Deep subwavelength photolithography with a metallic grating waveguide heterostructure (MGWHS) is presented and numerically demonstrated by a finite-difference time-domain method. This lithography ...scheme is demonstrated by interference between the diffracted waves of the mask which are enhanced by the surface plasmon polariton (SPP) resonance in this MGWHS. The relationship between the pattern resolution and the thickness of the photoresist is discussed. With proper choices of the dimensions of the proposed MGWHS and the illumination light, either a deep subwavelength (~ Delta *l/17) pattern with sufficient contrast or a high quality interference pattern can be achieved. This approach is suitable for application to deep subwavelength photolithography without expensive equipment.
We propose an ultrasensitive terahertz (THz) sensor consisting of a subwavelength graphene disk and an annular gold ring within a unit cell. The interference between the resonances arising from the ...graphene disk and the gold ring gives rise to Fano type resonances and enables ultrasensitive sensing. Our full wave electromagnetic simulations show frequency sensitivity as high as 1.9082 THz per refractive index unit (RIU) and a figure of merit (FOM) of 6.5662. Furthermore, the sensing range can be actively tuned by adjusting the Fermi level of graphene.
We propose a tunable terahertz (THz) sensor consisting of a subwavelength graphene disk and an annular gold ring within a unit cell.
Most research exploring the correlation between volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and hematological parameters have focused on single VOCs. Our study aimed to explore the single and combined effects ...of VOCs on hematological parameters through three statistical models.
Data from 4 cycles of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) were used in this study. The correlations between single exposure to 16 VOCs and hematological parameters in the general population were assessed by weighted multiple linear regression. Weighted quantile sum (WQS) and Bayesian kernel machine regression (BKMR) models were used to explore the relationship between the combined important VOCs selected by the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) and hematological parameters, as well as the effects of smoking status on them.
A total of 4089 adults were included in the study. We found that a variety of VOCs were significantly associated with hematological parameters. Among them, N-acetyl-S-(benzyl)-l-cysteine (BMA) was significantly negatively correlated with white blood cell (WBC), red blood cell (RBC), lymphocyte, and neutrophil counts. N-acetyl-S-(3-hydroxypropyl-1-methyl)-l-cysteine (HPMMA) was significantly positively correlated with WBC, monocyte, lymphocyte, and neutrophil counts. In the WQS analysis, the WQS index of the VOCs mixtures was positively correlated with WBC (β: 0.031; P < 0.001), monocyte (0.023; P = 0.021), and neutrophil (0.040; P = 0.001) counts, while negatively associated with RBC (−0.013; P < 0.001) counts. The BKMR model revealed that combined exposure to VOCs levels ≥70th percentile was significantly associated with lower RBC counts, and BMA was identified as the dominant contributor. Smoking significantly influenced the relationship between VOCs and hematological parameters.
Our study indicated the effects of single and overall VOCs exposure on hematological parameters and suggested the hematotoxicity as well as pro-inflammatory effects of VOCs, which had strong public health implications for reducing the potential health hazards of VOCs exposure to the hematologic system.
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•People are co-exposed to multiple VOCs in the real world.•Multiple single VOCs exposure indicators were associated with hematological parameters.•Combined VOCs exposure was associated with decreased RBC counts and elevated WBC, monocyte, and neutrophil counts.•Smoke can affect the relationship between VOCs and hematological parameters.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
We present a systematic investigation of the counter-intuitive phenomenon of Extraordinary Low Transmission through ultrathin nanostructured metals, and present results on novel plasmonic subtractive ...color filters, exhibiting both record-high transmission efficiency and spatial resolution.
A subwavelength nanolithography technique based on unidirectional excitation of surface plasmons is proposed and numerically demonstrated by finite-difference time-domain analysis. Normal incident ...light impinging on a specially designed mask can excite two unidirectional surface plasmon waves (SPWs) with counter propagating directions on the unilluminated side. The simulation results show that the interference of these face-to-face SPWs launched by the mask could deliver about 50 nm half-pitch patterns at the operating wavelength of 365 nm, going far beyond the free space diffraction limit. This technique provides an effective fabrication method for nanostructures.
