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There are various applied electro-optical devices, which utilize light emitting didoe (LED) chip array for applications to displays and opto-electronic sensors. In those devices, it is the one of the critical technical issues to minimize uncertain fluctuations including optical power and optical density. Due to variation in operating environment of a device, those are not corrected precisely by controlling parameters based on simple relation between parameters and resultant abovementioned outputs. Therefore, there is essential need to correct outputs in real-time based on correction function generated from the consideration on various operation condition. In this article, we introduce an output correction method through reporting real-time image noise reduction in the application to electro-photography with LED print head. In the technology of LED print head, as differences in optical characteristics between each LED cause vertical image noise, it should be corrected in order to obtain images that are comparable or better in quality compared to those produced by the conventional laser scanning method. Even though it seems that the method used to obtain uniform light power from each LED can solve this problem, it does not work well for high-resolution printing. Therefore, a scan method involving correction by a printed and scanned pattern is introduced through this work. The scan method is composed of correction patterns to minimize printing noise by its shape, the correction algorithm to calculate the optimized value and the printing algorithm to control gray levels in real-time precisely. We believe that the developed correction method upgrades the printing quality of the LPH printer better than commercial printers. The developed correction method can also be applied to various application areas that use an array-type light source such as display systems and lighting systems.

Neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder with aquaporin-4 immunoglobulin G (NMOSD-AQP4) is an inflammatory disease of the central nervous system (CNS). Recent studies have demonstrated that body mass index (BMI) can be associated with the risk and/or outcomes of diverse inflammatory diseases, such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA), psoriasis, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis and multiple sclerosis (MS). However, the clinical implication of BMI in NMOSD-AQP4 is still unknown. ### Patients A total of 157 patients with NMOSD-AQP4 who had their first episodes between 1982 and 2016, from six nationwide tertiary referral hospitals, were finally included (see figure 1 in the online Supplementary file 1). Patients were tested for antiaquaporin-4 (AQP4) antibody using either the fluorescence-activated cell sorting assay or cell-based assay.1 In the NMOSD-AQP4 group, BMI measured within 1 month of the first symptom of NMOSD-AQP4 and before any steroid treatment, immune suppressant, or immune modifying treatment (BMInaive) and the lowest BMI measured within 1 year of the first symptoms of NMOSD-AQP4 (BMImin-1yr) were obtained, respectively. BMI values less than 18.5 kg/m2 were classified as low according to the WHO recommendation. Demographic information, number and location of attacks, results of the cerebrospinal fluid examination and maximal score of the Kurtzke Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) on disease onset were assessed. Prognosis was evaluated in terms of the time to a confirmed EDSS of 6 (EDSS6), functional system score of 4 for visual function (VF4) and mortality. ### Supplementary file 1 [jnnp-2017-317202-SP1.jpg] ### Healthy controls and MS controls A matched case–control study was performed to evaluate the association between BMI and risk for NMOSD-AQP4. The controls were selected from the 96 146 participants included in the nationwide population-based survey of the health and nutritional status of Korea (Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES))2 conducted in 1998, 2001, 2005 and 2007–2015. Four controls were matched to each case based on age, sex and year of BMI measurement (within …

The bone health in neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder with aquaporin-4 immunoglobulin G antibodies (NMOSD-AQP4) have not been fully evaluated. To evaluate the prevalence of fractures and bone loss in patients with NMOSD-AQP4 compared to healthy controls and patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and to identify the risk factors associated with fractures and low bone mineral density (BMD) in patients with NMOSD-AQP4.Seventy-one patients with NMOSD-AQP4 were included. The two control groups consisted of 213 age-, sex-, menopause-, and body mass index (BMI)-matched healthy participants from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (healthy controls) and 41 patients with multiple sclerosis (disease controls). We collected demographic and clinical data related to bone health including BMD and FRAX score.Patients with NMOSD-AQP4 had a higher prevalence of fractures than the healthy control group (OR = 5.40, CI = 2.004-14.524, p = 0.001), with falling, but not steroid use, being associated with an increased risk of fractures after diagnosis with NMOSD-AQP4 (OR = 24.902, CI = 3.086-200.947, p = 0.003). They also had significantly lower BMD than controls (femur neck, p = 0.044; total hip, p 0.001), which was more prominent in young participants. The BMD in the NMOSD-AQP4 group was associated with cumulative dose of oral steroids, age, sex, BMI, and partly with the prophylactic calcium supplements. Though the patients with NMOSD-AQP4 did not differ significantly from patients with MS in terms of fracture rate and BMD, they had higher risk of fractures as measured by the Fracture Risk Assessment Tool (for major osteoporotic fractures, (p = 0.001; for hip fractures, p = 0.018).Patients with NMOSD-AQP4 had a significantly higher risk of fractures that could mostly be attributed to falling. Additionally, low BMD was observed in these patients; it was more prominent among young patients, associated with steroid use, and may partially prevented by the use of prophylactic calcium supplements.

