat products such as ham. In our pilot study on proteome analysis of porcine muscle by two-dimensional electrophoresis, we have identified at least three and possibly eight significantly changed proteins that may serve as marker proteins for waterholding capacity. The most clearly identified proteins are creatine phospho kinase M-type (CPK), desmin, and a transcription activator (SWI/SNF related matrix-associated actin-dependent regulator of chromatin subfamily A member1, SNF2L1). A possible mechanism of how these proteins may influence WHC is discussed. An optimised protocol for protein extraction that provides for sufficient amounts of relatively pure proteins has been developed. Further studies are needed to validate and extend our preliminary results. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this article, a balanced low‐profile, unidirectional circularly polarized (CP) stacked loop antenna with wide beamwidth is proposed. The antenna is composed of a pair of stacked nonuniform loops with different radii. The larger loop serves as a principal radiator, and the smaller one acts as an auxiliary one. The feed structure consists of a pair of dipole launchers with vertical transmission line. A bonded coaxial cable is used to simultaneously excite the loops at the center. As experimentally validated, the predicted results are in good agreement with the measured results. Compared to its unbalanced counterparts, the proposed antenna can exhibit impedance bandwidth of 40% (20 log |S11| < −10 dB), 3‐dB axial ratio (AR) bandwidth of 4%, front‐to‐back ratio (FBR) up to 18.5 dB and beamwidths in E‐plane and H‐plane of 118°/90° with low profile of 0.09‐wavelength. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Patients with advanced renal cancer (RCC) often have limited success with systemic therapy due to tumor heterogeneity. However, stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) has been shown to have a beneficial therapeutic effect for oligometastatic disease when used early. Despite this, current guidelines recommend the use of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) as the first-line therapeutic agent for patients with recurrent or metastatic kidney cancer. Additionally, there is limited data on the combination of systemic treatment and SABR for extensive metastatic RCC due to concerns about high toxicity. Proton therapy offers a promising treatment option as it emits energy at a specific depth, generating high target doses while minimizing damage to normal tissue. This allows for precise treatment of various tumor lesions. In this case report, we describe a high-risk 65-year-old male with extensive pleural and thoracic lymph node metastases and 2 bone metastases of clear cell renal cancer. While the targeted therapy and immunotherapy effectively treated the bone metastases, it was not effective in treating the chest metastases, including the pleural and lymph node metastases. Thus, the patient received full-coverage radiotherapy with photon for primary renal tumor and intensity-modulated proton therapy (IMPT) for thoracic metastases. The patient showed no evidence of disease for 1 year after the initial radiotherapy, and no severe SABR-related adverse effects were observed until now. The combination of targeted therapy and immunotherapy with full-coverage radiotherapy may be a promising treatment option for selected patients with extensive metastatic renal cancer, especially as proton therapy allows for more precise control of the beam and minimal damage to normal tissue. This case has motivated us to investigate the potential advantages of administering proton therapy concurrently with systemic therapy in the management of metastatic renal cell carcinoma patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Ec-Vg protein contained seven putative N -glycosylation sites. • Ec-Vg was identified and highly expressed in hepatopancreas, almost undetectable in hemocytes. • Ec-Vg and Ec-Hsp90 were involved in the ovarian and embryonic development. • Ec-Vg in ovary played an important supplementary role at postpartum recovery phase. To evaluate functions of vitellogenin (Vg) and heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) during ovarian and embryonic development of Exopalaemon carinicauda , the cDNA of Vg (Ec-Vg) was cloned, and the abundances of Ec-Vg and heat shock protein 90 (Hsp90) (Ec - Hsp90) were determined during ovarian and embryonic development. During ovarian development, the concentration of Vg protein in hemolymph was markedly greater than in the ovary and hepatopancreas, and was greatest at sexual maturity. The relative abundance of Ec-Vg mRNA transcript was greatest in the hepatopancreas and almost undetectable in hemocytes. By combining mRNA transcript relative abundances with morphological results, a model was developed to explain the mRNA transcript relative abundance of Ec - Hsp90 and Ec-Vg during ovarian and embryonic development. The relative abundance of Ec-Vg mRNA transcript was greatest during the recovery period after reproduction had occurred (Stage V) and mature stage (Stage IV) in the ovary or hepatopancreas, respectively. There were marked associations of the patterns of Ec - Hsp90 and Ec-Vg mRNA transcript abundances both in hepatopancreas and ovary. During embryonic development, the relative abundance of the two mRNA transcripts were greatest at the metazoea and protozoea stages, respectively. These results indicate that Ec-Vg is produced primarily in the hepatopancreas, secreted into the hemolymph and transported