bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Breaking the in-coupling efficiency limit in waveguide-based AR displays with polarization volume gratings
Authors: Ding Yuqiang , Gu Yuchen , Yang Qian , Yang Zhiyong , Huang Yuge , Weng Yishi , Zhang Yuning , Wu Shin-Tson 
Published: August 2024

AbstractAugmented reality (AR) displays, heralded as the next-generation platform for spatial computing, metaverse, and digital twins, empower users to perceive digital images overlaid with real-world environment, fostering a deeper level of human-digital interactions. With the rapid evolution of couplers, waveguide-based AR displays have streamlined the entire system, boasting a slim form factor and high optical performance. However, challenges persist in the waveguide combiner, including low optical efficiency and poor image uniformity, significantly hindering the long-term usage and user experience. In this paper, we first analyze the root causes of the low optical efficiency and poor uniformity in waveguide-based AR displays. We then discover and elucidate an anomalous polarization conversion phenomenon inherent to polarization volume gratings (PVGs) when the incident light direction does not satisfy the Bragg condition. This new property is effectively leveraged to circumvent the tradeoff between in-coupling efficiency and eyebox uniformity. Through feasibility demonstration experiments, we measure the light leakage in multiple PVGs with varying thicknesses using a laser source and a liquid-crystal-on-silicon light engine. The experiment corroborates the polarization conversion phenomenon, and the results align with simulation well. To explore the potential of such a polarization conversion phenomenon further, we design and simulate a waveguide display with a 50° field of view. Through achieving first-order polarization conversion in a PVG, the in-coupling efficiency and uniformity are improved by 2 times and 2.3 times, respectively, compared to conventional couplers. This groundbreaking discovery holds immense potential for revolutionizing next-generation waveguide-based AR displays, promising a higher efficiency and superior image uniformity.
Feasibility and acceptability of implementing an evidence-based ESCALATION system for paediatric clinical deterioration
Authors: Gill Fenella J. , Cooper Alannah , Falconer Pania , Stokes Scott , Roberts Alison , Szabo Matthew , Leslie Gavin D. 
Published: August 2024

Abstract
Background
The ESCALATION system is a novel paediatric Early Warning System that incorporates family involvement and sepsis recognition. This study aimed to assess the feasibility and iteratively refine the ESCALATION system in a variety of hospital settings in preparation for full-service implementation.

Methods
A series of four multi-methods studies using an Implementation Science and co-design approach were conducted. We examined concepts of implementation, context, and mechanisms of action across a variety of hospitals. Data collected included practice and chart audits, surveys (health professionals), interviews (families) and focus groups (health professionals). Quantitative data were analysed descriptively with qualitative findings assessed by content analysis or thematic analysis.

Results
There were 650 audits (Study I–IV), 205 health professional survey responses (Study I), 154 health professionals participated in focus groups (Study II–IV), 13 parents of hospitalised children interviewed (Study I), and 107 parents reported their involvement in the ESCALATION system (Study III–IV). Each of the studies further refined and confirmed the feasibility, specifically the components of family involvement and the sepsis recognition pathway.

Conclusion
The Implementation Science evaluation of the ESCALATION system resulted in a uniform approach that was feasible and acceptable to users and appropriate for full-service implementation.

Impact

This series of four studies used a co-production approach built on the Medical Research Council framework to understand feasibility and acceptability of an intervention to improve recognition and response to clinical deterioration in children to the point of full-service implementation.

We have reported a detailed, systematic approach to assessing feasibility and acceptability of a complex intervention using established methodologies for whole of health system implementation.

