bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Designing Franklin’s Microstrip Antenna with Defected Ground Structure at MMwave Frequency
Authors:   Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Mercu Buana, Firdausi Ahmad , Wahyudi I Made Dian , Alaydrus Mudrik
Published: November 2021

The development of telecommunication technology is very rapid at this time has entered into 4G technology. Soon, the 5G technology has a fast data access speed of at least 1 Gbps. To support 5G technology is carried out in-depth research, especially in 5G antennas. This study aims to increase the bandwidth of Franklin's five array microstrip antennas using the DGS (Defected Ground Structure) method for 5G antenna applications at an operating frequency of 28 GHz. The research was conducted by doing rectangular defects in the ground field. This research produced an enhanced bandwidth by 1.707 GHz from 1.196 GHz without DGS (Defected Ground Structure) to 2.9 GHz with DGS (Defected Ground Structure). It means a bandwidth enhancement of 142.47%. At the same time, the design achieved a gain enhancement of 141.7 %. Franklin's microstrip antenna output with DGS (Defected Ground Structure) method from the research simulation results are the bandwidth of 2.9 GHz, reflection factor of -52.95 dB, and Gain 11.80 dB. In comparison, the results of antenna measurements that have been fabricated produce bandwidth of 2 GHz, reflection factor -27.72 dB on frequency 26.6 GHz. The deviation between the simulation and measurement may result in inaccuracies during the fabrication process.
Technologies of inclusion of the disabled and persons with disabilities
Authors: Voevodina Ekaterina
Published: November 2021

The textbook analyzes social technologies used in various spheres of public life: education, employment, labor, etc., which are aimed at the inclusion of persons with disabilities and limited health opportunities (HIA). General recommendations on social design and organization of research in the field of inclusion are given, its ethical and gender aspects are touched upon.
Meets the requirements of the federal state educational standards of higher education of the latest generation.
For students of higher educational institutions studying in the fields of "Sociology", "Social Work", "Philosophy" (bachelor's degree level), as well as for masters and postgraduates, practitioners interested in the problems of inclusion of people with disabilities and disabilities.
Geometrically Convergent Simulation of the Extrema of Lévy Processes
Authors: González Cázares Jorge Ignacio , Mijatović Aleksandar , Uribe Bravo Gerónimo
Published: November 2021

We develop a novel approximate simulation algorithm for the joint law of the position, the running supremum, and the time of the supremum of a general Lévy process at an arbitrary finite time. We identify the law of the error in simple terms. We prove that the error decays geometrically in Lp (for any [Formula: see text]) as a function of the computational cost, in contrast with the polynomial decay for the approximations available in the literature. We establish a central limit theorem and construct nonasymptotic and asymptotic confidence intervals for the corresponding Monte Carlo estimator. We prove that the multilevel Monte Carlo estimator has optimal computational complexity (i.e., of order [Formula: see text] if the mean squared error is at most [Formula: see text]) for locally Lipschitz and barrier-type functions of the triplet and develop an unbiased version of the estimator. We illustrate the performance of the algorithm with numerical examples.
Seeking Purity, Avoiding Pollution: Strategies for Moral Career Building
Authors: Reid Erin , Ramarajan Lakshmi
Published: November 2021

This study builds theory on how people construct moral careers. Analyzing interviews with 102 journalists, we show how people build moral careers by seeking jobs that allow them to fulfill both the institution’s moral obligations and their own material aims. We theorize a process model that traces three common moral claiming strategies that people use over time: conventional, supplemental, and reoriented. Using these strategies, people accept or alter purity and pollution rules, identify appropriate jobs, and orient themselves to specific audiences for validation of their moral claims. People’s careers are punctuated by reckonings that cause them to reconsider how their strategies fulfill their moral and material aims. Experiences of gender and racial discrimination, access to alternate occupational identities, and timing of entry into the occupation also shape people’s movement between strategies. Over time, people combine these moral claiming strategies in different ways such that varying moral careers emerge within the same occupation. Overall, our study shows how people can build moral careers by actively revising purity and pollution rules while holding fast to institutional moral obligations. By theorizing careers as an ongoing series of moral claiming strategies, this research contributes novel ideas about how morals weave through and organize relationships between people, careers, and institutions.
Effects of Mindset, Democratic Parenting, Teaching, and School Environment on Global Citizenship of Ninth-grade Students
Authors: Damrongpanit Suntonrapot
Published: November 2021