into growing oocytes. It, therefore, is believed that Ec-Vg has an important function in the overall ovarian development and late embryonic development of E. carinicauda. In contrast, Ec - Hsp90 is a regulatory factor for Vg transcription and is important during early organogenesis in E. carinicauda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improved durability, enhanced interfacial stability, and room temperature applicability are desirable properties for all‐solid‐state lithium metal batteries (ASSLMBs), yet these desired properties are rarely achieved simultaneously. Here, in this work, it is noticed that the huge resistance at Li metal/electrolyte interface dominantly impeded the normal cycling of ASSLMBs especially at around room temperature (<30 °C). Accordingly, a supramolecular polymer ion conductor (SPC) with "weak solvation" of Li+ was prepared. Benefiting from the halogen‐bonding interaction between the electron‐deficient iodine atom (on 1,4‐diiodotetrafluorobenzene) and electron‐rich oxygen atoms (on ethylene oxide), the O‐Li+ coordination was significantly weakened. Therefore, the SPC achieves rapid Li+ transport with high Li+ transference number, and importantly, derives a unique Li2O‐rich SEI with low interfacial resistance on lithium metal surface, therefore enabling stable cycling of ASSLMBs even down to 10 °C. This work is a new exploration of halogen‐bonding chemistry in solid polymer electrolyte and highlights the importance of "weak solvation" of Li+ in the solid‐state electrolyte for room temperature ASSLMBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improved durability, enhanced interfacial stability, and room temperature applicability are desirable properties for all‐solid‐state lithium metal batteries (ASSLMBs), yet these desired properties are rarely achieved simultaneously. Here, in this work, it is noticed that the huge resistance at Li metal/electrolyte interface dominantly impeded the normal cycling of ASSLMBs especially at around room temperature (<30 °C). Accordingly, a supramolecular polymer ion conductor (SPC) with "weak solvation" of Li+ was prepared. Benefiting from the halogen‐bonding interaction between the electron‐deficient iodine atom (on 1,4‐diiodotetrafluorobenzene) and electron‐rich oxygen atoms (on ethylene oxide), the O‐Li+ coordination was significantly weakened. Therefore, the SPC achieves rapid Li+ transport with high Li+ transference number, and importantly, derives a unique Li2O‐rich SEI with low interfacial resistance on lithium metal surface, therefore enabling stable cycling of ASSLMBs even down to 10 °C. This work is a new exploration of halogen‐bonding chemistry in solid polymer electrolyte and highlights the importance of "weak solvation" of Li+ in the solid‐state electrolyte for room temperature ASSLMBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scattering effect exists widely in practical bioimaging systems, which renders a higher demand for image reconstruction from blurred images. Generally, the point spread function (PSF) of an imaging system works as a powerful key to effectively reconstruct the hidden object even from strongly scattering-induced speckle patterns. However, the direct acquisition of the PSF commonly involves an invasive way like delighting a point in the region of interest, which is typically unavailable in practical applications. Here, we propose a non-invasive PSF recovery method under wavelength-dependent speckle illumination. The PSF is recovered from the uncorrelated intensity patterns through non-negative matrix factorization, while effective image reconstruction is realized by combining it with the multiplexed speckle pattern. It is surprising that a direct illumination, i.e., the lighting and detection utilize the same wavelength and even possess high spatial coherence, still fulfills the effective information extraction using the intensity-only based incoherent algorithm. This work provides a non-invasive way of PSF recovery and facilitates the PSF associated techniques such as image deblurring and super-resolution imaging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Isolated calf deep venous thrombosis (ICDVT) includes thrombosis located at the far end of the popliteal vein, such as the anterior tibial vein, posterior tibial vein, fibular vein, and intramuscular vein of the soleus and gastrocnemius. This type of thrombosis has the highest incidence, accounting for approximately half of all deep vein thrombosis (DVT) cases; however, there is no consistent recommendation for ICDVT treatment across countries, and there is also no optimal management strategy. In recent years, increasing evidence has shown that ICDVT can develop into proximal DVT, even causing pulmonary embolism (PE). Therefore, some experts suggest anticoagulant therapy for this type of DVT, while others hold an opposing attitude. Therefore, the treatment strategy for this type of DVT has become a hot and difficult research topic. The purpose of this review is to summarize the characteristics of ICDVT and the effects of different treatment strategies by analyzing recent and important classical works in the literature in an attempt to provide recommendations for the treatment of this most common type of DVT in orthopaedic clinics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a cancer with extremely high mortality. Epithelial‐mesenchymal transition (EMT) may play an important role in the occurrence, invasion and prognosis of HCC; however, its relationship with immunity in HCC has not yet been