Detecting specific target analytes and differentiating them from interfering background effects is a crucial but challenging task in complex multi-component solutions commonly encountered in ...environmental, chemical, biological, and medical sensing applications. Here we present a simple nanoplasmonic interferometric sensor platform that can differentiate the adsorption of a thin protein layer on the sensor surface (surface effects) from bulk refractive index changes (interfering background effects) at a single sensing spot, exploiting the different penetration depths of multiple propagating surface plasmon polaritons excited in the ring-hole nanoplasmonic sensors. A monolayer of bovine serum albumin (BSA) molecules with an effective thickness of 1.91 nm is detected and differentiated from a 10(-3) change in refractive index unit for the bulk solution. The noise level of the retrieved real-time sensor output compares favorably with that of traditional prism-based surface plasmon resonance sensors, but is achieved using a significantly simpler collinear transmission geometry and a miniaturized sensor footprint.
Near field lithography (NFL) provides an effective way for obtaining lithography features' sizes far beyond the diffraction limit. However, optical transmission through isolated subwavelength ...apertures is very low in the lithography process. It also makes it difficult to obtain a uniform lithography pattern where isolated and arrayed slit structures coexist because of different optical transmission through these two kinds of structures. It is proposed in this paper that using appropriately designed groove structures around subwavelength metallic slits could solve this problem. Numerical calculations performed by the finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method demonstrate that about ten times transmission enhancement could be obtained. This occurs as a surface plasmon is resonantly excited and light is concentrated into nanometer scale apertures, resulting in not only greatly enhanced NFL efficiency but also uniform distribution of light intensity for isolated and arrayed slit patterns. Also discussed is the enhancement dependence on the structural parameters of NFL masks.
During the past decades, major advances have been made in both the generation and detection of infrared light; however, its efficient wavefront manipulation and information processing still encounter ...great challenges. Efficient and fast optoelectronic modulators and spatial light modulators are required for mid-infrared imaging, sensing, security screening, communication and navigation, to name a few. However, their development remains elusive, and prevailing methods reported so far have suffered from drawbacks that significantly limit their practical applications. In this study, by leveraging graphene and metasurfaces, we demonstrate a high-performance free-space mid-infrared modulator operating at gigahertz speeds, low gate voltage and room temperature. We further pixelate the hybrid graphene metasurface to form a prototype spatial light modulator for high frame rate single-pixel imaging, suggesting orders of magnitude improvement over conventional liquid crystal or micromirror-based spatial light modulators. This work opens up the possibility of exploring wavefront engineering for infrared technologies for which fast temporal and spatial modulations are indispensable.
Although colorectal cancer is the leading cause of death in patients with liver metastases, there are no efficient treatments available. Oncolytic virus therapy, a new type of tumor therapy, has ...become a potential solution. With the goal of improving the treatment of advanced colorectal cancer, we applied oncolytic herpes simplex virus type 2 (oHSV2) in a mouse model of colorectal cancer with liver metastasis. Compared with the control, oHSV2 effectively inhibited the growth of subcutaneous primary tumors, significantly reduced the number and size of liver metastases, and prolonged the median survival time of the mice. In addition, neutrophils, natural killer (NK) cells, T cells, B cells, and cytokines in the tumor microenvironment and the body were all activated, and their frequencies increased significantly. Moreover, the proportion of immunosuppressive myeloid-derived suppressor cells decreased. oHSV2 treatment, which establishes an effective long-term antitumor immune response, is strongly resistant to rechallenge by the same tumor. Our data show that oHSV2 can effectively kill the primary tumor and attack distal and metastatic tumors by inducing immune responses, resulting in lasting antitumor efficacy and preventing tumor recurrence. It is believed that oHSV2 has good clinical application prospects.
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