The ESCALATION System is an evidence based paediatric early warning system that is a highly refined, well accepted and accommodates a health system that has substantial contextual variation.
Substrates mimicking the blastocyst geometry revert pluripotent stem cell to naivety
Authors: Xu Xun , Wang Weiwei , Liu Yue , Bäckemo Johan , Heuchel Matthias , Wang Wei , Nie Yan , Iqbal Imran , Kratz Karl , Lendlein Andreas , Ma Nan 
Published: August 2024

AbstractNaive pluripotent stem cells have the highest developmental potential but their in vivo existence in the blastocyst is transient. Here we report a blastocyst motif substrate for the in vitro reversion of mouse and human pluripotent stem cells to a naive state. The substrate features randomly varied microstructures, which we call motifs, mimicking the geometry of the blastocyst. Motifs representing mouse-blastocyst-scaled curvature ranging between 15 and 62 mm−1 were the most efficient in promoting reversion to naivety, as determined by time-resolved correlative analysis. In these substrates, apical constriction enhances E-cadherin/RAC1 signalling and activates the mechanosensitive nuclear transducer YAP, promoting the histone modification of pluripotency genes. This results in enhanced levels of pluripotency transcription factor NANOG, which persist even after cells are removed from the substrate. Pluripotent stem cells cultured in blastocyst motif substrates display a higher development potential in generating embryoid bodies and teratomas. These findings shed light on naivety-promoting substrate design and their large-scale implementation.
Staphylococcus aureus adapts to exploit collagen-derived proline during chronic infection
Authors: Urso Andreacarola , Monk Ian R. , Cheng Ying-Tsun , Predella Camilla , Wong Fok Lung Tania , Theiller Erin M. , Boylan Jack , Perelman Sofya , Baskota Swikrity U. , Moustafa Ahmed M. , Lohia Gaurav , Lewis Ian A. , Howden Benjamin P. , Stinear Timothy P. , Dorrello Nicolino V. , Torres Victor , Prince Alice S. 
Published: August 2024

AbstractStaphylococcus aureus is a pulmonary pathogen associated with substantial human morbidity and mortality. As vaccines targeting virulence determinants have failed to be protective in humans, other factors are likely involved in pathogenesis. Here we analysed transcriptomic responses of human clinical isolates of S. aureus from initial and chronic infections. We observed upregulated collagenase and proline transporter gene expression in chronic infection isolates. Metabolomics of bronchiolar lavage fluid and fibroblast infection, growth assays and analysis of bacterial mutant strains showed that airway fibroblasts produce collagen during S. aureus infection. Host-adapted bacteria upregulate collagenase, which degrades collagen and releases proline. S. aureus then imports proline, which fuels oxidative metabolism via the tricarboxylic acid cycle. Proline metabolism provides host-adapted S. aureus with a metabolic benefit enabling out-competition of non-adapted strains. These data suggest that clinical settings characterized by airway repair processes and fibrosis provide a milieu that promotes S. aureus adaptation and supports infection.
Durable and programmable ultrafast nanophotonic matrix of spectral pixels
Authors: Guo Tingbiao , Zhang Zhi , Lin Zijian , Tian Jiahan , Jin Yi , Evans Julian , Xu Yinghe , He Sailing 
Published: August 2024

AbstractLocally addressable nanophotonic devices are essential for modern applications such as light detection, optical imaging, beam steering and displays. Despite recent advances, a versatile solution with a high-speed tuning rate, long-life durability and programmability across multiple pixels remains elusive. Here we introduce a programmable nanophotonic matrix consisting of vanadium dioxide (VO2) cavities on pixelated microheaters that meets all these requirements. The indirect Joule heating of these VO2 cavities can result in pronounced spectral modulation with colour changes and ensures exceptional endurance even after a million switching cycles. Precise control over the thermal dissipation power through a SiO2 layer of an optimized thickness on Si facilitates an ultrafast modulation rate exceeding 70 kHz. We demonstrated a video-rate nanophotonic colour display by electrically addressing a matrix of 12 × 12 pixels. Furthermore, inspired by the unique pixel-level programmability with multiple intermediate states of the spectral pixels, a spatiotemporal modulation concept is introduced for spectrum detection.
Bose–Einstein condensation of photons in a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser
Authors: Pieczarka Maciej , Gębski Marcin , Piasecka Aleksandra N. , Lott James A. , Pelster Axel , Wasiak Michał , Czyszanowski Tomasz 
Published: August 2024