Summary We evaluated the epidemiological risk factors for MERS-CoV transmission during the recent South Korean outbreak. MERS-CoV transmission was determined by host infectivity and the number of contacts, whereas super-spreading events were determined by the number of contacts and hospital visits., Background. Transmission heterogeneity was observed during the 2015 Korean outbreak of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection. Only 22 of 186 cases transmitted the infection, and 5 super-spreading events caused 150 transmissions. We investigated the risk factors for MERS-CoV transmission. Methods. Epidemiological reports were used to classify patients as nonspreaders, spreaders, or those associated with a super-spreading event (5 or more transmissions). Logistic regression analyses were used to evaluate the factors for MERS-CoV transmission. Results. Compared to nonspreaders, spreaders exhibited a longer interval from symptom onset to isolation (7 days vs 3 days) and more frequent pre-isolation pneumonia diagnoses (68.2% vs 17.1%). Spreaders also exhibited higher values for pre-isolation contacts (149 vs 17.5), pre-isolation hospitalization (68.2% vs 16.5%), and emergency room (ER) visits (50% vs 7.3%). Spreaders exhibited lower cycle thresholds for the upE and ORF1a genes (22.7 vs 27.2 and 23.7 vs 27.9, respectively). In multivariate analysis, transmission was independently associated with the cycle threshold (odds ratio [OR], 0.84; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.75–0.96) and pre-isolation hospitalization or ER visits (OR, 6.82; 95% CI, 2.06–22.84). The super-spreading events exhibited higher values for pre-isolation contacts (777 vs 78), pre-isolation ER visits (100% vs 35.3%), and doctor shopping (100% vs 47.1%) compared to non-super-spreading events. Conclusions. These findings indicate that transmission is determined by host infectivity and the number of contacts, whereas super-spreading events were determined by the number of contacts and hospital visits. These relationships highlight the importance of rapidly enforcing infection control measures to prevent outbreaks.

Plasmonics is considered as one of the most promising candidates for implementing the next generation of ultrafast and ultracompact photonic circuits. Considerable effort has been made to scale down individual plasmonic components into the nanometer regime. However, a compact plasmonic source that can efficiently generate surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) and deliver SPPs to the region of interest is yet to be realized. Here, bridging the optical antenna theory and the recently developed concept of metamaterials, we demonstrate a subwavelength, highly efficient plasmonic source for directional generation of SPPs. The designed device consists of two nanomagnetic resonators with detuned resonant frequencies. At the operating wavelength, incident photons can be efficiently channeled into SPP waves modulated by the electric field polarization. By tailoring the relative phase at resonance and the separation between the two nanoresonators, SPPs can be steered to predominantly propagate along one specific direction. This novel magnetic nanoantenna paves a new way to manipulate photons in the near-field, and also could be useful for SPP-based nonlinear applications, active modulations, and wireless optical communications.

The law of refraction first derived by Snellius and later introduced as the Huygens-Fermat principle, states that the incidence and refracted angles of a light wave at the interface of two different materials are related to the ratio of the refractive indices in each medium. Whereas all natural materials have a positive refractive index and therefore exhibit refraction in the positive direction, artificially engineered negative index metamaterials have been shown capable of bending light waves negatively. Such a negative refractive index is the key to achieving a perfect lens that is capable of imaging well below the diffraction limit. However, negative index metamaterials are typically lossy, narrow band, and require complicated fabrication processes. Recently, an alternative approach to obtain negative refraction from a very thin nonlinear film has been proposed and experimentally demonstrated in the microwave region. However, such approaches use phase conjugation, which makes optical implementations difficult. Here, we report a simple but different scheme to demonstrate experimentally nonlinear negative refraction at optical frequencies using four-wave mixing in nanostructured metal films. The refractive index can be designed at will by simply tuning the wavelengths of the interacting waves, which could have potential impact on many important applications, such as superlens imaging.

