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We report the preliminary experimental results for an amorphous silicon carbide (a-SiC) thermo-optic phase shifter (TOPS). This device is based on microring resonator (MRR) structure with a titanium (Ti) heater placed on the top of the device, separated by 1.5 μm thick SiO2 to reduce the optical loss. The proposed a-SiC microring has a thickness and a radius of 1.1 μm and 33 μm, respectively. By applying an electrical power in the Ti heater, a resonance wavelength shift at an optical wavelength of λ=1550 nm is shown, and the extracted thermal tunability is 52.2 pm/mW.

Silicon carbide, a wide bandgap semiconductor material platform, has emerged as an exceptional material for nonlinear integrated photonics. Among the different poly-structures, 4H-silicon carbide-on-insulator stacks show promising results to their low loss, which are crucial for commercial applications like communication, metrology, and spectroscopy. High Q-values and low-loss microring resonators are imperative for miniaturization and photonic integration in these applications. This Perspective emphasizes recent advancements in enhancing the quality factor of microresonators based on 4H-silicon carbide, as well as the strides made in experimental results of third-order nonlinearities. Furthermore, this Letter addresses and outlines the prospects of integrating 4H-silicon carbide microring resonators into frequency comb technologies and potential applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to analyze the drug resistance spectrum, genetic diversity, and transmission dynamics to provide a basis for the prevention and control of drug-resistant (DR) tuberculosis (TB) epidemics. Methods: This retrospective study is based on routine national drug resistance surveillance. The demographic, epidemiological, and clinical information on DR-TB patients from 2016 to 2021 was collected and used for phenotypic drug susceptibility testing and whole-genome sequencing. Results: It was indicated that L2.2.1 was the dominant lineage in Urumqi. The drug resistance spectrum in Urumqi was narrow, which means more drug combinations can be used for clinical treatment. Furthermore, mutations identification of drug-resistance gene katG, rpoB, embA/B, rrs, rpsL, eis, gyrA/B, folC and tryA are important for clinical drug use. However, mutations in cross-resistance genes rrs have limited guidance for clinical selection of KM, CPM and AK. Moreover, there is an increased risk of cluster transmission of DR-TB, and the difference in clustering rate among L2, L3, and L4 was not statistically significant (χ2 = 2.6410, p = 0.2670). Conclusion: In the Urumqi, DR-TB has a complex prevalence state, a narrow drug resistance spectrum, and a high clustering rate and burden of drug resistance. To reduce the burden of DR-TB, related research should be strengthened, and the development of prevention, control, and treatment strategies should be accelerated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To analyze the anxiety status and influencing factors among biosafety laboratory (BSL) personnel in Xinjiang. Methods In 2021, a total of 8 500 BSL workers from disease control centers, hospital laboratories, and other related departments in 106 counties of Xinjiang, selected by a cluster sampling method, were surveyed with the Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS). The logistic regression model was used to analyze the possible influencing factors for anxiety. Results A total of 7 924 valid questionnaires were collected, with an effective recovery rate of 93.2%. The anxiety detection rate was 34.93% (2 768/7 924), including 19.95% mild anxiety, 8.99% moderate anxiety, and 5.99% severe anxiety. The logistic regression analysis showed that the females had a higher risk of developing anxiety than the males (OR = 1.418, P < 0.05). Compared with those aged < 24, those aged 30 - 44 and over 50 were more likely to develop anxiety (OR = 1.298, 1.482, P < 0.05). Compared with the unmarried, the married had an increased risk of developing anxiety (OR = 1.159, P < 0.05). Compared with those without asking for leave, those asking for leave had an increased risk of developing anxiety (OR = 1.228 - 4.405, P < 0.05). Compared with those with working time ≤ 5 years, those with working time over 6 years had an increased risk of developing anxiety (OR = 1.444, 2.002, P < 0.05). Compared with experimental technicians, logistics and engineering personnel had an increased risk of developing anxiety (OR = 1.280, P < 0.05). Compared with workers with a fixed-day shift, shift workers had an increased risk of developing anxiety (OR = 2.051, P < 0.05). The workers