This research intended to examine the effect of mindset, democratic parenting, democratic teaching, and school environment on global citizenship among 2,226 ninth-grade students and 80 social studies teachers from 80 classrooms in public schools. The research instruments included a student questionnaire to measure global citizenship, democratic parenting, fixed and growth mindset, and a teacher questionnaire to measure democratic teaching and school environment and to analyze the data based on multilevel structural equation modeling. The significant findings revealed that democratic parenting and school environment positively affected global citizenship, whereas democratic teaching had a negative effect on global citizenship. In addition, the outstanding students with a growth mindset tend to lead to a positive effect and act as a mediating role through global citizenship than those with outstanding fixed mindset clearly. All factors in the model collaboratively explained the variance of global citizenship accounted for 62.8% and 47.5% at student and classroom levels, respectively. Finally, the discussions and suggestions section suggested the recommendations according to the findings of the research.
Household Possessions and Parental Support in Mexican Students with High Scientific Competencies in PISA 2015
Authors: Bazán-Ramírez Aldo , Montes-Iturrizaga Iván , Castro-Paniagua William
Published: November 2021

Traditionally secondary studies on achievement on Programme for International Students Assessment (PISA) tests point to the significant impact of socioeconomic status and cultural backgrounds of families as well as the role of parental involvement, which in some cases has had a negative impact on achievement. For this article, a model of structural regression was tested, with structural modelling software. This model included the following factors: domestic and educational assets, parental support for students, parents’ perceptions about science, and science competencies among 214 high performing Mexican students on PISA tests in 2015. This resulted in a structural regression model with a goodness of fit, where science competencies were a positive significant variable, impacted by domestic and educational assets and parental involvement. An additional restricted model with four variables manifested as mediators, revealed that science competencies were predicted positively and significantly by domestic and educational assets, and by the manifest parental emotional support variable. Variables related to ownership of educational and cultural assets and resources, as well as parental support, particularly emotional parental support, have positive and significant impact on science competencies.
The Impact of Leadership and Targeted Interventions to Close the Achievement Gap of Disadvantaged Pupils: A Case Study
Authors: Demie Feyisa
Published: November 2021

This research explores the impact of effective leadership and targeted interventions in closing the achievement gap of disadvantaged pupils in primary schools. Findings suggest that the case study schools use effective school leaders and a range of targeted interventions including early intervention, small group additional teaching, one-to-one tuition, peer tutoring, parental involvement, booster class, mastery learning, pastoral care, and enrichment programmes. Each of the above success factors and intervention strategies was explored in detail in the paper. The overall conclusions of this study are that the case study schools have closed the achievement gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers through providing effective school leaders and the use of a range of effective intervention strategies. We would suggest that the case study schools’ stories of how they have closed the achievement gap through providing strong school leaders and the use of targeted interventions are of local and national significance. Our research also suggests the possibilities for further research. The recommendations from the study are that there is a need to replicate and expand this research with a larger sample of the study, in order to explore in detail what works in schools.
Exploring Patterns of Advocacy and Well-Being of Parents of Children With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
Authors: Rios Kristina , Aleman-Tovar Janeth , Burke Meghan
Published: November 2021

Advocacy is often an expectation for parents of children with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). However, little is known about how advocacy may impact parent well-being, including stress, family dynamics, and marital relationships. By exploring the effects of advocacy on well-being, interventions can be implemented to support both the advocacy and well-being of parents of children with IDD. To this end, the purpose of the study was to explore the pattern between positive and negative advocacy experiences of parents of children with IDD and the well-being of parents, families, and marriages. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 38 parents of children with IDD. Regardless of the nature (i.e., positive, or negative) of the advocacy experience, participants reported that advocacy increased their stress. When the advocacy experience was positive, some participants reported improved family quality of life. Also, regardless of the nature of the advocacy experience, some participants reported feeling frustration within their marital relationships. Implications for future research and practice are discussed.
Mothers' Perceptions of Satisfaction, Trust, and Power in the Individualized Education Program Process
Authors: Choiseul-Praslin Belkis , Deardorff Malarie E. , Yeager Kristopher Hawk
Published: November 2021

Parent involvement in the development of an individualized education program (IEP) is a foundational tenet of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Unfortunately, mothers, the parent most likely to attend the IEP meeting, often report negative perceptions and even feelings of disillusion with the IEP process. Including mothers as equal members of the IEP team is crucial to student success, especially for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). To determine the extent of mothers' satisfaction, trust, and perception of the power of the IEP process, we surveyed 929 mothers of students with disabilities. Survey results indicate mothers are neither overly satisfied nor dissatisfied with the process, but almost always perceive an imbalance of power between IEP team members. A high percentage of mothers reported experiences with bullying, coercion, and shame. The findings suggest that more efforts are needed to empower mothers during the IEP process and improve parent-school partnerships.
Expert Perspectives on the Inclusion of Students With Significant Disabilities in Schoolwide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports
Authors: Zagona Alison L. , Walker Virginia L. , Lansey Kirsten R. , Kurth Jennifer
Published: November 2021