유압 브레이커는 굴착기의 암 끝에 장착되어 파쇄작업을 하는 부착작업기이다. 그러나 굴착기의 성능에 치명적인 영향을 미치는 유압 브레이커의 중량에 대한 연구는 아직 없었다. 따라서 본 연구에서는 유압 브레이커에서 대부분의 중량을 차지하고 있는 하우징에 대한 최적설계를 수행하였다. 유압 브레이커 하우징의 설계 요구사항은 정상 운전상태에서 파손없이 중량을 최소화하는 것이다. 직교배열표를 이용하여 실험점을 선정하였고, 실험점에서의 결과를 바탕으로 근사모델을 생성하여 최적 설계안을 도출하였다. 그 결과, 모든 구속조건을 만족하면서 유압 브레이커 하우징의 중량을 4.8% 감소시켰다.

Near-field optical imaging and lithography rely on achieving both high resolution and efficient coupling. Particularly conventional near-field scanning optical microscopy (NSOM) suffers from the trade-off between resolution and efficiency. Planar plasmonic lens schemes can partially solve this issue utilizing plasmonic resonances, but the performance is not robust over a large range of sample materials. In this work we show a novel quasi-3D plasmonic scheme to focus light into the extreme subwavelength region in the near field with an efficiency orders higher than NSOM. The superb performance comes from the strong coupling between the localized mode with an off-plane E-field component and the sample being processed. Our scheme can efficiently focus light to a spot with a diameter down to 1/20 of its wavelength, and the coupling efficiency can be as high as 10%. Theoretically, we demonstrate that the FWHM of the focus spot can be 7 nm with an enhancement of about 800 at the UV region. The focusing performance is constantly good over a large variety of materials and the illumination and collection imaging scheme has been demonstrated by simulation. An example design of this quasi-3D coupling scheme is fabricated and its imaging performance is characterized by the apertureless optical near-field measurement. The high coupling efficiency at extreme subwavelength resolution of this quasi-3D coupling scheme opens the door to many applications, such as optical lithography, nanoscale imaging, heat-assisted magnetic recording, plasmon-enhanced Raman spectroscopy, etc.

Tribological optimization of the head/disk interface is crucial to attain reliable performance of hard disk drives. As the flying height of the slider above the disk continues to decrease with increase in recording density, the concern for surface damage is greater than ever before. In this work a novel method to reduce debris contamination by way of trapping the particles in micro-grooves on the slider surface to protect the head is proposed. Tests performed with dummy sliders with several types of strategically designed micro-grooves show that the grooves are effective in removing the wear debris at the slider/disk interface. Furthermore, concept for stiction-free slider design has been investigated. Micro-bumps were fabricated on a slider surface in order to reduce stiction. Preliminary tests show that compared with conventional sliders, these sliders result in significantly lower stiction during contact-start-stop tests performed on the data zone of a magnetic disk. The concepts proposed in this work may be utilized in the design of future sliders for low flying heads on super-smooth disks.

Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) is the most common immune-mediated polyradiculoneuropathy and it is also the most commonly reported severe adverse event following immunization in adults. To evaluate the results of clinical and laboratory features of GBS after vaccination in Korea, we analyzed the claims-based data from 2002 to 2014 using materials collected for the Advisory Committee Vaccination Injury Compensation (ACVIC) meeting including, clinical features, nerve conduction studies (NCSs), cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) profiles, treatment, and outcomes. Forty-eight compensated GBS cases (median age, 15 years; interquartile range [IQR], 13–51; male:female ratio, 1:1) of 68 suspected GBS were found following immunization and all of them with influenza immunizations with either monovalent (n = 35) or trivalent (n = 13). Among them, 30 cases fulfilled the Brighton criteria level 1–3 (62.5%). The median duration between the onset of symptoms to nadir, duration of the nadir, and total admission period were 3 (IQR, 2–7 days), 2 (IQR, 1–5 days), and 14 (IQR, 6–33 days) days, respectively. The most frequently reported symptom was quadriparesis which was present in 36 cases (75%) at nadir. CSF examination revealed albuminocytologic dissociation in 25.0% and NCS was abnormal in 61.8%. After treatment, most of them showed improvement. Clinical features were similar to typical post-infectious GBS and there were both demyelinating and axonal forms suggesting heterogeneous pathogenic mechanism. In order to improve the diagnostic certainty of post-vaccination GBS, careful documentation of clinical features and timely diagnostic work-up with follow-up studies are needed., Graphical Abstract

