bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Citizenship and Belonging: an Analysis of Immigrants’ Integration Beliefs and Membership Meaning in South-West Germany
Authors: Immerfall Stefan
Published: February 2024

Germany has the highest number of immigrants in Europe. Changes in immigration and citizenship laws have intended to make Germany an attractive destination for skilled immigrant workers. The accentuated focus on the economic efficiency of migration, however, leaves open the question of how Germany’s national identity is living up to the immigrant situation. Based on face-to-face, in-depth, semi-structured interviews (N=45), this question is probed through the eyes of first and second generation immigrants in south-west Germany. Perceptions of social and affective integration, group identifications and possibilities of de-differentiating native-immigrant distinctions are studied in detail. While a few respondents mention instances of personal discrimination and most are at ease with their life in Germany, even fewer see themselves as German without further qualification. Even though there are hints of a partial disintegration of the fault lines between immigrants’ self and what they perceive as “German”, their answers provide little indication of an emergence of a new inclusive narrative of Germaneness. Germany’s national identity still needs to broaden its understandings of “what it means to be a German”.
Ultra-Technological Refugees: Identity Construction through Consumer Culture among African Refugees in Israel
Authors: Arev Tamar
Published: February 2024

Academic discourse tends to view the labor market as a central sphere in the refugee integration process, while other aspects related to the market economy, such as capital accumulation and the purchase of goods, gain less attention if at all. Studying these issues from the perspective of African refugees in Israel enables us to examine alternative means through which the refugee community seeks to integrate into the socio-economic arena in the host culture by adopting popular consumption patterns. The study explores consumer culture among refugees as a means through which they borrow, adopt and translate what they perceive to be the attributes of the desired lifestyle in the host country. Based on ethnographic work, the study examines the ways in which consumption practices form a socio-cultural bridge to blur social boundaries between refugees and Western society. By adopting commodity and consumption patterns, African refugees seek to become a part of the Israeli collective and distance themselves from the monolithic identity of alien-African-refugees.
Internet Revolutions, Democratic Globalization and Elections Outcome in the Twenty-First Century: Echoes from Nigeria
Authors: Dantani Umar , Maigari Abdullahi Muhammad , Wika Peter Nungshak
Published: February 2024

This paper examines the social contexts of the development and innovation of the science of global communication technology. It shows the significant roles the internet has played in the democratic process, and in particular, how it has influenced the outcomes of elections across developed and developing societies in an increasingly globalised community. This paper argues that Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp, blogs and LinkedIn etc. serve as the mediums through which civil rights and democratic activism are expressed. It also argues that during the 2011 and 2015 General Elections in Nigeria, many electronic devices and online programs were developed and used on social media. Revoda enabled a parallel vote count, access to polling unit results, transmission of collated results and information about the entire electoral process. The paper stresses that the use of social media networks by both political candidates and electorates has greatly promoted civic engagement, credible elections and democratic activism in pre-election and post-election periods. This paper concludes that internet technology may soon assume the position of an effective and critically vital para-human actor in most global election outcomes in the near future.
Interfaces in Social Innovation: an Action Research Story on a Tribal Women’s Collective
Authors: Santha Sunil D. , Soletti Asha Banu , Balasubramanian Sowmya
Published: February 2024

This paper examines the nature of social interfaces that has emerged in the context of social innovations with vulnerable and marginalised tribal communities along the Tansa Reservoir in Maharashtra, India. This paper is part of a larger action research project that strives towards improving the livelihoods of tribal women through collectives such as self-help groups. The analysis presented in this paper pertains to the experiences of 13 tribal women who have come forward to form a self-help group to supplement their livelihoods. According to the tribal women, the collective spaces that the self-help group provide has itself been termed as innovation. In the above-mentioned context, this paper specifically examines the nature of diverse values and beliefs, interests, knowledge and power among different actors involved in promoting livelihood-based women’s collectives. It also explores the nature of response among tribal women to the intervention of outside experts in the day-to-day activities of their collective. The findings of this paper illustrate the discontinuities associated with the collective and specifically on the nature of frictions, disagreements and conflicts between actors, which are mediated and transformed at critical junctures. This signifies an underlying asymmetry between the knowledge systems of tribal women and outside experts respectively. Furthermore, this paper argues that if not properly nurtured, such innovative collective spaces can become sites of domination and agents for the perpetuation of mere socio-technical interest. Instead, the discourse of social innovation needs to be socially embedded within the issues of rights, recognition, representation and empowerment of those people who are vulnerable and marginalised in the society.
Towards Global Political Communities and New Citizenship Regimes
Authors: Benhabib Seyla
Published: February 2024