Schoolwide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (SWPBIS) is a framework intended to benefit all students in a school. However, recent research suggests that students with significant disabilities may not fully participate in SWPBIS. Given the complex reasons for varied involvement in SWPBIS (e.g., student educational placement), the purpose of this study was to investigate expert perspectives on the extent to which students with significant disabilities should be included in SWPBIS. Overall, experts agreed students with significant disabilities should be included in all tiers of SWPBIS, receive instruction in schoolwide rules and expectations, and have the opportunity to participate in schoolwide reward systems. Experts shared differing perspectives on the ways behavior violations of students with significant disabilities should be documented.
Self-supervised stereo depth estimation based on bi-directional pixel-movement learning
Authors: Wang Huachun , Sang Xinzhu , Chen Duo , Wang Peng , Ye Xiaoqian , Qi Shuai , Yan Binbin
Published: November 2021

Stereo depth estimation is an efficient method to perceive three-dimensional structures in real scenes. In this paper, we propose a novel self-supervised method, to the best of our knowledge, to extract depth information by learning bi-directional pixel movement with convolutional neural networks (CNNs). Given left and right views, we use CNNs to learn the task of middle-view synthesis for perceiving bi-directional pixel movement from left-right views to the middle view. The information of pixel movement will be stored in the features after CNNs are trained. Then we use several convolutional layers to extract the information of pixel movement for estimating a depth map of the given scene. Experiments show that our proposed method can significantly provide a high-quality depth map using only a color image as a supervisory signal.
Applications of digital speckle pattern shearing interferometry in characterization of fluids
Authors: Hassani Khosrow , Shiva Seyedeh Marzieh
Published: November 2021

Digital speckle pattern shearing interferometry is a robust optical technique mostly used for measuring small deformations in solid objects. In this paper we focus on applications of this technique in characterization of liquid and gaseous samples. We demonstrate this by a few examples: measurement of the density (temperature) profiles inside a candle flame and around a hot wire in air. Also, we study the diffusion process in a binary mixture and measure the diffusion coefficient. The results of these studies confirm that this highly sensitive, nondestructive, and real-time technique is ideal for investigation of fluid specimens.
Fast hybrid optomechanical scanning photoacoustic remote sensing microscopy for virtual histology
Authors: Restall Brendon S. , Cikaluk Brendyn D. , Martell Matthew. T. , Haven Nathaniel J. M. , Mittal Rohan , Silverman Sveta , Peiris Lashan , Deschenes Jean , Adam Benjamin A. , Kinnaird Adam , Zemp Roger J.
Published: November 2021

A rapid scanning microscopy method for hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) like images is sought after for interoperative diagnosis of solid tumor margins. The rapid observation and diagnosis of histological samples can greatly lower surgical risk and improve patient outcomes from solid tumor resection surgeries. Photoacoustic remote sensing (PARS) has recently been demonstrated to provide images of virtual H&E stains with excellent concordance with true H&E staining of formalin-fixed, paraffin embedded tissues. By using PARS with constant velocity and 1D galvanometer mirror scanning we acquire large virtual H&E images (10mm x 5mm) of prostate tissue in less than 3.5 minutes without staining, and over two orders of magnitude faster data acquisition than the current PARS imaging speed.
Classification of two species of Gram-positive bacteria through hyperspectral microscopy coupled with machine learning
Authors: Liu Kunxing , Ke Ze , Chen Peining , Zhu Siqi , Yin Hao , Li Zhen , Chen Zhenqiang
Published: November 2021

Gram stain is one of the most common techniques used to visualize bacteria under microscopy and classify bacteria into two large groups (Gram-positive and Gram-negative). However, such an inaccurate classification is unfavorable for bacterial research. For instance, soil-rhizosphere bacteria, Bacillus megaterium (B. megaterium) and Bacillus cereus (B. cereus) have different effects on plants, nonetheless, they are both Gram-positive and difficult to be differentiated. Here, we present a method to precisely classify Gram-positive bacteria via hyperspectral microscopy. The pH-value differences in the intracellular environment of various types of bacteria can lead to different ionization of the auxochrome of crystal violet (CV) molecules during the Gram stain process. Consequently, there is a subtle difference in the absorption peak of Gram-stained bacteria. Harnessing hyperspectral microscopy can capture this subtle difference and enable precise classification. Besides the spectral features, the spatial features were also used to improve the quality of bacterial identification. The results show that the classification accuracy of two species of Gram-positive bacteria, B. megaterium and B. cereus, is up to 98.06%. We believe this method can be used for other Gram-positive bacteria and Gram-negative bacteria, realizing a more elaborate classification for Gram-stained bacteria.
Few-cycle 10  µm multi-terawatt pulse self-compression in a gas-filled multi-pass cell: a numerical experiment
Authors: Hastings Michael G. , Panagiotopoulos Paris , Kolesik Miroslav , Hasson Victor , Tochitsky Sergei , Moloney Jerome V.
Published: November 2021

A gas-filled multi-pass cell is modeled to self-compress a 10 µm pulse
to sub-100 fs duration while containing multi-terawatts of peak power.
The motivation for modeling a source with the demonstrated power is
for use in laser wakefield accelerators. The cell is filled with the
second most abundant isotope of