Background: It is difficult to clarify whether small deep infarction is caused by cardioembolism or intrinsic small vessel disease in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF). The purpose of this study was to determine whether preexisting small vessel disease would differ according to the presenting infarct pattern and to determine the factors associated with acute single small deep infarction in stroke patients with AF. Methods: Between January 2008 and August 2012, 1,592 consecutive patients with acute ischemic stroke presenting within 7 days of symptom onset were entered in a prospectively maintained stroke registry. For the present study, 231 stroke patients with AF were enrolled irrespective of the stroke subtype. We divided these patients into 2 groups (lacunar infarct pattern, n = 20, vs. nonlacunar infarct pattern, n = 211) according to the acute infarct pattern on diffusion-weighted imaging. Patients with acute single small deep infarction on diffusion-weighted imaging were assigned to the lacunar infarct pattern group. We assessed the severity of preexisting small vessel disease by grading white matter lesions (WMLs) according to the Fazekas scale (periventricular WML score ranging from 0 to 3 and deep WML score ranging from 0 to 3 were added to give a total WML score ranging from 0 to 6), multilacunar state (number of chronic lacunes ≥2) and the presence of microbleeds. Demographic characteristics, vascular risk factors and neuroimaging data were compared between the two groups. Results: Patients with a lacunar infarct pattern showed more severe WMLs than those with a nonlacunar pattern [median total WML score 2.5 (range 2-4) vs. 1.0 (0-2); p < 0.001]. A multilacunar state was more prevalent in the lacunar infarct pattern group compared with the nonlacunar pattern group (65 vs. 28.9%; p = 0.001). However, the presence of microbleeds did not differ between the groups. Multiple logistic regression analyses revealed periventricular WMLs [odds ratio (OR) 4.12, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.14-7.92], deep WMLs (OR 3.42, 95% CI 1.75-6.66) and multilacunar state (OR 7.85, 95% CI 2.45-25.6) as the predictors of a lacunar infarct pattern. Conclusions: The severity of WMLs and chronic lacunes were independent predictors of the incident infarct pattern, which suggested that acute single small deep infarction might be caused by intrinsic small vessel disease despite the presence of concomitant AF.

Metamaterials have extraordinary abilities, such as imaging beyond the diffraction limit and invisibility. Many metamaterials are based on split-ring structures, however, like atomic orbital currents, it has long been believed that closed rings cannot produce negative refractive index. Here we report a low-loss and polarization-independent negative-index metamaterial made solely of closed metallic nanorings. Using symmetry breaking that negatively couples the discrete nanorings, we measured negative phase delay in our composite ‘chess metamaterial’. The formation of an ultra-broad Fano-resonance-induced optical negative-index band, spanning wavelengths from 1.3 to 2.3 μm, is experimentally observed in this structure. This discrete and mono-particle negative-index approach opens exciting avenues towards symmetry-controlled topological nanophotonics with on-demand linear and nonlinear responses. Metamaterials using split-ring resonators can display negative refractive index, yet the same effect for closed rings has remained elusive. Kante et al.overcome this by using closely spaced coupled nanorings that exploit symmetry breaking to show broadband negative refractive index at optical frequencies.

The photonic analog of atomic electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) introduces a sharp resonance in transmission within a broad absorption profile. The rapid dispersion of these structures leads to critical photonic applications such as integrated optical delay lines. To date, experimental demonstrations of such analogs have relied on the measurement of the far-field spectrum. Here we present a near-field optical study of plasmon-induced transparency (PIT), a photonic analog with subwavelength-sized plasmonic resonators mimicking the bright and dark elements in EIT. Supported by numerical analyses, the optical near-field distributions at various wavelengths reveal the interference dynamics between the coupled bright and dark plasmonic resonators.

Open quantum systems consisting of coupled bound and continuum states have been studied in a variety of physical systems, particularly within the scope of nuclear, atomic, and molecular physics. In the open systems, the effects of the continuum decay channels are accounted for by indirect non-Hermitian couplings among the quasibound states. Here we explore anti-Hermitian coupling in a plasmonic system for spatially manipulating light on the nanoscale. We show that by utilizing the anti-Hermitian coupling, plasmonic antennas closely packed within only λ/15 separations can be individually excited from the far field, which are otherwise indistinguishable from each other. This opens a new venue for the nanoscale lightwave control, wavelength multiplexing, and spectrum splitting.