AbstractMany bosons can occupy a single quantum state without a limit. It is described by the quantum-mechanical Bose–Einstein statistic, which allows Bose–Einstein condensation at low temperatures and high particle densities. Photons, historically the first considered bosonic gas, were late to show this phenomenon, observed in rhodamine-filled microcavities and doped fibre cavities. These findings have raised the question of whether condensation is also common in other laser systems with potential technological applications. Here we show the Bose–Einstein condensation of photons in a broad-area vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser with a slight cavity-gain spectral detuning. We observed a Bose–Einstein condensate in the fundamental transversal optical mode at a critical phase-space density. The experimental results follow the equation of state for a two-dimensional gas of bosons in thermal equilibrium, although the extracted spectral temperatures were lower than the device’s. This is interpreted as originating from the driven-dissipative nature of the photon gas. In contrast, non-equilibrium lasing action is observed in the higher-order modes in more negatively detuned device. Our work opens the way for the potential exploration of superfluid physics of interacting photons mediated by semiconductor optical nonlinearities. It also shows great promise for enabling single-mode high-power emission from a large-aperture device.
Circuit quantum electrodynamics detection of induced two-fold anisotropic pairing in a hybrid superconductor–ferromagnet bilayer
Authors: Bøttcher C. G. L. , Poniatowski N. R. , Grankin A. , Wesson M. E. , Yan Z. , Vool U. , Galitski V. M. , Yacoby A. 
Published: August 2024

AbstractHybrid systems represent one of the frontiers in the study of unconventional superconductivity and are a promising platform to realize topological superconducting states. These materials are challenging to probe using many conventional measurement techniques because of their mesoscopic dimensions, and therefore require new experimental probes so that they can be successfully characterized. Here, we demonstrate a probe that enables us to measure the superfluid density of micrometre-size superconductors using microwave techniques drawn from circuit quantum electrodynamics. We apply this technique to a superconductor–ferromagnet bilayer and find that the proximity-induced superfluid density is two-fold anisotropic within the plane of the sample. It also exhibits power-law temperature scaling that is indicative of a nodal superconducting state. These experimental results are consistent with the theoretically predicted signatures of induced triplet pairing with a nodal p-wave order parameter. Moreover, we observe modifications to the microwave response at frequencies near the ferromagnetic resonance, suggesting a coupling between the spin dynamics and induced superconducting order in the ferromagnetic layer. Our experimental technique can be employed more widely, for example to study fragile unconventional superconductivity in low-dimensional materials such as van der Waals heterostructures.
Removal of TREX1 activity enhances CRISPR–Cas9-mediated homologous recombination
Authors: Karasu Mehmet E. , Toufektchan Eléonore , Chen Yanyang , Albertelli Alessandra , Cullot Grégoire , Maciejowski John , Corn Jacob E. 
Published: August 2024

AbstractCRISPR–Cas9-mediated homology-directed repair (HDR) can introduce desired mutations at targeted genomic sites, but achieving high efficiencies is a major hurdle in many cell types, including cells deficient in DNA repair activity. In this study, we used genome-wide screening in Fanconi anemia patient lymphoblastic cell lines to uncover suppressors of CRISPR–Cas9-mediated HDR. We found that a single exonuclease, TREX1, reduces HDR efficiency when the repair template is a single-stranded or linearized double-stranded DNA. TREX1 expression serves as a biomarker for CRISPR–Cas9-mediated HDR in that the high TREX1 expression present in many different cell types (such as U2OS, Jurkat, MDA-MB-231 and primary T cells as well as hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells) predicts poor HDR. Here we demonstrate rescue of HDR efficiency (ranging from two-fold to eight-fold improvement) either by TREX1 knockout or by the use of single-stranded DNA templates chemically protected from TREX1 activity. Our data explain why some cell types are easier to edit than others and indicate routes for increasing CRISPR–Cas9-mediated HDR in TREX1-expressing contexts.
Cluster effect for SNP–SNP interaction pairs for predicting complex traits
Authors: Lin Hui-Yi , Mazumder Harun , Sarkar Indrani , Huang Po-Yu , Eeles Rosalind A. , Kote-Jarai Zsofia , Muir Kenneth R. ,   UKGPCS collaborators, Schleutker Johanna , Pashayan Nora , Batra Jyotsna ,   APCB (Australian Prostate Cancer BioResource), Neal David E. , Nielsen Sune F. , Nordestgaard Børge G. , Grönberg Henrik , Wiklund Fredrik , MacInnis Robert J. , Haiman Christopher A. , Travis Ruth C. , Stanford Janet L. , Kibel Adam S. , Cybulski Cezary , Khaw Kay-Tee , Maier Christiane , Thibodeau Stephen N. , Teixeira Manuel R. , Cannon-Albright Lisa , Brenner Hermann , Kaneva Radka , Pandha Hardev ,   The PRACTICAL consortium, Park Jong Y. 
Published: August 2024