C
O

2

,

13

C
O

2

, which has a shifted
dispersion/absorption relative to the gain medium generating the laser
pulse,

12

C
O

2

. This allows for low-loss,
long-distance propagation in the anomalous group velocity dispersion
(GVD) Kerr medium, leading to self-compression of the initially
3.5 ps, 1 TW pulse. The pulse reaches a duration of 300 fs inside the
cell before outcoupling through the anomalous GVD NaCl window, causing
further compression to 87 fs and containing 8.35 TW peak power. By
combining the self-compression of the gas-filled multi-pass cell with
a post-compression anomalous GVD element, a hybrid compression scheme
has been demonstrated.
Spatial mode control based on photonic lanterns
Authors: Lu Yao , Liu Wenguang , Chen Zilun , Jiang Man , Zhou Qiong , Zhang Jiangbin , Li Changjin , Chai Junyu , Jiang Zongfu
Published: November 2021

We demonstrate two critical rules of designing photonic lanterns for applications in adaptive spatial mode control: (1) optimized input fiber arrangements to effectively control modes; (2) appropriate input fiber core-cladding ratio to expand the optional range of the output fiber. The 3×1 and 5×1 photonic lanterns according to above design requirements have been fabricated. Using stochastic parallel gradient descent algorithm, the phases of the inputs are actively modulated to stabilize the output of novel 5×1 photonic lantern with 30/125 µm output fiber. When the control target is the fundamental mode, the M2 factor of output beam is below 1.2 stably, which will provide a possible technical solution to increase the mode instability threshold in large mode area fiber laser systems. Furthermore, we obtain single orbital angular momentum mode (OAM01 or OAM02 mode) and high order linearly polarized mode (LP11 or LP21 mode) with the purity of the corresponding modes over 0.85 by altering evaluation function, which will be of benefit in optical communication and atomic optics.
Electron-hole plasma Fabry-Perot lasing in a Ga-incorporated ZnO microbelt via Ag nanoparticle deposition
Authors: Sun Yuzhou , Jiang Mingming , Li Binghui , Xie Xiuhua , Shan Chongxin , Shen Dezhen
Published: November 2021

In this work, individual ZnO via Ga-doped (ZnO:Ga) microbelts with excellent crystallinity and smooth facets can enable the realization of lateral microresonator Fabry-Perot (F-P) microlasers, and the F-P lasing action originates from excitonic state. Interestingly, introducing Ag nanoparticles (AgNPs) deposited on the microbelt can increase F-P lasing characteristics containing a lower threshold and enhanced lasing output. Especially for the large size AgNPs (the diameter d is approximately 200 nm), the lasing features also exhibit a significant redshift of each lasing peak and an observable broadening of the spectral line width with an increase of the excitation fluence. And the remarkable lasing characteristics are belonging to the electron-hole plasma (EHP) luminescence. The behavior and dynamics of the stimulated radiation in an AgNPs@ZnO:Ga microbelt are studied, suggesting the Mott-transition from the excitonic state to EHP state that is responsible for the F-P lasing. These features can be attributed to the working mechanism that the hot electrons created by the large size AgNPs through nonradiative decay can fill the conduction band of nearby ZnO:Ga, leading to a downward shift of the conduction band edge. This novel filling influence can facilitate bandgap renormalization and result in EHP emission. The results provide a comprehensive understanding of the transition between excitonic and EHP states in the stimulated emission process. More importantly, it also can provide new scheme to developing high efficiency and ultra-low threshold microlasing diodes.
Uniformly scalable lithium niobate THz pulse source in transmission geometry
Authors: Krizsán Gergő , Tibai Zoltán , Tóth György , Nugraha Priyo S. , Almási Gábor , Hebling János , Fülöp József A.
Published: November 2021

A novel THz source, based on optical rectification in LiNbO3 using the tilted-pulse-front technique, is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. The pulse-front tilt is introduced by a volume phase holographic grating, efficiently used at perpendicular incidence in transmission, and the THz pulses are produced in a LiNbO3 plane-parallel nonlinear echelon slab, arranged parallel to the grating. As a unique feature, the entire setup has a plane-parallel, transmission-type configuration, which straightforwardly enables distortion-free scaling to large sizes, high pulse energies and high THz field strengths. The possibility of operating the setup at cryogenic temperature for increased THz generation efficiency is also investigated. Calculations predict efficiencies of 95% for diffraction and 2% for THz generation at room temperature with a refractive-index-matching liquid between the grating and the echelon slab.
Electromagnetic field induced strong two photon blockade with hyperradiant behavior
Authors: Li W. , Zhu C. J. , Yang Y. P.
Published: November 2021