Switching the handedness, or the chirality, of a molecule is of great importance in chemistry and biology, as molecules of different handedness exhibit dramatically different physiological properties and pharmacological effects. Here we experimentally demonstrate handedness switching in metamaterials, a new class of custom-designed composites with deep subwavelength building blocks, in response to external optical stimuli. The metamolecule monolayer flips the ellipticity and rotates the polarization angle of light in excess of 10° under optical excitation, a much stronger electromagnetic effect than that of naturally available molecules. Furthermore, the experimentally demonstrated optical switching effect does not require a structural reconfiguration, which is typically involved in molecular chirality switching and is inherently slow. The handedness switching in chiral metamolecules allows electromagnetic control of the polarization of light and will find important applications in manipulation of terahertz waves, such as dynamically tunable terahertz circular polarizers and polarization modulators for terahertz radiations.

Optical imaging and photolithography promise broad applications in nano-electronics, metrologies, and single-molecule biology. Light diffraction however sets a fundamental limit on optical resolution, and it poses a critical challenge to the down-scaling of nano-scale manufacturing. Surface plasmons have been used to circumvent the diffraction limit as they have shorter wavelengths. However, this approach has a trade-off between resolution and energy efficiency that arises from the substantial momentum mismatch. Here we report a novel multi-stage scheme that is capable of efficiently compressing the optical energy at deep sub-wavelength scales through the progressive coupling of propagating surface plasmons (PSPs) and localized surface plasmons (LSPs). Combining this with airbearing surface technology, we demonstrate a plasmonic lithography with 22 nm half-pitch resolution at scanning speeds up to 10 m/s. This low-cost scheme has the potential of higher throughput than current photolithography, and it opens a new approach towards the next generation semiconductor manufacturing.

Objectives: Reportedly, hippocampal neuronal degeneration by kainic acid (KA)-induced seizures in rats Materials and Methods: Sixty male Sprague-Dawley, 14-day-old rats were used. Experiments were conducted in saline, LPS + saline, saline + KA and LPS + KA groups. Intraperitoneal LPS injections (0.04 mg/kg) were administered 3 h prior to KA injection (3 mg/kg). Results: The LPS + KA group showed a tendency toward shorter latency to seizure onset (p = 0.086) and significantly longer seizure duration (p < 0.05) compared with the KA group. Induction of the proconvulsant cytokine IL-1β in rat pup brains was significantly greater in the LPS + KA group compared to the KA group (38.8 ± 5.5 vs. 9.2 ± 1.0 pg/µg; p < 0.05); however, IL-6 levels were higher in the KA group than in the LPS + KA group (108.7 ± 6.8 vs. 60.9 ± 4.7 pg/µg; p < 0.05). The difference in tumor necrosis factor-α between the LPS + KA group and the KA group was insignificant (12.1 ± 0.6 vs. 10.9 ± 2.3 pg/µg; p = 0.64). Conclusions: Our results showed an increase in the proconvulsant cytokine IL-1β and a decrease in a potentially neuroprotective cytokine, IL-6, in rat pups treated with LPS + KA. These results warrant further investigation into the possible role of IL-1β induction and IL-6 suppression in LPS-promoted neuronal damage.

Optical lithography has been the critical process for continuous size reduction of semiconductor devices and circuits manufacturing1, 2. As the industry is continually improving the lithography feature size, conventional optical lithography becomes more difficult and costive in satisfying the ever increasing demands in nano-manufacturing because of the fundamental limit of diffraction. Many maskless processes are capable of creating feature sizes better than optical lithography, but they all suffer from their low throughput. Here we experimentally demonstrated the capability of parallel patterning with 50 nm linewidth with a high flying speed at 10 meter/second. This is a low-cost high-throughput nano-fabrication scheme which has the potential of a few orders of magnitude higher throughput than current maskless techniques. It promises a new route towards the next generation nano-manufacturing. Besides its application in nanolithography, this technique can also be used for nanoscale metrology, imaging and data storage.

