Novel options for multiplexing, such as orbital angular momentum (OAM), are sought to satisfy the explosive growth of information capacity. Consequently, spatial phase modulation with on‐demand ...tailoring of working bands is increasingly investigated. In this study, a polymer‐stabilized cholesteric liquid crystal is used to address this requirement. A varying DC voltage is applied, and the working band is increased over eightfold owing to the electric‐induced gradient pitch of the polymer network. Thus, the working band of an OAM processor is reversibly switched between narrowband and broadband states. An OAM‐multiplexing hologram is designed for parallel OAM encoding and decoding, enabling a wavelength‐division‐multiplexing compatible approach for in situ and non‐destructive OAM processing. The proposed design offers a promising solution for the on‐demand tailoring of working bands in liquid crystal planar optics and can promote advancements in massive information transmission and large‐capacity data processing.
Optical orbital angular momentum (OAM) processors with electrically tailored working bands are proposed based on polymer‐stabilized cholesteric liquid crystals. The photonic bandgap can be extended from 41 to 350 nm, enabling OAM‐based mode‐division multiplexing compatible with wavelength‐division multiplexing. This study is promising for large‐capacity optical communication and parallel information processing.
Multidimensional and large‐scale parallel manipulation of light, especially on‐demand tailoring of the working frequency and spatial phase front, is highly pursued in modern optics. Here, broadband ...tunable planar optics is demonstrated by electrically driving the nanohelix of photopatterned heliconical cholesterics. By preprogramming the initial orientation of the helixes using a dynamic‐mask photoalignment technique, spatial geometric phases can be arbitrarily encoded to the reflected light in a reconfigurable way. Due to the reversible electrically variant pitch of the heliconical superstructures, the reflective Bragg band can be precisely selected in the range from 380 to 1550 nm. In addition to wavelength selection and geometric phase modulation, spatial amplitude modulation and spin reversion can be further expected. This may offer a platform for full‐dimensional manipulation of light, including wavelength/frequency, phase, amplitude, time, and spin, thus upgrading optical information processing techniques.
A strategy for a spatial phase modulator with an electrically customizable working band is proposed via heliconical cholesterics. The photoalignment technique is adopted to realize arbitrary geometric phases. Electrically controllable heliconical superstructures enable working band selectivity over a broad range from near‐UV to near‐IR. This work enriches chiral superstructure manipulation and will upgrade present optical systems.
Liquid crystals (LCs) are key functional materials that are broadly adopted in various fields due to their stimuli‐responsiveness. Recently, LCs with hierarchical architectures have brought new ...effects to optics and attracted intensive attention. In smectic A phase, the parallel molecular layers are periodically wrapped to form toric focal conic domains (TFCDs) under antagonistic boundary conditions (i.e., hybrid alignment conditions). TFCD shows great potential in nanofabrication and integral imaging. However, the arbitrary tailoring of TFCD is still challenging, and the robustness of hierarchical configuration hinders the tunability. Here, a radial alignment lattice is adopted to guide the local orientation of LCs and thus facilitates predefining the lattice symmetry and domain size of TFCDs. By introducing polymer stabilization and optimizing the composition, the sample simultaneously maintains the director distribution inside smectic layers and possesses the stimuli‐responsiveness of nematic phase at room temperature. By this means, microlens arrays are demonstrated with reversible electrical tunability. The strategy can be extended to other smectic configurations and may upgrade existing dynamic optics.
A strategy for electrically tunable microlens array is proposed via polymer‐stabilizing self‐organized smectic liquid crystal architectures. Radial alignment lattices are adopted to define the unit size and lattice symmetry of toric focal conic domains. The lensing effect is upgraded by polymer stabilization to trigger thermal and electrical tunability. This work enriches hierarchical structure manipulation and inspires fantastic dynamic optics.