We theoretically study the electromagnetic field controlled photon correlation and radiation properties in a two-atom-cavity quantum electrodynamic (QED) system with different atom-cavity coupling strengths. When two three-level atoms are coherently driven by a probe field and a strong control field, forming a ladder type electromagnetically induced transparency configuration, there exist four different excitation pathways via the two photon processes, yielding four different frequencies for realizing two photon blockades. Carefully choosing the intensity of the control field, resonant single-photon and two-photon excitation can be achieved at the same probe field frequency. Thus, two photon blockade phenomenon can be significantly improved and the collective radiation behavior becomes superradiance or even hyperradiance. Our system presented here can be considered to be a converter of a weak coherent light to two correlated photons.
Sub-terahertz bandwidth capactively-loaded thin-film lithium niobate electro-optic modulators based on an undercut structure
Authors: Liu Xuecheng , Xiong Bing , Sun Changzheng , Wang Jian , Hao Zhibiao , Wang Lai , Han Yanjun , Li Hongtao , Luo Yi
Published: November 2021

A thin film lithium niobate (TFLN) electro-optic modulator based on a partially removed benzocyclobutene (BCB) bonding layer is proposed for sub-terahertz bandwidth. Low-loss microwave transmission is realized by periodic capacitively loaded travelling-wave electrodes (CL-TWEs) with an undercut structure, and the air-filled region beneath the modulator arms is adjusted to secure impedance and velocity matching. A low half-wave voltage length product of 1.2 V·cm can be achieved with 2-µm-gap loaded electrodes, while the 3-dB electro-optic modulation bandwidth for 10 mm modulation length is estimated beyond 300 GHz, thus allowing sub-terahertz operation.
Joint iterative reconstruction and 3D rigid alignment for X-ray tomography
Authors: Pande K. , Donatelli J. J. , Parkinson D. Y. , Yan H. , Sethian J. A.
Published: November 2021

X-ray tomography is widely used for three-dimensional structure determination in many areas of science, from the millimeter to the nanometer scale. The resolution and quality of the 3D reconstruction is limited by the availability of alignment parameters that correct for the mechanical shifts of the sample or sample stage for the images that constitute a scan. In this paper we describe an algorithm for marker-free, fully automated and accurately aligned and reconstructed X-ray tomography data. Our approach solves the tomographic reconstruction jointly with projection data alignment based on a rigid-body deformation model. We demonstrate the robustness of our method on both synthetic phantom and experimental data and show that our method is highly efficient in recovering relatively large alignment errors without prior knowledge of a low resolution approximation of the 3D structure or a reasonable estimate of alignment parameters.
Accurate semi-numerical approach for multilayer metasurfaces with near-field coupling
Authors: Gao Xi , Wu Xiongbin , Li Kexin , Shi Jinhui , Wang GuoFu , Xie XianMing , Xue ChunHua , Li Simin
Published: November 2021

Multilayer metasurfaces have attracted much attention for broad bandwidth and high transmission efficiency. However, the electromagnetic (EM) coupling will be significant and greatly affect the transmission performance when the inter-layer distance is in subwavelength scale. Here, we present a generally equivalent circuit approach (ECA) that can be used to investigate the transmission performance and the near-field coupling mechanism in multilayer metasurfaces. Based on the proposed ECA, the analytical expression of transmission coefficient is obtained. The accuracy of the circuit model is further verified by several typical multilayer metasurfaces in ultrawideband from 0 to 30 GHz. The proposed method is valid for an arbitrary multilayer metasurface system, regardless of the layer number and the metallic elements.
Marker-free stitching deflectometry for three-dimensional measurement of the specular surface
Authors: Wang Ruiyang , Li Dahai , Zhang Xinwei , Zheng Wanxing , Yu Linzhi , Ge Renhao
Published: November 2021

Due to the ‘invisible’ property of the specular surface, it is difficult for the stitching deflectometry to identify the overlapping area. Previously, markers were used on the unit under test with a roughly known shape to find the overlapping area. We propose a marker-free stitching deflectometry that utilizes the stereo-iterative algorithm to calculate the sub-aperture point cloud without height-slope ambiguity, and the overlapping area is identified with the point cloud datum. The measured area is significantly enlarged. The simulation and experiments are conducted to verify the proposal and evaluate the accuracy. We test a high-quality flat with 190mm diameter, the measurement error is below 100nm RMS with comparison to the interferometer.
Full scene underwater imaging with polarization and an untrained network
Authors: Zhu Yanmin , Zeng Tianjiao , Liu Kewei , Ren Zhenbo , Lam Edmund Y.
Published: November 2021