We show that photons can be efficiently extracted from fluorescent molecules, utilizing the strongly enhanced local field of a two-dimensional dielectric annular Bragg resonant cavity. Due to the diffraction and constructive interference together with the annular focusing, the periodic ring structure converts the normal incident light into planar guided modes and forms a hot spot at the center of the structure. Theoretically, the field can be enhanced more than 40 times, which leads to the averaged 20-fold enhancement of the fluorescence signal observed in experiments. Compared with fluorescence enhancement by plasmonic structures, this dielectric approach does not suffer from pronounced quenching that often occurs near metallic structures. These results not only can be applied as ultrasensitive sensors for various biological systems, but also have broad potential applications, such as optical trapping and fluorescent microscopy.

Light-matter interaction can be greatly enhanced in nano-scale plasmonic cavities with tightly confined optical mode, where the mode volume determines the interaction strength. The experimental determination of the mode volume of plasmonic elements is therefore of fundamental importance. Mapping the electric field distribution using near-field scanning optical microscopy (NSOM) may disturb the field distribution hence prevent a reliable measurement of the mode volume. Here, we develop a non-pertubative technique to experimentally determine the mode volume of plasmonic resonators in the far field through a unique optical force method.

Optical lithography has been the key for continuous size reduction of semiconductor devices and circuits manufacturing. Although the industry is continually improving the resolution, optical lithography becomes more difficult and less cost effective in satisfying the ever increasing demands in nano-manufacturing. Besides manufacturing, the dramatic advancements in nanoscale science and engineering also call an urgent need for high-throughput nano-fabrication technologies that are versatile to frequent design changes. Here we experimentally demonstrated the capability of patterning with 50 nm linewidth with a high flying speed at 10 meter/second. This low-cost nano-fabrication scheme has the potential of a few orders of magnitude higher throughput than current maskless techniques, and promises a new route towards the next generation nano-manufacturing. Besides its application in nanolithography, this technique can also be used for nanoscale metrology, imaging and data storage.

We experimentally demonstrate a chiral metamaterial exhibiting negative refractive index at terahertz frequencies. The presence of strong chirality in the terahertz metamaterial lifts the degeneracy for the two circularly polarized waves and allows for the achievement of negative refractive index without requiring simultaneously negative permittivity and negative permeability. The realization of terahertz chiral negative index metamaterials offers opportunities for investigation of their novel electromagnetic properties, such as negative refraction and negative reflection, as well as important terahertz device applications.

The authors studied the effects of Ta addition on magnetic properties of CoCrTa films for a wider range of 13-21 at.% Cr and tried to elucidate how Ta addition increases the coercivity. Ta addition is effective in increasing perpendicular coercivity in the films with Cr content lower than 17 at.% Cr region and is not effective in those with higher than 19 at.% Cr region. The higher coercivity of the CoCrTa films is interpreted as the enhanced Cr segregation behavior due to the difference of chemical affinity among the atoms. However, the lower coercivity of the films with large amounts of Ta is attributed to the formation of the amorphous-like structure. >

The unambiguous determination of optical refractive indices of metamaterials is a challenging task for device applications and the study of new optical phenomena. We demonstrate here simple broadband phase measurements of metamaterials using spectrally and spatially resolved interferometry. We study the phase response of a π-shaped metamaterial known to be an analog to electromagnetically induced transparency. The measured broadband interferograms give the phase delay or advance produced by the metamaterial in a single measurement. The presented technique offers an effective way of characterizing optical metamaterials including nonlinear and gain-metamaterial systems.

We report a surface enhanced molecular detection technique with zeptomole sensitivity that relies on resonant coupling of plasmonic modes of split ring resonators and infrared vibrational modes of a self-assembled monolayer of octadecanthiol molecules. Large near-field enhancements at the gap of split ring resonators allow for this resonant coupling when the molecular absorption peaks overlap spectrally with the plasmonic resonance. Electromagnetic simulations support experimental findings.

Since the 2006 Pandemic Influenza Preparedness and Response Plan according to the World Health Organization’s recommendation, the Republic of Korea has prepared and periodically evaluated the plan to respond to various public health crises including pandemic influenza. Korea has stockpiled 13,000,000 doses of antiviral drugs covering 26% of the Korean population and runs 519 isolated beds in 16 medical institutions. The division of public health crisis response in Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are in charge of responding to public health crises caused by emerging infectious diseases including severe acute respiratory syndrome, avian influenza human infection, and pandemic influenza. Its job description includes preparing for emerging infectious diseases, securing medical resources during a crisis, activating the emergency response during the crisis, and fortification of capabilities of public health personnel. It could evolve into a comprehensive national agency to deal with public health crisis based on the experience of previous national emerging infectious diseases.