Until now, attempts to identify a meeting point between the preservation of a universal political identity and maintaining national forms of belonging seem to find little application in the policies of world governments. Consequently, the idea of the individual as a citizen of the world is exposed to the risk of becoming an aspirational ideal devoid of practical and objective translations. In this regard, Theresa May’s recent criticism of a concept of world citizenship separate from any ethnic or national membership is an ideal starting point for reflecting on the intrinsic tensions of cosmopolitan political thought regarding citizenship.In response to the distant origin of the conflict between the universalist vision of man and the particular dimension of political participation, the article opens with a brief historical excursus of the principles of cosmopolitanism from classical antiquity to modern political thought, before arriving at a series of reflections on the changing of these values in today’s globalized scene. This study allows us to describe the evolution of the long tradition on which the universal human rights enshrined after the end of the Second World War are established. Universal human rights seem to be closely connected to the Age of Enlightenment’s cosmopolitan principles of hospitality and solidarity.Although today’s increasing social and political integration seems to facilitate the observation of the right to Kantian hospitality, it is noted that the right to asylum and the physical vulnerability of the individual are increasingly suspended or canceled by the same States who claim to be custodians of the universal values of man. Well known evidence of these contradictions are the tragic living conditions of migrants hosted in European hotspots, but also the treatment of the so-called Dreamers in the United States. Exploring the worthiness of the problem of the civil and political status of the growing number of migrants in the world, the need to guarantee access of citizenship benefits to foreigners is emphasized, in the hope that international solidarity practices on which cosmopolitan thought is based will continue to find application in current and future societies.
Cambiamento e stabilità nelle federazioni dell’Asia meridionale India, Pakistan e Malesia
Authors: Ciappi Enrico
Published: February 2024

Despite sharing the same colonial heritage, over the past few decades the federal systems of India, Pakistan and Malesia have been changing in very different ways. In order to understand this evolution, the article examines some political phenomena that have questioned the stability of these federations. The starting point of this analysis is the treatment of strategies adopted by the central governments to halt the activation of internal inter-community conflicts. Thanks to a comparison with recent thematic literature, the discussion about the strengths and the limits of devolution and centralization policies is linked to the problem of internal peace within multinational societies. In the Asian federal states, the interethnic conflict and the problem of ethnic outbidding have their roots in the political management of territory and the representation of regional populations within the legislative chambers. Having taken into account the description of the dissimilarity between the federal cases, it can be seen that the internal geographical divi- sion’s criteria has greatly determined the degree of autonomy of regions and, moreover, the relations between central government and local institutions. Additionally, the reinforcement of intergovernmental collaboration has allowed India to simplify the cooperation between regional and federal politicians, although the Veto Players Theory explains why the operation of cooperative federalism may pose a threat to institutional stability by legislative immobilism. To conclude, it seems that the federal integration strategies advocated by India and Malaysia have been able to consolidate the stability of these regimes, but only at the cost of a strong centralization and discriminatory practices against some local autonomies. As for Pakistan, however, the presence of an authoritarian regime, characterized by a bureaucratic-military leadership and a precarious federal system, seems to expose the Pakistani society to the risk of collapse.
Eulogy of David Held
Authors: Archibugi Daniele
Published: February 2024

Based on the Speech given at David Held’s Funeral, West London Synagogue, Golders Green Cemetery, 18 March 2019. David Held, born in London, 27 August 1951 – died in Durham, 2 March 2019
Novel Orientations Innovation and Renovation in Mohsin Hamid’s “How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia”
Authors: Driss Hager Ben
Published: February 2024

This article addresses Mohsin Hamid’s How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia (2013). The narrative, which imitates a self-help or how-to guide, offers an intriguing textual terrain to engage questions of innovation and renovation. The writer uses a global model of writing, which enjoys high circulation and consumption, to engage in local concerns. Hamid’s novel provides a portrait of an entrepreneur as a young man. It engages in a diagnosis of Pakistan’s social and political maladies. I argue that Mohsin Hamid is particularly concerned in this novel with innovation on narratological and thematic levels. My investigation of the novel orientations in Hamid’s text attempts to press the borders of narratology to cultural territories. The narrative provides a pertinent example of the glocal, wherein literature becomes a site of dialogue and negotiation between the local and the global.
Political Economy of Vulnerability a Gendered Analysis of Drought and Livelihood Struggles Among Farming Communities in Puruliya (West Bengal, India)
Authors: Santha Sunil D. , Das Sanchita
Published: February 2024