AbstractSingle nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) interactions are the key to improving polygenic risk scores. Previous studies reported several significant SNP–SNP interaction pairs that shared a common SNP to form a cluster, but some identified pairs might be false positives. This study aims to identify factors associated with the cluster effect of false positivity and develop strategies to enhance the accuracy of SNP–SNP interactions. The results showed the cluster effect is a major cause of false-positive findings of SNP–SNP interactions. This cluster effect is due to high correlations between a causal pair and null pairs in a cluster. The clusters with a hub SNP with a significant main effect and a large minor allele frequency (MAF) tended to have a higher false-positive rate. In addition, peripheral null SNPs in a cluster with a small MAF tended to enhance false positivity. We also demonstrated that using the modified significance criterion based on the 3 p-value rules and the bootstrap approach (3pRule + bootstrap) can reduce false positivity and maintain high true positivity. In addition, our results also showed that a pair without a significant main effect tends to have weak or no interaction. This study identified the cluster effect and suggested using the 3pRule + bootstrap approach to enhance SNP–SNP interaction detection accuracy.
An improved equilibrium optimization algorithm for feature selection problem in network intrusion detection
Authors: Varzaneh Zahra Asghari , Hosseini Soodeh 
Published: August 2024

AbstractIn this paper, an enhanced equilibrium optimization (EO) version named Levy-opposition-equilibrium optimization (LOEO) is proposed to select effective features in network intrusion detection systems (IDSs). The opposition-based learning (OBL) approach is applied by this algorithm to improve the diversity of the population. Also, the Levy flight method is utilized to escape local optima. Then, the binary rendition of the algorithm called BLOEO is employed to feature selection in IDSs. One of the main challenges in IDSs is the high-dimensional feature space, with many irrelevant or redundant features. The BLOEO algorithm is designed to intelligently select the most informative subset of features. The empirical findings on NSL-KDD, UNSW-NB15, and CIC-IDS2017 datasets demonstrate the effectiveness of the BLOEO algorithm. This algorithm has an acceptable ability to effectively reduce the number of data features, maintaining a high intrusion detection accuracy of over 95%. Specifically, on the UNSW-NB15 dataset, BLOEO selected only 10.8 features on average, achieving an accuracy of 97.6% and a precision of 100%.
Short, stringent lockdowns halted SARS-CoV-2 transmissions in Danish municipalities
Authors: Ege Florian 
Published: August 2024