The veiling effect caused by the scattering and absorption of suspending particles is a critical challenge of underwater imaging. It is possible to combine the image formation model (IFM) with the optical polarization characteristics underwater to effectively remove the veiling effect and recover a clear image. The performance of such methods, to a great extent, depends on the settings of the global parameters in the application scenarios. Meanwhile, learning-based methods can fit the underwater image information degradation process nonlinearly to restore the images from scattering. Here, we propose for the first time a method for full scene underwater imaging that synergistically makes use of an untrained network and polarization imaging. By mounting a Stokes mask polarizer on the CMOS camera, we can simultaneously obtain images with different polarization states for IFM calculation and optimize the imaging automatically by an untrained network without requiring extra training data. This method makes full use of the nonlinear fitting ability of a neural network and corrects the undesirable imaging effect caused by imperfect parameter settings of the classical IFM in different scenes . It shows good performance in removing the impact of water scattering and preserving the object information, making it possible to achieve clear full scene underwater imaging.
Global correction of optical distortions in multicolor single-molecule microscopy using Zernike polynomial gradients
Authors: McCluskey Kaley A. , van Veen Edo N. W. , Cnossen Jelmer P. , Wesselink Wouter J. , Asscher Filip M. , Smith Carlas S. , Dekker Nynke H.
Published: November 2021

Accurate image alignment is critical in multicolor single-molecule fluorescence microscopy. Global alignment using affine transformations leaves residual errors due to the nonlinearity of the distortions, which decreases the effective field of view. Subsequent local refinement demands either large amounts of reference data and processing time or specialized imaging techniques like active stabilization. Here, we present a global alignment method, S/T polynomial decomposition, that uses sums of Zernike polynomial gradients to decompose the distortion between two images, correcting both linear and nonlinear distortions simultaneously. With minimal reference data, we gain diagnostic information about the distortion and achieve a colocalization accuracy comparable to local registration methods across the entire field of view.
Bandwidth-tunable near-infrared perfect absorption of graphene in a compound grating waveguide structure supporting quasi-bound states in the continuum
Authors: Wu Feng , Liu Dejun , Xiao Shuyuan
Published: November 2021

Recently, based on the selective excitation of the guided mode, researchers realized quasi-bound states in the continuum (quasi-BICs) in all-dielectric compound grating waveguide structures. In this paper, we introduce a graphene layer into an all-dielectric compound grating waveguide layer supporting quasi-BIC to achieve near-infrared perfect absorption of graphene. The underlying physical mechanism of perfect absorption can be clearly explained by the critical coupling theory derived from temporal coupled-mode theory in a single-mode, one-port system. By changing the Fermi level and the layer number of the graphene, the absorption rate of the system can be flexibly tuned. In addition, by changing the geometric parameter of the compound grating waveguide structure, the radiation coupling rate of the quasi-BIC can also be flexibly tuned. Therefore, the critical coupling condition can be maintained in a broad range of the Fermi level and the layer number of the graphene. The full width at half maximum of the near-infrared perfect absorption peak can be flexibly tuned from 5.7 to 187.1 nm. This bandwidth-tunable perfect absorber would possess potential applications in the design of 2D material-based optical sensors, electrical switchers, and solar thermophotovoltaic devices.
Influence of light pattern thickness on the manipulation of dielectric microparticles by optoelectronic tweezers
Authors: Zhang Shuailong , Elsayed Mohamed , Peng Ran , Chen Yujie , Zhang Yanfeng , Neale Steven L. , Wheeler Aaron R.
Published: November 2021

Optoelectronic tweezer (OET) is a useful optical micromanipulation technology that has been demonstrated for various applications in electrical engineering and most notably cell selection for biomedical engineering. In this work, we studied the use of light patterns with different shapes and thicknesses to manipulate dielectric microparticles with OET. It was demonstrated that the maximum velocities of the microparticles increase to a peak and then gradually decrease as the light pattern’s thickness increases. Numerical simulations were run to clarify the underlying physical mechanisms, and it was found that the observed phenomenon is due to the co-influence of horizontal and vertical dielectrophoresis forces related to the light pattern’s thickness. Further experiments were run on light patterns with different shapes and objects with different sizes and structures. The experimental results indicate that the physical mechanism elucidated in this research is an important one that applies to different light pattern shapes and different objects, which is useful for enabling users to optimize OET settings for future micromanipulation applications.
Mid-infrared active metasurface based on Si/VO2 hybrid meta-atoms
Authors: Kang Tongtong , Fan Boyu , Qin Jun , Yang Weihao , Xia Shuang , Peng Zheng , Liu Bo , Peng Sui , Liang Xiao , Tang Tingting , Deng Longjiang , Luo Yi , Wang Hanbin , Zhou Qiang , Bi Lei
Published: November 2021

Active metasurfaces whose optical properties can be tuned by an external stimulus have attracted great research interest recently. Introduction of

VO

2

phase change material in all-dielectric metasurfaces has been demonstrated to modulate the resonance wavelength and amplitude in the visible to near-infrared wavelength range. In this study, we report a mid-infrared active metasurface based on

Si
/

VO

2

hybrid meta-atoms. By incorporating

VO

2

thin films in different locations of

Si
/

VO

2

all-dielectric nanodisks, we demonstrate different modulation amplitude of the electric or magnetic resonance scattering cross sections, leading to drastically different transmission spectrum upon

VO

2

insulator to metal phase transition. The physical mechanism is originated from the field profiles of the resonance modes, which interact with