Globalisation is a complex phenomenon that humankind is facing in the pre- sent times. However, one cannot deny that there is less agreement as to which aspects are “good” or “bad” and for whom. Despite understanding globalisation as offering many opportunities, it has placed pressures on the global environment, straining the carrying capacity of vulnerable ecosystems and the people dependent on them. Specifically, marginalized women whose access to resources are limited, are often doubly exposed to forces of globalisation and climate variations. The aim of this paper is therefore to examine the contemporary global and local forces shaping vulnerability among women to drought. The paper is based on qualitative research carried on in a traditional farming community in a village in eastern India. The findings of this paper show that globalisation in-itself functions as a dynamic macro pressure on the root causes like patriarchy and access to resources, in addition to deforestation, land fragmentation, migration and commercialisation of agriculture. The women have been severely im- pacted through forces of globalisation: technological modernisation as well as market reforms. In this context there has been changes in women’s work role and gender relations leading to feminisation of labour, single women headed households, food insecurity and unsafe habitats, thus, impacting women’s day to day existence. Globalisation acting as a key macro force, however has failed to address the micro level issues like enhancing women’s skills towards livelihood diversification, education and learning opportunities; strengthening local markets and access to key resources to overcome discrimination, achieve equality and improved state of well-being.
Care Work in the Global Economy the Case of Latin American Migrant Women in Spain
Authors: López Hernán Yolanda
Published: February 2024

The purpose of this paper is to observe how transformations across society, economy and politics, consequence of global capitalism, didn’t help to overcome gender inequality but, on the contrary, have added stratification to the inequalities between women. In order to do so, this essay offers first a general overview of the literature and concepts related to the position of women within the global political economy. Following that, the processes of feminisation of migration and the changes in the provision of care will be analysed including examples from the experiences of women in Spain in relation to Latin American migration. The research will conclude that while the role of the woman is not only carer anymore but also income provider, men’s workload has remained almost unchanged, as they have continued to fulfil their traditional role as [main] providers and keep playing a small – if any – part in the reproductive sphere. Institutions like global markets and governments have strongly contributed to the creation and permanence of the so called double – and sometimes triple – burden. Despite the socioeconomic progress that entering the formal labour force meant for women’s empowerment, the consequences of such phenomenon have been not only perverse but also unequal among women of different ethnic and socio- economic backgrounds.
How Sicily Made Its Sweet Symbols Glocal Identity and Food
Authors: Mangano Dario
Published: February 2024

Food is an effective symbol capable of strongly evoking a cultural identity. In the case of Sicily, this role is mainly played by pastry, and in particular by two sweets: cannolo (the singular of cannoli) and cassata. But how does it happen that just these two preparations, rather than others, take on this value? What are their meanings and what determines them? Are cannolo and cassata the expression of a remote and spontaneous tradition as we generally like to believe? Semiotic analysis not only leads us to understand the complexity of these two pieces of a gastronomy, but also to reflect on the whole notion of symbol, rethinking its limits and possibilities.
The Circulation and Politics of Knowledge Climate Change and Livelihood Struggles in a Coastal Fishing Community
Authors: Santha Sunil D.
Published: February 2024

Exploring the role of knowledge circulation in everyday life could provide interesting insights on how different forms of knowledge shapes the lifeworld and subjective realities of people. In the context of everyday livelihood struggles of a coastal fishing community, this paper examines the nature of knowledge circulation at the local level and its micropolitics in wider social arenas. Exploring the nature of local knowledge systems prevalent among small-scale fishworkers, this paper further examines the politics of knowledge, when it circulates from the local social worlds to their solidarity networks. This paper is based on a qualitative study conducted in a coastal fishing village at Munambam situated along the Cochin Estuary in Kerala, India. The study was conducted in two phases. In the first phase of the study, data was collected through in-depth interviews by using a semi-structured interview schedule. In the second phase, a content analysis of media reports was carried out with an aim to analyse the discourses prevalent among diverse solidarity networks of fishworkers. The findings of this paper show that local knowledge is situated and intersectional. Further, the everyday lives of fishworkers are shaped by different knowledge claims that also signify their everyday struggles to access basic livelihood resources. It is amidst these diverse knowledge claims that one needs to critically examine the narratives of modernisation, climate change and the role of solidarity networks among fishworkers.
Global Bauls, Local Bauls Community, Violence and Everyday Life
Authors: Debnath Arnav
Published: February 2024

The enormous power of globalization influences not only the local communities but also the pattern of everyday life of the individuals who belong to those communities. The global often involves violence in its course to interact with the local. The Bauls of West Bengal (India) can be taken as a site where this process is salient. The ascetic-minstrel Bauls, the practitioners of Baul sadhona, who usually stick to their community and the silpi-artist Bauls who are not sadhoks but become globally famous Baul figures as singers and performers (of Baul song) can broadly be seen as local Bauls and global Bauls. The global pull-up tends to fracture, and so loosen, the unity of the Baul community based on certain crucial everyday activities as the new generations of Bauls in the post-independence era (of India) prefer more to be silpiartist Bauls than to be sadhok Bauls. It shows that the demarcation between the sadhok Bauls and silpi-artist Bauls, and local Bauls-global Bauls after them is flawed, for both in reality and in conception, they have always been in a state of flux. As these categories may re-position themselves on account of the changes occurred in real circumstances, so it is possible that the notions of “local” and “global” may flap. This phenomenon, as it may be termed “glocal”, is important in understanding the workings of global forces through which the global and local condition each other.
Los Archivos Coloniales Fuentes Para el Estudio de la Traducción
Authors: Fossa Lydia
Published: February 2024