Acute pancreatitis (AP) is an inflammatory disorder of the pancreas that can be complicated by intestinal mucosal barrier dysfunction (SAP&IBD). The current study sought to examine the diagnostic ...efficacy of miR‐1‐3p and T‐synthase mRNA in SAP&IBD patients. First, SAP patients were assigned to SAP&IBD and SAP groups. Serum miR‐1‐3p expression and T‐synthase mRNA expression patterns in peripheral blood B lymphocytes were measured using RT‐qPCR. Pearson tests, ROC curve analysis, and multivariate logistic regression were used to analyze the correlation between miR‐1‐3p/T‐synthase mRNA and clinical data, their diagnostic efficiency, and independent risk factors for SAP&IBD patients, respectively. The results showed that serum miR‐1‐3p in the SAP&IBD group was elevated, and T‐synthase mRNA expression in peripheral blood B lymphocytes was diminished. Additionally, serum miR‐1‐3p expression in SAP&IBD patients was negatively correlated with T‐synthase mRNA expression, and positively correlated with their Ranson score, CRP, IL‐6, DAO, and D‐Lactate levels. Meanwhile, T‐synthase mRNA level was negatively correlated with IL‐6, DAO, and D‐Lactate levels. Both, serum miR‐1‐3p, T‐synthase mRNA, and their combination were found to exhibit diagnostic efficiency for SAP&IBD patients, and were independently associated with IBD in SAP patients. Collectively, our findings suggest that miR‐1‐3p and T‐synthase serve as independent risk factors for SAP&IBD patients and can aid the diagnosis of IBD in SAP patients.
Recently discovered reflective Pancharatnam-Berry phase (PB phase) from chiral anisotropic media (e.g., cholesteric liquid crystal, CLC) has aroused great interest in the emerging frontier of planar ...optics. However, the single chirality of common CLCs results in the intrinsic limitation of the same spin-selective PB phase manipulation, which means the reversal of the input spin cannot realize the conjugated PB phase. In this work, an innovative scheme based on opposite-chirality-coexisted superstructures is proposed to simultaneously modulate orthogonal circular polarization and get PB phase reversal. Through refilling CLC into a washed-out polymer network with opposite chirality and delicate photo-patterned structures, reflective optical vortex (OV) with opposite topological charges and vector beams with conjugated spiral PB phases are efficiently generated depending on the incident polarization. Furthermore, OV holograms are encoded to reconstruct polarization-selective OV arrays, indicating the strong capability of such opposite-chirality-coexisted anisotropic media. This work provides a new compact platform for planar optics, and sheds light on the architectures and functionalities of chiral superstructures.
Wavefront control is the fundamental requirement in optical informatics. Planar optics have drawn intensive attention due to the merits of compactness and light weight. However, it remains a ...challenge to freely manipulate the dispersion, hindering practical applications, especially in imaging. Here, we propose the concept of frequency-synthesized phase engineering to solve this problem. A phasefront-frequency matrix is properly designed to encode different spatial phases to separate frequencies, thus makes arbitrary dispersion tailoring and even frequency-separated functionalization possible. The periodically rotated director endows cholesteric liquid crystal with a spin and frequency selective reflection. Moreover, via presetting the local initial orientation of liquid crystal, geometric phase is encoded to the reflected light. We verify the proposed strategy by cascading the chiral anisotropic optical media of specifically designed helical pitches and initial director orientations. By this means, planar lenses with RGB achromatic, enhanced chromatic aberration and color routing properties are demonstrated. Inch-sized and high-efficient lenses are fabricated with low crosstalk among colors. It releases the freedom of dispersion control of planar optics, and even enables frequency decoupled phase modulations. This work brings new insights to functional planar optics and may upgrade the performance of existing optical apparatuses.
The recent outbreak of the Ebola virus disease (EVD) in Sierra Leone has been characterized by the World Health Organization as one of the most challenging EVD outbreaks to date. The first confirmed ...case in Sierra Leone was a young woman who was admitted to a government hospital in Kenema following a miscarriage on 24 May 2014. On 5 January 2015, intensified training for an EVD response project was initiated at the medical university of Sierra Leone in Jui. To understand the knowledge, attitudes, practices, and perceived risk of EVD among the public, especially after this training, a rapid assessment was conducted from 10 to 16 March 2015.
Interviews were conducted with 466 participants based on questionnaires that were distributed from 10 to 16 March 2015 by cluster sampling in three adjacent communities, namely Jui, Grafton, and Kossoh Town, in the Western Area Rural District of Sierra Leone.
It was found that knowledge about EVD was comprehensive and high. Positive attitude towards prevention was found to be satisfactory. Nearly all participants knew the reporting phone number 117 and had reported some change in behavior since learning about Ebola. More than half (62 %) of the participants had a history of travelling to urban areas, which increases the risk of infection. The multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that community and occupation were variables associated with perceived risk of EVD.