VO

2

differently depending on its locations. Based on this mechanism, we experimentally demonstrated a large modulation of the transmittance from 82% to 28% at the 4.6 μm wavelength. Our work demonstrates a promising potential of

VO

2

-based active all-dielectric metasurface for mid-infrared photonic applications such as infrared camouflage, chemical/biomedical sensing, optical neuromorphic computing, and multispectral imaging.
Deciphering conformational selectivity in the A2A adenosine G protein-coupled receptor by free energy simulations
Authors: Jespers Willem , Heitman Laura H. , IJzerman Adriaan P. , Sotelo Eddy , van Westen Gerard J. P. , Åqvist Johan , Gutiérrez-de-Terán Hugo
Published: November 2021

Transmembranal G Protein-Coupled Receptors (GPCRs) transduce extracellular chemical signals to the cell, via conformational change from a resting (inactive) to an active (canonically bound to a G-protein) conformation. Receptor activation is normally modulated by extracellular ligand binding, but mutations in the receptor can also shift this equilibrium by stabilizing different conformational states. In this work, we built structure-energetic relationships of receptor activation based on original thermodynamic cycles that represent the conformational equilibrium of the prototypical A2A adenosine receptor (AR). These cycles were solved with efficient free energy perturbation (FEP) protocols, allowing to distinguish the pharmacological profile of different series of A2AAR agonists with different efficacies. The modulatory effects of point mutations on the basal activity of the receptor or on ligand efficacies could also be detected. This methodology can guide GPCR ligand design with tailored pharmacological properties, or allow the identification of mutations that modulate receptor activation with potential clinical implications.
When distance matters: Mapping HIV health care underserved communities in sub-Saharan Africa
Authors: Kim Hana , Musuka Godfrey N. , Mukandavire Zindoga , Branscum Adam , Cuadros Diego F.
Published: November 2021

Despite efforts to increase the proportion of individuals diagnosed with HIV who receive anti-retroviral therapy, 28% of people living with HIV (PLHIV) aged 15 years and older in eastern and southern Africa and 42% in western and central Africa were not receiving anti-retroviral therapy in 2019. Therefore, improving access to health care services is key to reduce HIV incidence and prevalence. The main aim of this study was to generate high-resolution maps of underserved areas where people cannot access the closest health care facilities within appropriate travel time in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Main sources of data for this study were the estimated number of PLHIV for adults aged 15–49 years in 47 countries in SSA and the global map of travel time to the nearest health care facility by motorized and non-motorized transportation. These data were used to estimate and map the number of PLHIV in underserved areas at a travel distance of 10, 30, and 60 minutes from the nearest healthcare facility. We identified and mapped more than 7 million PLHIV in the areas with a lack of access to health care within 10-minute travel time and 1.5 million PLHIV in the areas with a lack of access to health care within 60-minute travel time. The identified locations of underserved areas are an indicator of the challenge faced by PLHIV in accessing health services in SSA, a situation that is likely worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic. These findings can contribute to developing cost-effective geospatial policies for interventions aimed at underserved areas at a finer resolution for communities that have usually been identified in aggregated spatial areas. Further development and implementation of tailored intervention and treatment programs, especially in areas identified as underserved for PLHIV, should be explored. Geospatial analyses could complement the decision-making process with stakeholders to enhance healthcare access for PLHIV in SSA.
Comparative proteomics reveals Cryptosporidium parvum manipulation of the host cell molecular expression and immune response
Authors: Li Teng , Liu Hua , Jiang Nan , Wang Yiluo , Wang Ying , Zhang Jing , Shen Yujuan , Cao Jianping
Published: November 2021

Cryptosporidium is a life-threating protozoan parasite belonging to the phylum Apicomplexa, which mainly causes gastroenteritis in a variety of vertebrate hosts. Currently, there is a re-emergence of Cryptosporidium infection; however, no fully effective drug or vaccine is available to treat Cryptosporidiosis. In the present study, to better understand the detailed interaction between the host and Cryptosporidium parvum, a large-scale label-free proteomics study was conducted to characterize the changes to the proteome induced by C. parvum infection. Among 4406 proteins identified, 121 proteins were identified as differentially abundant (> 1.5-fold cutoff, P < 0.05) in C. parvum infected HCT-8 cells compared with uninfected cells. Among them, 67 proteins were upregulated, and 54 proteins were downregulated at 36 h post infection. Analysis of the differentially abundant proteins revealed an interferon-centered immune response of the host cells against C. parvum infection and extensive inhibition of metabolism-related enzymes in the host cells caused by infection. Several proteins were further verified using quantitative real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and western blotting. This systematic analysis of the proteomics of C. parvum-infected HCT-8 cells identified a wide range of functional proteins that participate in host anti-parasite immunity or act as potential targets during infection, providing new insights into the molecular mechanism of C. parvum infection.
Batch-produced, GIS-informed range maps for birds based on provenanced, crowd-sourced data inform conservation assessments
Authors: Huang Ryan M. , Medina Wilderson , Brooks Thomas M. , Butchart Stuart H. M. , Fitzpatrick John W. , Hermes Claudia , Jenkins Clinton N. , Johnston Alison , Lebbin Daniel J. , Li Binbin V. , Ocampo-Peñuela Natalia , Parr Mike , Wheatley Hannah , Wiedenfeld David A. , Wood Christopher , Pimm Stuart L.
Published: November 2021