In the context of the Spanish colonization in the sixteenth century, Castilian impacted on all indigenous Andean languages. It is pertinent, in this context, to assess the Hispanic intervention in the indigenous world through language. Even if it is perceived as a strategy of evangelization and indoctrination, Castilianization becomes one of colonization, and for that reason, one of the most destabilizing. Its scope affects all areas of human activity in the short, medium, and long terms. I now focus on Quechua considered a “general language”. My aim is to identify which translation strategies were used by comparing examples in Quechua present in two Castilian-indigenous languages bilingual archives, the catechetical Lexicons and Vocabularies on the one hand, and Glosas croniquenses on the other. As a result, a more precise definition for “colonial translation” will be proposed.
Archive as Catastrophe
Authors: Yurgel Caio
Published: February 2024

This article proposes a radical take on what an archive should be: catastrophe, the overturning of property. By way of James Clifford, Roland Barthes, Susan Sontag, Walter Benjamin, Clarice Lispector, Jorge Luis Borges, and Cildo Meireles, we seek to pinpoint the conceptual difference between a collection and an archive, positing that what makes an archive radical is precisely the fact it is not a collection. A collection is concerned with the accumulation of property and the preservation of the status quo. It is an aspirational – or, to use Benjamin’s words, bourgeois – endeavor: it seeks to protect and preserve itself. An archive, on the other hand, is catastrophic: it should disturb – the archivist most of all. We understand archive here not as an institutional practice, but as an intellectual and artistic method. An archive asks of the archivist: What are you going to do with this? The archive asks the defining question of our capitalist age: why are you accumulating property?
Explaining Post-Pandemic Indian Cities some Reflections on New Dehli
Authors: Rehman Shaikh Mujibur
Published: February 2024

This essay explores the multiple implications of the pandemic in the lives of people and the multi-dimensional challenges they face in New Delhi, India. Key themes that the essay examines are: migration, Hindu- Muslim relations, the labour market, and the public health system in general. The paper further comments on some general issues that affect the city, particularly the politics of the Central Vista project, in order to offer a comprehensive portrait of the pandemic’s impact on the city and its people. In many ways, the city was reborn after pandemic. It has also reignited debate regarding migrations, the labour market, and Hindu-Muslim relations, though the latter has worsened due to the rise of the Hindu Right in Indian politics with the consolidation of the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP). This paper presents insights to each of these issues. While the pandemic has fundamentally transformed city life, there is yet to be any clear pattern emerging out of these transformations, given that no one has clear idea in which direction the pandemic might move in future. Despite new knowledge and the production of vaccines, the future of coronavirus (Covid-19) remains a big unknown.
The Haptic and the Phatic in the Era of Globalization
Authors: Appadurai Arjun
Published: February 2024

Touch is a universal faculty which lets humans explore intimacy, danger and other aspects of their sensory worlds. In India, the regulation of touch is the key to the maintenance of a highly hierarchical, unjust and humiliating social system. Today, the spread of haptic technologies further complicates the relationship between human beings, machines and the paradoxes of intimacy.
Territories of Contributory Learning
Authors: Magatti Mauro
Published: February 2024

Places are just as crucial as organisations in the fabric of social life: despite all the homogenising tendencies, the social space, sculpted by the stories that constitute it, continues to prove multiform and rich in diversity. At the end of the 20th century, the radical spatial and temporal reorganisation produced by globalised technical infrastructure redesigned the map of the planet. Now, the pandemic is giving a new direction to spatial and temporal restructuring processes. The outcome is still open, but the processes have their inertial force, destined to characterize the times to come. The direction that will be followed is still largely undetermined because the models that inspire the paths of transformation are vastly different. This paper examines the idea of contributory territories as one possible outcome.
Digitalisation and AI what does the Future Hold for Labour Union
Authors: Adhikary Sudipta , Banerjee Kaushik
Published: February 2024

The Covid-19 problem has hastened a pace of significant digitalization in economic production and services that had already begun. For the first time, AI and robotics are becoming autonomous and self-learning, with human-like capabilities. The need to examine digitalization and the future of work has grown even more urgent. Until recently, labour unions were the most powerful institutions representing workers. However, the increasing prospect of intelligent robots replacing humans calls into doubt the viability of labour union policy. This development jeopardises their conventional power bases, which rely on the participation of large numbers of salaried workers and their ability to halt production. This paper tries to analyse the issues that unions face in capitalist democracies in this setting. The premise that the digital revolution will eventually generate new, better jobs has been endorsed by the majority of research work on labour relations. We propose that we investigate an alternate scenario, namely, a digital revolution that results in mass human worker replacement and structural, technological unemployment, which could broaden our perspective, particularly in terms of public policy design. We believe that labour unions now play two critical roles. The first is to protect workers’ rights and interests as the economy shifts from paid labour to automated-autonomous production; and the second is to change their primary mission from representing employees to representing the social rights of all citizens, particularly the material interests of laypeople.
First-Generation Highly Skilled Migrants from a South-Asian Country
Authors: Wickramasinghe Vathsala , Eleperuma Madura
Published: February 2024