with coronary heart disease and peptic ulcer had an increased risk of developing anxiety (OR = 1.848, 2.951, P < 0.05) compared with workers without this disease. Compared with those with technical secondary school and below, those with the bachelor degree or above had a reduced risk of developing anxiety (OR = 0.685, P < 0.05). Compared with those who did not exercise, those who exercised weekly had a reduced risk of developing anxiety (OR = 0.708 - 0.775, P < 0.05). Compared with those with poor sleep quality, those with good sleep quality had a reduced risk of developing anxiety (OR = 0.201, P < 0.05). Compared with those with an average monthly income of less than 3 000 yuan, those with a monthly income of more than 4 000 yuan had a reduced risk of developing anxiety (OR = 0.685 - 0.771, P < 0.05). Conclusions The anxiety incidence rate of BSL workers in Xinjiang was high, and the influencing factors were multifaceted. The evaluation and intervention of their anxiety should be paid attention to. Relevant departments should intervene at multiple levels to improve the occurrence of employees' anxiety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective To explore the relationship between occupational stress, sleep quality, and quality of life among biosafety laboratory (BSL) staff in Xinjiang. Methods In July 2022, the cluster sampling method was used to select 1 980 on-duty staff from biosafety laboratories in various regions of Xinjiang, and a questionnaire survey was conducted through the Questionnaire Star online survey platform with the Effort-Reward Imbalance Scale, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, and the World Health Organization Quality of Life Scale. Intergroup comparisons were made to evaluate the correlation between occupational stress, sleep quality, and quality of life. A structural equation model was established with AMOS 21.0 software to analyze the mediating effect of sleep quality between occupational stress and quality of life. Results A total of 1 591 valid questionnaires were collected, with an effective recovery rate of 80.4%. The detection rate of occupational stress was 87.0%, while the detection rate of sleep disorders was 37.1% in biosafety laboratory staff. The median (25%, 75% percentile) of quality of life scores was 56.76 (49.81, 62.12) points. The quality of life scores of staff with 30-39 years old, the bachelor's degree, 11-20 years of work experience, the intermediate professional title, and no exercise per week were lower (P < 0.05). The scores of occupational stress and sleep quality were negatively correlated with the quality of life scores (rs = - 0.435, - 0.441, P < 0.01), and occupational stress was positively correlated with the scores of sleep quality (rs = 0.371, P < 0.01). The results of the structural equation model showed that both occupational stress and sleep quality had direct effects on quality of life (the standardized path coefficients were - 0.17 and - 0.52, respectively (P < 0.01). Occupational stress could indirectly affect quality of life through sleep quality (β = - 0.29, P < 0.01, the mediating effect accounted for 63.0%). Conclusions The higher the level of occupational stress and the sleep quality of BSL staff, the worse their quality of life will be. The biosafety laboratory arranges work tasks rationally, builds a good working system, and improves its quality of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Infectious diseases remain a major global issue in public health. It is important to develop rapid, sensitive, and accurate diagnostic methods to detect pathogens and their mutations. Cas12f1 is an exceptionally compact RNA‐guided nuclease and have the potential to fulfill the clinical needs. Based on the interaction between crRNA‐SSDNA binary sequence and Cas12f1, here, we addressed the essential features that determine the recognition ability of CRISPR‐Cas12f1 single‐nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), such as the length of spacer region and the base pairing region that determines the trans‐cleavage of ssDNA. A fine‐tuning spacer design strategy is also proposed to enhance the SNP recognition capability of CRISPR‐Cas12f1. The optimized spacer confers the Cas12f1 system a strong SNP identification capability for viral or bacterial drug‐resistance mutations, with a specificity ratio ranging from 19.63 to 110.20 and an admirable sensitivity up to 100 copy/μL. Together, the spacer screening and CRISPR‐Cas12f1 based SNP identification method, is sensitive and versatile, and will have a wide application prospect in pathogen DNA mutation diagnosis and other mutation profiling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]