Accurate maps of species ranges are essential to inform conservation, but time-consuming to produce and update. Given the pace of change of knowledge about species distributions and shifts in ranges under climate change and land use, a need exists for timely mapping approaches that enable batch processing employing widely available data. We develop a systematic approach of batch-processing range maps and derived Area of Habitat maps for terrestrial bird species with published ranges below 125,000 km2in Central and South America. (Area of Habitat is the habitat available to a species within its range.) We combine existing range maps with the rapidly expanding crowd-sourced eBird data of presences and absences from frequently surveyed locations, plus readily accessible, high resolution satellite data on forest cover and elevation to map the Area of Habitat available to each species. Users can interrogate the maps produced to see details of the observations that contributed to the ranges. Previous estimates of Areas of Habitat were constrained within the published ranges and thus were, by definition, smaller—typically about 30%. This reflects how little habitat within suitable elevation ranges exists within the published ranges. Our results show that on average, Areas of Habitat are 12%largerthan published ranges, reflecting the often-considerable extent that eBird records expand the known distributions of species. Interestingly, there are substantial differences between threatened and non-threatened species. Some 40% of Critically Endangered, 43% of Endangered, and 55% of Vulnerable species have Areas of Habitat larger than their published ranges, compared with 31% for Near Threatened and Least Concern species. The important finding for conservation is that threatened species are generally more widespread than previously estimated.
Are conspecific social videos rewarding to chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes)? A test of the social motivation theory
Authors: Mulholland Michele M. , Neal Webb Sarah J. , Mareno Mary Catherine , Schweller Kenneth G. , Schapiro Steven J. , Hopkins William D.
Published: November 2021

Many claim that social stimuli are rewarding to primates, but few, if any, studies have explicitly demonstrated their reward value. Here, we examined whether chimpanzees would produce overt responses for the opportunity to view conspecific social, compared to dynamic (video: Experiment 1) and static (picture: Experiment 2) control content. We also explored the relationships between variation in social reward and social behavior and cognition. We provided captive chimpanzees with access to a touchscreen during four, one-hour sessions (two ‘conspecific social’ and two ‘control’). The sessions consisted of ten, 15-second videos (or pictures in Experiment 2) of either chimpanzees engaging in a variety of behaviors (social condition) or vehicles, humans, or other animals engaged in some activity (control condition). For each chimpanzee, we recorded the number of responses to the touchscreen and the frequency of watching the stimuli. Independentt-tests revealed no sex or rearing differences in touching and watching the social or control videos (p>0.05). Repeated measures ANOVAs showed chimpanzees touched and watched the screen significantly more often during the social compared to control video sessions. Furthermore, although chimpanzees did not touch the screen more often during social than control picture sessions in Experiment 2, they did watch the screen more often. Additionally, chimpanzees that previously performed better on a task of social cognition and engaged in more affiliative behavior watched a higher percentage of social videos during the touchscreen task. These results are consistent with the social motivation theory, and indicate social stimuli are intrinsically rewarding, as chimpanzees made more overt responses for the opportunity to view conspecific social, compared to control, content.
Plantar fascial fibromatosis and herpes zoster
Authors: Hsu Chao-Yu , Ke Der-Shin , Lin Cheng-Li , Kao Chia-Hung
Published: November 2021

Purpose

Infection, chronic pain and depression are considered risk factors for herpes zoster (HZ). However, the correlation between plantar fascial fibromatosis (PFF) and HZ remains unknown. This study investigated HZ risk in patients with PFF.

Methods

Data was extracted from the Longitudinal Health Insurance Database 2000, which is a subsample of the Taiwan National Health Insurance (NHI) Research Database and contains 1 million NHI beneficiaries. Between 2000 and 2012, patients diagnosed as having PFF were included in the case cohort. Every case was age and sex-matched with individuals without PFF through 1:4 frequency matching (control cohort). The end of the follow-up was defined as December 31, 2013, the date of HZ diagnosis, death, emigration, or withdrawal from the NHI program.

Results

In total, 4,729 patients were diagnosed as having PFF and were matched with 18,916 individuals without PFF. Patients with PFF were 1.23 times more likely to develop HZ than were those without PFF. Among those aged ≥65 years, patients with PFF had a higher HZ risk than did those without PFF (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR] = 1.48). Men with PFF had a significantly higher risk of HZ than did men without PFF (aHR = 1.44).

Conclusion

Patients with PFF, particularly older and male patients, having a high HZ risk and may thus be vaccinated for HZ.