This paper presents findings of a study that investigated causes for migration, the expectations of migration and post-migration experience of IT professionals from Sri Lanka. The paper also discusses effects of education qualification from abroad, past work experience from abroad, and homeownership before migration on skilled migration. For the study, survey methodology was used, and two different sample groups were selected – migrants and prospective migrants from the IT sector. The results indicated two domains of causes and four domains of expectations. There were significant differences between  expectations and post-migration experience of migrants; there were significant differences in some causes for migration and expectations and postmigration experience by homeownership before migration. The paper concludes with a discussion on implications of the findings for theory and practice.
Pressure injury risk factors in adult orthopaedic surgical patients: a cross-sectional study and random forest
Authors: Zhao Dan , Jin Jiao , Luo Qiong , Wang Zhiwen , An Jinbing
Published: February 2024

Objective:

To identify the most important risk factors for predicting pressure injury (PI) occurrence in adult orthopaedic surgical patients based on investigation data, thereby identifying at-risk patients and facilitating formulation of an effective patient care strategy.

Method:

Patients were assessed with an instrument designed by the authors specifically for this study in a cross-sectional investigation following the STROBE checklist. The random forest method was adopted to select the most important risk factors and predict occurrence of PIs.

Results:

A dataset of 27 risk factors from 1701 patients was obtained. A subset of the 15 most important risk factors was identified. The random forest method had a high prediction accuracy of 0.9733 compared with 0.9281 calculated with a logistic model.

Conclusion:

Results indicated that the selected 15 risk factors, such as activity ability, friction/shear force, skin type and anaesthesia score, performed very well in predicting the occurrence of PIs in adult orthopaedic surgical patients.
Sex work, multi-agency governance and industries of protection: towards an increased recognition and resistance of the carceral
Authors: Hanks Sam
Published: February 2024

This article focuses on sex work governance within multi-agency partnerships and initiatives in Wales. By engaging with notions of carceral humanism, this article seeks to make tangible the ways in which multi-agency partnerships co-opt and assimilate criminologists, activists, third-sector and community organisations, so that partisan commitments to advancing sex workers’ rights are transformed to bipartisan support for non-competing carceral frameworks and solutions. It argues that there is a process of carceral bifurcation that enables narratives of safeguarding and sex work to be utilised to strengthen non-competing carceral conceptualisations of, and solutions to, sex work.
Understanding interrelated practices and their climate-related consequences: exploring food, mobility and housing in everyday life
Authors: Samson Caroline
Published: February 2024

Everyday lives are made of many practices, often more intricately intertwined than recognised. Fundamental practices, like how we eat, move around and live, have profound impacts on the climate and adaptability towards sustainable societies. While the impacts of these practices in isolation may be well understood, the interrelatedness of how these practices foster, constrain or change one another has been scarcely examined. In response, this paper serves a dual purpose. First, to empirically demonstrate a relationship between food-, mobility- and housing-related consumption. It does this by investigating shared practices among young adults living in Denmark. Findings reveal that home location plays a significant role in prefiguring mobility- and food-related practices. Mobility-related practices, like the daily route or mobility mode, adapt to the home’s location, while grocery shopping is conveniently integrated into daily commuting routes. Hence, this study offers empirical evidence of how certain practices not only influence but often prefigure other practices within the context of everyday life. The second purpose of this paper is to reflect on the climate-related consequences of these interdependent practices. The location of the home creates a locked-in situation for various daily practices, such as commuting and grocery shopping, influencing the degree of climate-friendly consumption. For instance, longer commutes resulting from housing relocation may lead to increased greenhouse gas emissions, or the availability of climate-friendly food products is contingent on the grocery stores near the home’s location. This empirical knowledge highlights how policies targeting food, mobility or housing can have far-reaching effects in multiple consumption domains.
Linewidth compression of a single longitudinal mode ytterbium-doped fiber laser based on femtosecond laser fabricated fiber Bragg gratings
Authors: Lv Ruidong , Chen Tao , Huang Jin , Sun Zenghui , Hou Yuxing , Si Jinhai , Zhou Yuan , Du Yong , Hou Xun
Published: February 2024