Our study showed that community level social mobilization and community engagement were an effective strategy in the special context.
Wavefront control lies in the heart of optics. Multi‐degree orthogonal manipulation of light, especially the on‐demand tailoring of the working band and spatial phase front, is expected to fully ...exhibit the superiority of photons as information carriers. Here, the recent progress on the customizable working band of liquid crystal planar optics enabled by helical structures is reviewed. Broadband transmissive devices with mirror‐symmetric helical structures, broadband reflective Bragg‐Berry phase elements based on cholesteric liquid crystals, transflective phase modulations of a piecewise twisted structure, and external field shifted bands of planar optics are summarized. In addition to the customization of the geometric phase and working band, manipulation of other optical parameters is discussed. The tremendous self‐assemblies and diverse external field responsiveness make liquid crystals a perfect platform for full‐dimensional manipulation of light.
Helical liquid crystal based planar optics with arbitrary geometric phase modulation and customizable working band is reviewed. Recent progress on broadband transmissive, reflective, transflective, and external fields stimulated band tunable planar optics with helical structures is summarized. Full exploitation of the freedom of light is discussed, which may inspire the helical liquid crystal based multi‐degree light modulation.
Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a complex clinical disorder with sudden decay in renal function. Ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) has been regarded as the main etiology for the occurrence of AKI. ...MicroRNAs have been consistently shown to be involved AKI.
We aimed to investigate the role of miR-155 in AKI and its underlying mechanism.
Ischemia-reperfusion (I/R)-induced AKI rat model and hypoxia-reoxygeneration (H/R)-induced NRK-52E cell model were established. The concentrations of serum creatinine and blood urea nitrogen were measured to evaluate renal function. Hematoxylin and eosin staining and TUNEL assay were performed to assess the severity of kidney injury. Additionally, quantitative real-time-PCR and western blot analysis were subjected to determine the expression of miR-155, TCF4, and apoptosis-related proteins, respectively. Moreover, cell proliferation and apoptosis were evaluated by Cell Counting Kit-8, bromodeoxyuridine, and flow cytometry analyses, respectively. Luciferase reporter assay was used to validate the direct targeting of TCF4 with miR-155. The protein levels of TCF4 and its downstream proteins in cells were measured by western blot.
The expression level of miR-155 was upregulated in both I/R-induced AKI rat model and H/R-treated NRK-52E cells. Moreover, overexpression of miR-155 promoted H/R-induced NRK-52E cells apoptosis and suppressed cell proliferation, while inhibition of miR-155 expression exerted opposite effects. Additionally, TCF4 was identified as a target of miR-155, of which expression was downregulated both in vivo and in vitro. Furthermore, the activity of Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway was promoted following overexpression of TCF4 in NRK-52E cells, and this effect was attenuated by the increasing miR-155 expression.
We demonstrated that miR-155 exacerbated AKI involving the targeting and regulation of TCF4/Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway, indicating a novel regulatory network and elucidating a potential target for IRI-induced AKI treatment.
BACKGROUND The median effective dose (ED50) of a drug gives the amount or dose of drug needed to produce effective therapeutic response or desired effect in at least 50% of the population taking it. ...Our study focused on determining the ED50 required for effective motor block using hyperbaric and plain bupivacaine, and evaluated the influence of baricity on the ED50 required for motor block. MATERIAL AND METHODS A total of 38 patients were randomly assigned into 2 groups according to the baricity of bupivacaine: group P received plain bupivacaine and group H received hyperbaric bupivacaine. The patients were administered 0.5% plain or hyperbaric bupivacaine intrathecally. The dosage of anesthetics in each patient was calculated according to the standard up-down sequential allocation method of Dixon. The first patient in each group received a dose of 7.5 mg bupivacaine, and a dose of 1.0 mg was used as the testing interval. The dose was increased or decreased by 1.0 mg for each patient according to the estimated score of motor block. RESULTS The ED50 required for effective motor block in spinal anesthesia was 7.20 and 10.05 mg in groups H and P, respectively. Their relative motor blocking potency ratio was found to be 0.72. CONCLUSIONS The ED50 for motor block was significantly decreased using hyperbaric bupivacaine intrathecally compared with plain bupivacaine, and the baricity of bupivacaine obviously affected the ED50 for the motor block.
PDF