studied. Therefore, we investigated the diagnostic and prognostic values of EMT and explored its potential connections with tumorigenic immune infiltrates in HCC. We first proposed a quantitative metric of EMT activity, the EMT score. After applying this metric to 20 datasets from the Integrative Molecular Database of Hepatocellular Carcinoma, the Cancer Genome Atlas, and the Gene Expression Omnibus, we explored the ability of the EMT score to stratify across sample types. We then applied the EMT score for survival analysis and to differentiate patients with/without vascular invasion to test its prognostic value. We also collected and calculated data on the abundance of immune cells and immune cell markers in HCC and investigated their correlations with EMT scores. Finally, we synthesized and analyzed 20 datasets and constructed an EMT‐gene‐immune linkage network. The results showed higher EMT scores in HCC samples than in cirrhotic and normal livers. The cases with higher EMT scores also showed poorer performance in terms of prognostic factors such as vascular invasion and overall survival time. Our research demonstrated a broad correlation between EMT and the tumor immune microenvironment, and we uncovered multiple potential linkers associated with both EMT and immunity. Studying EMT has clinical relevance and high diagnostic and prognostic value for HCC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, a novel photosensitizer meso-tetra (3-pyrrolidinomethyl-4-methoxyphenyl) chlorin (TPMC) was reported. It displays a characteristic long wavelength absorption peak at 656 nm and it shows a singlet oxygen quantum yield of 0.48. After light irradiation with 650 nm laser, it can kill Eca-109 and SMMC-7721 cells in vitro (25 mW/cm2, 1.2 to 3.6 J/cm2) and destroy Eca-109 tumor in nude mice (50 mW/cm2, 90 J/cm2). It has the perspective to be developed as a new anti-tumor drug in photodynamic therapy (PDT) photodiagnosis, and deserves further investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Applications based on the formation of exciton polariton in microcavities provide new avenues for the realization of low-energy consumption and ultrafast devices in areas of photo-electronic and quantum information. Here, we propose a way to design polaritonic multi-mode interferometers in a WS2 microcavity by an all optical control method. The interference phenomenon of polariton is controlled by the well-known optical Stark effect. The optical Stark light changes dispersion (e.g., effective refractive index) of the illuminated region, and generates a waveguide region therein, thus supporting different guided modes of polariton. Multi-mode interference of polariton is then guided by changing the beam pattern or intensity of the Stark light. This proposed method is then theoretically analyzed and proved via effective refractive index calculation and eigenmode analysis of plane waveguide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] Oxidative stress was induced in PTZ kindling mice. [•] Metformin attenuated the intensity of seizures during PTZ kindling. [•] Metformin ameliorated learning and memory impairment induced by epileptic seizures. [•] Metformin reduced the brain oxidative stress in PTZ kindling mice. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Layer-pair number ranged from 9 to 22 of 355nm LaF3/MgF2 high reflectors were deposited by boat resistant heating onto substrates of fused silica and K9 glasses, and the total stress was obtained by curvature measurements. The stress increased with incremental layers until crazing happed because of huge tensile stress at higher layer-pair number. Two methods called post-heat treatment in vacuum and double stack design with combination of LaF3/MgF2 and HfO2/SiO2 coatings were found to be effective to reduce the stress and avoid crazing. Especially in the double stack designed coatings, both low stress and high optical properties with transmittance smaller than 0.4% at 355nm were obtained. Substrates and age effects were also discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• Imaging through opacity can be implemented using highly coherent illumination. • The spatial frequencies are well preserved under strong scattering effect. • Deconvolution algorithm is insensitive to the light coherence. • Strong scattering effect is crucial under highly coherent illumination. Imaging through opacity has captured extensive attention in recent years for its promising applications in bioimaging systems and information extraction from scrambled light. Many optimized image reconstruction algorithms and advanced imaging scenarios are introduced and intensively studied in previous researches. However, intensity-based image reconstruction under the highly coherent light illumination is still a major challenge due to the strong interference effect. Here, we demonstrate that imaging through opacity can be implemented efficiently even under the highly coherent illumination with the aid of an intensity-based/incoherent deconvolution algorithm. Based on the experimental and theoretical analysis, we find the small phase correlation length of the diffuser plays a pivotal role in enabling the incoherent deconvolution operation for highly coherent illumination. Furthermore, the deconvolution algorithm shows insensitivity to the light coherence since the spatial frequencies of the object are well preserved in the spatial frequency spectrum of the speckle pattern. Our results provide a phase-information-free scheme for imaging through opacity under the highly