We demonstrate a single longitudinal mode distributed Bragg reflection
(DBR) fiber laser by directly fabricating fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs)
on an ytterbium-doped fiber (YDF) using a femtosecond laser. A simple
optical self-injection feedback method was used to effectively
compress the linewidth and reduce relative intensity noise (RIN) of a
single longitudinal mode DBR fiber laser. Further, we investigated the
effect of self-injection feedback cavity length and reflectivity on
linewidth compression and determined that the linewidth tends to
decrease with the increase of the external cavity photon lifetime. By
a self-injection feedback, the laser linewidth was compressed from
31.8 kHz to 1.4 kHz. Meanwhile, the relaxation oscillation peak from at 1.51 MHz was suppressed to at 0.16 MHz. This low-noise narrow
linewidth single longitudinal mode fiber laser is expected to be a
promising candidate for applications such as active detection of
neutral atmosphere and distributed fiber sensing.
All optical neural interfaces
Authors: Ladouceur F. , Al Abed A. , Lehmann T. , Almasri R. M. , Firth J. , Lovell N. H.
Published: February 2024

Brain/computer interfaces (BCIs) rely on the concurrent recording of many channels of electrical activity from excitable tissue. Traditionally such neural interfacing has been performed using cumbersome, channel-limited multielectrode arrays. We believe that BCIs can greatly benefit from using an optical approach based on simple yet powerful liquid-crystal based transducer technology. This approach potentially offers a technology platform that can sustain the necessary bandwidth, density of channels, responsivity, and conformability that are required for the long-term viability of such interfaces. In this paper we review the overall architecture of this approach, the challenges it faces, and the solutions that are being developed at UNSW Sydney.
Dual-band polarization insensitive graphene-based reconfigurable absorber in a terahertz regime
Authors: Verma Asha , Meena Om Prakash
Published: February 2024

In this paper, a dual-band graphene-based absorber is structured and investigated in a terahertz frequency domain. The designed absorber contains a plus-shaped graphene sheet, as well as four dual concentric graphene-based rings. It is designed according to the SiO2-based substrate. A dual concentric graphene ring provides more than 90% absorption from 2.36–3.24 THz, while a plus-shaped graphene sheet is accountable for absorption from 5.0–5.32 THz. The maximum absorption is found at 2.56, 3.08, and 5.16 THz with 99.81%, 97.34%, and 99.74%, respectively. The variation in the chemical potential of the graphene material offers re-configurability in the dual absorption bands. Due to the four-fold symmetry of the designed structure, the absorptivity value is approximately constant for various polarizations with a wide incident angle (more than 60°). The aforementioned features of the proposed graphene-based absorber make it appropriate in a terahertz frequency regime.
DACNN-aided nonlinear equalizer for a probabilistic shaping coherent optical communication system
Authors: Li Yuzhe , Chang Huan , Zhang Qi , Gao Ran , Tian Feng , Tian Qinghua , Wang Yongjun , Rao Lan , Guo Dong , Wang Fu , Zhou Sitong , Xin Xiangjun
Published: February 2024

The probabilistic shaping (PS) technique is a key technology for fiber optic
communication systems to further approach the Shannon limit. To solve
the problem that nonlinear equalizers are ineffective for
probabilistic shaping optical communication systems with non-uniform
distribution, a distribution alignment convolutional neural network
(DACNN)-aided nonlinear equalizer is proposed. The approach calibrates
the equalizer using the probabilistic shaping prior distribution,
which reduces the training complexity and improves the performance of
the equalizer simultaneously. Experimental results show nonlinear
equalization of 120 Gb/s PS 64QAM signals in a 375 km
transmission scenario. The proposed DACNN equalizer improves the
receiver sensitivity by 2.6 dB and 1.1 dB over the
Volterra equalizer and convolutional neural network (CNN) equalizer,
respectively. Meanwhile, DACNN converges with fewer training epochs
than CNN, which provides great potential for mitigating the nonlinear
distortion of PS signals in fiber optic communication systems.
Beyond synthetic aperture focusing: deconvolution-based elevation resolution enhancement using simulated point spread function for linear array-based three-dimensional photoacoustic imaging
Authors: Tang Yichuan , Lesniak Wojciech G. , Gao Shang , Wu Yixuan , Pomper Martin G. , Zhang Haichong K.
Published: February 2024

This paper introduces a deconvolution-based method to enhance the elevation resolution of a linear array-based three-dimensional (3D) photoacoustic (PA) imaging system. PA imaging combines the high contrast of optical imaging with the deep, multi-centimeter spatial resolution of ultrasound (US) imaging, providing structural and functional information about biological tissues. Linear array-based 3D PA imaging is easily accessible and applicable for ex vivo studies, small animal research, and clinical applications in humans. However, its elevation resolution is limited by the acoustic lens geometry, which establishes a single elevation focus. Previous work used synthetic aperture focusing (SAF) to enhance elevation resolution, but the resolution achievable by SAF is constrained by the size of the elevation focus. Here, we introduce the application of Richardson-Lucy deconvolution, grounded in simulated point-spread-functions, to surpass the elevation resolution attainable with SAF alone. We validated this approach using both simulation and experimental data, demonstrating that the full-width-at-half-maximum of point targets on the elevation plane was reduced compared to using SAF only, suggesting resolution improvement. This method shows promise for improving 3D image quality of existing linear array-based PA imaging systems, offering potential benefits for disease diagnosis and monitoring.
Entanglement-based quantum digital signatures over a deployed campus network
Authors: Chapman Joseph C. , Alshowkan Muneer , Qi Bing , Peters Nicholas A.
Published: February 2024