AbstractIn late 2020, the focus of the global effort against the COVID-19 pandemic centered around the development of a vaccine, when reports of a mutated SARS-CoV-2 virus variant in a population of 17 million farmed mink came from Denmark, threatening to jeopardize this effort. Spillover infections of the new variant between mink and humans were feared to threaten the efficacy of upcoming vaccines. In this study the ensuing short-lived yet stringent lockdowns imposed in 7 of the countries 98 municipalities are analysed for their effectiveness to reduce SARS-CoV-2 infections. Synthetic counterfactuals are created for each of these municipalities using a weighted average combination of the remaining municipalities not targeted by the stringent measures. This allows for a clear overview regarding the development of test-positivity rates, citizen mobility behaviours and lastly daily infection numbers in response to the restrictions. The findings show that these targeted, short-term lockdowns significantly curtailed further infections, demonstrating a marked decrease, first in citizens mobility and then in daily cases when compared to their synthetic counterfactuals. Overall, the estimates indicate average reductions to infection numbers to be around 31%. This study underscores the potential of strict, yet severe lockdowns in breaking ongoing infection dynamics, by utilising a rare quasi-experimental design case that avoids bias introduced through treatment selection.
Hebbian plasticity induced by temporally coincident BCI enhances post-stroke motor recovery
Authors: Krueger Johanna , Krauth Richard , Reichert Christoph , Perdikis Serafeim , Vogt Susanne , Huchtemann Tessa , Dürschmid Stefan , Sickert Almut , Lamprecht Juliane , Huremovic Almir , Görtler Michael , Nasuto Slawomir J. , Tsai I.-Chin , Knight Robert T. , Hinrichs Hermann , Heinze Hans-Jochen , Lindquist Sabine , Sailer Michael , Millán Jose del R. , Sweeney-Reed Catherine M. 
Published: August 2024

AbstractFunctional electrical stimulation (FES) can support functional restoration of a paretic limb post-stroke. Hebbian plasticity depends on temporally coinciding pre- and post-synaptic activity. A tight temporal relationship between motor cortical (MC) activity associated with attempted movement and FES-generated visuo-proprioceptive feedback is hypothesized to enhance motor recovery. Using a brain–computer interface (BCI) to classify MC spectral power in electroencephalographic (EEG) signals to trigger FES-delivery with detection of movement attempts improved motor outcomes in chronic stroke patients. We hypothesized that heightened neural plasticity earlier post-stroke would further enhance corticomuscular functional connectivity and motor recovery. We compared subcortical non-dominant hemisphere stroke patients in BCI-FES and Random-FES (FES temporally independent of MC movement attempt detection) groups. The primary outcome measure was the Fugl-Meyer Assessment, Upper Extremity (FMA-UE). We recorded high-density EEG and transcranial magnetic stimulation-induced motor evoked potentials before and after treatment. The BCI group showed greater: FMA-UE improvement; motor evoked potential amplitude; beta oscillatory power and long-range temporal correlation reduction over contralateral MC; and corticomuscular coherence with contralateral MC. These changes are consistent with enhanced post-stroke motor improvement when movement is synchronized with MC activity reflecting attempted movement.
Diversity and specificity of molecular functions in cyanobacterial symbionts
Authors: Cameron Ellen S. , Sanchez Santiago , Goldman Nick , Blaxter Mark L. , Finn Robert D. 
Published: August 2024

AbstractCyanobacteria are globally occurring photosynthetic bacteria notable for their contribution to primary production and production of toxins which have detrimental ecosystem impacts. Furthermore, cyanobacteria can form mutualistic symbiotic relationships with a diverse set of eukaryotes, including land plants, aquatic plankton and fungi. Nevertheless, not all cyanobacteria are found in symbiotic associations suggesting symbiotic cyanobacteria have evolved specializations that facilitate host-interactions. Photosynthetic capabilities, nitrogen fixation, and the production of complex biochemicals are key functions provided by host-associated cyanobacterial symbionts. To explore if additional specializations are associated with such lifestyles in cyanobacteria, we have conducted comparative phylogenomics of molecular functions and of biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) in 984 cyanobacterial genomes. Cyanobacteria with host-associated and symbiotic lifestyles were concentrated in the family Nostocaceae, where eight monophyletic clades correspond to specific host taxa. In agreement with previous studies, symbionts are likely to provide fixed nitrogen to their eukaryotic partners, through multiple different nitrogen fixation pathways. Additionally, our analyses identified chitin metabolising pathways in cyanobacteria associated with specific host groups, while obligate symbionts had fewer BGCs. The conservation of molecular functions and BGCs between closely related symbiotic and free-living cyanobacteria suggests the potential for additional cyanobacteria to form symbiotic relationships than is currently known.