coherent illumination. We anticipate our work would motivate the deep understanding of imaging using highly coherent illumination, increase the structural robustness of imaging systems and facilitate wavelength-sensitive imaging applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: An equivalent circuit model of a pixellated-metal-mirror ferroelectric liquid crystal (FLC) optically addressed spatial light modulator (OASLM) is proposed. Using both structure and FLC material parameters of a real device and real material as the simulation parameters, the model is firstly confirmed by good agreement of simulation results and the reported experimental ones, and then utilized to optimize gray-scale performance of the OASLM. The model is developed from an improved FLC equivalent circuit, and has the ability to describe the voltage dropped across the modulating layer and to predict how optical outputs vary over time with the input drive voltage and control image. Simulation results indicate that gray-scale performance of the OASLM is highly dependent on write pulse width. More than 10 gray scales are observed when write pulse width is 100μs and the number reduces to four when it reaches 500μs. Other parameters of drive voltage can be set to adjust the region of write light intensity over which gray scales are best produced, and write pulses are found to be primary at high write light intensities, whereas erase pulses are dominant at low write light intensities. Furthermore, although gray-scale performance is weakly dependent on erase-light intensity, the erase light is necessary to ensure a proper erasure of the device and at least 1mW/cm2 is required in this study. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this paper, we investigate the group velocity matching based on tilting pulse front in type-III collinear phase-matching configuration in BBO crystal. The design seems simple and practicable. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Subwavelength arrays of dipole-bowtie antennas are designed and characterized using terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) and finite element method (FEM) simulations. Two different substrates, silicon and mylar with an order of magnitude difference between their thickness values are used to study the resonance properties of the antennas. The 640-μm thick silicon substrate supports a sharper fundamental mode resonance. We discover that higher-order Fabry—Perot resonances can be excited only in 24-μm thin mylar substrates and show much higher sensitivity to dielectric changes in the environment and the geometrical parameters of the antennas than the fundamental dipole resonance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Wavelength-dependent speckle multiplexing can suppress coherent background noise. • Tunable laser and multimode fibre provide the decorrelated speckle illumination. • Partially spatially coherent light also enables speckle correlated imaging. • A broadband multiwavelength laser is favourable for the multi-channel detection. Memory-effect-based speckle-correlated imaging through opacity has been exploited widely in recent years. Generally, spatially incoherent light sources are required to provide effective illumination that can eliminate the interference noise. Here, the wavelength-dependent speckle multiplexing (WDSM) technique is first proposed and demonstrated as an effective method to suppress the interference noise, thereby facilitating the use of partially spatially coherent light as an alternative promising illuminating source. In contrast to the conventional decoherent approach which often employs a rapidly rotating diffuser to reduce the spatial coherence of a spatially coherent light, the WDSM shows greatly enhanced structural robustness by combining a tunable laser and the speckle illumination using a multimode fibre. The proposed WDSM not only expands the scope of candidate light sources for speckle-correlated imaging based on the classical phase-retrieval algorithm, but also enables the multi-channel detection determined by the speckle spectral decorrelation, which would further facilitate the waveband selective light-matter detection through opacity. This work also combines the advantages of fibre optics and laser technology and enriches the potential applications of speckle-correlated imaging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The influence of the non-local effect on sensing performance in a long-distance Brillouin optical time-domain analyzer (BOTDA) based on bi-directional Raman amplification has been investigated theoretically. The system error induced by the non-local effect worsens with increased powers of probe wave and Raman pump. For smaller Brillouin pump power, the non-local effect is almost independent of Brillouin pump power. For larger Brillouin pump power, the non-local effect deteriorates gradually due to Raman gain saturation and cross-gain modulation (XGM). The purely backward pumping (relative to probe light) is preferable for non-local effect suppression. The frequency-division multiplexing (FDM) and time-division-multiplexing (TDM) technologies exhibit similar performance for suppressing the non-local effect under the same conditions. The sensing range near the far-end (relative to the Brillouin pump) should be appropriately shorter to minimize the non-local effect in FDM and TDM. The physical mechanisms of the non-local effect in long-distance BOTDA with Raman amplification are also shown. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]