The quantum digital signature protocol offers a replacement for most aspects of public-key digital signatures ubiquitous in today’s digital world. A major advantage of a quantum-digital-signatures protocol is that it can have information-theoretic security, whereas public-key cryptography cannot. Here we demonstrate and characterize hardware to implement entanglement-based quantum digital signatures over our campus network. Over 25 hours, we collect measurements on our campus network, where we measure sufficiently low quantum bit error rates (<5% in most cases) which in principle enable quantum digital signatures at over 50 km as shown through rigorous simulation accompanied by a noise model developed specifically for our implementation. These results show quantum digital signatures can be successfully employed over deployed fiber. Moreover, our reported method provides great flexibility in the number of users, but with reduced entanglement rate per user. Finally, while the current implementation of our entanglement-based approach has a low signature rate, feasible upgrades would significantly increase the signature rate.
Nonlinearity vs nonlocality with emphasis on bandwidth broadening in semiconductor-based 1d metamaterials
Authors: Goncharenko A. V. , Silkin V. M. , Chang Y. C.
Published: February 2024

The physics of nonlinear optical materials is incredibly versatile, with the design of novel materials and structures offering numerous degrees of freedom. Nevertheless, weak inherent nonlinearity of conventional optical materials continues to hinder the progress of a number of important applications. In this study, we delve into the realm of broadband enhancement of nonlinearity within one-dimensional (1d) plasmonic metamaterials, exploring its intricate connection with nonlocality. Specifically, we introduce a phenomenological framework for quantifying the effective third-order nonlinear susceptibility of 1d multiphase plasmonic nanostructures, utilizing heavily doped semiconductors, and subsequently applying this approach using realistic material parameters. Both direct and inverse problems of nonlinearity enhancement have been addressed. Our findings demonstrate a remarkable capability to significantly augment the third-order nonlinear susceptibility across a defined frequency range, while concurrently gauging the impact of nonlocality on this enhancement.
Common-path digital holographic microscopy based on a volume holographic grating for quantitative phase imaging
Authors: Tsai Chen-Ming , Vyas Sunil , Luo Yuan
Published: February 2024

Digital holographic microscopy (DHM) is a powerful quantitative phase imaging (QPI) technique that is capable of recording sample's phase information to enhance image contrast. In off-axis DHM, high-quality QPI images can be generated within a single recorded hologram, and the system stability can be enhanced by common-path configuration. Diffraction gratings are widely used components in common-path DHM systems; however, the presence of multiple diffraction beams leads to system power loss. Here, we propose and demonstrate implementation of a volume holographic grating (VHG) in common-path DHM, which provides single diffraction order. VHG in common-path DHM (i.e., VHG-DHM) helps in improving signal-to-noise ratio as compared to the conventional DHM. In addition, VHG, with inherently high angular selectivity, reduces image noise caused by stray light. With a simple fabrication process, it is convenient to utilize VHG to control the beam separation angle of DHM. Further, by using Bragg-matched wavelength degeneracy to avoid potential cell damaging effect in blue light, the VHG is designed for recording at a maximum sensitive wavelength of ∼488 nm, while our VHG-DHM is operated at the longer wavelength of red 632.8 nm for cell observation. Experimental results, measured by the VHG-DHM, show the measurement of target thickness ranging from 100 nm to 350 nm. In addition, stability of the system is quantitatively measured. High-contrast QPI images of human lung cancer cells are demonstrated.
Research on the mitigation of redeposition defects on the fused silica surface during wet etching process
Authors: Li Changpeng , Yang Ke , Zhang Zhuo , Qian Yuejie , Liu Taixiang , Yan Hongwei , Huang Jin , Yao Lin , Zheng Yinbo , Jiang Xiaodong , Zheng Wanguo
Published: February 2024

The laser-induced damage of ultraviolet fused silica optics is a critical factor that limits the performance enhancement of high-power laser facility. Currently, wet etching technology based on hydrofluoric acid (HF) can effectively eliminate absorbing impurities and subsurface defects, thereby significantly enhancing the damage resistance of fused silica optics. However, with an increase in the operating fluence, the redeposition defects generated during wet etching gradually become the primary bottleneck that restricts its performance improvement. The composition and morphology of redeposition defects were initially identified in this study, followed by an elucidation of their formation mechanism. A mitigation strategy was then proposed, which combines a reduction in the generation of precipitation with an acceleration of the precipitation dissolution process. Additionally, we systematically investigated the influence of various process parameters such as extrinsic impurity, etching depth, and megasonic excitation on the mitigation of deposition defects. Furthermore, a novel multiple-step dynamic etching method was developed. Through comprehensive characterization techniques, it has been confirmed that this new etching process not only effectively mitigate redeposition defects under low fluence conditions but also exhibits significant inhibition effects on high fluence precursors. Consequently, it significantly enhances the laser damage resistance performance of fused silica optics.
Confinement loss prediction in diverse anti-resonant fibers through neural networks
Authors: Zhenyu Gu , Tigang Ning , Li Pei , Yangmei Liu , Jing Li , Jingjing Zheng , Jingyi Song , Chengbao Zhang , Hua Wang , Wei Jiang , Wensheng Wang
Published: February 2024

In this work, genetic algorithm (GA) is employed to optimize convolutional neural networks (CNNs) for predicting the confinement loss (CL) in anti-resonant fibers (ARFs), achieving a prediction accuracy of CL magnitude reached 90.6%, which, to the best of our knowledge, represents the highest accuracy to date and marks the first instance of using a single model to predict CL across diverse ARF structures. Different from the previous definition of ARF structures with parameter groups, we use anchor points to describe these structures, thus eliminating the differences in expression among them. This improvement allows the model to gain insight into the specific structural characteristics, thereby enhancing its generalization capabilities. Furthermore, we demonstrate a particle swarm optimization algorithm (PSO), driven by our model, for the design of ARFs, validating the model’s robust predictive accuracy and versatility. Compared with the calculation of CL by finite element method (FEM), this model significantly reduces the cost time, and provides a speed-up method in fiber design driven by numerical calculation.
Precise detection of trace level protein using MIP-MoS2 nanocomposite functionalized PCF based interferometer
Authors: Gorai Pintu , Marques Carlos , Shrivastav Anand Mohan , Jha Rajan
Published: February 2024

Fiber optic interferometry combined with recognizing elements has attracted intensive attention for the development of different biosensors due to its superior characteristic features. However, the immobilization of sensing elements alone is not capable of low-concentration detection due to weak interaction with the evanescent field of the sensing transducer. The utilization of different 2D materials with high absorption potential and specific surface area can enhance the intensity of the evanescent field and hence the sensitivity of the sensor. Here, a biosensor has been fabricated using an inline hetero fiber structure of photonic crystal fiber (PCF) and single-mode fiber (SMF) functionalized with a nanocomposite of molybodenum di-sulfide (MoS2) and molecular imprinting polymer (MIP) to detect trace levels of bovine serum albumin (BSA). The sensor showed a wide dynamic detection range with a high sensitivity of 2.34 × 107 pm/µg L-1. It shows working potential over a wide pH range with a subfemtomolar detection limit. The compact size, easy fabrication, stable structure, long detection range, and high sensitivity of this sensor would open a new path for the development of different biosensors for online and remote sensing applications.
Increasing contrast in water-embedded particles via time-gated mid-infrared photothermal microscopy
Authors: Samolis Panagis D. , Sander Michelle Y.
Published: February 2024

The transient dynamics of photothermal signals provide interesting insights into material properties and heat diffusion. In a mid-infrared (mid-IR) photothermal microscope, the imaging contrast in a standard amplitude imaging can decrease due to thermal diffusion effects. It is shown that contrast varies for poly-methyl 2-methylpropenoate (PMMA) particles of different sizes when embedded in an absorbing medium of water (H2O) based on levels of heat exchange under the water absorption resonance. Using time-resolved boxcar (BC) detection, analysis of the transient thermal dynamics at the bead–water interface is presented, and the time decay parameters for 500 nm and 100 nm beads are determined. Enhanced (negative) imaging contrast is observed for less heat exchange between the water and bead, as in the case for the 100 nm bead. For the 500 nm bead, boxcar imaging before heat exchange starts occurring, leads to an increase of the imaging contrast up to a factor of 1.6.
Governance of Friedrich–Wintgen bound states in the continuum by tuning the internal coupling of meta-atoms
Authors: Liu Peiliang , Zhao Zhenyu , Xue Yonghui , Zhang Xuelian , Jiang Chunping , Ako Rajour Tanyi , Qin Hua , Sriram Sharath
Published: February 2024

Bound state in the continuum (BIC) is a phenomenon that describes the perfect confinement of electromagnetic waves despite their resonant frequencies lying in the continuous radiative spectrum. BICs can be realized by introducing a destructive interference between distinct modes, referred to as Friedrich–Wintgen BICs (FW-BICs). Herein, we demonstrate that FW-BICs can be derived from coupled modes of individual split-ring resonators (SRR) in the terahertz band. The eigenmode results manifest that FW-BICs are in the center of the far-field polarization vortices. Quasi-BIC-I keeps an ultrahigh quality factor (Q factor) in a broad momentum range along the Γ–X direction, while the Q factor of the quasi-BIC-II drops rapidly. Our results can facilitate the design of devices with high-Q factors with extreme robustness against the incident angle.